Other than the women, it was all black.

Her hair was glittering bone white, tumbling in a cascade to her thin waist. Although her back was to him, she still had a presence of power. Dani Linds didn't know who she was, and he didn't necessarily want to find out. But for some strange reason, he recognized her. Dani didn't know where from, but he did. The women turned around, and he saw her eyes didn't have regular pupil, but slits, like a cat. She had tanned skin, like Dani's, and an angular face with high cheek bones that cut the planes of her cheek in to sharp valleys.

She looked at Dani, and her strange eyes widened in shock, like she knew him. Opening her mouth, she tried to say something, anything, but a glittering wind of silver dust blew right across her form, and she disappeared.

The next dream Dani had was stranger. A giant snake was sitting in a branch of a large tree. Dani swore he saw something around its neck, like a collar or a colorful band of scales. But why would a snake be wearing a collar? Who had ever heard of a snake wearing a collar? Not Dani. The turquoise sky seemed to glitter with light as the snake slithered closer to him, its eyes almost human. It came closer to him, and coiled up, like a cobra. Dani stared into its eyes, relaxing as he continued to make eye contact with the reptile. It had very human eyes, Dani noticed. He was still staring into the snake's strange eyes, when it struck at his face.

***

Dani woke up, breathing hard, his sheets hot and sweaty. His room was too small, too cramped, too airtight, too dark. He threw the covers off his legs, his sweat drying quickly as he pried himself from the cotton material. His heart raced, but he didn't quite remember why he was so scared.

"Dani?" His mother, Marble Linds, called from her bathroom. "Are you awake, honey?" she questioned.

"Yeah, Marble. I'm up." Dani replied, trying not to sound like he ran a mile. Soft footsteps followed as Marble came to look in his room, looking worried.

"You look horrible, honey." she stated, and Dani rolled his eyes. "Why are you all sweaty?" She pointed the pink lipstick in her hand at the dark stains on the sheets. "Make sure to strip your bed and put the sheets in the wash." She frowned, and went back to putting on her makeup.

"Yes Marble." Dani called, and repeated it in Spanish. "Sí Marble."

"You do realize that the rest of us can't understand a damn thing you say, Dani?" Andrew, Dani's older brother crowed as he raced past in his sports shirt. Dani looked away, feeling uncomfortable.

Even though Dani had been living in Arizona since he was six years old, he'd never been able to forget his first language, Spanish. Which was strange, because Dani was supposed to be from North Carolina. Dani swung his long legs over the bed, and sighed.

"Another day, another dollar." He muttered.

"Ha! You wish!" Andrew called.

Usually, Dani would have thrown something at his annoying sibling, but today, he felt a sharp pain in his elbow. Looking down, he noticed his skin was starting to dry out and break open, creating a red rash. Once the pins-and-needles pain left his elbow, it became itchy and sore.

"Hey Mom?" Dani yelled. "Do we have any skin lotion?" No response. Dani walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall, where his little sister, Carrie, was brushing out her long, dark hair. Dani preferred his younger sister to Andrew, because Carrie was bookish and quiet, always reading about something or other. Dani could talk to her, and she would listen, or pretend to, at least.

Carrie told Dani things too, like her classes, her homework, and how school was going. The two had a comfortable bond, and Dani relied on it, although he knew he was never going to be her 'Big Brother' to her, just 'Dani'.

'Big Brother' was Andrew's title, a proud epithet he wore like a medal where ever he went. It was a constant reminder to Dani, that no matter how happy he was, how grateful to Evan and Marble, he would always be the adopted child, with too many holes in his past. The past he couldn't remember.

Dani scratched at his elbow, feeling his nails rasp over the dry skin, as his feet hit the fluffy rug. " 'Sup Carrie?" he greeted, opening the medicine cabinet over the sink. "How are you today?"

"Good. I have a math test and science test today, but I studied for both of those with Cameron yesterday." She finished brushing her hair, and snatched a scrunchie from the bowl of hair accessories next to the soap tray. "What are you looking for?"

"Some lotion, my skin's drying out." He answered, searching the shelves for any kind of moisturizer.

"Already? It's only October. I would have expected you to get dry skin in December or something." She said, looking at his elbows.

"Do you know if Marble keeps any in her bathroom?" Dani questioned, closing the cabinet door.

