A very loud, annoying shrill blasted through my ears, jerking me wide awake from another sucky night of sleep. I scrambled out of bed, my heart in my throat. The siren was splitting through the air, making my ears ring painfully, the flashing red lights made my eyes sore. Dazed and confused, it took me a few moments to realize something.
The house's Ghost Warning System. … It's…. On….
Great. Another flippin' drill.
For years, my parents have been trying to create a ghost warning system for the house. That, like everything else, failed to work. So, every now and then, my parents would spring upon me and Jazz a practice drill by surprise. It's just like a Fire Drill, except for a 'supposed' ghost invasion that will never happen so why even bother?
Why does the drill have to be in the morning? Couldn't we wait until later today? Like when Jazz and I are at school? I thought to myself as I stumbled towards my bedroom door, my fingers digging into my ears to keep the ever annoying noise out of my mind. As I approached the door, I really didn't feel like making my fingers leave the cave of my ears; luckily, the tingling feeling appeared, spreading like butter all over my body. Grinning slightly, I just walked through my door as if it didn't even exist. Not a second later, my carrot-topped older sister left her room, looking more or less tired as me. Thank God that she was too busy rubbing her eyes to see anything 'ghostly' about me.
"Kids!" I heard my Mom's shout above the deafening wail. I could barely hear my mother's footsteps on the stairs as Jazz and I watched as our Mom's shadow moved across the wall. We glanced at each other before silently agreeing to approach our mother.
"Mom, what's going on?" Jazz said loudly over the siren. "Are we having another drill?" She asked as we turned the corner.
I felt my stomach drop…
Mom was carrying a huge pistol, lime green lines chasing each other along the pistol's barrel. It appeared to be locked and loaded with…bullets? I felt my eyes widen in fear; my heart felt like a freakin' bird, trapped in a cage with cats stalking all around.
Why the heck do I fear this pistol?
"Kids!" Our Mom shouted, grabbing our wrists as she dragged us away from our rooms and down stairs. "There's a ghost in the house!"
Cue freaking out mode.
"Th-th-there's a g-g-g-g-ghost h-here?!" I squealed out, tripping on myself. I almost careened into Mom, but she yanked me upright just in time before I made everyone else trip down the stairs. Our Mom continued to haul us down the steps, through the living room and kitchen, finally depositing us into the metal lab. Our Dad immediately slammed the door behind us, hastily locking it with five different types of locks. I rolled my eyes at my Dad's actions. I really wanted to tell him that ghosts can just go through the door, but I held my tongue. The last thing I need is my parents to find out my secret; although, I often find myself starting to rethink the whole not-telling-them thing…
"Oh, come on!" Jazz screamed over the siren. I flinched from the high pitch frequency of her voice. "'There's a ghost in the house.' Pluh-ease! Let's be reasonable here. There's no ghost." She said in an annoyed tone, crossing her arms over her pajamas.
I saw our parents' faces darken a bit from what Jazz had just said.
"But there is a ghost Jazz; that's why the Ghost Warning System is going off." Our mother said, pointing up towards the red light that flashed brightly across the room-oh, wait-make that every single room in the house!
"So where is it? The ghost, that is." She asked.
For the next few moments, the only thing that made noise was the ever-annoying siren. Frankly, I was about to shut the darn thing off so that I can actually hear my thoughts.
…
Wait, I can hear my thoughts.
…
Ugh, but the blaring noise is so annoying!
"Oh, we'll know Jazz!" Our big father cheered out happily, grabbing the tablet-like device that they've been working on for a week. "By using this!" He boasted, holding the strange metal-looking tablet up into the air. Jazz's eyebrow rose slightly.
"And what exactly is that?" She asked our father. That made Dad grin crazily.
"It's the Fenton Ghost Detector!" Our ecstatic father cried out. "It uses the electro-magnetic waves that a ghost would generate to track down that exact ghost! It's the perfect tracking device!" Our father boasted as our mother shut off the Ghost Warning System. I sighed with content as the squealing wail vanished, my fingers leaving the ear caves. But, in its place was an erratic high-pitch beeping that immediately caused my fingers to dig into my ears once more.
Are you frickin' kidding me?! I thought to myself as I scrunched up my eyes in pain. The beeping seemed to rip the inside of my eardrums, my head pounding to a severe degree that it stung.
"It's working!" Our father cried out with zeal as he and Mom leaned over its small screen, reading whatever was displaying onto the tiny screen. Jazz's turquoise eyes widen in surprise as the machine continued to beep.
"How does it work?" Jazz wondered aloud. I shot her a glare.
