𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁
| 𝑆𝑃𝐿𝐼𝑁𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐸𝐷 𝑆𝑂𝑈𝐿𝑆. |
ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟʟᴀ ɴᴇᴡʙʏ ᴍᴇᴇᴛs ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʙᴏʏs
ᴡʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀs ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴀs ʏᴏᴜ'ᴅ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ.
𝐹𝑂𝑈𝑅 | 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑑𝑜 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡.
𝑁𝐸𝐴𝑇𝐿𝑌 𝐷𝐸𝐶𝑂𝑅𝐴𝑇𝐸𝐷 𝑃𝐴𝑅𝐿𝑂𝑅𝑆 𝐴𝑁𝐷
𝐴 𝐺𝐼𝑅𝐿 𝑊𝐻𝑂 𝐷𝑂𝐸𝑆𝑁'𝑇 𝐴𝐶𝑇 𝐿𝐼𝐾𝐸 𝐴 𝐺𝐼𝑅𝐿.
(ᴛᴡ; ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴs ᴏғ ɪɴᴊᴜʀʏ, ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DANIELLA'S STILL MUDDY SHOES skidded against the concrete of Mike's driveway, bringing her bike to a stop. She nodded at the girl, who was standing on the pegs of her bike, and motioned for her to get off, which she did hesitantly. Daniella let her bike fall onto its side and, taking the girl's hand in her own, the two girls walked towards Mike's front door, which was being held open by a smiling Dustin.
Daniella watched Lucas and Mike swing open the door to what looked like the Wheeler's basement, but she couldn't move her feet away from the plush carpet of the living room. The house was infinitely different to the house that Daniella had lived in for the past twelve years of her life, with two stories, a huge dining room that could be seen from the door, and lots of expensive-looking decorations. Golden knick-knacks sat upon white shelves and a rough rug covered the hardwood planks at the entrance of the house. A perfect house for a perfect family.
Droplets of water hung from the end of Daniella's braid, and they ran down her back, making her shiver. Before she could get too carried away and begin to roam the house with an awestruck expression, Daniella walked through the door towards the basement, thanking Mike for waiting for the two girls. Lucas and Dustin were already standing in the middle of the room as Daniella led the soaking girl over to the couch and sat her down with a reassuring pat on her shoulder.
"So, you don't know her?" Mike asked Daniella, pointing at the bald girl that she was stepping away from. She shook her head patiently, despite her having done the dme gesture for the past three times he had asked the same question.
"No, I've never seen her before. The first time I saw her was when you guys did," Daniella explained in her airy voice as she placed her backpack against the foot of the couch.
The girl on the couch wouldn't look away from where her eyes were trained on the floor, her breath coming in heavy pants. The short hair on the top of her head had accumulated drops of rain, and they dripped down her forehead and into her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away. Mike's thick jacket was draped over her shoulders, but she continued to shiver from the damp shirt that clung to her skin.
"Is there a number we can call for your parents?" Mike asked her. The girl looked up at him, but did not open her mouth to answer.
"Where's your hair?" Dustin asked. "Do you have cancer?"
"Did you run away?" Lucas piped up.
"Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"Is that blood?"
Mike slapped Lucas' hand away and shouted, "Stop it! You're freaking her out!"
"She's freaking me out!" Lucas shouted.
"I bet she's deaf," Dustin said, stepping towards the girl. He brought his hands together right in front of her face, the loud clapping sound making her flinch and jump back. "Not deaf."
"Stop doing that to her," Daniella scolded the boys calmly, crouching down to be at eye level with the girl. "Hi. I'm Daniella, but you can call me Dani. That's what Will calls me, at least."
The boy shared an odd look with each other, and then looked back at Daniella. Of course, the boys had seen Will wave to the silver-haired girl in the halls or during class, but they hadn't expected them to be closer than that. He had told them about her, and about how sweet and funny she was. They just didn't expect to meet her half-soaked in the middle of the forest.
"You don't have to be afraid," Daniella continued. "We're nice. We won't hurt you. Are you.. are you in danger?"
The girl didn't respond.
"Mike, do you have any clothes you can give her? She's shivering like crazy."
Mike nodded quickly, running over to the other side of the basement and digging through a pale blue laundry basket filled with clean, folded clothes. A loud rumble of thunder sounded from outside, and the girl flinched, clenching her eyes closed in fear. Daniella frowned, timidly bringing her own bandaged hand towards the girl's.
