Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 3

The strange lack of ghosts was starting to get to Danny by the time Friday came around. It became a nightly ritual, going out a searching for any trace of the usual ghosts that he used to fight, but he found none. The only ghost he ever came across was that new lady ghost with the brass colored colonial dress, but even then she never stuck around. It seemed that whenever he caught a glimpse of her, she would fly away with that speed that Danny couldn't follow.

Danny had brought it back up to Sam and Tucker at school that day. After four straight nights of the lack of activity the two of them had come to the same conclusion that Danny had, that new ghost had to be the reason for it, but how and why?

They met up that night to get their answers, but she didn't show. They had waited impatiently on a roof next to the clock tower, where Danny usually sees her, until far past midnight; past the usual time when she passes by that spot.

"How strange," Sam commented, looking through a pair of ghost detecting binoculars that Danny had brought from his parent's lab. "You're sure this is the direction she appears from?"

Danny nodded, floating a few feet above them in his ghost form, "Positive, she comes from the direction of the lake, makes a loop around the tower then heads in the direction of the mall. I don't know where she goes from there. I try to follow her, but she always outflies me."

"Three weeks…" Sam said thoughtfully.

"What's up?" Tucker asked as Sam put down the binoculars.

"Probably nothing," Sam shook her head.

"What?" Danny floated down to their level.

Sam looked between the two of them and shrugged, "Well, I was just thinking that it's quite a coincidence. It was about three weeks ago when Anna Marie moved here."

"Yeah?"

"The sightings of this new ghost started about three weeks ago too," Sam continued. "Then there's the fact that there is no information on her, no physical or digital proof that Anna Marie VanRatten really exists except that the name appears in Georgia."

"That virus wiped out most of their records and her data is corrupted, remember?" Tucker reminded her. "I've been checking on it, it's still corrupted."

"You think she's this ghost?" Danny's eyes widened.

Sam threw her arms out, "I don't know, there's just a lot that is happening around the same time, you know? Maybe you can get some more information out of her when you meet with her tomorrow." She looked up at Danny, "She connects with you for some reason; maybe she'll open up to you more if it's just the two of you."

"You're convinced she's involved?" Tucker asked.

"Not convinced, just suspicious."

Danny didn't say anything at first, but with Sam staring up at him expectantly like she was, he couldn't help but agree, "Fine, but I'm not going to push. You saw her on Tuesday. I don't want to make her upset again."

Sam agreed. It was obvious to all three of them that Anna had been through something terrible and making her relive those memories was not worth the information.

Danny met up with Anna at a coffee shop near the city government building the next afternoon, as they had agreed on Tuesday. Anna was late, explaining that she had a couple things had needed to drop off at the office first, but that she was done now. Her smile was a little forced and her face was pale.

"Are you feeling okay?" Danny asked, concerned.

"Oh," Anna put a hand to her cheek. "I'm okay. I was a little sick last night. I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me."

Danny blinked, "You were sick? As in… laid up in bed sick?"

Anna raised an eyebrow as a response, "That is the idea, isn't it? Why? Interested in how many times I threw up?"

Danny blanched but Anna just laughed at him, a little color returning to her cheeks. Danny couldn't help the small smile that turned up the corners of his mouth, even when his mind was pointing out the obvious parallel between the ghost being absent and Anna Marie being sick.

"I know you're not one for coffee," Anna said when her laughter subsided. "Let's head over to the Nasty Burger for lunch."

"What about your stomach?"

Anna held up a paper bag, containing what Danny assumed to be an emergency lunch, and a thermos, "I came prepared."

Danny kept the conversation light on the way to the Nasty Burger, asking Anna about work and what working for Vlad was really like.

"He has a temper and he's hard headed, but he's not as bad as you make him out to be," she answered as they came to a stop at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. "There's a lot going on at the office and it's stressing him out."

"You talk awfully nice about Vlad," Danny was skeptical, that did not sound like Vlad. "He's not rude to you at all? He doesn't overwork you?"

"A little, but it doesn't bother me," Anna smiled at Danny as the crosswalk light turned white and they continued on their way. "He reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago."