What the heck happened to rule number one: 'Don't ask questions about how ghost equipment work.'?
"Simple." Our mother began. "We start walking around," She said this as both her and Dad took a step towards the Portal. Immediately, I could tell that the beeping was slightly softer, the distance in between each beep longer than the last. "and if we're near the ghost," She said this as they took a step closer to us; the beeping became a higher pitch, the interval shorter. Mom and Dad's faces were beaming with excitement. "the beeping gets louder and the interval between each beep becomes shorter."
The more the gap between us and our parents lessen, the higher the beeping became, repeating stabbing my head like a knife. My parents neared my sister, who stepped away from them. They continued to following the beeping, coming closer…and closer…
To me.
My eyes widen in horror as the beeping turned into an all-out droning squeal of sound, vibrating throughout my entire being. I felt myself go stiff from fear, watching as our parents stopped.
Right.
In.
Front.
Of.
ME.
I clenched my teeth as my parents glanced at their device and back at me; looks of outright confusion on their faces.
It was silent in the lab (or as close to silence with that blood-curling noise).
"Danny?" My Mom mumbled out, her violet eyes were wide at the device's readings. My Dad's mouth was open in a perfect comical 'O'. I only stared at my parents, afraid…afraid…
Of them putting two-and-two together…
"Are you a ghost?" Mom whispered to me. I felt my heart crash into a dead stop, my breathing following along with it. Freezing sweat began to form on my head.
Just tell them. I thought to myself. Just tell them.
Then my eyes strayed towards the pistol that Mom was still holding.
If I tell them…and they can't accept me then….then…
Then-
"Would you two stop this?" Jazz screamed. She immediately grabbed our attentions as we whipped our heads towards her. "This is absolutely ridiculous! I mean, come on! The house's Ghost Warning System never works! And now you're deluding yourselves into thinking that Danny's a ghost?!" Our parents looked at Jazz in disbelief.
"Jasmine." Mom said her hand without the weapon reached for her eldest daughter. "Just-"
"What? Calm down? No way! I'm so tired of all this ghost stuff!" She exclaimed, stomping towards us. Her hand shot for the device, snatching it from Dad's hands. She flipped it around a few times before finally turning off that blasted thing. I sighed, a small smile of relief appeared on my lips when the wailing had finally stopped. My fingers left their hiding places, only to be snatched away by Jazz. "Come on, Little Bro." She said, tugging me away from our parents. "We're gonna be late for school if we stall any longer."
It was eerily quiet as Jazz and I got ourselves ready for school. We returned to the kitchen, quickly eating breakfast while listening to snippets of our parents' conversation from the basement.
"I don't understand there was a ghost in the house!" Our Dad said, his deep voice whined.
"I know, honey." Our Mom said, comforting our father. "But obviously there weren't any ghosts here."
"Yeah…" Man, you could hear the sadness from our Dad's voice. "But I don't understand Maddie. For the first time we've ever turned on the house's Warning System, it actually worked!" That little tidbit of conversation struck me; and I thought back to when the last time we had a ghost drill….
I believe it was before the Accident…
Before I became half ghost.
So…doesn't that mean-
The conclusion slammed into me as if a truck had just hit me.
The house's Warning System... It…it…it…
Detected me.
I gulped, suddenly fearing for my life. Well, both my life and my afterlife.
"And the Fenton Ghost Detector…" My Mom's voice came quietly from the basement. "Why did it lead us to Danny?"
The silence was almost unbearable until Dad spoke.
"It was a mistake." Dad whispered quietly. "Another useless invention." He said that so listlessly that it pained me to hear it coming from my happy-go-lucky Dad. But then again, I felt the content feeling of relief; as if I just escaped from a crime that I've committed.
I froze into a stiff position.
Is…is what I am…am I…
Someone who's very existence…
Is a crime?
The feeling of isolation crashed upon me. That I shouldn't be here. That my existence alone is a crime against humans and ghosts alike.
I wanted to cry, but not in front of my older sister. I'm not that much of a baby. She finished her breakfast, getting up to put her dishes in the sink. Instead, I let my head fall onto the table, enjoying the hard surface against my head as Jazz went to grab her stuff…for….school…..
I must've dozed off, for the next thing I knew; I was jerk awake by my parents….in the lab.
"Wha~?" I said heavily. I sat up, totally confused about why I'm down here.
"Honey, since when did you get down here?" My Mom asked calmly, a small smile on her. I blinked at her a couple of times before it made sense…or, at least to me, it made sense.
I must've turned intangible…
"Uh…I snuck down here?" I suggested mildly. An alarm sounded in my mind.
