Chapter 21

Danny hummed as he finished cleaning up their room. He was still on a giddy high over the events of the previous night. Setting a few books on the desk, he noticed a note lying there. When he picked it up, he read over the unfamiliar handwriting.

"Oh crap," Danny breathed out, suddenly remembering when he first received the note from Laura. The note contained the room number and dorm building for Laura's friend Tiffany, the one who believed there was a ghost haunting her room. Danny's good mood came crushing down around him as he stuffed the note into his pocket. Quickly, he put on his shoes before leaving the room.

"Danny!" called the familiar voice of Jeremy, who lived a few doors down.

"Hey, Jeremy," Danny greeted as the tall black man approached him. "How are things with your sister?" It had been a while since the two of them had a chance to really talk to each other.

"Better," Jeremy answered. "This ghost stuff is actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be." He grinned, a bit embarrassed to have admitted that. "So, uh, I thought I would try to catch you early. Think you can do my laundry first?"

"Actually, I have something I need to take care of today," replied Danny, wincing slightly when Jeremy frowned. "But I could do your laundry first when I come back."

"Yeah, okay, I guess that works." Jeremy stared at the floor. Then after a moment, he looked up at Danny again. "I have to leave for class soon. And I'll be out for the rest of the day. That's kind of why I wanted to catch you early. I guess I can just leave a note for a roommate, letting him know I asked you to do my laundry."

"All right. Well, then I guess I'll you around," said Danny awkwardly. "Oh, wait. Do you know where the Jefferson North building is? I have to meet with someone there."

Jeremy chuckled for a moment before he realized Danny was serious. "It's the dorm right next to ours."

"Oh." Danny laughed a little in embarrassment of his stupidity. "I guess I never noticed." After exchanging goodbyes, Danny continued walking down the hallway. He trotted down the stairs and exited the building.

Crossing the walkway between the two dorms, Danny tried the door to the Jefferson North building but it was locked. He glanced around and saw people walking around, but no one seemed to be going in or out of the building to allow him to slip inside. With so many people around, he couldn't go ghost and phase through the door. Sighing, he did the only other thing possible. Cautiously, he gripped the door handle while he held his other hand to the lock looking like he had the key to unlock it. He made one finger intangible and slipped it through the lock. Pushing the door forward, he found it opened easily and grinned. He climbed the stairs to the fifth floor where Tiffany lived. When he found the right room, Danny gasped as a chill came over him, and a blue wisp escaped his open mouth. He knocked on the door.

"M-May I help you?" asked the woman who opened the door. She had dark circles under dull blue eyes and looked like she hadn't slept well in months.

"Yeah, um, Laura said you thought you had a ghost living here," answered Danny. The situation was strange for him. He never had to speak to the people living in haunted areas.

Tiffany stuck her head out and glanced both ways down the hallway. "I thought Laura was asking Vlad Masters to come and take a look."

"Ah, yeah." Danny rubbed at the back of his neck. "Vlad, I don't think he would be too willing to do any favors for Laura so I thought I should come take a look at your room myself. Sorry it's taken me a while. I got caught up with some other things I had to deal with." Like realizing I'm in love with Vlad, he thought, almost smiling.

"You know about ghost stuff?" Tiffany asked a bit skeptical. She didn't seem to mind the delay.

"I know a few things." Danny waited as Tiffany merely stared at him. After a moment, she opened the door wider to allow Danny into her room. "So when did you first start to notice there might be a ghost living here?" Danny glanced around the room and spotted the ghost of an elderly woman sitting on the desk in the corner of the room. She had short white hair, spotted by a few red strands, and her skin was horribly wrinkled.

"I've had a bad feeling about this place ever since I moved in." Tiffany stood by the door and wrapped her arms tightly around her body like it would ward off the ghostly presence. "Some of the other girls said that everyone in this room ends up dropping out of college. Two weeks ago, my roommate left. My grades keep getting worse and worse. I'm beginning to think this ghost wants us to fail."

"That may actually be true," mumbled Danny. "I'm going to have to, um, do some ghost related stuff. Do you mind leaving for a while?"