"No, I don't think she does. It's mostly in here, because Dad uses it." Carrie pointed at the green tube of extra strength hand moisturizer. "Maybe you need to go to a dermatologist or something."

Dani shrugged, not committed to the idea. "I'll see if it gets worse."

"Okay, cause Mom's bringing Andrew on Saturday, and you could probably go with him." She commented. Dani looked at her.

"Why's Andrew going?" He asked her, confused. Andrew didn't have dry skin problems, did he? Dani picked up the discarded hair brush and ran it through his mahogany hair.

"His acne is getting really bad." Carrie laughed. "Mom's getting worried that it's not going to go away soon, so she's trying to get a prescription topical for him." Dani snickered, thinking of how Marble must be frantic over Andrew's new breakouts. Marble was a model and her appearance was incredibly important to her. That extended to her children.

"Yeah, I'll talk to her about it." He left Carrie, and plodded slowly to his bedroom, where he picked out some clothes. Grabbing the red shirt, black jeans and white hoodie, he changed out of his pajamas. Snatching his trainers from the end of his bed, Dani raced down the stairs, his socked feet stomping and slipping on the hardwood.

Evan was already at the table, dressed in a suit and tie, like usual, his long legs crossed as he sipped his coffee. Dani slid into his place at the table, next to Carrie's seat. Dani always liked to be the first one down in the morning, and he was not disappointed. He tapped his nails on the table top, stopping once he got a look from Evan.

The expensive farm style table had been a part of the dining room for as long as Dani could remember. Unlike any other old table, this one was scratch-less, and Marble was proud of it. It's surface was hand planed, making it wavy and unique.

"Hi." Dani said, a little awkwardly.

"Good morning Dani. How are you this morning?" Evan said calmly, like usual. Evan had the disposition of a business man, both out of the office and in it.

"I'm good. Is Marble still upstairs?" He questioned, a little out of breath. "I wanted to talk to her about maybe going to the dermatologist with Andrew." Evan frowned, wrinkles forming between his eyebrows.

"Why? Is there something wrong? You never had bad breakouts before." Evan commented. Dani had to refrain from rolling his eyes. While he loved Evan and Marble, they always had a sense of a perfect family, one that Dani, adopted, tall, lanky, and of unknown origin, didn't quite fit into, no matter how many times Marble had assured him he was just right. Even now, Dani was always struggling for a place in the household. He didn't want attention, he was very content with that, he need to prove that he belong here to himself.

"No, just dry skin." Dani said lightly. "Here." He held up his elbow, where the skin was red and angry. "It kinda itches."

"That does look like eczema." Evan sounded a little concerned. "But in October? That seems a little early, don't you think?"

"Yeah, that's what Carrie said. Like, the same exact thing." Dani smiled, amused by the resemblance between father and daughter.

"Is that so?" Evan sounded amused as well, his pale blue eyes meeting Dani's honey brown ones. "Well, then, we'll just have to ask Marble when she gets down."

"Yeah." Dani said, and the two lapsed back into silence.

When Andrew came down, he was already in his lacrosse shirt, his hair mussed up and his face looking especially scrubbed, with missed spots of activated charcoal around his ears. "Hey Dad, Dani." Andrew said, sounding out of breath. Evan looked at his son, and gave a small, amused smirk.

"Hello, Andrew. Where is your mother this morning?" Evan asked drily. Andrew shot a look back up the stair that he had just come from.

"Helping Carrie find her shoes." Andrew said, and Dani looked at the shoe rack in the foyer. Liar.

"I've found them." He announced, and raised an eyebrow. Andrew snorted.

"Not those shoes, stupid. Her black flats." Andrew leered at Dani, who kept a level gaze. "I don't expect you to remember where they are. You can't remember anything."

Dani got up so fast, he push his chair back onto its hind legs. Evan caught the back of the chair, surprised at the quick movement. "Say that again. I dare you." Dani hissed at Andrew, his anger bubbling up in the back of his throat. Even if Andrew was eighteen, Dani was in the same grade as him. He wasn't going to put up with Andrew pushing him around like this.

"Boys." Evan boomed. Both Andrew and Dani looked at him. "Andrew, do not verbally attack your brother. This is not your opponent in lacrosse." Evan looked at Dani, his eyes sharp and annoyed. "Dani, don't retaliate against him. You're only making the situation worse." He looked at both of them. "Andrew, go wash your face and help Carrie with her shoes."

