Chapter 36

Kwan chewed on his thumbnail. After all these years, he thought he grew past the nervous habit, but when his worry and fear twisted around inside him, squeezing painfully in his chest, he fell right back on it. Was Danny okay? Would they be too late when they arrived? Was Jeremy's brother even the one behind all those ghost robberies? Kwan still couldn't reason out how it was possible. Jeremy had the ability to see something attached to Danny, who was insistent it wasn't a possession. What was that about? Kwan felt a pounding in his head as he tried to piece together what exactly was happening with the little information he had on the subject.

Dash's face floated into his mind. Kwan bit harder on his nail, knowing his friend would want to have words with them after this was all said and done. Dash wasn't the kind of person who liked to be left behind when something was happening. He wanted to be there, doing whatever he could to help with the situation. Despite all his worries about becoming someone like his father, Dash was a far different person than he realized. His father was a selfish man with a narrow mind. Dash grew into a kind and generous man, who might still have a temper but did his best to keep it in check. He would sacrifice his own safety to protect people where his father would do harm to people, even the ones he claimed to love.

Kwan shook the thoughts from his head. Now was not the time to focus on the reasons he fell in love with his best friend. He needed to think of what to do when they found Danny. How was going to break whatever spell might be on Danny? If someone was controlling him, Danny could easily dispatch the both of them without breaking a sweat. With a sick sensation churning inside him, Kwan realized this wasn't a well thought out rescue mission, but it was too late to turn back now. It would only waste time. Maybe he should talk to Danny about making some kind of ghost weapon he could easily carry around for situations like this.

The wheels of the car screeched against the asphalt. Jeremy parked the car in front of a white sided, two-story house. It was the sort of place people might picture when they thought about starting a family with someone. Jeremy yanked the key from the ignition and was out of the car in a flash. Kwan scrambled to follow, fumbling with the seatbelt for a minute before freeing himself. Jeremy was already at the front door, unlocking it, by the time Kwan caught up to him. What would they find beyond the door? Did he hope for them to be right? Or did he pray they were wrong?

"My word! What is going on?"

"No time to explain, Mom!" Jeremy rushed past the woman who came out of the kitchen when they barged into the house. He raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"My apologies!" Kwan bowed his head as he passed Jeremy's mother. How were they going to explain all of this afterward? He pushed that problem aside until they got to it. As he followed Jeremy up the stairs, he heard the woman's footfalls behind him. Jeremy's mother couldn't simply ignore her son and his teacher storming into the house. Why did this have to become even more complicated?

"Cameron!" Jeremy's shout came from a room down the hall.

Kwan charged toward the source, barging into the room and stopping short. Jeremy's mother bumped into his back after his sudden stop. Jeremy knelt beside the bed, shaking the boy laying there. He lifted his head with tears in his eyes when he looked to Kwan.

"He's not waking up!" Jeremy shouted desperately. "And I can't find a pulse! I don't think he's breathing!"

Jeremy's mother shoved past Kwan. She rushed over to the bed, drawing her youngest son into her arms. "Cameron?" she said frantically. "Cameron, honey, please wake up!" She supported his head as she rested her ear against his chest. "I can't hear a heartbeat. I don't understand! I checked on him just a little while ago."

Kwan raked a hand through his hair, his eyes darting around the room. He saw nothing to indicate Danny's presence or that Danny was ever here. Did they have everything wrong after all? But then what was the explanation behind what was happening to Jeremy's brother? What was he supposed to do? He thought once they got to the house, he would be able to figure out what to do next, but he was absolutely clueless. He was an utter failure and let everyone down. He tugged at his hair, his heart drumming so loudly it was hard to focus on anything but the rapid beats. His chest tightened, and each breath felt like it had to be squeezed out of him.

With an angry shout, Jeremy launched to his feet. He fisted his hands into Kwan's shirt then shoved his coach back into the wall. His eyes burned with fury, which only made Kwan feel worse about the whole situation.

"This all Mr. Fenton's fault!" Jeremy shouted. "Why did it have to be my brother? Why couldn't he just leave my family out of whatever crap he's into?"