Since when can I easily lie in front of my parents? …. Well, sort of lie easily…
The thought bothered me as my parents glanced at each other before their eyes rested uneasily onto me once more.
"Well, come on, Danny." My Mom said as she held out a hand to pull me up. I took it, a little uneasy. "Let's get you to school."
"What's that?" Tucker asked his eyes wide in a daze-like way that said he fell in love. We were outside, sitting on the steps to one of the side doors that led into the school. Everyone else was out and about in the school yard or sitting on the picnic benches that scattered nearby. I grunted, grabbing the device that he was staring at with so much love that it burned me with anger.
"Here." I said, tossing the infernal device to Tucker. He caught it, staring at it as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. He began to turn it over, scanning all over its surface. "Just whatever you do, DO NOT-"
I didn't even get to finish my sentence when a high squealing tone blasted into the air. Sam and Tucker flinched back from it as I bristled, snatching it from him. Quickly, I flipped the switch to 'Off' position, I sighed with relief. Then I shot a glare at Tucker, not bothering to hold back my toxic green eyes as they bore into Tucker.
"-TURN IT ON." I finished, my eyes still burning with that otherworldly glow before tossing the device back to Tucker. "Next time, why don't you wait until I TELL you more about something before TURNING THAT SOMETHING ON?"
"I'm sorry man." Tucker said, and he meant it. I sighed, my eyes cooled down back to the usual sky blue ones as I accepted his apology. He glanced at the device, then back at me. "Dude…what is this thing anyways?" He asked me.
"The Fenton Ghost Detector." I grumbled my elbows on my thighs as my hands cupped my chin.
"And what exactly possessed you to carry that thing around with you?" Sam asked, looking at me as if I'm delirious. My body tensed from Sam's words.
"It's Not like I Wanted That Thing with Me!" I snapped at Sam, my voice as sharp as a blade. "Dad just shoved it onto me as they dropped me off here at the last second!" I yelled at her. Fear passed through Sam's face before a hard look was placed instead.
"You don't have to snap at me, Danny!" Sam said harshly. "I was just wondering why in the world you would have that-that thing," She said, shooting a glance at the device that Tucker was holding dearly to him. "that can detect you, on your person? This invention actually works. Doesn't that bother you a bit?"
"Yeah…" I said, still upset, but not at Sam anymore. I looked away from her, staring at a group of kids across the front school yard. "But then again… Who knows how many inventions that my parents have created actually work because there wasn't a ghost around at the time when they tested it."
The second that sentence left my mouth, I immediately regretted it. Instantly, all of my parents' inventions began to scroll through my mind, a cast list to a horror movie. Suddenly, every single thing that my parents had invented made my blood froze. Bile rose in my throat as every invention mentally became a deadly weapon in my mind; that could easily tear me apart molecule by molecule.
"Danny?" Sam's voice cut through my thoughts. I jerked up, staring into Sam's lavender eyes. Her hand squeezed gently on my bony shoulder, her face so full of concern. "Are you okay?"
I had just realized that my breathing was irregular; short and fast breathing. My body was trembling, sweat running down my face. I forced myself to calm down. Shuddering a few more times, my breathing became normal once more.
"I-I'm fine." I said, looking at Sam's face. Her face was still worried, but she relaxed a bit.
"If you say so." She said, just before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of yet another school day.
Throughout the entire time in Human Growth, Thing One and Two were driving me up the wall, literally. They kept on going back and forth, back and forth over the stupidest things. At one point during class, I began to bang my head softly against my desk.
"Fenton!" Miss Tesslath shouted at me. "Would you stop banging your head like a crazed lunatic?!" I let my head hit against the hard surface one more time before stopping my head banging.
Look who's talking. Thing Two replied in my head. You're the crazed lunatic who looks like a man!
I agree. Thing One said. I mean, I can see why she's still single.
That got me to burst out laughing.
"I know!" I said loudly, still chuckling against the hard plastic surface. "I mean, she's more of a man than a woman! She might as well try to find a lady instead!"
That's when I realized that the air suddenly went tense, as taunt as wire.
"Mr. Fenton…" I heard Miss Tesslath's voice, dark and full of rage. I froze stiff.
Oh, God. Please don't tell me. Please don't tell me that I had just said that aloud.
"I think I'll be pleased to see you in dentition after school today." She said with so much venom that it would kill a human.
I groaned, banging my head one more time on the desk in misery.
A dentition…just because you spoke your own opinion? Thing Two said. Wow. What had ever happened to Free Speech?
"Shut it." I growled at Thing Two.
