Chapter Four: Living Nightmare
"More disturbing than the unknown is the distortion of the familiar."
- FleshMad Steed, Magic the Gathering
Photographs are modern day ghosts.
Sam remembered reading that once, a long time ago, and ever since then she developed a fascination with the subject.
She sat on the edge of her bed, a scrapbook gaped open upon the sheets. She flipped through the pages, her precarious concentration making photos blur into each other.
In one page there was a collection of fairground pictures from a photobooth, the three of them – Danny, Tucker, and herself – making a variety of goofy faces at the camera. In one of the photo slides, she stuck a bunny ears pose behind Danny. He looked up a perplexed expression on his face, the picture a perfect capture of why Tucker called him 'clueless'. Despite herself, she chuckled.
She turned the page in an almost absent-minded manner. On the left-side corner of the page, a seventh grade yearbook photo stared at her in black and white.
Her younger self had her head shorn on one side, both ears pierced in two sections of the pinna. Black eyeliner created a winged look around her purple contacts.
The intital reaction to her look was… interesting to say the least. The brown strain from when her mother dropped the teapot onto the Indian carpet was still there in the living room. Her father had ripped the latest New York Times in his manicured hands, his lip trembling in disbelief. Her bubbe – on the other hand – gave the widest, toothiest grin that Sam ever saw in her life.
"That's the spirit!" Her grandmother exclaimed, just before Sam's father fainted onto the floor.
School – on the other hand – was a nightmare. She could take the looks, the whispers, the ugly comments. She didn't wear the long blonde wig her mother tried to give her, nor did she complain about the multiple-day detention she received when she kicked Martin off the monkey bars for killing her hamster. Still, a painful sense of isolation sometimes took her breath. The dining hall used to be by far the worst part. It was near impossible to find a seat that stood alone from everybody else - somewhere where she wouldn't have to deal with the suspicious sidelong glances or the giggles from peppy girls looking at her from behind mirrors. It was the part of the day she always dreaded.
That was, until Danny and Tucker decided to join her table one day.
She hadn't heard the conversation beforehand – Danny's insistence, Tucker's reluctance – all she knew was that one moment she was picking at a tofu sandwich, and the next, there was a nervous looking guy asking if he could join her at the table for lunch.
She had, of course, heard of those 'weirdo' Fentons from her classmates before. Rumors mostly of an incident that happened a while ago, but the Fentons were the kind of eccentrics that her parents would expressively forbid her from hanging out with.
With this in mind, she nodded with a small smile, and with a look of relief, Danny set his tray down upon the table. Tucker sat next to him, though he edged a little away from her at first – she had "a scary aura" Tucker would admit much later, but she took it as a compliment.
Much to her surprise, they kicked it off from the start – as soon as she found out about what Danny's parents did (Tucker had mentioned it first while Danny look away with a grimace), she started asking questions, a genuine interest in the subject of his parent's study. From the way Danny perked up, she realized that it was the first time his family had not been derided or looked down upon. Every lunch time after that, they began to sit together – a trio – until eventually they became inseparable friends.
She liked feeling that she was always seen for who she really was by them – and feared that if Tucker and Danny ever saw how rich her family really was, they would see her in a different light.
No, she wasn't ready for that. Not yet.
Sam took the bag from off the floor, plucking the photograph from out of the sidepocket. There was Danny, holding the HAZMAT suit in front of him, the portal large like a predator. A wearied expression froze on his face.
Her breath hitched in her throat as the photograph hung in her hand. Why on earth did she do that? What possessed her to pressure him in there?
She placed her head in her fists, a wavering breath in her chest. She couldn't let go of the scene in her mind, the scream, the light, and his shadow strobbing in the portal… Her hands clenched.
Her fault. It was her fault.
The phone rang beside her.
Blinking away the threat of tears, she picked up the cellphone and placed it by her ear.
"Hey, what's up?" Sam asked. She tried to sound as normal as possible. A quaver rang underneath.
Tucker's voice came through on the other side of the line. "Hey Sam – Danny's awake. We're allowed to visit him in the… in the…" Tucker's voice trembled a little bit "… you know, in the hospital." He said the last bit fast, as if trying to push it out of the way. Sam took notice, but decided not to bring it up for the time being.
"When can we meet him?" Sam asked.
"Now."
It started with a molar falling out of his jaw.
It didn't hurt necessarily – it just slipped out of his socket, without warning, without sting. Danny rolled it around his tongue. The molar knocked against his other teeth, all solid one moment until another tooth clicked out of place when his tongue brushed against it. The loose molar made a crik sensation, a sound that echoed in his skull.
He spat them out, two white pebbles. Green spittle covered the enamel, globs of ectoplasm mixed in the clear. He could taste the grainy dust within his mouth, more broken stones resting on his tongue.