"Jeremy," Kwan tried to calm his student, placing his hands over Jeremy's fists, "Danny wasn't the cause of what happened. He was trying to prevent anything bad from happening." Anger still shone in Jeremy's eyes as tears gathered and threatened to spill over. Kwan's heart ached for him. This, whatever happened, wasn't fair. Jeremy's family already suffered enough with his sister in the hospital. They didn't need more tragedy by losing a son and brother.

"Oh, uh, this is awkward."

They turned as Danny entered the bedroom through the wall. Danny gave them a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his neck, which earned him an annoyed grumbling from the cat on his shoulder.

"What is going on?" Jeremy's mother shouted as she clutched her son's body to her chest. Tears streamed down her face.

Kwan stepped around Jeremy then closed the distance between him and Danny. They stood before each other for a beat of silence. Kwan punched him on the shoulder without the cat. Then, before Danny could utter so much as an "Ow," Kwan dragged him into a hug.

"I swear if you ever make me worry like that again-"

"Sorry, sorry," Danny mumbled into Kwan's shoulder as he patted his friend on the back. "I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"What about my brother?" Jeremy shouted, and the two teachers pulled apart. Kwan could yell at Danny later. Right now, Jeremy's brother was far more important.

"What exactly happened?"

"Right. Um. Avery, you should probably do your thing first," Danny said. The cat huffed but hopped down from his shoulder. "You should lay Cameron on the bed."

"Not until I get some answers," Jeremy's mother argued with a dark scowl. "What is that cat doing?" She tried to shoo it away with her foot.

"Okay. Short story time." Danny wiped at his brow. "Cameron wanted desperately to help out with the money situation. He got into something way over his head, and it weakened him to the point of killing him. I got his soul back." He pointed to the cat, which grumpily stared at the woman as their tail twitched back and forth. "Avery, the cat, has it and will return it to revive your son."

"Please trust him," Kwan added when Jeremy's mother looked hesitant. "I know it sounds like a crazy story, but Danny wouldn't lie about this." If it weren't for growing up in Amity Park, he doubted he would believe the story anymore than Jeremy and his mother did.

"Mom, if he can revive Cameron, we should at least let him try," Jeremy said softly but then shot a glare at Danny, almost like a threat.

Jeremy's mother sighed, her whole body drooping with exhaustion. Then she stood and carefully laid her son on the bed. Once she stepped back, the cat jumped onto the bed. Avery climbed onto the boy's chest and leaned down until the ball on their collar dipped into Cameron's body. After a minute of soft shimmering glowing, the cat jumped down from the bed. Cameron's face scrunched up. Then he sneezed so violent his body jerked upright from the force of it.

"Ugh, I need a tissue," Cameron groaned, groping with a hand in search of the tissue box. His mother collapsed to her knees like all the strength left her the moment she saw her son was alive. She drew him into a tight hug, which earned a whine from Cameron. "Mom! I'm all icky!"

Relief flitted across Jeremy's face, but he quickly snapped a furious glare onto Danny. "I think we deserve a good explanation about what just happened and why my brother nearly lost his life because of you." He pointed a finger and probably would have jabbed it into Danny's chest of they were standing close enough to each other.

Danny held up his hands. "I won't say I'm completely without fault in this, but not all the blame falls on me."

"I don't want to hear excuses! You tried to blame me for robbing places, and now you want to shove all the blame onto my brother!"

"But it is my fault," Cameron said in a small voice.

"What are you trying to say, sweetie?" His mother brushed his hair back out of his face, perhaps also subtly trying to feel her son's forehead to check his temperature. His nose was a bit snotty, but he pulled a tissue from the box his mother handed him. He blew his nose noisily.

"I found a book in the basement. I thought it was like in those magic stories." Cameron hung his head. "I read from it and these ghosts would appear in front of me. I could tell them what to do. Since we needed money, I thought I could use them to get some. I just wanted to help."

"Oh, sweetheart!" His mother frowned, tucking a lock of his hair behind his ear. "That was never meant to be a burden for you to deal with."

