Hello to you, whoever you are. Thank you for checking out my little fic. This is my second attempt of writing a fanfiction and I hope, you like it. I've recently found out, that there are shockingly few horror fics of Danny Phantom, a franchice filled with ghosts. So I thought: Why not posting a standard haunted house/Teen horror fic? Although there will be not that much Horror in the first chapter. Please review, if you have the time. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does (and probably Nickelodeon, but Butch is the one that counts). The OCs (a necessary evil, sorry) and setting are ficticious and not based on actual places or people.

Dani looked at the house that rose into the night sky. The dark wood, it was made of, made it seem to disappear in the late dusk. The old Villa was a mile away from the next small town and had been empty for the last fifty-six years. Some man had killed his wife and himself. Extended suicide. The villagers whispered, that the old house was haunted, but yet Dani hadn't sensed any ghost nearby. Perfect. Not that she would have minded to crash at someghost's place. Most of them were quite hospitable, as long as one was nice and didn't overstay one's welcome. One or two days was fine by the most ghosts. They loved to talk about the lives, they once had. Dani couldn't count the life stories she had heard in her barely one year of existing. Some were boring, but she listened anyway, some were tragic, some were intriguing, and some were just disgusting. She shuddered at the thought of what Skulker had told her about his lifetime. The urge to skin her "cousin" suddenly seemed harmless. He had captured her and had intended to bring her to him. But she had managed to bring the tin-head to talk about his past, and as ghosts are, it gave her enough time, to free herself and make a run.

Anyway. Here she was, at the left-to-rot-not-yet-haunted house. The lawn had grown wild, Undergrowth would have the fun of his li- death and the pond seemed to have fulfilled its metamorphosis into a swamp, from what Dani could tell. She pushed the gate in the rotting fence. With a squeak, it opened. Dani's human half tensed a little, while her ghost half delighted. Yes, she could totally understand, why the villagers thought, this place was haunted.

Dani smirked. "Well, now it is a haunted house." She closed the gate and walked over the graveled path, now overgrown with weeds. As she reached the stairs to the door, she disappeared.

At least, it would seem that way for any witness observing the scene. In reality, she just had dropped visibility and tangibility in favor for their counterparts. Old doors shouldn't be closed and opened too frequently. Also, who knew what was behind the giant black doors.

Untouched and unseen by the world, she stepped inside her temporary home. Quickly, she strode through the whole house to find nothing unusual or dangerous. And no bigger living being than a rat, what a relieve.

Luckily, just two windows were broken and neither of them were in the living room, where the chimney was. That meant a whole night of warmth and comfort. Maybe two or three, if her pursuers would fall for the false tracks she had laid out.

She unstrapped her worn-out backpack and searched it for the bedroll and the marshmallows she had "borrowed" at a general store. she placed the bedroll five feet in front of the chimney and opened the marshmallow-bag. Two marshmallows immediately found their way into her empty stomach.

"Mhh. I should have gone for the bread instead." She sighed. Again, the child in her had made an inadequate decision: Candy before survival. Stupid. She knew the rules, and yet she had made such a mistake. But there was no time for moping to herself. If she just had those sugary, fluffy, delicious… wait. What did she need to do again? "Grr!" she scuffed her red hat. "Right. Firewood."

White rings appeared at her midsection and parted towards her head and her feet. Where they passed, they replaced the little hobo's body and shabby clothes with the body of her ghostly counterpart and a black and white two-piece suit. Unwashed, black hair became (still unwashed) white hair and baby-blue eyes turned acid-green.

Then, nearly quicker as the human eye could follow, the ghost flew though the wall and disappeared in the dark forest around the old villa.

Ten minutes later, Dani, back in her human form, ignited a pile of wood and dry leaves in the old chimney. Slowly, the warmth from the fire crept into the house and into Dani's body. She sighed in pleasure, as the heat of the fire brushed her face and outstretched hands.

After minutes of just enjoying the heat, Dani fumbled for the bag of marshmallows and a wooden stick, she had found. Two at one time, she baked the sweets over the fire and ate them as soon as they were ready. Finally, the bag was empty.

Sated, warm and tired, she crouched into her sleeping bag and let her dreams carry her away.

So, where do I start?

At the beginning, I'd suggest.

Right, right. The beginning. Well, it started last Thursday, when Janette had the stupid idea to spend the night from Friday to Saturday in the haunted manor near town. The Wood Manor. You've heard of it, yes? You've heard of John Wood? That crazy guy, who murdered his entire family and himself back in the early fifties? Some say, his spirit still roams the house and the surrounding land. Of course, I'd never bought that story before. I mean, ghosts! Who in their right mind would believe, they'd actually exist.

But now, you do.

