I get to go to my first major league baseball game today! Go Twins!

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Phantom, Danny

The story you know from the very beginning.

…and from a slightly different point of view.

Chapter 3: The School

-Day 8-

Mondays were School Days. The human had told him this while it had been getting ready for the day, scrambling around its room and searching for the appropriate clothing. The capital letters and italics had been obvious in its thoughts and words.

But it hadn't prepared him for what School actually was.

Dealing with one human mind and the feelings and sensations associated with it was tiring enough. When the human walked through the front doors and he saw the interior of the School for the first time, he'd retreated far enough into a corner to cause the human to wince in pain. Humans were… everywhere. He'd never even thought there could be so many humans in the universe, and here they were all in one place!

The human mind laughed softly, shaking its head as it walked through the throngs of people. "This isn't very many people," it muttered under its breath.

There are more? he thought, desperately not wanting to know the answer.

Thankfully, the human didn't have time to answer, having been surrounded by other humans. They called it 'Danny', and spent most of the time walking the hallway demanding to know how its weekend had gone. The Danny – since he had come to understand that it was something known as a name – answered back every question with shrugs and smiles and questions about homework and never once mentioned his existence.

"But what about the… eh… glow-y problem," one of the humans asked hesitantly. This human was named The Sam, from what he could determine.

The Danny shrugged again, an odd feeling with a backpack on. -Fear- whispered through its mind. "Hasn't been a problem," it answered. "Maybe its over." The Sam didn't look convinced, but The Danny didn't seem to care. "We gotta get to class."

Already, he hated hallways. Humans bumped up against The Danny's body, constantly moving and chattering and loud and colorful and… He shuddered and shrank away from the sensations, burying himself into its mind to try to keep some of the world at bay. Lying there, in the darkness, he could feel the human's thoughts a bit better. It was nervous about School. And it was afraid.

You are afraid of me? he asked in surprise as the human walked into a room filled with chairs and small tables.

It shook its head, but didn't answer more than that. The Sam had grabbed a hold of its hand – he shuddered at the warm, sticky feel of its fingers – and pulled it towards a back table.

Knowing he wasn't going to get an answer, he delved a bit further. Oh, he said, finally uncovering the thought, you are afraid the other humans will know I am here.

The Danny scowled and a flare of -Anger- washed through it.

He caught onto what the human was angry about – him digging through its thoughts – and left the human's mind alone after that. He sat back, waiting for this School to happen, and kept himself occupied by watching the other humans around the room. Some were drawing. Others were talking. One had its finger stuffed up its nose.

School started when a larger human walked into the room and started to talk. It didn't take him long to realize the human was there to teach. A few minutes later, he stopped paying attention all together, letting himself get wrapped up in his memories of his world and his wistful longing to be back there, where things were normal and calm and peaceful.

Sciences took forever. Then Maths and Languages stretched on, despite the fact that the clock on the wall insisted they had only lasted an hour. He felt no interest in any of the subjects. Some distant memory of having attended School at some point before drifted into his mind.

It had been a smaller School. And he'd been just a small child when he'd stopped going. He'd needed to help out at home.

The dim memory was disturbing. It was the only memory he'd ever really had of the living world, and it cemented the fact that he'd been one of these heavy, fleshy things at some point. He turned his gaze onto the human's mind, eying it in displeasure. Surely it was no coincidence that these old, human memories were resurfacing at the same time he was trapped in this living world. Memories he did not want. Memories this human, The Danny, was no doubt causing.

The lunch period found him hiding, wishing that he could turn off these feelings of eating and being around humans. But The Danny didn't seem to understand his distress, ending up sitting with the humans and talking and eating through the entire period.

It was after lunch that The Danny walked into Histories. "Oh, yay," The Danny muttered under its breath, not sounding happy at all. "Lancer's back from being sick."

He churned the idea of being sick over in his mind a few times, deciding what it meant and whether or not he thought it was a good idea. Then he focused on the human in front of the room. It looks fine, he commented.

"It?" The Danny whispered, shaking its head. "He doesn't look good."

It has a head and two arms and two legs, he said, watching the adult human – The Lancer – walk around. I do not see anything missing.

The Danny laughed softly, shaking its head. "Yeah, no," it said quietly. "That's not how it works."

He studied The Lancer a moment longer before dismissing it from his mind. Have you come up with a way to free me yet?

The Lancer chose that moment to begin class, so his only reply was a shake of The Danny's head. The adult human walked around, talking on and on about the Revolutionary War. "You should have learned this," it chided, when the younger humans were unable to answer its questions. "The sub covered this."

