"Oh," said Nocturne, "it looks like we have some visitors." He did not sound very happy. "I suppose I shouldn't complain. It is, after all, thanks to their infringement on my domain that you're even here."
Danny rubbed his eyes and glared. "What are you talking about?" He might have felt more awake, now, but he very clearly wasn't. He kept catching himself slipping.
"They were your hosts," said Nocturne. "But, now, it appears you are theirs." With a swirl of starry cape (a motion that was both dizzying and hypnotic to Danny, reflected as it was a thousand times in as many mirrors) he revealed a pair of vaguely familiar women huddled together.
"Jack and Maddie's boy!" gasped one of them. She had a nasty cut above one eye, and it had bled a startling amount over her face and clothing.
Danny hurried forward, his first aid training kicking in. He looked askance at the other woman. "You didn't even put pressure on it?"
"I- I don't know how," she said, voice wobbling.
"Drank too deeply from Sloth's cup, did you now?" asked Nocturne, a knowing smile on his face.
"Ghost!" squeaked the woman, trying to hide behind Danny.
"Yes, yes, but I'm much more than that, too, wouldn't you agree, Daniel?"
"Don't listen to him," said Danny. He finally recognized them. "You're Eliza, right?"
"Bethany," said the bleeding woman.
"Okay, Bethany. And Eliza. What happened?"
"The ghosts," said Eliza, hushed. "They came out of nowhere. I don't understand it! The ritual should have kept them under control."
Danny stood up, taking a step away from Eliza and Bethany. "The ritual?"
"The one we use to control the ghosts," said Bethany, as Eliza fearfully eyed Nocturne. "Nothing like this ever happened before."
"What," said Danny, "were you controlling the ghosts for?"
"To do things for us," said Eliza. "Don't tell us you're going to be like Jack about this. He told us all in college. Ghosts don't have real thoughts or feelings. They're just echoes. And now, when we get something before him, he wants to change his mind? Wants to discount our hard work? It isn't fair!"
Her voice had risen slowly throughout her speech, which was, perhaps, why she looked so surprised when Nocturne tossed back his head and laughed. The women flinched. Danny scowled.
"A man warns you that you may be committing slavery, and this is your response, humans? After the ghosts have begun to take vengeance? You think that doesn't speak of intelligence?"
"They're not," said Eliza. "They aren't. Even… even if they were, it's like rent…"
"Like rent indeed. You're lucky they're trying to replace you rather than destroy you entirely."
Normal ghosts couldn't do things like that without extra, outside help, but that wasn't what Danny was concerned about. "Are you saying," said Danny, "that my family is in a house full of vengeful ghosts? Unprotected? No, they would have left…"
"Not if one of their number was immovable," said Nocturne, patting Danny's hair again. Danny swatted at him. "Not if, say, their youngest kept turning intangible in his sleep, when they tried to move him."
Danny did not close his eyes, not even for patience. If he closed them, he would fall asleep.
"What do you want, Nocturne?"
"As quick as always," said Nocturne. "But I think the question is, what do you want?"
Danny bit his lower lip, and half turned to face the women again (when had he turned away?). "Are you serious about the rent thing?" He knew he wasn't processing at one hundred percent, so he had to make sure.
"Why wouldn't we be?" asked one of them. He didn't quite remember which she was.
"Alright," said Danny. "I want my family to be safe. I want you to broker a fair deal between these two and the aggrieved ghosts. I want to wake up in a reasonable amount of time. I don't want anything that would offend my Obsession to happen. What do you want?"
Nocturne chortled. "It sounds like you already have a guess about it."
"I'm not writing you a blank check," said Danny. "Say what you want, or I'm not agreeing to anything."
"You, for one circuit of the sun."
"Pick an actual time," said Danny. "That's too vague." A day would be the interpretation he wanted, but Nocturne might mean anything from a year to a circuit of the sun around the center of the galaxy.
"You're no fun. Don't you have any fantasies? Don't you want to live in a fairy tale, instead of a horror story, Sleeping Beauty?" Nocturne curled around Danny's legs and shoulders like a heavy blanket.
"A time," insisted Danny.
"One day," said Nocturne, like a sigh. "I will do this, and I will get you for one day. It's more than fair."
Maybe it was, but Danny wasn't about to do this without bargaining. "Until midnight," he countered.
"Dawn," said Nocturne.
"Nothing against my Obsession," Danny reiterated.
"I'm not cruel," said Nocturne. It was true enough. Despite other machinations, Nocturne didn't trap anyone in nightmares. Just dreams. Very… kind dreams.
"Alright then," said Danny. "It's a deal."
.
At first, Jazz was relieved, seeing Danny sitting up. But then she saw his eyes, both of them closed and leaking something blacker than ink.
"Nocturne," she said, greeting the Door of Dreams carefully. "What did you do with my brother?"
"I made a deal with him," Nocturne said, swinging Danny's legs over the side of the bed. He tapped Danny's fingers against his lips. "I have him until dawn. You should be happy. He's finally getting a full night's rest."
"Jazz," said Maddie, "what's happening?" She had her ectogun half raised, but was clearly unwilling to point it at Danny. Or even anything possessing Danny.
"Mom, Dad, this is Nocturne. He's a ghost, and a Portal. He controls dreams. Danny's fought him before." And that was about all she knew about Nocturne.
"And… he's responsible for all this?"
"Not all of it," protested Nocturne. "Just a little. But you know…" He stood up and stretched, then tapped Danny's fingers against his lips. "It's been a long time since anyone on this side has been able to hold me. Longer still since a living body's been able to do it. I think I'll enjoy myself. Do you think you'll be able to keep up?"
He vanished.
"Come on," said Jazz. "We have to go after him."
"To beat up the ghost that's taken Danny, right?" asked Jack.
"No, there's no way we can beat Nocturne. To pick Danny up when Nocturne has to leave."
.
Danny woke up, feeling, miraculously, well rested. When was the last time he actually got the proper amount of sleep? Incredible.
He blinked. Had he fallen asleep in the RV? Had he?
He sat up and saw his family members splayed, exhausted, over the seats.
"New family rule," said Mom. "No more letting ancient dream gods borrow your body."
"Oh." said Danny. "Okay. What happened?"
"He put like, fifty percent of everyone in fifty miles asleep," said Jazz, tiredly. "Also, in Amity Park. Sleepwalkers through the portal. Lots of trouble."
"Oops," said Danny.
"Let's," said Jack. "Let's take a break. No friends for a few days. We'll stay at a Hilton. Go to an amusement park or something."
"Not really any amusement parks around here."
"Miniature golf, then," said Jack, waving a hand at Jazz.
"Right," said Danny. "You guys all look tired… Do you mind if I go take a flight?"
"Go for it," said Jazz. "I'm going to sleep."