Danny Phantom
Unseeing
Author's Notes: Since DP seems to be partially future set, I pushed the years forward a bit. This is a sort of suspense story, but it'll get a bit more violent in later chapters as the plot unfolds. Well, read on, and see. This is "Unseeing."
DISCLAIMER: Danny Phantom is not my property. Fictional characters that come from my imagination, however, are my property. I am receiving no money for this story, and I would appreciate if characters of my own creation were used only with permission.
Chapter One
The Rosary Killer
Friday, April 5, 2010
The Fenton Residence
5:23 PM
It was a routine family meal. And for the family, the last. Each one was talking about the weekends plans. The young woman was whispering excitedly about a psycology convention she'd been invited to. The big man at the head of the table was saying, rather loudly, that he was on his way to a ghost hunters meeting, which he'd been invited to via a mysterious invitation. And the raven-haired boy, of course, was headed to his friend's house for their weekly movie marathon.
The woman with the lovely eyes, however, was destined for a quiet weekend at home, with no one to keep her company. Well, it wasn't all bad. That just meant she could work on the rest of her private inventions without interuption, such as her husband's foolish actions.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the phone rang, jolting her back into reality as her son scrambled out of the kitchen to grab the phone.
"Oh, hey Tuck," came his voice from the living room. "Yeah, so... okay... oh, okay. Well, see ya Monday then."
She sighed. Well, that meant only one thing. But it wasn't all bad. At least now she wouldn't be all alone.
Saturday, April 7, 2010
The Fenton Residence
9:32 PM
"NO! LET ME GO YOU STUPID-"
"Now, now, we don't want to wake your mother, little boy..." the man hissed. The boy he was speaking to was tied up to the banister, writhing and screaming. The man silently ascended the stairs and slipped into the master bedroom. The boy tied to the banister screamed his frustration. His mind was racing, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was too worked up to even think about changing.
His mother's screams, however, caused a furious rush in him that eliminated the need for the change. He ripped through his bindings and bolted up the stairs. "HANG ON!" he shouted.
What he saw when he opened his parent's bedroom door made his blood chill. There the man sat, straddling his helpless mother. A rosary hung around her bruised neck. A knife was buried to the hilt in her left hand. Though she was struggling fiercely, her eyes never blinked. Danny flew across the room to the bed, tackling the man. The two toppled to the floor.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" he roared. The man and Danny struggled for several long moments... and then Maddie moaned in pain. Danny looked up. "Mom!" he shouted. The distraction gave the dark man just enough time to yank the knife out of Maddie's palm and swing it wildly at Danny's head with a sickening slice.
Blood ran... and everything was black...
"Oh god... my eyes..." he whispered. And then the squelching noise of the knife sinking into flesh hit his ears again... Maddie gasped one final time...
He snapped.
His eyes flashed a furious and deadly green through the wet crimson running down his face.
The rest of that night was a complete blurr for Danny Fenton. That night, he lost his mother. That night, he sent a murderer to his death.
Danny Fenton was only fourteen, struggling with new, paranormal powers, highschool, and... the loss of his mother. Jack and Jasmine had both been away, Jack to a false ghosts anonymous meeting and Jazz to a lecture held at a university in New York. Danny had been the only one home, due to some cancelled plans with his two best friends. The man who had been stalking Maddie Fenton had not anticipated another player in his game, but had dealt with it efficiently enough.
At least, before he knew the boy was half ghost.
Thursday, October 13, 2010
Amity Park Prison
10:13 PM
"Damon Slist, you have hereby been sentanced to death by the state of Minnesota, by way of lethal injection, for 56 counts of murder in the first degree. Do you have any last words?" asked the man holding the hypodermic needle. Danny, his father, and his sister were watching. Hate coursed through Danny.
Do it already, he thought. Just kill the bastard.
The man called Damon locked his misty brown orbs with Danny's fierce blue ones through the dark glasses he wore. Insane lust for blood glossed Damon Slist's eyes. A smile of sadist joy touched his cracked lips. "See you in three, little boy."
Jack had to restrain his son from pouncing on the man and doing the "executioner's" job (as Danny had been referring to him since the sentance had been issued) with his bare hands.
A moment later the needle sank home, the liquid seeped in... and Damon Slist passed from the living world. But only the living world.
