Author's Note

A little warning for this chapter. I know some people are touchy about religion in stories, and characters finding faith in God. Well, I hope I don't offend anyone by having something to that effect mentioned. It's hard to write something concerning ghosts and demons without also acknowledging the other side. In my mind, you can't have darkness without the light. (Demons without Angels) and since Supernatural is intertwined in here, we might actually see a few - though I have no idea at this point.

A lot more excitement in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Only one more before the end of the arc. And, with November thirtieth, well, I've made it! Fanfiction seems to have added several thousand words as well... but on my Word document I have finished National Writing Novel Month with 53,284 words. WOOT!

Chapter Twelve
Chaos

Blame is just a lazy person's way of making sense of chaos.
Doug Coupland

Azazel was going to get it for this one. True, a trip topside wasn't exactly bad, but he didn't like cleaning up after his ADHD brother. He needed to focus on one project at time, not begin one to fancy a whim and leave it half finished to attend to another one of his projects. But their father below wasn't terribly irate, apparently he approved of the game that Azazel was amusing himself with at the moment – even if he was a tad irritated that he had taken this little detour in the first place.

Wouldn't stop him from giving him a piece of his mind though.

He wasn't really cut out for this Land Putrefaction business anyway. He didn't like coaxing the blasted ectoplasm to do his will. He wanted the blasted stuff to do as he commanded and that was that, but of course, it didn't work like that. Bloody green slime. If it weren't such a vital piece to Hell he would've just obliterated the substance and be done with it, but as it were.

He was overdoing it a little though. The ritual didn't demand much, and somehow Azazel knew how to do it without the human inhabitance becoming aware of anything. But as such, his shock-wave had been a little too strong. What did he even care? It was a plus if a few humans were crushed in the process, in fact it annoyed him that he'd been asked not to wreck havoc on the town. Just finish the job and come back home. That in itself made him boil with wrath, froth with anger. The crimson demon shouted to the sky, a gut wrenching wail that sent out an energy pulse.

He couldn't stay long. No demon could, not unless they were in their weakest state, forced to entice men to allow them into their hearts and take over their bodies. He would rather do that, to be honest. Anything to have an actual body and not this monster of smoke and energy, but he couldn't finish this task in one of those. It would disintegrate.

"Hear my call, all ye who crawl," he whispered, producing a hellish blade and drawing it across his palm. "Slither out of your hell, arise in a mighty swell. Wash over this putrid land, engulf it and never disband. I commend it to you; turn the human's world askew. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Curse this earth, to thee I entrust."

And the world darkened as they heeded his call.

Ashes to Ashes

It was the beginning and it was the end. It was the conclusion of one section in his life, the termination of one way of thinking and way of conducting himself. And, it was the entry into a new realm of thought and a brand new world, the train ride that would never again take him back to the place he had once come from.

Danny Fenton was running, as fast as he could back to his house, back to his parents. His friends were in tow behind him, as were their parents. Well, at least, Tucker's parents were. They had stopped by at Sam's house but her parents had decided not to join them, for reasons that Danny didn't know, nor did he particularly care about. All he cared about was getting back to the safety of ghost hunting parental units. He skidded to halt as a ghostly woman came into form before them, her white sightless gaze staring right through them before drifting almost dreamily into the street.

"What is with these ghosts?" Sam muttered to him, watching the lady apprehensively. "It's almost as if—"

"They fade away as soon as they appear," Tucker finished. And, true enough, the lady then melted away into nothingness.

"Maybe they're those weak energy ghosts," Danny said. "Like they were brought up here, but they can't stay for more than a few seconds before going back."

"Then, where are the stronger ones?"

Danny didn't answer her. He merely started running again, calling for them to hurry up. He had no idea what was going on. Ghosts were everywhere and everyone could see them, but they weren't attacking anyone. They hardly seemed to pay any attention to the people of the city, and then they just evaporated. It was strange, and eerie, their blank staring eyes sending chills down his spine. He couldn't fathom what exactly was going on, and the only people he knew who would were less than a block away.

"Jack, wait!"

They rounded the corner to see Maddie grabbing a large gun out of her husband's hand. She muttered something to him but cut off abruptly when she saw him. "Thank goodness, Danny," she said dashing over to him. "Everyone, inside. Jack!"

