Chapter 1
Danny yawned and rubbed his blue eyes before going back to staring out the window of the white van he and his two friends were riding. The town faded away behind them as they headed towards the bland outskirts south from Lake Eerie. There wasn't much to stare at outside the van as it drove down the straight road, and the inside wasn't much better to look at besides the black haired Goth sleeping against his shoulder. Next to her was a geek in an orange beret staring at his PDA and shaking his head at his cell phone whenever he gave it a quick glance. Danny reached for his cell phone careful not to wake Sam, the girl that leaned against him. He flipped it open and saw one bar flickering in and out of view.
"No signal out here." Danny whispered to Tucker as his friend tossed his cell phone back into the bag in front of him and returned to his PDA in a huff.
"No signal!" A blonde girl screeched from behind Danny causing Sam to jerk out of her sleep. The three in the front of the van turned to the remainder of the group behind them as they fumbled for their phones. Paulina and Star, who sat directly behind Danny, Tucker and Sam, gave each other terrified glances.
"What gives?" Dash a burly fellow with short cropped blonde hair growled at the back of the van; the boy next to him, Kwan, rubbed his short black hair and shrugged his broad shoulders. Sam fidgeted from her position against Danny and stretched a little as he ruffled his raven colored hair a bit before putting his red and white "DP" cap back on.
"Who's idea was this again?" she moaned groggily.
"Yours." Danny stated blandly, leaning against the window staring at the farms that rolled by. The wind picked up and swept across the crops as the sky grew a little darker; a storm was coming.
"Oh yeah," Sam slouched back in the chair. "Figures others would sign up for it…" Danny smiled
"Most haunted house in the state? How could a ghost hunter pass that up?" Sam smiled back.
"Actually this house or mansion really, is the most visited by ghost hunters." Danny, Sam and Tucker looked at the front of the van where Ms. Collie and Professor Brass were. Professor Brass, a professor at Westbrook College for Paranormal Activity, was driving the van smoothly across the farmlands as Ms. Collie continued. "It's also one of the top five most haunted places in the world. Not only do spirits wander the halls of Dacrow Manor, but also the gardens and even the roads. There was a lot of violence in and around that mansion; most believe it to be cursed." A cold shudder ran down Danny's spine as thunder grumbled outside the van. He could feel Sam shivering next to him; he put his arm around her and she inched closer.
"Creepy feeling is creepy." Tucker mumbled. The road suddenly got a lot bumpier and the three clung to each other to keep from flailing all over the place. The sky got darker and thunder boomed more than grumbled.
"Whoa, wait. Is that a graveyard!" Dash asked pointing past Kwan out their window. Everyone turned their gaze and Sam smiled. Danny smiled at her delight and spotted a large tree before it hid itself behind one of the many hills covered in headstones.
"Uh-huh." Professor Brass confirmed "Oldest grave yard in the state."
"Who was the first?" Danny asked before Sam even thought of the question.
"The first one buried there?" Danny nodded at Ms. Collie. She thought for a moment. All the kids were silent as the bus passed the gate and parked in front of the head entrance. "I think it was Elysia Hollow." There was a long pause. Tucker asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"What happened to her?" Professor Brass turned off the ignition and Danny had the sudden urge to stand up so he swung the slide door open and every one bailed out. Danny coughed as the wind burst around them and dust picked up and flew into his and the other kids' faces. He had his left hand on his cap while he waved his right hand in front of his face attempting to clear the view.
"I'll answer your question once we get inside!" Ms. Collie had to yell over the wind that suddenly howled across the grounds. Danny caught bits of her message and grabbed Sam and Tucker, dragging them to what he believed to be the main entrance. The door slammed behind causing the trio to jump. Sam and Tucker rubbed their faces and wiped their eyes of the dust while Danny rushed over to try and open the door for the others. Despite his efforts the door wouldn't budge. A few grunts of pulling later Danny gave up and looked at Sam and Tucker with a shrug.
"I think the wind j-" A huge crack of thunder cut him off and Sam yelped. Danny looked up eyes wide, "I think the wind jammed the door." he finished still looking past the ceiling.
