-oOo-
1:00 PM
-oOo-
As Danny walked out of the basement and closed the door behind him, he strolled his way back to the lobby, walking around through the maze-like halls. While he trekked through the halls, he contemplated on what that mantra was.
Danny put his hand to his head in thought, 'Man…that was weird. I wonder where all that chanting came from?' He shook his head and sighed. 'Whatever it was, I'm sure I'll have to ask Dick about it.'
Before he entered the lobby, he dug out his pocket to get his Fenton Phone and equipped it in his ear. He turned it on to contact his Dad and said, "Hello?"
Strangely like last time, it was getting static from the other end.
Danny frowned. 'It's doing it again…' "Hello?" he tried again.
He can hear his Dad from the other line, but just barely. The static was covering up most of what he was saying.
"…*static*-anny? *static* Are you the-*static*? …atch any gho-*static*…anny? *static*…"
Danny scowled and poked his ear phone to somehow make it clearer. "Dad?"
"…*static* Dan-*static*? I ca-*static*-ear you. Do-*static*…elp you out?"
Danny can make what's little of the connection, and thought his Dad said that he wanted to help out. "Dad? I'm out of the basement. Can you hear me?"
"…*static*-anny? Danny? Can you hear me? Is there a problem? What's wrong?"
The reception was clear again… 'Huh. That was weird.' thought Danny. He then remembered that his Dad was on the other line and spoke out, "Oh, uh, nothing, really. I was just telling you that I was out of the basement."
"You are? Did you catch any ghosts down there?"
"Well, um…no, not really." said Danny, a little dejected.
"What? Really? …Aww…well darn it…"
Danny quickly added though, "But I did experience some activity."
"You did?" Jack said with renewed hope on the other line.
"Yeah, but uh…it was brief." Danny said, picking his words carefully. He wasn't exactly going to tell him his whole experience as Danny Phantom.
"Brief you say? What kind of activity did you experienced?"
"Um, well…" He paused, thinking on how he should explain the weird happening of what just occurred in the basement to his Dad. Should he tell him about the chanting?
"Danny?'
"Oh, uh, sorry. A, um…chair moved?"
"Really? Eureka! What else?" Excitement was evident in Jack's voice.
"Well…" Danny said cautiously. He could tell him about the chanting, but…he really didn't know what all of that was about.
He had to go with a little white lie for now. "I heard some voices…"
"You did? AHA! I knew there was something spooky in that room! Great work Danny!"
"But…I didn't catch any ghosts…" Danny said, a little ashamed of himself. How in the world did these ghosts managed to not appear in front of his eyes, was beyond him.
"Aw, don't worry about it, Sport! This is your first time doing this type of work! You just gotta be patient!"
'It's not my patience that I'm antsy about.' Danny thought to himself.
"So Danny, since you found some activity, do you want me to help you investigate the basement again?"
Danny winced. He really hated to say this to his Dad, since he figured his father was trying to bond with him, but again, he can't risk being detected by the Fenton Finder… "Um, actually, I was going to search the lobby for a bit."
"Oh…well, uh…do you, um…do you want me to help you out?"
Danny winced again. He's not making this easy… "Uh, no, no. I think I can handle it."
"…Well…alright. Just, you know…call me when you need me."
Guilt is really forming into Danny right now. "I-I will."
"Okay…well, um…see you later, Sport."
"You too." Danny said, disconnecting the line. He entered the lobby, still carrying the Fenton Weasel on his back, as he looked around the area. The whole lobby seemed to look normal…
He examined the area more, only to glance out at one of the windows, through the garden, to see that his friends and his sister are playing croquet.
Then he had an idea.
'Maybe I could investigate those topiary lions since I have the Fenton Weasel with me.' Danny thought pensively. He walked towards the double doors, opened one of them, and trekked through the grand porch as he walked down the steps.
Sam spotted Danny as she waited for her turn to play. She smirked and waved at him. "Hey Danny!"
Jazz and Tucker turned to where they stood, as Tucker gave a wave to his friend, while Jazz smiled at her brother and waved also.
"Hey Sam, Tuck, Jazz." He said as he made his way around the garden. He was still wary about going through it… "I'm guessing Mom already told you guys about me ghost hunting around here."
"Yep. Your Mom even gave us our very own weapons!" Tucker said as he patted a Wraith Wrangler on his hip.
"So what are you doing out here?" asked Jazz.
"I decided that I should try and get this ghost lion out from hiding." said Danny, raising the nozzle of his Fenton Weasel.
"Really?" Tucker raised an eyebrow and then said overconfidently with a smirk, "You sure you weren't here for a rematch?"
"Ugh, give it a rest Tucker." Sam groaned.
"Oh, do I detect some bitterness towards my winning streak?" Tucker said arrogantly, still a smirk plastered on his face.
"Do I detect you being obnoxious?" Sam said dryly.
"Anyways," Danny interrupted them before they got into a feud, "yeah, I'm trying to hunt down this ghost lion. Did you all see anything that was ghostly around here?"
"Nope."
"Nuh-uh."
"No, sorry."
Danny frowned. "Darn it. What's with these ghosts?" he inquired to himself a little irritably.
"No success in the basement, huh?" Sam said with a sad frown.
Danny's head shot up. "Oh! Um…actually, there was some activity that I experienced in the basement a while ago."
All of their eyebrows rose up.
"Really?" Tucker said in surprise.
"Yeah. There was-" Danny stopped his sentence for a second. He was going to tell them about the bizarre chanting in the basement, but thought against it, for he just thought that that would make them worry more. "…some voices and movement." he said, just in time to finish his sentence.
Jazz raised an eyebrow as well as Sam at that answer.