His father cast another cautious look toward the floating mailman before following her inside. And, without skipping a beat, Danny and his friends followed after them. After everyone was in the living room – including Tucker's parents – Maddie shut and locked the door behind them. Everyone started talking at once.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Maddie, what's happening?"

"There are ghosts out there. Ghosts."

"Does this have something to due with the Stigma?"

"What's up with these ghosts?"

"I don't understand—"

Maddie held up a hand, silencing them all. Danny recognized the glimmer in her eye, the intelligent, taking charge woman was about to emerge. He honestly thought she was cool when she did that, admired how she could just withstand the chaos of a situation and form a coherent plan. "Everyone, I know this is a lot to process. First you need to understand this, ghosts are real." She looked meaningfully at the Foley couple and at her daughter Jazz – who was sitting with her knees huddled against her chest on the couch.

Danny felt just a little bad for her. Her whole world of logic and reason had fallen down about her shoulders.

"Second," his mother continued, "A demon has performed a stigma upon the town, allowing the people here to see ghosts and the ghosts to enter our dimension with less difficulty than before."

"Our…town?" Mrs. Foley spluttered. She looked clammy, almost as if she were about to faint. "But why? How?"

"I don't know why. This place has always been a little more, ah, high with ghost activity than normal. We could never figure out why. What we do know is that this is the work of a demon."

"A demon."

"Yes."

"Maddie," Mr. Foley broke in with a nervous laugh. "I'm as God fearing as any honest Christian, but that sounds just a little absurd. That just can't happen."

"And why not?" His mother met his gaze evenly. "You acknowledge that Hell and Satan exist and are trying to tempt us into damnation, correct?"

"Yes, but—"

"This is him trying to reach into our realm. I can't get into the specifics now so I'll merely recommend an informational book and ask you take my word for it." Mr. Foley didn't look entirely convinced but nodded for her to continue all the same. "Now, ever since the land got the Stigma – last Saturday, right Danny?"

"Yeah," Danny answered, and his friends nodded with him.

"Well, I've been trying to research what is going on, but I can't find anything. I found a mention of it, but it was in Japanese and I can't read the characters very well. But, what I believe it said is that after initial bestowing, the curse must be sealed and then it will take effect. I sent an email to the writer – a man named Mephisto – but I haven't heard back yet. In any case, I believe that this is what is happening now."

There was a moment's silence. "The curse is… going into effect."

"I believe so."

"Is there any way to undo it?" Sam asked. "I mean, some kind of counter-curse or something."

"This isn't Harry Potter, Sam," Tucker shot a little more sharply than normal. He caught himself right after though and muttered a soft apology. His mother looked grave.

"No. There isn't. Not when we've reached this stage."

"And," Danny asked slowly. "Which stage is that?"

"Everyone who died in this town in last two hundred years takes form." At the gasp from Mrs. Foley she quickly added, "They don't stay. They disappear after a moment or two."

"But why?" Danny pressed, his brow furrowing with confusion.

"I could barely read it, but it has something to do with the cursing of the land. Apparently their appearance and following disappearing is what seals it. The ectoplasm organizes to form the ghosts of those that died – mere echoes, not even the actual spirits of those peoples – and when they fall apart they are imprinted in the ground. At least, that is my understanding."

Danny nodded. That made sense, what little he could get from it anyway. But, what happened after every spirit had been formed and then disappeared? He knew he wasn't the only one on this line of thought. Sam met his icy blue gaze with her violet one, biting her lower lip and wringing her hands.

"And, then?" finally Mr. Foley pressed. He looked rather pale now, the arm he had wrapped around his wife shaking slightly.

"And then the bigger stuff can enter. Granted, everything has to set for a few days, kind of like how you stick jello in a fridge." His father grimaced. "The ghosts may start to consider this a vacation home. I suspect daily invasions."

"What on earth are we going to do?" Tucker asked, a tremor in his voice.

"Adapt." His mother said simply. "We'll probably have to get ghost shelters built, ghost drills in the school, a plan of defense against the more violent ones. We might need to have funds diverted to the research of ghost shields, capturing devices, and weapons as well."

"Capturing devices?" Mr. Foley questioned. "Are you planning on sticking them in some holding container like the Ghostbusters, cause that didn't work out so well for them."

"Better." His mother smiled then. "We're building a portal so we can stick them straight back into their home."