I don't believe it, Mister. I know it. I know it for sure. I wouldn't be here, if they didn't. Right? Right. Where was I? Ah, Janette. She had that stupid idea. An adventure. A night to never be forgotten. I personally would have waited for Halloween for something like that, but anyway. So Thursday, she had this idea, that we'd sneak into the old manor on Friday night and stay there until Saturday morning. I would have gladly refused. There are more fun things to do on Fridays than spending them in an old house.

"What?", she had teased me. "Afraid of old Johnny? Didn't know, you were a sissy, Rick."

What a bitch, I thought. Of course, I was not afraid. My friend, Bill wasn't neither. So we both agreed to join her "adventure" in the haunted manor. How fucking stupid we were.

What happened?

Well, on Friday I told my parents, that I would spend the night at Bill's place. That we'd watch some movies and stuff. I don't know how Bill sneaked out, but I'm sure he'd told his parents something similar. We met Janette at ten pm at the gate to Wood Manor. Her friend, Rachel, had accompanied her. That was the moment I thought, the whole trip was worth it. You see, Rachel is kinda cute and well…

Go on.

Anyway, we entered the property all together. The gate was old and rusty and it screeched, as we opened it. The path to the house was overgrown with wilderness. But what can you expect? For what we knew, we were the first people walking that path in decades. The first to enter the manor since our parents had been our age. It was, kinda, tremendous to imagine this. We didn't see the smoke coming from the chimney back then. Well, as you can imagine by now, our awe was short lived. After we've busted the door, we found a sleeping hobo inside.

A hobo?

Yes, a little girl smelling like garbage and shit. Probably, a fucking junkie.

How did she look like?

What? You missing one, Sir?

Maybe.

Well, she had black and unkempt hair. Unkempt is the best word to describe her in general. And, lets see… Blue eyes, blue worn shirt and a red hat and shorts. The sleeping bag she was sleeping in and bag pack besides her on the other hand seemed new. She'd probably stolen it. You now her?

No.

Figures.

What did you do with her?

Well, first we were angry. It should have been our moment. Our adventure. And because of this stupid runaway, we suddenly weren't the first anymore. We felt like the Russians would have set foot on the moon before Neill. She wasn't invited, you see? So, we told her to leave.

Dani woke up rather unpleasant. Something hit her shin and a voice, just as gentle, ordered her to stand up. Within seconds, she managed to stumble out of her sleeping bag and orientate herself in the room. The fire still burned in the chimney. Illuminated by the light of the dancing flames, there were four faces staring down at her. Teenagers, sixteen. Seventeen at most. The two boys looked angry, one of the girls grinned in evil mischief. Yes, they were out for giving her trouble. The last member of the quartet looked more civil and quite uncomfortable with the situation. Clearly, she had picked the wrong friends.

"Ugh, she stinks," the first girl grinned and held her nose with index finger and thump closed. Dani crossed her arm in front of her chest. She felt the urge to hit her. The boy to her left, instead, hit Dani. "You heard her. You smell like shit. And shit you are." The second boy grinned. Dani gritted her teeth while her cheek started to swell. "Leave. Me. Alone.", she pressed out. Internally, she cursed. The situation was about to get out of hand. Should she pull out her knife? It was in her pocket. Maybe, she could scare those teens o-

The fist connected with her skull and the lights went out.

Pain took her out of the black and back into reality. The pain of a shoe crushing into her ribs. The pain repeated and tears blurred her face.

"Leave her!"

A new voice. Probably, the second girl.

"But Rachel, she's-"

"She's a kid. Damn it Bill," the voice accused her attacker. "She's a junkie, Rachel. She probably is too high to feel anything," the second boy defended his friend. Oh, what'd Dani give, would he be right about that. "I said STOP IT!", the girl screamed. The rhythm of shoe meeting ribs stopped. "Rachel, let the boys have their fun," the first girl giggled. "No! That is assault. Are you all crazy? That isn't some light fun."

"But-"

"No. Just no. Let her leave." A common sight filled the room, while Dani tried to fight back the tears blurring her eyes. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't sob. "Fine." A hand grabbed her at the collar and raised her to her feet. "You heard her. You can leave," the not-Bill boy hissed, "So, LEAVE!"

His last words were accompanied by a hard push into the vague direction of the room's exit. Unfortunately, this path lead over the first girl's outstretched foot. If she could use her ghost powers right now, it wouldn't have been a problem. But in the need of hiding her true nature, there was no way she could do that. Thus, she stumbled over the foot and fell to the ground again. Pain rose from her ribcage into the tips of her hair. "Shit!" She needed to get out. Unless she wanted, that a bunch of pimpled teens beat and kicked her to death in order to impress the other sex.

Just to prove her point, the new shiny shoes of just-another-overly-expensive -show-off-branch pierced her side. Followed by a "What, were you're going, bitch!"

