Hello again! I just want to take a hot sec to thank you for following the story! I hope you will continue to show your support :) Here's Chapter 5 for you! This is by far my favorite chapter so far, so I hope you guys will enjoy it. Also, leave reviews for me! I love seeing people commenting on my story, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'd love to get a chance to talk to some of the readers :) Now, without further adieu, Chapter 5!
The frosty blue mist indicative of nearby ghosts escaped Danny's lips as he leaned in for another bite of his burger. He failed to notice the cool chill to his spine that usually accompanied the release of his ghost sense probably because he had grown so used to the sensation after so often experiencing it. He didn't think much of it, and continued to chow down on his grease laden Nasty burger. At least until he glanced up to see Sam staring at him from across the table with a blank expression on her face.
"Uh, what was that?" Tucker asked before Sam could form the words.
Danny swallowed hard and nonchalantly wiped away ketchup and mustard from the corners of his mouth. "It's probably just the Box Gho-" Oh shit...
"Uh, my breath! It's just my breath. Woo!" Danny dropped his half-eaten burger onto his tray and started frantically rubbing his arms. "Is it just me? Or is a lil chilly in here?"
Sam raised an eyebrow quizzically, but resumed slowly chewing on her veggie burger. Tucker was mumbling something about the air conditioning and it being a thousand degrees outside, but was quickly distracted by his milkshake.
Phew! I've got to be more careful. Danny sternly reminded himself. Nobody knows. Just act like you do around Jack and Maddie. He nodded to himself, and started to piece back together the contents of the burger he had dropped just moments ago. But just as he was about to take another bite, he felt another chill tickling and climbing up his spine. He could feel the cool cloud gather in the back of his throat, but he tried desperately not to release it.
His ghost sense, trapped in his mouth, grew colder and colder until he could feel tears forming at the corner of his eyes and immediately turning to beads of ice. In three swift movements, Danny flicked his hair into his eyes to conceal the ice crystal tears, pushed out abruptly from the table, and clasped his palm across his mouth as he bolted for the bathroom.
Everything happened within a few seconds, so Sam and Tucker were just left sitting, frozen, at the table. Their eyes transitioned from each other, to Danny's empty seat, to the direction in which Danny had run off.
"Is he okay?" Asked a waitress that had to side step a rushing Danny as to not be steamrolled. Sam and Tucker just slowly nodded in unison, not saying anything, equally as puzzled as the waitress. "I think I better go check on him..." Tucker said, almost asking permission or confirmation from either the waitress or Sam, who sat rooted in place, still blankly looking confused. "Mm," was all she could manage as agreement to his proposal as Tucker stood up from his chair and turned towards the men's restroom.
In the bathroom, Danny exhaled sharply as soon as the door behind him came to a close, not checking to make sure that all the stalls were clear. A rush of cold breath streamed from his mouth as he clutched the edge of the countertop, hunched over with his time medallion from Clockwork swinging back and forth like a pendulum. His lungs stung as he released his ghostly sense.
Danny looked up into the mirror above the sink of which he was hunched over, and carefully examined his face as he steadied his breathing. A few tiny crystals of ice were caught in his lower lid eyelashes at the corner of his eyes. He leaned in closer and delicately picked the crystals out of his lashes, depositing them in the sink. As he was finishing up, he noticed a red and yellow speck stuck to his chin. He turned on the water, cupped his hands beneath the stream, and leaned in to wash away the remnants of his burger. He switched the water to cold, cupped his hands again and took a sip from his palms when he heard footsteps just outside the restroom door.
Danny reached forward to turn the water off as Tucker pushed through the men's room door. Danny panicked, although he didn't really know why. He wasn't in ghost form, he was just normal Danny Fenton. Well, awkward, but human Danny Fenton.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as Tucker was entering the men's room. Danny's time medallion was again swinging wildly to and fro from a series of jolting movements from turning the water off and turning to see Tucker entering through the door. He can't see it, Danny thought. Instinctively, he brought up his right hand and clasped the medallion between his palm and the center of his chest as Tucker stopped mid-step.
Danny straightened up to greet his friend while trying to come up with some excuse for suddenly running off, but it took him a few seconds to realize that Tucker wasn't moving.
"Tuck?"
His hand was still pushed up against the door and his left foot was suspended a few inches off the tile floor of the men's room.
Danny shuffled towards him, wary of whether or not Tucker was playing some kind of prank, and waved his left hand in front of his friend's face all the while keeping the time medallion hidden against his chest.
Nothing. He didn't even blink. Danny held two fingers beneath Tucker's nose and noticed he wasn't even breathing.
"What the-"
Greetingssss, Phantom, came a familiar voice.
Danny jumped back into a defensive stance, both fists clasped and ready at his sides. He looked around, searching for the source of the mysteriously familiar voice.
Where have I heard that voice before?
Do you rememberrrr mmmmee? It spoke again, echoing through the small room. A dark shadow spread over the tile of the bathroom floor in front of Danny's feet, and crept up Tucker's legs and onto the door and wall behind his time-frozen figure.
Danny spun around, transforming into Phantom in the process, knowing that his secret was safe from Tucker for the time being. Danny pounced up from the ground, and levitated just a few inches high as he turned to face the shadow's owner.
Only, there was no one behind him. Just the darkness of a creator-less shadow coating the walls and stall doors. Danny didn't know what to do, where to look, or even what to say as he racked his brain, trying to remember where he'd heard that voice before.
"IIIII have commme for youuu" the words replayed in his head from some other occasion, some other encounter...
His dream!
Ahhhh, noooowww you remember my voiccce.
"Who are you, and what do you want?!" Danny shouted at the ceiling.
Whyyyy, you knooooow what I'vvvve come forrr.
Out of the corner of his eye, Danny noticed a dark figure appear in the mirror to his left. He brought his fists up in front of him as he hovered backwards, back against the wall.
The head of the Chimera ghost from his dream the night before was staring him straight in the face, but in reality this time. Danny turned, but the restroom was still empty, as if the monster was trapped within the confines of the mirror.
Danny faced the mirror, furrowing his brow. "What. Do you want?"
The ghostly visitor didn't respond. It appeared to be getting closer, like the mirror was really some gate to another dimension. Maybe it was a makeshift ghost portal to the Ghost Zone? But just when it seemed the Chimera's head would emerge from the surface of the mirror, thick, smoky fog streamed out over the counter and onto the floor before Danny's feet.
Only youuuu can freeee meee from this hellll...
The restroom, which had grown darker and darker while the voice was speaking to Danny, returned to normal, and the air no longer felt as dense.
Danny's mind was running amuck. It's real. It wasn't just a dream. His thoughts were going between the events of his nightmare and the conversation that had just unfolded. Me? Free you?
Before Danny could contemplate any deeper, he heard thud come from behind him. Tucker.
He tilted his head just enough to make out Tucker's dull tan work boot press against the tile of the floor as he resumed his stride through the bathroom door. Without letting another second pass, Danny disappeared, leaving only a cloud of white smoke in his wake.
The restroom door slowly swung shut as Tucker stood dumbfounded in the middle of the men's room.
"Danny?"