(huh. Coulda sworn I uploaded this yesterday... wonder where it went?)
YEAH! 50 chapters and 650+ reviews! SWEET! I never, ever thought that I'd get this far. I'm so psyched that I wrote this just for you.
Hehe… I'm still messing around with the idea of working on writing 'Real Life' in a few weeks once I quit my job. Here's another bit from it that popped annoyingly into my head WAY too early this morning and I wrote it down. Hope I fixed all the sentence stuff, I edited it a lot better than the last one. :D Um… I've always hated the 'Ghost Zone' the way Butch Hartman created it… so I've changed it. A lot. If you hate that idea, you might as well stop reading now – it's only going to get worse from here. ;)
Please, please tell me what you think! I really love your opinions! What do you think about my idea for the Ghost Zone?
Real Life: The Ghost Zone
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria
I reached out, tracing the barrier with an extended finger. The swirling greenish mist twirled around my fingertip and followed it around in mindless circles like bits of iron following a magnet. I blew a bit of my black hair out of my eyes and squinted into the portal, struggling to discern something other than an endless emerald abyss. There was nothing that bugged me more than this window into the spectral world – it whispered cajolingly, echoed in my ears, and fizzed against my nerves. I couldn't understand this… place. It drew me to it like a child towards candy and it simultaneously pushed me away with shivers down my back.
Sam told me about a week ago that my parents' ghost portal was creepy. Every time she's come down here since it turned on she's felt like someone was staring at her and watching her every movement. Tucker's never said anything, but I've noticed that he always stands with his back against a wall and never takes an eye off the eerie swirling lights. Both of them are much more edgy and nervous around the portal than they are anywhere else.
Slowly pulling my hand back, I watched the congealing mist fall apart and go back to swirling on the vague spectral winds. My parents apparently felt the odd chill too – they were busy building some kind of door to prevent the ghosts from getting through. I chuckled softly at that thought. As if some human device would be able to keep those things out of this world.
I ran a hand through my hair, grinding my teeth together as I thought. This stupid portal was driving me crazy. The only thing stopping me from turning into a ghost and stepping through the barrier was the question as to whether I was being drawn to it like a child to his family or like a fly towards a flytrap.
Was traveling into the world of ghosts going to get me killed?
My friends would be screaming at me right now. Ghosts were always trying to destroy me out in the human world – they saw me as some kind of 'abomination' that needed to be taken care of. Completely human or completely ghost, take your pick, but you need to be one or the other. To my friends it would be a simple solution: stay away. It's obvious the ghosts don't like you.
But they weren't up at two in the morning, again, unable to sleep because the swirling abyss of the ghost portal filled their minds every time they closed their eyes. No, that was me. I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in over a week.
It was the portal's fault too. It was still there, in my head; burning desires to see this other world scorching little holes in my brain. Tiny embers of yearning to go…
…Home?
With a blinding flash of spectral light, I let my human form vanish and gave in to the almost instinctive reflex to simply float in the air. The swirling phantom mists in the portal had been whipped up into a chaotic maelstrom by my transformation, but they slowly settled down into tiny whirlpools of colors and lights as my ethereal energy brushed against the barrier.
Once more, I reached up a gloved finger to trace the very edge of the ghost zone and smiled at the almost eager way the mist jumped to follow my finger. The pull was stronger now than ever before, and almost before I knew what had happened, I had pushed my hand past the barrier and into the ghost's world.
I hesitated, watching the mist congeal and eddy around my outstretched fingertips. Within seconds, the ends of my fingers were completely invisible. It was an interesting feeling – kind of cool and warm at the same time; the tickling tingle of energy, the feeling of being surrounded by family around a delicious meal, the taste of hot chocolate and marshmallows around a warm fire, the tiniest smell of cinnamon-sugar. It was impossible to describe.
Impossible to resist.
Stepping into the paranormal world was just as easy as stepping out of my door in the morning. For a few seconds, that warm frozen mist swirled around me, completely coating me in their opaque tendrils, welcoming me to this other world. When I drifted far enough away from the portal, the haze cleared and I had my first real view of the bizarre spectral universe.
It quite literally took my breath away. I hung perfectly still, not bothering to breathe, gazing in wonder at this new world. It was nothing like I had ever imagined.
Stretching out beneath my feet was a vast world, illuminated by an eerily glowing sky. Dense forests, vast lakes, sweeping rivers, broad plains and farmlands, small towns, and a glistening city turned the landscape in a crazy patchwork quilt. The sky stretched on forever, a bright and simmering emerald, dotted with an amalgam of doors that were suspended in space. Far away, the horizon slowly turned to a dark black in all directions, giving the appearance that everywhere but right here was locked in perpetual night. Here and there, tiny streaks of light were dancing up into the sky and disappearing through random doors.
I glanced behind me, memorizing the odd-looking door that had appeared. The door was roughly circular, made of darkly stained wood with a star-colored handle. Propped open slightly, I could still see my parents' mess of a lab beyond the slightly swirling, transparent mist. Reaching out, not even really thinking of the consequences, I pushed the door, let it click shut, and flew down into my strange, new world.
