Chapter Thirty: Charred Flowers

It took Wes a few days to get adjusted. He'd never had a job before and he'd never realized that it was this difficult. He had to do stuff all the time, constantly moving, cooking, cleaning... he wouldn't take the food industry for granted again. This shit was demanding. Especially since the Nasty Burger was frequently understaffed. At least he didn't have to work the register – he watched Valerie get an earful multiple times per shift and she never wavered. She just accepted the customers' bullshit and moved on; Wes couldn't do that, he'd fight a fucker. Which was why he was best suited in the kitchen... building burgers and cooking the fries.

But it was almost payday... he could quit soon, fortunately. And once he got paid, he could go through with his plan. Danny and his friends visited the Nasty Burger at least three to four times a week – he couldn't always see them from the kitchen, but Sam was practically their only regular customer who ordered veggie burgers. He didn't understand how she could eat those, the packing they came in smelled pungent... but to all their own, he figured.

By the time payday rolled around, Wes had already finalized his plan. He had more than enough money to pay his dad back and could quietly resign from this exhausting, underpaid job. Now, all the pieces just needed to align... he needed the conditions to be perfect.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat at their usual booth. Between the three of them, they'd piled their backpacks underneath the table and settled down. As he finished wrapping another customer's burger, he watched them bicker about who would place their order... until Sam gave in and approached the register. Wes could hardly hear their exchange under the roar of the restaurant, but he managed to catch some of their conversation.

"–just because I can pay for everything means that I like flaunting my cash, assholes." Sam stomped to the back of the line and subtly flipped her friends off.

"Love ya too, Sam," Tucker called.

Wes bagged an order and waited for Sam to order to take to the counter. He wasn't supposed to lag... but it was a necessary sacrifice. "Order 73!" he called. A girl from a table in the back stood up and started walking over. While she navigated the restaurant floor, Wes listened to Valerie take Sam's order... "–one veggie burger, no cheese, extra ketchup. A triple-Nasty-meaty-decker combo with pickles," Sam wrinkled her nose. Her disdain for Tucker's meal was evident, meaning that Danny's order was next... "–an original Nasty Burger combo with a shake instead of a drink."

"Vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry?" Valerie asked.

"Can you do that vanilla-chocolate swirl?" Sam asked.

"Probably, if the machine's not broken or possessed," she shrugged. "I have to knock the Lunch Lady out of it at least once a week."

"Ugh, I don't even want to know why," Sam frowned and handed Valerie her credit card.

At that point, Wes fled back to the kitchen to start Sam's order. He started the veggie burger first since that took longest to cook and then started on the rest of the order. When he got to Danny's burger... Wes gulped. This was risky, it may not even be real! Blood blossoms could be a folk tale! But it was worth a shot, anything to prove that they repelled ghosts. Anything to prove to the patrons of the restaurant – fellow students – that Danny was repulsed by an anti-ghost flower. What's the worst that could happen?

He looked around and ensured neither of his coworkers – Kathy and Ajay – weren't paying attention. He pulled out a baggie with blood blossom petals and mixed them in with some lettuce. From the outside, the burger was absolutely ordinary. No one would be able to tell that it was stuffed with flower petals... and if the flower didn't work Danny would just get a weird tasting burger!

Despite how much Wes planned, he didn't think too much about what would happen if the flowers worked. He had a vague plan to announce to the restaurant what he'd done... but other than that... Wes didn't consider any consequences.

He wrapped the burger and placed it on a tray with the rest of Sam's order.

"Order 76!" he announced. Sam stood from their booth, boots distinctly clicking across the floor, and accepted their tray. She assessed Wes for a moment and sighed. "Can we have extra Nasty sauce?" Well... at least she wasn't suspicious. She didn't even care that he was working here, but then again she'd probably already noticed.

"Yeah," Wes nodded. He grabbed a handful of sauces from a basket underneath the counter and set them on her tray. He was supposed to say 'enjoy your meal!'... but he was too nervous to say anything else. It was like... there was a lump in his throat.

"Thanks," she grumbled and returned to their booth.

Wes started his next order and watched Danny out of the corner of his eye. If Kathy or Ajay noticed him staring, they didn't comment. Sam waved their tray around before setting it on the table. Tucker dug into his food immediately, devouring his burger at an inhuman rate. Sam rolled her eyes and slowly started eating her veggie burger and Danny waited to unwrap his food. Instead, he slowly drank his milkshake and made conversation. Probably talking about ghost things, because he was predictable like that.

Sam and Tucker had finished their food by the time Danny eventually started his burger. He unwrapped the wrapping and Wes gulped – this was it. Blood blossoms were either miraculous repellents or bullshit. Danny waved his burger as he spoke, explaining something to his friends. He took a bite and swallowed... Nothing yet.

