Chapter Twenty-One

Secrets and Lies

The fact that my dad refused to tell me anything frustrated me. I was so hoping to be able to tell him what I know, to not learn all I know from mysterious people in the forest- but, if he was going to make it hard, I was just going to have to step everything up. I decided to learn as much as possible about ghosts until I could finally know what I needed to. And maybe along the way I could find out who that woman was.

So when I woke up this morning, the first thing on my mind was where to start my search. Mind you, some of our house was still in boxes, but I doubted whether I could find anything in boxes simply marked "Old Sheets" and "Tool Junk." As I lay in my bed, I decided my best bet was probably the attic or the basement. I decided that the attic would be the first on to go to, considering my dad has basically barricaded himself in the basement with the portal over the past few days. I guaranteed myself that he was exploring the ghost zone. I had to act now- and fast.

After my mom made French toast for breakfast (no objections from Deyton there) I made the excuse that I had to do some homework over the holidays and needed some time in my room to work. I went upstairs, turned on my light, closed the door, and quietly snuck upstairs. I avoided Danielle's room. She was such a nosy busybody that I bet she couldn't wait to find out what I was doing out of my room. As quietly as I could in that creaky ancient house, I found the door leading upstairs to the rather eerie attic.

Our attic reminded me of something straight out of a horror movie. I was loaded with boxes and things draped with sheets, making it look like dozens of ghosts were closing in on you. The paint on the stairs was peeling, everything creaked whether you moved or not (causing you to think you weren't alone), and there wasn't even any light to go by except the grimy glow from the two dormers all the way at the end of the attic. I could see why I hadn't been up here since the day we moved in.

But, I was on a mission, and pushed myself forward into the gloom. I rooted through numerous boxes of stuff from when I was a baby, dodged my old crib, my mom's old college books, and finally made it to the back. This was where my parents kept stuff from when they were in high school. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff, but I still hoped that I would be lucky enough to find something of interest.

I looked around, trying to make out the labels on some of the boxes. Finally, under one marked 'Animal Rights Protests' and over one marked 'Useless Fenton Inventions,' I found one marked in my dad's handwriting 'Ghost Crap.' Such a polite usage of words, younger Dad. I opened it.

Nothing immediately jumped out at me. Papers, discs, and books were all shoved in with some things that I wasn't sure what they were. I picked up the top disc, and couldn't help but smile at myself. It was marked 'Ghost Files: Confidential.' To me, pure gold.

Setting that aside to look at later, I rooted through more stuff. Here I found a photo album. It had a dark cover, making me guess it was my mom's. I looked inside.

There they were, my parents (and Uncle Tucker), about the age of fourteen or fifteen. They appeared to be in my grandparent's basement. They looked so young and happy. I flipped the picture over. 'Danny, Tucker, and I, Summer after 8th grade' was what it read. Doing some mental math, I guessed that my parents weren't even together yet back then. I laughed. They probably had no clue that they would someday be married, living in Pennsylvania, with a half-ghost daughter named Ellie. Oh, how things change.

The next picture showed my father putting on a jumpsuit, about to go into what looked like a ghost portal. Shocked, I realized this must be before he had ghost powers. This might be pictures of when he got them. Thinking sadly, I wondered what might have happened had he not stepped into the suit that day. I wouldn't have been here, trying to find out something about him and his powers.

A few pages later, after some school photos of my mom, dad, Uncle Tucker, and Aunt Jazz, I found something strange. My parents were slightly older in these photos, possibly sixteen or so. But there was a photo of a young girl, maybe thirteen, standing next to my dad. She strongly resembled him, much more than my Aunt Jazz did. Had there not been an age difference, I would have guessed they were twins and that I had another aunt I didn't know about. But the thing was, she looked just like the woman that had showed me my powers. She hadn't been lying- she did know my parents. This was proof. My hands trembling, I turned it over. 'Danny and Danni' it read. I knew that this had to have something to do with the ghost thing. Two halfas with the same name can't just be a coincidence. I set it aside.

Just then, there was a rustling near the stairs. Frightened, I quickly shut the box and slid the items I wanted to look at later into the corner. I couldn't be sure if it was a person or a ghost. Either way, I didn't want to take my chances.

"Ellie?" It was my dad. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or not.

"Yes, Dad?"

"How come you're up here?" he said, looking around.

"Erm…" I had to lie, and fast. "Just looking to see if we had any history books. My book isn't telling me what I need for my homework."

I don't think he bought it, but he at least acted like he did. "No, sweetie, we don't have any history books. Only books up here are your mom's old textbooks."

"Darn!" I said. I scooped up the disc and the photo and hid them in the pocket of my sweater. "Anyway, I'll just have to see if I can find it in the index of my book."

"Okay," my dad agreed, and retreated down the stairs, with me trailing behind. I promised to come back later. I went back to my room, and my dad went downstairs. I would have bet my life savings he was going back down into that basement to the ghost portal.

Danielle walked by, flicking her red hair, even though it wasn't in her face. "You're not done yet?" she asked, as if it never took her time to do anything.

"No, I'm not," I replied. Not bothering with manners, I walked back into my room and shut the door, sitting cross-legged on my bed.

I pulled out the photo and the disc. I took an envelope off my desk, put the picture inside, and crawled into the back of my closet. Here, I hid it in a piece of loose floor molding, right in-between the molding and the drywall. Pretty clever, if I do say so myself.

