Day 14 - Seance
Summary: Valerie is being haunted, and none of the usual methods are working to pin down who's behind it. Time to try and commune with the dead to get some answers!
Valerie had never been one to believe in superstition. Even after ghosts started showing up in Amity Park and she began hunting them, she viewed them more like the Fentons did: products of a natural process that just so happened to have otherworldly powers (that could generally be explained by physics). She'd never bought into the more mystical side to ghosts.
Danny tried to explain it to her once, telling her how while yes, much of who and what he was could be explained by science, there wasn't necessarily an explanation for some of the things he experienced. Science couldn't explain the way his core grew stronger when he sang a specific song from the Scorched Lands, or why he couldn't stomach emotions of gratitude specifically on the third Thursday of the month. Still though, she figured there was just some explanation that science hadn't been able to find yet. She was a woman of rationality.
So then why was she allowing herself to even entertain the thought of something mystical happening in her apartment?
She scowled as she set the candles on her coffee table, around the spirit board she'd borrowed from Nathan Davies (even three years after graduation and multiple refusals for dates, he was still way too into her. All she'd had to do was bat her eyes at him when he came into the Nasty Burger to get him to let her use it). The fact that she was getting ready to use it made her even crankier. She couldn't believe it had come to this.
But her apartment was haunted, and the usual methods of extracting ghosts were failing her. So Plan B it was (although it was more like Plan M at this point).
It had started in the bathroom one evening after her shower. Someone - or something - had written "hi" on her bathroom mirror, and it appeared in the steam from the shower. It had been so stereotypically silly that she'd literally laughed when she first saw it, assuming Danny was in one of his prankster moods.
Except Danny had denied doing it, and Tucker had confirmed they'd been in the Ghost Zone the whole day. So that meant a ghost had somehow snuck into her apartment, past all of her detectors, and left the message. For what?
Despite the frustration of a ghost slipping through her defenses, she quickly forgot about it until a couple days later, when she found another message, this time written on the back of an envelope for a random bill, but this one was scribbled out entirely. She couldn't decipher what had been written before being scratched out, but she thought she saw words like "remember" and "cool," both of which told her nothing.
And then the next day, there had been a red rose in her freezer, coated with frost to preserve the petals. No message had been attached to it, and so she confronted Danny about it again, knowing his skill with his ice powers.
Again, he denied doing it, citing the fact that he was still working on perfecting his ability to frost plants over without killing them as proof. He speculated that another ghost was behind it, but she explained that it was impossible, since her detectors still weren't being triggered.
The disturbances continued to ramp up as Valerie started finding things like rumpled blankets on her couch that hadn't been there before she left for work, the faint whiffs of her perfume lingering in the bathroom even though she hadn't sprayed it that morning, and a box of chocolate PopTarts shoved in the back of her pantry despite never having bought PopTarts in her life. More and more messages appeared in random places, some scribbled out, most others saying simple things like "hope you're doing well." A few more red roses appeared too - one on top of her steering wheel, one in her medicine cabinet, and, startlingly enough, one in a drawer where she kept most of her smaller blasters.
She began to lose sleep as she stayed up at night, scanning her apartment thoroughly for signs of ectoplasmic activity, but her scans never turned anything up. Every time she opened a cabinet or a drawer, she'd tense up as she'd wait to see if something else had been moved or added. Never taken away, interestingly enough. An ectogun and a thermos were openly carried on her person when she wasn't in her hunting gear.
Danny stayed over a few times while she was at work to keep an invisible eye on her place and see if his ghost sense could pick up something her detectors weren't. Even with him and his knack of tracking ghosts down, nothing turned up.
"Whoever it is probably knows I'm there," he told her one night as he stayed for dinner, "and so they're staying away too."
And so it came down to tonight - her last ditch attempt to figure out what was going on and who was haunting her apartment. She, Valerie Gray, was going to host a seance.