"I don't think we're in the main hall." Tucker said looking around the small entrance. It was a square, little room with a long set of stairs as its only outlet besides the jammed shut door. Danny groaned and looked at the long, creepy, claustrophobic looking, spiral staircase.
"I guess we go up." He shrugged and began trudging up the stairs with Sam gripping the back of his shirt.
"Wow it's pitch black…" Sam whispered
"Just your type Sam," Danny smiled, "believe it or not, but it gets darker the farther up we go." Sam's grip tightened and Danny slowed his pace a bit.
"Love the dark, but I could do with stairs that weren't so steep." Danny missed a step and slipped, but caught himself before he bumped into Sam causing Team Phantom dominos. He laughed nervously,
"Yeah, I'm in agreement with that last statement." He heard Tucker laugh. "Crud, I can't see a thing." Danny mumbled to himself as he reached into his back pocket for his cell phone. "No signal, but still useful." Tucker grinned
"Technology, will you ever let us down?" Danny snorted
"Yeah, while writing a twenty page essay that's due in two days." He smiled and flipped his phone open. He pointed it away from him and lit the way. Danny looked around only to find a door to his right. He looked at it curiously. "That blends in nicely."
"What does?" asked Tucker, still in the back of the group.
"This door." Danny stated
"What door? I don't see one-" Tucker stopped as he saw Danny's fingers disappear as if they were gripping a doorknob. He slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open slightly. A warm candle like glow leaked into the stairwell making Danny look almost surreal. He cocked his head slightly trying to get a good look in case he was barging in on someone.
"Danny, this house has been abandoned for ninety-nine years." Sam whispered, "I don't think anyone is in there." Danny shrugged in the dim light.
"Never hurts to be cautious." he replied before opening the door all the way. "It looks like some sort of study, it's kind of weird." Sam poked her head inside. It was strange; a desk with an old ink container, complete with feathered quill was stuffed right next to the door. Almost like the owner would open the door and immediately sit in his desk and write, or draw in this case. Danny walked in quietly and studied all the ink covered paper. One stuck out to him the most: it was yellowed with age and part of the ink drawing was faded and looked like water was spilled on the bottom, but despite those flaws the ink depicted a dark scene of a grave yard. The right side of the paper looked like the focal point where part of an aged tomb stone was seen with a crow like creature almost scratched into position perched on the top of it. The left of the paper was the graveyard stretching downhill, and near the edge of the hill stood a large old tree with a noose hanging from one of its branches. Simple as it was, the sketch somewhat scared Danny.
"Whoa, that's amazing." Sam whispered in awe resting her chin on Danny's shoulder as he bent over the desk to look at more of the drawings.
"Guys, I think this was meant to be a hallway." Tucker's statement temporarily distracted Danny from the drawings. He looked to his left and saw that Tucker was right. He moved around the desk and let the Sam and Tucker squeeze in and past him. Tucker was already lighting the way into the hallway with his PDA, but stopped realizing Danny and Sam weren't following just yet.
"No making out you two, come on." Tucker teased only to be elbowed by Sam as she caught up. Danny wasn't too far behind her, but he came up with the sketch rolled into his grasp. Sam eyed the paper and looked at Danny quizzically.
"You sure it's okay to take that?" Danny rolled his eyes
"I'm not taking it, I'm going to show the professors, and then put it right back."
"What's so important about it?" Tucker asked. Danny unrolled the sheet and pointed to the tree,
"This is in this grave yard." he stated pointing down to emphasize the 'where.' Sam cocked her head curiously, shrugged her shoulders and followed Tucker into the hallway. Danny rolled up the paper and tucked it into his shirt before catching up with Sam and Tucker. He gave off a confused look that luckily, the others didn't see. It was warm, really warm. Weird. He thought to himself looking behind him at the small study. He stopped dead and gripped Sam's shirt who immediately grabbed Tucker and they turned around. Fear crawled down Danny's spine at a horrifyingly slow pace as the light was dimming. Danny spread out his arms to protect his friends and slowly backed up. His trusty Ghost sense didn't go off, but that didn't stop fear from controlling his actions. Something was in there with them.