"Hey, it's okay. It's just thunder– that's all. Look, look at this." Daniella raised her arm and pointed to the braided bracelet on her wrist. "It's my lucky bracelet. I made it a few months ago, and I kiss it if I ever need some luck. It's pretty, isn't it?"
The girl nodded slowly, bringing her hands up to fiddle with the string. Daniella giggled softly as Lucas and Dustin eyed each other with uncertainty, not completely believing that Daniella had never met this girl before. The way that she spoke to her was so weirdly natural, and if she was always like this, then a girl like Daniella had to have a million friends, didn't she?
"Here, these are clean, okay?" Mike said once he returned, handing her the pile of warm clothes.
Daniella dropped the girl's hand, placing it on the couch beside where she sat with a comforting smile. The girl did nothing except bring the cloth of the clean shirt up to her face and wipe it on her damp cheek. With a glance to Mike and then to Daniella, she stood up, pulling off the jacket that Mike had placed on her shoulders and her shaky hands reached down to the hem of her shirt and–
"No, no, no!" Mike yelled, holding the girl's wrist before she could pull her shirt over her head. Mike's face had flushed red and the girl looked confusedly towards Daniella, whose eyes were wide with shock. Lucas and Dustin were exclaiming loudly, and they had turned their backs to her. Mike quickly let go of the girl's hand and turned himself around as well, the palms of his hands covering his eyes.
"Oh, don't be so immature!" Daniella reprimanded the boys with an eye roll. She took the girl's hand in her own and smiled softly. "You shouldn't change in front of other people, especially not boys. Because then, they'll react like.. that. Privacy, it's important. Mike, do you have a bathroom down here?"
"J-just over there." He pointed to the back of the basement, his eyes still shut.
Daniella grabbed the pile of clothes from the couch and took the girl's hand again, leading her to the bathroom. The quiet whispering of the boys as the girls disappeared down the hall faded out as Daniella pushed the door of the bathroom open, letting the strange girl step in. She watched her look around the room, her expression in awe. Daniella placed the stack of clothes on the bathroom counter.
"Just take off the shirt, dry yourself off a bit, and then put these on," she said, pointing to the dry shirt. "You'll feel a lot better after, I promise. And there's less of a chance that you get a cold."
Daniella turned to leave, her hand reaching for the doorknob to close the door, but she couldn't. The girl was holding the door open, her eyes becoming frightened once more, and Daniella frowned.
"What's wrong? You don't want me to close it?" She asked.
The girl shook her head. "No."
A small smile pulled at Daniella's lips. "What do you know, you do talk. You've got a pretty voice, by the way," she said. "Okay, what about this? Is this okay?" She closed the door most of the way, but left a thin crack open so that the girl could still see her and she saw the girl nod.
"Yes."
"Great. Come out when you're done, okay? We'll be here, don't worry."
Daniella turned away from the door and walked back towards the boys, who were standing in a triangle and talking amongst themselves again. She pushed the baby hairs that were stuck to her forehead out of her face and picked up her backpack from the floor, swinging it over her shoulder.
"Do you guys think you can take care of her?" Daniella asked, making their conversation stop and their eyes move to her. "It's pretty late, and I should probably get home soon."
"Wait, and what are we supposed to do with her?" Lucas asked sternly and Daniella shrugged.
"Give her a place to sleep, some food. She's really skinny and she looks like she ran away or something."
"You're a girl– don't you know how to do this stuff?"
"What, take care of a girl we found in the middle of the woods? No, that wasn't in my 'How To Be A Girl' manual," Daniella snapped. "Look, she's probably just scared which is why she's acting all weird, alright?"
"Her head is shaved," Lucas argued.
"And she tried to get naked," Dustin added, mimicking the action and knocking his hat off in the process.
"There's something seriously wrong with her," Lucas said. "Like, wrong in the head."
"Now, that's just rude. I'm not saying you guys have to keep her here forever. Just for tonight, or until tomorrow, tops." Daniella reasoned.
"She probably escaped from Pennhurst," he shot back.
"From where?"
"The nuthouse in Kerley County."
"You got a lot of family there?" Dustin nudged his friend teasingly.
