Silence. Crushing, agonizing silence. Quivering lips and a racing heart, breaths that left too fast and were forced out too harsh. And when words were finally spoken, they were released with a pained voice and a strangled lilt.
"Our son is the Ghost Boy?"
The question left Maddie's lips in whispered disbelief. Wide, blue eyes stared intently at her daughter fidgeting in front of her. Her hands wrung together, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips as she took a cautious step forward.
"Now, now. Let's not go jumping to any hasty conclusions."
Jasmine warned, lifting her hands in a defensive manner. Why would she act in such a way, unless she had been lying as well? She knew what Danny was, didn't she? Why else would she so desperately try to distract them, try so hard to calm them before their panic fully set in.
But how was it possible? It wasn't. It couldn't be. Her son, her Danny, he wasn't that ghost child that roamed Amity Park at all hours of the night. Danny wasn't like that. He didn't sneak out, he didn't lie, and he didn't put his life in danger.
She could admit that he often overslept, and he wasn't doing that great in school, but that didn't mean he was part ghost, it only meant he was a moody teenager. She had accepted that about him. Sure, she would've liked him to try harder, but that didn't make him a ghost. Did it?
And if he was, though she wasn't quite ready to admit that, why wouldn't he tell them? Was it such a terrible secret that he couldn't trust them with it? Or was he scared of what they would do? But if that were the case, he wouldn't have told Jasmine. Looking up, Maddie's eyes narrowed, her arms folding over her chest as her tone shifted.
"Did you know about him, Jasmine?"
She needed confirmation. A statement from the girl, an explanation. She would take anything at this point, so long as it wasn't a lie. Jasmine opened her mouth to speak, when heavy pounding threatened to break down their front door. There was a moment of silence before Maddie turned her attention back to the girl, ignoring the noise.
"Jazz?"
Jack spoke up, the look on his face just as confused and hurt and scared as Maddie was sure hers must have been.
"I-I did." She answered softly, eyes falling to the floor as she pressed the toe of her shoe into the tile. "But I promised him I wouldn't say anything."
She added quickly, glassy eyes turning to stare pleadingly at her parents as that same crushing weight fell heavier against the woman's chest. Both of her children had been lying to her. For how long? How many mornings had they sat at the table together, eating breakfast, talking about school and work and life, and how many mornings had they spent lying to her face?
"Why?"
She could hear the choked way her words had come out and could see the hurt on Jazz's face, though she still remained quiet as someone pounded on the door again and Jack started to turn.
"Leave it." Maddie urged, pressing her hand against her husband's arm. "How did this happen?"
She asked, hoping a different question would draw something out of the redhead standing in front of her.
"He would never talk about it." Jasmine shrugged finally, hugging her arms into her chest and breathing shallowly. "I only found out a couple of months ago. But.. He's been like this for a while now."
Covering her mouth with her hand, Maddie closed her eyes and inhaled a sharp breath. Months? Her baby had been living with this secret for months? He was half ghost, half dead. How could she not have ever noticed? What kind of mother was she?
"Why didn't you tell us when you found out?"
Jack barked, his own voice gruff with emotion.
"I promised him!" Jasmine cried, a tear slipping down her cheek as she quickly brushed it away. "I wanted him to be able to trust me! He couldn't-"
She stopped herself abruptly, refusing to say more as her mother nodded slowly.
"He couldn't trust us, so you wanted him to be able to come to you."
"Mom-"
"You!"
The sudden voice pulled the family away from their discussion, Maddie's head swiveling to see four people standing in their kitchen doorway. Simmering with anger were Jeremy and Pamela Manson, while behind them stood a far less furious, but still upset Angela and Maurice Foley.
"You!"
Jack shouted back, pulling away from his family and stalking forwards as Jeremy met him halfway. She could guess what they were doing there, but instead of joining her husband she lagged behind, an arm reaching behind her and beckoning Jasmine closer. Everything was a disaster and in utter chaos, but there was no way she was letting the others take it out on her daughter.
"We were watching Extreme Nanny Makeover when we found out your son is a ghost!"
Jeremy shouted, poking his finger at Jack as he tried to appear threatening. It was so ridiculously stupid, Maddie almost laughed. Jeremy Manson was at least half the size of Jack, and nowhere near as broad shouldered.
He spent his time organizing rallies and protests, where as her husband worked with machinery.
In a fight, it wouldn't be hard to figure out which would win. But the other three parents were inching closer and she was beginning to feel as if they were about to get mobbed.
"Why are you yelling at us? Your spooky bat daughter has got to be behind this!"
Jack shot back, towering over the uptight man as he glowered. Glancing back at Jasmine, Maddie raised a single brow in question to which the girl barely nodded. So his friends knew as well.