"Um, okay…was there anything else?" Jazz inquired.
Danny inwardly winced. "Not really…" he lied.
"Huh, well that's spooky. I knew a basement would carry off some sort of creepy vibe." said a thoughtful Tucker.
"Yeah…so, uh…who's winning the game?" Danny said, changing the subject.
Tucker smirked. "You're looking at him! Two successful wins and about to be the third!" he said, pointing his thumb at himself with pride.
"And he won't stop bragging about it." grumbled Sam.
"Hey, what can I say? I think I may found something that I'm very athletic at!" Tucker said smoothly.
"Oh please, you're just hitting a ball with a mallet! How can that be athletic?" Sam said in aggravation.
"Well Sam, my good friend, I found out that croquet is a mind sport as well. If you can calculate the trajectory on where it goes by hitting it hard enough, it will, of course, lead the ball on where it goes. It's simple physics really." Tucker said it offhandedly with a grin.
Sam blinked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? The only calculations I ever seen you do is when you're on your PDA!"
"Alright guys, let's try not to get at each other's throats and concentrate back on the game." Jazz said, trying to break them up. She then added, "I mean at least you're in second Sam. I'm new at this."
Danny cleared his throat to get their attention. "Well, I'll just let you guys go back to your game, while I'll try to find this ghost lion."
"Alright Danny! Good luck!" Jazz said.
"Yeah, good luck! And we'll call you if we spot anything ghost related in the horizon." Sam assured.
"Thanks." Danny said as he turned around and made his way to the wide garden in front of the hotel.
As they watched him go, Sam, along with Jazz, both had looks of suspicion on their faces, wondering what made Danny so briefly hesitant when he told them about what he found.
Meanwhile, Danny was walking towards one of the entryways of the garden, when he stopped in front of the exact topiary lion that growled at him. Staring up at it, he observed it a bit. The large hedge-lion was situated in front of the garden, looking like it was ready to lower his front paws on its prey from its standing position. Danny shook his head, 'Come on Danny, it's not a ghost, it's a hedge sculpture! It's not going to attack you! Besides, the ghost lion must have exited out of it by now…which sounds bizarre, but hey, I encountered many bizarre things. Either way, it has to around here somewhere.' After mentally sorting that out, he soon walked past the topiary lion(while still wary, of course) and entered the garden.
He walked to one of the four benches that were in the garden and sat on the southeast one. He waited intently to see if his ghost sense can pick anything up.
After seven minutes passed, Danny heard a 'wooo!' from Tucker. He turned around in his seat to see Tucker's victory dance as it looked like he won another game.
"Aw yeah! Who da man? Who da man?" boast Tucker as he did his little dance.
"Okay. That's it. I'm quittin' for the day." announced Sam irritably.
Jazz sighed. "Ditto."
"What? Come on! Don't be sore losers! I'm just good at this!" Tucker called out to them as they walked away from the field and entered the garden where Danny is.
"So who won?" Danny said dryly with a smirk.
Sam snorted and said, "Tiger Woods did, apparently."
Jazz smiled at the joke. However, she turned to Danny with changed with a poignant expression saying, "So no luck yet on your ghost sense?"
Danny sighed heavily as he ran his hand through his hair. "No, not really. Just sitting out here, waiting."
"Well…I hope you get the ghost." reassured Jazz.
"Me too." said Sam.
"Thanks." said Danny as he waved at them when they exited out of the garden. Tucker was next to enter the area with a pouting look on his face, as he was crossing his arms with the croquet mallet clutched in one hand while the ball was held in the other.
He stopped next to Danny and grumbled, "Just cause I won three games, doesn't mean they have to act immature about it."
Danny raised an eyebrow. "Says the guy who does a dance every time he hits a ball through a hoop."
Tucker turned his head at him to give him a dry look. Danny shrugged and said, "You kind of were acting obnoxious."
Tucker just sighed. "Alright, I guess I did act like a jerk."
Danny chuckled. "Next time when you win, try to not to be so big headed about it."
"Yeah, yeah." Tucker said good-naturedly. "Well, I'm gonna jet so you can catch this ghost animal or whatever. Good luck buddy!" he said as he exited out of the garden, waving at him and walking back to the hotel.
"Yeah, I'll need it at this point." Danny muttered to himself as he waved back at Tucker.
"Did Danny sound…hesitant to you when he explained what he found in the basement?" Jazz said out of the blue.
Sam turned around and blinked at her as she was putting up her croquet equipment in the recreational closet.
"Huh?" she said, taken aback.
"I said, did Danny sound hesitant to you when he was explaining on what he found in the basement?" Jazz repeated.
Sam blinked again. She then chuckled as she put a hand on her hip. "So, you noticed too, huh?"
Jazz grinned. "Have to be if I wish to become a child psychiatrist!"
Sam smirked. She then looked thoughtful and said, "Well, he did seem like he wasn't telling the whole truth."
Jazz nodded. "Well then, it's settled. I'm going to ask him."
Sam snapped out of her thoughts and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're going to ask him?"
Now it was Jazz's turn to blink. "Well yeah. I am his sister." She then put two and two together and slyly smirked. "Unless you want to talk to him about it…"
Sam's eyes widened as she once again looked taken aback. Not replying back, she turned her head to the side and narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms, trying to hold out a blush.
Jazz grinned and raised her hands in calm mock surrender, saying, "Okay, I'll let you talk to him."
Sam turned her head back to Jazz with the same expression on her face. "…I hate you right now."
Jazz crossed her arms as well, wearing a smug smile on her face. "You're welcome." Her expression soften as she said, "Just please tell me what it was when you get back."
