Well, here's the next installment of Date from Hell! Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Approaching Doom: The Final Omen
"So, what did you learn?" Danny asked uneasily. "About the shadows?"
"Well…not much." Sam began. "All that I could find was this-" She pulled out a large book from her bag "-an encyclopedia of the occult. And it says here-" She opened the book up to a bookmarked page "-That 'Shadows are thought to be a demonic presence, or an "echo" of a deceased person that had extremely negative feelings upon death. They might be the product of "Black Magic"-a summoning spell done wrong. Shadows may also be an indication to a portal of Hell, or the Spirit world, being open. Usually they can only be seen from the corner of your eye. They can have any shape-human or animal-and should be avoided. They're considered to be omens of doom.'"She closed the book and tilted her head. "Gee, for something so 'dangerous', they sure lack information…" She pursed her lips. "I wonder why…Tucker, what did you find out?"
"Well…It was intense research, but I've managed to find one story." He shuddered here. "And…it kinda matches up with what Sam found out-at least, the Black Magic part. And it sounds more like an urban myth…but…twenty years ago, a little girl died out in the woods-well, was murdered." He licked his lips out of nervousness. "And…well, her mom wanted revenge.
"So…she went to the exact place her daughter's body was found and drew some kind of pentagram-a summoning one-to call upon the demons from hell to kill whoever killed her daughter. But…the things she summoned turned out to be stronger than she was, and consumed her soul on the spot. Rumors have it that the portal she created is still open…But no one knows where-if it exists-the pentagram is." He finished. "But…yeah. It sounds like a myth…right?" He chuckled nervously.
"…But…isn't it a little girl that's haunting Danny?" Sam asked. Silence filled the room. "This isn't making any sense. Danny, what did you find out?"
"Well…I ran into Ember. And she told me that Shadows are basically a physical form of a strong emotion: usually hate or despair. They feed off of ghosts…and the lack of ghost activity here indicates the presence of Shadows. She also mentioned that Shadows are much stronger than ghosts…" He trailed off after seeing the looks of horror on their faces.
"Whoa! They eat ghosts?" Sam asked. "How?" It didn't sound like she was asking out of curiosity…
"They're stronger than ghosts? What did she mean by that?" Tucker asked shakily.
"They absorb ghosts, basically…or drag them into hell and make them into other Shadows. And they're stronger than ghosts; they don't need to transfer their powers into objects to harm-they can hurt humans by themselves." He looked away from their petrified faces.
"You're not telling us everything, are you Danny?" Tucker asked quietly. "What else is there to them?" Danny let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"…Their only purpose is to…kill humans. Spread as much despair and anger…" A small gasp escaped Sam's lips.
"So the little girl in your dreams-"
"I don't know. All she does is warn me. It doesn't sound like she wants me dead." He sighed. "None of it makes sense…but, we've gotta get to the bottom of this."
"Danny, we can't. They only want to kill people! They eat ghosts! They're not something we can deal with!" Tucker exclaimed.
"So what? We wait for them to attack us?" Danny shot back.
"Tucker has a point, Danny." Sam interjected. "I mean, if your 'visions' are true, they won't harm us as long as we stay away from them…"
"Look at the facts guys! All the ghosts are fleeing the area. That means there must be an increase in Shadows. They're probably seeping into the city as we speak! It's inevitable that we'll encounter them sooner than later…so why don't we seize the opportunity and strike first?"
A moment of silence passed before Tucker relented. "Fine. We'll do it. Just…can you see if your family has anything that can repel Shadows?" Danny smiled in victory.
"I was just about to check on that."
Kwan stood outside of the Fenton studio, wary of the building. They may be our town's source of destroying ghosts…but they're still pretty dangerous to civilians. Putting up a brave front, he knocked on the door and awaited a reply. I wonder how they invent these things-His thoughts were cut short when Danny opened the door, a confused look on his face.
"Kwan? What are you doing here?" Danny asked, but thinking it was rude, quickly amended: "I mean, it's just surprising."
Kwan shrugged casually, his heart pounding on the inside. "Well…Dash, Paulina and me are…well, this Halloween we wanna check out some haunted places. And, we were wondering if you, Sam and Tucker would, you know, join us?" Danny gave him a puzzled look, and Kwan quickly elaborated. "'Cause there's three places we want to check out, and there's no way we can hit all three in one night. So, if there are six of us, we can split up into groups of two…" He trailed off, blushing. Shit, I'm rambling. I hate that I do that when I'm nervous.
"…so, I guess we could." Kwan hadn't realized that Danny was talking.
"Huh? Oh! So, you will?" Kwan asked excitedly.
"Yeah." Danny smiled back. "So, I guess we'll see you on Halloween?"
"Yeah. See ya then." Kwan grinned back and walked to his car. He looked in his mirror and noticed a light pink blush across his face. Shit, I was blushing. I'm such a nerd sometimes. He sighed, though it was a happy one. Well, I'd better tell Dash and Paulina the news.
**/\\**
Well, that was strange…but convenient. Danny thought. Three haunted places on Halloween…that would be perfect to see if there's any ghost activity…and maybe interrogate more ghosts about the 'Shadows". Who knows, we might even run into a Shadow if we're lucky. Maybe that'd be unlucky…I don't know. I wonder how Sam and Tucker will react? He sighed. Well, I'll get some ghost equipment first, and then I'll break the news to them. Quietly, he snuck down to his parent's work shop and searched the piles of long forgotten and incomplete ghost fighting mechanisms. Wow. There's a lot of junk here…I wonder if any of these actually work?