A domino effect began, and as he reached into his mouth to try to fasten the rest into his bleeding gums, his teeth came out like a string of pearls, tied by a single neon nerve.
Shaking, eyes narrowing, he backed away from them. The teeth glistened in the sun –
"Can you hear me?" A female voice asked.
Danny woke with a start, his upper body flinging up. His eyes were wide, not quite able to see anything from the brightness assaulting his vision. He rubbed a tongue across his teeth. Still there. Still whole. An IV wire moved along with his wrist with a minor tug. Jack and Maddie sat on a couple plastic chairs by the bed, sitting up when he moved.
"Danny, it's okay. You're safe now." Maddie's voice soothed. She placed a hand upon his shoulder. His rapidly beating heart slowed down. His back slumped, coarse blankets rumpling against his lower body.
Maddie looked at the IV with some concern.
The doctors had some difficulties sticking the needle into the peripheral vein in the first place, the needle slipping out every time they tried to stick it in his arm. It took about three or four times before the IV line finally stayed beneath the epidermis. The nurse doing the procedure asked her if Danny had been using needles for some reason – the amount of times it slipped out was unusual for a first time patient, especially for an otherwise healthy teenager.
"Where am I?" Danny asked, looking around him. The walls were a garish white, a wide window allowing sunlight to stream into the space and bounce off the paint.
"North Mercy Hospital," Maddie explained, "The doctors say you should be okay in a few days or so." She gave an encouraging smile.
Not wanting to scare him anymore than he already was, she decided it would be best to leave out information about some of the more unusual findings during the initial examination.
True, Danny had apparently been electrocuted somehow, but it didn't explain why his core body temperature had dropped a few degrees.
There was also the fact that the doctors found out that he had – for all intents and purposes – made a complete recovery from his injuries in the space of a few hours. No scar, no burns. No apparent nerve damage either.
It was a sheer medical miracle.
"How long have I been out?" Danny asked.
"About a day or so," Jack answered, "but I knew that you would be fine! We've always been a tough family!" The dark circles under his eyes belied his statement, but there was a sort of child-like sincerity to his voice that made him hard to doubt.
"They just need to keep you here for one more night for a few more tests, and then we can head home." Maddie assured him.
"A few more tests," he thought, relaxing onto the pillow. Somehow, it didn't make him feel any better.
Tucker and Sam sat in the waiting room. A set of magazines sat beside them untouched, a variable cornucopia of Highlights, People's Magazines, and gardening catalogues.
The clock ticked before them, growling louder and shriller with each passing second.
Sam glanced over at Tucker in concern. He had not spoken a single word since they entered the hospital.
His left hand rubbed the back of his right in a constant twitching motion. His PDA sat on his lap, forgotten. He refused to look up from the floor, his face drenched in sweat despite the air conditioning in the room.
He looked sick.
After about five minutes, Sam decided to break the silence. "Um… Tucker? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm doing fine." Tucker tried to crack a smile, failing in a miserable fashion as it slid off his face.
"It's okay to tell me if something's wrong, you know. I mean, if it's about Danny –"
"It's not that. I mean, yeah, but –" He looked up to her, fear wavering in his eyes, "I just don't want to be here, okay? This place is giving me the creeps." He looked down on the floor, an ashamed look on his face.
"You know, we can always come back later if you need to leave." Sam said.
Tucker looked up. A flare of hope arose in him, a temptation to leave the hospital, to leave the smell of sickly-sweet antiseptic and death. He could feel it creeping in the rooms, a perverse feeling of sterility and helplessness permeating the halls.
Tucker shook his head. "I shouldn't. I mean, our friend's in the hospital, being poked at by who-knows how many needles and…" he sighed, "And I don't know what else to do."
A memory flashed of middle-school councilors. Sam crossed her arms. "Do you want to talk about it? I mean you don't have to but -"
Tucker glanced at her. "There's really not much to say. Hospitals just suck, you know? I thought I wouldn't have to come back here ever since –" He stopped himself.
Tucker could recall the scene in his mind's eye – a little kid wondering why his grandfather seemed such a husk of his former self in the depths of the oncology unit. His grandfather – so strong and vibrant in real life - became too tiny in bed, the mattress misshapen, too awkward and tall. There was a steady beep of the machines, a cacophony against his grandfather's haggard breathing. It never seemed right, the wires criss-crossing against him, the freezing air around them, the metallic smell of the IV and hospital gruel…
"- ever since I came here last time." Tucker finished. "Just – promise not to tell Danny, okay? He's already got enough on his plate without having to worry about me."
Sam nodded. "I promise."