"See you at gym." Sam and Tucker called as they walked away towards their next class. I waved a good-bye to them as they left. Immediately after Human Growth ended, they demanded to know why I was banging my head against the desk; but I shrugged off their question, convincing them that I'll tell them during lunch, which I will.
But as I walked to my locker, I felt unsure.
Maybe they'll think I'm a crazy lunatic… I know I would think that if my best friend would tell me that he or she has two different personalities….consciences…..whatever-the-heck-they-are, always bickering in their mind; causing them to randomly bang their head against the wall and talk aloud to themselves.
I gulped as I rounded the corner to where my locker was located.
Once they know that I'm a crazy lunatic they'll probably get me admitted to an asylum or something… And then those people will know what I really am; and then the government is gonna get involved and I'll be treated as a prisoner of war or something…
I shook my head as I approached my locker.
Sam and Tucker won't sell me out… I suddenly thought to myself, standing in front of my locker. They're my best friends; they would never to do that to me…no matter how crazy or insane I am.
Wait…isn't crazy and insane the same word, right?
I sighed, getting ready to spin the combination in order to open my locker when my right hand tingled as it passed through my locker door. I flipped, glancing this way and that to make sure that no one sees this display of 'ghostliness' as my hand plunges into my locker. For a second, I stand there, my hand in my locker while my arm is out; totally at loss as to what to do… I mean, I only came here to get my Math book…
"Daaah!?" I yelped out as my hand touched something 'solid'. I instantly drew my hand back through the locker, taking the book that I accidently grabbed along with it…
It was my Math book…
I stared blankly at my hand; noting that not only was my hand intangible, but so was my Math book! I kept on staring at the pair of intangible objects until the tingling feeling left my hand, making it solid as well as the Math book.
"Okay…" I said to myself as I had to manually put the evil Math book into my backpack. "That's…
"…pretty cool…" I finished, still a little unsure of this new development.
Of course that's when the bell rang, scaring me halfway towards my afterlife. Jeez-ma-Pete's…
Why does it have to be so loud?
By the time Math was over, I totally needed some snooze. I mean, you can only stay awake for so long until your stupid powers decided to be a total jerk to you and make you completely exhausted in only a half an hour! Oh, and let's not forget the little turds that keep on rudely commenting on everything that you hear or say!
To sum it all up: I think I'm going insane.
"Danny…" Tucker called to me as I raked my fingers through my raven hair. "Who the heck do you keep on yelling at?" As a reply, I groaned, realizing that what I had just threatened to Thing One and Two aloud-again.
Luckily, we were in gym; and since I've already pissed off Miss Tesslath, as a punishment, she made me sit on the bleachers during class. Even though it's bringing my grade in gym down, I don't mind sitting here; arguing with two delusional persons in my head. Tucker, sensing my frustration, faked an injury to come and talk to me. So far, (the talking to me part) is failing.
I refused to answer him; knowing that he'll just say it's all in my head.
Pft.
I chuckled at that thought.
It's all in my head… Well, it's true. It is all in my head…. Those two stupid personas that seem to never get along and absolutely love to torture me by making me look insane!
"Danny? You didn't answer me." Tucker pressed at me, slightly taken aback from my sudden burst of laughter. My chuckles slowly died down.
"I'm fine." I told him. He gave me a look of disbelief.
"Dude, you were just arguing-with yourself. I don't think that classifies as 'fine' to me." He said, crossing his bare arms over his chest. I rolled my sky blue eyes at him.
"I wasn't arguing with myself, Tuck."
"Then who were you arguing with then?"
…..
"Okay!" I shouted, flinging my arms skyward in the universal 'surrender' sign. I let gravity bring my arms down, laying them on my thighs as I took a breath. "I was arguing with Thing One and Thing Two." I admitted to my best friend.
Enter a moment of silence.
Then…
"You're kidding…right?" Tucker asked me, a look of absolute disbelief and worry painted on his face. I sadly shook my head. He continued to stare at me in shock until he got up and left.
That's right; he just up and left!
The harsh bitter taste of abandonment sprayed on my tongue as Tucker made his way across the gym. I let out a huff of air when he stops beside Sam and began to talk to her. Every once in a while, they would both glance at me before going back to talking to each other. Slowly, I became uneasy as time passed; and began to wonder what they were talking about.
Are they gonna label me 'crazy' or 'mentally unstable'? Are they gonna tell my parents that I've screwed up my life by going in that portal?
I sat there on the bleachers, pondering until Miss Tesslath commanded everyone to change. I went to wait by the locker rooms; risking being bullied by Dash to be able to finally converse with Sam and Tucker. Just as I had entered the hallway did Dash and Kwan came out of the locker room, their eyes targeted me as grinned spread across their faces.
