"Dad. Dad. Dad...We're talking to Pinocchio!!" Dani exclaimed as she continued to hop in place, though she had also taken to hitting his arm in excitement.
Pinocchio grinned widely at the girl's reaction while David sighed and placed a hand over his daughter's.
"Yes, we've established that already, sweetheart," he said in a bored tone.
A pout formed on Dani's lips as she finally stopped her hopping. "How are you not excited?! This is Pinocchio we're talking about!!" she said and looked at the said man with a wide grin.
Pinocchio winked while giving them a finger wave.
"Because I'm a grown man?" David said before sighing. "And you're supposed to be a grown woman Dani, now stop it."
Another pout formed on Dani's features as she said, "You're no fun."
She then held a hand up to her head and gripped her father's arm tightly as she suddenly felt weak. "And neither are you!!"
"Uh, I'm no doctor or anything, but I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen, right?" Pinocchio asked while slowly walking over to them.
"Thanks for the pointer, Captain Obvious," David muttered as he held onto Dani's waist.
"I'm fine...I'm fine," the girl told them as her vision cleared up. "I guess I used a little too much of the energy I have left."
Pinocchio hummed as he stood in front of them and examined Dani with furrowed brows, and she shifted on her feet at his intense gaze on her.
"Huh," he mumbled while tilting her chin up.
"Hey, watch it," David warned.
Seemingly unaffected by the warning, Pinocchio glanced at David before he let go of Dani's chin.
"This is worse than I thought," he whispered while looking between her eyes. "Hm. Well."
He stepped back with a smile. "I have my work cut out for me, don't I? Let's get this started, shall we?"
Dani's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as a small frown formed on her lips and she asked, "Wait...you're just willing to help me?"
Pinocchio nodded. "Yep."
"Just like that?" she questioned with an eyebrow raised.
A smirk grew on his features as he shrugged. "Anything for my biggest fan," he said with a wink.
Dani's cheeks burned in slight embarrassment as she thought about her reaction to learning who he was, and noticing the look she had, Pinocchio grinned.
"Wait, wait, wait," David cut in as he looked at Pinocchio in suspicion. "What's in it for you, toyboy?"
"Dad!" Dani scolded as Pinocchio narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?! Stop that!"
"You come to me in the hopes of me being able to help your daughter, and when finding out that I actually can, your first thought is to insult me?" Pinocchio asked and laughed through his nose. "I may look young, but my age still adds up. Not all of me is still a child. Don't forget that."
David narrowed his eyes back, but before he could say anything, Dani grabbed his arm again and gave him a pleading look as she said, "Daddy, stop. Can't you see that he's willing to help me? We don't have any other options left, and we are running on a time limit. So can you just...please let him help?"
"Yes, can you please let me help?" Pinocchio repeated with a mocking pout.
Dani gave him a look. "You're not helping your case here."
He mouthed the word Sorry in response, which made her roll her eyes and turn back to her father, who looked in between them before he settled his eyes on Dani with a sigh.
"Alright, alright, fine," he mumbled and looked at Pinocchio. "But I swear to you if my daughter turns out worse than she did when we first got here, you're going to wish you remained a puppet."
"Dad!" Dani exclaimed while hitting his arm. "Cut it out!!"
Pinocchio's eyes held a sudden seriousness to them as he kept eye contact with David and said, "With all due respect, Mr.Richards, I am the only person in this town who knows how to help save your daughter. I can see how much she's struggling, and I'm willing to help her out of the kindness of my heart. So it'll do you good to never threaten me again. And while we're on the subject, never ever call me toyboy again."
He then turned his attention to Dani with a small smile and said, "I've been following your story for a very long time, Dani. I don't believe in harming kids, and though you may not be one now, you were one when this all started. So, I'm going to do the very best that I can to help you get better, okay? I promise you."
A small form of hope grew inside Dani's chest at Pinocchio's words as she could see that he had meant everything he'd said. She couldn't quite explain it, but from the moment he had stepped out of the shadows, she'd had an overwhelming feeling to put her full trust in him.
So she did.
With a smile, Dani nodded and said, "Okay...I believe you."
A wide grin spread across Pinocchio's lips as he gave the girl a wink.
