A/N: Hahaha. You think it's scary now, while I'm just warming up :) Still, I'm glad I manage to scare my reviewers (well, all except one whom I now believe cannot be scared). Here we go, on with the show, I'm having so much fun with this story its... scary.. So far it looks like the story is going to have nine chapters plus an epilogue.

OK, maybe this story needs an extra warning. Don't wanna spoil anything though. Let's just say it's going to get a lot darker and I didn't put it in the 'horror' genre for nothing.

THE HOUSE

Chapter 4: Freak

Danny was sitting on his sleeping bag, making sure his hands stayed away from the cold floor. For some reason he didn't like touching the cold, rough wooden planks, they made him feel as if there was something creeping up on him, like invisible tiny ants scurrying over his arms.

They had moved to the other side of the room, close to the back windows, as far away from the broken front windows as they could, and they had placed the candles behind the overturned side table to keep them out of the wind. Still, the flames flickered and danced, making their grotesquely deformed shadows on the walls move as if they were surrounded by demons. Other than that, everything looked completely normal, or at least as normal as one can get in an old abandoned house with broken windows and a thunderstorm outside.

Dash and Kwan were sitting with their backs against the wall, still dripping water on the floor. Sam was sitting on her own sleeping bag and Tucker again had his laptop in front of him, his face looking almost pale in the glow from the screen. They were all looking at Danny, as if he somehow had the answer to all the strangeness going on.

"I always knew you were a freak," Dash said suddenly, looking darkly at the figure sitting slumped on his sleeping bag, his head hanging, his face obscured by his hair.

Danny cringed, because he knew Dash was right and because the remark had caused the whispering voice, which had been quiet for a while, to start again.

"Freak... freak... freak..."

He tried to ignore the voice. He didn't know what to do about it, he didn't want to admit to his friends he heard it, not with Dash and Kwan present. And he certainly didn't want to tell them what had happened in the hallway earlier.

He had been looking at his tormentors, sprawled on the floor, defenseless for the moment and he had been acutely aware of the power he held. He could destroy them in an instant and he had started counting the ways he could do just that, freezing them to death, or burning them with his new found fire power, lift them in the air and dropping them from high altitude, turn them intangible and bury them under ground so that they would choke, fry them with an ecto blast...

Then he had caught Dash staring at him fearfully and he had realized that his thoughts showed on his face somehow. He had pushed it all away, but it had left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Big bully is out to get you..."

Danny sighed. Of course Dash was out to get him, he always was. Danny was his favorite punching bag and every time something went wrong in Dash's life he took it out on him and there was nothing he could do about it but run.

"...run and hide run and hide run and hide run and hide..."

"Stop it," he hissed, clenching his fists.

He did not want to think about what had happened when the door had opened, letting the wind and hail storm through the house, knocking everybody down but him. He had felt the power of it streaming past him, the rain and hail stinging his skin, but somehow not touching him. And it had stopped when he asked it to, told it to. There was something here that responded to him, something only he could sense, hear, taste even. And still his ghost sense didn't go off.

The others were quietly chatting now, Tucker citing from the research he had done, more facts about the house, families that lived here, construction that had been done to the house and then something that really caught their attention.

"Wow," Tucker said, "Listen to this. This is from an old newspaper article from the seventies, but it was online because somebody used it as a reference in an article: Police are still searching for fifty year old Agnes Flieke, the nanny from the Jarvis family who is responsible for the death of ten month old Anthony Jarvis. Young Anthony was found slain in his cot in the Jarvis home on Tulla Drive, otherwise known as 'Bone House'."

Tucker's voice faltered at that.

"I.. I saw that," he said, "Upstairs...in his room... I went in there and... then I saw."

"What do you mean you saw," Dash said impatiently, "That happened like what, thirty years ago. How can you see something that happened thirty years ago."

He had taken ownership of Sam's backpack and was currently rummaging through it, trying to find something to eat and ignoring her scowl. He hadn't thought of bringing anything with him, since he had expected them to come running right out. At that moment he regretted that decision, in fact, he regretted ever thinking of setting up Fentoad and his friends. But most of all he wanted to punch his cousin.

"Give me that."

The backpack was yanked from his hands and Sam stuck her hand in it, feeling around for a moment and then got out two apples. She tossed them to Dash and Kwan who, being football players, caught them instinctively. She turned to Tucker.

"There's something really wrong with this house. What did you see?"

Tucker shook his head, trying, but not really wanting, to remember what he had experienced when he was in that room upstairs.

"I went in.. I think... and it was really strange, because the room looked new and there was this cot in the corner with a blanket and there was music. And then I saw blood dripping out of the cot and... that's all I remember."

Tucker looked badly shaken and Danny stood up.