"Doesn't mean we learned it," a younger human named The Tucker muttered softly.

"I heard that, Mr. Foley," The Lancer said warningly.

"Of course you did," The Tucker breathed.

The Lancer turned and started asking questions about battles and humans and things that had been written and… and…

He stared blankly at the adult human. Those names, those places… many of them sounded familiar to him. Memories of being a warm, smoky place filled with humans, listening to stories drifted through his mind. He pushed away from them, unsettled by the memories.

"What's wrong?" the human breathed, drawing his attention away from the faint memories starting to swirl around him.

He hesitated, startled that The Danny had noticed. I remember this, he told it.

It arched an eyebrow, but didn't say anything more.

He could feel its curiosity, though. I have memories of listening to this before, he repeated, uneasily watching The Lancer continue to pace and talk. Mother used to call General Washington a large pest with too much money for his own good.

The Danny snorted a laugh.

He was uneasy with the memory. The comment – a remembered quote from his past – had slipped into his mind without a second thought. He wasn't even sure where it had come from. And the thought that he'd once had a mother… one that he couldn't remember… He shifted away from the thoughts and tried to huddle into a dark corner.

"You were alive back then!" the human hissed, -Realization—rushing through its mind.

"Mr. Fenton?" The Lancer called.

The Danny stiffened. "Yes, sir?"

"Feel like sharing your new-found knowledge with the rest of the class?" The Lancer was glaring down at The Danny.

Uneasily, The Danny shrugged. "Um…" it hesitated, "General Washing was a large pest with too much money for his own good?"

He felt a wave of annoyance that the human had stolen his words, but refrained from commenting while the adult human was standing nearby.

"That doesn't quite answer the question," it said slowly after a moment, its hands crossed over its chest, "but that is a correct assumption to make. The Loyalists often considered George Washington more of a pest than a revolutionary at the time. Good thought, Mr. Fenton." It eyed The Danny. "I appreciate that your wandering thoughts have something to do with the topic."

When The Lancer wandered off, he relaxed slightly, and felt The Danny sink back into its chair. It breathed out, blowing hair around its eyes. "Yay," it whispered.

Slowly, unsteadily, he reached forwards and pushed his mind against its hands. The Danny flinched and clenched its fingers, but then relaxed them. He slid his fingers into the heavy, fleshy hands and twitched them. The human flinched slightly, but otherwise didn't react. He picked up the hands, absently rubbing the fingers together and getting used to the odd sensation of touch again. Then he flipped through a few pages in the book on the table, running his fingers lightly over the glossy pictures. I think I was alive during this time, he said, releasing the hands back to its control. Its fingers flexed a few times, then picked up its pencil to fiddle with. But I do not remember it.

Disappointment drifted briefly through the human's mind. "There goes the easy A this year," it mumbled.

He didn't understand the words 'easy A', but latched onto the time period of 'year'. It took a few seconds for the understanding of how long a year actually was to filter into his mind, and he froze, floored by the idea of that much time. An hour was a long time. And a year had thousands of them in it!

I am not staying trapped in this lumbering form for an entire year! he snapped, alarmed and afraid that the human meant to keep him locked in its mind that long.

-Frustration- flared sharply in its mind.

He pushed forwards, feeling almost like he was aiming a punch for its nose. You will free-

The world felt like it tipped over. Very suddenly, he felt everything, like he had at night when he'd taken over and walked down to the window. The scrap of a pencil in his thick, heavy fingers. The hardness of the chair. The tightness of his shoes. The itchy tag of his shirt. Bones and muscles weighed him down. His mouth moved, letting out an annoyed, "-me".

He froze, holding very still as he processed what had just happened. For just a moment, he wondered if he weren't free of the human's mind – that it had vacated the body and left it for him. He struggled for a moment with the deluge of information and sensation pouring into his mind.

What did you do? The human's voice was a hiss from somewhere inside his head near his left ear. Let me go!

He tipped his head to the side, feeling the change in his ears, feeling the hair drift across his forehead. No, the human wasn't gone. But he was in charge. A proper possession – something a ghost as powerless as he shouldn't even have dreamt could happen. It caused a stir of pride in his chest.

His chest. His fingers. His body. It wasn't the ethereal energy he'd been hoping for when he'd demanded to be freed, but to be properly in charge of a body was a step in the right direction. The pencil wiggled distractedly in his fingers – a strange sensation that caught his attention for a moment.

Let me go, now!

"I don't think so," he breathed, a smile on his face. "This is how it should be, if I am to be trapped in a human body."