Sam sighed heavily and muttered, "Alright, whatever." She soon took her leave out of the closet, as well as Jazz who walked behind her.
Danny, still sitting on the bench, rubbed his face out of boredom.
'Man, what does it take for a ghost to appear around here?' Danny thought frustration.
He looked around the garden to gaze at the four large lion hedges that situated on each side of the big cul-de-sac circle, to a colorful array of flowers were in the middle of the garden.
"Mind if I sit?"
Danny jump in his seat and turned his head to see none other than Sam, who was approaching his sitting spot through the north side of the cobblestone pathway in the garden.
Danny smiled. "Nope. Not at all."
Sam smiled as well as she sat down next to him.
They were quiet for a while as they were lost in their thoughts…
"So Danny…" Sam started.
Danny turned to Sam. "Yeah?"
"About what you saw in the basement…" Sam turned to Danny to see how he would react to this.
Danny's eyes widened slightly as he realized why she's out here. 'Uh-oh…' "U-uh…y-yeah?"
Sam inwardly smirked. She continued, "I was wondering…were you telling the whole truth?"
Danny's eyes widened even more as his mouth dropped a little. He then regained his composure and just shook his head as he chuckled. "Definitely nothing gets by you, Sam."
"You know it." Sam said as she smiled. "So come on Danny. What did you really saw down there?"
"Well, it's not what I saw…it's what I heard." Danny clarified.
"Heard?" Sam blinked. "What did you hear?" she asked with curiosity.
Danny contemplated on answering that. He doesn't want to freak Sam, Tucker, and Jazz out with what he heard. And for some reason, he just didn't feel comfortable telling it to his Mom and Dad; maybe it's partially because he couldn't explain it and they'll jump to some weird reason if he did explained it. Also, he didn't want to worry himself as well, even though a few strange happenings have been going on in the hotel, but those happenings were just minor.
This place was just weird…
"Danny?"
Danny shook his head and said, "Sorry, it's just that…" He waited for a second until he answered. "…there was some sort of…chanting."
Sam eyes widened. "Chanting?"
"Yeah, and I don't know what to make of it." Danny frowned.
"What kind of chanting? Was it like demonic chanting?" Sam said, a little worried.
Danny thought about it, until he shook his head and said, "No. It was…kind of human sounding…and it was low too." He said as he scratched his head in thought.
Should he tell her that he became Danny Phantom while he heard it? Should he also tell her that his ghost sense didn't pick up anything when it occurred? And that the chanting did had some kind of made him woozy while he was in the storage section of the room?
'No. I don't want her to worry. I don't want anyone to worry. Besides, it's not like I'm hurt or anything.' Danny thought rationally.
Sam, though, was thinking about it intently, putting a hand to her chin. "Well…was it ominous sounding or something?"
Danny sighed, "I don't know…um…it just sounded…slow for a bit, and then it went pretty fast…I don't think it was ominous…" he explained.
Sam twisted her lips thoughtfully. She then said, "Did it do anything to you?"
Danny had to stop for a bit to let her think he was contemplating about it. 'Now's the time to see if I'm a really good liar.' "Well…not really." he said, making sure that was convincing enough.
It seems like she bought it, as her eyes divert to the ground in thought, and sat there with her chin resting on her hand.
After a few seconds, Danny sighed and said, "Look Sam, I don't think it was nothing. Sure it was a little creepy, but I came out fine! Maybe what Dick said about the hotel having mischievous ghosts is true. I mean again, sure, some grizzly stuff happened here, but maybe the people that died here did have problems that caused their demise. Maybe we're just blowing this out of proportion. I mean, really, again it was nothing. The only thing that we do know about this place is that it is haunted."
Sam turned her head to Danny and blinked at him in surprise. She sat there in silence and looked back at the cobblestoned ground. She muttered, "I don't know…" she said unsurely. She then sighed and said, "Maybe you're right."
Danny still sensed that Sam was not sold, so he said, "Don't worry about it, Sam. Like Dick said to me, if they get too mischievous, I'll turn into Phantom and give them a good scolding."
Sam snickered, "I love to see that." She turned to gaze at Danny with a smirk. "Okay, okay, I'll cool down for a bit. We are on vacation after all."
Danny smiled. He looked around the garden a bit and said, "Well, I think I'll go inside for now, seeing as this ghost lion is being stubborn and won't come out."
Sam frowned. "Sorry about that, Danny. You would think an animal ghost would've just pop up by now."
"Yeah…maybe it was just a stray ghost animal once I think about it. I mean, it was probably just passing by or something." Danny reasoned.
"Hm…maybe so." said Sam who thought about it.
"Well, either way, I'm not gonna search any ghosts out here, while the rest of the activity is inside." Danny concluded as he stood up. "Care to go inside, my lady?" he said in a joking chivalrous matter.
Sam softly smirked. "Well, seeing as that I have nowhere to go, then sure." she joked as she stood up as well.
The two of them trekked back to the hotel, leaving behind the beautiful garden that houses the lion hedges...
-oOo-
3:00 PM
-oOo-
Everyone was doing their standard things in the hotel. Jack and Maddie were still ghost hunting around each floor to different rooms, Jazz went back to the reading room to read her books(although she was cautious this time around), Tucker in the business room playing MMORPG's, while Danny and Sam were playing Go-Fish in the lobby. Danny asked his Dad through Fenton Phone if he could take a thirty minute break, in which Jack said that would be fine. Although, he did sounded kind of crestfallen…he hopes it wasn't because his Dad wanted to spend time with him. That would just make him feel completely awful. But he couldn't let that Fenton Finder detected his ghostly aura when he's around his Dad, especially when they're ghost hunting.