Thunder grumbled so deep it felt as if the room was groaning. Danny kept his eyes fixed on the silhouette he was hoping was just a trick of the light, but the dark proved his feeble hopes false as it closed the door to the stairwell and slowly, menacingly crept its way towards the three teens. They backed up more and more, fear working its way around their throats, darkness wrapping itself around them, until it was black as pitch. Danny kept backing them up, eyes darting around the small area in front of him trying desperately to find the shadow amongst shadow. A flash of lightning light up the room for a split second causing Danny to yell out in terror as a pale white face with wicked grin was just inches from his own.
"GO!" He yelled, "Hurry! Get out of here!" He pushed back until they were running and almost fell in his attempt to turn around. They ran blindly down the hallway and Tucker took a sharp turn.
"If this is like any horror movie we've seen there has GOT to be a door!" He searched the walls until he found an abnormal gap between wood planks. He frantically followed the gap until it led his hand to a door knob which he turned forcefully and burst into another hallway. Danny and Sam stumbled inside and Tucker slammed the door shut and locked it.
"What on earth was that!" Sam gasped.
"I don't know," Danny took a breath, "but it would be really cool if that didn't happen again." He flopped on his back trying to slow his heart rate. He looked up at the slightly higher ceiling and tilted his head back farther to look behind him; this hallway was a bit brighter and larger than the last. He stood up and walked a little down the hallway and found another door.
"This is like a maze." He judged looking down a little further to see a few turns and about five doors to choose from. Sam watched as he turned the knob and opened the door slightly He peaked out the crack only to be startled by a high pitched squeal of terror that made him jump back against the wall arms up in surrender as the door flew open. Sam jumped up and darted towards him, but stopped when she heard… laughter? Danny put his hands on his knees almost ready to fall over laughing. Sam raised a confused eyebrow. In his laughing fit he pointed out the door. She poked her head out to see Dash gripping the shirt above his chest, Paulina almost passed out on the ground, Star trying to comfort her and Kwan cracking up almost as much as Danny. She sighed in relief, but turned annoyed at not only one teenage boy laughing, but two. She rolled her eyes; leave it to Danny to get Tucker in a laughing fit with him. She stepped over them and walked into the room.
"Who squealed? Dash or Paulina?" Tucker snorted. Danny tried to speak but broke out laughing even harder. After a few seconds he took a breath and squeaked his answer.
"Both!" They both fell over laughing, and Kwan joined them. Danny started coughing a bit and Tucker patted him on the back.
"Hallway is creepy." Danny breathed, and him and Tuck scrambled out of the hall and closed the door, or bookcase. It seemed that they were traveling a secret hallway that lead to the library. Danny was still on his back laughing a bit, but he was calming down. Tucker and Kwan were still at it.
"Hey," Danny laughed a little, "Is she okay?" Paulina, still in a stupor, picked Danny up by his shirt and kissed him so suddenly Danny's eyes were twice their normal size. She flopped down and took in some deep breaths
"Nope," Danny squeaked "not okay!" He coughed a little to stop his voice from squeaking again. Paulina shook her head. Kwan and Tucker stopped laughing.
"You should have seen her;" Star piped in "she's been petrified since we came in. I think she's just glad it's you and not some ghost." Danny blinked and turned bright red.
"Well," he cleared his throat, "um… Glad she's okay then." He got up pretending to bite at his thumb nail as he wiped his mouth of the kiss. Thunder grumbled again causing Paulina to cling to Star and everyone else to jump in fear.
"Why so jumpy?" Danny asked raising an eyebrow.
"We had a close encounter of the spooky kind." Kwan answered. Danny looked at Dash who nodded as he straightened out the wrinkles in his shirt. "It was huge, and super freaky."
"What was it? A ghost?" Danny asked looking at the four for an answer.
"Not like any I've ever seen. I'm not that easily scared, Fenton, and that thing petrified me." Dash answered as he flopped on one of the leather couches facing the large window on the other side of the main wing of the library. Danny rolled his eyes. Oh brother, the Box Ghost could scare you…
"What did it look like?" Danny asked. Dash shrugged,
"A giant shadow, that's all it was," He turned his head to face Danny, "but it was in the shadows and I could still see it." He glared Danny down, waiting for a smart-alecky remark, but he just stared at the floor in thought. Dash raised an eyebrow. "What?" Danny looked up shot out of his train of thought.
