Chapter Three – The Day After
Part One
Danny dozed off a few minutes or hours or days after his disturbing discovery, and slept long and peacefully. He woke when the sun reached across from his window and over his face, winced and mumbled under his breath a little about it being too early (though in the back of his mind, with a wince, he knew it was really too late). General tiredness aside, he actually felt pretty good; he got dressed in some fresh clothes and made his way down to find something for breakfast.
He ran into Jazz on the stairs. "About time," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Danny yawned a little. "G'morning, Jazz."
"It's almost afternoon, Sleeping Beauty," she remarked, smirking. "And if Mom or Dad asks, I went to the library." She continued past him up the stairs.
"Huh?" Danny turned around. "Why're you going there?"
"Well," she said, glancing back at him, "I've got an idea for my thesis that I want to research, for one. And apparently something happened with the Portal last night when the power blew, so…" Jazz rolled her eyes and gave him a knowing look.
At which he winced and turned back around before she could see him flush. Something happened with the Portal all right… "Oh. Okay. I'll tell Mom." He fled down the stairs and tried not to think about it when he tripped on the last step. Because it wasn't tripping exactly.
"I'm fine," he muttered to himself as he entered the kitchen. Except for the notes and empty coffee cups spread on the table, the room was empty. Thankfully. He walked over to the kitchen cabinet and reached up to open it.
This proved to be a little difficult, as his hand was no longer there to assist in the procedure.
"Wha--?!"
He stared at his hand—or at least the faintly glowing outline of it. And through it he could see the kitchen counter. "What the heck--?" He shook his hand a little; it came back to solidity.
Danny had never before taken for granted how easy putting together a bowl of cereal had been; he did so now, as he spent much of the next fifteen minutes grabbing things and dropping them through his hands, reaching for things only to find whichever hand was doing the reaching had decided to mysteriously vanish, and so on. He gave up completely on trying to pour milk over his cereal when he opened the fridge and looked down to find that he had vanished completely. And given the trouble he had had simply getting the bowl, spoon, and cereal... He shuddered to think of the mess that might be left if his hand decided to drop the milk carton mid-pour.
What bugged him, though, was… why was all this happening? Perhaps more importantly, how?
The Portal. Something had happened with the Portal, last night. But what?
Okay, plan, he thought, chewing on his cereal absently. Call Tuck and Sam. Maybe… He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Call Tuck and Sam. Maybe they saw something.
So with something of a plan in place, Danny tried to relax and finish his cereal. The steadily rising din from the lab, however, kept him on edge; every sudden bang made him jerk in surprise and drop his spoon (through his hand). After one particularly loud clank, Danny almost fell out of his chair, and his whole arm vanished in response. He had just managed to bring it back to visibility when the door to the basement opened and his mother entered the kitchen.
"Oh, good morning, Danny," she said warmly, pulling back the hood on her jumpsuit and smiling at him. "Did you sleep well last night, sweetie?"
"Mmmf." Danny nodded and swallowed the mouthful of cereal he had shoved in his mouth. "Yeah, pretty well." He looked down at his bowl, then back up at his mother, who had bent over some of the papers on the table. "Um, what're you and Dad doing downstairs, exactly...?"
"Oh, it's the Portal," Maddie replied a little distractedly. "Something must have happened during the power outage last night, because every test we've run says it's working—oh, did Jazz mention that to you?" She looked up at him. "The Portal's working! Your father couldn't be happier. I don't know what happened—every diagnostic I've run through says it's working like it should, but..." She gestured down at the table.
"That's great!" Danny said, forcing cheer into his voice. He glanced down at his cereal bowl again—nearly empty. "Um, anyway, is it all right if Tucker and Sam come over for a little bit, I was thinking we could go out for a movie later since the weather's cleared up?"
"Sure, sweetie." Maddie smiled at him warmly.
Danny forced a smile and scarfed down another spoonful of cereal. He then got up, placed his bowl carefully in the sink, and fled the kitchen. He shook his head and headed upstairs, one hand gripping the banister tightly, until it gripped nothing at all. He jerked back with a shock and collapsed against the wall, staring between his translucent hand and the kitchen door.
I could have told Mom and Dad. They'd know something about this... wouldn't they?
The Portal, though. Ghosts?
He felt his stomach clench. ...No. Not now. Not... not yet, anyway. He took a deep breath and continued up to his room. After digging through the mess on his desk a moment, he pulled out his cell phone, and hit the speed dial number to call Sam.