This anticipation was stressful.

Danny took another bite. And another. His face seemed a little pink now but there weren't any visible effects. Wes sighed. It turned out blood blossoms were just an old wives' tale. Wes returned back to his work, still observing Danny in his peripheral vision. Wes finished another burger and took his order up to the front counter. He handed the order to its customer and glanced back over at Danny's table – it'd only been a minute and he'd finished his burger. Wes's stomach twisted... Danny seemed kind of feverish.

His face was flushed and sweaty, a lot sweatier than it'd been a minute prior. He seemed to unconsciously sway himself, a common nauseous tick. And his eyes... they were the biggest tell. They were green, but they weren't glowing green. No, his eyes were sickly, dark green... something was wrong with his ectoplasm, it was being... targeted.

Sam and Tucker had noticed. Sam held Danny's arm and asked if everything was alright while Tucker glanced around the restaurant. Wes tried to look away, but it was too late – Tucker's eyes found him. They made eye contact for a solid ten seconds and Wes gulped. If he was going to go through with this, it was... now or never.

Wes walked around the counter. At the register, Valerie called his name but he ignored her. He had to do this. This was his best chance to really expose Danny! He had to take this!

"–Jesus Christ, it's Weston..." someone noticed him idly standing in the center of the restaurant.

Wes cleared his throat and waved his arms to draw attention to himself. "Hey!" he called. Most of the customers were Casper High students, save for a few middle school kids and one or two adults. "I have an announcement!"

"We know you're nuts for Phantom!" someone responded.

"Shut up, Wes!" a girl threw a wad of trash at him. Wes dodged it and continued.

"As you're all aware, I know that Fenton is Phantom," he started. He gestured to Danny, who was holding his stomach, fists digging into his shirt. Sam was soothing him to little avail. "... and he's kind of sick, right? Well, I finally have proof that he's a ghost!" he pulled out the blood blossom petals from his pocket and held them up. "These are called blood blossoms! They're a ghost repellent! I put some in his burger and now he's sick, therefore he has to be a ghost! If you-"

"Weston, that's enough-" Valerie growled from the register. The customers were whispering now and the restaurant's dull roar resumed.

He grit his teeth and ignored her, ignored everyone. "If you'll look it up online," he continued, "there's tons of folklore that supports this! I'm not making this up!"

Danny looked up from his table and rasped, "–ood blossoms...?"

Sam's face was murderous. Her hands shook and her stare was absolutely livid. "Wes you fucking idiot; he's allergic to those!"

Tucker started hyperventilating, "Oh my God, dude we have to get you out of here. You could – you could die-"

Danny groaned and laid his head back on the table. "'m feel bad."

He launched into a coughing fit and didn't stop until he coughed up a nasty gob of dark blood – almost black. Tucker managed to back off just in time, but some of it caught on Sam's jacket sleeve. Promptly, several kids screamed. The restaurant launched into panic.

"What the fuck Weston, you POISONED him!" someone screamed.

"He's insane! We knew something was gonna happen!"

"Guys, Fenton needs help!"

Wes's mouth went dry. Shit. This wasn't going at all as he'd planned. He hadn't – hadn't expected that the blood blossoms would have this effect on Danny! How could he have known that he'd... he'd poisoned him!? His head spun and Wes was pushed away, against the wall. Some kid approached him and punched him in the face – throbbing, pain – and Wes just let it happen...

People had crowded Danny's booth, attempting to pull him up. Most of the restaurant remained in their seats or pressed against the opposite wall – avoiding the commotion. But there were those generous few that tried to help Danny...

" –I have an EpiPen!" Mikey announced.

"–won't help!" Tucker shook his head. "It's already in his system, we need to get it out of his stomach!"

"Like a stomach pump? How do we do that?"

How had he been so short-sighted? How had he allowed this to happen? Wes wanted to die, right now... he'd been such a dumbass. He'd been so focused on exposure that he'd... he swallowed. He'd disregarded the consequences. He hadn't considered what the blood blossoms might do to Danny and if Danny died from this, Wes could pay the ultimate price.

Holy shit. Danny could die.

What had he done?

He just wanted people to know the truth, regain his reputation. He hadn't intended...

Someone pulled on his arm, leading him into the back room of the restaurant. Valerie. There were tears in her eyes but her expression was hardened, vengeful. She pushed him into the break-room and locked the door behind them. Wes took a step back when she approached him but Valerie was too quick. She approached him like a viper going in for a strike. She swiftly kneed him in the balls, slammed his head against the wall, and spit in his face.