"I'd better take a look then," he announced and left the room.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, as if silently tossing a coin and then Tucker sighed, grabbed his backpack and pulled out a thermos. Clasping it tightly in his hands, he got up and hurried after Danny.

"Wait a minute," Dash said, "What are they doing? Are they mad? The house is haunted, we should stay together!"

It was as close an admission to his fear as he was going to get and Sam grinned wickedly at him.

"There's probably a ghost at work here. They're gonna try and catch it, what else?"

"What else," Dash echoed, staring at her.

She couldn't really be serious, could she? Fentina hunting a ghost? With a soup thermos? He tried to picture the boy bashing in the head of a ghost with the stupid soup thermos and the image was so ridiculous he started to laugh. Kwan, who had remained silent all that time, stared at him.

"See," he said, "They did bring ghost weapons."

Tucker hurried after Danny, who had already climbed the stairs and was now standing on the landing, his hands in his sides, looking up and down the hallway. Tucker ran up the stairs after him, wheezing when he reached the top of the stairway.

"Geez Tucker, you should work out more," Danny grinned at him.

Tucker scowled at him.

"I still pass the annual test Mrs. Tetslaff has us do. Unlike somebody else here in this house whose name starts with a 'D'."

"I think Dash passed the test, Tucker."

Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Danny said, "I failed that test on purpose, alright. Don't want to make people suspicious."

"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that."

Danny was about to retort when a blue mist came out of his mouth and a quiet chill settled over the hallway, a presence of something creeping up to them, giving them goosebumps. Something was there, something cold, giving them a feeling of being watched, something that existed only just outside their view and could only be seen from the corners of their eyes. Tucker tensed, clutching the thermos tightly as he stood back to back with Danny, staring intently into 'his' part of the hallway that seemed to shimmer in front of him.

"Just an illusion," he thought illogically, as Danny had said the same earlier downstairs in the living room. And then he saw it.

"Danny," he whispered urgently, elbowing his friend.

Danny turned around and there she was. She had materialized suddenly , about ten feet away from him and he could still see the hallway and the doors behind her, through her, as if she had no real substance. It was a little girl in a blue dress, standing in the middle of the hallway, smiling shyly at them. Her blond hair was curly, with blue ribbons in it that matched her dress. She looked like a little angel.

Two white rings appeared around Danny's waist, transforming him into his ghostly alter ego and Tucker shivered slightly as the rings touched his arm briefly. He knew it wouldn't do any harm, but the tingling coldness going through him sent shivers up his spine. He started when Danny's hand suddenly grasped his shoulder.

"T-Tucker... u-use the thermos... s-suck it in!"

Danny's hand dug deeper into his shoulder, his cold hand digging into his skin and Tucker winced at the force of it. He was suddenly very unnerved by his ghostly friend and he wished for a moment Danny would keep his distance. Instantly he berated himself for that thought, Danny was his best friend, they shared everything and if Danny needed to hold on to him he could. It didn't make him any happier though.

Tucker stared at the little girl in surprise. She didn't seem very threatening, blinking her eyes at them, curling her hair with her finger. Danny didn't seem to think so.

"Tucker!" he hissed and then he grabbed the thermos from Tucker's hands, pointed it at the ghost and pressed the button to activate it.

The girl was gone.

In the blink of a eye, the hallway was empty and Danny lowered the thermos, silently cursing Tucker's lack of response before. The hallway was back to normal now, the sudden black aura he had seen around the little girl gone, leaving the ordinary darkness of the twilight settling in every corner of the house. He turned to Tucker.

"Why didn't you catch her?"

Tucker looked at him in surprise, a little taken aback by Danny's angry tone of voice.

"It was just a little girl. What harm..."

"Didn't you see it?"

"See what? It was just a little girl!"

Danny took a deep breath. There had been far more to the ghost than just the form that had been standing in the hallway. It had seemed connected somehow, with strings attached to it, cords that came from the walls, the ceiling, the floor. It's eyes had looked like endless black pits and it had been the eyes that had Danny almost running. Not because they were scary, but because he had felt drawn to them, like he had wanted to lose himself into their darkness.

"That wasn't just a little girl, Tuck. Didn't you see it? She was a puppet, somebody or something was playing her, controlling her with those strings."

"I didn't see any strings."

Lightning lit the hallway for a moment and the two friends looked at each other, the pale light eerily reflecting on Danny's pale face and making Tucker's eyes glitter. Without a word, Danny floated away from him, in the direction Tucker had come from when he descended the stairs leading to the attic with Sam earlier.

"Which room?" he asked curtly.

Tucker pointed silently at the door in front of Danny, who proceeded to float through it, going intangible just before he touched it. Or that was what he intended, instead he bounced back from it, hitting his head in the process and earning him a painful bump on his head.

"Ow."