Ashes to Ashes

"At least we get out of school for a little while," Tucker said with a small smile. Danny sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Mom's already trying to get it reinstated. Probably won't be more than three days."

Tucker swore under his breath, earning a reproving glare from Sam. While his mother made calls to the mayor and the city council, his father took over the education of Tucker's folks. He had borrowed Danny's book – or rather Miss Invisible's book – and was reading bit out of it, answering questions and the like. It was a rare scene to behold, his father teaching someone else. He almost couldn't recognize him. He was so used to his silly nature, his inability to fully understand real life. But then again, now real life reflected everything he had ever taught him. He felt warmth in his chest, a gratitude for never giving up even when everyone around him thought him incompetent. Then Jack nodded, handed the Foley's the book, and disappeared downstairs.

"Where did he go?" Tucker asked as his parents came over to sit beside him.

"He went go finish that portal. I think we got the jest of it by now. Now kids, this is going to be hard but—"

"Mr. Foley," Sam cut him off with a sigh. "We already believe in ghosts. In fact, we've read that entire book you're holding. Well," she said glancing at Tucker, "most of it anyway."

Mr. Foley looked rather surprised but he nodded. "I suppose I should have expected that. After all, this is your book, isn't it Danny?"

"Uh yeah," he answered with a small smile. "We figured it out right when the school-year started."

"How are you guys taking this?" Tucker asked, glancing between his parents with something akin to worry. "Your okay, right?"

"Yes, okay is a good way to put it," his mother said with a nervous laugh. It died out quickly, leaving them in silence for a few moments. Then, Mrs. Foley stood up briskly, smacking her hands together. "Come, let's start cleaning this place up."

"R-really?" Danny said. "You don't have too—"

"No, I need to," she said. "It's really the least I can do for you folks."

And so it was they spent the next hour cleaning up the living room and kitchen. Danny cut his finger on a bit of broken glass, resulting in some playful teasing from his friends – and then Danny pointed out crossly that he hadn't passed out during the event and Sam roared with laughter at the look on Tucker's face. After much coaxing, Danny got his sister to join them and she started to slowly return to herself. Below them, in the basement, they could hear thudding and then a screwdriver and hammer at work. Then, just as the sun was beginning to set a very loud, amplified voice shook rang through their broken windows.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! Come out here and explain what is GOING ON!"

"Oh boy," Sam said, her already pale face lightening a few shades. "This isn't going to be good." And she dashed to the door, the rest of them hot on her tail. Jazz peaked out the door, made a odd choking noise and yelled for hers and Danny's parents to get there.

There, in front of their house was what looked like a mob of people. In the front were Sam's parents, her mother holding up a microphone. Danny was always struck whenever he saw them how much the looked like a couple from back in the fifties. There was a thundering behind them and his father joined them, looking tired but alert.

"Your mother is still on the phone, what's going on?"

"Oh nothing, just an angry mob set to destroy us," Danny said weakly. His father stared at him for a moment, as though not entirely sure if he was joking or not and then they went out onto the front.

"Samantha! Get over here now!"

Danny cringed, but looked over at Sam, curious about her reaction. As he had expected, she didn't move. She folded her arms, her eyes narrowing. Her mother glared at her but didn't ask her a second time, instead deciding to fix her furious glare on Jack.

"Jack Fenton, would you care to explain this?" She said her eyes narrowing at a ghost that passed before her before vanishing into thin air.

"Pamela," his father began cautiously. "This is not our doing, we literally couldn't have done this."

"No?" shouted someone from the crowd. "You've been spouting about ghosts since you first moved in here!"

"Yeah, this is all your fault!"

"If you hadn't been doing those freaky experiments maybe they would've left us alone!"

There was a thunderous yell of approval through the crowd. Danny found himself taking a step back, panic fluttering in his chest, tensing to run. He wasn't sure whether or not they'd just grab his parents – and his sister and him probably – and stick lock them up or just kill them. He paled; he didn't fancy either option. He glanced up at his father, and was surprised by the calmness he possessed. Jack looked out at them all for a moment before shouting above the crowd and bringing silence.

"Well, get rid of us then! Unless you know another ghost-hunting family in town." Silence met his words. And he nodded jerkily. "Well then, you're going to have to accept that we're the authority when it comes to ghosts and listen to us."

