Danny was greeted by the creak of decaying wood as he touched down on the roof of Amity Park's old theater, taking out his phone. He walked towards the edge of the derelict building and peered at the empty streets below. Without the hustle and bustle of daytime traffic, the streets were eerily quiet, except for the calm wind and the now beeping phone in Danny's hands. He scrolled through his contacts to find the familiar "FruitLoop", and brought the phone to his ear.
"Okay, old man, where are you?" he started after hearing the call connect. He'd barely accepted Vlad's invitation, if nothing else, to make sure he wasn't up to something. Danny did not have the patience to wait for the other halfa.
"Relax Daniel, I'm just a block away," answered the voice on the other end. Then continued with a chuckle, "Nice to hear you worrying about my safety though, Little Badger."
Danny clicked the end call button before Vlad could finish his laughter but the older man was already within earshot, floating a couple buildings away from the theater. Flying up to meet halfway, Danny welcomed Vlad with a glare and crossed arms. Vlad just continued towards the building, phasing through the roof. After an eye-roll and a sigh Danny followed after him.
"So what's so important about this place that we needed to meet here at three in the morning?" Danny asked when he'd caught up to Vlad in a crypt of an attic, intangibility keeping the cobwebs that decorated the ceiling from touching the two hybrids. "All your message said was to meet you here if I wanted to see some 'ghost culture'," he said, air-quoting the last bit with his hands. "And to stay in ghost form."
Vlad slowed and turned towards Danny. He flew backwards as he answered the boy, "We are simply here to watch a play. What else would we do in a theater?" Danny stopped and dropped intangibility. He breathed in sharply, about to question the man, but took in a mouthful of dust instead. Danny began coughing violently, prompting Vlad to raise an eyebrow. "I'm assuming that's not pleasant."
"Shut it, Vlad," Danny managed to wheeze out. He lost solidity again as they continued through the floor and into the open air above the stage. His question forgotten as he marveled at the cavernous room.
After years of neglect, the once vibrant curtains were now a dark red, mimicking the shade of dried blood. The seats, those that were still intact, looked ready to collapse under the slightest weight. Danny was surprised that the balcony seating wasn't falling onto the rows it was hovering over considering how the wood groaned. Danny spun around and descended to the stage. Well, what was left of it.
The floorboards were splintered and broken where weights had crashed down from the rigging above, their ropes brittle and frayed. Half disintegrated tape was still scattered across the remaining wood, one of the only signs that the stage was ever actually used. The other was a single prop, a tall lamp with a wire cage around a broken bulb, left at the center of the stage.
The young half-ghost's attention was brought back to his companion when Vlad interrupted his train of thought. "We should get seated before the show starts," the older man stated while flying towards one of the private seating areas.
"Dude, the place is barely standing. There's no way anyone is gonna be doing a play in here," Danny replied, not believing a word about this supposed show they were here to see. He followed the man despite his hesitations. Vlad chose a seat that looked remarkably well compared to the rest of the auditorium. The seat next to him was suspiciously pristine too. Danny widened his eyes at the man. "Did you do this?" he gestured to the furniture.
"Of course, my boy. Would you rather risk one of these?" Vlad asked, using a single hand to push the seat on his other side for emphasis. The wood whined before the entire seat fell in on itself, leaving behind a cloud of dust. Danny stared at the wreckage for a moment before shrugging and taking the much nicer seat. Vlad checked what appeared to be a timer on his phone, counting down from ten. "And don't worry about the state of the theater, it will change soon."
"What do you…" Danny started to ask. His question trailed off as he caught sight of a small, green orb floating down from the catwalk. Like a feather being blown by the wind, the glowing ball gently made its way towards the stage, and hung in the air next to the lamp.
It jolted into the wire caging as if the old bulb sucked the light through the mesh. The prop started to pulse, getting brighter and brighter each time. As the lit area of the stage got larger, Danny noticed the cracks and breaks disappearing as if wiped away. Every bit of stage that the light touched was renewed before their eyes. Danny sat on the edge of his seat, entranced by what seemed like magic.
Soon, the wave of green light was stretching beyond the stage, climbing its way up the curtains and crawling towards the first row of seats. The atmosphere of the theater cleared of dust as the cleansing light spread out, leaving a tingling sensation as it hit the air around Danny. When it finally reached the seats, the light didn't just recreate them, it also left apparitions in it's wake.
Danny felt his ghost sense swell within him, and then exit through his mouth, the blue mist confirming that the audience wasn't alive. He jumped up from his seat ready to attack, but stopped when he felt Vlad's hand grab his wrist. "Sit down and watch, Daniel. Think of this like the Christmas truce," Vlad's whispers barely heard over the low murmurs spreading through the crowd. "These ghosts won't start trouble if you don't."
The young hero stayed standing for a moment, torn between believing the man and trusting the fight-or-flight instinct within him. He looked down at the growing audience, taking note of their docile disposition, and decided to let his guard down for now. He was so distracted by his internal dilemma, that he failed to notice that the entire stage looked brand new.
The bright light in the center of the bulb dimmed, leaving the stage lit an eerie green. Silence descended upon the audience. Everybody watched as two other ghosts materialized on stage.
"Who's there?" asked the actor who had appeared while in the middle of walking onto the stage.
The other, who was standing in the middle of the stage, looked up and said, "Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself."
"Hamlet, really? You knew exactly what play they were gonna do, didn't you?" Danny accused nearly the moment the stage went dark, leaving cracked floorboards behind. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared daggers at Vlad. Vlad just laughed.
The man looked away, as though feigning innocence, "How could I have known that, Daniel? It's not like ghosts have a bulletin board in the Ghost Zone where they announce things planned for such a small town." The facade was ruined when he laughed again.
Danny rolled his eyes and pouted before standing. His expression slowly relaxed as he stared out at the now empty theater. The old, rickety seats returned, along with the moth eaten curtains and dust filled air. Without the magic green light, Amity Park's old theater reverted back to the musty building it was just hours prior.
As much as he hated to admit it, he really enjoyed watching the ghostly play. Who knew Shakespeare could actually be interesting? Then again, his only exposure to the material was from Mr. Lancer, and that man could manage to make roller coasters boring. It certainly helped that it was the original actors on stage. Even the lamp's light didn't feel that creepy after sitting in the clean air and fresh seats. Danny could still feel the faint effects that the light had on him, his body just barely buzzing.
Vlad gently touched Danny's shoulder to bring the boy back to the present. "Let's go, Daniel. It's almost dawn," he suggested quietly, grin still spread ear to ear. Danny nodded, giving the stage one last glance before he faced Vlad. They wordlessly phased through the rotting wood above them. Passed the abandoned catwalks. Through the attic. And stopped in the sky above the building.
As they were about to part ways, Danny turned to Vlad again, eyebrows drawn together . "I didn't like it," he lied. The older man chuckled.
"You just didn't like the play they chose. The rest of it wasn't that bad," Vlad said.
Danny sighed at the statement. He couldn't deny that the Fruit Loop actually spoke the truth. "Whatever, see ya later," Danny said, lazily drifting away.
Vlad nodded his goodbye and turned around to face the direction of his home. Danny spun towards the Fentonworks sign, about to take off when Vlad's voice stopped him.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll enjoy the next one. The website says it's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'," the older man called back, cackling as he sped away.
A/N: In theatre, a ghost light is a lamp that's left lit on stage (mostly towards the center) when no one is in the theater. The superstition around this is that the light gives ghosts the opportunity to perform so that they don't curse the theater or cause general mayhem.