I hovered over one of the small towns, not quite daring to descend into it. It wasn't very big – most of the buildings were arranged along one, broad main street – but the town itself was giving off a creepy vibe. Below me, the street was a cobbled mess of cracks and pits, an eerie mist creeping into the shadowed recesses. The various buildings were rundown and looked abandoned, broken windows swinging open in the haunting breeze. Dead trees stretched their gray, shattered fingers into the sky, seeming to grasp for my ankles as I floated just out of their reach. A bird, little more than a skeleton given life, landed heavily on one of the branches and shrieked at me with a wailing rasp that made my head spin.
The worst part was the ghosts that inhabited this lifeless town. Some drifted randomly down the street, spectral blood oozing from remembered wounds, their eyes distant and unseeing. Most of them just sat on street corners, buckets, or benches, or had collapsed up against buildings, unmoving, their gaze staring off into oblivion. Very few ghosts even glanced at me when I finally got the nerve to get a little closer look. The ones that noticed my presence immediately looked away, continuing on their path.
I dropped lightly to the ground in this ghost town, gazing around the weirdly silent town. Other than the random scuffle of a shoe against the cobbles and another bone-chilling shriek from the bird, there was nothing to be heard. I moved over to a teenage girl that was sitting against one of the light posts on the ancient street and crouched down in front of her. She was wearing an old-style dress, her brown hair and pale skin covered in a fine layer of dust. Even her open, staring eyes seemed to be grimy with collected filth. "Hello?" I whispered, wincing at the harsh sound of my quiet voice in the dead air.
She didn't answer, she didn't do anything, but a ghost that had been shuffling past us flinched at my voice. Pale hands jumped up to smooth out his suit coat and nervous, green eyes flickered up to meet mine.
"Hey," I said softly, pushing myself to my feet and taking a step towards him. "Can I talk…"
The man seemed to vanish, he was running so fast. I watched him as he rounded a corner and ducked between two buildings within the blink of an eye, then I turned around to gaze up and down the street. All movement had ceased, every ghost either frozen in place or vanished into one of the neglected buildings.
"Um… okay…" I muttered, sticking my hands into my pockets and glancing up and down the street one more time. "That's officially creepy."
"Yes," a voice hissed, "It is quite creepy, but I enjoy it." The words were dripping with distain and hatred, seeming to come from every direction at once.
All around me the eerily glowing mist was growing thicker and congealing into a short, human form. The young, oddly dressed boy that stepped out of the emerald haze raised one hand over his hand, waiting as the skeletal bird swooped down like a falcon and landed smoothly onto his fist. It opened its mouth and spread its bony wings as wide as possible; an ear-splitting wail reverberated against the buildings and shattered one of the few unbroken windows.
I backed away from the bird, my stomach churning at the haunting noise. Bumping into the teenage girl I'd been trying to talk to earlier, I stopped and managed to tear my eyes off of the gleaming eye sockets of the bird as it settled down and neatly folded its wings. The white boy – dressed like a badly inspired Native American from a movie made in the 30's, complete with a long bow and eagle feathers – was glaring at me. "I agree. What are you doing in my town?"
"I was…" I hesitated, trying to figure out why I was here, "I was just visiting."
"We don't like visitors," he snapped, gesturing angrily with his free hand. "And we really don't like people that talk and ruin our fun. Now leave, before we make you leave."
"Sure," I said. Turning away, I mumbled under my breath. "I wouldn't want to talk to a brat anyway."
I had made it less than three steps before he suddenly appeared in front of me, bird perched on his head, arrow cocked, arrowhead pointed straight into my eyes from less than a foot away. "What did you call me?" he snarled, flaring eyes narrowing dangerously. Spectral winds were kicking up around us at the young ghost's anger, picking up bits of gravel and dust at it roared down the street.
The bird's head was turned in my direction, studying me as I held perfectly still, trying to figure out what to say. It seemed to come to a conclusion, lowering its head and hissing at me, flaring its wings. "He's a what?" the boy said, jerking the bow up in surprise. His eyes rolled upwards in an attempt to see the creature angrily posing on his head. "You sure?" The skeletal falcon gave another blood-curdling shriek and the ghost's eyes were back on me. "Abomination," the boy growled, "get out of my town."
I didn't wait another second. Taking off, I flew as fast as possible up into the door-studded sky, searching desperately for the black and silver door that was my way home. "Don't mess with me, abomination!" the young boy screamed after me, his echoing voice driving deep into my stomach and settling there with cold pins and needles. "Don't mess with YoungBlood!"
As I dove towards the door that had finally appeared to my questing eyes, I silently berated myself for running away so fast. The child ghost hadn't been that strong. Chalking it up to being in a strange place for the first time and vowing that it would be different if we ever met again, I paused in front of the black wood and turned around, my eyes once again scanning the horizon.
With my new knowledge of just what was out there, the entire world had taken on a darker, more malevolent cast: the dense forests were dark and haunted; the lakes deep and cold; the wide rivers were sweeping casts of rapids and whirlpools; the towns deserted and shattered. The shadows that hovered around the edges of the horizon sent chills down my spine. An ancient bell tolled, its lingering and ethereal tone causing me to shiver and glance in the direction of the gleaming city. The sound came again and again, the haunting echo of the monotone melody seeming to hold the entire world frozen until the last vestiges of the sound had finally died away.
I shuddered and pushed the remaining resonance out of my head. It was time to go home – and I sure wasn't going to be too quick to want to come back. The whole place was too creepy and paranormal for me. I reached out and grabbed the star-colored doorknob, twisting it and pushing against the door.
It was locked.
Written May 26, 2007
Banana pancakes ROCK!
Thanks for reading.
