Double Trouble

I found myself in a dark room, only lit by the dim lights of candles. I looked around me and saw absolutely nothing that I could identify. A bone chilling wind swept through the room, blowing out each candle consecutively. Goosebumps began crawling up my arms, causing the little hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I involuntarily shivered and wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to stay warm.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” I asked out loud. A flash of lighting lit up the sky, allowing me to see silhouettes on the far side of the room. “Who are you?” My voice echoed in the empty room. The silhouettes slowly became visible, and I could begin to make them out. I watched them walk towards me, and I looked around me for any form of escape. I gulped and backed, only to have the bodies come even closer.

“Why are you trying to leave, Avery?” I gasped and looked at the woman who stood in front of me.

“Mom? Is that you?” I asked stepping fowards. The woman nodded and smiled, her eyes soft and loving. Next to her stood my father, brothers and Alina. A clap of thunder filled the air and I jumped. I turned back to face my mother, and her warm hazel eyes turned to a cold and hard glare.

“Of course it’s me you idiot. Are you really that stupid? That is it. I can’t stand being here with you.” And with that she turned away and left. Tears began to fill my eyes as my father disappeared behind her, shaking his head in disappointment. My brothers just sighed, and didn’t even give me a second glance as they followed my father. Alina was the only one standing.

“Lina...” My weak voice trembled. “You’re not going to leave me, are you?” I could barely raise my voice above a whisper. She stepped forwards and wiped away my falling tears.

“You’ll be fine without me.” And with that, Alina left me. I watched her body disappear into the darkness of the room.

“Alina!” I called after her, “Lina ,Lina, LINA!” I cried, and collapsed onto the hard wooden floor, my body shaking and trembling from my sobs.

I shot up out of bed, my eyes darting around the room, desperately looking for Alina. I ran out, slamming the bedroom door behind me, running straight into the kitchen, and ran straight into her arms.

“Shh, it’s ok Ave it’s just thunder nothing bad is going to happen. Hey Jonathan can you do me a favor look into the DVD stack and find ‘Sound of Music’ please,” I could hear Alina say as she held on to me. My sobs just kept getting worse, and Lina continued to whisper sweet nothings into my ear .

“Um.. is everything alright?” I could hear Kaner’s sleep-filled voice ask. I could feel Alina move as she held me.

“Yeah, everything is alright. Hey Jonathan, once you find the DVD put into the player.” Alina led me to the couch and continued to sooth me as I sobbed.

“Just don’t leave me please, I can’t lose you.” I cried as I tightened my hold onto her.

“I’m not leaving you, and even if that were to happen I’m there for you. I always will be, shh.” She continued to sooth me as the movie played, Jonathan sitting next to Alina, while Kaner was by my side.Every time there was thunder, I’d shake and let out a small sob. By the time ‘My Favorite Things’ began to play, I could feel my eyes getting heavier, and I fell in and out of sleep.

“Kaner, take her back to bed and tuck her in. Try anything, and you will never have children.” I could hear Alina tell him as I finally fell into sleep.

I woke up the next morning, feeling warm and an arm wrapped around my waist. I fluttered my eyes open, and felt confusion as I realised that Alina’s chest wasn’t flat, and her arm was most definitely less muscular. I let my eyes trail up, only to be met by the boyish features of Patrick Kane. I tried to move away, only to have him pull me closer and snuggle into the crook of my neck.

“No. Don’t move. Too comfy.” He muttered, his breath tickling my neck.

“Patrick Timothy Kane Jr. LET GO OF ME!” I yelled. He sprang off the bed and ran out of the hallway, and I followed him with my hockey stick.

“SAVE ME!” Patrick yelled as he ran around the living room and to the kitchen. Alina got up from the couch with difficulty and I could hear Jonathan mumble. Jonathan got off the same couch as Lina and turned to Patrick.

“For the love of god, stop running and yelling. And Avery, why are you chasing Kaner with a hockey stick?” He asked me, his voice groggy.