"You fucking moron! Do you even KNOW what you did!?" she screamed. She was scared, more scared than he was. Everything hurt...

"I – I-" he choked. "Didn't realize."

"Bullshit," she slapped him. "You told everyone you knew what you were doing with that 'ghost repellent plant'," she laughed. "I'm gonna fucking end you, and if I don't... I know about ten people who will. Sam and Tucker are my first bet – they can be ruthless when they try. My next bet is Vlad – he and Danny fight like hell, but I doubt he'd appreciate you using those flowers against Danny... especially when they can hurt him too. Then Jazz... Jazz will crush your skull like a grape. And Mr. and Mrs. Fenton..." she chuckled, "do you want me to go on?"

Wes shook his head. His mouth was numb, "I – I get it."

"I don't think you do," she growled. "You hurt my friend. In my restaurant. I can't believe I trusted you!"

He didn't know how to respond. How could he? Anything he could say would be pointless... Wes choked back an ugly sob. This was all his fault.

"You're disgusting," Valerie decided. "We've seen something like this for months – I knew that you were going to go too far... I should've..."

She was blaming herself too, Wes realized.

"No," he shook his head. "It is my fault, don't put this on yourself. Let me be... let me the scum of the Earth or whatever. This was all my hubris, blind-sighted by trying to expose him despite the cost..."

"That we can agree on."

He was crying now, for real. "I just – just wish I'd never done this!" he screamed. "I'm so fucking stupid!"

Valerie was about to speak when her watched beeped. She looked down at it and hissed, "Ghost."

The break-room's lights flickered and darkened. Valerie stepped away from Wes and opened her locker, rummaging for her equipment. "Don't move," she commanded.

Wes didn't reply.

Green smoke curled from under the door and entered the room. Valerie cursed and Wes remained paralyzed. The smoke materialized into a tall, green-skinned woman with glossy, black hair. Wes recognized this ghost. Wasn't she that wishing ghost that granted people's wishes? She was well known around Amity – people knew not to make wishes in her presence. Even Walter encountered her once – he asked for a bunch of money, but Phantom nullified all her wishes and it vanished. Needless to say, his dad had been pissed.

Wes's head was still spinning from where Valerie had assaulted him, but he was pretty sure he'd just said the word wish, hadn't he?

"I am Desiree," she bowed, "and so you have wished it, so it shall be."

The lights in the break-room brightened again – everything started flickering. Green energy fizzled around Desiree's hands and Wes's entire vision dissolved into green. Somewhere behind him, Valerie screamed but it was too late. Desiree had already cast her spell.

Wes's wish had been granted. None of this had ever happened.

He didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified.

Wes woke up in his bedroom. He remembered everything, immediately. He wasn't disoriented or confused... he was just suddenly in another moment. He'd taken a job at the Nasty Burger and snuck some blood blossoms onto Danny's burger... and he'd had a catastrophic reaction. Valerie had pummeled and threatened him and then Desiree arrived and solved everything.

How was that for luck? Wes was never lucky.

And Danny... Danny must be alright, right?

Wes looked at the time. The clock said it was around 6pm – the same time it'd been in the restaurant. And that meant... the six o'clock news was on right now. Ghost attacks were usually the first segment, so if Wes hurried he'd be able to check-

He rushed into the living room and sat beside Walter, who was watching the news with disinterest. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I just need... to see something real quick," Wes informed Walter. He didn't need to know what.

"Whatever," his dad shrugged.

Lance Thunder was downtown making a ghost report. "-development in the past few minutes, the Red Huntress and Phantom have teamed up – yet again! – to take down this ghostly foe. It appears they're fighting the Wishing Ghost, a name I coined." The camera tried focusing on the fight, but Danny was moving so fast that he was just a black blur on the screen. "And there's Phantom – he just got a good blow in. I estimate the fight will be over in the next ten minutes – therefore traffic will be buffered for at least half-an-hour while debris is cleared from the area. That's all for ghost watch, more at eight!"

Danny was fine. He wasn't... he wasn't hurt.

Thank God.

Wes returned to his bedroom and found the blood blossoms he'd stashed under his bed. He didn't need these anymore, nor want them. They were too dangerous for ghosts. He found a lighter in the kitchen and carried the flowers into the bathroom. He burned them each one by one, letting the flames lick the petals until they wilted in his hand... ashes falling into the toilet below. Sure, these had been expensive but he couldn't fathom keeping them anymore. Not after what they'd done.

He brushed the last of the ashes into the toilet and pulled the handle. The flowers' remains swirled in the toilet water before disappearing forever.

Good riddance.