Just when things were getting good, a ghost decided to ruin it.
Rose's ghost sense went off at the exact same time as mine, but we had learned to distinguish between sensing each other and sensing other ghosts. This was another ghost. Look though we did, the ghost kept themselves well hidden. When we couldn't find the ghost after an hour or searching, we finally gave up and headed home.
We only got about halfway there. A few nerds behind us, having read the Helen Keller play "The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson, were speaking in hurried whispers.
"Man," one of them muttered, "I wish Rose was more like Helen Keller. You know, brave, devious-"
"And more challenged by all the schoolwork we have to do," Dash sneered, coming up behind the nerds. Rose and I had turned invisible and hidden soon after hearing the nerds, and now we were glad we had. "That geek already finished the homework!"
"So you have wished it," Desiree's voice sounded loudly and mischievously, "and so it shall be!"
Beside me, Rose stiffened. His hair blocked me from seeing what had happened, and when I called out to him softly he didn't react. Slowly, one of his hands came up to bat at his hair and the ear facing me. He swatted and pulled at it, as though trying to get something away from it. But there was nothing there. Then he reached up and began to brush at his eye, as though to uncover it...
Desiree had made Rose both blind and deaf. "Just like Helen Keller."
Rose began to panic; I could hear it. His breath came in raspy, rough, shallow pants, and he tried furiously to remove whatever was keeping him in the prison of darkness and silence. Those were Rose's biggest fears, darkness and silence. For both at once to attack him was terrible. He suddenly froze and, after a moment of waiting, thrust his hand out into my stomach. I winced in slight pain as Rose's nails dug into my skin through my shirt, but it seemed to comfort him that I was still here.
He clung to my shirt and pulled himself close, shaking. I tried to calm him down by rubbing his back, but I made no noise knowing that he couldn't hear it. When he lifted his gaze to me, it took all of my self-control to keep myself from forgetting to breathe. Rose's eye had turned a sickly greyish-purple, and he looked absolutely terrified. My boyfriend made a strangled noise, an attempt to talk to me.
I pressed my hand to his face, and he froze again. Without warning, he grabbed my hand in an iron grip and held it to his face, just sniffing it. It must have calmed him some to know that it was actually me here, because he relaxed a little and latched onto my arm. I led him out of the hiding place, knowing that Desiree had gone. I would get her for this. I did not forgive. I did not forget. Not when it came to my boyfriend.
***line break***
Rose's POV
I don't know where Danny is anymore. He let go of me to do something, and I tried to stumble after him. But I didn't find him, and now I was panicking more than ever. Without Danny, how was I supposed to get around? Resolve suddenly solidified, I straightened up and stuck my arms out. And then I began to walk.
It was hard, not being able to see or hear. To a dog, that was a death sentence. Seeing as my alternate ghost form was taking its toll on my human half, I considered myself to be at least half-dog. Losing sight and hearing was terrible for humans too, though. Which made me even more uneasy. At least I still had my sense of smell, which I was using to keep myself from straying into the road.
I felt the vibrations from cars in my feet and I halted, confused. I hesitantly started forward again, but someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back in terror. It wasn't Danny; his hand wasn't this small. Someone must have been talking, but I couldn't hear them. The silence was unnerving me. Without any warning to the other person, I jerked my arm up to my face in an attempt to be able to smell whoever had saved me. Their hand, however, was left behind, and I stumbled in my attempt to find it.
Someone else steadied me, an unfamiliar touch to my skin. I made an attempt to speak but I felt my own words catch in my throat and I knew they had come out garbled. A wrist was suddenly pressed into my hand, and I jerked away from it. Blind and deaf, I wondered how Helen Keller had managed to live like this...
The wrist was pushed into my hand again, and this time I latched onto it and pulled it to my face. I sniffed it, discovering a sort of flowery-perfume-like scent. The wrist vanished, and I growled in my silent world because I wanted it back. The scent had meant comfort. My hand was taken, and I tore my hand back and took a step away. I had no idea who these people were; who did they think they were, taking my hand so roughly?