✧
After getting David to - reluctantly- apologize for his words, Pinocchio led the father-daughter duo to his upstairs apartment where they all sat in his living room. Although David and Dani had informed him of everything that had been happening to her since Henry's death, Pinocchio had yet to explain to them exactly how he could help them.
"Okay, so, to recap," Pinocchio said with a clap. "You, David, killed Henry by shooting him in the head, correct?"
David sighed and nodded, which caused Pinocchio to nod in response and turn his attention to Dani.
"And you, Dani, are now hearing him in your head, and have a mysterious claw mark on your abdomen?" he questioned, causing her to nod as well. "Interesting...If you don't mind, may I see it?"
"Absolutely not."
Dani huffed in annoyance. While initially understandable at first given how they were welcomed when stepping into the store, David's hostile attitude towards Pinocchio had slowly begun to work the girl's nerves.
"Yes, you can if it'll help," she answered, and directed the last word towards her father with a pointed look.
The man rolled his eyes at the gesture.
Dani got up to sit beside Pinocchio, who sat on the opposite couch and lifted her shirt. Pinocchio furrowed his brows as he examined the mark before glancing up at Dani.
"Do you mind if I..?"
Getting the hint, Dani nodded for him to continue, and Pinocchio looked back down as he raised his hand to gently touch the mark. As soon as his fingers came into contact with it, his eyes widened in shock.
"Oh...Oh, God," he mumbled while pulling his hand away.
A frown curved on Dani's features at his reaction as she shared a worried look with David.
"What? What is it?" she asked while pulling her shirt back down.
Pinocchio blew out a breath and looked between them as he asked, "Are either of you familiar with the term Spirit Possession?"
A sharp chill immediately ran down Dani's spine at the question, and noticing her reaction, Pinocchio sent a soft squeeze to her hand, which was surprisingly able to bring her a little comfort.
"No, but I'm pretty sure it means exactly how it sounds," David mumbled as his worry showed more prominent than before.
"I-... You think...You think that Henry is possessing me?" Dani stammered as her stomach churned at the thought of it.
Pinocchio gave her a sad look. "I didn't want to believe it at first...but the signs you're showing add up to it, and the mark only gave it away," he informed them. "He hasn't fully taken over you yet, though...He's waiting for the right moment."
Dani's eyebrows furrowed as David frowned and asked, "What do you mean by the right moment?"
Pinocchio looked around for a moment before he got up and walked over to a bookshelf. "Because of my background, my father and I spent years working in research on the Spirit World," he told them as his hands roamed over the books.
"Wait. What do you mean because of your background?" Dani asked him with a frown. "Didn't your dad wish on a star to make you come to life?"
Pinocchio smirked as he turned his head over his shoulder to look at her. "That's what we wanted you to believe," he said before smiling as he grabbed a book.
"Ahh, here we go! Right where I left it," he then said as he opened the book while walking back to the couch.
"Wait a minute. So that stuff about wishing on a star isn't true?" David asked him, and Dani smirked a little at the man's sudden interest in Pinocchio's background.
"Eh...The real story is a tad bit darker than that...Didn't want to scare the kids," Pinocchio explained and glanced at Dani as he said his last words.
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You're only like, nine years older than I am," she grumbled with a frown.
Pinocchio snorted as he continued to flip through the pages. "Five, technically, and you just proved my point."
Rolling her eyes again, she asked, "Well, what's the real story?"
David nodded his head to show he wanted to know the same thing.
"You sure you want to know?" Pinocchio asked as he looked up at Dani. "I don't want to ruin your childhood."
She scoffed at him. "I'm twenty years old and possibly possessed by the ghost of the wolf who murdered my grandmother," she told him. "My childhood was ruined ages ago."
"Touché," Pinocchio said with a nod as he furrowed his eyebrows.
He then sighed and said, "Okay, then...The star my dad wished on, was actually a witch."
"Like a witch, witch?" Dani questioned with a frown. "Like the one that tried to kill my best friends when they were children?"
Pinocchio narrowed his eyes and tilted his head in curiosity. "Your best friends are Hans and Greta?"
Dani nodded with a smile. "Since Kindergarten."
