Note: Woohoo! I got this second chapter written a LOT faster than I thought. But please don't get used to it, college takes up a lot of time. Anyway, this one's pretty short, and mostly Danny's thoughts and feelings. Sorry. I'll pick up the pace soon enough, I promise. Written all in one fell swoop like the last one, so forgive any mistakes.
Chapter 2: Just Breathe
The first emotion Danny felt as he awoke was annoyance. He really hated his alarm clock. After giving the device a hard smack to silence it, the teen lay curled on his bed, shivering slightly. Why was he so cold? Opening his eyes, he realised that he had fallen asleep over his bed covers.
'Must've been really tired thanks to that crazy ghost fight yesterday.'
As Danny heard Jazz's morning call through his door, he got up from his bed with a reluctant groan. He felt like he'd been slammed into a wall. No wait, he had. Danny opened his closet door and fished out fresh clothes, pulling off his shirt to see if any bruises had formed. Strangely, he seemed to be without injury.
As Danny brushed his hair in front of the bathroom mirror, he found himself thinking back on the weird dream he'd had. He wished he could remember the details, but all his sleepy brain provided him was an odd image of the house's old clothes dryer, and feeling as if he'd somehow walked into it. Ah well, dreams were supposed to not makes sense, he supposed.
After stepping out of the bathroom, Danny found to his consternation that his shivering persisted. Why was the house so cold? It wasn't even autumn yet. Danny just frowned to himself and went back into his room, digging through his closet until he found an old Dumpty Humpty jacket. He quickly pulled it on and zipped it up as he made his way downstairs, where he was met by an unusual sight.
Jazz was alone at the breakfast table, and she didn't seem at all happy about it. Danny wondered if perhaps his parents had taken his advice to heart and had slept in, but a sudden clanging sound from below confirmed that they were simply in the lab. Strange; they normally made an effort to at least sit at the table every morning. Danny decided to question Jazz over it.
"Hey, what's keeping Mom and Dad? They got a new invention in the works or something?"
"No," The older girl scoffed into her book, "They're portal thing started working, so I doubt we'll be seeing much of them for a few days."
The girl continued on in what was most likely a rant against their parents' 'hobby', but it was all lost on Danny, who turned to look toward the lab. Something about the portal made him think back to his dream. To thoughts of dark spaces and electric shocks that seemed to plague him even after he was fully awake. Curiosity once again claiming him, the boy found himself walking down the basement stairs and stepping into the lab.
The black void that once was the Fenton Portal had been overtaken by a swirling green vortex, which cast its eerie light over the rest of the lab. The Fenton parents were standing before it, speaking in quick, low voices to one another. Danny knew they only ever spoke like that when they were excited or confused about something. This time it seemed like both. Danny felt a strange sort of pull toward the portal, but figured it must be due to his curiosity over it. He came to stand behind his parents, pulling his eyes off the hypnotic green light to look up at them.
"Hey, how'd you guys finally get it to work?"
"We're not entirely sure," Maddie replied slowly, not bothering to shift her calculating gaze from the machine to her son. "It was like this when we came down just a few hours ago. Strange; I don't know how it could've started itself. Hmm, we'll just have to run some tests, I suppose."
Her tone made it clear she was talking more to herself than to Danny, and so the teen just let it be, deciding that it didn't matter how the mysterious machine began to work, as long as it meant his parents could finally stop being so stressed over it.
With one last look back at the portal, Danny left the lab, choosing to ignore the strange weight in his legs as he ascended the stairs.
Danny's thoughts drifted as he walked through the halls of Casper High, paying no mind to the shoulders he bumped into and glares he received as he made his way to his locker. He thought he heard catches of conversation about the ghost attack the day before. Seemed most students were reluctant to believe an actual ghost had been haunting the school and had wreaked havoc in the kitchen. Danny couldn't blame them. He wouldn't have believed the story if it weren't for the fact that his parents were designing a containment chamber for the lunch lady ghost at this very moment. They still had her held captive in the Fenton Thermos, one of their only working inventions, and were practically glowing in delight at their first ever captured ghost.
Danny was rounding a corner when a dreaded voice called out from behind him.
"Hey, Fentina!"
'Oh no, please, I really don't want to deal with him right now.' Danny thought to himself as his eyes widened. After yesterday he was in no mood for Dash's bullying. His instincts screamed at him to hide, but even in the condensed throng of students, Danny knew it would be impossible to keep out of Dash's sight. Still, he had to try.
Pressing himself against the wall, Danny stood frozen as the pounding footsteps of the quarterback drew closer. He couldn't help but close his eyes and wait for the inevitable when Dash came into view, inches from him.