"Bite me," Lucas growled. "Seriously, through. Think about it. That would explain why her shaved head and why she's so crazy."
"Just because she tried to pull her shirt off doesn't make her crazy," Daniella said, but Lucas only ignored her.
"But she went like.." Dustin showed them the action again and she rolled her eyes.
"She's an escapee at this point. She's probably a psycho."
"She is not–"
"Like Michael Myers," Dustin pointed out. It was like they couldn't even hear her.
Daniella stepped away from the boys for a second and turned to look at the bathroom where the girl was changing. She could see a sliver of the bright yellow shirt on the floor, and she smiled to herself at the thought of the girl being warm and safe. But she couldn't help but wonder why it seemed that the girl didn't know how to be a kid. No kid, especially not a girl, would try to change in front of four other kids, so why did she?
"Yes! We went out to find Will, not another problem."
"Hold on, what's going on with Will?" Daniella asked as she turned back around, taking her spot next to Mike again.
The boys didn't reply.
"I think we should tell your mom," Dustin said to Mike, whose eyes widened in disbelief.
"I second that."
"Who's crazy now?"
"How is that crazy?" Lucas countered.
"'Cause, we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?" Mike said with an eye roll.
"So?"
"So, if I tell my mom, and she tells your mom and your mom.."
"Our houses become Alcatraz."
"Exactly. We'll never find Will."
"Someone tell me what happened with Will!" Daniella shouted, her light voice becoming harsh. Her cheeks were red, and her hands, which had been clenched into fists, began to shake at her sides. "What's wrong with him? Is he okay?"
Mike swallowed with difficulty and with a look to Lucas, he spoke up timidly. "He's missing."
"What?" Daniella asked, her voice becoming quiet and nervous. "What do you mean.. missing?"
"We mean just that," Lucas said, feeling annoyed. "The last time we saw him was last night. We were all here but apparently, he never went home."
"So, what, he ran away or something?"
Mike shook his head. "No, it can't be that."
"Then, what? Do you think he got kidnapped?"
"We don't know." Lucas gritted his teeth at her.
Daniella frowned, her eyes glancing back to the closed door of the bathroom. She tuned the boys out for a second, seeing the girl's fingers curl over the edge of the door and pull it open. She looked quite funny, Daniella thought, with Mike's oversided pullover and sweatpants hanging off of her body and covering her bare feet. Daniella's frown was replaced with a smile, just for a second. She grinned at the girl, who returned it hesitantly, and they held eye contact until Daniella felt a tap on her shoulder.
The three boys were staring at her, and Mike smiled half-heartedly while he awkwardly moved his hand away from her shoulder. "Are you gonna come with us?" He asked, making Dustin and Lucas look at him with shocked expressions. "To find Will, I mean."
Daniella's lips parted, and she sighed, her breath shallow. "Um, yeah– yeah, of course," she said, feeling a nervous pit grow in her stomach. Mike waved his hand dismissively at Lucas and Dustin, who were still watching him with raised eyebrows, and smiled at the girl.
"Uh, cool. Do you have a walkie-talkie?" He asked, and Daniella nodded. "Okay, we usually use channel six, so try to contact us through there. Where's your house?"
"On Euclid Street."
"Oh, great, you live close to Dustin. Alright, so, try calling him if you need anything, and we'll let you know if we're gonna do anything. About Will, I mean," Mike added when Lucas nudged his shoulder.
Daniella nodded sheepishly, letting the erupting feeling of happiness take over her heart. She smiled at the three boys and turned away to go talk to the girl over at the bathroom door, her slightly crooked teeth showing through her grin. But it seems that her joy for making friends was one-sided, because as she wrapped her arms around the girl and bid her farewell, Lucas tugged on Mike's shoulder bitterly.
"Why would you–"
"She was doing something in the woods today," Mike interrupted, any remnants of his smile having disappeared the second Daniella walked away. "Maybe she knows something we don't. We need to find out what that might be. We just gotta get her to trust us. Besides," Mike turned his gaze away from the girl and faced his skeptical friends, "it's not like I'm inviting her to the party."
𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁
A/N:
fourth chapter finished! now you guys know what the bracelet is for! i really like those little things about daniella that make her a real person and i hope you guys are enjoying her character :) fifth chapter should be out soon but until then, lmk what you think about the chapter!
ily all,
liv <3
05/10/2021
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