Page 1 of Danny's Dance

Chapter One - Chesca

I’m chased by the dead. Tormented by my memories. Haunted by the ghosts of people who once were but have been wiped from thisearth.

My name is Danny D’Ors and I’m a stray, a wanderer, a vagabond. I have nowhere to go and nowhere to return. My home went up in flames, my childhood memories are tainted with blood and despair, and the only family I’ve got left, is the one travelling with me to the ends of theworld.

We’re here to run. We’re here to flee. We’re here to hide. And for a while, I thought we were safe. For a moment, I thought weescaped.

I waswrong.

Not all myghosts stayed dead. Chesca was very much alive and kicking, even though I watched the life drain from her eyes as her blood painted my hands red. But as only Chesca could, she had resurrected and come back to haunt me. In a very literalway.

The fingernails clawing in the soft flesh of my neck making it crystal clear that this wasn’t one of my nightmares. The pain shooting through my nerves making me very aware that after all these years, I still couldn’t match up against the longhaired she-devil. That I’d never been capable. How could I when I knew far toomuch?

When I knew that Chesca wasn’t born evil and hadn’t always been our enemy. That up until the morning of the Solstice, Chesca Blackwood had been my best friend, my confidant, my sister in arms. She had been loyal, fierce, trustworthy and I had considered her family. Right until I failed her. Right until my mistake chased her into hergrave.

But then she rose from the dead, like a demon spawning from hell. But she’d changed. Her eyes had turned black, her voice had become sharp, her words always dripping with poison. In the blink of an eye, my best friend became, not just a stranger, but myenemy.

An enemy I couldn’t fight. Not now, or ever. How could I stand against the woman who I once called my sister? How could I attack the person I swore to protect? How could I kill... Someone I wanted to keepalive?

Chesca tightened her grip on my throat, stealing the air from my lungs. I clenched my jaw and ground my teeth on each other, refusing to scream in pain even though I wanted nothing more than to fill the quiet forest with the sound of my agony. But I couldn’t. I didn’t deserve it. I had no right to voice my pain. No, I needed to suffer through this in silence. This was mypunishment.

“Not going to fight back, Danny?” she hissed in my ear, taunting me. “Even with your own life on the line, you still can’t fightme?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out her voice. To block out the memories that came crashing against the invisible wall I built around them to protect me from their harm. But it was no use. With every word, every taunt, every hiss, more and more cracks appeared in my shield as scents, sights, and events I wished I couldn’t remember flooded into mymind.

“Come on, Danny... Where’s the fun if you won’t fight back?” Chesca pouted, throwing me to the ground. “You loved to play with me. So, let’s play agame.”

I pushed myself up and desperately stared around. My wolf called for Regan, why wasn’t hecoming?

“Awww, are you waiting for your knights in shining armour to arrive?” she mocks, crouching down so her face is eye-level to mine. “Well, I got news for you, princess. They’re notcoming.”

I threw my eyes back at the ground, stubbornly. I couldn’t believe that. Regan always came for me. We were mated. There was no way he could resist mycall.

“We’re alllll alone in this big, scary forest. No need to scream, they won’t hear you anyway,” Chesca grinned, strutting circles around me, laughing in my face. Relief flooded my chest. If she assumed that the only way I could get my men’s attention by screaming, she must not have know about my connection to Regan. How could she? As far as I knew, it was unheard of that wolves could shift. Regan and I were exceptions. Our bond? Unique. Nobody beside us and our friends knew we could communicate telepathically with eachother.

So all I needed to do, was stall. Reganwouldfind me. His wolf would always findme.

“What do you want to play?” I asked, deciding I just needed to stall. I needed to buy myself time for Regan and JP to findme.

“Ooooh, Danny, finally, you’re saying sensible things! We’ll play, just like when we were kids. Let’s see... What was your favourite game again?” Chesca giggled, clapping her hands manically, her cheeks red inglee.

I clenched my jaw again, holding the anger bubbling up in my stomach. I couldn’t lash out on her and risk setting off her crazy. I wanted to stall her, not provokeher.

“Rock, paper, scissors,” I hissed, forcing my voice to sound calmer than I felt. I knew without a doubt that her version of this game would have a seriously deranged twist. And I wasn’t going to likeit.

Chesca snapped her fingers, as if she only now remembered. “That’s right, rock, paper, scissors. But it’s such a silly little kid’s game. And we’re not kids anymore, are we, Danny?” she sang. “Let’s make it more interesting,” she suggested, likepredicted.

“How?” I managed to ask, mentally prodding my wolf to call for Regan again. He surely must’ve noticed I was missing by now. And if not him, maybeJP?

My childhood friend sat down next to me in the dirt and placed her knife between us. “Let’s see... How to make it more fun... How about... If I win, I get to cut off one of your fingers?” she proposed, her eyes flashingcrazily.

I quickly curled my fingers into a fist. That didn’t sound like a fun game atall.

“No? But you get to cut off my fingers if I lose?” she pouted, waving her hands in front of my face. As if that was supposed to make me feel better. Crazybitch.

“What about... Oh, I know! The person who loses, has to cut off a chunk of hair. That’s not too bad, right? It’s just hair, afterall?”

My hands flew into my dark red locks. Damn that Chesca. She knew how much I loved and cherished my hair. Having long, healthy hair was the one thing that kept me sane during all the running and fighting. It made me feelhuman.

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