Chapter 10: Long Pork
Night had fallen over Blithe Hollow as the group gathered outside the empty grounds of the high school, the light of the moon shining down upon them. Danny looked up at the darkened building with a nervous expression, the hood of his black sweatshirt pulled up over his head.
"You guys ready?" Danny questioned as he looked at the others.
"Yeah, once I get this thing figured out," Tucker said, his gaze focused on the EMF reader he was fiddling with, "You sure you're parents won't miss this thing?"
"Not for one night," Danny answered with a shake of his head.
"Ya really tink dat ting is goin' to let ya detect ghosts?" Ember inquired, looking at the EMF reader doubtfully as she tuned her guitar.
"Only one way to find out," Tucker said, grinning as the EMF reader began to beep rhythmically, "Danny, where's your grandpa ghost?"
"Right here," Danny replied, nodding his head to his right as Alistair crossed his arms and glared at Tucker.
Still grinning, Tucker turned towards where Danny had indicated and held up the EMF reader, which began to beep at a faster rate as he waved it in front of Alistair.
"Oh, look at that!" Tucker said with excitement, "Definitely getting a reading here. That proves it. I might not be able to see a ghost, but I can definitely detect them."
"You guys bring anything?" Danny inquired as he looked over at Norman and Neil.
"I've got some stuff," Neil said as he placed the backpack he was carrying on the ground in front of him before he opened it and started rummaging through its contents.
"I brought a bunch of rope, my dad's heavy duty flashlight," Neil listed off before he pulled out an item and held it up for the others to see, "And this."
The item in Neil's hand was a black and yellow device that resembled an electric razor, though it ended in a pair of metal prongs.
"Is that a stun gun?" Tucker questioned as the group stared at Neil in shock.
"Yeah," Neil replied nonchalantly as he pushed a button on the side of the stun gun, causing electricity to arc between the prongs.
"Where did you get a stun gun?" Danny inquired.
"My mom's purse," Neil explained with a shrug as he put it in his pocket while zipping up his backpack and slinging it around his shoulders.
"Would that even work on a ghost?" Norman asked, looking towards Alistair for answers.
"I admit, I am unfamiliar with that weapon," Alistair answered with a shrug, "It is possible, I suppose."
Danny translated with for Tucker and Neil by shrugging as well.
"We ready for dis or are we just goin' to stand around talkin' all night?" Ember questioned with an annoyed tone.
"Alright, just let me get ready," Danny replied as he sighed and squared his shoulders.
"Get ready?" Ember questioned with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh, Danny's getting ready to go ghost," Tucker explained with an excited grin.
"We're not calling it that," Danny stated in annoyance.
"Well, we have to call it something," Tucker argued defensively.
"Do we?" Danny countered, "I'm not sure we need a term for the ghost of my ancestor fusing with me by crawling into my mouth."
"Wait, what?" Ember asked in clear bafflement.
Before Danny could answer, Alister began the process of entering his body, causing the young man's jaw to distend unnaturally as he bent backwards. Ember said nothing as she stared wide eyed at the process.
"Wow, that's still weird," Neil commented, "But it's kind of cool too."
"Cool?" Ember asked as she turned her gaze towards the boy, "Dat was the single most horrifyin' ting I've ever seen."
"You get used to it," Danny replied with a shrug as he straightened up, adjusting his hood so it better hid his now white hair, "You guys ready?"
Getting nods in reply, Danny turned his attention to the dark, empty high school.
"Let's go hunt a ghost," he said soberly before he made his way towards the front door, the others following behind.
"Uh, Danny?" Tucker spoke up as the approached the front door, "Shouldn't we look for another way in? I'm pretty sure they lock the doors at night."
"I've got it," Danny replied before he phased through one of the doors. A moment later, the group her movement on the other side of the doors before one of them opened, revealing Danny with a still locked length of chain in his hand.
"Come on," Danny instructed them as he nodded towards the inside of the school while tossing the chain to the side.
Entering, the group found the halls of the school completely dark, over which an almost oppressive silence hung.