"Got any sevens?" Sam said across the chair, snapping out of Danny's thoughts.
"Oh, um…aw, man." Danny said with a frown. He slipped the card from the spread deck in his hands and gave it to Sam.
It was still Sam's turn. "Got any fives?" she asked.
"Darn it." Danny complained and blew out a sigh as he gave her another card. "We definitely need some staff here soon."
"Hey, we're making the best out of all of this, aren't we?" Sam reasoned.
"Well, yeah…but in my personal opinion, I think 'best' has officially checked outta here at this point." Danny joked.
Sam rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I think you're really just sour that you're losing to a simple card game. Got any twos?"
Danny glared at her, and gave her the card. "It's really not just the staff coming to serve our every need that I'm thinking about."
"You mean you're trying to figure out why the ghosts aren't appearing? Got any eights?" questioned Sam.
Danny blinked and gave her the card. 'Wow. I wonder if she has the 'shining' as well.' he thought with a chuckle and a smirk. "Yeah. It's weird. I mean sure, I guess they're hiding, but these ghosts are a little too good at hiding." he mused.
"Well, we do have ghost hunters and a half ghost superhero in their territory. I think they would be a little cautious not to come out. Got any threes?" said Sam.
Danny was too focused on his thoughts to care that he was losing. "Yeah, but still, it should be a piece of cake to catch these ghost since they're just your run-of-the-mill ghosts. I mean, my parents have advanced ghost technology, and they haven't even caught anything at all. Again, it's…weird."
Sam could see that he was a little bothered by this, so she said, "Well, maybe we just need a few more hours, or perhaps days. They have to come out sometime."
Danny sighed solemnly, "Yeah…I'm just thinking of my Mom and Dad's job for this. I don't want people to think they're crazy or anything if they don't catch any ghosts."
Sam looked at Danny with sad eyes and said in a reassuring tone, "Hey. Don't worry about it. You told me before not to worry about it, and here I am not worrying! I'm taking your advice, you know." Sam said with a teasing smile.
Danny looked up at Sam with a smile of his own in response. "That you are." He shook his head a little as he chuckled. "You're right. I'm not gonna worry. I'm sure and certain that these ghosts will get caught by my parents and we'll have a great stay here, with or without ghosts."
"As Jazz aptly put it, 'That's the spirit!'." Sam paused for a moment and did a face-palm. "I can't believe I just said that." She then looked at the remaining card she had and smirked. "Got any tens?"
Danny blinked and looked at the last card he had in his hand. "You know, we should've gotten Tucker to come play this game with us." he grumbled as he gave his card to Sam. Obviously Sam was the winner as she has three books of card on the table, while Danny had none. "How did you know what the last cards were, anyways?"
Sam shrugged, "Women's intuition." she said nonchalantly with a smile.
Danny raised a peculiar eyebrow. "O-kay…well, I think had about enough fun and games for today." he said as he got up from his plush chair, picked up his Fenton Weasel, and began to walk to the right entrance of the halls. "I'm gonna check where Mom is."
"Yeah, I'm done too. Gonna read my book in mine and Jazz's room." said Sam, while stretching her joints and standing up from her chair as well.
Danny stopped and turned to her, eyes widened a bit. "Alone?" he said incredulously.
"…Uh, yeah?" Sam said matter-of-factly, looking at him weirdly. She then realized what he meant. "Oh Danny, come on! You know I'm a tough girl! Besides, I'll have the TV on or something, so don't worry about it. I got the Fenton Phone in my pocket, so I can call your Mom if anything ghostly happens." Sam reassured.
"Oh…well, okay." Danny said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment and feeling silly for thinking that Sam couldn't take care of herself, especially if it's just ordinary ghosts with no super powers. Danny then came up with a thought and said, "Actually, could you lend me your Fenton Phone for a second? I just want to know where my Mom is. That will save me the trip on finding here."
"Sure." Sam fished out her phone in her skirt pocket and gave it to Danny.
Danny put the phone in his ear and turned it on. "Mom, you there?"
The phones were giving off static again. Danny frowned. 'What is up with this interference?'
"…*static*-anny? Is-*static*-ou? Ar-*static*-sing Sa-*static*-ne?"
Danny could make out some of what his Mom was saying, so he went along with what he said, "Uh, yeah Mom, it's me. I'm using Sam's phone."
"…*static*-anny? Ar-*static*-ere? Is S-*static*-ight? *static*-anny? Danny? Sweetie, are you there?" Maddie said as the reception cleared up. His Mom also sounded worried.
"Mom? Yeah, I'm here! Can you hear me? I'm using Sam's phone! Where are you?" Danny spoke a little loudly, causing Sam to look at the situation with confusion.
"Yes sweetie, I can hear you! Are you alright? What happened? Is Sam okay? Did you see a ghost?" Maddie said in concern.
"Mom, don't worry, everything's fine, Sam's fine! And no, I didn't see a ghost." Danny said his normal tone.
"Oh! Well, my goodness Danny, I'm so sorry for panicking like that! It's just that I couldn't hear you through the static…which is odd, because these things are usually crystal clear." Maddie said, perplexed. "Maybe it's because we're in the mountains…" she muttered through the ear phone.
Danny never considered that. That's probably why their reception was poor at times. "Uh, yeah! Probably…but um, I just wanted to know where you were and to see if you catch anything?"
"Oh, well, I'm in the ballroom right now, and…" Maddie sighed. "…unfortunately, I haven't caught any ghosts. These ghouls are quite the crafty bunch."
"Oh, uh…well…sorry to hear that." Danny said, feeling sorry for both his Mom and Dad. He doesn't know what the deal is with these ghosts!