Quickly, Dani got back on her feet, as she heard both boys approaching her. Never in her life, the idea to get invisible and pull out the knife, not only to threaten but to kill, was that tempting. But she wasn't Vlad. She wasn't built after his template. She was Dani. Created out of and meant to resemble Danny Phantom. A hero, through and through. How many punches did he have to endure in school? And never would he use his powers to harm his bullies, although Sidney always insist, he would. Never. And so, she wouldn't, too.

Resistance was a no-go. So escape was the only option. As quick as her feet could carry her, she stumbled towards the villa's entrance hall.

You told her to leave? How convincing.

Ough, well. We… we maybe… were a little… harsh while bidding her out?

I'm not here to judge. Just to learn the truth of this unfortunate event. I mean; a haunted house which is actually haunted. I mean, wow.

It… it isn't haunted, Sir.

No?

No, Sir. But let me continue.

As you wish.

When that vagrant girl left the building, she left it through the door.

As usual people would do.

Er… no. No, I mean: She left through the door. She didn't open it.

…

Creepy, huh?

You are sure about that?

First, I didn't recognize it at all. Bill didn't, either. Back then, it was just strange, that we didn't hear her open the door or closing it. You see, she left in… er, a hurry and I and Bill wanted to follow her to make sure, that she really left the house. When we entered the hall, she already was outside the house. We opened the door and… watched her leaving the property on the same way, we entered. You see? She should have opened the door and closed the door in a hurry. We should have heard it. But there was nothing.

You are absolutely sure, she left through the door, Rick? She didn't climb through a window or didn't shut the door gently? She stepped literally through the door?

Y-yes. I know, it sounds strange, but- well, it will make sense, eventually.

Too late, Dani realized her mistake. She just had switched into intangibility, when she left through the door. She was pretty sure, the boys didn't see her stepping through the solid wood. At least the curses and swear words they shot her while she ran down the old overgrown path, back to the iron gate, were indicating that they didn't see it. But if they closely thought about it, they would notice the missing sound of a shutting door. At the gate, she remembered to not make the same mistake twice.

As she stumbled through the dark forest, she finally let her tears flow. And why not? Her nose was bleeding, at least one rib seamed to be broken and she had been insulted with every swear word known by teens this side of the Pacific. Now, she would need to travel to Japan or China to hear new ones.

Now, with the sun long gone and the tears blurred eyes, it was hard to see. Once or twice, she actually stumbled into a tree. However, the blue mist escaping her mouth was unmissable. She sighed and tried to muffle her sobs and dry her eyes with the sleeve of her blue shirt jacket. Unlike her 'cousin' she didn't switch into defense stand. Maybe, the ghost was friendly, aka not in Vlad's employment.

A grey, half translucent figure, slightly glowing in the dark, hovered over the forest floor. The ghost was human, male, with black hair and round spectacles. He looked like out of an old high school movie, back when color TV was science fiction. Everything on him, from clothes to statue, screamed 'nerd'. In his hand he held the only thing, that wasn't black white or grey. A green book.

"What're you doing with my diary, Sid?", Dani asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Admittedly, she was an emotional wrack right now. But that didn't mean, she should burden a friend with her problems.

"I- er, you left it at my place, when you last time visited. Er, here." Sidney Poindexter held Dani's diary in front of the half ghost. "A-and don't worry, I didn't read it." Yes, he did. And he blushed over the obvious lie. His cheeks turned even greyer. Dani didn't recognize.

"Thanks," Dani said flatly and took the book. She didn't have any energy left to wonder, how he had found her or to rant about how he shouldn't snoop around in her private stuff. Bad mistake, because that were her main occupations in their encounter. That, and hanging out and reading superhero comics together. Apparently, he had a whole collection of those.

"Dani? Are you ok?", Sidney asked, a worried tone in his voice, that unnerved the girl.

She looked away and clenched her diary against her chest. "Peachy."

"That's not true. Dani, what's the matter?"

"Nothing. Thanks for the book. Bye," Dani said as composed as possible and started to walk of. A cold hand on her shoulder stopped her. She shook it off rather violently.

"Dani…"

"Don't touch me, four-eyes!", the girl screamed out and continued on her track, away from the ghost. "And for how do I feel right now and why; You'll read it in my diary eventually, I guess. Next time 'I forget it'."

That hurt. Sidney stared at the back of Dani's retreating figure, grey flames of anger behind his glasses.

There was just one cause that could affect people in such a matter, that they hurt their friends just to be left alone. Alone with their pain. Grey flaming eyes followed the track the halfa had been coming from, footsteps and occasional droplets of blood on the fallen autumn leaves.

There was only one possible cause.

Poindexter's grey eyes, cold as steal and hot as boiling oil at the same time, settled onto an old house, hidden behind the trees.

Only one cause: Bullies!