"You getting anything, Tucker?" Danny inquired, his muscles tense.
"Only from you," Tucker replied as he waved the EMF reader around.
"Neil, can you get your flashlight out?" Norman requested.
"Sure," Neil replied before finishing out the flashlight and turning it on. Instantly, a cone of light shone down the hallway before them, piercing through the darkness and illuminating the rows of lockers that flanked them.
"Man, I always forget how creepy schools can be when there's nobody around," Tucker commented with a nervous gulp.
"Come on," Ember said as she began walking forwards, "The sooner we find dis ghost, de-"
Ember's words died in her throat as her legs seemed to give out under her, causing her stumble and fall against one of the lockers with a loud clang.
"Ember!" Danny exclaimed in surprise as he rushed over to her side, steadying the young woman by placing one of her arms around his shoulders as she leaned most of her weight against the locker, "Are you okay?"
As Ember seemed to regain her composure, she turned her attention towards Danny, who pulled back in shock. Ember's eyes had turned completely black and inky tears were running down her face, leaving dark smears in their wake.
"She's comin'," Ember whispered, her voice thick with fear.
"W-What?" Danny questioned, Ember's words snapping him out of his shock, "Who's coming?"
"Danny," Tucker said quietly as he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.
Looking up, Danny found Tucker looking down at him with a finger pressed to his lips. Once he saw that he had his friend's attention, Tucker touched his ear with his finger before pointing down the hall. Turning his attention in the indicated direction, his gaze focused on where a perpendicular hallway intersected with the one they were in, Danny listened as best he could.
"Go tell Aunt Rhody," the dim noise of a deep, female voice sang, accompanied by the sound of slow, heavy footsteps.
"Go tell Aunt Rhody," the voice continued, drawing closer. As it did, Danny could make out the sound of something being dragged along the floor as well.
"Go tell Aunt Rhody," the singing continued, the voice sounding like the owner was struggling to talk around their own tongue, the footsteps sounding like they were just around the corner, "That everybody's dead."
At the last word, a massive female figure stepped into view. She easily stood ten feet tall, walking with a hunched posture so that her long arms were practically dragging on the ground. She appeared morbidly obese, the rolls of her fat almost bursting out of the simple, faded pink, short-sleeved dress she wore. Over the dress, the woman had on a white apron that was stained with brown splotches of what appeared to be dried blood. Her yellow rubber gloves were also caked in dried blood, as were her brown shoes, while her skin has a sickly grey color to it that seemed to glow in the dark. In her right hand, she carried the largest meat cleaver Danny had ever seen, easily as long as he was tall. Her left arm, Danny realized, was barely attached to the rest of her body, with a savage wound that ran around her arm just above her elbow dripping black, ichor-like blood.
It was what was in her left hand that quickly caught everyone's attention though.
"Oh my God!" Neil exclaimed, his voice shockingly loud compared to the previous silence, "Is that a janitor!?"
Indeed, the female figure had her left hand clutched around the foot of a middle aged man dressed in navy blue coveralls, dragging him across the floor behind her while the man looked dead to the world.
At the sound of Neil's voice, the female figure suddenly froze. Slowly, she turned her attention towards the group, the light of Neil's flashlight illuminating features in all their terrible glory. Her wispy gray hair was held back by hair net, and her complexion was an unnatural grey to match the rest of her skin. Her eyes were oddly small, completely black and recessed into her head, looking like two dark holes poked into her face Her mouth on the other hand, was disproportionately large and completely lacked lips, causing the rows of pointed teeth that grew from her jaws to be on full display in a permanent, rictus grin. Saliva oozing from her mouth dripped off her chin and, as they watched, she opened her mouth enough to allow a long, black tongue to slither out from behind her teeth and taste the air.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Ember whispered in terror, her eyes having returned to their normal color as she held onto Danny tightly, "What is dat ting?"
"Rhody O'Brian," Tucker replied, his eyes glued to the figure standing a short distance away from them, "The Lunch Lady Killer."
"Wait," Danny said as he whipped his head around to look at Tucker, "You can see her!?"