Rubbing his head, he stared at the door swinging open from his bumping into it, revealing the nursery Tucker had been in. The cot Tucker had described was standing in the corner, every now and then lit by the flashes coming from outside, accompanied by an almost continues rumbling from the thunder.

"Losing your touch?"

Tucker had meant to ease the tension a little, so he was totally unprepared for Danny's furious look.

"It wasn't funny!"

Danny clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to calm himself. He felt nervous and jittery, the slightest noise made him jump and Tucker's impromptu remark did nothing to help that either. The room seemed normal enough though, except for the fact that he couldn't phase through the door.

He let himself drift inside the room and touched the wall, willing his hand intangible. It felt like a solid wall and he pressed a little harder, while Tucker stood next to him, looking on in a mild surprise.

"Hey," he said, stating the obvious, "You can't phase through the wall!"

"Oh, you noticed."

He pressed a little harder and then he felt it. A movement under his fingers, a shifting of something, sending a stinging feeling though his nerves and suddenly he could feel. His eyes widened in surprise as he felt the house, it's rooms, the rotting woodwork, the leaky roof, the intruders in the living room pressing on the floor, lighting their dangerous candles.

"...Fire..."

The voice was much clearer now, coming from the wall, the house itself and he clearly felt it's aversion to the little flames from the candles. He felt the mice in the cellar and the kitchen, their tiny paws scurrying behind the walls and in the kitchen cabinets, tickling. The bugs in the curtains, hundreds, thousands of them, crawling, multiplying, hiding from sight. The mold growing on the beams in the attic, weakening them, making him feel like he was slowly rotting away, that it was just a matter of time before he would collapse onto himself.

He was...everywhere.

Something was touching him, not house him, but body him and he struggled to identify the annoyance. Then his hand was yanked away from the wall and he lost contact with the house, and the feeling of belonging was gone.

He swirled and backhanded Tucker across the room, an angry snarl on his face, his eyes glowing menacingly. Tucker backed away frantically, stumbling, shouting "Danny, stop, whaddayadoing, it's me!"

His name. His name was Danny. He stopped in mid air, his hands already glowing green and tilted his head a little to think about it. Then he looked at the intruder, standing with his back against the wall, gasping for air, his eyes huge in fear.

"Tucker."

The sound of his own voice startled him, it sounded like a low growl instead of his normal light voice and he shivered suddenly. Vaguely he realized he needed to do something, he needed to change back and without hesitating he let the two white rings appear, transforming him back to his human form and with a small thunk he landed on the floor.

"Tucker, I'm sorry!"

Danny approached him and Tucker cringed, trying to press himself even further into the wall, until he looked into his friends worried blue eyes. He sighed in relief, letting out the breath that he had been holding and tentatively stepped away from the wall.

"What happened?" he asked shakily, rubbing his left cheek where Danny had hit him.

Danny shook his head, still unsure.

"I don't know. I can't phase through the wall, there's something there and I... I connected to it for a moment. It was... creepy."

Tucker had the feeling he had wanted to say something else than creepy. By the look on Danny's face he hadn't minded touching that something, whatever it was, at all. Danny looked at the floor, then up again to his friend, seemingly unsure of what to say or do.

"I think... we're done here," he said, finally.

Tucker just nodded, picked up the thermos that had fallen on the ground during their little skirmish and quickly stepped through the door, glad to leave the room behind him.

"Tucker."

He turned to look at his friend still standing in the middle of the room, a pained expression on his face.

"I really am sorry."

Tucker sighed, sagging his shoulders a little while pushing the nagging feeling away that he should be very wary of Danny in this house.

"It's alright," he said, "Just... just watch yourself. Let's get out of here as soon as the storm blows over, OK?"

He turned and walked to the stairs, totally missing the glint of steel that appeared momentarily in Danny's eyes.

Dash finished the apple and threw the core carelessly behind him. It bounced off the wall and rolled into the fireplace, collecting dust and ashes on it. Then, since Fentonia and his geeky friend had left, he grabbed the edge of the his sleeping bag and pulled it towards him. He was going to make sure he wouldn't be uncomfortable, and if the loser had problems with that he could try and take it back. Dash very badly wanted to make sure everybody knew just who was on top of the food chain here.

"Hey!" the goth freak said angrily and Dash glared at her, daring her to say something, which of course she did.

"You're a real hero, aren't you, picking on people that are smaller than you," she snapped, "You're just a coward though. You wouldn't dare take Danny on your own, you need Kwan to hold your hand for that."

Dash tried to suppress his anger as he looked at the small girl sitting across from him on her own sleeping bag, her face glowing in the light of the candles. He leaned forward a bit to emphasize the fact that he was two heads taller than she was and saw to his satisfaction that she leaned back somewhat.

"You'd better watch it, witch. I don't usually hit girls, but I'm not sure you qualify. Or maybe I'll just give your boyfriend a good pounding. So shut up."