Andrew stomped upstairs, but with considerably less force that what he'd come down with. Once Andrew was upstairs, Evan cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry about him." Evan sounded awkward as Dani felt, his focus on his coffee cup. "You know he's just frustrated, and I'm sorry he takes it out on you. It's not your fault. He's just..." Evan, who was always eloquent and sophisticated, struggled for the word.

"Being a dick who need to grow a pair?" Dani offered. Evan blinked, surprised, but started to laugh.

"Yeah." Evan chuckled, putting his coffee down on the table to avoid spilling it. "That's one way to put it."

***

Andrew had a car, and he drove both his siblings with him. Andrew had always held it over Dani's head that he wasn't allowed to drive people around yet, until Dani had turned sixteen and a half last year. So, Dani didn't need his brother to drive to school, and Evan claimed it was a family car. Marble had only commented it was a motivator for Andrew to get up in the morning.

"Hey, Marble, can I go with you and Andrew to the dermatologist? I have some dry skin." Dani had showed her before running out the door.  Marble had frowned like her husband and nodded. She told him not to itch it, and gave him a light, maternal kiss on the head, having to balance on her tip toes to reach it.

Dani, now strapped into the passenger seat next to Andrew, waited for Carrie to haul her enormous backpack down the drive. "Hey, hurry up Carrie!" Andrew called, tapping a beat on the steering wheel. "I can't be late for this test!"

"I have school too!" Carrie yowled from the front porch. "Wait for me!" Andrew revved the engine, making the car roar with pure horsepower, smirking.

"Hurry up then!" He yelled back. Dani just sat back, closing his eyes. His nightmare last night had left him exhausted.

"I'm here!" Carrie yelled, rapping at the window with her hand, her eyes a little red. Andrew sighed and unlocked the door.

"Finally. We're going to be late because of you." Andrew complained to his little sister, as she hauled her backpack into the backseat. Carrie snorted, buckling herself in.

"Just drive, jerk." She pouted. Andrew shifted into gear, and the car lurched out of the driveway.

***

Dani only had three classes today, English, physics and Spanish. Thank god Spanish was the last class of the day, and Dani's favorite. He sat in front of Cal, one of Dani's many friends. Or as close to friends as Dani got.

While he was a very popular senior, Dani didn't give much about himself away, and maybe that was why people liked him. He tapped his nails on the wood-looking desktop, waiting for the teacher to walk into the class.

"Hey, Dani, what are you doing later?" a voice says from next to him. The voice comes from Vivian Laurens, one of the many bombshells that the other boys hounded after. She was pale with dark hair and clear blue eyes, but Dani didn't really care for her.

"Not much, I think. Other than packing for my trip and what not." Dani said drily. He was lying; he hadn't started packing for the trip yet, and he didn't plan to until the last moment. Not that it was a good idea.

"Yeah, how long are you going to be gone for?" Vivian inquired, putting her hand on her chin.

"A month." Dani glanced at the door, praying for the teacher to show up, just so he could get out of this conversation. He didn't like Vivian or any of the other girls who batted eyelashes, or cooed at him.

Sure, he knew he was handsome, he'd looked in a mirror. He knew that girls were attracted to tall, dark and finely cut features. He knew that he had all those things in spades, not to mention his naturally golden skin, diamond shaped face and athletic body.

Not that he cared about what he looked like, because it hadn't stopped him from being abandoned.

"So, you're gonna have a lot of work to catch up on when you get back right?" Vivian said.

"No, I'm not." Dani replied, a bit disdainfully. "I already arranged it with my teachers that I've been taught all the appropriate material. Plus, this is my only honors class this year, so I won't be too far behind."

"Oh, that's so smart!" Vivian cooed, batting her thick lashes. "I'd wish I'd thought of that when I went to Indonesia." She made a 'silly me' gesture, and smiled. Clearly, she wasn't getting the message to back off.

"Yeah." Dani said, itching the dry skin on his arm. 'Where was the teacher?' he thought, now a bit frantic to get out of this conversation.

"Sorry I'm late class, the Mexico Trip tour guide was wondering when we were coming." Senora Segera entered the class room, her long strides disrupting the conversation.

"No problem, Senora. We're just waiting on you." Dani told her, grateful to her, although she was unaware why. She gave him a kind smile, before ordering, using a polite command, them to get out their text books.