"Yeah," Tucker answered numbly while nodding his head, the EMF reader beeping madly in his hand, "Though I really wish I couldn't."
Rhody O'Brian, the Lunch Lady Killer, took a moment to observe the group before opening her cavernous mouth and letting out an ear-piercing scream that seemed to ripple the air around her. At the same time, the lockers before her suddenly began to open and shut in an uncoordinated storm of motion. The cacophony this created was deafening, causing everyone to before her to cry out in pain and clutched their ears to try and block out the sound. Neil's flashlight fell to the floor as he dropped to his knees while clutching his head, causing the hallway to fall back into darkness as the light source rolled across the floor.
Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the scream stopped while the lockers slammed closed with a final clang. As silence fell over the hall again, the others slowly lowered their hands from their ears and began looking around in confusion. Picking up his flashlight, Neil shined it down the hall, but found that Rhody and the janitor had disappeared.
"What happened?" Danny asked as he looked around while helping Ember fully back to her feet, "Where is she?"
"I don't know," Neil answered as he shined the light around the hall, "I don't see her anywhere."
"Tucker, do you still have the EMF reader?" Danny questioned as he looked over at his friend.
"Uh, one second," Tucker replied as he picked the EMF reader off the ground and fiddled around with it until it started beeping again, "Yeah, and it's still working."
"Are you getting anything?" Danny questioned.
"Yeah, uh, I'm picking up something big actually," Tucker replied as he held the EMF reader out in front of him, "I'm guessing it's her."
"Well, we better get after her," Danny said as he turned to head down the hall.
"Wait, you're going after her!?" Neil exclaimed, his eyes wide as he turned his flashlight towards Danny, forcing the young man to squint against the glare, "Did you see that thing!?"
"I did, Neil," Danny replied, holding his hand up to shield his eyes from the flashlight, "I also saw the janitor she was dragging along with her. Seeing as we know she was a cannibal when she was alive, I can't imagine she has something good in store for him."
"Danny's right," Norman agreed as he reached out and gently pushed Neil's flashlight down so it wasn't shining directly into Danny's face, "We have to do something."
"Tucker, Ember and I have to do something," Danny corrected, "You and Neil have to go home."
"What!?" Norman exclaimed as he looked back at Danny, "You can't send us home now!"
"The hell I can't," Danny replied with agitation, "You saw what we're dealing with. Neil's half-scared out of his mind as it is. This is more than what you guys can handle."
"Danny, we can help you!" Norman argued.
"Yeah, I….I don't want that janitor to get eaten," Neil added as he squared his shoulders, "I want to help."
Danny looked like he was ready to argue, but stopped when Ember laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Danny boy, we don't have time to argue about dis," Ember stated as Danny turned to look at her, "Not if we want to save dat poor schmuck from bein' turned into mince meat."
Danny looked at Ember before he sighed in frustration.
"Fine, come on," Danny said as he waved Neil and Norman over before turning his attention to Tucker, "Which way, Tucker?"
"Uh, this way," Tucker replied as he made his way down the hall before taking a turn, leading the group while consulting the EMF reader.
Making their way quickly through the halls of the school, the group eventually came to the doors leading into the cafeteria.
"You know, now that we're here, it seems pretty obvious this is where she'd go," Tucker commented as the group stopped outside the doors.
"Alright," Danny replied with a serious look on his face, "Tucker, you keep the kids behind Ember and I."
"Yeah, sure man," Tucker agreed before he motioned for Neil and Norman to get behind him, which they quickly did.
"Ya ready?" Ember questioned as she stepped up next to Danny, her guitar held in her hands.
"Sure," Danny replied as he shot her a grin, "I've always wanted to do something like this."
Stepping forward, Danny lifted his foot before kicking the doors, causing them to shoot open with a bang. As the group moved into the cafeteria, they found that most of the lunch tables had been shoved to the edges of the room, some of which had been toppled onto their sides or been flipped over. At the center of the room, a single table remained, upon which the janitor lay on his back with his head hanging off the edge, his eyes closed. Next to the table, a giant metal cooking pot sat, the brown, liquid contents simmering within despite the apparent lack of any sort of heat source. Standing next to the table, Rhody was looking down at the janitor with her cleaver raised, ready to bring it down on the man's neck.
