{Fright Night}
"So a trio of ghosts need to create a haunted house room," Danny said, smirking at his partners as he dropped down on his bed.
"Think we could just stick Audrey II in there and call it a day?" Tucker asked and sat backwards on the desk chair.
Sam shrugged and sat next to Danny so she could put his head in her lap. "If I stopped pruning her, she should be big enough to give someone a scare by then. I don't think just one thing will cut it though."
"We could bring in some more plants for you to move around and have it be a haunted jungle," Tucker said.
"Oh, so Danny makes a stupid bet and I have to do all the work."
"Hey, I'm the one who gave Twoey sentience and unless you force her with your powers, she only listens to me. I think that counts for something," Danny pointed out.
"You know, what is it with you and the non-sapient ghosts and ecto-beings?" Tucker asked. "Twoey, Cujo, those will-o'-wisp blob things that follow you around when we're in the zone. You'd think Sam would be the one they're attracted to with her nature thing."
Danny hummed and pressed into Sam's hand so she'd start carding her fingers through his hair. "Well, like I said, I brought Twoey to life, so maybe she imprinted on me. And Cujo might just be able to sense that you guys hate dogs."
"We don't hate dogs. They're just loud and annoying," Sam said.
"And Cujo is literally as demonic as his namesake," Tucker added.
"He's a good boy and this is why he doesn't like you."
"He trashed a lab for a toy!" Tucker said.
"And they put him down. Fair's fair."
"Can't disagree with you there," Sam said with narrowed eyes. She'd launched quite the internet scandal when she'd dug up why, exactly, the old kennels she'd found the toy in were abandoned. "Back to the matter at hand though, you still haven't explained the blobs."
Danny blushed. "I, uh, might feed them chips sometimes when they show up while I'm cleaning the lab."
There was a moment of silence before both his partners started snickering.
"Don't feed the wildlife, Danny," Sam said mockingly.
"All this time, they've been the ghost equivalent of pigeons."
"Not pigeons! They're actually really sweet. Like… hummingbirds!"
"Sure, dude."
"Whatever you say, Danny."
"Can we just get back on topic? Sam, you're goth, shouldn't that make you our resident creepy person. What would go good with a living jungle and a literal man-eating plant?"
Sam patted his cheek condescendingly, but leaned back to plot. "I had something else planned, but if you guys insist on the jungle idea…"
"This has to beat whatever Dash has," Danny said as the trio looked over the room.
Audrey II's pot had been attached to the ceiling so her stalks could hang down, dripping - thankfully only harmful to ectoplasm - acid. Once the haunted house was open, she'd been instructed to snap at anyone who came near. She luckily didn't like the taste of humans so there wasn't any worry about her going overboard.
Sam had brought in some crawling vines and tropical plants to cover the walls and floor so she could have them tug at or trip people as they moved through the room and make it harder for people to find their way through.
Danny's herd of blobs were drifting around the makeshift jungle, making soft lights flicker through the semi-darkness.
Tucker had set up electric field generators to give the room an eerie feeling.
The pièce de résistance, however…
"Did you get it set up?" Sam asked.
"Try it out," Danny said.
The boys watched as she walked over to an archway on one side of the room. She walked through it, only to come out an archway on the opposite side a second later.
"Yes!" Tucker cheered, high-fiving Danny. "Thank you, Space Fold!"
Sam tested out all the other archways to be sure they had a similar effect then came over to join the boys. "Congratulations, you've built a cartoon hallway."
"You're just mad you didn't think of it," Danny said and she ruffled his hair.
"Well, my work here is done. Now if you'll excuse me," Tucker grabbed the empty pumpkin-shaped candy bucket waiting by the door, "I'm a little late to start scamming some free candy."
Danny flinched when Sam pinched him for squirming.
"I'm almost done, you big baby."
"Sorry if I'm a little creeped out by you sticking sharp things very close to my eyes."
"Just be glad you don't need contacts. There, perfect."
Danny smiled when Sam held up a mirror. His hair was covered by a long, braided black wig that a crown of thorns sat atop. His face had been given a slight green tint while his lips were a deep forest. His smile showed off fangs that were just as long and sharp as their ghost form's and prosthetic ears gave him the same points. Dark makeup made his eyes look sunken, which highlighted his eyes when he let the red of his ghost form glow through. His hands had been given claw-like fake nails before being dipped into blood-red paint while he'd been dressed in black and dark green princely clothes. It all came together to make him look like a ghastly elfin prince.
