Daniel was in the alley of a city, he saw nothing outside the ordinary so far, he became invisible and flew up, his mind was calmer now, Vlad and the other Daniel were synched and now he is...himself.
"I am something new, interesting."He said as he noticed those were the first moments of his existence, he exists as the two converge.
He flew up and the city didn't ring any bells from his memories, he had never seen it.
"Where am I?"He asked and soon noticed how strange his voice was, it was smooth like his alternate self already.
He followed the main road and soon he found himself leaving the city he found a sign welcoming him to the city.
'Welcome to Melas.'
"Hmm I hear of the city on passing, there were rumors of supernatural activity here."He said as he looked at the sign, it was very basic and cheap, he wondered why.
The portal had taken them to one of the only places they would not be attracting attention, if this city already had ghost they could blend in very easily, but Daniel felt strange.
"Why I am hungry?"He asked."I am more stable but we…I am still not a full ghost, fascinating."He tried to see the bright side he could eat food but where could he get it without outright stealing it?
He flew over the city and looked for a school, the cafeteria would have food and it would technically not be stealing…okay it would be but it would not be noticed.
After half an hour he found one and flew inside while invisible, he was early but there was food in the cafeteria, it had just got out of the oven and it smelled good, which was in his experience as a student unusual, but his experience as an adult had thought him that taste is not everything as well.
He silently grabbed a serving while no one was looking and flew up to the roof, while he ate he wondered what he would do, this city is a good place but where would he live, he feels hunger so he must have to sleep too.
"I also need a lab; there are many things I don't understand about myself."He said as he spoke out loud for a moment wondering where he could get the things he needs.
His ghost sense alerted him of a ghost but he felt the ghost was not a threat, it was far too weak to even be solid, something that he was in his weakened state.
He became invisible alongside his food and continue to eat it in the roof, he saw the door open and a teenage boy enter and behind him there was a ghost, she was not the usual ghost that is a reflection of someone that died in a traumatic way in a area that is unstable, she is a spirit bonded to ectoplasm, and that gave her a new body of sorts but she has almost no power and seems trapped.
"Why can I see you when no one can?"The boy said as he looked at the girl; she had a extremely pale skin and her irises were white and seemed to glow, her hair was a dark tone of black and was messy, she wearing a school uniform similar to the one he was but it was torn in some places and there was blood near those cuts, she looked like the horror movie ghost with the wounds it had before it had died, Daniel noticed the boy was freaked out by that.
"Help me."The girl said mechanically.
"You are stalking me for weeks, I can't sleep at night because I can feel you there and everywhere I go I see you, leave me alone."He yelled.
The boy had dark hair and tanned skin, he reminded Daniel of a male Paulina, he now was on his knees, Daniel got up and looked at the boy, he could see his brown eyes were red because of his lack of sleep and he seemed to be crying.
The girl seemed to be more alive for a moment and then she turned.
"I am sorry; I didn't know…I will leave you alone."She said as she walked away.
The boy then stood there, for a moment Daniel thought he was still afraid but as he got near him he noticed he had passed out, probably out of exhaustion.
Daniel had already finished his food and now just waited for the bell, the boy would be in trouble if he didn't go back to class but he was not in shape to attend class, he shouldn't even be in the school.
When the bell rang Daniel poked the boy lightly a few times until he woke up.
Daniel remained invisible as he looked the boy look around afraid, probably worried the girl was still there.
"She isn't here anymore."He said as he looked around, he then looked at his watch and saw it was time to gab to class.
"I have to go."He said as he got up and stumbled away.
Daniel was intrigued by the fact the boy could see ghosts, most of time people couldn't since they ghosts sometimes didn't reflect light that was visible to human eyes unless they were more powerful but the boy must be able to see them, it is something that happened to Vlad his vision was enhanced and he saw weaker ghosts, Danny never seen them before because his parents got rid of them on Amity Park.
He decided to follow the kid, he was able to see ghosts and that wasn't supposed to be normal and there were no properly documented cases of humans being able to see those kinds of ghosts without equipment.
He followed the boy and occasionally helped, the pen almost falling but stopping before it hit the floor, the boy tripped because he was tired and was able to avoid hitting the floor because of Daniel pulling him back.
