Those Nightmares Gone

Chapter 1

Danny's POV

"Danny! It’s you and I for shopping today so get down here!” The witch's name was Linda Elne, the rich woman who married my dad on an unfortunate day. I wish it had rained that day; a hectic night where the wind knocked out chairs and the bride ripped her dress and before the vows, the ring rolled into the Professor’s Lake next to the venue.

"Coming!” I called, thundering down the never-ending staircase of her mega-gigantic mansion. She waited in the driver’s seat with a lit cigarette between her lips.

I sat at the front and buckled up. She drew her last puff and threw out the bud.

"Dear, haven’t I told you to stop calling me by my name? I’m your stepmother." As if she cared about receiving my respect. I was nothing but her shopping servant.

The trip to Metro would be slightly tolerable if Linda’s best friend hadn’t come to engage her with long unstoppable conversations and endless gossiping. It all started when Melissa Mason had lost her house. Drowning in debt and shunning creditors after a lump-some investment had her family moved in with us until they recovered from their financial fall.

There went another six months of my horrible life.

I followed Linda across the aisles with the cart. She stopped abruptly to pick random items off the helves causing me to take sharp turns and avoid colliding into people.

When she stopped this time, an ear-splitting scream chased the living daylights out of me and startled poor customers nearby. She fled from the aisle and went to hug a red-haired lady next to the cookie shelf.

"Linda!" "Marissa!" Kisses and hugs, joy.

Behind Marissa, a boy – probably Marissa’s own shopping servant – was waiting with an overloaded cart, a hand in his pocket, and an expression that was annoyed yet aesthetic. He passed a hand through his chestnut hair and rolled his eyes.

Another one of those school boy-charms?

"Danny, go grab something you want and see me when you’re done," Linda graciously let me go. I immediately turned the cart to my favourite aisle. Toys.

Devin's POV

Linda squeezed me outrageously tight for an overly thin woman. Her starry eyes returned to mom, and obviously mom returned her crap while I was stuck standing on the sidelines. I hated staying at Linda's place like some refugee, but I head she had some good-looking daughters. At least I could count on that to have fun in this unwanted hiatus in my life.

I excused myself, ignoring my mom's stare, and abandoned the cart for a more personalized browse through the aisles. I was cruising by some Barbie dolls and Nerf guns when a teenage girl at the next aisle caught my attention. She was covertly examining a Prinplup doll, flipped the box to read the back and kept it low to her waist. Who would be self-conscious looking at a classic stuffed animal?

A sudden idea stimulated by evil senses. Why don’t I kill time with this chick? I shifted to her direction. While passing behind her I whispered, "What's that? Your v****a itchy?" I turned the next corner and chuckled.

Why did I always do dumb s**t like this?

Danny's POV

I was embarrassed for holding something so immature, but I was probably more immature for being embarrassed. Year-old memories brought me here, memories that could turn me into a sane recuperated adult to a teary-eyed mess. I couldn’t cry now. Not anymore.

Out of nowhere someone’s breath grazed my ear. "What's that? Your v****a itchy?" I quickly put the Prinplup doll on the shelf and whipped around to find the source of that obnoxious comment. The aisle was empty.

Linda and Marissa took another good hour to bond and pick their things and I exhaled in glory when we stood in line.

"You’re Daniella, right?" Melissa shook my hand without my consent. "Do you mind going home with my son? Linda and I have some personal issues to talk about if you don't mind." I bet they would thoroughly converse about the mistakes of her exploited investments.

"Of course!" Linda answered on my behalf. Christ, these people acted like they owned me. “Devin, do you mind taking her?" I twisted around to see that boy again, now closer and appearing twice as tall. He responded with a half-hearted shrug which replicated how I felt.

Our moms took off once we stepped out the store and I awkwardly followed this guy to his car. A smirk played on his lips while we stashed the bags in the trunk, and I wanted to question him. What was his deal? Psycho maniac? Or a douche like all the male species?

I was a capricious person. When I made the petty move of getting into the back seat, I blamed my inexplicable change in mood. The look this guy gave me from the rear-view mirror, his eyes glittering with mischief, made me instantly hate him. For no apparent reason.

He drove out the lot, ignoring the perverse vibes I sent him. "You could've sat at the front, you know." I ignored him. "What's your name?" I ignored him again. He flashed me an unexpected grin.

“What?” I demanded.

"Nothing. Just wondering why your precious Pokemon doll wasn’t in the cart."

Surprise filled me, soon turned to poison. "So that was you?" My hate was justified.

He laughed quietly – that cursed, jaw-dropping laugh I bet girls drooled over. It took all my might to sit still without spewing contemptuous words at him for the whole ride.

It took a nanosecond for me get out, slam his car door shut and march into the house. Two hands enveloped my arm and tugged me to the side, and my anger cooled the instant I saw Asha’s face.

"Hi!" she chirped. Out of everything else, Asha was the only friend I had despite her being two years younger.

"What's up, Ash?"

"Did you come with one of the Masons?" she said curiously.

"Please. If one of them is like this, think about the rest," I muttered.

"Aw, it's sweet you're thinking about us," the annoying voice returned accompanied with the person striding in and flashing me another grin I wish I could slap off. Just thinking of the doll and his filthy comment spiked my anger again.

"Hey, he's cute," Asha whispered, thankfully after he left.

"Don’t even start. You know my secret, right? My memories and all? He hurt," I took a moment to calm down, “He hurt that.”

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I-I," Asha stammered regretfully.

A figure strode between us and sharp blue eyes clouded my vision. "Mom's calling you," said my older stepsister, Judy, rudely cutting into our emotional convo. She was nice when she wanted to be but became Linda’s doppelganger when not.

"Okay,” I said. These were my sisters after all – not all my relationships had to be sour. I entered the kitchen in time to see Melissa and Linda laughing their heads off.

"Make a batch of cupcakes before the other Masons come," Linda ordered me while trying to sober up. I sighed with a nod and prepared the batter we purchased from Metro.

Could I ever run away from this façade of a rich life? All I inherited was the heartache of losing both parents and not knowing how it happened. I also wanted to lose myself and digress from these painful thoughts.

So, I focused on the cupcakes.

Devin's POV

"It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Elne. Thanks for letting us stay here. I hope we won’t be too much of a burden." Wasn’t Josh just a swab of cotton? Greeting everyone, all nice and polite like always – my older brother was basically Price Charming.

It turned out Linda's daughters were Judy and Asha, not exactly what I’d hoped for with Judy already receiving enamoured looks from Josh and Asha who was the same no-zone age as Ryan. She kept looking towards the kitchen and I followed her gaze.

I wondered why the Prinplup girl wasn't mentioned in our swift introductions. She was busy making cupcakes. Strange. I personally hated intros, but I was eager to meet pissy Prinplup.

When everyone tuned into small chatter, I skipped into the kitchen. Prinplup didn't even flinch. I put on one of my best smiles, a great big charming one that did the trick on girls, and approached her from behind.

"Hello?" I drawled. She put the batter in the tray. "Hello? You alive?" She ignored me. Or was she? She seemed zoned out.

I walked back into the family’s chatter in time to discover we had to share rooms. Weren’t there enough in this monster mansion or was the exterior all bluff? They had it all planned. Karissa was with Eric, as expected from eighteen-year-old twins who stuck together like glue, and the only extra room other than the guest room was for my parents. This meant Josh, Ryan and I had to be in the same room as one of the girls.

I was led into a room with stickers of fairies and princesses. Hm, a certain someone’s Pokemon obsession connected well with this setting.

"This is your room, Devin," Linda’s husband told me. "It's like an attic, but we couldn’t find another arrangement." I forced a smile. There was just something about Ben I intuitively didn’t like.

Why did I care? I jumped on the bed, surprisingly big albeit old with the creaks, and a window was right at the head of it. A Canada map was plastered on the opposite wall with a Terry Fox sticker that read, 'Running for My Family'. I didn’t take my eyes off it.

A smile tingled my lips.

