Chapter 6:
Lancer POV-
Danny paled (even more than he already is) when he saw me in his living room, making me even more suspicious than I already was.
"Um…hi, Mr. Lancer," he forced a smile.
"I was in the neighborhood, and decided to stop by. The school has been thinking of teaching ghost attack drills to the students and I just wanted to know how you would feel about directing them, being that you are the most experienced ghost hunters in the area," I lied to Danny's parents who beamed in joy. The school was not thinking about administering ghost drills, but it did provide me with a more convincing excuse for suddenly appearing at their house at 8:30 at night.
"That sounds wonderful," Danny's mom grinned happily, "I have been thinking that the people of this town need to be better prepared in the event of a ghost attack." Okay, so perhaps the excuse worked a little too well, but, if they do end up getting caught up in this, I will tell them that funding got cut.
Danny seemed to buy the excuse, a little, because some of the tension left his shoulders, but he still regarded me warily. His sister regarded him warily, probably not buying my excuse at all. She always was the smartest girl in my class, and apparently, is the least-deceived person in her household as well.
"So Mr. Lancer, while you're here, how is Danny doing in school?" his mom questioned.
Out of the corner of my eye, I say Danny inch towards the stairs, like he was trying to make an escape, but, with one pointed glare from his mother, he froze to his spot. I could practically see him sweating with anxiety. And, I must admit, I felt some guilt about being the cause of this anxiety. Danny appears to have enough anxiety as it is, and now I am practically making him a target of punishment and criticism by his parents.
'But,' I supposed, 'They do have a right to know.'
"Well," I swallowed, "Danny is a very good student, if and when he actually applies himself. He usually knows what's going on in class, that is, when he isn't falling asleep, but then he doesn't even do the homework."
"Danny!" his mom exclaimed angrily, and Danny cringed guiltily shirking against the wall.
"However, Danny may not be the best student, but he always seems willing to help others. And, I recently noticed that Danny has begun to expand his social horizons as well," I provided. His parents, momentarily forgot their anger, and looked to me, inquiring to know more, "The other day, I noticed a…altercation between Danny and Dash Baxter," I continued, and Danny, who must not have known that I had witnessed this, became wide-eyed. "But, since then, it seems, they have successfully resolved the issue amongst themselves, and Dash, who is one of the so called 'popular' students at school actually sat with Danny and his friends at lunch. If this continues, I think that Danny may have singe-handedly bridged the social gap between the different ranks of students."
"And that's good?" Maddie Fenton asked.
"Oh yes, that would be something that hasn't been done in the history of high school students, ever," I embellished.
"That's my boy!" Jack Fenton bellowed, putting his arm around Danny, who looked very uncomfortable, not that I could blame him, he was practically being suffocated by his dad's massive form. However, I noticed, he was not being suffocated nearly as much as he should have been. It was subtle, yes, it would have to be, so subtle that if I hadn't been looking for something similar, I never would have noticed, but there it was. Danny was allowing part of himself to pass through his dad.
I decided it was best to try to migrate back to why I had decided to come here in the first place.
"So, if the school does, in fact, decide to do the ghost drills, we would need to know if any of the ghost safety equipment would be safe for the students," I said.
"Oh, of course it's safe. All of our equipment only works on ghosts, the most any student would get would be possibly a splatter of ectoplasm," Maddie told me.
"Hmm…" I nodded, "And, do you know if it is possible for any child to have an allergic reaction to ectoplasm?" I questioned. Maybe, there was a possibility that that is what had happened to Danny.
His mom seemed to think for a minute, "Well, we've never tested for allergies, but…it is the genetic makeup of ghosts so it is doubtful that anyone could be allergic to it…however I suppose anything is possible…"
'Great,' I thought sarcastically, 'Now they are probably going to come to the school and run tests on the students to see if they are allergic to ectoplasm.'
"If you don't mind, Mrs. Fenton, would it be alright if I could ask Danny and Jazz about how some of your inventions might have affected them?"
"No, go right ahead," she replied, like she wanted to hear their responses as well.
"Jazz," I started with his sister, hopefully so that Danny would not feel that I was targeting him, although, judging by the suspicious look he was still giving me, he knew that my appearance tonight was about him, "Have your parents' inventions affected you negatively in any way?"
Jazz scoffed, "Other than the psychological damage you mean? No, well, other than the time my dad sucked my hair into the Fenton Ghost Vacuum," she glared at her father.
"Danny?" I turned to him, "Have your parents' inventions affected you negatively in any way?"
"No!" he answered too quickly, "I mean, ugh, no, no, not at all, nothing wrong here," he chuckled nervously.
"Well," Maddie spoke up, "There were those times that some of our inventions singled Danny out as a ghost, as if that's not the most ridiculous thing on the planet, but we're pretty sure we have solved the sensitivity issue with those."
'Hmm,' I considered thoughtfully, 'Maybe…maybe Danny is somehow a ghost…no, that is not possible, if a ghost were living in a family of ghost hunters, even Mr. and Mrs. Fenton would have to notice something sooner or later. But then why would their devices pick up Danny as a ghost and not Jazz?'
I now had even more unanswered questions than when I came here, but, I had discovered one thing: whatever it was about Daniel, it was unlikely that it was from exposure to their inventions, and, more importantly, his parents didn't know, and it was pretty apparent that Danny wanted to keep it that way.
"Well, thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," I stood up, shaking their hands (and practically getting my arm ripped out of socket by Danny's dad), "I will let you know if the school continues on with the plan for ghost drills."
They showed me to the door, and said goodbye. I looked around them for Danny one last time, but he was gone, probably upstairs.
'I would too,' I mentally shook my head, 'at least now he's out of the warpath of his parents.'