Generation Three - Chapter Three

You can only live in a house that smells of dirty laundry for so long, so I eventually caved in and did my parent's job. I had to wash three loads overall to get it all clean, but some hours and some opened windows later and it smelled acceptable again.

The worst part of me doing this was that Mum clearly had the time to do it herself. But instead, she had gotten herself a new hobby. I couldn't imagine where she had gotten the idea from, but she had started upgrading our stuff. You know, like showers, and sinks. Dad and I were worried that she'd end up electrocuting herself, but so far she hadn't touched anything electrical.

Amy had also gotten herself a new hobby. Mum thought she had started playing because I was playing so many instruments. I thought she did it to be annoying. She had never had any lessons before, or had even held a guitar before, so I wasn't sure why she had gone out and bought one. But it was hurting my ears.

Luckily, she played in that small room next to the TV, whereas I played in my experimenting room. I had bought myself a small portable piano, and was hoping to have the time eventually to play it in the park where I could have an audience.

As it was, I hardly ever had the time to practice. I often wound up playing for a few minutes before I had to leave for school, which didn't amount to much time at all. My small private lab was becoming like a sanctuary for me, you know? All this time I spent in it, experimenting, discovering new potions and playing my instruments... It would be the first room to get a make-over once I had a job. Once I was old enough to focus on my rock-star career. The deep red was just too girly for me.

For now, I was too busy to think that far ahead. School really had me weighed down. I even had to turn assignments down, which my teachers sometimes offered me for some extra credit. Not that I needed it, I had earned my A a while ago, so I didn't feel too bad for refusing.

Besides, I had set myself my own research project.

Danni Cavender.

She was a girl a few years my minor, but she was just about the most interesting girl I had ever seen. We had talked a few times during recess, but not often enough for me to consider us friends. She had given me her number during a field trip some days back, and I had been burning to call her ever since.

There was something different about her. She was special, but I couldn't put my finger on it. What could I say? For reasons I couldn't explain, she had fascinated me since the moment I had first seen her.

I knew where she lived, and had wanted to go over and have a chat, but I didn't want to seem like a creep. Instead, I phoned her. That's what she had given me her number for, right?

Somehow, I was really nervous while her phone was ringing. I hoped she wouldn't think me a creep for calling her, since we hadn't talked that often.

"Hello?" My heart did a little somersault.

"Hi Danni, it's me, Rhys? You gave me your number on that field trip to the police station some days ago." I sounded calm, much better than I felt. Smooth, Rhys! This was going well!

"Oh, hi, Rhys! How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you! Listen, I had fun talking to you on that field trip. I thought maybe we could get to know each other a little better? Say, after school tomorrow, in the big park?" My heart was racing, but my voice didn't betray me. I sounded as calm as I usually did.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" She said yes!

"Great! I'll meet you there, then? Around three?" That would give her an hour to get ready if she wanted to change anything. Girls liked having a chance to get ready, didn't they?

"Okay, I'll see you at the park!" We hang up, and I was very excited. She always sounded so sweet when we had talked before, and just now on the phone. I couldn't wait to get to know her properly.

As it turned out, me calling Danni was the start of an interesting and eventful night. Mum came home from work, and announced that she had retired. It was obvious that Dad was relieved to hear it, even though I couldn't imagine him doing the same. Ever. He just loved his job too much.

It was also the night of that weird blue-ish mist. From the looks of it, all of Brooklyn Heights had been submerged in it. It had this weird glow to it, and seemed to cover everything. As far as I could see from my bedroom window, anyway.

The strangest thing was when we heard a sort of groaning coming from outside. I had never heard anything like it, but followed my parents out of curiosity.

You won't believe this, but there was a ghost on our lawn. I had never seen one before, but I was pretty sure that that's what it was. It was kinda blue, and see-through, and it was hovering in the air. Its movements were slow and it didn't speak, but every now and again I heard this strange moaning sound again. Like the normal complaints from old people, but there was a definite echo and I didn't see his mouth opening.

Just when I thought that this night couldn't get any more odd, I saw a second ghost! It looked exactly like the first one, but it was a woman. They both seemed peaceful enough, so we left them alone and went back inside, all of us unsure of what the fuck we had just seen.

Needless to say, falling asleep wasn't overly easy that night. The blue mist didn't just fill all of Brooklyn Heights, it also filled every single tiny space in our house. It was unsettling, and I felt uneasy. Just like the ghosts it didn't seem to cause any harm, it was just there, looking very unnatural. Feeling very unnatural.

When I eventually fell asleep, I had... dreams. Involving Danni. Now I just want to make very clear that I'm not a pervert! I had never had this sort of dream before. Hell, I had never even fantasized about this sort of thing before! It got pretty heavy in my dream, and when I woke up just as I was getting used to it I was hard as a brick, and felt very embarrassed.

I had only talked to her a few times! I couldn't even picture her face properly without leaving out details. Or at least I thought so. After all, I hadn't paid that much attention to her big brown eyes before, or her freckles. It wasn't right to have dreams like that about a girl I hardly knew!

Maker, it was a good thing I didn't have to share my room.

When I woke up the next morning, the mist was gone. Like it had never been there to begin with. My feelings of unease were gone, and I felt even worse about what I had dreamed about. The worst part was that I had really liked the dream, and had secretly wished that it would happen again. Let me just say again: Not a pervert! I didn't lust after girls I didn't know. Hell, I had never lusted after any girl before!

I really wanted to take my mind off it as much as possible before meeting her in the afternoon. Whatever had happened that night, I didn't need it to happen again. I focused on this new formula I had found in my chemistry book, and hoped that for once it would turn out well.

The day just flew by, and before I knew it my Biology class was over and I was heading towards the park.

I hadn't been waiting long when I saw her approach from the corner of my eye. I hadn't seen her arrive or anything, but I knew that she was now walking towards me.

Because of that dream the night before I wanted to get to know her even more. Not to re-enact its contents, but because I felt like I owed her. There was no way she could have known, but I knew, and I wanted to make it up to her.

"Rhys?" I heard her ask, her voice showing that she wasn't sure if she recognised me or not.

Calm, Rhys, I thought. You can do this.

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Wishes fulfilled:

Do Laundry