The announcement was made the next day in the paper, which Jack promptly clipped out and hung on the fridge.
Damon Slist, also known as the "Rosary Killer," was executed yesterday via lethal injection. He was convicted of 56 murders across seven states, including those of three Amity Park residents, Janette Manson, Vannessa Gray, and Maddie Fenton. The hearts of the entire community go out to the families of the victims. Thanks to local boy, Danny Fenton, the son of one of the victims, Damon was apprehended by officials and convicted on his testimony. More on Page 6 a...
The loss of a wife and mother devastated the Fentons, but none so much as Danny. For years it haunted him... his mother's unseeing eyes woke him often in the middle of the night. He was gripped by guilt.
Why couldn't I save her?
Monday, October 2, 2013
Casper High, room 36
10:22 AM
"Mr. Fenton, did you hear a word I just said?" the shiny-scalped man at the head of the room asked. Danny lifted his head slightly, groggy, and shook his head.
"Then I'll ask again. What are the three allusions used in literature?"
"Um..." the raven haired teen muttered before his head hit his desk again with a thud. The class roared with laughter as the bald man slapped his palm to his forehead. Though quite unsuccessfully, Mr. Lancer had been attempting to get Danny to pay attention in his class since the school year started. How he had gotten them a third year, Danny didn't know, but he suspected that Lancer did it just to spite them.
Nosey old coot.
But Danny didn't mean to sleep in class. He was just exhausted. Late night ghost hunts, homework, and splitting chores (if that's what you would call it) with his father left him with very few hours of sleep every night. Those few precious hours were dramatically reclining at a very alarming rate.
They had hardly been back to school a month and already Lancer felt the need to pile on homework as though the apocolypse were coming, which Danny thought possible with what he'd seen that summer (which is altogether a whole other story). And the three years before it. Apparently there was now another way for the ghosts to escape the ghost zone in huge masses, a tear, if you will, between the two dimensions large enough to fit an army through. He'd spent the last six months repairing the gash and hunting down the escapees to throw back into the ghost zone. Considering the number of no-longer-living people, there were quite a few. And still many more to go. Danny, Val, Sam, and Tucker were the only ones taking care of the problem,(as Jazz was away at college), so their free time for anything (including sleep) was very limited. Especially for Danny.
Mercifully the bell rang and the class cluttered out of the room. As Danny got up to leave, Mr. Lancer's hand on his shoulder told him he wouldn't be going anywhere for a few minutes.
"Mr. Fenton, I think we need to have a word."
Danny's shoulders drooped. "I know, I'm trying, I really am, it's just that..." he trailed off. He knew telling Mr. Lancer, "I've been up all night chasing ghosts" would probably not draw a very good outcome.
"Just what? I know you can do better, I've seen you do better. You always look worn, you can't stay awake in class, and I've noticed bruises and scrapes all over the place. Is everything alright at home?"
"Yeah, fine. I'm never home anyways..." he mumbled. It was true, though, and when he was home, he was in his room or in the lab emptying the thermos. But Danny knew what Lancer had implied. Is your father beating you? Well, his father was always away at conventions and research expeditions, so the house was usually empty, no longer the busy home it once was. Since Maddie had passed, his father's goofy outlook had died away. To be truthful, he rarely even said anything at all.
Mr. Lancer eyed him skeptically. "Well... alright then. But if there is a problem, you should come talk to me." He squeezed the teen's shoulder. Danny knew what he was talking about. "Off you go then."
Danny left the classroom depressed again. He'd been trying not to think about what had happened, since it only made matters worse. He caught up with his two friends and told them what Lancer had said. Sam was silent, as though she were analyzing the information.
"Sounds like he thinks your dad's beating on you or something," Tucker said as they arrived at Danny's locker. Danny shrugged.
"That's exactly what Lancer thinks. But he's never home, I don't know when he'd find the time. And when he is home, he doesn't really look at me. Probably because of this," Danny motioned to the dark sunglasses he'd been wearing for the past three years. "I think he feels guilty and can't really handle it. Who knows, maybe I'm just ugly."
Sam nudged him with her elbow. "Don't say that, you know it's not true."