Tiffany looked uncertain, opening her mouth to protest. Then she nodded and left the room. After the door closed behind her, Danny turned to face the ghost.

"I want you to stop haunting this dorm," Danny said in as commanding a voice as he could muster.

"Oh, that was threatening." A smirk stretched across the ghost's aged face. There was something about her that Danny almost found familiar. "But I'm going to have to say no. I rather like the set up here. These college girls have so much troubling their pathetic little lives. It does wonders for my appearance."

"You still look like an old hag," muttered Danny, and the ghost glowered at him as her green eyes blazed with anger. Danny ignored the glare – it wasn't nearly half as intimidating as Vlad's glare – and thought about how the ghost worked. There was a familiarity about the ghost, like Danny had met her before. A ghost who feeds on the angst of her victims' misery in order to make herself young and beautiful? Why is that familiar? "That sounds like Spectra," he said out loud, surprised that he hadn't made the connection sooner.

"How do you know my name?" the ghost asked, blinking in surprise.

"Wait! You mean you are Spectra? Penelope Spectra?" Danny gaped at the ghost, who nodded. "But you look so old!"

"Do you think I haven't noticed that already?" Spectra demanded. The room grew chilly, making Danny shiver. "It's hard to keep a steady meal of angst when the students continuously drop out."

Wow! She wasn't all that bright in the past, Danny thought. Does this mean Bertrand is the real mastermind of the two? He shook the idea from his head and focused on the current problem. "All the more reason for you to stop haunting this dorm," he said, quickly thinking of something that might convince Spectra to leave the dorm. "If you really want to become young and beautiful, wouldn't it be better to haunt some place where you can feast on a large number of troubled souls?"

"I-" Spectra started then she stopped. "Actually, that is a better idea. The way I'm doing it could take years before I'm as young and beautiful as I should be. With more people to feed on, I can achieve my goal sooner." Her expression soured as she glared at Danny. "Why would you help me?"

"I'm wondering that myself," replied Danny as he sighed. It's not like I can really do anything. Fighting would be a waste. I can't trap her in the Thermos and send her back to the Ghost Zone. The Portal and Thermos don't even exist yet. I already figured out that fighting a ghost off otherwise would be more trouble than it's worth with Youngblood. And I don't want to destroy the dorm room. Too many questions there.

"All right. I'll stop haunting this dorm."

"There's no way I can talk you into crossing over or whatever, is there?" But Danny already knew the answer.

"Don't be selfish. I've already agreed to leave this place," answered Spectra. "You are the strangest human I have ever encountered." With a wave of her arm, shadows rose to wrap around her. When the shadows broke apart, Spectra was gone.

"I'd argue, but that's probably true," muttered Danny dejectedly. "Well, at least I got her to leave the dorm, which was the whole point of this little visit." He walked to the door and opened it. "V-Vlad!" he shouted, stunned to find the man standing in the hallway and talking to Tiffany. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you that," replied Vlad with a sour look. "I found this girl's address on a note. I didn't think you would actually come over here, but when I ran into Jeremy between classes, he told me you had asked about Jefferson North." Tiffany glanced between the two men in confusion. Vlad closed the distance between him and Danny. He wrapped his arms around Danny and held him close. "What purpose did you have for visiting some girl in another dorm? Certainly not to clean her room or to do her laundry."

Danny gulped at the stern glare Vlad gave him. He heard Tiffany gasp holding her hands over her mouth at Vlad's possessive display. "Actually, I was asked to do someone a favor," Danny answered before pulling out of Vlad's arms to address Tiffany. "You shouldn't have any more problems, Tiffany."

"Really? The ghost is gone?" When he nodded, Tiffany threw her arms around Danny and hugged him tightly in her excitement. "Thank you so much!"

"Ghost? Why didn't you tell me about this?" Vlad demanded as he tore Danny free from the girl.

Danny thought he saw a hint of hurt behind his blue eyes. He waited until Tiffany said goodbye to them and skipped into her room before he focused his attention on Vlad. "She seems a lot happier now," said Danny with a forced smile. He started walking down the hallway, and Vlad followed.