"Hey!" Danny shouted, causing Rhody to whip her head around to look at him, "Leave him alone!"
Narrowing her already beady, black eyes, Rhody let out another piercing shriek.
"Meat!" Rhody screamed as she through her cleaver at Danny, "You're all meat!"
His eyes widening, Danny dodged to the side as Ember moved the opposite way. Letting out a cry, Tucker grabbed hold of Norman and Neil's shirt before dragging them the ground, allowing the spinning blade to pass over them before it dug into the wall behind them, the weapon vibrating for a moment before going still.
"Well," Danny said with a nervous chuckle as everyone recovered from the attack, "Looks like we've already managed to disarm her."
In response, Rhody held her now empty right hand towards the cleaver. A moment later, the cleaver pulled itself out of the wall before it went flying back into Rhody's waiting hand.
"Well, that doesn't seem fair," Tucker commented as they all looked at Rhody in shock.
"Move!" Danny exclaimed as Rhody reared back to throw her cleaver again.
As the group scattered in multiple directions, Rhody hurled her cleaver at Danny. Seeing the attack coming, Danny leapt forward, rolling back to his feet as the cleaver sailed past him. Screaming again, Rhody charged at Danny, grabbing her cleaver out of the air as it flew back to her.
His eyes widening, Danny dodged to the left as Rhody slammed her cleaver down at him, before dodging to the right as she repeated the attack. As Rhody moved to attack again, Danny leapt into the air, flying inside the ghost's guard and uppercutting her hard on the chin, grinning as the blow sent her reeling back.
As the battle unfolded, Norman looked over at the janitor still laying on the table at the center of the room.
"Tucker," Norman said, getting the young man's attention while pointing at the janitor, "I think we should try to get that guy out of here."
Glancing at the janitor, Tucker nodded.
"Yeah, let's do it," Tucker said as he moved towards the janitor, "Neil, help us out here."
At the same time, Rhody, having recovered her footing, took a horizontal swing at Danny. In response, Danny went insubstantial, allowing the blade to pass right through him. Snarling in frustration, Rhody swung it back, but the blow also failed to connect due to Danny's incorporeal nature. Smiling, Danny made himself substantial again before rushing forward and striking Rhody hard in the stomach twice more, forcing her back another step.
Snarling, Rhody caught herself and looked at Danny, who had already resumed his incorporeal state. Looking at her left hand, Rhody stared at it before it too became incorporeal. Screaming in challenge, Rhody charged at Danny and thrust her left hand at the young man. Smirking cockily, Danny made no move to dodge the attack, which led to him being caught completely off guard as Rhody's massive hand wrapped around him.
As Rhody's fingers wrapped around him, her hand suddenly rematerialized, forcing Danny to as well. Pulling him up to her face, Rhody roared at Danny before turning and hurling the young man across the room. Screaming, Danny tumbled end over end until he slammed into one of the cafeteria's large windows, crashing through it and landing outside in a shower of broken glass.
Turning from the window, Rhody brought her attention back to the table the janitor had been laying on, only to find that Tucker, Norman, and Neil had managed to lift the man's limp form up and were trying to quietly carry him away. Seeing this, Rhody let out a scream of rage, causing the three to freeze in place with fear.
"Oh crap," Tucker whispered as the janitor's feet slipped out of his numb hands.
Roaring again, Rhody rushed at the three, causing them to scream in fear. Before Rhody could reach them though, the loud blare of a guitar reached their ears, accompanied by a visible shockwave that slammed into the Lunch Lady Killer, knocking her back a few steps. The shockwave was enough that it sent Tucker, Norman, and Neil reeling as well, forcing them to drop the janitor.
Regaining her footing, Rhody turned her black eyes toward her assailant, and found Ember standing a short distance away, glaring at the ghost with her guitar at the ready.
"I suggest ya back off," Ember stated firmly.