Danny made a face at her and opened his locker. Since the incident with Damon three years earlier, Danny had been wearing those glasses for a reason. The swipe Damon had made with the knife had completely blinded Danny. Ugly scars covered his eyes and the area around them. His orbs themselves had remained the fierce blue they'd always been, but had an unfocused look to them, as well as what looked like a blood mark where the knife had made contact. It was like a loudspeaker announcing, "Hey, look at me! I'm blind!"
Fortunately for Danny, his ghost half corrected that little problem. His ghost sense now doubled to detect spiritual energies and his hearing was sharper than a sonogram's. Every little noise and reverberation illuminated a clear picture in Danny's mind. Using his ghost energy he was able to reach out and feel the things around him without physically touching them or using one of those stupid sticks. When reading, he could "see" the words by drumming his fingers lightly on the desk. Since the ink or graphite was a different material than the paper, the sounds were different frequencies.
There were few people who knew he was blind. The principal and a few of his teachers, his family, and his two friends. The teachers who didn't know had just been told to allow him to wear the glasses by the principal. Of those that knew, only four knew the extent of his condition (ghost powers included): Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and his father.
The hulking mass of Dash Baxter stomped up to Danny, brandishing a failed test and a fist. "You gave me the wrong answers on our chemistry test, Fentwerp!" he shouted. Danny shook his head.
Calmly, he replied, "You asked me for answers, not the right answers."
Dash yowled and threw a punch. Danny had already felt it coming by the rush in the air and the tensing of the muscles on the right side of Dash's body. He flashed to the right moments before Dash's fist came swinging at him and missed by several inches. With a crunch it hit the locker and Dash screached in pain.
"Leave me alone, Dash. I'm not in a very good mood."
"Yeah, and it'll be worse when I break your face!" he shouted. But before he could throw another punch, the trio was gone. "What? Where'd they go?"
Monday, October 2, 2013
The Fenton Residence, The Lab
7:36 PM
It was a quiet night for Danny. His father was off on some convention or hunt again and Jazz had already gone back to college. He was home alone, as it had been for so many nights that month. Danny was in the lab, emptying the thermos and thinking aloud to himself.
"God I hate this thing..." he mumbled, glaring at the portal. "Why don't you just stay closed? Damn it..."
As if in response the doors of the portal flew open. Knowing something was on the other side, Danny decided it was time to change.
"Going ghost!" he said, and the rings appeared at his middle and swept over him. His jeans and t-shirt were replaced by a black jumpsuit emblazoned with the D on his chest. Danny Fenton became Danny Phantom.
He waited... and suddenly a figure flew out of the swirling green.
"BEWARE!"
"Not you again!" Danny groaned, and snatched up the thermos. "Okay, in ya go!"
"You cannot catch me, for I am THE BOX GHOST! FEAR ME!" he roared and flew up and through the ceiling. Danny groaned again and took off after him. He'd been hoping for a quiet night for a change. Because of the Box Ghost, that was never the case. Escpecially not tonight.
The lab seemed more creepy than normal with the green glow of the portal. It was silent... and then something else came out of the portal. A ghost, but it wasn't like Ember or Skulker or The Box Ghost. It was just a ghost... who slipped silently up the stairs. It looked at the pictures on the walls of the family. There was the boy holding a soccer trophy as a child and with his friends as a teenager. There was a girl in several picures. One of her graduation, one of her first car, even one holding the letter of acceptance to Harvard. More pictures of the boy followed that, his own first new car, his prom pictures with the creepy goth girl seen in the other picture, he and the dark skinned boy tubing on a lake. There were pictures of both the boy and girl, and a man and woman with them. There were pictures of the girl with a handsom dark-haired boy, and pictures of other family memories.
Flashes from the past flooded through the ghost. It moved then to look at one of the girl's pictures again... and slipped through the ceiling and away.
Monday, October 2, 2013
The Skies above Amity Park
9:47 PM
Danny was cursing The Box Ghost. He'd spent more than two hours chasing that fat one around, practically in circles. The whole time the ghost just shouted, "You cannot catch me! I am The Box Ghost! Beware! Fear me!"
"Stop moving so I can beat the hell out of you!" Danny yelled in frustration. Lack of sleep had caused him to lose focus. Normally, with a few more hours rest, Danny would have already caught and beaten the Box Ghost three times. With a burst of speed he caught up and back-handed The Box Ghost out of the sky.
