Jazz tossed and turned in her sleep several hours after Ember had snuck back out, shut eyes wincing as she let out a low groan. The nightmare had come back again, just like it always did at least one night a month. Her knowing that it was nothing but a nightmare at this point did nothing to lessen its impact, however, despite having the nightmare for as long as she could remember. In fact, Jazz was almost certain at this point that it wasn't a nightmare, but some primeval part of her memory dredging up and replaying a scene that had been burned into her mind even at such a young age. The waking Jazz Fenton tried her best to pick the images apart, to analyze it for information and try to grasp why it replayed constantly for her, but the sleeping Jazz Fenton felt terrified and defenseless and only wanted to escape it.
In the nightmare she was a small child again, a three year old slowly wandering down the hall towards her baby brother's bedroom after having been awakened- by what Jazz didn't remember and the nightmare (memory?) provided no detail. The hallway was dimly lit, only the small nightlight from the open hall bathroom offering any kind of illumination. Right after she passed the bathroom, he emerged from Danny's room floating in midair, her infant brother carefully cradled in his arms. The ghost, as her family now referred to him. Jazz completely froze up at the sight of the terrifying specter holding her brother before the phantom offered her a grin after turning his blood red, pupil-less gaze towards her, the menacing smile showcasing two large fangs. He then carefully shuffled Danny so that he was holding him in one arm before slowly raising his pointer finger to his lips in a shushing motion. Jazz immediately screamed as loudly as her small lungs would allow, her parent's worried-sounding voices coming from their bedroom down the hallway before they quickly sprinted towards where they'd heard Jazz scream and were greeted with the sight of a menacing ghost with Danny in his arms.
While she remained petrified in terror, both of her parents charged towards the ghost holding her brother only to be suddenly met with a wall of glowing green energy blocking the way to the ghost and Danny further down the corridor. Both Maddie and Jack desperately pounded on the barrier and threw themselves against it repeatedly, trying to get through any way they could as they were wholly unprepared for the encounter. The specter loosed a loud, terrifying laugh before more energy opened up into a circle behind him. He then disappeared into the newly opened portal while still holding Danny, the circle snapping closed almost immediately after and vanishing. Her parents fell to the floor after the barrier they'd been working to get through suddenly disappeared as well.
Jazz was always jolted awake from the nightmare after Maddie loosed her first anguished scream of Danny's name.
She sat up in her bed and shivered for a moment, hugging her arms around her knees while knowing that more sleep wouldn't be coming that night. Jazz sighed as she glanced over at her clock and realized it was two in the morning. So much for being rested for the math test next week if this keeps up, she thought with a grimace even though she was grateful that it was currently early Saturday. Ugh... Sometimes, especially on the months where the nightmare plagued her during the school week multiple times and robbed her of far too many hours of sleep, Jazz felt like the only thing keeping her grades up was her sheer stubbornness and absolute refusal to accept anything below a B+. She stretched a bit and hopped out of bed, deciding to go downstairs and quietly make a lukewarm cup of instant coffee so she didn't disturb her parents. May as well take advantage of it and sneak down into the basement and check out some more information on the Ghost Zone while I'm at it. Even with Ember having given Jazz a lot of insider information and Jazz's fairly frequent forays into the Ghost Zone behind her parents' backs, she always found there was more to learn.
She settled in at the kitchen table with her cup of coffee, the ritual of making the beverage and greeting the early morning almost as comforting to her as the drink itself, before a flash of headlights caught her attention from the living room window. Deciding to investigate further, Jazz wandered into the living room with coffee still in hand and noticed something that seemed very strange and out of the ordinary: a pair of very large, tarp-laden convoy trucks rumbling down their residential road before turning right, in the direction that only led to more houses or the woods. What the heck? I know sometimes big trucks shortcut down our street to take Old Lake out to the woods, but at two in the morning and on a weekend to boot? Those definitely didn't look like ordinary construction trucks either. From what she'd been able to catch under the streetlight at the end of their block, the trucks were pitch black and completely devoid of any logos, and she knew most of the companies liked to used their trucks as another form of advertising since they frequently sat at their sites. After mulling the strange happening over in her head for a few moments, Jazz found herself intrigued enough to finish her coffee, head upstairs back into her bedroom and change into a pair of old jeans and T-shirt before finding her beat up sneakers that she usually reserved for yard work.