As they approached me, I couldn't help but think of what happens in football; when a tackler would take down the quarterback before he could even throw the ball to someone else. They just demolish the poor guy just because he has the ball; and sometimes they just tackle him for the fun of it!
Dash and Kwan towered over me, looking menacingly as their bulky frames covered my sight. I gulped, realizing that we ARE playing a game of football; each of us a player in the game.
I'll give you a hint: I was the quarterback.
And I didn't even have the ball…
After about ten minutes of being stuck in the equipment room (courtesy of Dash), I finally escaped by turning intangible and hurried back to the locker rooms. I was both glad and nervous when I spotted Sam and Tucker meeting in the hallway. We approached each other until we met, then I spun the opposite direction so that we can head over to the lunch room.
Once we had purchased our lunches (except for Sam), we head over to a picnic bench underneath a tree outside. We ate in silence for the first few minutes. I still felt nervous that they must've agreed to tell someone about my secret or that they refuse to be my friends anymore because of my 'insanity'. My nervousness kept on growing until I couldn't hold it anymore.
"You guys think I'm crazy, right?" I asked my half-eaten sandwich on the hard tomato red school tray. Sam swallowed her bite before answering.
"You're talking about the two people in your head, right?" She asked to clarify my question. I nodded, a little upset that Tucker went off to tell Sam without me there; not having my version of the problem at hand.
"Dude, I hate to say this, but…" Tucker began as his right hand left his sandwich and began to tap it against my head. "It's all in your head." I growled at him, swiping his hand away.
"I know. Sheesh." I pouted, crossing my arms over my skinny chest, my lips jutted out glumly. "Thanks for pointing it out that I'm an insane lunatic."
"Actually, it was Tesslath that pointed out that you were an insane lunatic." Tucker said, laughing so hard that his eyes were closed. Good thing too, cuz he didn't even get to see Sam's orange being shoved into his mouth, courtesy of me. I chuckled as he spat out the orange, coughing from the acid juice that his laughing had caused to pierce into the orange. Sam frowned at us (okay, mostly me) as my chuckles slowly died down. I looked at her, a little annoyed from her looking at me like that.
"What?" I asked, a little irritated.
"These…people…" Sam began, her hand gesturing to me. "They….always argue? Always…the opposite? … Never seem to be on the same page?" I nodded my head to confirm her question.
"Always. Although, once-in-a-while they would agree on something."
"Like what?"
"Like telling-uh; I mean, showing-you guys that I'm…half…ghost? They seemed to agree that you two should know about…about my secret."
"But other than that, completely opposite?"
"Completely opposite."
Sam began to eat once more, signaling that she was done. I watched her for a bit before I began to eat again. Tucker was still trying to get the acidic taste of orange out of his mouth when Sam spoke.
"Danny. Maybe these two people in your head, maybe-just maybe-they are…
"Your ghost half and your human half?"
I blinked; her words so painfully obvious that I immediately face palmed myself.
Wow. Says Thing One. She had just learned about us not even an hour ago and she has already figured out what you couldn't!
And you've had nearly two weeks-plenty of time if you ask me-to figure out that Thing One is your human half while I'm your ghost half. Thing Two-the ghostly side of me-said. This is so sad…
I totally agree with you.
"Shut up!" I shouted at the two beings. I immediately slammed my head against the wooden picnic bench, spooking the crud out of Sam and Tucker.
"Danny?" I heard Sam calling out to me in concern. I grumbled nonsense before facing her.
"God, I'm so stupid…" I said aloud.
"Yep." Tucker said, agreeing with me. My head lifted from the wooden surface, glaring at Tucker with those ghostly green eyes once more. Tucker winced at my expression as he slowly took another bite of his meal.
"Dude, you're gonna catch something on fire if you keep on glaring like that." Tucker said in-between chewing his food. Sam made a gagging sound when she saw the mushed up meat in Tucker's mouth as he chewed. He grinned and purposely chewed with his mouth open right in front of Sam, causing her to punch Tucker in his face.
And that's when they started to argue and blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah. Blah. BLAH.
English has somehow become my nap time; which infuriates Mr. Lancer, but I don't care.
Let's see how long he can stay awake if his powers have been slowly making you tried all day. I thought bitterly to myself.
Although, my powers had suddenly stopped torturing me after Sam told me that the two people in my head could be my halfs (which they are); in fact, they too have been silent ever since. This unnerved me as class progressed. I mean, why has everything stopped bothering me? Has the universe finally decided to give me a break from all of this craziness?