A wash of sensation swept through him, causing him to wince and his breath to catch. This was pain – this was the feeling the human had talked about earlier. The voice was screaming, flailing around, and struggling to regain control of its body.

He closed his eyes as the feeling of pain increased. It felt like something was being dug into the left side of his head. He pressed a hand to it, hoping to ease the pain. His stomach churned uneasily. "Stop," he demanded, trying to keep his voice quiet.

It's my body! it yelled. Give it back!

He tried to come up with a response, but the pain escalated to something white-hot and burning. With a desperate groan, he felt himself let go.

The pain stopped almost instantly. He found himself back into the human's mind, tired and exhausted and still aching from the experience.

The Danny didn't fair much better. It was in pain as it slowly got to its feet, numbly agreeing with The Lancer to go to a place called The Nurse.

He didn't bother to pay attention. Even before it had stumbled out of the classroom, he'd curled up in the darkness of the human's mind and let exhaustion overtake him.

.

.3.

.

-Day 9-

"Oh great, you're back again," the human mumbled darkly. "And in the middle of the night, too." It was curled up someplace warm and soft, its eyes closed and its body relaxed.

I have no place to go, he informed it stiffly. Unless you have a way to free me.

"I've had a severe headache for hours," it muttered, curling up into a tighter ball. "So… no. Now, leave me alone to sleep."

He pulled back, allowing the human to fall back asleep. It took only a few minutes for its mind to start drifting randomly and pull away from the body he was trapped inside. It took a very short period of time before he realized sitting here, watching the human sleep, would be very boring. So, slowly, keeping an eye on the sleeping human mind, he reached for control the body.

Opening his eyes, he stretched – feeling the fleshy, heavy body move with him – stunned by the sensation of moving his arms and legs after they'd been asleep for several hours. It was so pleasant he tried it again, delighting in the feeling. The human mind didn't stir, apparently unaware of the feelings in its body.

A smile slipped onto his face as he sat up and pushed the blankets away. A tiny alarm clock read 6:30, and morning sunlight gleamed through the shade. He rubbed his fingers together, then brought them up to his face to examine closer. He studied the bumps and ridges, the speckles and spots and little white scars. The sensations of touch and movement were sharp and strong – definitely more than when he was trapped in its mind.

His fingers drifted lazily over the soft blankets, then through the scraggily hair growing on his leg. He brought his hands up to his face, feeling the fingers brush against his face, then pressed a hand to his chest to feel the slow movement of his lungs and heart. It was odd.

A sharp rapping noise filled the room with noise. He jerked, instinctively swiveling his head towards the door. The sound brought a curious sensation – his heart started to race.

"Danny! Get up!"

He focused on the human mind a moment, but it didn't seem to hear the yelling. It was just curled up in the corner of his mind and continued to sleep. He didn't know what to do, so he just sat there, staring at the door.

"Danny!" The doorknob turned and a human poked its head around the door. It had red hair and blue clothes – it was the human from the previous night. "Da- Oh, you're already up." It looked confused, but smiled. "Why didn't you say something? Your father's making pancakes. Hurry up and get dressed."

The door snapped closed behind it, leaving him sitting on the bed and watching the door in nervous confusion. Would the door open again? Would other humans come to bother him?

In his world, doors lead to the lairs of the strongest and meanest ghosts. They weren't to be bothered. Opening the doors to their home would leave the offender severely hurt – if not destroyed. Was that the case in this world as well? Should he have attacked this human who dared enter his space? Having never had a door to his lair – preferring his hole – he wasn't even sure the proper attack to use.

He poked at the human mind, wanting to ask it that question. But it ignored him. Scowling, annoyed, he crossed his arms and contemplated what to do.

Hurry up and get dressed, the human had told him. Finally, with a shrug, he decided he would follow the direction. The Danny had done so the previous day. Perhaps it was something humans did every morning. He pushed himself out of the bed, enjoying the curious feeling of movement, and starting to pick through the drawers.

The human seemed to have a vast array of clothing options. Eventually he located a shirt he liked – white, with a strange red dot – and the pair of pants the human had worn earlier. It took a moment to figure out how to get them on, but he managed and glanced into the small mirror in its room to determine if he looked appropriate. With few memories to work with, he thought he looked fine.

Making his way downstairs, he found a group of humans crowded around a table. He stood in the doorway, watching, not wanting to come into contact with any of them. It was disgusting, watching them eat and put things in their mouths. Saliva dripped and drooled, teeth gnashed through the food. He barely suppressed a shudder.

One of them turned towards him and he could see the half-digested food in its mouth when he spoke. "Come eat, Danno!" it called.