***

Dani had always been fluent in Spanish. It was just something that was a part of him. Marble and Evan didn't tell him why, or they just had never questioned the fact he could speak perfect Spanish, although he supposedly was from North Carolina.

So, Marble and Evan, in an attempt to get him to 'connect with what they thought was his heritage' allowed him to go on the school trip to Mexico City, and even spend an extra three weeks there. Dani was very grateful, but he almost felt like Evan and Marble were trying to get rid of him for the month.

Maybe because October was their anniversary month.

However, Dani liked his Spanish teacher, Señora Segera, who was a very kind lady. She was maybe thirty, with dark hair and a Hispanic complexion, much like Dani's own. She was a second generation immigrant from Mexico, and had arranged for Dani to stay with her family friends for the month.

She'd been interested in Dani the first day he stepped into her Spanish III Honors, as a freshman. They'd talked briefly, and Señora Segera had been confused how a boy who's older brother she'd taught had been so good at the language while Andrew had failed with a 35.

"Why are you so good at this language?" She'd asked, after he'd explained that, no, it wasn't a joke, and yes, he was in her class because he'd been able to handle the curriculum. Dani had meanly shrugged, seemingly uninterested in what she had to say.

"Andrew never said anything about being bilingual." She tried again.

"Andrew's my adoptive brother. Spanish is my first language. Marble and Evan had to teach me English when I was six so I could go to school." Dani said, sounding bored and annoyed at all the questions she was asking him. "And I don't know if you've notice, Señora, but Andrew is an idiot."

Señora Segera couldn't deny him that. Andrew had been more interested in the girls than the class, and she though it was just a little fitting that he fail it. However much she didn't like his brother, the women couldn't deny she felt very close to the young man, like she knew him from somewhere. Maybe that was why she arranged for him to stay with the Perez's for the month.

"So, today, in anticipation for our trip to Mexico that some of you are going on, we're going to learn a little bit about the people who live there. Does anyone know anything about Mexico City?" She looked around, patiently waiting for hands to fly up. "Fabian?"

"The Aztec people lived there before the Spanish settler came and conquered them. Mexico City's on a filled in lake, and it's slowly sinking." Fabian informed her. Senora nodded, encouraging him to go on. "There's a big party every year on the Independence Day." He finished lamely,  evidently having exhausted all his knowledge on Mexico.

"What about the flag?" she prompted, and looked around for more hands. "Does anyone know anything about the flag? George?" she gestured at the boy. "Do you know anything it?"

George, who was not the sharpest bulb in the bunch, shook his head. "Dani's Spanish, ask him." He blurted out.

There was dead silence as everyone looked at George with horrified eyes. Dani sat up, glaring at him. "Seriously, man? Because I'm Spanish?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm not omnipotent."

"But do you know anything about the flag, Dani?" Senora Segera questioned, pushing him to speak.

"Not really, only that a god told them to build it." Dani admitted. She nodded, lips pursed.

"The god Huitzilopochtli," Dani was amazed that she could pronounce the word. "Told the Aztec to find the heart of his nephew, Copil. He told them that they would find it when they saw an eagle sitting on a prickly pear, eating a snake.

"The group of exploring Aztecs found this, but to their dismay, the eagle was at the center of a great lake, on a small patch of land. However, they obeyed the god's orders, and built their city there. It lasted for ages, until, like you said, the conquistadors came." She said, looking at the Mexican flag. "That was a bad day for the Aztec people. They had no protection for the diseases and the war that the conquistadors would bring upon them."

Dani tilted his head, feeling almost sad for the once great civilization. Senora Segera dipped her head, like a salute to them.

"In the end, they split up and left what Huitzilopochtli had called their permeant home." She looked around. "A bit ironic, no?"

"So, what else do we need to learn about?" Vivian said. "That was a pretty short lesson." She looked around, hoping for some support.

"Yes, but it's not done, Vivian. We're going to learn about the gods of the Aztec, the pantheon of them, and some of the myths that go along with them." Senora Segera said. "But, there are many myths, as the Aztec adopted some different cultures along the way." She smiled "Hence why you will split into groups for this project." She pointed at Dani, who knew what to do.

"Uno." He sighed. This was not going to be fun.

Especially if he got paired with Vivian.