Either way, thank God Lancer allowed us to work in groups for our assignment. I told Sam and Tucker what is now currently bothering me once we had formed our group.
"Maybe because we've figured out whom your halfs really are?" Tucker suggested, but I shook my head.
"That doesn't make any sense, Tuck." I said uneasily, my right hand straying from my pencil in favor of the base of my hairline on my neck. "I mean, just finding out that Thing One is my human side and Thing Two is my ghost side doesn't have anything to do with the control of my powers…" Sam was the one who noticed my increased paranoia. So, she placed a calming hand on top of my left hand.
"Don't worry, Danny." Sam said, giving me a small smile that completely ruined her Goth image. "Maybe your powers are just…just…"
"Just what?" Tucker edged. "Just got themselves worn out?" He said, chuckling a bit. I shot him a dirty glare, about to give him a piece of my mind when something freezing cold forced itself up my throat and through my mouth.
I gasped from the iciness of my now dry throat as a chilly light blue mist leaves from my mouth. I shivered in its wake as it continues to come out of my mouth like a magician pulling out a rope made out of sky blue hankies. Sam and Tucker's eyes grew wide at the mist that curled above us before fading away towards the ceiling.
"Danny….?" Tucker whined, watching the mist as if it would attack him. "What's going on?"
"I-I-I d-d-d-don't kn-know." I chattered out, shuddering as if I was outside in a wind chill of negative thirty below zero. Sam opened her mouth to say something, but in place of her words was a low growl.
I felt the entire room instantaneously froze as Mr. Lancer swore under his breath, 'The Jungle Book', from the back of the classroom. Every single person in class turned to face the front of the room, where the growling came from. Everyone was too shock to even gasp at what we all saw on top of Mr. Lancer's desk.
On top of Mr. Lancer's cheaply made desk was a majestic lion. But it wasn't any ordinary lion.
It was green.
Like, almost a lime green. The same exact hue as my eyes.
That statement sent my mind into a crashing halt as I (well, everyone) stared at the lion.
Aside from the obvious green hue of the lion's pelt, there was also a green aura that seemed to surround its figure, pulsing slightly as if it was a heartbeat. Its eyes were ruby red, teeth sharp as a blade as were its claws.
Everyone's eyes were glued onto the lion, as stiff as a stick until the lion licked his lips. The universal sign of:
I'm hungry, and you look gosh darn delicious.
The room, then, erupted into chaos as everyone bolted for the only exit for their dear lives. Most of the students were screaming as they raced frantically towards the only logical exit in the room-the doorway.
I felt half of myself wanting to join the crowd of scared humans, but my other half wanted to stay and fight the green lion. So, instead, I just sat in my seat; unable to figure out what to do. It wasn't until Sam and Tucker hauled me out of my seat did I finally decide what to do.
Run.
Sam, Tucker, and I were the last ones to race towards the door; but once the blond cheerleader named Star, (why is her name Star in the first place? Is it her nickname or something?), left the classroom, the lion blocked the doorway, trapping us inside the classroom.
We immediately stopped, bumping into each other as we backed away from the lion, who was forcing us to the opposite wall from our one way out. We could go out the windows; but risk falling three stories? Nah. I don't think none of us wanted to risk death by falling from a window.
The lion growled some more, still pressuring us to the window-lined wall.
Then again, being killed by a lion isn't exactly how I wanted to die either.
Fight it. Called out a voice from my mind. I automatically knew that it was Thing One and Two talking; their voices seemed to merge together as they continued to whisper into my head. Fight it.
"Weren't you just telling me to run away earlier?" I asked Thing One aloud, still backing away from the lion. My heart beat suddenly began to thud louder.
Fight it… They called out again. Fight it…
"But h-how?" I asked. I think they called out more, but it was lost to the now roaring blood that seems to be blasted from a bass speaker, playing inside of me.
I numbly felt the edge of the three feet high bookshelves that lined underneath the windows. Bile rose in my throat as my friends and I stared at the lion. Blood pounded in my ears, as I watched the green lion licked its lips again, crouching as to get ready to pounce.
I felt Sam and Tucker tense, predicting the lion's attack; meanwhile, the speakers somehow switched to a different station.
FIGHT IT! Thing One and Thing Two screamed through the bass. The words roared into my body, my brain rattling in my skull as my eardrums screeched in pain. My entire body vibrated from the words, as if it was a shockwave. I felt my body froze as my mind raced into overdrive, the words finally making sense to me.
Lion.
Green.
Red eyes.
Green aura.
Blue mist.
Suddenly appearing in the middle of class with no way to enter the room.
Enter…
Room…
Appearing…
GHOST.
The realization slammed into me.