In response, Rhody screamed in fury before charging at Ember. Steadying her feet, Ember began rapidly playing notes on her guitar, causing the air to stir around her, her blue hair dancing around her head. Then, once Rhody had just about reached her, Ember jammed hard on her guitar, creating another shockwave that knocked the ghost off its feet and sent her rolling across the floor.
Picking herself up, Rhody made to charge at Ember again, but was stopped as the young woman began to play a continuous stream of fast, hard chords, causing a stream-like blast to shoot out from her guitar and slam into the ghost, holding her in check. For a few moments, Rhody struggled in vain against the attack, unable to move a single inch towards Ember. Then, screaming in fury, Rhody pulled her left arm back before thrusting it at Ember. As she did, her arm seemed to rip free of her body along the bloody wound that encircled it. The arm rocketed through the air, the force behind it stronger than the amount that Ember's guitar was producing. Ember only had time to widen her eyes in surprise before the arm slammed into her fist first, knocking her off her feet and smashing her against the tables with a calamitous crash. A moment later, both the arm and Ember fell to the ground and did not move.
Silence fell over the room as Tucker, Norman and Neil looked at Ember's prone form in stunned silence. At the same time, Rhody examined the bloody stump of her arm with a curious tilt of her head, watching as the black ichor dripped onto the floor. Turning her attention to her severed arm, she held the stump towards it. A moment later, Rhody's arm suddenly sprung up, balancing on its fingers. After taking a moment to steady itself, the arm finger-walked back over to Rhody before reattaching itself to the bloody stump of her left arm.
"Neil," Tucker said, reaching his hand out to the boy while keeping his gaze on Rhody tested her arm by flexing her fingers, "Give me the stun gun."
"What?" Neil asked in confusion as he tore his gaze away from Ember's limp form to look at Tucker.
"Give me the stun gun," Tucker repeated emphatically, looking at Neil as he did so.
"What are you going to do?" Norman questioned as Neil fished the stun gun out of his pocket.
"I'll buy you guys some time," Tucker explained as he took the stun gun from Neil, "You worry about getting the janitor out of here."
"But Tucker, she'll-" Norman began to argue before Neil cried out in fear.
"Look out!" Neil shouted as he pointed at something.
Looking where Neil indicated, Tucker's heart skipped a beat as he saw Rhody bearing down on them with her cleaver raised. Crying out in surprise, Tucker backpedaled away from the boys as they quickly pulled the janitor out of harm's way, all of them managing to avoid Rhody's cleaver as she slammed it against the floor.
"My meat!" Rhody screeched as she lifted her cleaver back up while glaring down at the boys, "You won't take my meat!"
"Hey!" Tucker exclaimed as he turned the stun gun on and rushed at the Lunch Lady, "Get away from them!"
As he ran up to Rhody, Tucker thrust the stun gun at her leg and plunged the prongs as deep into the ghost's flesh as he could before pulling the trigger. A moment later, Rhody screamed in agony as electricity seemed to course through her entire body, causing her to writhe in pain as electricity danced across her discolored skin.
Pulling back, Tucker looked up at Rhody in amazement, the ghost standing in a daze as smoke rose from her form.
"Wow," Tucker said in surprise, "That actually worked."
As Tucker spoke, Rhody began to stir. Slowly, she turned her attention to Tucker before letting out a blood-curdling scream.
"But not well enough!" Tucker yelped as his blood ran cold.
"Fine!" Rhody snarled as she reached out and grabbed one of Tucker's legs with her left hand, "You get to be the new meat then!"
As Tucker screamed in fear, Rhody yanked him off his feet and hoisted him into the air, holding him upside down by his leg.
"I won't bother cooking you though," Rhody stated as she looked Tucker over, "I'm going to eat you raw and wiggling!"
With that, Rhody lifted Tucker above her head while opening her jaws monstrously wide, the young man screaming in terror as he looked down as the black abyss that awaited him.
"Tucker!" Norman exclaimed in horror as he and Neil looked on helplessly.