He stood up and turned to Sam. "Thanks, Sam. This is great."
She frowned and shook her head. "No, more brooding."
"I really don-"
She pointed a finger in his face. "You wanted my help. This is me helping. More brooding. Imagine all the light draining from your soul."
Danny pushed her hand away. "You're just using this as an excuse to make me goth for a night."
"Only for a night, but yeah. It's a good look on you. Now brood or I'll leave and you can do without my plants."
Danny rolled his eyes, then tried to channel his angstiest self.
Christmas Danny.
Sam blinked at his scowl. "Wow, I didn't think you could even get that dark. You're usually our resident prep."
Jingle Bells. Gingerbread. SANTA.
Danny shoved it all down, but the scowl only lessened slightly. "That's because your family always goes away for the holidays."
Sam looked confused, but didn't get a chance to ask before they heard footsteps approaching. She transformed, saying, "Showtime. Maybe lose the anger a little."
"I'll try."
She disappeared and all the plants except Audrey II started to sway and glow slightly. They seemed to thicken, making it impossible to see more than a few feet into the room.
Danny shooed the flytrap's stalks up towards the roof. "Alright, Twoey, just like we practiced. Remember, be a good girl and you get a nice big bottle of ectoplasm as a treat."
One of the lobes nuzzled him then they all retreated into the darkness Tucker had carefully maneuvered the lights to create on the ceiling.
"This is why she likes us. We spoil her," a voice whispered in his ear.
"I don't… I only spoil her a little."
Sam chuckled and he felt her drift off.
"Mr. Fenton, it's time," William Lancer said as he arrived at the door to the room Daniel had taken. It was painted with toxic green glowing runes and vines as well as the words, The Kingdom of Thorns.
The door creaked open slowly to reveal Daniel standing a few feet away.
Automatic door, nice touch, William noted. The boy was also in a more elaborate costume than Dashiell's. His contacts were actually a bit disconcerting with how the light made them appear to glow. It wasn't helped either that the normally cheerful, if downtrodden, boy had on a scowl that looked rather resentful and fell.
The boy gave a graceful bow. In an empty voice, he announced, "Welcome. May your stay be eternal."
A shiver went up William's spine. The boy's voice sounded off. Echoey-perhaps, except it didn't sound like Daniel's voice echoing back. More like multiple someones were whispering his words alongside him. Some sort of speaker setup, maybe? But the teacher swore the voices were coming from Daniel.
Pushing down the emotions, William pointed to the door. "I hope that's not permanent."
"What?" The eerie expression and voice were gone in a blink. "Oh, yes. I mean no, it's not permanent. It's just a little ectoplasm from my parent's lab. I have the dissolving agent."
That… was not as comforting as Daniel seemed to think it should be. "Is that safe?"
"Yeah, sure. Pure ectoplasm is harmless to humans in small doses. You could eat the amount on there and still be perfectly fine. It's the charged stuff that's dangerous."
Still not as comforting as the boy's smile made it out to be. "Right. Shall we begin?"
Daniel gave a toothy - fangy? - grin and stepped to the side, gesturing William forward.
The door slammed closed once the teacher started walking, not close enough to hit, but enough that he could feel the breeze of it passing on the back of his neck. He glanced back and was surprised to see vines covering the door. He made note of it.
"You're free to roam, but I would stick to the path," Daniel said as William passed him, his show voice back on and just as creepy as the first time. "And I wouldn't recommend eating anything. Or being eaten."
William glanced back, only to see the boy was gone. But he had just heard him right behind him.
He shook his head and continued forward.
So far the room itself didn't look particularly scary. It mostly looked like a poorly lit and abandoned greenhouse without the glass walls and ceiling. Though there was the odd lights flying about, like fireflies the size of softballs. The plants almost seemed to be moving as well, like in the wind though William couldn't feel anything, and he swore they were glowing a bit. Some sort of paint?
"You didn't put anything harmful on these plants, right?"
"Of course not," whispered something in his ear and he jerked away. He looked around, but couldn't see anything.
"No, they're Sam's. She'd kill me if I hurt her plants," came Daniel's normal voice from somewhere across the room.
"G-Good."
"Are you alright, Mr. Lancer? You're not lost are you?"
"No, Mr. Fenton." He shook himself. He must have been hearing things. He took a step forward and immediately felt like he'd stepped into something, or through something. He rubbed his arms as goosebumps began to crawl up them. He made a note and quickly moved on.
