So I know I promised that I wouldn't update this every day, and so far I am a horrible liar because I have free time and this is really fun to wirte, so there. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, faved and followed. You're all really great. And some of you may hate me at the end of this fanfiction. Because I did something last chapter that I may or may not do anything with and I'm not sorry because the amount of frustration I put you guys through directly correlates to my happiness. Anyway, I won't be able to update every day, but I will update frequently.
"Jazz what is this?" I sighed and looked up from my book at what Danny was holding.
"An egg." It's been a few months since we rescued Danny. Lately he's taken to bringing us things to name and explain. He's rummaged through the whole house at this point. It's sad that he doesn't know these things, and don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to help, but when you're asked what a spoon is five times in a 48 hour period, you start to get a little annoyed. He woke me up at 2 am last night because one of the bathroom lights went out.
He is kind of adorable, though. He's like a little brother. A very lost, confused and oblivious little brother, but a little brother all the same.
He stared at the egg for a moment before he looked back up at me.
"What does it do?"
"You eat it. It's for eating." I went back to my book. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him sniff the egg, then slide it into his mouth.
"Danny, no!"
He flinched like he'd been slapped and dropped the egg. He peeked up at me, his head turned down. "Sorry." he mumbled
I shook my head.
"No, Danny. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. That's not the right way to eat an egg."
Danny blinked at me and then looked back at the egg.
"Do you want me to show you how?"
He turned his gaze back to me and nodded. I smiled and quickly cleaned up the egg he'd dropped. I pulled a pan out of the cupboard and turned on the oven.
"Don't touch this right now, it's hot and it'll hurt you." He stared warily at the oven, inching away from it. I smiled and greased down the pan and cracked some eggs into it. Throwing away the eggs I smirked.
Danny was completely enthralled by the sizzling oil and eggs. He was watching as close as he could, while staying three feet away, careful of being burned. His eyes were as wide as saucers and his nostrils were flaring, smelling the salty aroma.
I took a spatula and flipped the eggs onto plates when they were done and sprinkled some salt on them. Setting both plates down at the table, I invited Danny to sit down and eat. I grabbed us some forks and sat, picking up my book again and eating the egg. I watched Danny as he took his first bites of the egg.
His eyes grew wide and he stared down at the egg. He grinned and shoved the rest of his egg in his mouth. He chewed the whole thing and swallowed it all in one bite. He beamed at me.
"Did you like it?"
"Yeah!"
Mom strode into the room, sniffing the air. "Do I smell eggs?" Danny's grin stretched from ear to ear and he replied. "Yeah! Jazz made eggs!" Mom smiled at him.
"I take it you liked them?"
"Yes!"
Mom laughed at the look on Danny's face and grabbed herself a bowl of cereal. She leaned against the counter and spooned it into her mouth, watching us.
"So, Danny. You've been living with us for a while now. How do you like it?"
Danny smiled shyly and blushed a little. "I really like it. I don't know why I wanted to go back to the lab. It's fun out here and nobody hurts me."
Mom's face dropped but she picked it up again in a sad smile. "Well, Danny I'm glad you like it. How has tutoring been going?"
"I know all of the letters and numbers and I moved into level two reading books a few days ago."
"Really? That's great! You're very smart."
Danny puffed out his chest and got a proud smile on his face. He said a quick thanks and started playing with his hands. Mom looked at me and we shared a smile.
We heard a rumbling coming down the steps and Dad, in all of his orange-jumpsuited glory, tripped into the kitchen.
Mom worked as the head veterinarian at the local animal clinic. Dad was a stay at home dad/ inventor. He set aside the basement as a lab and had a few patents out. I'm planning on becoming a psychologist, but I'm still in high school.
"Hey, Jazz, want to take Danny shopping today?" Mom asked
"Sure. What are we getting?"
"We need to get him some more clothes. He's shooting up like a rocket." Dad said with a smile.
"What's a rocket?" Danny asked, confused. Dad smiled at him.
"It's something that goes really fast and can take people into space." "Space?"
"The sky. Y'know when you see the sky at night and all of those little balls of light- the stars, and the Moon and all of the planets. That's space."
Danny's eyes widened and he got a hopeful look on his face. "Can I go into space?"
Dad smiled and ruffled Danny's hair. "Not, quite yet. Maybe someday. Maybe we can get you some books or movies on space. Would you like that?"
Danny vigorously nodded and smiled. Dad looked up at me. "Think you can swing by the bookstore and grab something from the kid's sections that he can read? And maybe some documentaries?"
"Sure, Dad. But I'll be needing money." Dad's eyes narrowed at me.
"Mmmhmm. Sure, right. You'll spend all of this on Danny." he said suspiciously as he handed me a few bills. I grabbed them with a satisfied smirk and gave him a wry look.
"Of course, Dad. Not a single penny will go towards anything but Danny."
Mom spoke up "And don't forget to only-" I cut her off, having heard the speech millions of times before. "Only buy the SPCA approved brands. Don't worry, Mom. I've got the list memorized."
Mom smiled at me and nodded. "Alright, Jazz. Go on and get ready to go."
I hurried up the stairs into my bedroom and straightened myself out and grabbed my bag. I trotted down the stairs to find Danny waiting for me by the door, ready to go. He opened the door and followed me outside.
We hopped in my car and Danny immediately turned on the radio. He likes listening to it. I think it has something to do with the silence of his room in the facility. He can't stand it being quiet anymore. He used to want everyone to be completely silent and hushed. Now he revels in the noise. He'll turn on the TV, even if nothing's on, and just listen and watch the infomercials or the news. He's also become severely claustrophobic. He can't handle being in a small enclosed space. He freaked out once when he walked into Mom's closet. He was hyperventilating and his pupils were dilated and all of that.
It's good, almost, that he's got these fears and habits. It means he's moving on from the facility. He used to have night terrors every night. Those have gotten a lot better. He only has them every other day or so.
The car bounced into the mall parking lot and I pulled into a narrow space. Danny hopped out of the car and started towards the door, hauling me after him.
There's another thing. People. Danny loves being around people. Not many people, that still freaks him out, but just a loosely packed group of people is perfect for him. He's like a two year old. He tries to make friends with everyone he sees, but is distrustful and anxious around anyone wearing white or some kind of suit.
We walked into a store and he quickly picked out a few pairs of plain blue jeans and some white shirts. He didn't have much taste in the way of fashion, but he was still learning.
His hair was growing out too. When we met him it was patchy. Some spots were very clearly recently shaved close to his head, just barely some black stubble. Other spots were still cut short, but were thicker and longer than the others. It was coming in nice and evenly now. He had a full head of black hair. In his ghost form, what we thought was dull gray hair was actually very a dirty snow white. They hadn't cleaned him often in the facility. He was completely baffled by regular showers. Thankfully, he loved showering, so he smelled good almost all the time.
We shuffled into the bookstore, and walked into the brightly colored children's section. He wandered through, slowly reading the titles, mouthing the words.
Eventually, he found a few books about space and I found a few books for myself. I left him to read in the children's section while I went off and got a few documentaries about deep space that I thought Danny would like.
After a few hours of roaming the mall and grabbing some ice cream, we meandered back to the car and drove home.
Mom was waiting for us when we got home. Her face was grim and the crease between her eyebrows that she got when she was worried was standing proudly on her face. She held a crumpled paper in her hands and opened her mouth to speak.
"They're looking for you, Danny."
Danny cocked his head and Mom held out the paper. It was a missing person's poster. There was a picture of Danny below some black print.
MISSING:
Daniel Blanche
14 years old
Last seen: October 12, 2013