She still refused to buy into some of the more serious stuff that Sam had been more into before leaving for Berkeley (although she was still probably into it, all things considered). It had been hard enough bringing herself to walk into the shop on Sixth that touted all things dark, occult, and mystical, and seeing all of the paraphernalia made her hate what she was going to attempt to do even more. The clerk had been met with a very firm "no" when they tried to sell her on a few additional items.
Everything she knew about seances came from the wikiHow article that had popped up /when she'd searched "how to have a seance." She didn't want to do any more in depth research than that. Still though, because she was so desperate, she made sure to follow its instructions as closely as she could.
Step 1: Choose a quiet room to use.
That had been easy enough. Usually her apartment was quiet aside from the TV when it was on, or if the window was open and the neighbors were being loud. She'd made sure it was firmly locked and the TV was unplugged before continuing the setup.
Step 2: Invite people who believe in the spirit world.
Well that would qualify just about every person in Amity Park, but this was already embarrassing enough. She'd do it alone, thank you very much.
Step 3: Prepare basic questions for the spirit.
The article recommended the use of yes or no questions and to keep them more generalized if the target of the seance was unknown. She wrote down a list of a few questions to make sure she wouldn't forget or accidentally ask the wrong question. No sense in driving the ghost away because of a silly mistake.
Step 4: Set your table with the candles and ritual supplies you plan to use.
Candles were great for lighting the room and attracting spirits, the article said. She'd bought a few plain white ones at the shop she'd visited, along with some incense. A pentagram might help bind the spirit once it appeared, the article also indicated, but she refused to draw one on her coffee table. Hopefully one drawn on paper would be strong enough.
The next steps talked about different methods to use to contact a spirit. She eyed the spirit board in front of her with a wary glance again. So long as Nathan didn't expect her to actually go out on a date with him, this would be fine. No pendulums or mediums necessary (Amity Park was a bit of a desert for mediums, anyway. Most were phony, and it was hard to pull a scam on people who were all too used to the presence of ghosts in the first place).
The article recommended setting up recording devices to make sure to capture all parts of the seance. She'd already planned on doing so; the Fentons had already proven that audio and video recordings could pick up on responses from a ghost that normal human vision or hearing couldn't. It was one of the benefits to having a built-in camera and microphone in her suit.
Her phone sat to the side for audio purposes. She didn't have a camera, but Danny lended her one that his dad had tricked out for the intention of recording ghosts. It was set up in the corner, and her laptop's camera was rolling in the opposite corner as a backup.
Sighing, she checked back over the setup steps one more time. It was a stall tactic more than anything; the next steps involved the actual seance itself, and she was not thrilled to get to that point.
Only there was no delaying the inevitable.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her lighter and quickly lit the candles and the incense. The scent of lemongrass and candle smoke quickly permeated the air. She hit the record button on both her phone and the camera from Danny and settled into a cross legged position on the floor.
Make sure everyone is relaxed. Focus on the point of your seance to help you make contact.
She took in one, slow deep breath. Was her stomach fluttering because of nerves or simply anticipation? She hoped it was the latter; the idea that she was somehow nervous about this nonsense made her balk. She hunted ghosts daily. She'd faced the likes of the Fright Knight, Vlad Plasmius, and the Ghost King. She'd been the closest hunter to catching Phantom back before he'd revealed himself as Danny. She didn't do nervous.
Recite an opening incantation, the article said next. The clerk from the one shop had tried to offer her a few summoning spells, but she'd declined those as well. She was more than capable of announcing herself to a mischievous ghost.
"I'm looking for the spirit who's haunting this place," she said, feeling stupid even as the words left her mouth. As if it weren't already obvious what she was doing.
She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling, if anything. The clerk had warned her that a skeptical attitude would likely result in a failed seance, and her attitude definitely qualified as skeptical. The fact that she wasn't feeling any changes in the environment only reaffirmed her suspicions that she was sabotaging her own efforts.
Except if she chose to believe that, then she'd be admitting a belief in the plausibility of seances in the first place. So which was it?
Focus, Val, she told herself. She needed this to work, or at least to give her an idea of who was haunting her. Having her apartment constantly messed with and not knowing what she was going to find next was driving her mad.
