So this is chapter one. Hope you like it. Again, I don't own Danny Phantom. I'm not that awesome.
I woke up with a start. Looking around the room, I checked to see that there were in fact no creepy green figures around to haunt me. There weren't. So what was it that caused that dream? And who the heck was Danny?
Grandma Val and I went down to see the mayor's speech. Mayor Foley had been the mayor for the longest time. He'd held the position since he was fourteen. Nobody knew why he got the job that young except for my grandmother's generation but nobody would tell me. Sixty-five years later and he still kept his position. Nobody talks about the old mayor and nobody thinks about getting a new one. We all love Mayor Foley. He's fun even for a techno-geek.
"Citizens of Amity Park," he announced. "It is with great honor that I present the newly refurbished statue of world peace." A giant tarp fell from its resting point in the middle of the square. Beneath it was a statue of a boy, no more than fourteen, holding up a globe in one hand. It made the boy seem powerful and confident.
"Granny?" I asked, tugging on my grandma's yellow sweater. "What's the boy's name?"
She smiled up at the statue with hope and love in her eyes. "That it Danny Phantom," she said. "He saved the world years ago. But no one remembers that story anymore. The only ones who still tell it don't even remember it right." I could tell Grandma Val was going into one of her flashback moments…
"I'm telling you that it was a Tuesday!" Maddy screamed.
"It was Friday!" Jack screamed back.
"Mom, Dad," tried to reason a woman with red hair. "It doesn't matter what day it was. Can you remember the story at all?"
"Let's try not to push it too hard out of them Jazz," a man said, chuckling. "They're old, remember."
"You're gonna be old soon, little brother," Jazz said.
The man laughed. "If Cruz or Shea ever have kids then I might consider it," he said. "Let's just let this story die with Mom and Dad. I sort of liked it before anyone knew."
I guess the story did die with Jack and Maddy Fenton. Amity Park had a forgotten past that I had planned to figure out. With the help of Amanda and Clayton, anything was possible. Or so I felt. I didn't know what lies beyond the door of secrets but I was ready for the worst.
Enter Amanda Fenton: fourteen, black hair like her father, purple eyes that skipped a generation, and (as Grandpa Fenton described it) great looks that she acquired from him. Did I mention? Grandpa Fenton was the man in Grandma Val's flashback. Jack and Maddy Fenton were the oldest citizens in Amity Park. Amanda says that her great grandparents are just too darn stubborn to die.
Amanda snuck up to me as Grandma Val dozed off into her own little world. "I found a trail to the story but it means a long trip," she whispered.
"How long?" I asked. She brought out a map and pointed two states away. "Are you serious? That could take days! No way is Grandma Val gonna let me go that long."
She shrugged in a 'so?' like manner. "Clayton's parents are chill. They can cover for us."
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "It must be easy being the grandson of the Mayor."
Enter Clayton Foley: black hair, dark skin, same tech-love as his entire family. He may be a geek but Duh and I like hanging with him. We called Amanda simply Duh because of her 'blonde-moments' she has. She claims to take after the grandfather.
"It has its perks but it can be annoying," he sighed.
I laughed at him. He had the second biggest house I had ever seen. He had no right to complain. I lived with Dad and Grandma Val in 'the apartment of memories' where Val grew up. There wasn't really enough room for all of us so I had to sleep on the couch. At least it was a comfy couch.
The biggest house I had ever seen was Duh's. It had a freaking bowling alley underneath it for crying out loud. And a movie theater! Her great great great grandpa or something invented something or other. I don't even know. Her house is packed with good-for-you-food. Her Grandma is an Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian. That's like extreme.
Then I remembered something. I pulled a CD from my bag, not stopping to explain anything to Duh or Clay. "What's that?" Duh asked me. I didn't answer her question directly.
"I had this weird dream last night," I said. I started to explain the weird green thing and the energy blast from nowhere followed by the random name.
"Danny's my grandpa's name," Duh said. I rolled my eyes again.
I pulled out the CD. "I think this might have been what it was that caused the weird dream. I found it within Val's stuff. It's like really old music and there's only one song on it but I still think it's really catchy."
"Who even uses CDs anymore?" Clay asked rhetorically with his 'far superior knowledge of the technological arts'. He was a tech nerd. Yeah, with all the tech around you'd think we'd all be tech nerds but no. We're not. We're still segregated that way, the ones who know tech and the ones who broadcast it (like Clay).
I pulled out the walkman I found with it, plugged the headphones in and pressed play.
Yeah! Ohh-ooohhh! It was, it was September, Wind blows, the dead leaves fall, To you, I did surrender, Two weeks, you didn't call... Your life goes on without me, My life, a losing game, But you should, you should not doubt me, You will remember my name...Oh, Ember, you will remember! Ember, one thing remains! Oh, Ember, so warm and tender! You will remember my name! Your heart, your heart abandoned, You're wrong, now bear the shame, Like bad dreams in cold December, Nothing, but ashes remain... Oh, Ember, you will remember! Ember, one thing remains! Ember, so warm and tender! You will remember my name!
"See?" I said, pressing the pause button. "I told you it was old."
"I like the retro style music," Duh admitted. Clay and I just starred at her.
"Maybe I can get Dad to bend," I sighed. "I'll see what I can do." I was telling the truth. But Wisconsin with just Duh and Clay? Cross my fingers and hope for the best.
"WISCONSIN!" Dad screeched. "Are you insane?"
It was the reaction I was expecting.
"No. Duh has family there. We'll be staying with them at their mansion," I lied. Duh had told me we were going to an old abandoned mansion in Wisconsin. And Jack Fenton's old best friend used to live there. That basically all we knew about it so far. Who knows what secrets we could unravel there?
Dad sighed loudly. He wasn't gonna give in this time though. Val placed a hand on Dad's shoulder. "Arek, just let them go. No sense in worrying. You know Danica is responsible."
Dad smiled at her. "Fine Danica. As long as you call me everyday, you got that? And take at least someone over the age of eighteen."
"Can we take someone from Grandma Val's generation?" I asked eagerly. He nodded. I hugged them both as hard as I could. Mental note: Thank Val if this all goes well.
The next morning, Duh, Clay and I set out with Duh's great Aunt Jasmine for Wisconsin. "Why did you choose me again?" Jasmine asked for about the ten hundredth time.
"We needed someone responsible," I said, making Jasmine smile. "That was my dad's only condition."
"But why are we going to Vlad Master's mansion?" she asked, this one for the first time.
"Aunt Jazz, you know who used to live there?" Duh asked from the backseat of the minivan.
Jasmine was quiet like she didn't want to say anything. Amity Park had secrets and the mansion was the first step to figuring them out. I was sure of it now. We were almost to the mansion and all of us were getting antsy.