"Huh," Pinocchio said in genuine astonishment. "Anyway. My dad called on the help of a witch to bring me to life since he really, really wanted to be a father," a small smile formed on his lips before it disappeared, "So she did...by possessing the puppet with the spirit of a little boy who had died young."
Dani's eyebrows raised in shock as David let out a low whistle.
"Well, certainly didn't see that one coming," he muttered, and Dani nodded in agreement.
Pinocchio shrugged and focused back on the book as he mumbled, "You said you wanted to know."
Dani sighed softly and sat back on the couch.
"So this Spirit World stuff," David began, and Pinocchio nodded for him to continue. "I know you said that you have...the spirit of a young boy and everything...but how exactly does it affect you now? And how does this help with what's happening to Dani?"
Dani's lips pursed as she nodded in agreement and turned to Pinocchio, who sighed softly before looking up with a glint in his eyes.
"Your daughter says Hi," he said with his gaze trained on David.
"What? I'm right here, and I didn't even say anything," Dani said with a frown.
Pinocchio shook his head as he continued to look at David, a small smile on his lips as he did so. "No...No, his other daughter...Annie."
David's eyes widened in shock before they narrowed in anger as he began to ask, "How the hell did you-"
"Because I can see spirits, David. Dani," Pinocchio informed them. "When the witch brought me back to life, it messed up the balance of nature. So, in turn, I was given the ability to see spirits...Both good and bad, though mostly just the good ones due to my own innocent spirit...and your daughter is a very good spirit, Mr.Richards."
Dani's eyes softened at his words as she looked over to see her father with tears in his eyes.
"So she's...she's here?" he stuttered out, and her heart clenched at the clear broken heartedness in his tone.
Pinocchio nodded. "She's with you every day," he said with a smile. "She wants you to know that she's happy where she is and that she isn't mad at you...She never has been."
David sucked in a breath and covered his mouth as he blinked his tears away.
Pinocchio turned to Dani. "And she also wants to thank you, Dani, for making her father happy again...though it was under completely horrible circumstances," he said with a cringe.
She let out a tearful laugh.
"And she wants you to fight this...for yourself and your family...but Frankie especially," he then said before furrowing his brows. "In fact...they all want you to fight it."
"Th...They?" Dani whispered with furrowed brows.
Pinocchio nodded with a small smile. "Your grandmother," he said. "And Mr.B."
Dani let out a sob as Pinocchio grabbed her hand, and a surprised gasp escaped her mouth as she was suddenly able to see someone she'd longed to see since she'd left him.
"What...What's going on?" David asked as his eyes stayed on his daughter, while her eyes remained on the person in front of her.
"Mr.B?" she whispered in shock.
David's eyes widened at her words as Mr.B smiled and knelt in front of her.
"Hey there, Dani Dear," he greeted the girl softly, and she let out a sob at both the sound of his voice and the nickname he'd given her.
"Oh, you hush with all that crying now!"
Another surprised gasp left Dani's mouth as she turned her head to see her grandmother.
"Grandma Neenie," she cried out, which caused David to smile.
"Oh, my sweet Dani baby," Janine murmured. "We need you to fight this, sweetheart...I know you're scared, baby, but you've come too far to give up now."
Dani looked down in shock as she was able to feel her grandmother's hand that had grabbed onto hers.
"You are a very strong girl, whether you want to believe it or not...so I know you can beat this like the warrior you are," Janine said with a gentle smile.
"We understand that you miss us, sweetheart."
Dani turned her head at the sound of Mr.B's voice.
"We miss you too, more than you'll ever know...but you have to understand that it is just not your time yet," he said with a saddened look. "I know this is tough for you, but as Janine said, you are a very strong girl, and we all know that you can beat this. You just have to believe it yourself."
"And don't you dare let that no good Dylan Bradberry let you feel ashamed of your beautiful self," Grandma Neenie added on with a slightly angered look in her eyes. "Little devil. I always knew that boy was up to no good."
"Alright, Janine," Mr.B said with a small laugh while grabbing the woman's hand. "No need to get all worked up about it."
Janine scoffed and rolled her eyes as Dani and Pinocchio laughed softly at the interaction.
"But she's right, Dani Dear," Mr.B then said while looking at his Goddaughter. "Don't let what he said get to you. You're a beautiful girl, and you should always believe that...Just be careful around him, okay? Never trusted that boy as far as I could throw him."
