I had MAJOR writers block, every time I opened the document, I stared at the same sentence over and over and nothing came to my head. At one point I decided to write about nothing and wrote about Dani being eaten and regurgitated by a Cyclops. Don't worry, I changed that though. Chapter Four ; Crashing Lightning “No, that note is higher,” Dani said to Chris. They were sitting in the living room. Sara was in the kitchen, pretending that she wasn’t listening, but Dani knew that she was. Dani pressed PLAY on the CD player and played the song that Chris and her were working on again. “See?” She asked him. Chris nodded. Dani had been surprised that he was working really hard on this. She had expected him to slack off, she had seen him at school and talked to him quite a bit, and he seemed like the type to do so. Her judgment had been wrong. “Sing once again with me,” Chris sang. “A little higher,” Dani said and laughed. Chris pursed his lips to the side, as if to be offended. “Sing once-“ “Too high,” Dani cut in. Sara turned to look at the two and laughed. Dani looked up at her sister with a smile on her face. “What?” She asked and gave a little half-laugh. “Nothing,” Sara said, still giggling a little. Grissom walked into the room and immediately felt the mood; he knew he had missed some sort of joke. Half an hour later, the two knew the song perfectly. Dani fell back onto the couch, tired out from singing so much. Chris was packing his lyrics and stuff together, getting ready to leave. He stood up and put his shoes on. “Do we have to dress in costume tomorrow for poster pictures?” Chris asked before leaving. Dani sat up, “Yeah, then we have rehearsal,” she answered. Chris nodded and left the apartment. When Dani looked up at Sara, she was staring back and giving her a somewhat of a questioning look. Dani wondered what she wanted to know. She raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” Sara shrugged. “Dinner’s ready.” Dani knew there was something that Sara wanted to ask, something more than ‘Dinner’s ready’, but Dani didn’t bother to question it, she somewhat did not want to know what it was. -- Later that night, Dani was sitting on her bed in her room reading a book. She looked over at the clock; it beamed 9:39. She looked back down at the book and flipped the page. There was a brief knock at her door before it opened and Sara’s figure let itself into Dani’s room. She sat down on the bed, next to where Dani was sitting. Dani looked up and saw the same questioning look in her eye. Now it was bugging Dani. Her curiosity got the better of her something, and she stared back at Sara, demanding answers. But Sara wasn’t going to give them. She kissed Dani on the forehead before getting up. “Goodnight sweetheart,” she said softly. Dani smiled up at her before Sara left the room. Dani put the book down on her desk and jumped as she heard a loud crash of thunder. She felt her heart rate jump, and sighed. She got up and walked out into the hall, then through the hall to the living room, where Sara was sitting in a chair, watching the lightning strike. Dani sat in the chair across from Sara and stared out at Las Vegas, watching bolts of lightning flash from the clouds to the earth. It was pretty to watch. “I’ve always liked watching lightning storms,” Sara commented, breaking the silence. Dani watched another bolt of lightning slam itself to the ground, then turned her head towards Sara. “They are nice,” She replied with a little smile, but it was a lie. Dani hated thunderstorms, she was dead scared of them. She had to be near someone during them, otherwise she would turn into a frightened, paranoid kid hiding in her closet, crying, and begging for it to stop. She turned her head back to the window and returned to watching the storm.
I can identify with her, I hate storms as well. I'm confused, what's Sara questioning and not answering about? Or hasn't it been explained yet?
It hasn't been explained yet. MWAHAHA. Chapter Five ; She’s Traumatized Dani looked down at herself and laughed. Lindsey Willows, who was standing in front of her, laughed too. The dress that Dani was wearing was very poufy and frilly. Chris walked up to the two with his costume on, complete with mask covering half of his face and cape. He started laughing hysterically, seeing Dani in a dress. She wasn’t the type to see in one. Dani slapped his arm, and pursed her lips to the side. “Nice mask,” she said as an insult. He raised an eyebrow at her, it wasn’t really an insult, because his mask looked cool. A photographer and the director came into the room, which was the drama classroom. The director smiled at the two, Dani and Chris, seeing that they were in their Christine and Phantom costumes. “They look lovely!” She said and showed a big smile. “We’re taking the pictures on the stage, since we already have some of the set ready.” Dani and Chris followed the director and photographer out of the drama room and into the auditorium, and onto the stage. The director looked around the stage, muttering a few things to herself. “How about beside this pillar?” She asked, walking over to it. The photographer nodded, “I think it would provide a nice background.” He turned to Chris and Dani. “We want your input too, what do you think?” “Sure, it sounds good,” Dani answered quietly and smiled. She was shy around people most of the time. Dani and Chris walked up the stage to where the pillar was and stood there for a moment. “So, what should we do?” Chris asked. The director thought for a moment, taking the play into context. “Well, the Phantom of the Opera is passionate, but longing, it doesn’t give easily and is mature,” the director said, thinking out loud. Chris put his hands lightly on Dani’s shoulders, his head looking over her shoulder at her. Dani’s head was slightly turned towards him, staring at his eyes. The director became excited, liking the look of the two as the characters. The photographer took the picture. “Try spreading out and holding hands, but remember, it is mature, and passionate,” The director said. Dani stood slightly off to the right of the stage, Chris stood a meter away from her, and slightly to the left of the stage. Dani held her hand out, and Chris took it gently. Dani looked over at Chris, her head turned only slightly. Chris’ head was also turned slightly towards Dani. The photographer took a picture of the pose. Then Chris stood behind Dani. He laid his hands on the front of her hips. Dani put her hands over top of Chris’ hands, then leaned her head back onto his shoulder. Chris turned his head slightly, so that he was looking at Dani. The director clapped, she could feel that the two characters had chemistry, which would make the play more effective. The photographer took the picture, then a few more individual shots. The four walked into the drama room, and the cast begged to see the pictures. The photographer showed the pictures to the cast, who could also see the chemistry between the two characters. They suited the roles, and you could tell. “Okay, now we have to start rehearsal,” The director said loudly, pulling the group back on track. “We’re working on the choreography and dances today!” -- Dani opened the door to the apartment and put her backpack down. She slipped off her shoes and looked around the empty apartment. There was a note on the kitchen counter left for her. Dear Dani, I got called into the lab, Grissom needed all available CSI’s go to help with a big case. Grissom still has a normal shift, but I don’t know when I’ll be home. I’ll call before 10. If you need anything call either mine or Grissom’s cell. Love Sara. Dani put the note down and sighed. She wasn’t exactly a fan of Sara or Grissom being called in when they had the night off. Although she had been assured that no one would be able to get into their apartment, Dani still had nightmares of someone breaking in and kidnapping her again. Only, usually, the nightmares did not end in her being rescued. She had thought about it countless times, she had been kidnapped already twice in her life, and had been miraculously rescued both times. How many times can someone be lucky enough to survive being victimized that many times? Grissom showed an expression that was hard and strong whenever Dani asked about it. She always wondered what would happen if someone broke in again. She would always have the fear, the paranoia of it happening again. It had traumatized her, but she was lucky to only suffer this much damage. Grissom had always assured her that it was unlikely it would happen again. The locks were changed and were now stronger. Also, Grissom and Sara had made an extra attempt for at least one of them to be home during the night, but they couldn’t win all the time. Tonight was an example. Sara was different. She had tried to be strong and agree with Grissom that it wouldn’t happen again, but she shared the same fear. She knew very well that it could happen again. But Sara wasn’t allowed to let her fear show, she had to protect her sister, and comfort her. The truth would always be there, it would always be known, but it would be unspoken. Dani made herself a sandwich and sat at the island in the kitchen while she ate it. She thought of inviting Adam over, but he had seemed somewhat upset at rehearsal. She decided that she wouldn’t, simply because she thought talking about the problem already would seem to quick. Maybe she could call him, talk for a while, so she would feel so alone. Dani put her plate in the sink and grabbed the phone off the kitchen counter. She sat down in one of the chairs in the living room and stared at the phone for a while. She was second-guessing herself. After a few moments, Dani put the phone down, the peaceful loneliness was relaxing, and nice. It left her space to think. -- “Let me guess, no prints, no fibers, no evidence,” Grissom said as he walked into the evidence room. Catherine, Nick, Warrick, Sara and Greg were crowded around the table, looking at different pieces of evidence from a home invasion where a family of four were killed. The kids that lived in the house were both under ten years old. Nick shook his head, “Absolutely nothing,” he said with a slight irritation in his voice. This was one of those cases that tended to bug you, a killer is out there, they have killed four people, and haven’t left a trace behind. Grissom cell phone beeped. “Grissom,” he answered, flipping open the cell phone. The team waited, exchanging glances and looking over at Gil every few seconds. “That’s not good.” Now, the team was curious. “Okay, thank you, bye.” He hung up the phone. “The mother was pregnant, that’s five dead,” Grissom said, answering everyone’s questioning looks. Everyone looked down, taking the pain quietly. Wendy came running into the room, with a wide smile and big eyes, full of excitement. “There was an unknown blood donor in the Father’s pool of blood, it didn’t match any of the family members, so I ran it through CODIS and got a hit,” she explained, her expression still full of excitement. “Phil Lakker.” “I’ll call Brass,” Grissom said and left the room.