Danny's POV

The way I met all the Masons was by serving them cupcakes. Majority of them were boys, which sucked. I prayed I’d get Karissa in my room. She was nice, a year older, and most importantly, the only girl among the five siblings.

Karissa asked for a second chocolate cupcake and I’d never seen someone eat so prettily. When her eyes detached from the baked goodie, she said suddenly, "It’s not everyday a beautiful person serves me a beautiful treat." It threw me off and my cheeks warmed.

"Um, thank you." Here I was thinking she was the one angelic. "I’m not used to people saying I’m beautiful."

"Why?" she said, her eyes evidently surprised. "Not a single guy mentioned it?"

"I don’t really get involved with boys," I replied. A stinky feeling was whirling in my stomach and I wanted to end this conversation.

"Oh. Well, I'm the only girl in my family, which really sucks." I was aware.

"Nice meeting you," I said, and parted with her.

I climbed two sets of staircases to get to my small room up at the attic level. It was the desolated corner where the least important family member got pushed to. I opened the door and screamed at the devastating sight awaiting me.

What the hell was this?

"Hey, Prinplup," Devin said smirking. "That was a sexy scream." I scanned his pose on my – my precious bed – his body smack in the middle with his arms bent behind his head.

I pointed out the door. "Shut the hell up and get out." I just couldn’t flick the v****a comment from my head, and my warm cheeks from Karissa’s earlier comment gave way for –

"Blushing? For me?" As expected. "In case you don't know, I'm your new roommate."

My jaw dropped. Aw man. I slammed the door and paced around, feeling his eyes pursue my every step. I ended up sitting on a stool at a corner farthest from him.

"I don't bite you know," he said. I wanted any type of physical contact to be out of the picture. "I should've known this is your room. It has Disney and Satoshi Tajiri all over it." Apart from his constant reminders of that shopping incident, I was stunned he knew the creator of Pokemon.

Why did I feel like putting up with him for six months boded far worse than I thought?

Devin's POV

She honestly seemed peeved, which I found oddly cute since she was the size of a peanut. I began to yawn to get her attention, and she bolted to her feet. I grinned and stretched.

"Wait!" Scowling, she went to her drawer and pulled out a pair of baggy pants. "Move."

"Snappy, aren't you?" She muttered 'moron' and lined the pants smack in the middle of the bed. Oh, I think I knew where this was going.

"You cross, or even touch my side, you get kicked to the ground," she warned. I laughed. "I'm talking to you! I’m taking the wall so get your butt on the other side. Got it?"

"Yes, Prinplup.”

"Just don't touch me...Pikachu," she added with emphasis. She turned on her heel and headed out. Pikachu, huh?

* * *

I didn't know what time it was until the door swung open and stirred me awake. I wasn't surprised to see Prinplup standing there agitated.

"Dinner," she muttered.

"Show me the way." We joined the long dining table where Prinplup sat next to Asha and I sat between Karissa and Ryan across from her.

"We're all so glad the Masons can stay with us. We bless each other and hope the future is all for the best," Ben announced. I expected Prinplup to protest but her shoulders were hunched tensely. Asha said something to her that relaxed her.

"So, Devin," Karissa said next to me. "Daniella's pretty, eh?" I looked at her smug smile in confusion and she nodded towards Prinplup. Ah, that was her name. "She doesn’t like getting involved with boys, so don't even try."

That was a bummer but what she said about Prinplup’s beauty wasn’t all that untrue.

Danny's POV

He didn't even look at me when he gave that announcement. My own father ignored me, and I’d simply return the same. Did he even know it hurt me? I stayed up to clean the dining table and dishes, and it was midnight before I retired to my room.

Devin was already well and comfortable on the bed, fortunately on his side. Awake, sadly. The comment I expected came when I changed into my PJs.

"Well, Prinplup, nice pants," he commented.

"Well, Pikachu, nice face," I retorted, and turned off the lights.

"Ready to sleep?" he said coyly.

I crawled to my side of the bed. "Spare me your silly games, Devin. I’m tired." I realized I accidentally said his name, but my ego vanished when I yawned.

"Good night, Danny for Daniella.”

Urgh. Just screw him.