You cannot escape that which you cannot see.
Darkness
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria
Chapter 2: Sleep
"Who's there?" she croaked. Her voice was raw from lack of use. She uncurled her limbs and quickly shifted into a defensive crouch, one hand coming up into a simple guard position, eyes focused on the green eyes shining through the pitch black.
Green? Glowing?
Ghost.
In response, a ball of light formed unsteadily before the glowing eyes. Maddie blinked, tears blurring her vision as her eyes struggled to adapt to the sudden glow. She looked away, searching for dark shadows to let her stinging eyes rest. For a moment, she contented herself with gazing about the small room. Stone walls rose to a low ceiling; a thick door took up most of one wall; moisture sparkled on the small floor.
Finally she was able to turn back to the eyes in the corner. Squinting, she began to make out the vague form of a person, seemingly holding the light in one hand. She strained to see past the intense shine. Green eyes. Slight, lean build. Black clothes. White hair.
The phantom.
"Ghost! Where are we? Where's my son?" She staggered to her feet, her head spinning dizzily. Her eyes still stung from the glow, but she refused to look away. In the two months she'd been chasing this ghost, she'd found it to be especially dangerous and tricky.
Ghost Hunting Rule 2: Never look away from a ghost. They are unpredictable entities that will attack humans without a moments notice.
The phantom laughed, a sad grin growing on its pale face. "Why do you always blame me? You think I'm in any condition to kidnap anyone?" It gestured to the chains around its ankles that held it prisoner. Sighing, it closed its eyes and leaned back against the wall. "I've been stuck in here for.. well… a long time. It's hard to tell in the dark."
Maddie stared at the specter. There were dark circles around the ghost's eyes. It wore a tattered and torn jumpsuit. Dark patches dotted its skin. The ghost opened its eyes again and gazed at her for a moment, tipping its head to the side in apparent puzzlement. A shudder ran through her body. For a second, she thought she saw pity and concern in the ghost's eyes.
Her teeth clenched hard as she shook herself out of that thought. Ghosts don't feel. They don't have true emotions. That's why the feed on human emtions.
Ghost Hunting Rule 4: Ghosts will attempt to trick you into believing they are not dangerous. They are.
"I gotta loose the light. I don't have enough energy for this."
The darkness fell back around them as the light flared and vanished. Maddie felt her body freeze, instincts screaming at her that the ghost would attack now that she couldn't she. She held her breath until the green eyes opened and looked at her once more. The ghost was still in the corner. It hadn't attacked.
Are those chains real?
Maddie slowly relaxed her body, keeping her eyes fixed on the ghost. Her first few breaths were unsteady. "Where is my son?" she repeated into the silence, her raspy voice not nearly as demanding as she wanted it to be.
The ghost sighed audibly, the spectral eyes sliding from side to side as it shook its head. "Not somewhere I can help him."
"Then you know where he is?" she asked. A thought skidded through her mind like a train wreck, causing her hands to fold unconsciously into fists. "Did you have anything to do with his kidnapping?" Her voice was terse.
I always knew this ghost was bad news.
The ghost's eyes vanished. "I know where he is," the ghost murmured. "I know he's in really bad shape." The eyes opened back up, glowing with an odd light. Sarcasm dripped from its voice as the phantom continued, "And yes, I kidnapped him and locked him up somewhere before locking myself in a dark room with no food." Under its breath, the ghost added, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."
Ignoring the comment, she took a step forwards. "Where is he?" she demanded. Her heart beat furiously in her throat, her fingers clenched tightly into fists as she waited for an answer.
"Locked away. I don't know exactly where, but I know he's alive." The ghost shifted, rattling the chains. "Barely," it added in a whisper. "If I could get out and save him I would."
Maddie stumbled backwards a step and dropped back to the ground in a half-crouch. Fighting off tears of pain and joy, she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. He's alive. My son is alive. She pressed her forehead into her knees and sat in silence. Barely alive.
After a long few minutes, her head came back up. The green eyes were still gazing across the room at her, tipped slightly to the side. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could almost see by the light coming off of them. The ghost was sitting in a position really similar to hers, just watching silently. No doubt feeding off the play of emotions through her mind. "Go away," she said angrily, looking away.
"Can't." The ghost said simply, its eyes dropping closed, its voice broken and weary. "Something in these chains is keeping me solid. Can't do a thing to them. Trust me. I've been trying for a long time."
The green eyes disappeared into the darkness and Maddie could hear the sound of its breathing deepen and even out. It's asleep? She slowly stood up, ignoring the dizzying feeling of her headache. Ghosts don't sleep. A snort worked out of her nose and she shook her head slightly. They don't breathe either.
Quietly questing out with her fingers, Maddie started to work her way towards the wall. The brief minute of light had revealed to her that the room held no deadly or revolting surprises. It was time to explore her stone cage.
To be continued…