There was some scattered grumbling, but Danny was relieved to see that people were letting go of their anger. They looked more tired now – and scared, he realized. Every time a ghost would form they'd flinch. It struck him then that probably most of these people had converged her not just because the Manson's had rallied them together, but because they knew that either this was the center of the problem, or the answer to the solution. And, from the look of it, they were accepting that it was the latter. Pamela Manson, though still looking very upset, relented and nodded.

"So what do we do?" she asked, defeated.

"There's going to be some changes around here." Danny jumped. He hadn't realized that his mother had finished her phone call and joined them. She smiled gently at her husband, putting a hand on his shoulder before turning to the multitude before them and descending the stairs toward them. After a moment's hesitation the rest of them followed.

"I just had a long conversation with the mayor," Maddie continued. "There are going to be several changes around here, the least of which being our attitude toward certain aspects of life." She glanced at one of the specters that had formed before turning back to everyone. "But let us discuss this at the city hall, the mayor has called an emergency meeting. There, he and I will explain everything and answer any questions that you might have."

Ashes to Ashes

Danny had never been to a city meeting, mostly because he had assumed that they would be very long and very boring. And, after nearly three hours of sitting in on this one, he was beginning to think he had been very right – or at least, would have been if the topic weren't so serious.

Their mayor, a short stout man with a very bushy mustache, had begun the meeting by acknowledging the threat and then proposing a new state of action. His mother, aided by his father, would become his ghost security advisers. He then gave the podium over to his mother, who then spent the next hour explaining everything as simply as she could about ghosts and what they were currently experiencing. They were still in the process of answering questions about this information.

"What time is it?" Sam asked with a yawn from beside him.

"Nearly nine."

"It feels like later…"

"They haven't even started on what they are going to be doing." Tucker groaned and rubbed his eyes. "All these stupid questions…"

"Hey," Sam admonished, "Not everyone is as ready to accept this as us."

"Oh yeah? They have physical proof. Floating around, all over town."

Sam sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not that simple. They're being forced to consider the afterlife and for some of them they don't believe in anything. Anyway, they also have to accept our theory on the afterlife, not even the generic one."

"Okay, okay," Tucker said. "I get it. Stop it, my brain is already mush."

"Hey, I think the questioning is over," Danny said abruptly, sitting up in his seat. Indeed, his mother was clearing her throat, exchanging glances with the mayor. The crowd looked content, no other hands were waving in the air.

"Oh finally," Tucker said with a moan. "You do realize that we never got to have dinner?"

"Shut up, Tuck!" Danny hissed, although he was very amused. Of course, Tucker would be thinking about food at a time like this. "We're about to find out if we even have school for the rest of the year."

"Oh, don't wish for that," Sam muttered. "We'd be behind a year then!"

Danny didn't answer; his mother had started to speak.

"Now that that's all settled, there are going to be a few changes that will need to be implemented," Maddie began with a formal air. Danny wondered why she had never bothered becoming a public leader, and then the reason slapped him in the face with a big fat duh! "First and foremost, we need to make sure the youth are protected. I am requesting that we implement a "ghost drill" in the school, as well as the creation of some bunkers just in case we are faced with a large-scale invasion. Research needs to be done on creating better ghost shields, and ghost weapons. Fenton-Works as of right now doesn't have the resources to do all this immediately."

She paused, looking at everyone. There was no objection to this statement and so she went on, explaining what should be done if a ghost attacked – giving different scenarios for home, work, and school. She didn't think it was necessary to set up a "Ghostbuter's type force" as ghost hunters would be arriving from both local and distant areas to tackle the danger. She asked that people not swamp them with phone-calls every time a ghost was seen, not all were violent and they wouldn't be able to deal with everything on their own. She suggested that classes be held, educating people about what to do and how to defend against specters on their own.

Finally, after another round of questions and suggestions, the meeting was concluded when it was nearly midnight and Tucker had fallen sleep on the chair next to them. Danny yawned and stretched, blinking rapidly.

"So, do we have school? I think I missed that—"

Sam nudged him in the ribs. "Yeah, starting tomorrow already. I don't think a lot is happening just—" a yawn punctuated her sentence. "—just a more assembly type deal, educating us about everything that's going on and then drill practices. Actual school will resume Wednesday."

Danny groaned loudly. "Do we even have to go? We already know everything, and we were present for this entire thing."

Sam shrugged. "I might be able to convince my parents to let me skip."