Steeling herself, she asked, "Are there any spirits here tonight?" A yes or no question. Simple enough to answer. She put a single finger on the planchette and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Valerie huffed. She should've known this was all a ridiculous ruse. Ghosts didn't respond to things like seances. They were relatively logical creatures who followed reasonable behavior patterns based on provable phenomena.
She was about to call it all off and call up Danny again for any more possible advice when the planchette moved.
She stared, dumbfounded, as the planchette inched its way towards YES. Her detectors, of which she'd made sure several were present in her living room, remained silent. Danny, the only one who ever managed to make it past her detectors, knew how much this whole situation was bothering her. While a little turd he could be at times, he wouldn't be so mean as to mess with this. And no one else was touching the planchette besides her.
"I knew it," she whispered under her breath.
The flames of the candles flickered.
Valerie took another deep breath as the planchette finished its journey to YES. "Okay then, can you tell me who you are?"
The planchette began moving again, this time towards the letters. First I… then D… then…
"What do you mean you don't know?" she said, trying to keep the angry screech out of her voice. Then, remembering some ghosts had trouble with their memories, she asked, "Do you know your name?"
YES.
"So when you say you don't know, you just mean you aren't willing to tell me?"
YES.
"Right," she muttered. "Will you tell me why you're haunting me, at least? Like, I don't want to be rude, but I think I have the right to know."
The letters again. W… A… N… T…
T… O… S… A… Y…
H… I.
"Hi." The first message that had appeared on her mirror a few weeks ago. The temperature in the room dropped.
She found herself at a loss. "So all this… leaving me messages and flowers, messing with my stuff… it's all just to say hi?"
S… O… R… T… O… F.
The half-answers were beginning to frustrate her more than the haunting itself. An inexplicable breeze drifted through the room, causing the candle flames to flicker again.
To another person, they might just take the signs as being indicative of the presence of ghosts. Valerie was not any other person, though. Her eye was well trained to notice slight disturbances, and she always kept herself acutely aware of her environment. The ghost was moving, it had to be. Her hand not on the planchette crept towards something hidden under the edge of the couch.
"Why me, then?" she asked. She didn't want attention drawn to her moving hand. "There are tons of other people you could say hi to, so why pick the ghost hunter of all people?"
Y… O… U… R…
C… O… O… L.
Her lip couldn't help but quirk upwards as she watched the grammar mistake unfold. In a way, it was oddly endearing. Made it seem more like a Danny type ghost than some mystical presence. Still though, she kept her hand moving.
"Well, I don't know why a ghost would think a ghost hunter is cool, but Danny still thinks his parents are really neat, so that's something," she said. "But why flowers? And PopTarts? It's all just so random."
D… O… N… T…
W… A… N… T…
T… O… L… E… A… V… E.
Her brow furrowed. "You do realize I'm far less likely to kick you out if you actually tell me who you are, right? I know I have the whole huntress reputation, but I'm not nearly as bad as I was." Says the girl who's about to turn the tables.
A thought occurred to her. "Okay, tell me this: are you a ghost I've met before?"
The planchette didn't move right away this time. She wondered if she'd scared them off, but the room was still cold and the flames would occasionally flicker. Her hand closed around the object under the couch, but she didn't bring it forward, especially when the planchette finally did move.
YES.
Another impossible breeze brushed across Valerie's face. Thinking quickly, she whipped out the net gun she'd hidden under the couch and aimed it in the direction she was (mostly) sure the ghost was. "A-ha!" she cried as she fired.
The net hit true, ensnaring its target. The ghost shouted in surprise as it was thrown back from the force of the net, causing it to crash into the wall and lose its invisibility. Valerie stood quickly, net gun still aimed at the ghost.
She looked it over. Black and white outfit. Wide, acid green eyes. A familiar logo stitched onto the chest. Perfectly white hair. A ghost she had, most definitely, met before. /
"Seriously?" she said, her voice pitched far too high for her liking. "It's been you this whole time?"
