*Daniel*

Starr's party was a blast, though Ellie looked out of it at times. I guess I'll ask her later. Right now it was 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday. Why I'm up this early is beyond me. Bodies were littering the floor of the basement because of no true sleeping arrangements everyone just slept wherever they could. Ellie and I fell asleep on the couch. I carefully slid out of her grip so I could start on breakfast. She stirred as soon as I was standing and her eyes fluttered open. "What time is it?"
"Like 6:30AM."
"Why are you up this early?"
"I'm asking myself the same question." She smiled and followed me upstairs knowing exactly what I was planning to do.
"So you coming or what?" I was already halfway up the stairs before I heard her footsteps behind me. It only took about ten minutes for us to burn the eggs and set off the fire alarm, no one was too pleased about being woke up like that. Even so they smiled when they saw us covered in flour from making the pancake batter. At least they weren't too mad. After about an hour we finally had an eatable breakfast ready! Ok so we didn't actually make it but it was the thought that counts, right? Since Starr, Ellie and I still had the whole weekend left we decided to go for a little camping trip. It wasn't a real camping trip but we did have fun and we got to sleep in a tent. Our version of camping was pretty much sleeping under the trampoline in the backyard and cooking s'mores over the fire. Monday came too soon it seemed like and I wish that summer would come already. It was only February and having already been here for almost 6 months I just wanted it to be over. I like school and all but enough is enough. Ellie and I got straight A's in everything, which is better than most. After school I still had that feeling that something was off with Danielle. "Ellie, we need to talk."
"You sound like you're going to break up with me or something." She chuckled lightly and then trailed off.
"This is serious Danielle. There's something up and I don't know what."
"What kind of 'something's up'? The 'Starr's in trouble' kind or the 'Something's wrong with the other twin' kind?"
"The second one. You've been acting a bit odd lately."
"Odd? How?"
"You seem... different. Something about your connection to me seems different. Almost like..." Suddenly the basement disappeared and my body was moving on its own accord. "Danielle Arde Fenton no one cares what happens to us. We don't mean anything in this world. Our lives, our deaths, they won't mean a thing. They never have and never will." "What the..." I took a step back and blinked in confusion as the grey room disappeared and I was back in the Walters basement.
"What happened? You totally zoned out for a few seconds there."
"Sorry Ellie. Just... Never mind it's nothing." I turned my back on her for less than 3 seconds before I was face to face with the blue-stained-red-orange carpet. "Get off of me you nut!" We both knew that I was just joking, mostly.
"Nope. Not until you tell me what that was all about. Or would you rather have me tickle it out of you?"
My eyes widened with slight terror. "You wouldn't...!" I could almost see her smirking with her famous devil-may-care smile as she dared me to 'test that theory'. I wasn't too keen on going into a war without armour, but neither was I wanting to go down without a fight. I felt her muscles relax on my shoulders and struck. I rolled onto my back causing her to hit the floor as suddenly as I did and let go in surprise
"Well played. But what will happen when I decide to get even?"
"Like you could touch me Ghost Girl." Both of our expressions displayed unmasked confusion. Ghost Girl? Where did that come from? Ghosts are just fairy tales told to little kids on Halloween.
"Ghost Girl? What are you talking about? It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the space out earlier would it?" I felt my muscles tense for a reason that I didn't know. "So it does."
"I don't know if it does. Earlier it was just a flash of someone yelling. I think it might have been me yelling at you. But we've never really fought before and your middle name is Jean not Arde."
"Arde? What the hell kind of word is that? It sounds like it's Swedish."
"Sounds more like gibberish to me. But for some reason it just felt... I dunno, right to call you that." I turned my head away from her to look at a wall, not wanting to meet her eyes. Ever since yesterday it felt like something was very wrong, not just with Danielle. I felt like the whole damn world was wrong. Without saying anything else I walked up the stairs and out the front door. I didn't need to turn around to know that Ellie was following me. I wasn't going anywhere in particular, I was just going where my feet took me. When I stopped walking I looked around and saw a large brick building. The feeling that something was wrong started to fade a little, and even though I had no idea where I was, it felt familiar. The back of my mind told me the boards on the windows weren't supposed to be there, and there should be something on the building. I walked toward the steps and placed my hand on the doorknob.
"I wouldn't go in there." I whipped around to see a dark-skinned boy who looked about my age.
"What?" I looked at him questioningly.
"I said I wouldn't go in there."
"Why not?"
"Haven't you heard about this place? I thought everybody knew about it." The boy looked surprised. "They say the man who used to live there haunts the place." Danielle looked at him like he was crazy.
"Why don't you tell us the story then?" Her tone was curious and skeptical.
"It's said that the man who used to live here killed himself. The story goes he lost his daughter in a car accident while they were on their way to see his newborn child and wife at the hospital. He was overcome with grief and then one night his wife packed her things and left, taking the baby with her. He was so heartbroken that he hung himself not long after and his spirit, unable to rest, haunts the house to this day." The boy shrugged and walked away after finishing the story. Both of us turned toward the door and glanced at each other. In unspoken agreement I reached my hand out and turned the door knob. The wooden door creaked open in a way that seemed straight out of a horror movie.
"Well that's not ominous…" I said. The door opened up into a living room with a couch along the wall to my right and a moderately sized TV placed opposite of it and next to a set of stairs. There was an arch that, most likely, led to the kitchen and/or dining room area. I walked up the stairs to find a hallway with four doors and opened the first door I came across on my left. Inside was what looked like a nursery. There were two cribs, one on each side of the room, and in between appeared to be a changing table. The next door on my right was another bedroom. Instead of a crib there was a bed that was pushed against the wall and had a guard rail on it, indicating it probably belonged to a child that was a little older but not quite preschool age. A large bed in the room at the end of the hall suggested that it was the master bedroom and belonged to the parents. The final door in the hallway was next to the older kid's room and only led to a bathroom containing a toilet, sink, and shower lined up along the one side.
"This place doesn't seem haunted. In fact it doesn't even seem creepy besides the squeaky door." I had to agree with Elle; other than the layers of dust covering everything it seemed like a normal house. We headed back downstairs and through the arch. Unsurprisingly it did lead to a kitchen/dining room. As I looked around I saw wooden boards hastily placed as though someone was boarding it up.
"That's strange…" I walked over to the part of the wall and as I got closer I could see a doorknob. "Elle, I think I might have found something."
"How do we open it?" That was a good question.
"We'll need something to pry the nails out of the wall..." Something like a crowbar, or hammer; but we don't have anything like that.
"Will this work?" I turned around and saw Elle standing there with a pair of pliers in her hand.
"It'll have to." I replied as she handed the pliers to me. Sometime later all the nails from one side of the door lay on the floor and the boards they held up hung useless on the other side. I turned the knob and pulled the door open with the horror-movie squeaking echoing in the old house. I found a light switch just inside the door and flicked it. The darkness that covered the bottom of the stairs disappeared instantly to be replaced by a soft orange-yellow glow. The basement was full of tables covered by white sheets and one side of the room had a large hole surrounded by metal and wires.
"What is this stuff?" I looked to where Elle's voice came from and saw she pulled a sheet off one of the tables, and that underneath the sheet were some weird looking guns, a metal strip with a bright green circle and half a dozen unfinished projects. I looked around the room again curious what else was lying on the tables. I walked over to one of the tables along the far wall when something caught my eye. There was something in the corner of the room farthest from the stairs leaning against the wall.
"Elle." She turned toward me and I pointed. We both made our way over to the sheet and I gripped the dust-covered fabric before yanking it off and throwing it behind me. I felt my jaw drop and my legs felt like jelly as I collapsed onto my knees. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, hoping I was imagining it… I wasn't. Under the sheet was a large neon sign saying 'FentonWorks'. As soon as I could breathe again I turned and ran out of the house with my mind reeling. That used to be our dad's house… He killed himself grieving for… Oh god… We… We had another sibling, an older sister…She died going to see us… How did… Why didn't… I noticed I had stopped running and looked around. I was standing in the cemetery. I dared to glance at the headstones in front of me.