The lion…is…is…
A ghost.
That's when the lion leapt, its claws outstretched as it attacked us. Sam and Tucker cowered closer together as two decisions swirled in my head; the whole flight or fight thing.
I could either:
A) Let the lion attack us and risk being killed by the darn ghost.
Or B) fight back.
You know what? Screw making choices.
I just reacted.
I intercepted the ghostly lion, slamming my bony body into its muscular one. As it was being propelled backwards from my attack; one of its claws nicked my shoulder, a little too deep for comfort. Instantly, I could taste the iron from my blood coming off in waves as the wound bled. My sky blue eyes widen in nausea as a red spot formed on my shoulder, the wound stinging from contact with my shirt. My hand found its way to the wound, hastily pressing against it.
The lion was surprised by my attack; but quickly regained its composure as it leapt at me. I dodge (but just barely) out of its reach. The lion slid on the tiled floor, towards where Sam and Tucker stood watching us. They scrambled out of the way once the lion neared them. The lion spun around to face me, still sliding until it bumped into the bookshelves. It completely ignored Sam and Tucker as it pounced on me.
Once again, I dodged; however it nicked me once more, causing me to gasp as pain erupted from the new wound. This time, it was deeper from the other as the disgusting blood seeped into my shirt, spreading like rain down a window pane. I gritted my teeth as the lion swiped at my legs, ripping my jeans; but not making contact with my fragile skin.
I know I should…um…'turn into a ghost' or something; but I don't think I could do it. I mean, how many times do I actually want to go through the pain of dying just to become a ghost?
"Danny!" I heard Sam screamed my name, snapping me out of my thoughts.
It was too late for me to react as the lion pounced onto me, slamming me against the hard floor. Its claws dug into my shoulders causing me to scream in terrible pain as the claws buried themselves deeper into my shoulder blades.
"Get off!" I screamed at the lion. "Get off! Get off-get off-get off-Get Off-GET OFF!" I repeated as I frantically kicked the lion's underside; but it held onto my shoulder with its claws; causing me to writhe in pain.
God, I wish I can become a ghost now… I thought to myself as the pain flared into my head. So that I can beat the…dying daylights out of this thing!
That's when I felt a feeble spark.
Wha-wha-? Wait! I thought as the spark disappeared. Come back here, darn it!
Slamming my eyes shut, I delved deep inside of myself to find that spark. I found it inside the icy core of my being and forced it out; making my senses go haywire as my bodily functions failed. I screamed as a burst of bluish light formed into a single ring around my torso; flinging the lion off my body, its claws brushed against my chest, ripping my shirt and scratching the skin on my chest as it was flung away from my body. I continued to scream as the ring split into two separate halves, traveling along my body to transform myself into a ghost.
I groaned once the transformation was done; the pain slowly numbing away as power and adrenaline flowed into my system. I only felt the weight of my spandex suit over my entire body and nothing else; meaning that my shades, jeans, and god-forsaken hoodie have disappeared again. My eyes were still closed when I heard the lion roared in frustration; as it charged at me.
Snapping my eyes wide open, I instinctively pushed myself off the floor, hovering just out of the lion's reach as it landed where I once was. A growl escapes its lips at it whipped its flowing mane around to face me. Ruby eyes stared at me with dislike as it reared itself into pouncing position.
This time, I was ready.
When the ghostly lion leapt at me, I crouched into a ball and hovered over the attack. I grinned when the lion's back was beneath me; suddenly I snapped my body into upright position, almost like a spring. My boots slammed against the lion's spine, causing it to yelp out in pain as it smacked into the floor. Gravity took over as I landed on the ghost with force, making the lion's back form into an 'U' shape as I hopped off before it could recover.
I panted, feeling exhausted from the fight as the lion's body shook with effort to get itself off of the floor.
"Danny!" Tucker called, grabbing my attention. I unearthly eyes landed on his scrawny teenage frame. Quickly glancing at the ghost once more, I fly over to where Sam and Tucker were standing, their eyes wide in absolute terror and fear that I strangely found myself wanting to chuckle at their expressions. I halted right in front of them, my feet slapped against the surface of the floor.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked watching the two. There was no aroma of blood in the air, so they're fine. I glanced at the ghost again; making sure it was still dazed on the floor. As I was turning around to face Sam and Tucker again; a slender hand smacked against my left cheek, leaving a burning mark from its wake.