“I woke up with Kaner cuddling me. I do not do well with waking up to random boys cuddling me.” I seethed as I kept my glare on Patrick.

“Ok, first, I am not a random boy, and second, you asked me to stay!” Kaner exclaimed. I lowered my stick, and I looked at the boy as if he were on drugs, while Alina and Taze looked at me as if I were on drugs.

“Ok, that so did not happen.” I said to him.

“It did! You asked me to stay, saying ‘Don’t leave me. I can’t have another person leave me’” He replied. “And I couldn’t leave you, especially after that episode you had before Lina told me to put you to bed!” He exlcaimed.

“What episode. All I remember is getting into bed with Lina and falling asleep.” I said confused.

“You mean you don’t remember?” Jonathan asked me. I looked at him confused.

“Remember what?”

“Ave, last night you had the dream again. You came out running and sobbing hysterically.” Lina explained to me in a soft voice. I could feel the tears filling up my eyes as I let the hockey stick go.

“No. Please tell me I didn’t.” I said pleading for Alina to tell me it was all a joke. She walked over to me and engulfed me in a hug.

“Shhh, it’s ok.” She said soothingly.

“It’s not ok, Lina. I haven’t had that dream in so long! I thought I was finally over it! Why did it have to come back?” I asked her, my voice cracking as I tried to prevent the tears from falling.

“Hey, it’s alright. Nothing is going to happen. I’m not going to leave you, Dad isn’t going to leave you, Matt and Mike aren’t going to leave you, and you’re team isn’t going to leave you. No one is going to leave you.” She whispered into my ear.

“Tell me that after the Trade deadline.” I said to her, to which she sent me a small smile.

“Everything will be all right.” With that she pulled away and we saw Jonathan and Kaner watching the sister moment with soft smiles.

“Are you two ok?” I asked them, with a raise of my eyebrow.

“Yeah.” They both nodded.

“I just have one question, what was with last night?” Kaner asked. Alina and I shared a look, and I gave her a slight shake of the head.

“Nothing. Just something that I really don’t want to re-live again.” I said to him walking to the stove and pulling out a pan from the cabinets underneath. “So, who wants breakfast?”

Immediately Kaner raised his hand. I glared at him.

“I really should not feed you after cuddling,” I spat out.His eyes widened and he looked like a lost puppy. “But then again...fine. I’ll cook. Lina,” I said.

“Yeah,” she answered coming towards me.

“Why were you and Taze on the same couch and parallel.”

Her eyes widened and there was a faint blush. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her embarrassment.

“So, Taze, you have an answer?” I asked him. He just shrugged.

“We fell asleep after we finished watching The Sound of Music.” I just nodded, but sent a quick glance towards Lina, who was still tainted pink.

“Alright. So, how does French toast, Blueberry waffles, and fruit sound?” Everyone nodded in approval as I got out the ingredients to make everything.

“You’re going to make it from scratch?” Kaner asked amazed. I just nodded my head.

“Yup. Lina and I don’t half-ass anything, especially food.” Kaner nodded and sat on the stool near the stove, watching amazed as I made everything from scratch. I looked up and smiled as I saw Lina and Jonathan standing near the coffee machine, waiting for the caffeinated liquid to be ready. I went back to pouring the waffle batter into the waffle machine, and flipped the toast that was cooking on the pan, while humming along.

“Hey, Ave, you do know that you’re humming along to Chelsea Dagger, right?” Lina asked with a laugh as she handed me a cup of coffee.

“No... I just started randomly humming. I guess after hearing it a lot, it just became engraved into my brain as my go-to song.” I answered as I piled the french toast on a plate, and the waffles on another. I took out a box of strawberries from the fridge, and ran them under some cold water before putting them into a bowl.

“Hey, Lina... do you know where the mixed berry syrup is?” I asked her, turning to the fridge.