Danny looked down at the ring on Anna's hand, gulped, then looked back up and dared to ask: "You're fiancé?"

Anna hesitated, biting her lip as if questioning whether to answer or not and if so, what to say. Finally, she sighed and nodded.

"He died in the fire too?"

"No that was… a different situation."

"You could find someone else then. You're pretty! There'd be plenty of guys that'd…" Danny stopped when Anna stopped walking.

He turned to look at her. He expected her to look sad, maybe for there to even be tears in her eyes, but there wasn't. There was a determined look on her face instead.

"I can't do that, Danny." She said, "This isn't something I can just throw away then go and find someone else. I made a promise and I have to keep it. I have no other choice but to keep it, even if I have to wait forever."

It took Danny a moment to process the statement, "A promise?"

Anna covered her mouth, eyes wide. She sighed, uncovering her mouth and closing her eyes.

"You know…" For a moment Danny thought she was going to get angry, but then she smiled. "It's been a long time since I've been this uncandid with anyone. Here I just met you Monday and already it's like I've known you forever. It's like I've got an annoying little brother prying into my business, but I don't even mind!"

Anna laughed again, but Danny didn't join in this time. There was affection in her voice, but he got the feeling that his prying truly was not welcome. Danny was starting to understand the feeling that Sam had; something really was not right here.

"Anyway," Anna brought Danny out of his thoughts. "We better get going. You're probably starving!"

Danny laughed awkwardly and they continued on their way. He wasn't really sure if he was fit for interrogating anymore.

The rest of the walk to the Nasty Burger was mostly quiet, Danny having no desire to cause Anna to look at him like that again. He had definitely touched a nerve somewhere, but which nerve was becoming increasingly difficult to determine. There were so many layers to Anna Marie. Some topics made her sad, others filled her with an intense determination that Danny had never seen before. He knew girls were confusing, but this was ridiculous.

Danny got his food and met Anna at a table by a window. She was unpacking what she had brought with her; crackers covered with a light spread of thick honey and the lid of the thermos filled with tea.

As they ate, he wracked his brain for more things to talk with her about. He didn't want that to be the last thing they talked about.

"Um…" Anna glanced up over the rim of the cup. "Where have you been living since you've moved here?"

"Oh, I started renting out the old lighthouse on lake Eerie," She answered.

"That old place?" Danny said, surprised. "I didn't know it was being rented."

"It wasn't at the time," Anna shrugged. "Took a little convincing, but the family that used to own the place eventually let me rent it for cheap."

"Why out there? There are places here in town that rent for cheap too."

Anna smiled, "Its quiet out there, reminds me of home."

"Where you used to live was out on a lake?"

Anna nodded, "Not as big as Eerie, but it was nice. We had a gazebo and a garden in the front overlooking the lake and a family cemetery off a path behind the house. Father used to take us kids out in his boat sometimes to catch trout. Though, I wasn't as good at it as my brothers. They used to laugh at me at how I used to catch the hem of my dress more than any actual fish."

Danny let out a relieved sigh as Anna laughed, recalling the memory. "You had a large family then?"

"Mmm…" She put a finger to her chin in thought. "Not really, there were five kids, including me, my mother and father, and my oldest brother's wife and daughter lived with us as well."

"That's almost ten people in one house!" Danny said, surprised. "And you're oldest brother lived with you? How old were all of you?"

"Well, we were all born pretty close together except for my baby brother," Anna explained, "If we go by how old I am, my oldest sibling 28, the next one down 27, the next 26, me 25, and my baby brother 16."

So her youngest brother would be my age if he was still alive, Danny thought, taking a bite of his burger. I wonder what he was like.

"You have any siblings, Danny?" Anna asked.

"Not as many as you," He laughed. "I've got my sister Jaz. She started college this year though, so she's not home."

"You two are close?"

"Kind of, we weren't always. But we got a lot closer recently. I am glad for that." Danny said. "Feels like I have someone I don't have to hide things from."

Anna smiled, "It is okay to have secrets. Everybody has at least one."

"Even you?"

Anna chuckled, "You know for a fact that I do."