Random Somethings

Ross: Part 1

As he drove home he mentally debated if his biological parents were really just lucky idiots with a talent for machines or are the epitome of dumb geniuses because when he first got his powers, he was confused, shocked and irritated when he found out the hard way that his wacko parents' inventions actually worked and that they really, really hurt.

Despite that painful discovery, it was more painful to find out that his parents weren't lunatics like he had always believed. The supernatural are real and he had unwittingly unleashed it to the world the day he died and came back to life.

Daniel shook his head to clear it out of useless reminiscing. There was no point in remembering what he couldn't change.

As soon as Daniel reached the building with the gaudy sign bearing his surname, he parked the van walked up to his room, pocketed some of his parents' money and packed up all the things that was necessary for a long stay, before commuting towards his own house.

There were a lot of abandoned houses in Riddle Ville. Maybe it was because the city itself was faring poorly or the prevalent feeling of ominous death or just the fact that strange unexplainable things kept happening everywhere but there were a lot of abandoned houses within its city limits. Daniel found them and discovered one that was just perfect, far away and rundown but not completely destroyed with some of the furniture in good condition. It took some work and a lot of illegal activities but he managed to rewire the electricity and the water pipes of his new house to the school therefore having free electricity and water. One of the unfortunate side effects that he discovered about his new body is the fact that his metabolism is fast and he constantly has to eat more frequently than most humans do. Take out, convenience stores or cooking for himself just couldn't keep him satisfied most days.

Honestly, if he didn't need the money for his appetite and school fees he would have moved out ages ago.

Daniel walked inside his house and meandered through the cluttered living room, making a beeline for his room and carelessly threw his bag at the bed. In comparison to the room he had in the Ross household that looked barely lived in save for the scattered notes on the desk and floor, here it was pretty obvious that it was owned by a teenage boy; a teenage boy in love with the galaxy.

There were posters about NASA and rockets, glow in the dark stars all over the room, a shelf filled with books and some Star Wars and Star Trek merchandise at the left of the room near the neatly made twin sized bed that had a chest at the foot of it. The dresser had a bedside lamp with an unfinished book nearby at the right side of the bed, and at the wall directly opposite of the bed was desk where his laptop rested.

Daniel threw himself on the bed and relaxed, after that stressful time spent in his parents' presence despite that fact that he barely had to interact with them for more than thirty minutes, he felt like his calm self again.

Daniel was drifting off to sleep when his phone buzzed; a bit annoyed he fished his phone out of his pocket and checked the ID. It was a message from... Danielle?

The message read: Danny where are you?

... Odd, he thought to himself. Since when did she ever look for him?

He immediately gave out his reply: in riddle where else

He didn't get a reply but he did get a call instead. Mentally debating whether he should answer it or not, his decided to find out what he did wrong this time and answered the call. It was a rare occurrence when his sister texted or called him and most of the time it was just to yell at him for fucking something up or letting their embarrassing parents loose as if he was their keeper.

"Hello—?" he barely got his greeting out of his mouth before the person on the other side yelled at his ear.

"Danny where are you?!" The voice was unmistakably Danielle, the pitch and the tone was perfectly similar to his sister's preferred method of communication, that is to say yelling at everything. "Tell me where you are and don't you dare lie to me!"

"Oh yeah? What'll you do if I did lie?" This was no different from the usual way they talk. She'll put him down and belittle him and the strained family life would continue on like normal.

"Danny please!" She begged. Begged, that... that does not happen. His sister never begged, despite himself he grew worried.

"Danielle what's wrong with you?"

"Danny stop being difficult, I'm worried about you okay?"

"... bullshit."

"No. Not bullshit."

"Is it about Dave and Daphne? They're fine from what I've seen, haven't done anything majorly embarrassing aside from being their usual selves and I'm not doing illegal so really, why are you calling?"

Daniel says as he forced himself to believe nothing was wrong or weird about this scenario. Normally Danielle never begs or asks about what he's doing just like how he never asks how she gets extra cash; and anything remotely sibling-like or affectionate was never done by either of them. That was an unspoken boundary that had never been crossed until today.

"Dave and Daphne are..." She cuts herself off but there was an unmistakable waver in her voice and despite himself Daniel felt concerned, what was wrong with Danielle? Thankfully she spoke again before he can ponder more.

"Danny... mom and dad are... I just got a call from the police and they said that mom and dad was involved in an accident in the main road and..." the concern on her voice sounds so real, terrifyingly real.

"Danielle... you're acting weird. Are you okay? What happened to them?"

"Danny, come home. I... I can't tell you over the phone. I can't believe it myself."

"... It'll take a while but I'll be there." This is getting really out of hand and the conversation keeps getting stranger. What is going on?

"... Please be careful Daniel..."

And then the call dropped.

Well... that confirmed it. Something strange was going on and the bad feeling he had since that morning strengthened, he couldn't shake the feeling that somehow someway... it was his fault.