Haunted
Description: The haunted house Danny, Sam and Tucker go through for Halloween is anything but your average haunted house. One-shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny phantom, Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Evanescence's song "Haunted" either, I just borrowed the title.
Dedication: To the awesome people who reviewed "Someone". You guys all get cookies!
"Danny!" Sam yelled up the stairs. "You better hurry or we're leaving without you!" Danny ran down the steps, two at a time, to where his friends were waiting at the bottom. Tucker and Danny had pooled their money to buy tickets to the new haunted house for Sam's birthday-slash-Halloween, which happened to be on the same day. They started out the door, but stopped when they heard Maddie calling after them.
"Honey, wait!" she shouted. She came into the room, carrying the Specter Deflector. "You need to wear this; the ghosts are much more active on Halloween than any other night." She tried to hand it to Danny, who backed away.
"No, really, it's okay." He said, ducking as she tried again to catch him with it.
"I honestly don't understand you, Danny!" she said, exasperatedly, putting her hands on her hips. "You'll be in danger from ghost attacks." She lunged at him again and her slipped under Sam's arm and stood behind her.
"Mrs. Fenton, the haunted house we're going to, uh, has a ghost shield around it." Sam expertly lied. "And we wouldn't want you to be without some protection here, if you decide to go out."
"Well, why didn't you say so?" she asked, breaking into a smile. "Have fun kids!" As they left the house, Sam winked at Danny and grinned mischievously. They trooped down the road as the sun began to set and the haunted house slowly came into sight.
It sat atop the tallest hill in all of Amity Park, on the edge of town. It was three stories high and looked like it had once been a magnificent stately mansion. Now, though, its paint was grey with age and peeling. Several of the windows were broken and you could almost feel it creaking. They hurried up the hill and by the time they reached the top they were panting.
The whole school had turned out, including the new boy, Matt something or another. His hair was long and dirty blonde and he had creepy black eyes, like tunnels. He wore all black, like Sam and didn't eat meat. Sam really liked him and hung out with him occasionally. She had even gone to the most recent school dance with him. Danny, however, didn't like him. He wasn't sure why, but Sam's constant talk of Matt really annoyed him. Sam spotted him, about to go in and beamed, waving at him.
"Hi Matt!"' she said, as he came over to join them in the line. "I didn't know you were coming."
"You didn't tell me you were coming either." He teased. Sam laughed, but Danny just gritted his teeth.
"Danny and Tucker bought tickets for my birthday." She explained. "You want to go through with us?"
"Okay." He shrugged.
No, not okay. Danny wanted to say, but remained silent. They reached the front of line and one by one handed their tickets over.
"Welcome to Monster Mansion." Said the ticket taker. He grinned, showing his fake vampire teeth and swept his cloak to the side. "Not your average haunted house." They walked through the rotten wood door and were met by a sign reading: 'Beware. Go back while you still can.' They passed it and went into the first room.
It was a bedroom, by the looks of it, and completely empty of scary creatures. Then, the lights went out and organ music started playing. A strobe light flashed on and off rapidly and "monsters" slithered out from under the bed and out of the closet. Sam shrieked and grabbed Matt's hand and Danny felt a surge of anger he couldn't explain. Sam was never scared of these things before, so why now?
The next room the passed through was a dining room with a "dead body" on the table. It sat up and looked at them and Sam screamed again. Danny frowned and went ahead. By the time they caught up with him, he was at the top of the stairs that lead down to the basement.
"What's wrong, Danny?" Tucker asked, noticing the surliness.
"Nothing." Danny growled, still watching Sam flirt with Matt. "Nothing at all."
By the time the reached the basement, Danny's anger had grown. Sam was flirting mercilessly with Matt and, at the same time screaming in fake terror and giggling like the preppy, popular girls she so despised. The Frankenstein on the lab table sat up stiffly and Sam whispered something in the goth boy's ear. Danny felt like he had snapped in two and then, suddenly all the lights exploded, fragments of glass scattering over the teens. The next few moments were some of intense confusion.
"That's not supposed to happen!" exclaimed one of the workers from near where the table should have been. Tucker tried to back up the stairs and only succeeded in knocking Matt and Sam to the floor. Danny felt someone brush against him and his ghost sense went off. Not here, he thought. Not now!
"Danny?" someone asked.
"Sam?"
"Valerie."
"Oh. When did you get here?"
"Ouch! That's my foot!" yelped Tucker.