"Oh, don't worry about it, Danny! Maybe we'll get lucky tonight or tomorrow!" Maddie said, optimistic again.
"Uh, yeah…say, uh, do you need any help?" Danny decided to ask. He might as well help his Mom while he was at it.
"Help? Well…are you sure Danny? I mean, again, we do need all the help we can get, but…oh, why not? Sure, Danny! This will actually be a nice learning experience for you when you try to ghost hunt…not that I'm saying you want to, but just in case of emergencies."
"Uh…yeah…sure. Okay, so, I'll meet you at the ballroom!" Danny said.
"Alrighy then, Danny!" Maddie said with glee.
"Okay. I'm giving the ear phoneback to Sam now. Bye."
"Okay! Bye, Sweetie!"
Danny cut off the Fenton Phone and gave it back to Sam. Sam looked curious as to what went on. "So what was that all about?
"Oh, well the phone wouldn't get any good reception, but it calmed down after a while. That, and I'm going to the ballroom to ghost hunt with Mom. You know, just something for me to do." Danny explained.
Sam eyes widened. "The Fenton Phones weren't working before? I thought they have clear reception?"
"Yeah, I thought so too. But I guess it's just because we're in the mountains or something." Danny reasoned.
Sam put a hand on her chin and looked at the floor in thought. She then said, "I guess that sounds right."
Danny nodded, "I would think so." He looked behind him. "Well, I better get going to the ballroom. See you then, Sam."
"Okay, see you then too, Danny." said Sam.
"Mom?" Danny called out as he was about to enter the ballroom. He was still walking onto the elegant carpet even as he entered the ballroom, in which covered most of the floor, but surrounded a large square area of dark hardwood panel flooring that was reserved for dancing. He glanced around for his mother, and saw that over at the left side of the room - where there was a long bar counter attached to the wall and floor -,was his Mom, inspecting the surface of the counter with a device that, much to Danny's relief, didn't look like the Fenton Finder.
Maddie heard her son's call and diverted her attention from the counter to him. "Hi Danny!" she said with a sweet smile.
"Hey Mom." Danny walked over to where she was. "So, what are you doing?"
"Well, I'm trying to scan and locate any ghostly handprints on this counter here, but so far…" Maddie frowned as she looked at the readings with a frustrated sigh. "…nothing."
Danny frowned sadly. "I'm sorry about that, Mom. Did you get any leads at least?"
"Well…I got one lead. Your father said he had a lead too, but it disappeared on him." Maddie said with a thoughtful frown.
"Really? Where did you find the lead?" Danny asked.
"Well, it was when I was investigating the third floor. The Fenton Finder located a ghost somewhere in the halls and I ended up following it to the second and first floor." Maddie confirmed.
"Huh. Dad said he located a ghost while he was on the third, fourth, and fifth floor. It probably went back down to the other floors, and that's perhaps when the Fenton Finder detected it from there." Danny speculated.
Maddie blinked at her son and smiled at him, "Very observant, Danny! That might be the same ghost!" While she said that, something beeped on her device. She turned her attention to it and observed it to say, "Oh! Well…darn."
"What happened?" asked Danny.
"Well, it looks this Fenton Printer has shut down!" Maddie said in confusion.
"…Fenton Printer? Is that what it's called?" Danny said, pointing at the device with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep, that's what it's called." Maddie said, looking over the Fenton Printer. "As I explained before, it's a device that scans any ghost hands and fingerprints on any surface, or anything that leaves some sort of print behind."
"Oh…so, it's not working right now?" Danny asked.
"Nope, it's not…" Maddie sighed. "I'm sorry Danny, I need to go to the RV to fix this. Maybe you could see if there are any ghosts around here when I get back. Would that be okay, Sweetie?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." Danny shrugged.
Maddie smiled. "Great! Thank you, Danny! Here," she reached for the Fenton Finder that was on her belt, handed to him and said, "Use the Fenton Finder to see if there are any ghosts in this area. Now don't worry, I'll be right back!" she said happily as she exited out of the bar counter and soon out of the ballroom.
When his mother was gone, Danny, Fenton Finder in his hands, looked around the ballroom. He did notice when he first entered the room that morning, that all of the chairs were stacked up in the right side of the wall, while some of the tables were on the exact same side, while the others were on the huge stage.
Danny looked at the Fenton Finder, took a deep breath, and walked over to the bar area. He took off the Fenton Weasel, set it on the ground, and climbed up on one of the barstools and set the Fenton Finder on the bar counter. Drumming his hands on the counter, he waited for his ghost sense to pick up any ghosts that would arrive in the ballroom.
'Well, this has been an eventful day.' thought Danny wryly. 'No ghosts, and the only thing that ever came up around here, was a bunch of voices, and a smell in mine and Tucker's bathroom.' He then remembered something. 'Oh that's right! I got to call Dick! Maybe after this is over, I'll call one of the landline phones in the lobby or in my room.'
As Danny waited for his Mom to come back, he gazed around the room some more. After he was done looking around the room, he looked over the bar to see if there was anything behind it. He got down from the barstool and walked around and inside the bar. He squatted to see if anything was kept behind the counter.
Danny paused.
…Trumpets?
He blinked.
He was hearing…trumpets…and bass clarinets?
Danny stood up. "What the…?"
The music was faint…then it started to get louder…
…Just like the chanting back in the boiler room.
But this wasn't like the chanting back in the basement. The music wasn't growing louder and louder by the second. It seems to stop at its maximum, making it sound like a concert was being held in the ballroom.
The one thing though, that disturbed Danny about this was that his ghost sense, yet again, didn't go off.