My hand was snatched again, and letters were spelled into it. M-A-R-I-S-S-A. Marissa. Marissa was the flowery girl. Okay. I nodded slowly, and spelled my own name back into the other's hand. R-O-S-E. Rose.
Suddenly another hand took my wrist. I grabbed it and dragged it to my face, sniffing intently. A sort of nature-like scent, dirt and mud and leaves with a hint of something similar to coal. The person who now held my hand spelled their name into it; D-E-C-K-E-R. It took my a moment to figure out what had been spelled, the spelling was so fast. Decker. I hesitated for a moment, then took Decker's hand and wrote into it, B-O-Y-O-R-G-I-R-L-?
B-O-Y was spelled back into my hand, and I nodded approvingly. Decker and Marissa were either good friends like Sam was with us boys, or they were dating. I didn't really care. I spelled my name into Decker's hand, and he moved my hand to his face so that I could feel him nod.
C-A-N-Y-O-U-L-E-A-D-M-E-T-O-F-E-N-T-O-N-W-O-R-K-S-? I spelled out. I needed to get back to FentonWorks, where Danny would hopefully be able to find Desiree and lift this spell.
Decker spelled into my hand O-O-T, which was "Out of Town" in abbreviation. All nerds and geeks knew that, and I quickly made a symbol in Decker's hand. He made it back. Decker and I were fellow geeks. I made the symbol in Marissa's hand as well, and she made it back. We were all geeks. Or they could be making the symbol back to me as a way of reassuring me. Maybe they were just trying to comfort me...
I asked them to lead me to cemetery, where I'd be able to find my way back to FentonWorks myself. They obliged, helping me across the road and making sure I stayed in the middle of the sidewalk. Invalid though I felt, they kept me from tripping and falling or worse, like walking into the road. They left me at the cemetery, a hesitant goodbye; they were pitying me, I could sense their emotions. But I lashed out at them and they left in a hurry, unwilling to face my deaf and blind rage.
I stumbled through the cemetery, using the headstones to find my way through. I sensed a Ghost Portal open up right next to me and I even saw it, which relieved me a little bit. If I could see it, then my abilities to see hidden Ghost Portals was still working alright. I wondered if it'd be a good idea to jump through. Oh well, I decided, I had nothing to lose. If anything, being in my ghost form there would only heighten my senses and make me able to find my way around easier. So I jumped through, not remembering that the portal would close again in a few seconds.
***line break***
Danny's POV
I was furious with myself. I had let go of Rose for a moment to pick up our bags, having made a hand signal on his chest to stay there. He either hadn't understood it or he hadn't felt it, because when I turned around he was gone. I searched for him for an hour, and I eventually approached a two kids running from the cemetery. I asked them if a blind and deaf kid by the name of Rose had attempted to communicate to them, and to my surprise the girl said yes.
"He asked us to leave him at the cemetery. So that he could find his way back to F-E-N-T-O-N-W-O-R-K-S. He said he could find his way back from there. Why, are you looking for him?"
"Yes," I gasped. "Thanks!" I dashed off without another word to them, not even bothering to get their names. I got to the cemetery just in time to see Rose climb through... nothing? But my ghost sense went off, so he must have been climbing into a hidden Ghost Portal. I cursed loudly in the ghost language, checking to make sure no one was around before I changed into Phantom and flew off to find Desiree.
***line break***
Rose's POV
I landed somewhere not unfamiliar, but certainly a surprise. Skulker's island. I stumbled and hit my head on a rock, effectively knocking myself out for an hour or two. When I opened my eyes again, I pressed in by silence and blindness. So Danny hadn't been able to find Desiree yet... What if I was stuck like this forever? Worse, what if I couldn't find my way off of Skulker's island safely and I ended up dying in the attempt?
Yeah, things aren't looking too good for Rose and Danny. I got the idea for Rose to become blind and deaf like Helen Keller thanks to "The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson, which I'm currently reading in class. It's an awesome play. By the way yaoiluver4ever, thank you for all your reviews!