"You didn't tell me about this ghost," Vlad said, and Danny could tell he was growing angry. "You told me last night you loved me, and now you're keeping secrets from me."

"I thought the moment I mentioned who had told me about this, you wouldn't want to accept the favor," Danny said. "You were really angry with Laura after everything that happened."

"I am angry with Laura, but that wouldn't stop me from investigating a possible ghost haunting the dorms!"

"I'm sorry. I should have told you." Danny gave an apologetic look. "But it turned out to be a false claim."

"How could you tell?" Vlad asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You have no equipment with you. Nothing to detect ghostly activities."

"Well, there were none of the normal signs of a haunting." Danny winced on the inside. Why did Vlad have to find out about this? Why did Tiffany have to give away that the favor involved ghosts? "But Tiffany looked like she completely believed there was a ghost living there. She seemed to think that the ghost was causing her to do badly in her classes. I thought maybe if I told her the ghost was gone, her luck would change."

"I should check it out." Vlad turned around and walked back toward Tiffany's room.

Danny grabbed Vlad's arm. "That's not necessary! I told you there's no ghost."

"How much do you really know of ghosts?" Vlad demanded as he turned back to Danny. "You go into the room without any sort of ghost detecting devices and claim there's no ghost. How can you be sure there's not a ghost haunting that room? Do have magical powers that let you sense a ghost's presence?"

"Magical powers? Don't be silly." Danny laughed nervously. That's actually almost close to the truth. "Can't you trust me on this? Trust that my parents work with ghosts has given me enough knowledge to know when there is or isn't a ghost haunting someplace."

"You lied to me again," Vlad stated, startling Danny, who hadn't expected the change in topic.

"I – I'm sorry. I-" Danny dropped his gaze. I'm making such a mess of this. "I guess I can't really tell you not to check the room."

"Good," Vlad said as he walked toward the stairs. "Because I was going to check the room anyway."

"The room is the other way."

"I need to get some equipment," Vlad explained, and Danny winced at his forgetfulness. "And I'll need your help to carry some of it." They walked down the stairs and exited the building.

At least Spectra left, Danny thought as they walked through the campus. So it wouldn't really hurt to have Vlad check the room. He was torn from his thoughts when Vlad led him into the science building. They walked down the hallway to room 101. Looking around, Danny found the room to be different from how he remembered it when Clockwork let him go back in time when he wanted to stop Vlad from getting ecto acne. They aren't even close to finishing the Proto Portal, he thought, noticing only bits of it were fully constructed.

"Carry this," ordered Vlad as he shoved a large metal box with wires connected all over the sides into Danny's arms. There were dials and switches on the top. A wire ran from one side to a long stick that Vlad held.

"What is this?" Danny asked, frowning at the device.

"It detects paranormal activity." Vlad led the way out of the class room. "If there's a ghost hiding in that room, this thing will tell us."

"I see," Danny mumbled. He sounds really excited about finding a ghost, he thought with a small smile. He liked seeing the passionate side of Vlad.

As they returned to Jefferson North and Vlad waited for someone exiting the building to open the door for them, Danny had a sudden bad feeling about the whole thing. He wasn't sure why. The closer they got to the room, the stronger the feeling got. He couldn't seem to shake it. They arrived back at Tiffany's room before Danny had much time to think on the bad feeling. Vlad knocked on the door, and a moment later, Tiffany opened it.

"Hi," greeted Tiffany as her brow furrowed. "Did you forget something?"

"Vlad wanted to check your room himself," Danny answered with a laugh.

"It shouldn't take too long," Vlad said. "I just need to wave this," he held up the long metal stick, "around the room, and it'll tell me if there's a ghost anywhere." He glared out the corner of his eye at Danny. "Forgive me if I don't fully trust my friend's opinion of there being no ghost."

"I - Well, I guess that would be okay." Tiffany stepped back and opened the door to allow the two men into her room.

Vlad flipped some of the switches and adjusted the dials on the device that Danny carried. Then he entered the room. He walked around, sweeping the stick over the whole room. The device made some static noise and nothing more. When he finished, Vlad sighed in disappointment.