"No! I cannot be defeated, for I am The Box- aaauuugh!" he shouted and was sucked into the thermos.
"I hate him..." Danny muttered and rose into the air again.
"Wow, a record two hours. Good going, Danny," came a glassy voice from behind him. There Sam and Tucker stood, laughing. Danny flushed, reverted, and put the dark glasses back on.
"He wouldn't quite flying around in circles, I couldn't catch him! He just kept changing direction right when I was about to get him..." but no matter how much he explained they continued to laugh.
"C'mon man, let's head back to your place. Dad gone again?"
"Yup."
"Good, we can watch some scary movies."
Danny shrugged and the three headed back to the Fenton residence. While walking, Tucker asked Danny a question that had been nagging at him for some time.
"Hey, when your dad is home, where does he sleep? In the bedroom?"
Danny shook his head. "Oh god no. Hell, that door hasn't even opened since... well, you know. The morning after it all happened, we bleached the sheets and made the made how mom liked it, and left. No one's been in there since. He sleeps on the couch when he's home, which isn't very often."
They walked in silence from then on, only speaking again when they got to the Fenton residence. They piled into the living room, then each spread out to gather the movie essentials. Sam looked through the horror movies, Tucker hooked up the sound system, and Danny gathered junk food.
"So guys, what do we want to watch? I hear 'Running Scared' was a freaky one..."
"Sure," Danny called from the kitchen. He returned with a big bowl of popcorn, candy, and other junk in his arms. They settled in for a night of terror.
Monday, October 2, 2013
Boston, Massechussets, The campus of Harvard University
11:17 PM
Jason West was a ninteen-year-old college student, wandering the campus of Harvard University after hours. He wasn't getting into trouble, as the clerk at the mini mart had thought. He was studying the stars, since it was the first night since he'd arrived that he'd been able to do so.
Sure, he was going to get chewed out by Jazz again for violating curfew, but tonight was worth it. Especially since there was nothing in the way of his night-time passion.
Unfortunately for Jason West, he picked a very poor night to go star gazing. Something wispy and transparent was slithering up to him, like a snake closing in on its prey. The wisp, a ghost, suddenly slipped into Jason's body before he knew what happened. His normally green eyes lit up... and turned to a misty brown. The handsome features of his face twisted into a look that was unbecoming for him. Sadistic insanity touched his lips.
"At laaassst... It's sooooo good to have a body once more..."
Jason turned and vanished into the shadows.
Tuesday, October 3, 2013
Casper High, room 17
2:51 PM
The droning of Mr. Pierce nearly put the entire room to sleep. Tucker, who already knew everything the teacher was saying, took the opportunity to get some rest before that night's ghost hunting. Danny, who didn't know everything the teacher was saying, slept anyways. He'd get the notes from Sam later, anyways, along with a lecture which he would promptly apologize for and end up doing the same thing the next day.
At length the bell rang and the class bolted out of the room. Danny yawned as they stepped into the hallway. Students were grabbing homework and other things out of their lockers before heading home. Danny slipped his arm through his locker door, grabbed his bag, and the three left the school.
"I can't believe it's only Tuesday. This week will not end," Danny yawned.
The trio parted ways. Danny decided he would rather fly then walk, so he crept behind a building and changed. He flew the remainder of the way home, flew through the door, reverted, and checked the mail.
"Hmmm... junk... junk... bills... hey, a letter from Jazz."
Dear Danny,
I've got some good news. Jason and I are coming home for a few days to visit you and Dad (if he's around.) I'm excited to see your progress in school and if your eyes have improved any. I'm also looking forward to reading you my thesis that I've been writing since I started college. It's gotten really good. Well, I'll be there on the 13th, so write it down on the calender because I know you'll forget. Well, see you soon.
Love,
Jazz
P.S. If Dad comes home, make sure he remembers who Jason is this time.
Danny shrugged and tossed the letter onto the counter. It would be nice to see his sister again, and to talk to someone for once other than the reciever of the phone. His dad still wasn't home. He probably wouldn't be for several more days. Danny descended the stairs to the lab, and once again, found the portal wide open. It only stayed open when he opened it... or something had gotten out and hadn't returned.
Danny hadn't opened the portal.