Warnings for this chapter: None
Line break
Chapter ten: Jazz on the case!
The next day, Danny's parents were convinced that Danny had finally lost it. Danny would be seen talking to thin air, laughing at nothing, and often blushing for no reason.
His mother had often told Danny to stop, saying that there was nothing there and when Danny did actually tell his family about what he had learned, Maddie would flat out tell him to stop making up stories while his father would look at him worriedly. From what Jazz has seen, Danny went through several stages after that; snapping at his mother, shouting at thin air, and finally closing himself off and not saying anything to anyone.
Strange things had started happening on the ship as well, usually in places where Danny hung around. Things like lights flickering, things getting moved or going missing all together, and one time, the cabin the Fenton's stayed in got ransacked while Danny was in one of his moods and had locked the door. Jack had heard crashing noises in the room and literally broke down the door to get in.
The bed frames were demolished, mattresses flipped over and bed clothes torn to shreds, the table lamp was smashed and light bulbs in the wall lamps were busted. The nightstand was flipped over and the dresser had a huge dent in it. Wallpaper was burned off the walls in some places and Danny stood in the middle of it all, looking like he had gotten into a fight with the ecto bazooka and lost. Their parents had interrogated him for hours as the cruise staff tried to fix what they could, and Danny told them that it wasn't his fault.
"A giant metal ghost came in, saying that he was going to mount my head on a wall!" Danny insisted, "Phantom fought him off and I sucked the guy into a thermos. I had just put it away when you guys barged in."
Jack kind of believed him, at least thinking that Danny had fought off a ghost and was simply down playing himself. Maddie probably would have believed him if he hadn't said anything about Phantom, "Sweetie, how many times do I have to tell you that Phantom isn't real! You're to old for imaginary-"
"Phantom isn't imaginary mom!" He interrupted, "How many times do I have to say that?!" He had jumped up from his chair and ran, ignoring his mother's shout for him to come back. The cloth on the table they were sitting at suddenly whipped itself off, wall and over head lights flickering angrily.
It was at that moment that Jazz and Danny's parents thought he was possessed by a ghost. Jazz scoffed at that, but couldn't deny that something was going on. She decided to try to get Danny to talk, see if he really had any signs of madness.
Danny wasn't going to make it easy for her though, as everytime she sought him out he would disappear, and every time she did manage to corner him he would tell her, in not so pleasant terms, to leave him alone.
She couldn't stop though, Danny was starting to close everyone off and it seemed like he was starting to believe their mother when she said he was making everything up. Jazz normally would agreed with her, but she hasn't seen Danny this happy since he was ten, if this was some kind of coping mechanism, or something else entirely, it wasn't hurting him or anybody. The only thing that seemed to be hurting Danny was their own mother and father telling him he was crazy.
But Jazz knows her baby brother. He wasn't crazy, and even if he sometimes danced around the truth he never really lied. He most certainly wasn't possessed either, so what was going on? She finally decides to try talking to Danny in a more round about way.
She finds him in their new room reading, (lucky none of the luggage had gotten damaged, can't say the same thing for the room...or their budget) thankfully with the door unlocked this time. She walks over and sits on the bed, leaning over like she was trying to see what book he has. At first, Danny seems to ignore her, but her moving around on the bed finally gets him to look up.
"What?" He says crossly. Jazz shakes her head and smiles replying, "Nothing, just wondering what you're reading."
"Science. Now go away." He states flatly, eyes going back to the book in his lap. A few minutes go by before he glances up again, seeing her still seated by him, "What?!"
"Nothing!"
"Then why are you still here?" Danny presses, brow arched and frown set on his face.
Jazz bites her lip and looks away for a bit, "I...I want to learn more about Phantom." Is the excuse she gives.
The brow goes higher on Danny's face as he gives her a disbelieving expression, "You already know about Phantom. From what I recall I use to tell you about him all the time when we were little."
Jazz nods, "Yeah, but I want to know more. From what you've been saying, he used to be on this ship a lot right?"
The raven huffs, "How do you know I'm not making all this up? According to mom and dad, 'I'm making up stories, I'm too old to have imaginary friends.'" He says self deprecatingly, voice raised a little in mockery.
Jazz sighs before putting a hand on Danny's shoulder, looking him straight in the eye as she says, "Danny I know you. I'm just trying to help-" Danny shakes her hand off, "Yeah, and your idea of helping me is trying to figure out what makes me tick. Thanks, but I don't want your help."