A door opened, Jazz coming through the waiting room. Her arms wrapped around her stomach. She looked up at them, and glared.
"Why didn't you tell my parents about what happened to Danny as soon as they came home? I thought you were his friends," she said.
Tucker raised his arms in defense. "Whoa. We are his friends. It's just we thought he seemed fine when he woke up…"
Sam took over. "Yeah - he told us he felt better. I guess he went out for air or something without telling us. We thought he was okay."
Jazz looked at them like they were complete idiots.
"You're telling me that after he got electrocuted in my parents lab, you honestly thought he was…" she waved her hands. "Never mind, forget it. As long as he's fine, that's all that matters."
She settled down on the chair, pulling the DSM-IV out from her purse. She began to read a section on post-traumatic stress disorder, only pausing to either underline passages or take notes along the edges.
A nurse came into the waiting room, holding a clipboard in his hands. Jack and Maddie followed after him, a tired but relieved expression in their eyes. Upon spotting Sam and Tucker, they waved at them in a cheerful manner.
"I'm so glad you could come," Maddie said, "he's doing a lot better now, but he could use a little cheering up."
The nurse tapped his pencil upon the clipboard.
"You must be Tucker and Sam," the nurse said, "Your friend's been asking for you. Follow me." He turned around, gesturing for them to come into the hallway. They walked behind him in quick pursuit, Sam looking ahead, Tucker not daring to look at the plaster-painted walls around him.
They came into the room where Danny had been resting. "Take as long as you like, but keep in mind that he still needs rest. I recommend keeping it short so you don't exhaust him," the nurse said with a smile. He proceeded to leave the room.
"Sooo… how're you feeling, dude?" Tucker asked, gingerly sitting in one of the plastic chairs. Sam sat on the one next to him, crossing her arms. He didn't look as bad as she feared – he seemed very much alive, dark circles around his eyes, true, but alive.
Danny sat up from his bed, a smile beaming on his face. "Not great, but feeling a lot better than before. Docs think I should be able to get home in a day or two. Which is good cuz I'm getting reeeeal sick of the hospital food already."
Tucker relaxed, a smile returning to his face for the first time in several hours. "Yeah, I bet! Hey, when you get out, we should totally go check out the Nasty Burger. They just got one of those double patties out on the menu as of yesterday. 'The Mighty Meaty Burger' – it looks freakin' sweet."
"Tell me about it." Danny laid back, his back resting upon a couple pillows. "Best part is that I get to skip the math quiz – folks want me to stay home for a day or so to keep an eye on me in case 'any side effects develop'." He said the final part in air quotes.
An uncomfortable silence entered the space.
"So… uh, how much do they know?" Danny asked after a minute.
Tucker shrugged. "Everyone thinks you got electrocuted by some loose wires during the blackout. As far as we can tell, they think the portal turned on by itself."
"Oh. That's good… that's - good." Danny glanced over at Sam. A concerned look passed over his face.
She wasn't quite looking him in the eye, her mouth parsed in concentration as if wrestling with something inside her thoughts.
"Um… everything okay, Sam?" Danny asked.
Sam looked up, frowning as if trying to figure out what to say. "I… I'm sorry for pressuring you to go into that portal. It was stupid and –"
Danny shook his head. "Sam, this is not your fault. Trust me, if you guys hadn't come along, I would have done it anyway. Besides," he shrugged, "it's not like I'm in pain or anything. Everything's fine now…." he smiled, though Tucker noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes.
Tucker thought about asking him about his appearance after the portal, but decided against it.
Had it been possible that in the fear and confusion, that he had made it all up in his mind, the darkness of the room making Danny appearance seem more unusual than it actually was? He glanced at Sam. Her shoulders were less tense, as if a weight had been lifted off them. He decided to talk about the accident later.
After all, it was all over, wasn't it? Danny was fine – everything was going to be back to normal in no time.
Within the depths of the Fenton laboratory, the portal continued to swirl green within the darkness. From out of the veil, a couple of figures floated out, their tentacles dragging in the air around them.
Their red eyes glittered in the gloom, simple minds not able to understand the environment of the world around them. They snarled in pain and confusion as new smells and sensations shattered into them, a jumble jangling against their systems.
The ecto-pusses, seeking escape from the hell in which they found suddenly themselves, floated up towards the ceiling and phased out of the house. The wind breezed through their ecto-dermis, green skin creating a faint glow in the night air. Their eyes narrowed.
They could feel it all around them – warmth, life.
The ghosts escaped into the city, seeking out victims to sustain their endless appetites.
Author's Notes: After a longer than intended delay, here is the continuation of the story! Special thanks to Ms Frizzle, NeoRetro10K, LunaLillyth, and Guest for your wonderful reviews. ^^