"Now who's the one getting all worked up?" Janine playfully questioned, which caused the male pig to give her a playfully scolding look.
Dani laughed before sniffing as she said, "I...I love you guys."
"We love you too, Dani baby," Janine said with a sad smile.
"And me too!!"
Dani's eyebrows furrowed as she looked up to see a small girl sitting on the couch beside David, and their matching hazel eyes had told her everything she'd needed to know about who the girl was.
"Don't forget me!! I love you too, sissy!!" she exclaimed.
Dani let out a tearful laugh. "I love you too, Annie."
David's smile widened as he instantly realized who Dani was talking to.
Annie jumped off the couch to walk over to her sister. "And you can't let the Big Bad Wolf Man hurt you again!!" she said with a pout before smiling. "You can beat him, sissy!! I know you can!!"
Dani smiled at her as Annie giggled with a wave before they all disappeared as Pinocchio let go of her hand, and her smile grew as she leaned over to wrap her arms around him.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Pinocchio smiled in response and rubbed her back as he hugged her tightly.
Pulling away from him, Dani then looked over to her father with a playful smirk on her features as she asked, "Believe him now?"
David scoffed at the question.
A few minutes later, after calming themselves down from witnessing Pinocchio's gift, the man walked back into the living room with two water bottles in hand and handed one to David before going to sit back beside Dani.
"Okay. Getting back to the Dani-Henry situation," he said. "Because I'm sure you two are still wondering about what he's trying to do...I mean, I know I would."
"So, what exactly is happening?" David asked with furrowed brows. "Because I'm pretty sure Bishop W already performed an exorcism on her."
"Still can't believe that actually happened," Dani mumbled with pursed lips.
"Well," Pinocchio said as he picked his book back up. "According to my notes, some spirits can gain access to the physical world by grabbing hold of a physical body they held a connection with while they were still living."
"Ew," Dani said as her nose wrinkled. "Henry and I did not have a connection."
Both men smirked at the girl's words before Pinocchio spoke again.
"Well...While you may not have had that kind of connection, you two have formed some type of relationship over the past ten years that was strong enough to give him a portal back to the physical world," he explained, making her frown.
"How does that even happen? If he's opening a portal through me like you say he is, wouldn't he have to like...ask for my permission?" she questioned with a tilt of her head.
Amusement shone in Pinocchio's eyes as he shook his head and asked, "How is it that we're just now meeting?!"
Dani smiled at his question as David snorted.
"But to answer your question, no, he wouldn't have," Pinocchio then said and looked down at his book. "In order for a spirit to gain access back to the physical world, they'd have to make a pretty strong deal with a certain spirit, and then would need to inhabit the physical body of a living person with a weakened enough mind state for them to take over."
"My PTSD," Dani mumbled and shook her head. "I was having dreams and hallucinations of him after I woke up in the hospital...Is that when the portal opened?"
"Possibly," Pinocchio answered with a nod. "Your mind is at its weakest when it's battling negative emotions. And when you're asleep, your body is at its most relaxed."
"Giving him the perfect opportunity to alter our minds," David mumbled, making them look over to him. "That's how he made us dream the same thing, isn't it?"
"Wait," Pinocchio said in confusion. "He messed with your dreams too?"
David nodded, which made Pinocchio puff out a breath. "Well. This just got a bit more creepy."
Dani shared a worried look with David before the duo looked back to Pinocchio. "What is it?" they asked at the same time.
"Uh...You are most definitely not going to like this one," Pinocchio mumbled with a shake of his head.
David narrowed his eyes. "And you're not going to like it if you don't tell us what the hell is going on," he threatened.
Pinocchio raised his hands in surrender. "Relax, Muscle man. I'm going to tell you."
Despite the situation at hand, Dani snorted as David rolled his eyes at the nickname.
"See! Even people you just met can see you're secretly the Hulk!!" she told the man with a smile.
Pinocchio laughed at Dani's words before getting back to business.
"If Henry had you two dreaming the exact same thing, that means he was trying to decide on whose body he would inhabit...but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that he ended up choosing Dani since both her mind and body are the weakest between you two...no offense of course," he told them.
"Eh, I would be offended, but it's obviously the truth," she said with a shrug.