"Where'd you go, dweeb? You can't hide from me!"
With that, the blond-haired teen stalked further down the hall, leaving Danny standing in silent shock. How had Dash not seen him!? He was right there! The hairs on Danny's arms stood on end as he registered a low buzzing sensation. It was very familiar, though he couldn't place it, and it seemed to echo from his bones. With a gasp, the feeling vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Danny found himself suddenly thrown to the side by a taller student's body as they crashed into him. They both stared at each other for a moment, confusion clearly written on the other's face, before the student grabbed their dropped backpack and left with a terse "Watch where you're going!"
Danny's own confused thoughts were halted as he looked around himself and found that he was nearly the only one in the hall. He was going to be late! Danny raced down the hallway toward where his locker stood. Once he reached it, he began fumbling with the lock. If he was late to Mr Lancer's class, especially after yesterday, he'd never hear the end of it. Lancer had made it abundantly clear how thin the ice Danny and his friends found themselves on was, and even one minor slip up could ensure their parents receiving a phonecall. That was something Danny wanted to avoid at all costs.
Danny messed up the combination, and had to start over again. 'Dammit! These stupid combination locks...' The boy's frustration mounted, and the air around him grew colder, causing Danny to begin shivering moreso beneath his jacket. 'Man why is it so cold today!'
Danny's fingers trembled on the lock, and the sound of the bell ringing out had him dropping it with a low cry of defeat. Danny pressed his hands against his locker, head bowed, and hoped Lancer would be forgiving.
Danny's forehead collided with the cold metal of his locker, and the teen's mind swam in pain and confusion as he looked up, only to have panic spike through him. His arms! They...they were in his locker. No, no they were through his locker! Feeling a sense of deja vu coupled with horror, Danny quickly yanked his hands back toward his chest as he stood straight in the empty hallway, silence broken by his quickening breaths as he stared down at his arms. They looked normal...but how? And why?
All of a sudden, Danny's dream came back to him. But no, it wasn't a dream. He remembered. Remembered the lab, the portal, the light that had filled his world with pain, only to leave him in empty blackness. And he remembered...
Mouth hanging open as ragged breaths tore through him, Danny lifted a trembling hand and pressed it tightly over his chest. He was breathing. He knew he was breathing. He could feel the ache in his lungs, the thudding of his heart. But why...why couldn't his hand detect any sign of life? There was no beating to be found underneath his palm, no pulse under his fingers as he checked his wrist and then his neck and then his other wrist just to be sure. No. No this couldn't be happening. He couldn't have no heartbeat. That was just impossible. Without a heartbeat he'd be de-
Danny felt his knees go weak, and moisture gathered in his eyes as his mind raced. He mentally shook his head in denial. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead! He just wasn't feeling his pulse because he was doing it wrong. That was it. He'd just go to the nurse and-
'No, bad idea. What if...what if there really is something wrong with me? What if they find no pulse? What then.'
Danny felt his shoulder hit the lockers, but paid little mind to his surrounding as his world collapsed down upon itself. There was just no way this was real. He couldn't be dead. Because if he was dead that would mean he was a ghost. And he couldn't be a ghost because ghosts weren't people. They were things; entities with no feeling and no emotions. He could certainly feel. He could feel the fear plunging through him, and the cold air as he continued to shiver more violently than before. He could even see his own breath as it floated out in front of his face, proof that he was indeed drawing air into his lungs. He couldn't be dead. Dead things didn't breathe.
Forcing the logic of those thoughts into the forefront of his mind, Danny felt himself slowly calming down, and his visible breath seemed to vanish. He didn't linger on the fact, though, putting forth all his concentration on one single train of thought.
'I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive...'
He chanted this to himself, silently mouthing the words as he drifted down a few more hallways before coming to stand outside his homeroom door. As if in a trance, he opened the door, stepping inside. His daze was immediately shattered by the voice of one Mr Lancer.
"Fenton! Do you know what time it is? That's yet another tardy for you."
Eyes on the floor, Danny mutely moved to his desk near the back. He felt a bit lightheaded as he sat down, grasping desperately at the words he needed to repeat to stay calm.
'I'm alive I'm alive...'
His teacher's voice barely broke through the walls Danny was rapidly constructing around his mind to keep out the white panic that buzzed just outside its barriers.
"Mr Fenton, where is your textbook?"
(Hope you guys are enjoying this so far! It's a little intense emotionally, but things should relax a bit soon. Don't be afraid to leave a comment! They really get me motivated!)