Outside, Danny groaned as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, shards of glass slipping off him as he did.
"On your feet, Daniel!" Alistar spurred him on, "The battle is not yet done!"
"I know, I know," Danny groused as he pushed himself to his feet, "Give me a break, I just got thrown through a-"
Danny cut himself off as he raised his head and looked back through the window he had been thrown threw, just in time to catch sight of Rhody about to drop Tucker into her open mouth as the young man wiggled about in a vain attempt to escape.
"Tucker!" Danny shouted before he shot into the air, flying towards them as fast as he could. At that moment, Rhody released her hold on Tucker's leg, sending him plummeting towards her mouth. A split second before he fell into her toothy maw though, Danny shot by, grabbing Tucker and pulling him to safety a moment before Rhody's teeth clamped shut.
Flipping through the air while holding Tucker in both of his arm, Danny stopped his momentum by planting his feet against the wall and hanging there. Her beading eyes going wide as her mouth closed on empty air, Rhody turned her attention towards Danny and screamed in fury.
"Oh man, this is bad, isn't it?" Tucker questioned, looking at Rhody as Danny held him.
"Yeah," Danny agreed, his expression grim, "Where's Ember?"
"She's down for the count," Tucker explained as he pointed at where Ember lay.
"Damn it," Danny swore as he looked at her, before flipping around and landing on the floor so he could put Tucker down, "Tucker, I need you to get everyone out of here."
"What about you?" Tucker questioned with a worried tone.
"I'm putting an end to this," Danny informed him resolutely, "Now go!"
Tucker looked at Danny with uncertainty for a moment before he ran over to Ember, strapped her guitar around his chest, and scooped the young woman into his arms. Then, signaling towards Norman and Neil, he made his way towards the door, the two boys dragging the janitor along with them. Danny watched his friends flee for a moment before he turned his attention back to the Lunch Lady Killer.
"They won't get far, you know," Rhody observed with her toad-like voice as she grinned her awful grin while walking over to her cooking pot, "Nobody ever gets away from old Aunt Rhody."
Stooping down, Rhody wrapped her hands around the pot in an almost loving fashion.
"Isn't that right, children?" Rhody questioned.
As Danny watched, he saw something raise up out of the terrible stew, shapes that the young man quickly realized were brown, almost skeletal heads.
"Go tell Aunt Rhody," the heads began to sing, their voice ethereal and child-like.
"Oh my God," Danny whispered in horror.
"Go tell Aunt Rhody," the heads continued as the rose further out of the stew, revealing thin, crooked necks.
"No god here," Rhody stated with a shake of her head, "Only meat."
"Go tell Aunt Rhody" the heads sang as Rhody tipped the pot over, spilling the noxious stew across the floor and sending four shriveled bodies tumbling out. As Danny watched in terror, the bodies, which were four shriveled, almost skeletal figures covered in a brown goo, stood up and turned their empty eye sockets towards Danny.
"Bring the meat to Auntie!" Rhody ordered with glee as she pointed at Danny.
"That everybody's" the bodies chanted as they rushed at Danny on spindly legs, leaving sticky brown footprints in their wake.
Crying out in terror, Danny threw a fist at one the bodies, his fist connecting with a wet slap, sending the skeletal figure reeling. The other bodies rushed at him undaunted however, leaping on Danny and grappling with the young man.
"Everybody's," the bodies sang as Danny phased out of their grip. In response, Rhody rushed forward and threw a kick at him, phasing her foot as she did. The blow struck Danny hard in the chest, knocking him back and forcing him to turn corporeal again.
"Everybody's," the bodies repeated as the leapt upon Danny, grabbing him and dragging him down so he was laying faceup on the floor, the young man unable to do anything put let out terrified screams. His eyes looking around wildly, they focused on Rhody as she stepped over him, grinning broadly as she raised her cleaver over her head.
"Dead," the bodies finished as Rhody swung her cleaver down, her victorious cackle mixing with Danny's scream.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Nothing ups the suspense then leaving our hero's fate in doubt, huh? If you couldn't tell, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, hope you had fun reading it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!