Chapter Six ; The Play is about Love ; Jim Brass stood like a stone as he watched Phil Lakker through the two-sided mirror. Jim was standing in the observation room, while Phill Lakker sat in the interrogation room, looking uneasy. He looked guilty, Jim could read the man’s face like a book. Gil stood beside Jim, also observing Phil Lakker closely, as if he was a cocoon about to hatch into a new kind of butterfly. Sara was standing beside Gil, also observing Phil Lakker, but not as intently. She checked the time on her cell phone, and saw that it was nearing ten o’clock, the time at which she said she would call Dani at. She glanced at Jim, who looked like he was about to strangle someone. “You both coming in?” Jim asked after a long silence. Grissom and Sara both glanced at each other, and a police officer tapped the door. Jim looked over, and the officer made a small hand gesture to indicate he wanted to talk to Brass. “I’ll be right back,” Jim said before leaving the room. “I told Dani I’d call her before ten,” Sara told him with a slight apologetic smile. Indirectly, she was asking to skip the interrogation. They probably didn’t need her anyway, the guy looked like he was about to break into a million pieces. Grissom thought about it for a moment. “Okay, call her and watch the interrogation, if it looks like we need help, come in,” Gil decided, he glanced behind him and saw that no one was watching, so he kissed Sara’s forehead and turned to leave the room, but stopped. He looked back at her. “After you call Dani, could you call Catherine and see if any of them have found anything, we might need more evidence for him to confess.” Sara smiled and nodded, then Grissom left the room. -- Catherine, Nick, Warrick and Greg were at Phil Lakker’s apartment, hoping to find anything to justify that he killed the family. Catherine was looking in the bedroom, Greg was looking in the bathroom, and Nick and Warrick were looking around the living part of the apartment. After a while, Catherine’s cell phone started ringing. “Hello?” She answered. “Have you guys found anything? Grissom said they’ll need more evidence to get him to confess,” Sara explained. “I haven’t found anything, I don’t think anyone else has either…” As soon as the words had left Catherine’s mouth, she heard shouting coming from Nick. “Hold that thought, I’ll call back,” Catherine said to Sara before hanging up. She walked out to where Nick was, in the kitchen. When Catherine looked, Nick was taking pictures of something in a cupboard. He swabbed a large knife, hoping to find the slightest trace of blood on it. He dripped a few drops of alcohol onto the swab, then a few drops of phenolphthalein, then a few drops of hydrogen peroxide. The sample turned a bright pink. Catherine squatted down and dusted the handle of the knife, immediately finding prints. “Slam dunk,” Catherine said, looking over at Nick. They had blood, they had fingerprints, they had their killer. -- Dani woke up to the smell of waffles. She laid in her bed for a while, simply enjoying the smell. She got up a few moments later, and walked out into the kitchen, and found Grissom standing at the stove. Sara was sitting in one of the chairs in the living room, reading a newspaper. Dani smiled and gave her a hug. “Sorry about last night,” Sara said with a small frown, “We arrested a killer though.” She smiled, letting Dani know that it was for the better. “It’s okay,” Dani said quietly and smiled a little. “Smells good,” she said, looking over at the stove. -- Later that day, Dani was sitting in English class. She tapped her pen lightly on the desk, bored with her teacher’s lecture on the many types of irony. Her English teacher tended to rant on about almost everything they talked about. A folded up piece of paper was dropped from her shoulder to her lap. Dani glanced down, and saw it was a note from Adam, who sat behind her. She picked up the note and put it on her desk, unfolding it slowly so that the teacher wouldn’t notice. ‘I notice that you and Chris are getting along well…’ Adam had wrote on the note. Dani sighed softly, it was probably why Adam had seemed in a bad mood at rehearsal the day before. ‘Yeah, I guess we are. We are the leads in the play, so we probably should know each other, at least a little, right?’ Dani wrote under Adam’s writing. She folded the paper slowly. When the teacher wasn’t looking, Dani dropped the note onto Adam’s desk. She glanced to her right, and noticed a shy girl looking at her, as if she wanted to yell at her in her little goody-two shoes ways. Dani looked back at the teacher and pretended to pay attention. Adam passed the note back to Dani, and she opened it and read it, ‘True, but if you two get too close, then get in a fight or something, it could seriously ruin the play, and the director would hate you.’ Dani rolled her eyes, she knew why Adam was upset now. She sighed and wrote back. Dani didn’t know how to explain it to him. She didn’t like Chris as any more than a friend. The pictures Adam had seen of Chris and her in costumes were in character, nothing more. ‘I’m sorry that Chris and I have to act like we have a slight interest in each other when we’re in a play about love.’ Dani wrote furiously and passed it to him. The bell rang and Dani picked up her books as quickly as she could, then walked out of the room as fast as she could. -- Dani walked into the apartment and slipped off her shoes. She looked in the living room and saw Sara sleeping on the couch. Dani noticed that the TV was on, and figured she had fallen asleep while watching a movie. She put her backpack in her room, and turned on her computer then signed into MSN. Chris immediately started talking to her. Chris says: Hey, can I ask you something? Dani says: Um, yeah, sure. Chris says: It’s a bit personal. Dani says: Well, I’ll choose to answer it when you ask it. Chris says: It might make our friendship awkward. Dani says: I’ve had enough of those for one day. Chris says: I don’t get it. Dani says: Adam. Chris says: Actually, he’s included into my question. Dani says: .. Okay.. Chris says: Is there, I dunno, anything between you two? Dani says: Yeah, we’re friends. He’s my best friend. Chris says: Well, you seem to be getting along like lovers at rehearsal the other day. Dani let her head fall onto the desk. It was like déjà vu. It was like she was talking to Adam again. She lifted her head and sighed, deciding to give him the same answer as she had given to Adam. Dani says: That is because in this play about love, sometimes a character must act like they are in love with someone. Such as Christine and Raoul, and Christine and the Phantom. Then Dani signed off, she was sick of talking to boys. They didn’t understand anything. Dani went out into the kitchen and grabbed the phone off of the island, then took it to her room. She sat cross-legged on her bed and dialed Lindsey’s number.
I know I’ve gotten the age mixed up once before. I don’t really want to edit it because it was many chapters ago. So, to clarify: Dani is in grade nine, I’m pretty sure her birthday is sometime in either June or July. I can’t remember what I set it at, or if I even mentioned it. Most grade nine students, where I live anyway, are fourteen, or fifteen. Dani is only thirteen because she skipped a grade. I believe I said twelve at some point. Sorry! Chapter Seven ; Is Something Wrong? “Hey,” Sara said softly as she walked into Dani’s bedroom. She smiled gently as she sat on the edge of Dani’s bed. The little girl smiled a bit back, then closed her eyes for a brief moment. They fluttered open to see Sara’s worried face. Sara shook it off quickly, and returned to a smile. “Feeling any better?” Sara asked. Dani shrugged lightly. She had stayed home from school because of a headache. Her head was throbbing, which wasn’t as bad as in the morning, when her head felt like it had been struck by lightning. She had only told Sara she had a headache, she hadn’t said how bad it was. “A little, not much though,” Dani answered weakly. Sara nodded. “Do you want some soup, or anything?” Sara asked. Dani shook her head a little, but stopped once she felt a sudden head rush. She closed her eyes, and waited for the pain to subside. Sara could tell her sister’s head was aching. “Just rest,” Sara said and waited for Dani to nod before she left the room. Sara closed Dani’s door quietly and walked to the living room, where Gil was reading a book. She sat beside him, her face expressionless. Gil put the book down, giving her his full attention. Sara didn’t speak, it was like Grissom was simply reading her thoughts and understanding. He could tell that Sara was worried, even though Sara had done nothing to indicate it. It was the way she walked, with her arms crossed. It was the way she kept checking on Dani every twenty minutes. “Sara, she’ll be fine,” he assured her. He could see that Sara was in pain, it had always pained her to see others in pain. He knew that. Grissom knew that she had felt for Brenda Collins in the case over five years ago. Sara nodded, knowing that Dani would be fine, but she was still worried. Dani had always had headaches. Before her and Adam had been kidnapped, they weren’t that bad, nor did they occur that often. Since then, however, it seemed worse, now had been the worst. “I think something… is wrong,” Sara said slowly and sighed softly. Grissom looked at her, slightly confused. “Like what?” He asked in almost a whisper. “I don’t know,” Sara answered, then she got up and walked back to Dani’s room, to check if she was asleep. -- The next day, Dani was feeling completely better. She got up and had a shower, got dressed and went into the kitchen. It was early Saturday, so Gil and Sara were at the lab. She got herself a glass of water, then Sara walked in. She was staring down at a letter with a confused look on her face. She quickly shook it off when she saw Dani was awake. “Hey, how are you feeling?” She asked. Dani smiled, “Much better,” she answered, her mind was slightly preoccupied with wondering what the letter was about. She knew that Sara wasn’t going to bring it up, so she did. “What’s that?” She asked simply. Sara looked down at it, as if she hadn’t noticed the letter in her hand. “I don’t know yet…” she answered. She looked down at the return address, wondering what it was. Sara put it on the counter and left the kitchen to go to her bedroom. Dani watched Sara walk away, then hopped down from the stool she was sitting on. She walked over to the counter, where the letter was sitting and looked at it, but not seeing much. There was only one thing standing out to her; the return address. ‘San Francisco State Penitentiary.’