"He's not my boyfriend."

A thought hit Dash and his eyes widened. Kwan nudged him, as if trying to tell him to be quiet but Dash wouldn't just let this go.

"So the techno geek is then? Or maybe you do it with both of them?"

An angry growl came from the direction of the door and before Dash knew it, Danny was on top of him, landing his fists into his head and stomach with surprising force, knocking him over. He wasn't so easily beaten though, and even though Danny had had the element of surprise, Dash was still a lot stronger.

With some difficulty, and not before the enraged boy had landed a few more painful punches, he grabbed hold of him, pushed himself and his attacker up and hurled him across the room, knocking him against the wall. Before Danny could recover Dash jumped towards him and landed a powerful punch into his stomach, then grabbed him by the front of his shirt before he could topple over and slammed his head against the wall again.

The boy was coughing and wheezing and gasping for air as Dash pinned him against the wall, his eyes slightly unfocused. Tucker still stood in the doorway, gaping at the two adversaries, his mind trying to catch up on what had happened. Kwan was still sitting in the same position, his back against the wall, a frown on his face. It happened so fast neither of them had moved.

Dash was about to punch Danny again when he felt a tug at his arm and he looked sidewards to see who was trying to get his attention. He looked straight into the blazing eyes of Sam Manson.

"Geez. You're pretty when you're angry," he quipped, grinning.

This caused another fit of rage inside Fentonia, Dash could tell because the boy started struggling again.

"Let go, Dash," Sam said, a little more calmly, "We all know you can beat him up. Let's just... calm down and try to get through the night here together without molesting each other, alright?"

The air had gone cold around them, Dash noticed, causing goose bumps on his arms and he shivered a little when he remembered ghosts could cause a temperature drop. The goth seemed nervous too, her eyes skittering across the room as if she expected something to appear any moment. He stepped back and let go of Danny, patting his torn t-shirt. Then he frowned, remembering why he had pinned the boy against the wall in the first place.

"Hey, he attacked me!"

Sam rushed to Danny's aid when he threatened to topple over. She started speaking to the boy in a soft tone and Dash couldn't hear what she was saying to him. He moved back to his sleeping bag and lowered himself on it again, wincing slightly from the painful spots on his body. For such a wimp Fenton had a pretty strong punch.

He looked at the three friends, standing closely together, the black boy and the girl seemingly trying to talk some sense into Danny, whose head was hanging. At one moment he looked up though and snarled at Dash, but the girl grabbed him and turned him around, an angry look on her face. Dash watched in fascination as she gave him a dressing down his mother would have been proud of. He felt distinctly grateful he wasn't the target of her wrath.

Finally they returned to the small circle of candles, Tucker once again taking place on his own sleeping bag behind his laptop, the goth and the freak dropping down on hers. To Dash's satisfaction, he saw a large bruise forming on the left side of his face, until he remembered the boy had hit him pretty hard too and it could well be that he looked about the same. He would have some explaining to do to his friends tomorrow, he thought, it wouldn't do to admit that Fentina had managed to land his fists on him that way.

He glanced sidewards at his friend and teammate and found him looking back at him, his face carefully expressionless, his eyes uncertain. Kwan was a follower, not a leader and Dash knew that he would go with whatever Dash told him had happened.

"So," Kwan said, "When do you think we can get out of here?"

Dash glanced a the windows, where the rain still washed down, a gust of wind causing it to clatter every now and then. The lightning seemed to lessen somewhat though, the thunder that followed it farther away.

"Dunno," Dash answered as he turned to see the three original occupants of the house look at him uncomfortably, the techno geek nervously clicking the mouse of his computer, the love birds sitting closely together. There was a definite rift in the room, the little group of five split in two, the boundary set by the candles in the middle that had started leaking on the floor.

"Maybe we should try to get some sleep," the goth said, "I'm kinda tired."

Her loser friend shrugged, obviously still out of sorts from his outburst earlier, but he allowed her to lean on him, causing a knowing smile on the techno geek's face. Dash wondered for a moment what was going on with the three of them, then caught himself. That couldn't possibly interest him.

"No way I'm gonna sleep," Kwan said, shifting somewhat from the place he was sitting and wrapping his arms around his knees, "This place gives me the creeps. As soon as the storm lets up we're outta here, right Dash?"

"Sure we are," Dash smirked, grinning at Fenturd sitting across from him, "We all are, aren't we, Fentina?"

The boy didn't answer and scowled at him instead. Dash felt himself relax somewhat. The house was creepy, yes, but nothing serious had happened and he was going to win the bet. He eased himself down on the sleeping bag, making himself comfortable and staring into the tiny flames of the candles. He blinked a couple of times, suddenly feeling very tired and he closed his eyes for a moment.

"No way I'm gonna sleep," Kwan muttered beside him.