“Check the cabinet.” I nodded and opened the cabinet that usually held the waffle maker. I found the syrup, and reached up to get it, only for my hand to fall about a foot short. With a huff I turned around to Lina.

“Who’s idea was it to put the syrup in a place we can’t reach?” I asked her before going back and trying to get it once more. I sighed and settled my hand onto the counter to push my self up when I felt a body come behind me and saw the syrup in front of my face. I grabbed it and turned around to see Kaner standing there with a lopsided grin.

“Thought I’d help you out.” He said. I smiled my thanks and grabbed the plates.

“Thanks, and now take this and the plates to the table. Don’t break anything.” I told him, and grabbed the bowl of strawberries, French toast, and waffles. I started to cook again and was in my own little world and was humming ‘Chelsea Dagger’ myself. I piled the last of the French toast and Waffles on their respective plates and put them on the table.

“Guys, breakfast is ready. Come eat it before it gets cold!” I called out to Alina and Jonathan and motioned for Kaner to sit down. The two joined us at the table, and we began passing around the food, while filling the time with useless small talk.

“Oh, Ave, you have practice today around two. I’ll be at work during that time, but I should be done by the time you finish, so we can go and grab a bite to eat.” Alina said to me after a good ten minutes. I nodded and smiled.

“Is today the last practice before the game?” I asked. Jonathan nodded.

“Yeah. Today is the last hard practice, and then Friday, Coach will have us go in, and just do light work.” I nodded and finished my plate.
“That’s good. Hey Lina, is dad coming to the game?” I asked her. She shook her head no.

“His work wouldn’t let him get the day off. So he gave them a heads up notice for the next home game.” She answered me. I sighed.

“That sucks. Just wait until they find out that his daughter is in the NHL. They’re going to be begging him for tickets. Those bastards.” I said, getting a chuckle from both Taze and Kaner.

By the time everyone was stuffed, nothing from the breakfast was left, thanks to the boys. Alina and I cleared the table, and put the dishes into the dishwasher. We joined Taze and Kaner in the living room, only to see NHL highlights on again.

“Really? Is that all you watch?” I asked as I settled down into the love seat and Alina sat next to me.

“Yep. Gotta keep up on the other teams. The Pens seem to be doing alright, even without Crosby. Malkin and Staal seem to be carrying the team forward right now.” Taze said. I let out a squeak at the mention of Jordan Staal, and quickly slapped my hand to my mouth with my eyes wide.

“Did you just squeak?” Kaner asked me bewildered. I just nodded.

“Don’t mind her. She’s had a celebrity crush on Jordan Staal for a while.” Lina said nonchalant. I nodded and shrugged.

“It’s true. I think they need to start reproducing and create a little army of Staal hockey players.” I said with a shrug and directed my attention to the TV.

“We’ve heard that the Hawks have a new addition, an Avery Addison. Pictures of Addison have not surfaced, and the Hawks organization is planning on having the media meet Addison after their first game on Saturday against the Stars.” I probably looked like an idiot with my mouth wide open and my eyes wide in surprise.

“Well, it seems you’re all big and famous now.” Lina joked, nudging me.

“How did they find out who I am?” I asked. “They haven’t even took down the information needed to put me on the roster.”

“They’re the press, hell you’re a female in the NHL, they’re on you like the Golden Boy.” Lina said.

“But how in the world did they find out that I’m a girl? My name is unisex. For all they know I’m a guy who just didn’t grow much and is a midget.” I said. Everyone shrugged.
“Think of it this way, you get to keep your freedom until that game on Saturday, then after that game, everyone will know of the female NHL player, and you’ll steal the spotlight off Crosby.” Jonathan said.

“But I don’t want this media spotlight. It’s so damn annoying how much they all talk about him. It’s like they have to insert him in every hockey based show. He’s a great player, I’ll give him that, but give the guy a bit of space, and stop talking about him.” I said.

“How about we just stop worrying about this and do something at least until I have to go to work.” Lina said getting a nod from all of us.