"Looks like you were right," Vlad said to Danny. "There's no ghost."

"Well, that's a relief," said Tiffany.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for disturbing you again," Danny said as he stepped out of the room with Vlad.

"It's okay," Tiffany said, smiling. "You just wanted to make sure there was no ghost. I'm glad you double checked. It kind of makes me feel more secure. So, um, thanks."

"You're welcome," said Danny. "Well, I guess we'll see you around."

"Oh, right, see you later." Tiffany waved as she watched the two men walk down the hallway.

"That was somehow very disappointing," mumbled Vlad as they walked down the stairs. Danny almost felt bad about not letting Vlad find out about the ghost. Vlad held out the stick for Danny to take.

The moment Danny touched the stick the machine released a screaming beep. Danny jerked his hand back like he was burned by the stick. With his eyes wide, Vlad stared at Danny. He swept the stick over Danny, who backed away until he was pressed against the wall. The machine continued beeping. Panic flared through Danny as his heart thundered in his chest. His hands went intangible. The machine hit the ground and clattered down the stairs, ripping the stick from Vlad's hold.

"What's going on, Danny?" Vlad asked slowly.

Danny froze, not knowing what to do. Would Vlad believe him if he said the machine must be faulty? Danny almost smacked himself for that thought. Vlad was far more observant than his parents. He wouldn't brush off what the machine proved with a simple "something must be wrong with it."

"Danny," Vlad said loudly, drawing Danny back to reality. He wore a stern look that demanded the truth be told.

When did he get so close? Danny wondered absently as he stared up into Vlad's eyes.

"That machine indicated that there's some sort of paranormal activity going on around you." Vlad's hands rested on Danny's shoulders. "If you know something, tell me. I don't want to hear another lie."

"I-" Danny tried to say, but his throat closed up, keeping anything he might have said trapped inside. He broke free from Vlad's hold and ran down the stairs. Vlad's shouts and quick footsteps followed behind him. Danny blocked out the noise, all the panicked thoughts running through his mind, and focused only on running away.

Danny ran around the corner and stopped. He glanced back around but didn't see Vlad anywhere. Sighing, he leaned against the side of the building. What was he supposed to do now? Could he go back and tell Vlad the truth? No, that could alter the future too much, Danny thought, torn between his feelings for Vlad and his want to maintain the timeline. I have to at least tell him something.

Taking a deep breath, Danny started to round the corner when the world around him shifted. His vision turned fuzzy before fading into black. Tick, tick, tick echoed in his ears as his vision came back to the sight of gears turning slowly. It took him less than half a second to realize what had happened.

"Clockwork," Danny muttered as he spotted the ghost floating before his time portals. Of all the times that he could have brought Danny back to the present, Clockwork had to choose right then? Right when Danny was about to tell Vlad something close to the truth about his powers? "Send me back!"

"I cannot," said Clockwork in his usual calm tone.

"I want to go back!" Danny shouted. "I want to be with Vlad, back in the eighties. Why are you refusing this?"

Clockwork sighed. "You don't belong in the past. You've tampered with it far too much already. What do you plan to do if you went back? Do you think Vlad would be satisfied with the half truth you would tell him? Could you stay in the eighties and keep the timeline in tact so that you don't wipe out your own existence?"

Danny choked on his words. He hadn't fully thought out what he would tell Vlad, but he knew Clockwork was right about Vlad not accepting only partial truth. His hands curled into tight balls, nails digging into flesh. He wanted to go back to Vlad in his college years, but after what just happened, he doubted he could remain there without destroying the timeline or, worse, destroying his relationship with Vlad by telling lies and half truths.

"You have to return to where you belong," said Clockwork. The long hands of a clock appeared and swung around, opening a portal to Danny's present time. "It's time that you return."

Danny stared at Clockwork as the words worked through his mind. It was his time to return to the present? The gears turned in his head, but before he could piece everything together, a force sucked him through the portal.

"All is as it should be," Clockwork mumbled to his empty lair after the portal closed again.