Chapter Eight ; The Edges of a Burning Envelope Sara stood in the hallway that lead to her bedroom. She was watching Dani stare down at the envelope. She crossed her arms, not wanting to know what was inside of it. Sara hadn’t spoken to her mother since she was put in jail. She had never visited her because the foster families she had lived with had always said her mother was a bad influence. They never wanted Sara around her, so she never had the chance to see her. Eventually Sara went off to university, and her mother just, wasn’t a part of her life. Her mother was non-existent, Sara had almost forgotten about her. Dani stared down at the letter, her fingers stroking the edge of the envelope. She felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes, wanting to intrude and fall along Dani’s cheeks, and to show her emotion towards her mother. The droplets of vitreous fluid begged to appear, but Dani pushed the tears away. She glanced behind her, and saw that Sara was back in the kitchen. Dani pulled her hand away from the letter, slightly ashamed. Sara walked slowly towards her sister and gave her a hug, and the tears in Dani’s eyes broke through. Moments passed, and the room was silent. The whole apartment was silent. Sara pulled back from the hug, and looked down at Dani’s tear-streaked face. “Sit,” Sara said softly, “We’ll see what it says.” Dani nodded lightly and hopped up onto one of the stools around the island. Sara picked up the letter and sat on a stool on the other side of the island. She placed the letter in between the two of them, and they both stared at it. “It’s from Mom,” Dani stated. “Isn’t it?” Somehow, Sara couldn’t get the words out, she wasn’t sure whether to let Dani read the letter, or not. She feared what was written on the paper inside. She wanted Grissom to be there, to guide her, to give her advice, he was always good for that. Unfortunately, he still had paperwork to do, so he was sitting in his office at the lab. If Dani hadn’t already seen the letter, Sara would have read it and decided for herself if she wanted Dani to read it or not. Now Dani was right in front of her, waiting to hear the contents of the envelope. “Yes… yes Dani… it is,” Sara choked out. Dani glanced up at Sara’s worried face for a brief moment before looking back down at the envelope. Sara moved her hand to the top of the island, where it rested for a moment, it was itching closer and closer to the folded piece of paper. Dani was officially bored of staring at an envelope, so she simply picked up the letter without a glance at Sara. She made a tear on the side and took out the paper inside the envelope. “Dani, can I see it first?” Sara asked, in a slightly demanding tone. Dani looked up, and passed the folded piece of paper to Sara. Sara un-folded it and read the note quickly. Dani watched as her face got more worried and more worried as she read more of the letter. “Our mother isn’t doing well, so they’ve taken the consideration of letting us know and bringing up the suggestion of us visiting her,” Sara explained. “When Grissom and I adopted you, I guess the prison figured out where I was,” she said coldly. “They didn’t know where you were before…?” Dani asked. Sara shook her head, she had disappeared from the prison’s eye. They must have been keeping a watch on where Dani lived, so that they knew who inform once Laura Sidle had died, and who to charge the funeral bills to. Then when Dani had been adopted by Sara Sidle, which must have brought up some suspicion, and the prison figured out where Sara was. “I’m going for a shower,” Sara said softly before getting up and leaving the room. She had already walked away, and hadn’t heard Dani whisper, “I want to go see her.”