Chapter Seven
I met Dani in the basement the next morning, fresh from another nightmare but feeling oddly rested nonetheless. She was perched on an old table, in ghost form, bouncing an energy ball against the wall. "Mornin'," she said when she saw me. She tossed me the energy ball, which I caught easily. "Sleep well?"
"With regard to the current trend, yes," I replied, tossing the energy ball back. "Any word from your friend, or anyone else?"
"Not yet." She made the energy ball disappear and hopped off the table. "How're you feeling?"
"Pretty good. Another nightmare, not quite the most restful sleep ever, but I'm managing."
"Think you can handle going ghost again?"
"Does it get easier each time?"
"Actually, yeah, it does."
I nodded and went ghost. It was a little less painful, and I didn't quite have to think about it so much, but I was still dizzy afterward. "Better," I said after I recovered from the headrush.
"Good. Let's see if what you can already do comes easier now. Think you can?" I nodded. She fired ecto blasts at me, and, while I trusted Dani completely, I generated the shield without even thinking about it, much like I had at Clockwork's. She stopped firing, and I disarmed the shield. "Okay, you know only two tricks, right?"
"Yeah, the shield and that ecto blast thing," I replied.
"Okay, try the ecto blast thing." I picked a spot on the wall, free of anything expensive, and fired an ecto blast at it, leaving a scorch mark much like the one in the guest bedroom. "Feel any different?"
"Sort of. I'm not fighting for my life like I was before, when I first figured out I could do this."
"That's good."
"Won't be for long, though."
"I know, but we'll be ready."
"We hope."
Dani nodded curtly, and I could see in her eyes that she shared my sentiments. I shifted back into human form, and again I felt that sense of relief. I wondered if I would burn out if I remained a ghost for much longer, but I couldn't be sure. I wasn't taking any chances, though, not unless I really had to. "Aunt Dani," I began.
"Yeah."
"Do you think we'll win?"
Dani took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. Her shoulders slumped slightly. "I hope so," she whispered.
DFDF
I logged onto the computer at the first available opportunity and Googled everything I could on time travel and alternate timelines. When I learned as much as my layman's brain could handle, I began searching for information on ghost powers. There were several articles on my dad, and maybe one or two scholarly articles on the existence of ghosts, but I was hard-pressed to find anything on the mechanics of ghost powers in general. Probably because they haven't been studied yet, I thought, turning the computer off.
I found Dani in the living room, watching some lame psycho-bitch reality show. It was better than being in the guest room, or somewhere else, alone and vulnerable to another scare tactic by Phantom. I took a seat on the sofa, next to her, and leaned back. The dialogue was laced with cuss words, indicated by beeping and the blurring out of mouths, and occasionally the use of symbols in place of letters in the subtitles.
My head tipped back, and I stopped paying attention to the show altogether. "What other powers do you think I can learn?" I asked, looking at Dani.
"Well, the basics, like intangibility, invisibility, overshadowing, and flying, maybe."
"Okay."
"I'm just worried about you pushing yourself."
"Because you used to be in a position where if you pushed yourself, you'd melt into a puddle of goo, right?"
"Yeah."
"You think I'm gonna do the same thing?"
"No, but since you're quarter-ghost, you could end up seriously hurting yourself."
"Half-a-halfa."
"Excuse me?"
"I came up with it yesterday. Half of a half is a quarter, and since Dad's a halfa, that makes me a half-a-halfa."
"Oh."
She returned her attention to the program, and I lost myself in my thoughts.
DFDF
Clockwork. That was the name I attatched to the cloaked, timepiece-covered ghost in his castle, marked CW. I should've been able to figure it out, but I only recently had the time. Time. Heh. I was thinking about having time while at the same time thinking about Clockwork, time master extraordinaire.
Then there was the vision I had of his castle exploding. And the dream that I'd been having for ten days.
Then I remembered the two anti-ghost tools I'd taken with me into the Ghost Zone when this whole mess started. And I thought about the Fright Knight statue. That was Dad's spook, and someone was trying to throw us off the trail of his whereabouts, perhaps the Fright Knight himself.
I walked into the guest bedroom and checked the drawers. The weapons weren't there, so I checked my pockets, where I thankfully found them. Why didn't I check there first? Why didn't I remember them when Phantom was here threatening me and my entire family?
I set the Jack-o-Nine-Tails and Spectre Zapper on the bed under the pillow. Out of sight but easily reachable. One of the safest places possible.
I could now turn my attention fully to the Fright Knight. From what I knew, he had a specific M.O. When he wasn't working for somebody or imprisoned in a pumpkin, he was busy sending people to realms where they would experience their deepest fears. He was in New England because...well, I didn't know, but he was there for something. I had a strange feeling that it had something to do with Phantom's escape from the thermos, his prison for God knows how long, and everything else that's been happening lately.
And Clockwork knew about all of it.
"Clockwork. I know you can hear me, and this isn't making very much sense," I called.
At the corner of my room, a giant clock hand appeared, pointing in the twelve-o'-clock position. It rotated on its axis around what should be a clock face, and a blue portal appeared. Out of it floated the cloaked ghost that I met in the castle, in child form. "You called?" he said, raising his eyebrow. There was a note of annoyance in his voice.
"You knew all about all this, and you know how it's going to work out."
"I know how it's supposed to work out, child. Any decision you or anyone else makes from this point on will affect the outcome." He shifted into an old man. "This is how the future works."
"But you said it yourself. You know everything."
"I do."
"So what the hell is going on? You let Phantom escape, knowing he was dangerous, knowing a hell of a lot more than I do. You let him chase us to Connecticut, find me here, and only you and God know what else, but why? Are you sadistic and trying to end the world or something? What is up with all this?"
"Child, some events are fixed. Your father was supposed to know about a possible future where he turned evil so he would imprison his evil future self in a thermos to be released later. You are supposed to be reacting the way you are to your ghost powers. Phantom's escape is merely part of a fixed event, and a critical one at that. This is a great moment in history. I should know. It's a stage-setter, if you will."
"All this is supposed to happen?"
"Yes."
"And you're letting it?"
"I have no choice. The next several days are a series of fixed events that cannot be altered, not even by me."
"Sorry, but am I the only one thinking this is a Doctor Who episode?"
"They did get one thing right."
"Okay, so all this is supposed to happen and thus the actions and intentions of everyone involved are subject to it. Any clue how this works out?"
"I cannot tell you that. It would alter the flow of the time stream."
"Oh, right, and you're not supposed to because this is all a fixed event and it can't ever be changed, even by you."
"Exactly."
"Sorry if I bothered you."
"I'm supposed to be here, child. Everything that's happening at the present is supposed to." He shifted into a young adult. "Be strong, because you will be, and everything will work out like clockwork."
The hand appeared, rotating backward and creating the portal again. Clockwork, now in old-man form, floated through, and the portal disappeared.
I plopped down on the seat of the bed and lay back, my arms stretched out at my sides. Apparently Phantom was supposed to be out of the thermos, Dad was supposed to have gotten that call to Connecticut, I was supposed to try to help him, and this entire mess was all supposed to happen.
My brain felt like it was on overload, so I closed my eyes and allowed my thoughts to wander.