"H-hello?" Danny said through the noise, as he quickly exited out of the counter, and reached for his Fenton Weasel, strapping it around his back.
The music then stopped its rising intensity, as it really sounds more like a concert now.
Perplexed and bothered by this, Danny turned around to glance at the Fenton Finder. If his ghost sense wasn't acting up, then he probably needs to rely on the device. He went to the object, grabbed it, and turned it on, hoping it spots some ghosts around here…
…But to his surprise, there wasn't…
Danny's eyes widen in shock. 'What the…that can't be right!' He looked around everywhere for any signs of ghosts…but found none.
The music seemed to go on for a while...and no matter how melodic the music was, it still perturbed Danny…
He walked slowly to the center of the ballroom, entering the hardwood flooring of the room. With Fenton Finder in hand, and Fenton Weasel on his back, Danny was puzzled as to why he, and the device, were not picking up any ghosts.
Danny stopped at the middle of the ballroom, and turned his gaze over at the center stage. The music seemed to be coming from over there, but…there was nothing there at all…
He stood there, staring hard at the stage, hoping that something, anything, would pop up that would resemble a ghost. But there was nothing…just nothing…
"Danny-Boy?" said a male voice.
Danny, startled, turned around and looked behind him to see none other than his father, standing in one of the frames of the doorways.
"Dad?" said Danny, a look of surprise on his face.
"Hey, Sport…whatcha doing over here?" Jack asked curiously.
Danny was about to answer when he noticed something…
The music was gone.
Danny eyes widen as he looked behind him to see the stage. It was...gone, to say the least, since he couldn't see the ghosts…or whatever had made that music…
"Danny?" said a concern Jack.
Danny snapped back to reality and turned to his Dad. "Uh…d-did you hear anything around here?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"
Danny blinked. "The…the music?"
Jack looked at his son oddly. "Music? …Uh, Danny, are you okay?"
Said person stood in disbelief. 'But…but I heard it! There was music playing in here!'
"Oh Jack! There you are!" said Maddie, who was coming down the hall and to where Jack was.
"Hey Maddie! What's going on so far?" inquired Jack as he turned to her.
"Well, I was just fixing the Fenton Printer over at the RV because it shut down on me, but then all of sudden it just started working again!" Maddie said, perplexed as she observed her Fenton Printer.
"It did?" Danny said as he walked to where his parents were.
Maddie nodded. "Mm-hm. I wonder what happened…" she observed it some more, and came to a conclusion with a sigh. "Well, I guess it went back on at the last minute." She turned her gaze at her son with a smile. "Did you find anything while I was gone?"
Danny was baffled. "You mean you didn't hear any music coming over here?"
Maddie blinked. "Music?" She looked at Jack with a questionable look.
Jack shrugged, "Danny-Boy thought he heard some music around here." He informed.
"No, I didn't 'think' I heard anything, I 'know'! There was music playing in this room! It sounded like a concert!" Danny tried to reason.
Maddie and Jack blinked at their son and looked at each other for a second. They gazed back at him with concern, as Maddie said, "Danny, we didn't hear any music."
Danny was just mystified. "You guys…didn't hear any music?"
He couldn't believe this. He heard it clear as day! It should've even reverberated through the halls with that kind of volume it was emitting!
"Yeah Sport, we didn't hear anything." Jack said with a worried frown.
"There…wasn't?" Danny put a hand to his head in thought. Did he just imagine it?
His parents glanced at each other again in worry. His father then said to Danny, "Son, maybe this whole 'ghost hunting' thing is a little too stressful for you right now. I think you've done a good job so far, so maybe you might need some rest."
"I agree." said Maddie.
Danny still had his hand to his head, his fingers through his hair. "Uh…"
He probably did need the rest. He has been going at this ghost hunt for at least four to five hours now. And he did feel tired from walking around almost everywhere.
"…Well…a-alright…" Danny said, still a little unsure, but giving in nonetheless.
Maddie gave her son a sweet, reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Danny. We'll take it from here. We appreciated the help!"
"Yeah, Sport! Now go get yourself some rest, buddy! You deserve it!" said Jack half-heartily, patting Danny on the back.
"O-okay, uh, sure. Um, yeah, right! I'll go get some rest!" He took off the Fenton Weasel and placed the Fenton Finder on top of it. "I'll uh, see you guys later until dinner then! Bye!" Danny said, feeling a little bit better, but still not certain.
He began to walk away from his parents and trekked through the hall, finding a stairway along the way. He climbed up the stairs, up to the second floor and walked a long ways to his room. He used his key, and entered the room, and walked over to his bed and plopped onto his mattress.
'Yeah…maybe some sleep will do me good.' Danny thought as he took his shoes off with his feet and got comfortable. No less than fifteen minutes, he drifted off to sleep…
. . . . . .
The door to the bathroom went unnoticed and was partially opened…until it closed…silently by itself…
After watching Danny go, Jack turned to Maddie and said, "So…was Danny ghost hunting with you?" he asked innocently.
Maddie turned her attention to her husband, "Oh! Well, he was, but that was until my Fenton Printer wasn't working. I had to go to the RV get some tools to fix it, but it started working even when I was about to put a screwdriver into it."
"Oh…well, alright." Jack said quietly, looking at the floor with a frown.
Maddie noticed her husband's demeanor, and asked, "Honey, is everything okay?"
Jack sighed, "Well, I wanted to spend time with Danny, you know? Just some good ol' father and son bonding! Like probably talk about what his favorite sport is, or what's his favorite hobby, or…you know, when push comes to shove, girls."
Maddie's eyes widen on the last part.