By the time the boy was going back to his home he was barely awake and Daniel had to guide him as he walked back home, his parents weren't there and he didn't even eat anything he just fell face first on the bed.
Daniel floated to the roof of the house and looked at the sky. In his mind he was trying to decide what to do and he wasn't really sure what he should do.
He rested in the roof and soon he fell asleep.
He was free, that ghost had been following him for so long and now it was nowhere, which is if it ever was there he wasn't sure. He was hungry and got down to eat something he was so tired when he got home he didn't eat anything.
His parents weren't home so they must be researching something; his sister must be in her cult, she insists they are just a group that has alternative ideals but it is a religious cult complete with gods of their own.
He began heating some food for himself and at one moment he looked around, he saw no one and that felt off, that girl ghost had been following him for almost two weeks.
"She is gone now…"He said not quite believing it.
While his meal was heated he went upstairs and got his books, he had homework to do. He was doing his homework while he ate and he let the ghost incident fade away as he tried to focus on his homework.
By the time he finished the homework he was still not tired, he then got a book to read, since his parents somehow broke his computer in some form of experiment and his videogame was 'transported to another dimension', he had to make do with books and he wasn't really disappointed, except of course all that remained after two months was his parents scientific papers and the supernatural research they used as a base.
"Ghostly Anatomy by Jack and Maddie Fenton, I hope this is better than the other one."He had to research more to understand the books, if he didn't do that he would have gotten bored of them.
He started reading the book and soon he noticed how this book was actually following the scientific method, something most books didn't do because the people that wrote them were just looking for money or they didn't believe in science.
'Ghosts exist for a reason; it is believed the spirits of deceased might acquire an ectoplasm based body when they perish in a area that is dimensionally unstable, but that is just a belief with no concrete evidence but that is the closest thing to a proven theory when it come to their existence, much like the human brain there are many things we don't know about ghosts but experiments with ecto-entities show a lack of a real mind, our subjects were either feral when removed from their haunting areas or even disappearing leaving only traces of ectoplasm.'
That didn't sound like the ghost that followed me, I noticed her near the forest two weeks ago and she followed me ever since and…asked me to help her but she didn't respond.
He continued to read looking for more information, he wondered if his lack of rest made him not think of searching this book, he unfortunately didn't find anything else, only strange measurements and categories, apparently she was a mid level apparition, the categories were kind of inaccurate it seems, there are apparently apparitions more powerful than poltergeists and high level ghosts that are solid and yet harmless when it comes to offensive abilities, apparently ghosts can be very powerful.
Before he could find anything else about ghosts his parents had entered the house, he wasn't even noticed as his parents walked by him; they smelled like sulfur and ash and the sad looks in their faces. He thought about asking but he noticed he didn't want to know and besides he was getting tired.
He marked the page he was on the book and went to his room, he ignored the strange feeling he had all day like something was near him, like a ghost but different, he thought he got a cold it actually made sense, he can only see ghosts and he only felt the girl's ghost when she was right beside him and he could see nothing near him, he then fell to his bed and went to sleep.
By the time Daniel woke up it was a new day, he looked at the clock inside the house and it marked three AM, he was surprised he had slept so long but he felt better now, as if he had more energy.
He tried to form a sphere of ectoplasm and it worked, yesterday he was nowhere as strong as he was before but still he had no idea what his full power was. But he felt hungry again and school is going to take a while to begin so he decided to go somewhere else.
In the junkyard he started to look around, he would need to make equipment to study his current condition; before he wouldn't be able to do that but he had a talented scientist in him and he remembered that his parents had done the same, they had very little money so they had made most of their weapons and inventions from garbage.
A few transistors here, a broken computer there…and the pile of junk was done….
With a small blow of the wind it fell apart.
"Then again I never really made things with so few resources, even on college we used to have some second hand parts even if it was used by everyone else before we had it."He muttered.
He wasted a lot of time trying to make some equipment but he had experience using good materials and not garbage.
He then flew to the boy's house and continued to see him, the boy was eating breakfast and he was the only one there, where is his family?
The boy glanced in his direction making his eyes widen, how he knew he was there?
The boy shook his head and continued to eat his food, Daniel decided to continue to follow the boy, he seemed to have some form of natural ghost sense; it was not something natural as far as he knew.