"Sorry." Matt answered. Then…
"Quiet!" Sam snapped. "We need to find the door; it's too dark to stay here." But suddenly, a pale green light came from the corner of the room, revealing the ridiculous scene that had ensued and giving off plenty of light.
The Frankenstein guy was lying on the floor, in a tangled heap with Valerie, who quickly stowed a strange looking gun in her pocket. Tucker was on his hands and knees near the stairs, looking like he was ready to bolt. Only Sam, Danny and Matt were still standing.
The green glow in the corner intensified and formed a shape. It was the most frightening ghost any of them had ever seen. At least seven feet tall, with glistening fangs hanging from its jaws. His white hair was wild and his eyes were blood red and looked pure evil. The Frankenstein worker squeaked in fear and passed out cold. Danny backed into the dark corner and tried to go ghost. It didn't happen, he couldn't do it. The ghost approached them and the door at the top of the stairs swung shut with a loud bang and the locked clicked. The ghost lunged forward and snatched…Sam. It lifted her off the ground and she gave a scream of pure, real terror.
Danny jumped forward to grab her, but Valerie stopped him.
"That thing will rip you apart!" she shouted.
"But what about Sam?" Matt let his breath out through his teeth in a hiss. Danny turned to him. "Back me up here!"
But Matt was doing something else. His pupils were dilating into tiny pinpricks and his skin was paling to greenish yellow. He had transformed into a ghost, but not just any ghost. He was a soul sucker; a ghost who needs to feed on human souls to survive. Danny had first encountered a soul sucker only the day before Matt had appeared in town. Danny resisted the urge to bang his head on the wall. Duh! Matt was the ghost Danny had not successfully sucked into the thermos. They seduced their prey with perfect charisma and then took their souls. Suddenly, Sam's odd behavior seemed a lot more explainable.
"You were going to suck out Sam's soul!" Danny cried, angrily. The creature leered at him.
"I still will." It growled. "As soon as you let go of her." The strange remark hung in the air for a moment and no one spoke. Then an absurd though crossed Danny's mind: That other ghost was him. Matt grinned, as if reading his thoughts.
"That's right." His answer wasn't out loud, though, it was like he was hearing Matt's thoughts.
"What do you mean that's me?" He asked, unsure how he was able to do this. "I'm right here!"
"But you were so jealous that your ghost half separated itself from you to solve the problem."
"I wasn't jealous!" Danny yelled, realizing too late that he was speaking out loud. Valerie and Tucker were both looking at him. "Uhhh…"
"Right." Responded Matt sarcastically. "Everyone knows halfas have that problem. In times of serious emotional strain, they tend to separate, the ghost half become a physical version of the emotion. That's your jealously."
"Well, if it's me, I can control it right?" Danny said, an idea coming to mind. As if worked by a remote, the other ghost dropped Sam and lunged at Matt.
Taken by surprise, the soul sucker wasn't able to dodge the first blow and he slammed into the wall so hard a crack split up the solid rock. He recovered quickly, though, and shot a blast of red energy at Danny's ghost. Danny tried to block it unsuccessfully. He felt the blow connect with his ghost as if it had hit him too and they both crashed to the ground.
"Danny!" Sam cried running over. "Did he hit you too?" She didn't understand what was going on. A shadow fell over the both of them and she looked up. Matt grabbed her and a purplish light started draining out of her body. She screamed in pain and then went limp. Matt threw her carelessly to the side and turned to make his escape. He found his way blocked by Danny's ghost, who had doubled in size, and Valerie, who had pulled out a weapon similar to the Fenton Foamer.
Danny was finding it hard to concentrate on controlling his ghost half. Sam was lying a few feet away, not breathing. As he stared at her in horror, his ghost suddenly attacked Matt with such viciousness that he didn't stand a chance. The soul sucker dropped, and Tucker reacted, pulling a spare thermos out of his pocket and sucking it inside.
Danny felt himself snap back together and blinked a couple times to clear his head. A purple glow illuminated Sam momentarily and she stirred. Danny helped her to her feet. She suddenly pressed her lips to his and realized, with satisfaction, that he was kissing her back. Then they both pulled away, conscious of the other two teens watching them. Tucker pumped his fist into the air and Valerie muttered "About time," under her breath. Sam's face was pink and Danny cast around for a change of subject.
"Sam? Are you alright?" She nodded with a big smile.
"You?"
"Fine." He replied, grinning sheepishly. "Just promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"Don't date a soul sucker ever again!"