The sheepish face of Dani Phantom grinned up at her from under the net. "Uhh… surprise?" she said, lifting her arms to shrug.
It didn't take long to remove the net. Soon, the two sat across from each other, still on the floor. Dani elected to remain in her ghost form and allowed a spectral tail to drift lazily into the air.
Valerie didn't know where to start. "I don't understand. The last time I saw you was -"
"When you and Danny stabilized me, I know," Dani interrupted. She played with the fibers of the carpet absently.
"That was like, years ago," Valerie said. "And that was the one time we ever really interacted. I haven't even seen you the few times you've come around to say hi to Danny."
Dani's face flushed green. "If it helps, I was only really passing through. His portal is so much easier to use than random natural portals, you know? I've been trying to learn how to make my own, but it's… definitely slow going."
"I'm still confused, though. Why now? Why haunt me?"
The green in Dani's cheeks burned brighter. "I… well, it's just - I was back in town, you know, I - I wanted to stick around Amity Park a little longer this time, but Danny was really busy when I got into town and all, and I didn't want to bother him, and - and I knew you were still here too, so I kindasortamaybe looked you up and came to say hi?"
Valerie's brow knitted together. "Dani, it's been nearly four weeks since you left that first message."
"I know!'' the hybrid said, throwing her head back in exasperation. "I've just been… shy, you know? It's - I mean, like you said. Back when you stabilized me was really the only time we ever interacted with each other. I didn't know how to… I don't know, approach you, I guess? And not make it all awkward?"
"Not to be rude, but I think haunting me for weeks on end definitely makes things more awkward than just knocking on my door and saying hi," Valerie said. She shifted her position. She didn't have the heart to tell the poor girl that she was definitely feeling awkward right now.
"In my defense, I haven't exactly had the most social interaction to learn from." Dani's tail flicked anxiously. "And I was just - I got so nervous, 'cause I didn't want to freak you out, or - or mess it up, and… Ugh!" She paused, took a deep breath, then continued, "I freaked out that first day, and then the second time… and every time after that. Soon it just got to be easier to talk to you indirectly, you know?"
"But why me? I still don't get why get all nervous in the first place."
Dani buried her face in her hands. "It's 'cause - ugh, I mean, the whole reason is embarrassing in the first place!" Her green blush was creeping towards the tips of her ears.
"Valerie," she said. She visibly tensed, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "I… I never forgot what you did for me. Er, what you and Danny did for me. But… but you especially. If it hadn't been for you, I'd be a puddle of goop in Vlad's lab still. Just the fact that you… put aside things to work with Danny, put aside things for me, it…" she trailed off.
Valerie's gaze softened. "I guess I didn't know how important that was to you," she said, feeling her own face grow warm. "It's not such a huge deal, I don't think. It was the right thing to do."
Dani cracked one eye open. "Saving my life? If anything's a huge deal, it's absolutely that."
The huntress rotated her foot on the ground. "Is… is that why you think I'm cool?" she all but whispered.
"Ancients," Dani said as she buried her face in her hands again. "You're cool. How lame am I?"
Valerie let out a little laugh. "If it makes you feel any better, I thought it was sweet. And the roses were kind of nice too, even if them suddenly appearing in my apartment was a bit freaky."
This time, Dani's intangibility glitched from embarrassment. "Stars above," she whispered. "I swear, it worked on this one show I saw once. Then again, it was in Hungarian, and that's definitely a little rusty for me…"
"Hey, it's okay, really. I ended up liking them a lot! I even still have the frosted one in my freezer."
"Oh please tell me Danny doesn't know about that one, I'm never gonna live this down!"
This time, Valerie laughed for real. "Alright, tell you what: I'll make sure he forgets about it, but you have to do something for me first."
Dani popped out of view and reappeared in the next instant closer to Valerie. "Pleasepleaseplease!" she begged. "I'll do anything!"
Valerie's grin grew mischievous. "You gotta actually ask me out for real."
Dani fell through the floor.
Day 13 will come... eventually. I swear I'm keeping track of all the ones I'm missing lol