He waited near, watching the boy eat, he heard the boy grumble something but he couldn't hear what he had complained about, he watched as the boy was almost finishing his meal.
"I bet she is busy making some ritual."I complained as I was eating my food.
I am still am feeling like there is something nearby, I have no idea why if there was a ghost I would have seen it, probably.
I got ready and left to the school, today however I am far better rested so I could pay attention to the class today, things are good and I can continue my life ignoring those stupid supernatural things.
"Have you heard? They found a girl from the other class dead on the river."He heard one of the girls whisper.
The girl started following him near the forest, and the river is not far from there, she might have been asking for my help to warn everyone…no it is over, it could be a simple ghost that is not really…alive.
"What was her name, Karen or something right?"The other said.
"Yes she went on and on about vampires and werewolves in the woods."The other one said as she scoffed.
I shook my head trying to ignore them, my parents talking about that had already gave me the creepy child reputation for years I don't want them to remember that, the other kids eventually found someone else to pick on but by then I had no friends left.
I looked away and I saw something in the window, but it moved away soon after I saw it. I however recognized that dark hair, she was here again.
I waited the class, the time passed but soon it was over and I went to the cafeteria, I got my food and left, if she was going to be somewhere it would be the roof.
When I got there I looked around, I couldn't see her anywhere but I walked to the edge and looked around, I saw her near the cafeteria window looking into it. I sat and watched her; she seemed to be watching for something.
Soon she seemed to be disappointed, which was a strange thing because she used to be in some sort of trance before, only asking for help while following me, I shivered remembering the nights I woke up with her in the room staring at me with her glowing eyes, two white circle in the dark, and her dark form illuminated by the flickering light near my window.
She flew up towards the roof but didn't look at it so she floated by me and sat near me as she seemed to cry.
I was torn between trying to help and running, she had terrorized me for two weeks but looking back at yesterday she seemed to regret. I looked at her again and flinched I am still afraid.
"What are you looking for?"I asked as calmly as I could.
She looked up at me surprised to see me, but even though she looked sad those white glowing eyes were still something that scared me a lot.
"I was looking for you…I don't know why I didn't find anyone else I could talk to and… I am sorry."She obviously could see I was scared and was preparing to leave.
"Don't leave yet, now that I am rested and more able to think I want to ask you, how can I help you?"I asked her.
She looked like felt regret for what she did to me.
"I don't know, before you confronted me and I…woke up…I was simply walking just like I was before…"She shivered as she remembered something."I didn't want to scare you but I just wanted help but now there is no way to help me."She said as she looked at herself, she passed her hand near mine and it phased tight through mine leaving a cold tingling feeling.
"If you have nowhere to go and is stuck here I guess you can stay with me…"I said."You need to be careful my parents are kind of supernatural researchers so try not to be seen."I told her.
"No one besides you can see me, believe me I tried I can't even move things."She told me letting out a huff.
"Oh, but there is something I want to know, there were people in my class saying a girl from this school died and was found in the river, and that she was afraid of vampires and werewolves, was that you?"I asked her.
She froze for a moment and her eyes glowed brighter.
"Yes, my name is…was Karen and I was investigating the strange things in the town and I found them, I had found vampires and werewolves and it was not pretty, the groups I found worked together to hunt people, I tried to get evidence and they saw me, they chased me and…I fell from cliff, I hit several rocks when I reached the river and you can guess the rest."She told me.
This is not good.
The bell ringing made me notice I had to go.
"You have classes go on."She said as she looked over the city, she looks so much more alive now
As class continued people were talking more about Karen, her body had been found yesterday from what I could gather and it was the new big thing.
"I don't like them talking about me like this."Karen said beside me, the desk there was never occupied, it might be because people avoided that desk for so long it became a decision they made without even realizing it.
"Yes it is a dick move; at least they will stop talking about it like this soon."I whispered.
"I hope so."She said as she sat on her desk.
I occasionally looked at her and she was watching the teacher, she must have been a good student back when she was alive, which makes me think, why is she so alive even dead, the book said ghosts like her were not even considered sentient, in fact they had no encounter with sentient ghosts as far as they knew.