"What was that for?!" I shouted at the perpetrator-Sam-as I rubbed my heated cheek. As a response, she glowered at me, her hands firmly placed at her hips.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing?!" Sam asked me, harshly. I blinked at her a few times, my hand cooling my burning cheek as I rubbed.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, wincing from the slap. Sam stomped herself to me, her angered face dangerously close to mine. Her hand whipped out and grabbed onto the base of my white collar, dragging my upper half of my body low so that she could easily tower over me. For once in my life, I was actually afraid of Sam beating the crud out of me…and I have ghost powers!
"What am I talking about? What am I talking about!?" She roared at me, her face red from anger. "I'm talking about you, you idiot!"
"What about me?"
Okay…that was stupid on my behalf; because Sam totally blew up at me from my question.
"What the heck were you thinking it actually fight against that thing!" Sam screamed at me, causing me to flinch from underneath her grasp as she gestured to the dazed lion. "You could've been killed!"
"Sam, he's already halfway dead." Tucker corrected her. At that, both Sam and I shot a glare at Tucker; which he wisely chose to back away slightly, hitting his back against the wall. I smirked before returning my attention to Sam.
"Listen, Sam. I don't know why I-I decided to fight that thing. I just did!" I told her truthfully. I just don't understand it; every time a ghost pops out my human side wants to run away while my ghost side begs for a fight. … Wait. That part makes sense. But why the heck does my ghost side want to fight every ghost I come in contact with?
"But weren't you-" Sam began to say when Tucker interrupted her.
"Guys!" Tucker yelped fearfully, his finger pointing to something behind me. I turned to see the lion steading on its four limbs. A low growl sounded from its throat. Immediately, I stepped in front of my friends, covering them when the lion would attack us.
But suddenly, the lion just vanished; like it was nothing but a mirage. We blinked, unsure whether or not it was safe for us to do anything.
"Is… Is it gone?" Tucker whimpered from somewhere behind me. Then I heard a smack, meaning that Sam had just smacked him for the obvious answer.
"What does it look like to you?" Sam asked harshly at the Techno geek. "I swear-"
But Sam's words were cut short from some very loud voices coming from outside of the classroom.
"Mr. Lancer, I think you and your students are experiencing some kind of toxic poison." I heard Principal Ishiyama told Mr. Lancer. "There's no lion in the school."
"But there is!" Cried out Dash as everyone walked closer to our classroom.
"That's our class!" Tucker said, again stating the obvious. Sam rolled her purple eyes in annoyance before looking at me with a frightened expression.
"Danny! You gotta change back!" Sam yelped at me. I grumbled, on the verge of freaking out.
"I know!" I yelled at her, trying my best to hold back the fear that wanted to overwhelm me. "But that's the thing!
"I don't know how to change back!" I yelped as fear choked my throat.
"Lancer, this better not be a waste of my time." I heard Principal Ishiyama said, her shadow appearing on the wall towards the front of the classroom.
I flipped out, wishing with all my might that I wanted be normal when a spark fizzled to existence; the ring of light quickly did its job, completely transforming me back to my old human self just before everyone had entered the room. They looked over the room until their eyes finally rested upon us. The adults' eyes harden when they spotted us at the back of the classroom.
"Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley, and Miss Manson…" The principal said our names in a not-so-pleased tone; her arms automatically crossing themselves over her chest. Mr. Lancer-not pleased either-moved towards us, stomping his feet loudly against the tiled flooring.
"And what exactly where you three doing-" He began as he stared at each and every one of us; until his voice falters, his eyes landing on me.
Wait… Isn't he…like looking at…
My shoulder?
That's when an unbearable stab of pain burst into my shoulders, causing me to gasp. The rotten smell of blood swirled into the air, staining in my mouth. My hand immediately found its way towards the overwhelming pain in my left shoulder-where the pain hurts the most-as I gritted my teeth. A dull feeling of light headiness pounded in my head as my senses went from dull to sharp to dull; as if they can't make up their minds on how high of volume of pain should be. I felt my eyes slowly lower themselves, closer to shutting the light from the outside world.
Is it just me, or is everything starting to spin around?
"Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer said my name with horror in his voice. "Mr. Fen-!"
And that's the last thing I've heard.
Just like on Deviantart, I 'm just gonna tell ya that I'm probably not gonna be on here as much due to school and family emergency problems.
My Grandma had a heart attack about a week ago. Now, she's in the hospital, having just got out of open heart surgery. So if there's some open heart surgery jokes in here, you'll know why. Also, my step great-grandmother is at the hospital because she cracked one of her bones somewhere...
And I sort of need a C average in grade in Physics or else I'll get kicked out of the college of Architecture... So yeah, I'm gonna be busy and not updating as often as I would like on either story.
I apologize for the grammar/spelling mistakes and anything else that's wrong with this story.
Reviews are always welcomed!