Jasmine Dee Ann Fenton

Beloved Daughter and Sister

March 6th 1995 – September 27th, 1997

Gone too soon

Jonathan Jack Fenton

Husband, Son, Father and Friend

December 22nd, 1969 – April 20th, 1998

May he be with his daughter in Heaven

"Now you see the consequences of your actions. Everything that happens, happens for a reason. In wanting both your mom and your twin alive two lives are now lost. I'll give you one last chance to make things right. Don't screw it up." The voice flooded my mind before everything went black.

I blinked as my mind cleared and I sat up. "You're awake!" I heard Danielle's voice seconds before I was tackled by a black-and-white blur. "I was so worried! Don't you ever do something like that again!"
"Let him breathe, kiddo." I was suddenly aware that we weren't the only ones in the room. As Dani released me I glanced around and standing on the other side of our bedroom was Skulker and Ember.
"What are you guys doing here?" The last thing I remembered was a strange voice and then I woke up here.
"Your sister was concerned when you passed out for no reason and called for me." The hunter replied. I shifted my gaze to Ember.
"I'm here 'cause this dipstick-" She pointed her thumb towards Skulker. "-doesn't have any medical knowledge other than 'if it's bleeding put a band-aid on it.'" That still didn't explain why she was here. As if she could read the thoughts she continued. "So he called me to help." That actually made a lot of sense. Skulker was a robot so he wouldn't need medical attention the same way other ghosts did.
"Did you figure out why I passed out?"
"Honestly, it could be any number of things with the rough shape you're in. My best guess would be the malnutrition; you need to take better care of yourself. I may have been pissed you threw me back in the Ghost Zone but that doesn't mean I want you to destroy yourself." I looked at the rock star stunned. Why did she give a fuck if I destroyed myself, not that I'm trying to.
"I'm not trying to destroy myself." I mumbled and cast my eyes down.
"Then why can I count your ribs?"
"It's not my fault." I suddenly felt self-conscious and pulled my knees to my chest before staring at the floor, but I could still feel her staring at me questioningly. "Why do you care anyway?" Ember walked across the room and knelt down on one knee next to me.
"Because I know the look." She whispered before standing up again and phasing through the floor; Skulker following soon after with a promise to come again later. That's when it occurred to me -when it really hit me- that the ghosts seemed to be more humane than the humans, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that.