Little Red

TWENTY FIVE

The next morning, Dani lounged around on the couch with Frankie in the living room as they both watched Curious George while their mother cooked breakfast in the kitchen.

Greta and Mikey had stayed overnight to make sure that Dani had been okay, but both had ended up leaving to go off on their own adventures...which Dani had to insist to them both that she was okay with them doing so since they were just as bad as her mother when it came to checking over her. She wasn't too badly injured; Dr.S had come over shortly after she had awoken to check her over and ensured that she'd only had a few bruised ribs, but nothing major, and other than the ugly markings on her neck, Henry hadn't done any real damage to her.

Given the fact that they'd no doubt not believe her after the little blowout session she'd had just a few minutes prior, Dani had made the ultimate decision not to tell the Police who had attacked her. In her mind, her actions had pretty much proven to them that she wasn't right in the head...whatever.

Guess that left her to deal with things on her own.

"Dani?" Michelle's voice called out, which snapped her out of her thoughts.

A frown made its way onto Dani's features as she looked around to notice Frankie was missing and her mother standing by the doorway.

"Yeah, Mom?"

Michelle frowned as she walked over to her daughter and said, "Are you feeling alright? I called you two in for breakfast a couple of minutes ago.."

Hm. So that's where he had gone, Dani had thought to herself.

Deciding not to keep her mother in the dark, Dani shook her head as she sat up on the couch while mumbling, "No.."

She then shook her head and said, "I mean...I don't know."

Michelle's frown deepened as she sat down beside her daughter and looked her over. "What's wrong, sweetheart? Do you need some medicine?" she asked.

Dani shook her head again. "No, nothing's wrong physically...It's just," she sighed and looked down at her hands, "I saw Grandma Neenie last night."

"What?! Where?! When?!" Michelle asked before Dani groaned as her face was pulled up. "Are you sure you're feeling alright, Dani? Because I can call Dr.S right now and-"

"No, Mom, stop," Dani grumbled while pushing her mother's hands away. "I meant that I saw her in my dream last night...before I woke up the first time."

Michelle frowned as she nodded slowly and said, "Okay...Well...What happened in this dream?"

A small smile made its way onto Dani's features as her mind went back to the dream she'd had.

"She told me...She told me that she wasn't mad at me...That I should stop blaming myself for her death because it wasn't my fault," she said as tears formed in her eyes. "She told me everything I needed to hear from her."

"Oh, Dani baby," Michelle murmured and brought her daughter into a hug. "I know I never talk to you much about what happened...and I know you think it's because I'm scared to, but the truth is...I'm ashamed to..."

Dani frowned as she pulled away to look at her mother and ask, "What do you mean? Why are you ashamed?"

"Because sweetheart...I actually blamed myself for what happened that day," Michelle said.

Dani's frown deepened at her mother's words, but the woman continued as she placed her hand over her daughter's to give it a light squeeze.

"I gave you the idea that you should trust everyone in this town and that it was safe when the truth is...not everyone in this town is as nice as we think they are, honey. I mean sure, there are some wonderful people around here, but not everyone on this Earth is perfect," she said. "I should have never sent you to your grandmother's house alone knowing full well that people like Henry were lurking around...but what happened to your grandmother only happened because Henry was the one who made it happen. He's the one who acted on it. Not you. Not me. Not anyone else but him, and at the end of the day? He's the one who's going to reap what he sowed."