He sorted through the pile, carefully reading the labels, as they would be -oh-so-obvious as to what they would do. Hello, what's this? He picked up an object similar to a flashlight. The Fenton Shadow Shredder 5000? Well, that sounds promising. He clicked the switch and winced as a bright light flashed from the bulb. He quickly clicked it again, effectively turning it off. Well, I'll have to see how well it does against a Shadow… He pocketed the object and located the blue prints to it as well. I'll have tucker make a few more of these, and maybe have him tweak it a bit.
He continued his search, and it wasn't too long before another object caught his attention. The Fenton Shadow protection…hmm. This one was watched shaped, and he pressed down on the center. Immediately a bright light emanated from it and quickly blasted around him, creating a barrier. Fuck, it's bright! He pressed it again, and it quickly evaporated. These look pretty recent…but their names imply something different. How long have mom and dad known about the shadows? He grabbed the blue prints for that as well and left the basement back to his room.
"Who was at the door?" Sam asked nonchalantly, flipping through the encyclopedia.
"It was Kwan." That got her attention. Indeed, she had put the book down and was staring up at him skeptically. Even Tucker looked up from his PDA.
"And he wanted?" Sam asked.
"To put it simply, he wants us to spend Halloween with him, Dash and Paulina." Danny answered.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? And why would he-they-want that?"
"They want to investigate a few haunted places-"
"And they want to use your ghost gear to protect them." Sam finished. "Why should we? I mean, what have they ever done for us?"
"Come on Sam, don't be like that. It fits perfectly with our agenda!" Danny argued. "We wanna find Shadows, they want a good scare." I'd better leave out the splitting into three groups part. "I know you want to see Paulina terrified."
"Yeah, scared. Not dead."
"She has a point, Danny. Shadows are dangerous…at least, we think so." Tucker added. "We can't let them tag along, especially when they don't have any experience."
"They want to go to haunted places, not places infested with Shadows. I'm thinking we can corner a ghost and see what they know about Shadows." He lied. "And just in case we do run into Shadows…" He pulled out the Fenton Shadow Shredder 5000 and the Fenton Shadow Protection. "We have these. I found them in the lab…do you think you can tweak them, just in case they have any flaws? We can't have any malfunctions with something as dangerous as this." The last part he directed at Tucker and his eyes lit up.
"That's not fair Danny, you know how I love to test these things out once I perfect them." Tucker grinned, his eyes shining. "I'm in." He greedily snatched the objects and their blue prints. "And I have a deadline to finish this…even better!" Sam sighed in defeat.
"Alright, FINE. I'm in too." Despite her tone, Danny knew she was excited.
"Good." He grinned back at them, fighting back a shudder as he felt a sudden chill in the air.
Paulina snuggled closer to Dash, clinging onto the jock's arm. "I don't know about this one, dear. It sounds terrifying."
"They all do, don't they?" He answered dryly. "But…you're right. This one is definitely fucked up." She lightly slapped his arm.
"Language." She teased. "But…are you sure that Kwan and Danny will be up for it?"
"Hey, this one is the scariest. This is the fastest way for Kwan to, ah…make his move." He blushed, slightly uncomfortable. "And I doubt it's true…"
Paulina shook her head. "I don't know. I've always heard stories about this when I was younger. Don't you remember? That's why no one ever went into the woods…"
Dash rolled his eyes. "It's just a myth, babe."
She gave up trying to convince him. "Fine. I just hope Danny has something that can protect them…well and us too." She shuddered. "I mean, what if those places are what everyone says they are?"
Dash smiled and pulled her closer. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." He pecked her on the lips quickly as the door opened, revealing an ecstatic Kwan.
"Well, they're in!" He grinned, and the other two smiled knowingly.
"That's good." Paulina replied. "You didn't tell them where we're going yet, did you?"
"Nope. We want it to be a surprise, right?"
Paulina hesitated. "Well…never mind. You're right. It'll be a surprise." Still…I can't shake this horrible feeling.
**/\\**
"I warned you, didn't I Danny?" The little girl's voice echoed around his mind. "And now…It's too late."
He looked around. How is it possible that the voice is coming from everywhere? He thought. And then, in front of him, the little girl appeared. He gasped.
She was terrible. One clear slash was visible on her neck, and blood oozed from it, staining her yellow dress. Her pale green flesh showed signs of decay, and every few seconds a chunk would fall off. There were cracks on her face, and pieces of her skull were missing, show casing her pink-grey brain. But most frightening of all were her blood-red eyes, staring right into his soul.
"They'll go for you, ghost boy. Your fate has been sealed…don't say I didn't warn you." She let out a sigh, and then she was gone, and instead replaced by Shadows. Their eyes were the only feature he could make out-bright red or yellow. Dozens of them-maybe hundreds- surrounded him, trying to consuming him. Try as he might, he couldn't get away. One sunk its horrible claws into his flesh, and he cried out in pain. It smiled in return and continued to drag him down.
"You'll make a great meal!" It laughed, before opening its mouth-
Danny woke up in a cold sweat. He was shaking all over. What-what the fuck was that? He was on the verge of tears; he had never been so terrified in his life. He felt a stinging sensation on his shoulders and looked down at his ripped shirt. Blood spilled down both arms, seeping from five claw marks on each stifled a gasp, raising his bloodied hand to his face. The moonlight reflected off of the maroon liquid, making it shine like a horrible, deadly star.
And then there was the chilling breeze again.
I warned you.
