Dandelion Flowers (Phan)

Chapter Two

September 14, 1996, 6:54 p.m

Daniel Howell, or Dan, stared up at his mother with the most innocent face he could muster. He kindly asked if he could play with the neighborhood kids in their game of kickball. His mother said no due to the current hour, but with the help of convincing from Dan's father, she was beginning to cave. She frowned at her son with a disapproving look before sighing. 

"Fine, fine, go play. But you must be back in this house at nine o'clock sharp. Understand?" She sharply stated. 

Dan nodded happily, "I understand, mum! Thank you." 

His mother smiled, "Have fun, Bear." She gently rubbed his back before he slipped from her grip and stumbled to put on his shoes. His parent's grinned at each other as they followed their son out to the yard. They watched as Dan sprinted over to the next door neighbor, Travis, and his son, Chris and began talking animatedly to the pair. Chris let out a squeal of happiness before taking Dan's hand and pulling him down the road. 

Dan ran steadily next to Chris as they both made their way to the central area located in the middle of the neighborhood. By the time they arrived, a group of kids already were beginning a game.  They both split up and joined opposite teams to make it fair. The neighboorhood kids welcomed the pair with open arms and quickly told them their game strategy.

A couple hours passed by before the kids were tired out from all the running. Dan could feel his shirt sticking to his chest from all of the sweat but simply ignored it. Chris had already gone home due to his curfew at eight, leaving Dan to walk up the street below. None of the other kids walking in Dan's direction, instead the walked in the opposite direction to their respective houses. Dan didn't mind the lack of company, in fact, the silence left him time to think.

He thought about the strange discomfort in his house as his parents slowly drifted apart. He thought about how he was going to tell his mum that he accidently broke her favorite necklace while playing dress up yesterday morning. But mostly, he thought about the noticeably placed for sale sign in front of Chris' house.

Dan was so deep in thought he didn't hear the rumble of a truck engine behind him. He didn't even notice when the truck stopped and two large, burly men stepped out.

"Hey, kid," One of the men growled at Dan. Dan turned around to see the two strangers staring at him with malice and anger in their eyes. The strangers scared Dan more than he'd like to admit. Subconsciously, he took a few steps away from the pair.

"Hi," Dan squeaked quietly. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

The other man laughed, "Don't worry, kid, we are friends with your parents. So, that makes us friends, right?"

Dan didn't know if he wanted to be friends with the two strangers, but if his parents are friends with them then he he should be polite and accept. "Yeah," Dan agreed.

"There's been an accident at your grandparents house, your mother asked us to drive you to the hospital to meet her," The one man spoke slowly and sympathetically.

Dan frowned and began to tear up at the sound of his grandparents being hurt. "Will they be okay?" He sniffled out.

"Oh, of course they will," The man quickly reassured. "They will be much better once you arrive."

Dan nodded his head in agreement. "Then we should leave now," He stated confidently.

A wicked grin spread across their faces but they quickly covered it with a sympathetic smile. "Just climb into the back, kid," The one stated.

Dan shuffled hurriedly over to the truck and wrenched the door open. One of the men kindly helped him up into a seat and then proceeded to climb into the drivers seat. Dan buckled with the two strangers, but not strangers got situated in front.

"Are you ready back there, Clint?" The man sitting in the driver's seat called while looking through the rear view mirror.

Dan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "My name's not-" Suddenly, the trucks door locked with a loud click.

"He's not talking to you, kid," A raspy voice said behind Dan. Before Dan could turn around two hands snaked up from behind him and pressed a smelly cloth over his nose. Dan struggled against the strange smelling cloth but the more Dan struggled the sleepier he became.

Dan's eyes began to get heavy and his eyelids fluttered with sleep. He fought off the strange chemical the best he could, but he wasn't strong enough.

"Goodnight, kid."

September 15, 1996, 8:47 a.m

When Dan woke up he was confused and disoriented. He couldn't make out the objects around him, they all were just a massive blur. Behind him he could hear the steady beeping from a heart monitor machine and a small woosh as a machine steadily pumped oxygen into a tube connected to the mask over his face. He could faintly hear voices from somewhere down the hall, but he couldn't make out any of the words they said. His head was getting muffled again and his eyes were beginning to flutter shut. Dan didn't want to go back to sleep.

He was too scared to.

September 23, 1996, 11:01 p.m

The anesthesia wore off for the fourth time and Dan was already sick of being put under. He didn't know how long he was out for, but he did know that he hasn't slept well since he was kidnapped. His head throbbed and his body felt incredibly hot. Dan could only assume that he was getting a fever. His eyes fluttered open slowly to avoid the wrath of the harsh lights above him. The florescent lights made his head pound with a small beat every few seconds. He felt nauseous, but his stomach was too empty to throw up any food.

There was a small throw blanket resting over his legs and tucked neatly underneath the sides of the mattress Dan currently laid on. Dan could only assume that the main source of heat was coming from that blanket, so he gingerly picked up the edge to throw the blanket on the floor. The second Dan's fingers touched the blanket a faint sizzling sound could be heard and the harsh smell of smoke filled his nostrils. Dan coughed loudly and pulled away from the blanket only to realize that there is a burnt hole where his fingers previously were.

Dan gasped and reached for the blanket to analyze it, but the fabric only caught on fire by his frantic touch. The fire ate the blanket hungrily and quickly. Dan quickly pulled his legs out from under the blanket and tumbled over the side of the bed. As Dan became more scared the fire grew larger and ate through the bed at a quicker rate. A few men rushed into the room with buckets of water but Dan could barely pay attention to them.

He did this.

Dan couldn't wrap his head around it. There was only one word that he could think about:

Monster.