An hour later Jazz found herself deep in the woods surrounding Amity Park, her only companions her cell phone and high-powered flashlight that she'd borrowed from the lab before striking out into the early morning. She'd managed to pick up the tracks where the trucks were turning off the main road and after what she guessed was about two miles of walking, she found herself deep in the woods on the edges of a construction site, and a very new one judging by the scent of damp earth and the vanilla-like smell of recently cut timber still hanging cloyingly in the early morning air. They seemed to have cleared out a large area in a perfect circle before calling things off for the night, the black machines carefully concealed amongst the trees ringing the site. OK, so it looks like they're clearing out a big circle...and this is way too far from the main roads to be for any kind of business construction, or even a house unless someone is the biggest hermit ever. There's also the fact that they're clearly trying to keep this whole thing under the radar, so what the heck's going on out here?
She'd noticed after carefully, stealthily picking her way around the edges of the ring that there were none of the usual bright 'New Homes Coming Soon!' banners or anything of that sort you'd usually see, though she did spy what was likely a trailer that served as a base of operations for the construction situated on the far right of the new circle. I should definitely come back here with Ember soon and see what she can find out...I bet that trailer over there has all kinds of information in it and it's probably locked, but certainly wouldn't be for her. Deciding that she didn't want to risk hanging around the site any longer in case there were guards that showed up, she started heading out back through the woods the way that she'd come, following the tracks before she noticed a small fire burning in the distance on the other side of the lake. Hey, it looks like there's campers out there! Maybe they've seen something... Jazz wanted to hike out there and ask, but she realized it would take at least an hour on foot to go around to the other side of the lake and she also didn't want to startle someone at such an early hour. Plus, she had no idea if she'd be safe approaching whoever it was. Hopefully they'll still be there tomorrow... As she headed back towards her home and made sure to avoid the roads in case any more of those strange trucks decided to put in an appearance, she made up her mind to see who was camping out after she got back home and finally got some much needed sleep.
"Yo! Sam!" Tucker quickly prodded at his friend's sleeping bag across the tent with a stick after coming in from tending the fire. "Almost three-thirty! That was the last time you spotted Ol' Spooky right? It's also almost time for my nap after we try and spy on him, incidentally."
"Yeah, this is the time," groaned Sam in reply before she rolled over. "Ugh." She got up slowly and stretched, still in the clothing that she'd worn to make the hour hike out to the spot Danny had led them to. The other boy hadn't steered them wrong though- the spot was definitely very remote so they were unlikely to be pestered and also offered a stunning view of almost the entirety of the lake, which would hopefully make it easy to spot any strange activity. It had also looked used, Sam and Tucker guessing that Danny knew the spot because he probably used it now and again for some rare privacy. They'd chatted as Danny had led them to the spot and they quickly found out why the world didn't know that Vlad Masters had a son- Vlad had apparently always taken steps to keep it that way for as long as Danny could recall, likely deeply fearful that whatever fate had befallen Danny's mother would happen to him as well.
I mean I get where Vlad's coming from, especially losing his wife as part of things, but sheesh. I can't imagine growing up like Danny has...no friends, heck, hardly even any interaction with the outside world at all beyond his tutors and the trips that his dad lets him take now and again. Danny had seemed to soak up the interaction with Sam and Tucker like a sponge, very happy to have new people in his life and especially ones so close to his age. Sam had honestly been expecting a snobby type after learning who Danny was, especially after finding out how he'd been brought up, but he'd wound up being very down to earth and she was quite impressed with that- and, Sam had to mentally add on with a slight grin dancing at the edges of her lips for just a moment as she settled in a camping chair in front of the fire, there was no denying that he was pretty easy on her eyes. For now, though, she was wholly content with just getting to know Danny better and being a friend to someone that seemed to very desperately need one.
"Man, Danny wasn't lying. This is a great spot," commented Tucker after he yawned and poured himself some more coffee from the large Thermos of it that they'd brought, adding cream and sugar from packets that they'd also decided to bring. "Looks like about the only place we can't see from here is the old burned out warehouse on the far east side. Got lucky with the weather tonight, too." He offered a glance skyward to the clear, starry sky with a fat moon hanging lazily in the middle of it. It was at the exact moment that Sam also looked skyward that they noticed three strange, green silhouettes outlined against the moon, making a beeline for deep into the woods. "Whoa...what the heck were THOSE?!" Tucker finally managed to get out after a moment or two of stunned silence from them both.
Sam blinked and frowned, getting up out of her seat and scanning the horizon as the three figures zipped off into the night at a strangely rapid speed. "Those...looked like vultures. Three vultures." She then grinned broadly, eyes taking on a gleam. "Three ghost vultures, if I'm not mistaken. Let's try and figure out where they're headed!"
Tucker shook his head. "No way we'll be able to catch them with how fast they were, but it looked like they were headed southeast. Maybe we can poke around the woods there some when it's not so dark out?"