And there was the strange feeling I had yesterday and today, now that she was near me I could confirm it was different from her presence but it was a ghost, and it was powerful. I took a piece of paper and scribbled a note on it.
'I will write here not to draw attention can you feel something near us?' I wrote.
"No, I can't feel anything near us what do you mean?"She asked confused.
'I think there is another ghost near, and it might be more powerful that you so I can feel if from far away.'
"I can't see anything near; can you point me where he is?"She asked.
'No, sometimes I can but right now only know it is near but I don't know where.'
I started to get worried, there is another ghost following me, it might be more dangerous and the worst thing is I don't know how it looks like.
We talked a little with the note during the classes; no one seemed to notice us since they were busy either paying attention to the class or talking to each other.
Soon the class had ended and we walked back home, on my way back I remembered something I read on the book and turned to Karen.
"Can you alter your form?"I asked her.
"What do you mean?"She asked.
"You look hurt and your uniform is torn, I read in a book that ghosts can alter their form, clothing and things like that so you probably could change your shape."I told her.
She went silent for a moment and she looked at herself and blushed a little.
"Why didn't you tell me my clothes were ripped like this?"She asked.
"It didn't come up actually, I didn't know until yesterday when I read the book."I told her.
She closed her eyes and seemed to be focusing, I noticed her clothes shifted a little, the wounds closed and she just looked like a really pale girl, except she was floating.
"It worked."She said as she looked at herself.
So the book does work, interesting I could use it to explore her capabilities and…no, no I don't want to get even more involved in the supernatural; it is a bad thing.
We arrived home and my parents were gone again but my sister was home, she was sleeping on the couch with the same clothes she was wearing yesterday when she left.
"Carla wake up and go to your room, sleeping on the couch will be bad for your back and…you know what go take a bath first."I told her as I shook her shoulder.
"Shut up Zeke."She grumbled.
"You were the one that told he to wake you up if you fall asleep in the couch now wake up before I get the cold water."I told her.
She complained but walked upstairs.
"She is the girl that is on that cult isn't she?"Karen asked.
"Yes she got involved in the Neo Salem, she insists they are like Wicca or yoga but it is a cult."I said.
"So you name is Zeke."She said as she looked away.
"Oh right I never told you my name, it is Ezekiel, she uses Zeke because it is easier."I told her.
"Interesting, Ezekiel is considered a prophet and you can see ghosts."She said as she seemed to be wondering about something.
I already knew that, my parents thought they would have me be some form of psychic or prophet so they named me Ezekiel, yet I try to ignore the supernatural while my sister that should be the normal one is far more into it than I am.
I heated my food and got my books again, I was going to do my homework as I ate but I looked at Karen and asked.
"Can you eat food?"
"I don't think so, I can't touch anything."She said as she phased her hand on the table.
I nodded and started doing my homework, she looked at it and sometimes would nod, after some time she corrected me on a mistake I had made and started helping me on my homework.
"Thank you, it would take me a long time to finish it on my own." I told her.
"It is the least I can do; besides you are really smart for your age."She told me.
"How old are you?"I asked.
"I am seventeen."She said.
"I am fifteen."I told her.
"Really, I thought you were older."She told me.
"I get that a lot."I said.
I went to the living room and began reading again, but Karen wanted to watch TV so I turned it on for her and she watched as I read.
'There is no evidence that shows ghosts can act outside a limited range of emotions, the apparitions in Amity Park were limited in behavior and predictable, similar to how limited a computer program is, most of them can't improvise or come up with new things.'
She has displayed a wide range of emotions, from being sad, to being embarrassed so she is not like the ghosts they found. I continued to read and reached a chapter that was interesting.
'Ever since we created the portal we got a steady source of ectoplasm, as it was explained before it is a form of matter that can interact with regular matter even possessing unusual proprieties, there are many theories on the reason it can interact with living matter in many more ways than it can with not living matter, experiments showed that exposure to it can animate trees and sometimes dead bodies, ghostly flora and fauna seem to produce more and more ectoplasm by converting energy into matter, something that is credited for the abundance of material in the Ghost Zone, so it is believed there is a link between living creatures and ectoplasm.'
'The power a ghost can be increased or decreased, they have a limited ability to respond to stimuli, a ghost that had to discover how to create a energy shield so it could defend itself becomes more powerful for discovering that ability.'