Jack noticed her expression and raised his in hands defense, saying, "Whoa, hey, I know he knows about the birds and the bees! I mean, I told him, for goodness sakes!" He shivered as he shook his head. "Woo, that's a road I don't want to go down again…"
Maddie then smiled. "Jack, come on now, your son knows that you love him dearly."
"Well, yeah, of course I do, and I know he does, but I like to feel as if I'm there for my kids, you know?" Jack put a gloved hand through his hair. "I just feel like he's been avoiding me…"
Maddie frowned, "Avoiding you? What do you mean?"
"Well…every time I try to invite myself to help him out, he just seems to push me away. He does act like he knows what he's doing half the time…which makes me feel very proud of him though!" Jack said with a small smile. "But…I want to be there with him if he does know what he's doing…" He went back to a frown.
His wife saw her husband's sad frown and said, "Aww, Honey, I'm certain he wants to spend time with you. He probably just wants to do his hunting all by himself for a little while. Give him some time, Sweetie." Maddie reassured him.
Jack's frown turned to a thoughtful one. "Well…" He then looked back up at his wife with a big grin. "Alright then! You're probably right!"
Maddie smiled sweetly at him. "Now, why don't we finish the day by hunting down some ghosts?"
"Sounds good to me!" Jack said happily.
In the hours of the day, Danny, his friends and family all went through the day just averagely. Around 5:30, they left the hotel to eat out again and explore a little bit of the town. They arrived back around 8:18 and decided to call it a night afterwards around 8:30.
Not much was done today, ghost catching-wise. But hopefully, Danny will help out as much as he can to catch these sneaky ghosts with the help of his Mom and Dad, superhero ego excluded. Tomorrow is another day…
-oOo-
8:50 PM
-oOo-
In Danny and Tucker's room, they were both dressed for bed. Tucker, in his pajamas, was relaxing on his bed, surfing away on his PDA, while Danny, in his pajamas as well, was watching TV in the den area.
All was quiet – save for the TV playing – when Tucker, without looking up from his PDA, said, "So…now that we're away from your folks', what else did you find today?"
Danny turned to his friend and blinked. "Well…" Danny paused for a second to think how he should say it. "I heard more voices…and some music…I think."
That answer made Tucker look up at Danny with a raised eyebrow. "Uh…music?"
"Yeah…it was in the ballroom." Danny said, as he thought about it.
"The ballroom? Did your ghost sense went off by any chance?" Tucker inquired.
"Well, they were just noises. My ghost sense goes off when they're only ghosts around." Danny said…though he paused once again.
He just remembered something…
"Wait a minute…" Danny whispered to himself.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Anyways, that's all I encountered."
Tucker looked at Danny strangely. "O…kay." He shrugged. "Well, whatever dude."
Danny nodded, really ignoring Tucker as he thought about the one thing that he didn't noticed all day that he should have noticed.
When he was holding the Fenton Finder at the ballroom while it was on…
…It didn't detect his ghost half…
'But…how?' Danny thought, at a loss of words. The Fenton Finder was always pointing at Danny! But now…
Was it a malfunction? He hadn't heard from the ghost finding device making any indication that it found any ghosts…
Danny shook his head. 'I'm not going to worry about it. It's nothing…' He then remembered something else. 'Oh yeah! I got to call Dick! Now would be a good time to do so!' He glanced over at Tucker, who was still absorbed in his PDA. 'But not right now. I got to wait until Tucker goes to sleep.' He's thinking of using the landline phone in the lobby to call him.
He turned off the TV and got up from the couch to walk over to his bed in the bedroom area, and opened up the covers to get under them.
"Going to bed?" Tucker asked.
Danny faked a yawned. "Yeah. A little exhausted from today."
"Okay. I'm just gonna do some last minute stuff on my PDA. Night Danny!"
"Alright. Night."
Danny shifted in his bed to get more comfortable…but not too comfortable…
-oOo-
9:33 PM
-oOo-
After a while, Tucker went to sleep, his snoring an obvious giveaway. Danny got out of the covers to sneak out of the room and into the dimly lit hall, via intangible, but not before getting Dick's number in the bedside drawer. He also sank in the hallways of the first floor – which was dimly lit as well - and walked through the hall into the lobby. He entered the long reception desk and found plenty of phones there to talk on. He looked at the cell phone number on the piece of paper and grabbed a phone. He punched in the numbers and waited for Dick to pick up…
RIIIIING…
RIIIING…
RIIIING…
'I hope it's a good time to call…' thought Danny.
RIIII-"Hello?"
Danny smiled. "Hey Dick! It's me, Danny."
"Danny? You mean good ol' Danny Phantom?" said Dick in a teasing voice.
Danny chuckled. "Yep, that's the one. You're weren't asleep, were you?"
"Oh no, no! I'm just sittin' out on the deck in my room, is all! So, how's your stay at The Overlook so far?"
"Oh, it's going pretty great! We're just relaxing and doing our usual things."
"Well that's good! It's good to know that you and your friends and family are having fun over there without any ghosts scaring ya! Speaking of ghosts, did your parents catch any of them while you were there?"
Danny scratched the back of his neck and said, "Well…no. We haven't really caught anything as of yet."
"…Oh…" Dick was unusually silent on the other line.
"Oh, but we did experienced a lot of activity yesterday and today."
"Oh! Well, that's good to know!"
"Yeah! But um…I actually do have some questions I like to ask about the activity."
"Really now? Well, alright then! Fire away."
"Sure. Um…hey, uh, Dick, have you ever heard of any strange noises around this place?"
"…Strange noises?"
"Yeah, like…mysterious chanting and…music coming out of nowhere?"