"At least give me something Danny! Like what kind of food he use to eat or what room he stayed in-"
"He stayed in room 724 now will you please leave me alone?!" He snaps in aggravation before pushing his sister off the bed.
Jazz huffs, acting indignant as she stands, "Fine!" She exclaims dramatically before making a show of stomping out of the room. She got what she wanted anyway.
She walks all over the ship, trying to find the room. After asking for directions, making up a story about how she was new on the staff and the ship was so big and so forth, she finally finds the room in a seldom used hallway. She tries the knob only to find it locked.
"Of course," She grumbles before something comes to mind making her grin. Checking to see that no one is around, she pulls out the Fenton lipstick laser and aims at the lock, melting the old mechanism.
"Huh, guess I found a use for this thing after all!" Jazz says smugly as she blows on it and opens the door, stepping into the room.
The cabin looks like it hasn't been used in decades. Faded red and gold wallpaper is peeling off the walls and the green carpet is frayed. The bed is stripped bare and dust particles are thick in the air and on the furniture. Jazz coughs to clear her airway and begins to explore the room, looking for any evidence that might help her baby brother.
She checks the dresser, under the bed and even in the bathroom but comes up with nothing. There is a large stain on the other side of the bed that makes her shiver, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was. Jazz is just about to give up, when the sound of old floorboards reaches her ears.
She looks around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. The blue eyed woman shrugged, thinking it was just the ship settling and starts heading towards the door when a loud bang rings out, making her jump out of her skin. She looks at the spot where it came from, once again seeing nothing, but this time a feeling that she wasn't alone settles in her gut.
"Phantom?" Jazz asks tentatively. No noise this time. "Phantom is that you?"
A few moments go by before another knock, this time softer, confirms her suspicions, "Come on Phantom, help me out here."
She frowns as she glances around the seemingly empty room again, "I know you don't like seeing Danny like this, I need something...anything that'll prove our parents wrong..." Jazz narrows her eyes in determination, "And prove to Danny that he isn't losing his mind. Please Phantom." She pleads desperately.
At first the room is quiet, then the squeaking startes again. This time Jazz follows it, looking for anything worth while. She carefully sidesteps the stain on the floor, and goes to the corner that the squeaking seems to be coming from. She kneels down, looking at the floor and spots something strange.
"Huh, the carpet's not nailed down here..." She glances around, and notices that the rest of the carpet is firmly placed down like it should; except this corner. "Is this the place?" She asks, feeling like she was talking to herself.
Another knock, this time on the wall next to her. She takes that as a yes and carefully lifts the corner of the rug, immediately finding a loose floorboard underneath.
She pulls up the board, and her eyes land on a small box made of heavy polished wood, about the same size and width of the board hiding it. She lifts the chest out of the hole, and tries to open it only to find it locked.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," She groans. She is about to use the laser again when she hears a thump next to her. She glances down to see a small gold key that looks about as old as the room.
"Really?"
She rolls her eyes, getting the distinct impression that she was being laughed at, before picking it up and and unlocking the box.
Inside is a few love letters, written in a flourishing cursive, a dead rose, and a gold pin shaped like a bird that somehow still looks new. She sees something at the bottom of the box that is different from the letters and pulls it out, gasping in disbelief at what it is.
It is a black and white photograph of two men sitting on the bed in the very room Jazz is in. The black haired man looks exactly like Danny, only maybe a year older and with hair just barely brushing his shoulders, wearing a dress shirt that she couldn't discern the color of and grey dress pants with black dress shoes. There is a blush on his face and a smile that is wide and genuine. The other man is sitting behind him with one arm wrapped around the black haired male's waist, the boys' hands entwined in an obvious display of affection. He has stark white hair, bangs falling slightly in his face like the man in front of him, and wears what looks like a white dress shirt with black pants and white boots. Even without any color the man's eyes seemed to sparkle in mirth.
Even with just this picture Jazz could sense the love they had for each other. She turned the photograph around to find more handwriting, this time distinctly more feminine,
'Danny "Nightingale" Jameson and Daniel "Phantom" Baratoni,
Mar. 19, 1932'
'Why does that date sound so familiar?' Jazz scrunched her face before she shakes the feeling off. Regardless, this was enough evidence in itself to convince her that Danny wasn't imagining anything, neither now or when they were younger. She gathers everything and puts it back in the box, quickly putting the floorboard and rug back the way she found them before standing and taking the box with her. Before she closed the door, she glances back into the room.
"Thank you," She says softly to the empty room, closing the door behind her.