She can get stronger; she might even become solid if what I read before in this book is correct.
I continued to read the book, soon I begun to wonder what I was doing I have just invited a ghost to my house, to live here. I never wanted to be like my parents, they hunt the supernatural in all its forms, for research they say and then on three A.M. I have to go pick them up because they are too hurt to drive home.
Carla got down and walked past us, she couldn't see Karen of course but she was looking for something specific.
"Where is the pasta you made yesterday?"She asked.
"Yesterday I heated up the soup I had made three days ago; I haven't made pasta since last week."I told her.
She grumbled and went to the fridge and got some of the soup, I had made a lot because I thought mom and dad would be eating home, they didn't.
"Is there meat in this soup?"She asked.
"No, it has some potatoes, garlic, onion and salt, I know you don't like pieces of them in the food so I grinded them so much you can't see them."I told her, she hummed and started heating it.
"Are things like this normal?"Karen asked.
"She has been like this ever since she got in the cult, she barely keeps track of time and her grades are bad, she can still pass but only barely."I told Karen.
She flew to the kitchen and I went silent as I went back to my book.
After a few minutes she got back I could feel her getting closer, I almost jumped because of that but I managed to keep myself on the couch.
"She has wounds, they look like needles."Karen said.
"You think it is drugs?"I asked worried, it was possible.
"No, they all are on her veins, like someone is drawing blood from her."She told me.
"That would explain how she is always looking tired and pale."I said.
"It could be either her cult using blood to make a ritual of sorts, the Vampires or both."She told me."But the ritual is more likely, the vampires are more…violent."She said as she looked away.
"Is it possible for a ritual made with blood to work?"I asked.
"Maybe, I did found a few cases that they worked but you need more than just blood, the cases that were real showed that the ritual must be done in a specific place, with specific ingredients and some jewelry."She told me."I can't remember all of it but the gist of it is in full moons and during storms the rituals are made."She explained.
It was something that worried him, his parents kept track of the moon and the weather and he had learned to do the same over the years, he knew the next full moon was going to be in three weeks but there might be a storm in the next few days.
I could feel a lot of regret already but I probably don't have the time to look for the things she knows.
"Where is your house Karen?"I asked her.
Daniel was following the two as they went to get the girls books, but before he arrived there he was removed from where he was, he woke up inside a circle, he was visible and he was being seen by a couple, the tall Hispanic couple was obviously Zeke's parents.
"It worked, we summoned a supernatural creature; I think it is a demon."The women said.
"It looks more like a vampire."The man said.
"Maybe it is both."The women said excited.
Daniel wasn't sure what he was going to do, he had just been discovered by another couple of paranormal investigators and he couldn't leave the circle.
"So, what are you?"The man asked excited.
"…I am a ghost."He said.
That made the couple become confuse.
"But you are solid, and you were brought here by a summoning ritual, most ghosts are not strong enough to be targeted by it."The women said."Besides you look like a vampire."
"I am more powerful than most ghosts actually, and I am not sure why I look like a vampire."Vlad didn't know either but he thought it was because of his name and the nicknames given by him on college.
"Oh, so he probably isn't dangerous."The man said as he broke the circle."I am Andre Soris and this is my wife Elisa."Andre said.
"I am Daniel Plasmius, nice to meet you."We shook hands as I left the circle, they are really nice.
"So you are a supernatural creature what do you know about what happens in the town?"The Elisa asked.
"I just got to town yesterday so I don't really know much."I admitted.
"I thought ghosts couldn't leave the places they haunted."Andre said.
"Most can't, they are not really spirits they are just simple structures with limited intelligence, and the ghosts that can think rarely go to the human world."I explained.
"So the Fentons book is right."Andre summarized.
"In some regards, they never encountered sentient ghosts as far as they know, so they believe none of them are sentient, and they believe the ghost envy theory."They do believe ghosts hate the living for being alive, some do but for different reasons.
"Is the ghost envy theory right?"Elisa asked.
"Yes and no, some ghosts hate the living but it is not because they are living, it is because they waste their lives and things like that, but they have nothing against humans in general."I explained.
They nodded and took notes.
"Where am I?"I asked.
"Oh, our basement, we conduct some of our research here."Andre said.
"And what exactly you research?"I asked.
"My wife and I have been investigating the supernatural for years, we looked for proof and for real cases of supernatural phenomena and that is the reason we moved to this city years ago, it has the most supernatural activity in the country."Andre explained.
"But isn't Amity Park the most haunted city in America?"I asked.
"It is but it lacks any other supernatural phenomena, this city has everything, demons, ghost, witches and several other things we didn't find, yesterday we found witches making a ritual to summon a demon, it didn't work and it exploded but it was interesting to research it."Elisa said.
"Interesting, I mean I lived in Amity Park and I honestly didn't assume there were more supernatural creatures, I never encountered anything like it."Daniel said.
They talked for a while, Daniel hadn't had a conversation in…ever, and he never talked to anyone before it was the other Daniel and Vlad.
"You are hungry? I thought ghosts didn't need to eat."Elisa said.
"I am not a regular ghost, I need to eat and sleep; it is something personal so I don't want to talk about it."He said as he decided not to tell his history just yet.
The couple told him to follow them upstairs and he went they ended up in the kitchen.
"Where is the meatloaf that Ezekiel made?"Elisa asked.
"It must have ran out, but there is soup here I will heat it."Andre said.
While he heated the food Daniel sat and he was there waiting with Elisa.
"So, you said you are more powerful than most ghosts, what are you capable of?"She asked.
"I have basic ghost abilities, but I am not sure what all my powers are, I mean as far as I know I could disguise myself as a human and don't know how to do it."He said as he looked back at his alternate version, he was able to disguise himself as Danny Fenton somehow.
"Why don't you try?"Elisa asked.
Daniel focused and tried but he couldn't shape shift to look like a human but then he remembered his alternative self use the rings so he did, gray rings appeared and his ghost form disappeared and a human form appeared, instead of being Danny Fenton he was more like a mixture between Vlad and Danny when they were teens, his hair was like short and black with a trace of gray in the middle, his eyes were blue and his skin was more tanned now.
"It worked, you look human."Elise said.
Daniel felt very tired, he knew this form wasn't human, it looked human but it was made of ectoplasm, molded to make an accurate human body, it was tiring to make change to this form since he never did that before but he felt he spend less energy in it, but he could feel his exhaustion now.
"I didn't expect this to work."He said; his voice was different, younger.
Andre had accompanied the process and put a plate of soup in front of Daniel, he sat as well and they started to eat.
They talked a little and ate their food, the soup was delicious and it was the tastiest food he had eaten ever, he got to know more about the city, they appear to ignore the supernatural but the couple is the one that tries to understand the strange happenings and protect the city from dangerous things.
"So you are like heroes, saving people from threats people don't really know exist."He asked.
"Yes, ever since we found that doomsday cult we have been guardians of this city, you have no idea how often someone tries to take over the world."She said.
"How come no one ever notices it, shouldn't the media be recording that?"He asked.
"As we said they ignore it, no one gives a damn about it; the closest thing we got from gratitude was a bill for a broken wall."Elisa said.
Daniel knew how it was, when he was a hero he was disliked because of de damage.
"If you want I can try to help you, I don't really have anything else to do."I said.
"That could work but we need to find you a disguise, a secret identity, you won't want to stay inside all day."Andre said; he didn't look worried, he instead looked happy to the possibility of having help.
"It would be easy to make an ID if I got inside a government building; I just need to place my name on the system."Daniel said; Vlad had done that before.
"That would be a good idea, a ghost working with us to protect the city, he could help us a lot and besides there is a guest room you can stay on."Elisa said.
Daniel was surprised they would accept him so easily, he tried to use his powers and he could float and become intangible, he turned at the two and smiled.
"Alright let's get the documents then."He said as he got ready to leave.
That night they he sneaked inside with them and they made the documents, today Daniel Soris was the adopted son of the couple, and he was enrolled in the city school as well, Daniel now had a new life and he would enjoy it.
The story that came before this one is by far the most successful I have done so far, 7 reviews, 10 favorites and 8 followers, it took me a long time to get a good idea to the setting of this story I hope I can make at least one chapter every two weeks, hopefully more often, leave your review people.