Dick was once again silent.
"…"
"Uh…Dick?"
"Oh, sorry Danny. I was just thinking. Um…yeah, I think…twice, I heard music coming out of nowhere, but…never chanting."
"Really?" Danny said a little surprised. "Well…what do you make of that?"
"Well, as for the music coming out of nowhere, these type of ghosts like to let you know that they're there, of course."
'Well, that is true to a lot of ghosts…' thought Danny.
"But as for the chantin' thing…" He seemed to stop for a second. "I…really don't know…'
"Oh…well, uh…heh, it's probably nothing! I mean, you did say they were mischievous, so they could be just trying to scare me, right?" Danny slightly chuckled.
"…Oh, uh, yeah! Heh! Of course they were trying to scare you! It sounds just like them! Scarin' employees and whatnot!" Dick chuckled as well on the other end.
Danny blinked at Dick's hesitant tone and heard how almost nervous it was. "Uh, Dick? Are you okay?"
Silence was on the other line.
"…Dick?"
"Sorry, Danny. I was just…thinking again…about what that chantin' meant."
"Oh…"
"…Yeah, it was probably just nothin', Danny. Don't worry about it, they were just sounds. The only important thing is that you're alright and it didn't do anything to you."
Danny blinked again. "Uh…okay…"
"So, Danny, anything else you want to ask me?"
"Oh, uuuh…" 'A lot actually.' He wanted to ask him about the topiary ghost lion, or the fresh smell in his and Tucker's bathroom, or Jazz's experience.
However, he looked at the clock and saw that it was 9:49. 'I'll ask him about all of that tomorrow. I do need to get back…but before I go…"
Danny smirked. "Actually, I do have two questions that I like to ask…"
"Well go right ahead! What is it?"
"Can you read minds through telephone, and, are there any hot beach women over there where you're staying in Miami?"
Dick let out a hearty laugh at the last question. "Well, to answer the first one; nope, I can't, because I need to stare straight at the person to know what they are thinking(1). And two;" Dick laughed, "Well, of course! It is Miami after all! Why do you think I like it here?"
Danny let out a chuckle. "Well okay then." He grinned. "Thanks for the info, Dick! I appreciate it!"
"No problem, Danny! Just call me when you need to know something, ya hear?"
"Sure thing! Talk to you soon, Dick!"
"You too, Danny!"
Danny hung up the phone, and was about to exit out of the reception desk...
…Until Danny let out a cool breath.
He gasped.
"What the…now?" he said flabbergasted and frustrated.
Then he heard it.
Danny's eyes widened.
He heard…footsteps…fast footsteps.
He turned to his left. It sounded like it was coming from the hall. He hurriedly exited out of the reception desk and dashed to the entry of the first floor halls, passing the elevators.
He ran straight into the halls, hoping he can find the ghost. Danny couldn't hear the ghost's footsteps by his own running so he quickly changed to Danny Phantom and flew to hear its…
Danny stopped his flight in the middle of four conjoining hallways and slowly descended to the ground with a confused look on his face.
The sounds of the footsteps were gone.
Danny glanced around frantically, trying to see if he could at least spot a ghost in these half-lit hallways.
But he didn't found anything…he couldn't track, or see the ghost!
Danny clenched his teeth. He wanted to yell out in aggravation, but that would have waken everybody – well, maybe just the second floor – up.
Instead, he took a deep breath.
"Well, so much for that…" He said disappointed.
While he stood there, he glanced to his left to see the somewhat never-ending corridor, while glancing at the ones to his right, front, and back.
As Danny looked at all directions of the halls, he paused and came to a realization.
He was standing at a conjoined hallway...all alone…
Danny stood there, feeling an odd sensation in his chest.
Now, he doesn't know why - he really doesn't – but Danny felt a little…anxious. His eyes wary, looking back at all directions of the corridors again. He felt a strange sense of…alertness, and…slight alarm.
But why? He has ghost powers, he's practically a ghost himself, and he faced worst, but…
Something about being alone…in a big building…standing in-between conjoined hallways…where your mind plays tricks on you…and you don't know what comes around the corner as you past the hallway…
It does tend to make you a little uneasy.
And add to the fact that said building is haunted…
Maybe the atmosphere itself was just haunting…
Danny shook his head. "Okay…calm down. Seriously, you're Danny Phantom! Emphasis on 'Phantom'! You are not scared of something so minor! Now get it together, man!"
He took another deep breath, closed his eyes, mentally counted for three seconds, and opened them.
"Okay. Now that that is done and over with, I'm going to get some sleep." said Danny, feeling a little bit better.
Danny went intangible and flew up to the second floor, into his and Tucker's room, all the while changing back into Danny Fenton. He snuck over to his bed, got under the covers and slept.
The hallways have return to silence…
. . . . . .
…Soft music was playing somewhere in the background…
[1] I don't know if that's true or not. I'm thinking that it's true, because Dick reads the minds of others when they're in his exact presence or something of the such, and since they're not in his presence while talking on the phone, I would think he doesn't read minds over the phone. But please correct me if I'm wrong, though. :P
Alright! Day Two has been finished! Sorry if the pacing's a little slow, but you can't rush these things! And don't worry, the beginning of the 'good stuff' will happen on Day Three! Just you wait! ;D
By the way, I changed my name to The Samurai Prince, just to let you all know! So even though I have a different name, I'm still the same guy, so don't worry everyone! :)
Again, please review! Once again, I would love to hear how I did!
(I also hope I didn't make anyone be OOC. I felt like I did at some parts, but tell me if I did or not. You can tell me, I'm a big boy! I'm a man! ...Just try not to be too harsh. DX )