"I doubt mine will," Danny said crossly poking Tucker awake. "They'll probably say the more prepared you are, the better it'll be."

"Wa' for eating?" Tucker grumbled, slowly coming too.

"C'mon, get up. We're going home now."

"Finally." Tucker got up and stretched, popping his back.

Danny smiled before finding his mother in the crowd. She was talking to a group of teachers; no doubt relating to them the drill plans and assorted information. He couldn't see Webb among them though. He frowned, wondering where Mr. Worth before he spotted her being led her from the back. Even though he was the one with the cane, he was supporting her. She looked awful, but her eyes were sharp and determined. As his gaze fell on them Mr. Worth looked up and met his gaze.

"I'll be right back."

"Dude, I'll see you later. My parent's are leaving now," Tucker said with another yawn. "Text me when you get up."

"Sure."

"I'm going too," Sam said. "See you tomorrow, maybe."

"Right." Danny waved and wormed his way through the crowd. He reached Mr. Worth just as he was directing Webb to a seat in the midst of the group of teachers still talking to his parents. When he saw him however, he whispered something into his fellow teacher's ear and crossed over to him.

"Well, it seems that we are not long the only ones to see the footprints."

"Yeah," Danny said with a grin. "You can say that. Hey, is Webb all right?"

The smile on Mr. Worth's face faltered a little. "She should be in bed, but…" he sighed rubbing his temple. "She's just a little overworked."

"Maybe she should take the day off tomorrow…"

"Oh, she will." Something in the way that he smiled made Danny think that he'd drag the sick teacher back home if he had too. That made him relax a little. What he knew of her so far, well, he liked her class and she was a great adviser. "Danny," Mr. Worth continued bringing him back to the present, "be careful, all right? Your house is going to be the safest, and most dangerous place now."

"I know. I'll be careful."

Mr. Worth nodded. "Shall I assume that you won't be in school tomorrow?"

"That depends on whether my parents force me to go."

His teacher laughed. "Well, if you don't show up I won't be worried that you got attacked on the way there."

Danny smiled in return and bade him farewell. His sister came up then, looking nearly ready to fall over. "Mom and Dad might need to stay for bit longer, I'll take you home."

Danny nodded and they walked back together, a flashlight leading the way since the power was still out. He was relieved to see that there were hardly any ghosts about now, probably coming to an end of the first stage. He glanced at his sister every now and then, making sure she was all right. Jazz didn't say anything until they were standing in front of the house.

"You tried to tell me, didn't you?" she said abruptly.

"What?" Danny said, taken aback.

"That time I came to talk to you? You told me what mom said, you already knew then, didn't you?"

Danny was silent for a moment, then, "Yes. I did."

Jazz laughed, but the sound held no mirth. "I should have listened. Should have given it a chance." She unlocked the door and went inside.

"You couldn't have known, Jazz," Danny said slowly.

"But I should have."

"It doesn't make any sense to the scientific mind."

"But that's just it. It does make sense." She yelled with frustration and sat down on the couch, putting her head in her hands. "There is nothing in my research to actually contradict this existence. If I base it solely on what has been observed, one might even go so far as to suggest that the possibility of a higher power, of a realm after death is not so far-fetched."

"Whoa there Jazz. You might make me think you've suddenly become religious."

"Who knows, maybe I will." She looked up at him. "Can you really believe in ghosts, can you have a knowledge of ghosts and the afterlife and not believe in something?"

"Well," Danny said, taking a seat beside her. "I mean, mom doesn't believe, does she?"

"I think that she might, actually. I haven't asked her, but I don't see how she can be a part of that world and not see the light as well as the dark."

Danny yawned. "Jazz, it's too late – too early rather – to discuss philosophy and religion."

"Do you believe?"

Danny paused, staring back into her sea-green eyes. She had that determined look on her face, and knew that she wouldn't let him leave until he had answered. But what was his answer. Sure, Danny believed in ghosts, one hundred percent, but God? He'd always considered himself Agnostic, no way for them to know for certain. But was that really true? Wasn't this whole situation evidence that there was a Hell and a Devil? Therefore, wasn't it logical to assume that there was also a Heaven and a God?

He felt the warmth in his chest again, as though there was a fire resting on top of his heart. It filled him up, and he found that he knew the answer.

"Yeah. I think I do. It's like you said. You can't have darkness, without light."