Some of the anger deflated from Jeremy, his fists unclenching at his sides. "I don't understand any of this. How could he do something like that? Because of some dumb book?"

"I'm a bit confused myself," Kwan admitted, scratching at his head. Cameron was merely a child. How could a book give him the ability to summon and control ghosts?

Danny bent down and picked up a book from the floor near the bed. "This isn't just some dumb book."

"I recognize that!" Their mother stood up and took the book from Danny's hands. "I inherited it from my dad, but, well, I didn't think much of it - I didn't even really bother looking through it - so I just dumped it in the basement with the box of his things. I guess I have some trouble letting things go because even though I thought it was worthless, I couldn't bring myself to sell his stuff." She ran her hand over the cover of the book with a fond look.

"So what exactly is that?" Kwan pointed at the book.

"It's a book on necromancy," Danny explained simply.

"What?" the others shouted, and Jeremy's mother dropped the book with a gasp and a look of horror. The book landed with a heavy thump on the floor. Cameron chewed quietly on his lower lip, shifting uncomfortably on his bed.

"I guess I should have expected that," Danny murmured with a sigh. "I didn't really get to read everything in there, but the main point is you obviously had some necromancers in your family. This book is their documentation of their spells and rituals, probably even historical accounts. It explains why you," he landed his gaze on Jeremy, "were able to see something around me. Ever since that first pull I felt, I kept having to battle that feeling. Today I was finally too exhausted to fight it, which is why Cameron was able to summon me here."

"Why were you going after Danny so much?" Kwan asked Cameron.

"Uh, why exactly was he able to summon Mr. Fenton at all?" Jeremy asked, his hand slightly raised like he was waiting for a teacher to call on him in class. "If necromancy involves controlling ghosts, then Mr. Fenton shouldn't be affected by it."

"I didn't know who he was!" Cameron answered, tears gathering in his eyes. "I just wanted the ghost that kept stopping me before. If I had him under control, he wouldn't be able to stop me again, and I could get the money for my family."

Kwan winced at that response, but he could see the sense of it. He glanced at Danny, worrying about how his friend would answer Jeremy's question.

"After what you saw, I doubt anything but the truth will satisfy you." Danny rubbed at his eyes. "I'm half ghost. It's a whole long story. It's probably because I'm still half human that allowed me to fight off being summoned. You can't tell anyone about this."

"I'm supposed to believe that story?" Jeremy folded his arms, glaring with disbelief in his eyes.

Danny sighed tiredly, and in the next second, he vanished from sight. "Is this proof enough for you?"

Jeremy caught his mother when she fainted. "Um," his face was a little pale, "y-yeah, I think I believe you now." He swallowed thickly as Danny reappeared to them.

"That was awesome!" Cameron grinned from his bed.

"So, um," Jeremy helped his mother onto his brother's bed, "what exactly does this mean? Am I going to be dealing with ghosts now?" From his still paling complexion, Kwan guessed Jeremy wasn't thrilled with that idea.

"I don't think your mother knew anything about this, so I think you can live a normal life without this whole necromancy thing interfering." Danny scooped up the book again. "It might be worth it to give this a read though. So next time you notice any unusual auras around people, you have some understanding of what it is."

Jeremy eyed the book hesitantly. "I don't know. A book on controlling ghosts doesn't exactly seem like something I want anything to do with."

"Well, it still might be good to keep it." Danny's gaze darted to Cameron. "Though probably out of your brother's reach. He's too young to fully understand the consequences of dabbling with something like this." Danny's gaze turned into a stern stare when Cameron opened his mouth to pipe up. "You nearly died because you didn't understand what you were doing and it weakened you to a very dangerous point. You're lucky I was able to get your soul back to revive you. And you're not out of the clear yet. I still have to find that spirit you summoned the first time."

"Oh!" Cameron's hand shot into the air. "I can-"

"Don't you even think about it!" His mother grabbed hold of Cameron's ear. "I appreciate that you had the family in mind with all of this. But you are grounded for a month."

"A month!" Cameron groaned.