I then went and got my mom's laptop, making and excuse to my Aunt Jazz that I needed to research something on it. I put it on my desk, and spread some pens, pencils, papers, and my history book on top to make it look like I had been working. I then pulled up a history website to cover my tracks, and popped in the CD.

An hour and a half later, I was still looking at the ghost files. They fascinated me. I found Boxed Lunch's parents, the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady, and was particularly fascinated by a ghost named Skulker. I stopped when dinner was ready, and watched TV with the rest of the family to make it appear like everything was normal and I wasn't doing something other than homework up in my room.

I couldn't sleep that night, though. I tossed, and I turned, but nothing felt comfortable. My research was calling me back to it, but I couldn't afford another midnight outing. But maybe I could afford a glass of water. Downstairs.

It was about eleven, and I think everyone was in bed, or at least going to bed. Soon, we would pretty much have our house to ourselves again, except for the fact that Aunt Jazz, Dylan, Deyton, and Danielle were all staying. I didn't want to think about them going to my school right now.

I guess I wasn't right in thinking that everyone was in bed though, because I could hear voices from the kitchen as I went down. I recognized them as my mom and my dad, and both sounded stressed. I squatted near the doorway and listened.

"I'm telling you, Sam, he's back!" It was my dad.

"I believe you, Danny," my mom responded. "It's just hard to believe. It's been so long… How did this happen?"

"I don't know," he said quietly. "Someone let him loose. All I know is that they've teamed up and wreaking havoc on the Ghost Zone."

"But what are they trying to do? What does he have to gain from doing such a thing?" she said softly.

"I think he's trying to get back at everyone who he believes has destroyed him," my dad explained. "Getting back at the ghosts who never helped him, and most certainly getting back on the part-humans he hates. He hates that part of himself, Sam, and he won't stop until everyone like that is gone."

"Gone?" my mom repeated. "You mean- he-he's going to kill all the halfas?"

I held back a gasp. What was going on?

"Correction," my dad said. "He is killing all the halfas."

"W-What do you mean, Danny…" My mom was obviously scared.

"He killed Vlad today," he said flatly. "And tried for another one, and myself."

My mom was speechless. I think she was very near tears or something though, from the way she was breathing. I could have joined her.

"You can't go in there anymore, Danny, for your own safety," she said raggedly.

My dad didn't respond. There was a little silence. Then my mom whispered to my dad.

"And what about Ellie?"

My dad sighed. "He couldn't go after her. She's not a halfa, Sam, she would have shown signs my now."

"How can you be sure of that?" she responded quickly. "You know that she acted funny when she was little, and the things she's been saying…"

"Asking if there is such thing as a halfa doesn't mean she is one!" my dad burst.

"Just because you don't want her to be one, Danny, doesn't stop her from being any less of what she may be," she said.

I was beginning to wish I had stayed upstairs.

"I will accept Ellie for whatever she is, Sam, you know that," he said.

"Of course I do," she said.

"She's my daughter. I just want to protect her from that- from that world," he said.

"I know you do, Danny," my mom said. "But you can't protect her from everything."

There was a silence.

"I'm going to bed," my dad said. I scampered into the dining room. After my dad went by, my mom paused, took a deep breath, and went up too.

I'm not sure how long I sat in that corner, wondering what was going on. I think I cried, my face was wet, but I hardly noticed. What danger was I in? But more important to me- what danger was my father and my family in?

When the clock rang twelve I went upstairs. I shoved everything to the back of my mind, and decided to push on with my research. It could no longer wait. What I had just heard made everything all the more urgent for me to know what was going on. I grabbed a flashlight and ran cat-like to the attic.

But I never made it there. Out of the darkness, something grabbed me. I think I almost fainted with the shock, I was breathing fast and hard, wondering if what grabbed me was what was attacking my family-

I shone the light in it's direction, ready to hit it on the head if need be. A flash of red hair came into view.

"Deyton?" I asked.

"Ellie," he said, much more stern than I had ever heard him. "What are you doing out of bed? Again?"

"What do you mean, again?" I asked.

He pushed me towards the empty closet and spoke to me in an angry whisper. "I mean, why are you sneaking around? Why are you telling people you're doing your homework and going into the attic? Why are you sneaking out into the yard and around the house at midnight? What are you hiding? A wild animal? Your boyfriend Eric, or something?"

"I'm not hiding anything, Deyton, and it's none of your business," I whispered back angrily. "And Eric's not my boyfriend!"

"It's my business when my family starts sneaking around the house and putting themselves in danger, Ellie," he said. I had never seen Deyton like this. "So just tell me, and I'll help you, or I'll leave you alone, or whatever. I'm going to be living with you, and I'm not going to have you sneaking all over the house and not telling me about it."

I thanked the heavens that he hadn't seen me change into my ghost form, or the mysterious woman, or overheard what my parents said. But as he stared at me with intense green eyes, I decided that he had a right to know, and that he might even be helpful. I took a deep breath, and decided to take the plunge.

"Okay, Deyton," I said. "Come with me."

Disclaimer: Hey, I don't think I ever put a disclaimer on here! So, as you may have guessed, I don't own most of the characters in here, Butch Hartman does, blah, blah, blah...

A/N: I hope you liked that! Things get REALLY interesting after this, and we get a new character. Maybe not major, but he's interesting. My friend begged to make up a character so I let him, so please don't be surprised by his extreme weirdness. My friend's weird so the character was bound to be, too. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers, you guys are awesome!