How many others had known, how many others had he trusted besides his own parents? She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat, forcing the emotions welling up inside her to obey a simple task. Stay inside. Too much was happening, she couldn't afford to be emotional.
"Now fellas, it's okay to point fingers so long as no one is pointing them at my son."
Maurice chimed in, stepping closer and forcing a gap between the other two men. Maddie had never been one to indulge in the fantasy that the parents of Danny's friends thought anything but crazy things about them. But she'd never expected to be villainized by them either.
If Danny's friends knew, that meant they were putting their lives on the line just as much as Danny was. And just like Danny, it was their choice. Perhaps her and Jack had failed at parenting, but it wasn't as if the Manson's or the Foley's had done any better. Their children lied too. And in some strange, twisted way, that offered her a modicum of comfort.
Taking a deep breath, the scientist finally stepped forward, forcing her way into the testosterone crazed group. Clearing her throat loudly, she pinched the bridge of her nose and frowned.
"Okay, so maybe Danny is the ghost boy, but it's not as if any of our ghost activities have ever put any of your families in danger."
She said sharply, gathering the attention onto herself as her husband fumed silently. She liked Sam and Tucker a lot, but those kids had made their own choices. Lying to their parents, keeping Danny's secret, helping him with whatever it was he got up too.
And what she said was true; their families had never been endangered by any of the ghost activities she and Jack had gotten up to in the past. Whatever had happened to Danny, who was to say whether that was the result of something they had caused? Pamela Manson stepped forward, thrusting her hand towards Maddie.
"You don't think all of this is your fault? Why just look around!"
She scoffed, waving her hands about as the lights flickered.
"Hah! See? Even talking about it makes your house act up!"
Jeremy sneered, wrapping his arm around his wife as Jack looked up at the lights when they flickered again.
"The house is on a generator, we aren't even connected to the cities power. If we were, blackouts would occur far more frequently."
Maddie mused, her back turning to the group as she looked down the hall, spotting a lamp flickering on its table.
"Mom?"
Jasmine asked softly, creeping closer as the lights shuddered, a cold chill making the woman shiver.
"Something's not right."
Jack said to himself, his anger melting away at the curiosity of it all as the air ducts began shaking, another cool blast of air washing over the group.
"Maybe if you didn't sink all your money into ridiculous ghost toys, you could afford to fix your air conditioning!"
The snarky response left the blonde man quickly, a proud smirk at his witty retort alive on his face as the rattling grew louder.
"That's not the air conditioning, Jeremy."
Maddie spoke sharply, reaching out and grabbing Jasmine's arm, tugging her daughter closer to her. The grate on the vent clattered to the floor suddenly, a burst of energy flying out of the ducts and floating around the room as the lights put on a frenzied show turning on and off rapidly.
Glass rained down from shattered windows as the families dove for cover, huddling closer together.
Maddie's breath was cold as she pulled Jasmine back from the wall, Jack darting for one of the drawers that held their weapons.
Before he could reach it, however, a bat three times the normal size appeared beside him, biting at his arm and making the man lurch back and begin thrashing around to rid himself of the creature.
"Mom, wait!"
Jazz shouted, grabbing her mother's arm tightly as she tried to assist her husband. Looking at the girl and turning to follow her gaze, Maddie's breath caught at the sight of a ghost emerging from the vent that had previously been forced open.
She was a horrifying shade of green, ectoplasm dripping down her head and the side of her neck like blood from the spikes that protruded from her skull. Burning crimson eyes moved carefully over the room, taking in the occupants before she thrust her hands out dramatically.
Energy moved at her command, twisting and spiraling before wrapping around the three families, drawing husbands and wives together into a tight embrace.
"What was that about never involving us?"
Jeremy spat out, his face pushed against Pamela's cheek and making his voice take on a muffled tone.
"Okay, fine! Until now!"
Jack shouted back, his arms wrapping tightly around his own family as the energy constricted them together, making fighting back impossible.
"I'm really, really sorry."
Jazz said quietly, as if she thought this were all her fault somehow.
"It's alright, sweetheart, we'll be fine."
Maddie soothed despite the aching in her chest. Her eyes flickered back to the television, the screen having been cracked in the commotion, yet still remaining on.
She could see her son collapsed on the stage, his form pale and shaking, and he looked so scared. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away until Sam appeared and pushed him off the platform, the trio disappearing from sight and leaving the cameras to trail the movements of two governmental types that tried to hurry after them.
What would they do if they caught up to him? All those times she spoke freely about the terrible experiments she wanted to do on Phantom. All those times her son just stared wearily at the table while his father boasted about ripping him to shreds. They were no better than those men.
They really had failed him, hadn't they? All of that they had put him through, and now he was running for his life and there wasn't a single thing she could do to protect him. Would he really be alright out there, all on his own? All that she could do now was hope and pray they could keep themselves safe, that he could hold out until she could figure a way to finally protect her child.