"What? No nothing…" His voice trailed off
"Fenton, what are you thinking?" Dash demanded; Danny shot a dirty look at the jock. "You know more about ghosts than anyone here, well besides Gothica over there," He pointed his thumb in Sam's direction who replied with a scowl. Danny rolled his eyes at Dash, "Spill it. You know what it is."
"No, Dash, I don't know what it is." Danny retorted, "That's exactly what's bugging me." Danny looked at Paulina who was still in a bit of a shock. He looked around the room and found a blanket draped over one of the couches. He walked over and grabbed the blanket, unfolding it a bit and knelt next to Paulina and Star. Star moved her arm as Danny wrapped Paulina up and then continued to comfort her friend.
"Keep her warm, and get her talking; we don't want her in shock." He said, Dash stood up and walked past Danny and walked over to the girls, he sat down cross legged next to the shivering Paulina. Danny raised an eyebrow as he headed towards Sam, Tucker and Kwan.
"I don't know what to be more freaked out at; that thing, Dash being compassionate or that kiss." Danny said quietly wiping his mouth a bit more, but his eyes caught Sam's for a split second, "Or maybe what you might do to me." He stated eyes wide. She made eye contact and Danny knew right away that it wasn't him that she wanted to tear to pieces, it was undoubtedly Paulina. He, in turn, gave her a look saying 'no, you aren't allowed to kill anyone.' Sam groaned and flopped on the floor with her arms crossed. Danny decided it was best to keep his distance from every girl in the room. It fell quiet around them besides the occasional rumble of thunder.
"Where's Ms. Collie and Professor Brass?" Sam broke the silence
"Went looking for you guys." came an answer from behind Danny and Tucker. They turned to see the two teachers come up to them. Danny got up and peeked past them to see stairs gently swirling down to the main hall.
"Don't go down there dude!" Kwan yelled
"They're just stairs. Ooooooo!" Danny grumbled wriggling his fingers in a mocking maniacal manor. "I'm just going to check the storm out."
"You can see perfectly out this window dude; it's the size of the freaking library!" Tucker yelled as Danny descended the stairs with Professor Brass tailing him just in case.
"Feeling is different than just seeing Tuck!" Danny yelled back without missing a step. He could hear Brass' footsteps behind him and voices of terrified teenagers as they began to fade behind the stair case.
"This place is known for traps and fake ghosts, guys. What you saw might have been one of those famous tricks." He heard Ms. Collie's attempt at coaxing the A-list. No wonder that maze of a hallway was there; that's pretty much the perfect hiding place and the best way to scare the ever living out of your guests. Danny smiled at the thought. He wouldn't mind seeing what this place was like in its hay day and scaring anybody that came to Dacrow Manor for some big party. That would have been enjoyable.
"So, you know a bit about storms huh Mr. Fenton?" Danny twitched at the name
"Yeah, a little, but call me Danny; Mr. Fenton just sounds weird." Brass laughed. They reached the front door and Danny sniffed the air a bit, wow, he thought, Ms. Constable was right, the air does smell different with each storm. He stifled a laugh at the quirky science teacher he'd met during a study hall. She was obsessed with weather.
"Apparently a lot, by how you're looking around." Brass mused as Danny opened the door a crack and just barely peaked out the door so not to get any dust in his eyes from the wind attacking the sanded drive way.
"Well, I figure, if I'm going to be an Astronaut, I might as well have some basic knowledge of the atmosphere." Danny closed the door as a big gust of wind almost blew his cap off. "Wow! That storm isn't even here yet!" He coughed brushing some dust off his hat, before putting it back in its backward position. "And that is going to be very rainy." Danny whined pathetically. So much for the graveyard tour.
"Your conclusion Astro-Boy?" Brass teased, Danny gave a weak smile.
"Lots and lots of rain tonight." He sighed
"That was my accession as well." Brass concluded sadly, "But we may be able to do the outside tour tomorrow if it lights up before dawn." That brought Danny's spirits up. He'd almost forgotten that it was a weekend deal. They headed towards the stairs when Danny caught something in the corner of his eye. He stopped and peaked behind Brass only to see the wall and an empty hallway. He shrugged and continued walking until something blocked his path. A sudden dark, looming, huge and menacing shadow flew right up to him!