After a few moments more of the random goosebumps and the feeling of vines or leaves brushing him despite being sure he wasn't getting close to any of the plants, he reached an archway. The teacher frowned and he pulled aside the curtain to look in. He swore the passage was supposed to lead directly into the next room, but instead he found a short hallway. It appeared to be a pitch-black void littered in stars that went on forever, but directly ahead, perhaps two feet in, was another doorway with a curtain. Some sort of mirror trick?
He made another note and walked carefully through the hall. Perhaps it was the star pattern, but he almost felt weightless as he passed through. He pulled the curtain aside… and found himself in the room he'd started in? But that was impossible! And yet, the windows were on the archway's left, just as they had been for the arch he'd come from. The chandelier hanging above, original to the house though Daniel had wrapped it in vines, was also the same one that had been in the previous room. He must have curved around, except he was sure he'd gone in a straight line.
"Something wrong, Mr. Lancer?"
The teacher jumped and spun around to find Daniel standing right next to him, staring up at him through half-lidded eyes. His head was tilted almost unnaturally to the side and he was giving his usual smile, though the sharp fangs made it feel like he was baring his teeth instead. Some of the flying lights were perched on his crown, but their shapes were indistinct which made it appear the crown was alight with swirling green flames.
"Just-just taking in your creativity, Mr. Fenton. I wish you would put such effort into your schoolwork."
His grin grew and his eyes glowed brighter. "What can I say, I guess I have an affinity for all things ghostly and dead." He turned on his heel and disappeared into the foliage. "I'll leave you to it."
If William was shaking as he moved through the room, there was no one around to tell. He kept a careful eye out, but even still it felt like more plants were brushing against him and he was in a constant state of goosebumps. Then, just as he reached the center of the room, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
He shrieked and spun around, dropping his clipboard in the process. There was no one there. He looked all around him, but couldn't find any sign of a person.
Something creaked above him.
He slowly looked up and saw something moving in the shadows, multiple long necks and wide heads with gaping maws.
"Mr. Lancer?"
"The Iliad and the Odyssey!" William shouted, looking down to see Daniel standing right in front of him, looking worried.
Aside from his glowing crown, none of his showman's grace was on him anymore. Not even in his voice as he glanced down and said, "Oh, you dropped your stuff."
William's eyes widened as he spotted the three long stalks that had lowered down from the ceiling, each carrying the heads of a horror-movie approximation of a venus flytrap. The flat lobes were all around a foot long and would have looked normal, if not huge, except for the toxic green acid dripping from their centers.
At the same time that Daniel leaned down, one of them shot forward to strike like a snake, its jaws closing around the space his head had been not a moment before. They all darted back to the ceiling as Daniel stood up, appearing his normal awkward and helpful self.
He held out William's pen and clipboard. "Here you go."
The teacher's hands were shaking as he took his things from his student.
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I guess we might have gone a little overboard. Was it the halls? I can take those out."
Something grabbed William's ankle. "No! No, it was wonderful. Leave it as is. I just remembered I have somewhere to be."
"So… does that mean…"
"Yes, Mr. Fenton. You win. Now how do I get out of here?"
Daniel pointed to the side.
There was a straight path to the door that most definitely had not been there before.
William shook the vine off his leg and walked quickly out of the open door.
Danny threw his hands up and cheered as soon as the door shut behind Lancer. He turned and gave Sam a high-five. "That was great! He didn't even stay long enough to see Twoey in action."
"We're an oblivious idiot," she said as she turned visible.
"What do you mean?"
She plucked off one of the blob ghosts nuzzling his head and shook her own. "Nevermind. Come on, we've got a few new ideas from that test run."
"Cool."
"By the way, that line about eating ectoplasm. We haven't actually done that, right?"
"Well, not on purpose, but you've seen my house. Sometimes a bit of ectoplasm ends up in the food."
"We're never eating at our house again."
"Hey, it's okay. I never let you guys stay for dinner when my parents or I cook and Jazz sterilizes everything so she never gets ectoplasm in anything."
"Never again."
"And besides, we're ghosts now. Ghost food is made of ecto-"
Sam put her hand over his mouth. "Never."
He nodded. Once she'd removed her hand and floated off, he muttered, "It's not even bad as long as the food doesn't come to life. Just kind of citrusy."
"We're going to throw up!"