"It looked like they were headed right for the Black Bear, actually. That's pretty odd." Sam frowned and studied the area where she'd seen the three forms vanish into the tall trees. "Well, back to our vigil for Ol' Spooky." She settled back into the chair and used the binoculars she'd brought to scan the lake before something on the other side of the lake caught her eye. "Hey...I see headlights out on the other side of the lake. Wow, that actually looks like a whole caravan of trucks...at this time of night?" Her puzzlement was evident in her tone as she handed the binoculars to Tucker. "Check it out."
"Wow, that is weird. It looks like they're all turning off the road and vanishing now- I'm guessing they must be headed into the woods over there somewhere." Tucker quirked a brow. "Maybe that's another thing to check out later, huh? That'd be right on our way back home after we head south from the Black Bear. Two birds, or three birds in this case, with one stone and all that?"
Sam smiled at her friend and nodded. "I like the way you think." She then got startled as Tucker jumped out of his chair again and stared out at the lake. "Whoa, what's up?"
"Ol' Spooky!" Tucker half-hissed. "Look!" He pointed out at the middle of the lake with the hand that wasn't currently holding the binoculars, where there was now a glowing figure hovering almost exactly in the middle of it. "And the vultures too!" Sam watched as the three vultures they'd seen earlier materialized in front of the hovering larger ghost.
"Holy cow! I wish we were closer to get some good pictures or video." Sam peered out at the specters intently. "It almost seems like they're talking or something out there."
Tucker studied the quartet through the binoculars. "I think they are, actually. The vultures are all turned away from me, but I made out the word 'soon' or somethin' close to that from Ol' Spooky. Not an expert lipreader though." Suddenly as soon as the ghosts had appeared they disapparated into the night, the glow in the middle of the lake vanishing. "Well I don't know about you, but I sure don't think I need any more coffee now. Do we stay up and see if he comes back?"
"Absolutely," replied Sam with a firm nod of her head.
Unfortunately, several hours later passed without any further odd incidents, and so the pair reluctantly started to break camp when they heard an unfamiliar, feminine voice call to them from down the narrow pathway Danny had led them up before a girl slightly older than themselves appeared on the edge of the camp. "Hey there! Sorry for barging in like this. I was hoping to catch whoever was camping out here before they left." In truth, Jazz had actually scouted out the pair of campers for a bit and decided that they wouldn't pose any danger to her before risking the approach. "I saw the campfire burning out here last night and was wondering if either of you saw anything unusual. Oh, I'm Jazz by the way- Jazz Fenton, I live in town."
Tucker and Sam gave each other Do we talk to her? glances. They'd both agreed to be sworn to secrecy about Danny for the time being at Danny's own request to try and avoid any future issues with his father, and they were both fearful that the conversation may eventually lead to who had led them to the remote spot that was fairly off the beaten path. They also certainly weren't going to discuss that their camping had actually been a stakeout for ghosts- and one that had had some results at that. "Er, yeah, we were out here. What kind of weird stuff are you talking, exactly?" Tucker took the lead.
"Mostly trucks moving stuff in the middle of the night, but anything else would be helpful." The older teen let out a loud yawn after covering her mouth. "I saw a bunch of unmarked trucks roll by my house last night and decided to check them out. They wound up really deep in the woods, and I spotted your fire burning on the way back home."
Sam shrugged. "Yeah we did notice the headlights as we were watching the lake."
Jazz blinked and quirked a brow. "Watching the lake? In the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, keepin' an eye out for Ol' Spooky." Tucker groaned as soon as he let it slip due to his current tiredness.
Sam laughed and quickly tried to cover up Tucker's faux pas. "Biggest bass in the lake, you know."
The response was Jazz narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "And for some reason you're trying to catch a fish from all the way up on this cliff, huh?" She shook her head and laughed softly. "Nah, I don't think so. What is this 'Ol' Spooky' though? I'm intrigued."
"Eh, you probably wouldn't believe us if we did tell you."
Jazz laughed at Tucker's reply. "Try me. I think you'd be surprised."
Sam and Tucker exchanged once final glance between each other before deciding to tell her. Hey, it wouldn't involve Danny at all right? And maybe she'd just think they were crazy and leave them alone. "He's a ghost that haunts this lake sometimes, actually. Bright red eyes, fangs, white cape, black hair with a grey stripe in the center."
The response to Ol' Spooky's being a ghost and description wasn't anything close to what either Tucker or Sam had expected. Jazz stiffened the instant Tucker had finished describing the ghost, eyes a million miles away for a few seconds before she snapped back to reality, her eyes filling with hope and anger somehow at once. "I need you both to come with me back to my house. Please." Her tone was quiet, pleading and full of desperation.