"So how do we make Dani's mind strong enough for him not to fully take over?" David asked. "Because I don't know about you, sweetheart, but I don't think I want the ghost of the wolf I killed living inside my daughter."
Dani clicked her tongue and said, "Obviously not."
Before Pinocchio had a chance to answer David's question, the sound of a phone ringing erupted in the room. David gave the two an apologetic look as he took his phone out of his pocket.
"It's your mom," he told Dani while getting up from the couch. "I'm going to take this downstairs."
She nodded and watched him leave.
"They were right, you know..."
A small frown curved on Dani's lips as she turned her head at the sound of Pinocchio's voice.
"The spirits?" he said. "They were right when they said that you're strong enough to beat him."
"How would you know? You just met me today," she said with a humorless laugh.
Pinocchio frowned. "Don't do that to yourself. Don't put yourself down. You've been through a lot for a girl your age, Dani, and the fact that you're even sitting here right now speaks louder than anything else."
Dani avoided eye contact with him as she looked down at her hands. "I certainly don't see it that way," she said and shook her head. "I honestly feel like I'm on the brink of death and...and I'm scared, Pinocchio...I don't want to leave everyone I care about. I want to stay here, I do."
"Hey," Pinocchio softly said and brought her into his arms as she began to cry. "Don't worry, okay, Dani? I'm here to help you, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that you do stay here. I understand that you're scared, and it's perfectly alright to be, but I'm not going to let him take you away from us."
Dani furrowed her brows with a sniff and asked, "Us?"
"Yeah," Pinocchio said with a nod and leaned back to face her. "Us...I'm not too sure about you, but I'd very much like to remain in contact with the girl who told me she felt on the brink of death after saving her from said death."
Dani laughed softly and nodded. "I'd very much like that too," she said, which caused Pinocchio to laugh as well.
She then furrowed her brows and asked, "But why?"
He frowned at the question. "Why what?"
"Why are you so willing to help me?" Dani asked. "We hardly even know each other, and yet, you're willing to do anything you can to help me...why?"
"I...I don't know," Pinocchio said with a frown. "Not to make this weird...but I felt this...pull to you the second you and your dad drove up on the lot..."
"A pull?" Dani asked.
Pinocchio nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I know it sounds crazy...but I think we were connected somehow in a past life."
Dani's eyebrows shot up to her hairline before they furrowed again as she asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well...In this life, I was an only child growing up, but I always longed to have siblings I could talk to and play with," Pinocchio said with a sad smile. "I mean, I loved my father with all my heart, but there's something different about a sibling bond..."
"I know how you feel," Dani softly said. "Before Frankie came along, I always felt so...alone. Even with my friends by my side, I always felt so out of place because they had siblings, and I didn't...And when Frankie was finally born, I felt the happiest I'd ever been since my grandmother had died."
"I think I have a theory," Pinocchio suddenly said before shaking his head. "No. Scratch that. I think I have an explanation."
Dani raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."
"Though I might not have lived long, I have every memory of what happened during my past life," Pinocchio started, and Dani sat up in genuine astonishment.
"Really?"
He nodded and said, "Yeah. My name was Nicholas Robertson...I was born in the 1920s, and I died at seven years old from a bad case of Tuberculosis."
Dani's features saddened as she said, "Aww, poor Nicky."
"Nicky," Pinocchio said with a smile. "I had a little sister...her name was Suzi, and she was five years old."
Dani tilted her head. "Was five years old?"
Pinocchio nodded and said, "She died from the same case a couple of days before I did..."
A hand flew to Dani's heart as she said, "Oh, you poor things!!"
Pinocchio smiled again and said, "Dani...Suzi's nickname for me was Nicky because she didn't want to be like everyone else and call me Nick..."
Dani's eyes widened in surprise before she frowned and said, "But I just...called you Nicky."
Pinocchio nodded again. "Yeah, you did...and you also just said Oh you poor things...Suzi used to say that whenever someone got hurt or sick."
The realization hit Dani like a truck as she mumbled, "Oh my God.."
"Dani," she looked up at Pinocchio's softened tone, "I think we were siblings in our past lives."
Dani's lips parted in shock before she blinked and said, "Holy shit!"