"You're lucky it's only a month," Jeremy said. "You scared the sh- life out of us. We thought we lost you forever. You," he pointed a finger at his brother, "aren't going to mess around with this stuff anymore."

Cameron pouted. "I just wanted to help. I can't exactly get a job like you."

His mother sighed, pulling Cameron into a tight hug. "And I love that both of you want to help out so much. But," she lifted Cameron's head, "you do understand that stealing is wrong, right?"

Cameron nodded. "I promise I won't do it again."

"Good." She kissed him on top of the head. "But I'll be taking the book." She held out her hand for it. "I don't want either of you messing with this kind of stuff. I'd prefer to say not at all, but I can't stop you once you're an adult." Her mouth pursed distastefully at the book. "I just hope that by then you're both mature enough not to misuse anything written in this."

"And I think it's probably time for us to go," Danny whispered to Kwan. "I think their mother can handle the rest of this."

Kwan nodded. "And school isn't out yet."

Danny winced. "Oh no! I forgot! I haven't had to deal with ghosts during school hours in ages. What are we supposed to do? We just left without any explanation."

"It's okay." Kwan placed his hands on Danny's shoulders, trying to calm him. "I had Dash take care of covering our classes for us."

"Oh." Danny breathed out in relief. "So that's why he didn't come too."

"Yeah," Kwan cringed, "I think we can expect him to be angry with us."

"Um, Mr. Fenton." Jeremy stepped up to them, his head bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Danny shook his head. "I should have figured this out sooner. I'm sorry that I didn't."

Jeremy opened his mouth, hesitated, then ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks. For saving my brother."

"I'm just happy I could help." Danny patted a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "You should stay here and take care of your brother."

"How exactly will we get back to school?" Kwan asked hesitantly. Danny was summoned to the house magically, and Jeremy was the one who drove. Without a car- Oh no.

Danny grinned, his eyes glowing bright green as the cat hopped onto his shoulders. "Flying, of course."

"Oh." Kwan's stomach dropped at the answer. He didn't get a chance to protest before Danny grabbed him under the arms. Phasing through the wall was a strange feeling, leaving his body tingling. He clamped his eyes shut, praying it would be a short flight back to school.

RedHeadsRock1010: Woo, yeah! And another one! 8D

YumiStar: Oh, okay! XD And yeah, poor Dash. D: He's going to be a mess until Kwan and Danny are back.

Kaddy 16: Oh no! We certainly don't want any tumors going around!

Casper97: Dash is still stunned by Danny's transformation from dweeby stick pole to the hunky, lean muscled man now living with him. XD

xXRainbowCleoXx: When isn't Danny landing his butt in trouble? XD I gotta get some more cute moments with the boys in. X3

LunaSkys: Thanks! =)

Lexosaurus: One day, they're going to figure it out! XD Maybe.

Kimera20: Aw, thank you! X3 At least Dash can manage to do what needs to get done, despite all the anxiety and worry tangling up inside him.

GoliathPyroson: Dash, so oblivious. XD Pfft, all three of them are really.

Tetractys: Gotta give a little lightness to a serious situation. Dash could certainly use something to distract him from his worries for a bit.

FallingNarwhals: It might be the topic of debate. XD

Cutiepie120048: I doubt we'd have to wait long for something new to come along and trouble Danny. XD

Just Will: I would get so annoyed with having to write with a quill. Can you imagine me writing these stories by hand with a quill!? Ugh! My first priority would definitely be to figure out a way to spell a quill with never ending ink! My only thing is that I don't think the way the schools work should be copy and paste to each country, you know. That's it. That's all I'm going to say as a complaint for it. Haha, Dash freaking out about past girlfriends being something other than human would be pretty funny. It's definitely an exciting life Danny lives, and now he would never think about giving up his ghost powers, but there are times where the things he deals with are just physically and mentally exhausting. Today is not a good day for Dash. XD He woke up today probably thinking it would just a normal day. Then all hell broke loose and he's the one left dealing with covering for everything. Definitely not the role he would have picked for himself, but he's doing his best to handle it.