***

The god Dani had to study was Xolotl, the twin of Quetzalcoatl, and god of death. He was grouped with two other girls, one named Karen, and the other, Maida. He didn't know them personally, but by the way they didn't flirt with him (thank god), they just wanted to get the job done. Much like Dani himself, they went straight to Wikipedia and started searching.

"Apparently, one of his spirit forms is that of a Xoloitzcuintli, a hairless dog." Maida announced, quickly jotting down the information. "He also transformed into an axolotl, which means 'river dog' in Nahuatl." She pushed her thick glasses up farther on the bridge of her freckled nose, reading the paragraph. "That's interesting."

"What is?" Dani inquired.

"What I just said, if you were listening." Maida snapped, sounding a little annoyed.

"Sorry, I just didn't understand you." Dani explained to her, subtly scratching at his arms.

"Really? Look, I just want to get this damn thing done, so just," she made an angry gesture at the computer. "Start working."

"Are you questioning my work ethic?" Dani mocked, feeling his hackles raise. Maybe there was a reason he didn't know Maida. She was just a little bit of a bitch. "Because I don't know about you but-"

"If you start talking about your 'stamina' I'm going to lose my mind." Maida hissed. Dani raised his eyebrow.

"Whatever gave you that impression of me?" Dani requested, clicking on one of Wikipedia's external links. Maida gave a little snort, but didn't justify a response.

Dani felt like he won.

"Just start working, the two of you." Karen complained. "I'm getting sick of this already." Dani smiled, and gritted his teeth.

***

"Xolotl was the god of fire, lightning, monsters, sickness, twins and death. The twin of the Quetzalcoatl, the brothers were opposites." Dani dictated under his breath, making a small gesture to the screen of the computer. "He is a deity known as a psychopomp, meaning that he guides the dead to the underworld." He stopped, scratching his bicep where the dry skin had spread. Was it strange that it had spread so quickly? Dani wasn't sure. It had been a week since he'd first noticed it.

"I feel like it would be better if you said that his job as a god, is a psychopomp." Maida interrupted.

"And I feel like that's too wordy." Dani replied, trying to be respectful. "I think everyone will understand it." Maida gave an eye roll, but didn't say anything else. Dani added a picture of a stone statue of the god, sizing it to fit the slide he was on.

"At least you've stopped arguing about the font size." Karen muttered. "But seriously you two, it's been a week. Give it a rest." Karen, who was probably right, went, like usual, unheard.

"Here's what I don't understand," Maida said, leaning away from her computer, and looking Dani straight in the eye. "How someone like you, manages to get into high level courses and pass, but be so unsociable towards people."

Dani tried not to take the bait. He knew she wasn't telling the truth. His social life was booming, more than he'd like, honestly. "I am smarter than I look, I guess." He said calmly. Maida, he had a feeling, was angry because she had always been the best student in the class. Then, this year, he stole that spot from her.

"That's not all of it." she said. "You never seem to know what's going on in any other class, but in Spanish, you have it all down."

"What other class do I have with you, Maida?" Dani asked, genuinely confused. He'd never seen the girl in any of his classes.

"Physics, algebra, English. And gym." She listed off, then gave him a look over the top of her glasses.

Well. That wasn't good. Dani didn't really care about the whole 'Being a gentleman' thing, but even he knew it was rude to forget someone who you saw almost every day.

"Okay, gym doesn't count." Dani objected. "And why is this bothering you so much? I've never done anything to you."

Maida didn't respond. Instead, she pushed her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose, and looked away.

"So, like, should we add people named after him?" Karen interrupted, breaking the awkward tension.

"Yes." Maida said, at the same time as Dani.

"The one thing you can agree on." Karen deadpanned.

I feel for Karen. She's just so sick of their bullshit.

Cover is by my amazing friend/sister fizzy_apples Go check her out!

Pronunciation:

Dani- Danny

Maida- May-da

Xoloitzcuintli- Show-low-itz-QUEENT-li

Axolotl- AUSH-ah-low-tl

Huitzilopochtli- Weet-zee-lo-pocht

Xolotl- Sho-LO-tl

Quetzalcoatl- KET-ZAL-co-whua-tl

Nahuatl pronunciations sound a bit like you have a frog in your throat.

This was probably the longest chapter.

Don't be a Silent Reader! Reviews and votes keep me going!

Love,

C.J