He drew back slightly, swallowing heavily, and shook his head. Anxiety twisted at him – what if they made him eat as well?

Another of the humans – the red-haired one from earlier – looked up. "Are you okay, Sweetie?"

He curled his arms over his chest, then realized it was waiting for a response. He nodded and took another step backwards.

"New hair style, then?" it asked with a smile. It held out a plate filled with food. "I saved you some. Come eat."

He felt his stomach drop to his knees. He couldn't possibly eat even a bite of that… stuff… much less a whole plate filled with it! He shook his head, but realized he wouldn't be able to get out of this without speaking. "I am not hungry," he said softly, hoping he sounded like the human did.

The humans didn't seem to notice. The red-haired one just nodded and set the plate down. "Have a nice day then, Sweetheart."

He nodded frantically and raced out of the house. He front door clicked closed behind him and he shivered, shaking his head. How any human could be part of that disgusting display was beyond him. And they seemed to insist upon doing it multiple times a day!

The ground was hard and cold under his feet as he paced on the sidewalk in front of the human's house. A rock jabbed into his heel before he stopped and looked down at his feet. He remembered shoes, then, curling his toes. With a dark sigh, he looked towards the house – he knew the humans were still eating – and thought about shoes. They were trapped near the door. He could probably sneak in and get them without the humans noticing.

It would be better if he were invisible, however. Even a tiny bit of ghost like him could do invisible.

…And then he was.

He didn't have to look down at his hands to know he was invisible. It was a feeling, like it always had been – cool and comforting and ethereal. For a moment, he thought himself free of the human. Finally, free.

But he could still feel his feet, toes curled on the sidewalk. And breath slipping in and out his nose. He was still in the human body. Just… invisible.

Not understanding, but not willing to worry about something as mundane as being invisible, he walked back to the house, slipped through the front door, and managed to locate his shoes. He went back outside again to put them on, figuring he'd need to be able to see the human feet in order to put on something like shoes. Ghosts didn't ever put on shoes. It would be a first for him.

Tying the laces was another matter entirely. After a solid fifteen minutes of holding the laces and glaring, the shoes failed to tie themselves. But after an experimental few steps, he decided the shoes seemed to stay on without the tying part, and so shrugged and left the laces dangling.

It was cool this early in the morning. The sun was a bright glow on the horizon. It hurt his eyes. The wind was a curious feeling against his skin, gently brushing his hair around. As he slowly wandered down the street, he watched the trees gleam green and sway in the wind, and the birds flit from branch to branch, and the dogs run around their yards. Humans were few and far between, mostly hidden in their cars – a new term he'd learned this morning for the odd devices that allowed the fleshy creatures to travel much to fast for their heavy bodies.

Night was something he loved. But this morning… this wasn't too bad. As he found a park to walk through, trailing his fingers through the cold dew gathered on the bushes and feeling his feet get wet, he found a smile on his face. With the humans gone from this place, the lights and colors and sensations weren't all that unbearable. He crouched down to study the little droplets of light glittering on a spider web.

Nothing like this existed in his world. The world of the dead was ethereal and beautiful and cold and deadly. The spider's web was the same. The sunlight sparkled in the dewdrops like little rainbows. He felt a smile creep onto his face.

Oh yes. This morning thing wasn't too bad at all.

A flitting bird caught his attention and he jerked his head up, following the movement. Unfortunately, it also seemed to have woken up the sleeping human mind.

Unwilling to deal with the headache that would no doubt follow him struggling to retain control of the body, he released it to the human's control. "What? Where are we?" The human looked around. -Confused-

I went for a walk to the park, he told it blandly. You were sleeping and the red-haired human wanted you out of bed.

"What?" Its voice escalated to a near shout. "You… you… took my body for a walk?!" -Anger- sliced through its mind.

You were asleep, he repeated.

"Don't ever do that again," it hissed as it started to search its pockets. "And I don't have my phone… what time is it?"

Ghosts don't worry about time, he told it blandly, relaxing back into the darkness of the human's mind. Why do you care?

It started to walk quickly towards home, moving much, much faster than he had. It had to stop after just a few steps, though, to tie its shoes. "It's Tuesday. I have to be at school before eight."

He thought about that a moment. I do not like School.

"Neither do I," it muttered darkly. "But it's non-optional."

When will you free me?

The Danny broke into a run, cursing when it noticed a clock through someone's window. "As soon as I can," it said, frustrated and already panting. "Couldn't you have at least grabbed my backpack and went for a walk in the right direction?"

He didn't bother to reply, curling up in a dark corner of the human's mind and relaxing, replaying his morning walk over and over again.

He would have to experience that again.