Chapter 8:
Danny POV-
Sam and I left the mall shortly after we ate. I dropped her off at her house and she gave me a light peck goodbye, before we parted ways and I went home.
Other than the Skulker incident this morning, which wasn't really an incident, more like a routine—we show up, blast each other, he calls me whelp, and I suck him into a thermos—the amount of ghost activity had been suspiciously quiet. Which meant, at least, that I finally had time to relax (a little) and think about getting caught up on my schoolwork, before inevitably reconsidering and laying down on my bed to maybe catch a nap.
No such luck.
I was only seconds away from falling asleep, in that stage directly between consciousness and unconsciousness, when my ghost sense went off. It jerked me awake, it almost always does, but I wasn't quite ready to give up on the prospect of a nap yet, so I closed my eyes again, but not nearly in the same half-asleep phase that I had been in a few seconds ago.
My ghost sense went off again, and I groaned.
"Really?" I asked in frustration, "Nothing all week and when I'm trying to take a nap you show up?"
Sighing, I stood up, transforming, and phasing out of my house to do look around.
Well, there was no blasts or taunts or Box Ghost to greet me. Which could have meant that the interruption had been from some passing ghost, trying to find their way into the ghost zone through our portal. It happened sometimes, and I usually give them directions into my basement assuming that the ghost shield is off (occasionally, the ghosts didn't speak English which made giving directions more difficult).
However, when I'm around, at least, it wasn't very often that whatever I sensed wasn't a threat (or at least trying to be), and, in that case, the silence was usually a bad thing, it meant I was likely to be ambushed. As a result, I tensed up; holding myself in a fighting stance, but no ambush came.
I scanned the area again, this time looking down streets, which were busier than usually with the comfortable weather, for any signs of ghostly activity. I nearly shrugged and went back inside, but then something caught my eye.
A glowing green figure flashed between the crowds.
The closer I got, the better I could make out the form. It was a ghost I had never seen before, a marionette doll, from the looks of it, who seemed to be having a blast manipulating the citizens.
I stopped when I was directly behind him, crossing my arms and clearing my throat loudly. The ghost turned around, and honestly, I have to say, he is one of the disturbing ghosts I have ever seen (and I have seen Technus in a bath towel).
He was the same eerie green that all the other ghosts are, but he seemed to be made of wood, old wood, which was cracking and splintering down his face. His eyes were red, but lolled in different directions, unable to focus on anything in particular. His hinged jaw, full of yellowing wooden teeth, curved into a demented smile.
"Danny Phantom," he said in a cracked voice, full of sarcasm. His voice was unnatural and the hinges of his mouth squeaked before his jaw hit together with a knocking sound, "Are you here to stop me from manipulating the people of your town?"
"Um…Yeah," I replied, not quite sure how to respond to that. The ghost cackled loudly. Floating up higher, but not in a fluid motion, he floated up like the hinges of his wooden frame did not work in sync with each other.
"I hear your girlfriend has twins…I think I did a nice job," he cackled creepily again, flashing me another crooked, yellow, smile.
"Wait a minute!" I forcefully grabbed the ghost by his tattered overalls, venom lacing my voice, "You did that!"
He laughed, disappearing out of my grasp, and reappeared farther away, closer to the ground, cutting off one of the pigtails of a little girl in the process. He disappeared again, and reappeared in front of me.
"Of course!" the ghost exclaimed in cruel delight.
"Why?" I asked honestly confused. What purpose would a ghost, especially one that I have never met before, have in messing with Sam and my life?
"Because I am Hatchwork, the manipulator," he explained, in the same 'evil villain announcement' manor that I was used to. "I spent life cursed to be a puppet master's play thing, but no more. Now I am the one who controls the lives of others! And no one can control me any longer!" the ghost continued, screeching wickedly.
He waved his hands over a young couple who were sitting on a park bench, looking lovingly at each other, holding hands.
Then, the woman, suddenly slapped the man beside her, and within seconds, both were involved in two separate arguments with each other, that had nothing to do with the other one's argument.
"Alright, that's enough of this," I growled, unclipping the thermos from my belt. I looked around for the creepy puppet, but he had vanished again, leaving a trail of upset people on the streets, with one person to blame: me, the ghost who was currently floating above them.
'Great and I was just starting to be more liked by people,' I sighed, turning invisible and flying home.
What do you think of Hatchwork? I didn't want to leave Danny and Sam not knowing how everything happened in the first place, but I couldn't create a justifiable reason for any of the other ghosts to…do that. So, I decided that I would make my own, but I didn't know what to do.
And then my parents and I went and toured a house in my neighborhood that's being built, and the front door creaked and slammed shut because of the wind, and I thought it was creepy…and then suddenly I had the idea of a creepy controlling marionette. (They honestly do give me the creeps. And porcelain dolls. I think it's because when I was little my grandma had a doll collection, and one of them was this ugly clown baby…ugh). Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter.