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Phantom, Danny
The story you know from the very beginning.
…and from a slightly different point of view.
Chapter 6: The Party
-Day 16-
The Danny was in a horrible mood later that evening. "You kept me up all night," it muttered darkly slammed its math book shut, officially giving up on the topic. It slumped over to its computer and poked at its keyboard. "What do you expect?"
That was your choice, he replied. I was also 'up' all night. I am not grumpy.
"I'm not grumpy," it shot back grumpily. "Besides, you slept all day."
Ghosts do not sleep.
"Yeah, sure," it mumbled. "And now I have a science report to finish while you 'don't-sleep' some more."
I fail to see how you blame me for your choice to attend School.
It scowled. "School isn't a choice," it snapped. "Now shut up. I wanna get this biology crap done."
He stayed quiet long enough for the human to get the document open on its computer and start to type. You have a very boring life.
It stopped typing with a sigh. "Do you wanna do this?"
No. He was quiet, letting the human get back to its work. He listened to it mutter and type and search through internet windows for the information it needed.
He'd always imagined humans lived interesting, exciting lives – sort of the opposite of the ghost world's endless sameness. Yet this human, and all the others he'd seen, existed in a similar state of sameness. Every day it went to School, went home, then went to sleep at night. Now and then it would go a small distance to a different house, but it was rare. It was slightly disappointing. Now that he understood the feeling of boredom, he was slowly coming to realize the humans existed in that state a lot.
The Danny sighed loudly, turning the computer monitor off with a snap. "You think too loud," it complained.
I am sorry, he told it, startled that the human had been listening to his thoughts.
"My life's not boring," it muttered, crossing its arms and staring at the door.
I would not know, he replied with a mental shrug. I have not experienced other human lives before.
The Danny was quiet, listening to people moving around downstairs. There were interesting smells starting to work their way into its room. It stretched its arms over its head, hearing a faint popping from its shoulders. "I'm gonna take a nap," it said.
Do you have to finish your report?
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," it said softly. "I'm too tired. Please don't take my body for a walk around town while I'm sleeping."
He thought about it for a moment, but then took pity on the human. I will not.
It slumped over to its bed, pushed the backpack onto the floor with a loud thud, and collapsed onto the covers. "Thanks," it muttered, wrappings its arms around the soft pillow. It was only a few minutes before it was sound asleep.
He waited a bit before slowly sitting up, holding the pillow in his lap. He could feel how tired the human body was – everything had a slight ache to it. Perhaps too many nights of taking it out flying and not letting the body sleep was taking a toll on it. He curled his fingers into the soft pillow with a sigh. It was hard to imagine not flying. But he had to admit that the lack of rest time was taking a toll on both the human body and the human mind.
"I will let you sleep tonight," he muttered, resting his chin on the top of the pillow.
"What was that?"
He jerked, glancing towards the open door. One of the red-haired humans was standing in the door. It had a fist on its hip. "Nothing," he said softly, clutching the pillow a little closer. He hoped the human wouldn't walk in the door – he didn't want to deal with talking to the creature.
"Come downstairs. Mom's got dinner ready."
The human vanished, but it left him in a bind. He'd clearly been given a direction. Going downstairs would place himself in the dangerous position of needing to be around the other humans that lived in this house, but not going downstairs would likely get The Danny in trouble – and the human might come back for him. Not for the first time, he cursed the fact that humans lived in groups.
Perhaps he could convince The Danny to live on its own. Surely there were other houses The Danny could inhabit other than this one. There certainly seemed to be plenty of them in this world.
With a dark sigh, he tossed the pillow onto the bed and got up. He put his shoes back on, tucking the laces carefully inside, and snuck down the steps. Hopefully the human only needed to see him a moment before he would be allowed to go back upstairs and hide in The Danny's bedroom.
The downstairs had been mostly cleaned up in the past hour. Wires of all colors still jutted from holes in the walls, but the couch was upright again and most of the objects were back in their original positions. The large box of wires and electrical parts was sitting in a corner next to the ladders.
Three humans were clustered around a large table in the kitchen. There were plates for food set out, as well as a large plate with a square, pink-colored something on top. He hesitated in the doorway.
"Come on," one of the humans called, pushing out an empty chair with its foot.
He poked at the human mind desperately. It just continued to sleep. When it was clear The Danny wasn't going to wake up, and the other humans were starting to eye him curiously, he swallowed and slowly walked across the floor.
Settling carefully into one of the chairs, the large human pushed a plate in front of him. Thankfully, it was empty. He sent them a smile, hoping to hold off any thoughts they might be having about him.
"Well, since we're all here," one of the red-haired humans said with a narrow-eyed look in his direction, "finally. We can start." It smiled, pleased, then looked around the room.
"Start with what, dear?" the other red-haired human murmured.
The first red-haired human shot it a frustrated look. "Moooom," it whined.
With a smile, the red-haired human seemed to take pity on the other and nodded. "I suppose we should start with a birthday song before we open presents? Danny, would you like to start?"
The first human smiled, pleased, and looked around expectantly.
Danny blinked at the humans, unhappy with being brought into the celebration, and desperately trying to determine what a 'birthday song' might be. He jabbed at the human mind, but got nothing but a thick murmur in reply. "Um…"
"Sweetie, are you feeling okay?" the human asked.
"Yeah," he answered. His palms felt slippery. "I am just really tired. It was a long day."
It peered at him a moment longer before reaching over and placing a hand on his head. The hand was disgustingly warm against his skin. It took some effort for him to hold still, but eventually it took its hand back. "You don't feel warm. Let me know if you start feeling sick, alright?"
He nodded, taking advantage of the lack of contact to scoot his chair a bit away from the table.
"I'll start!" the largest human chimed in, its words garbled by something in its mouth.
"Jack," the human chided, "we were waiting until after presents."
The large human wilted just a moment, then started to loudly sing. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" The other human joined in, both looking towards the shorter red-haired human. "Happy birthday dear Jazzy… happy birthday to you!" They broke into applause as the non-singing human grinned and reached for the colorful boxes spread out on the table.
He watched, curious, as the human tore at the brightly colored paper that had been covering the box. It crumpled the paper into a ball and lobbed it in his direction. He caught it, playing with it curiously as the human opened the box to pull out a book. The paper in his hand crinkled loudly and was covered in little images of hats and fireworks.
It squealed in delight. "Thanks, Mom!" It started to flip through the book. "I've been wanting this forever. It's one of the best psychotherapy books on the market, and almost impossible to get. How did you find a copy?" Then it stopped and went back to the front page. "And it's autographed?" Its voice had gone soft.
He tossed the crumpled ball of paper lightly in the air, wondering what 'autographed' meant. He poked the human mind, hoping it would wake up enough to tell him and take over.
"Your father knew the author back in college," the human told it.
Its eyes were wide as it turned to look at the largest human. "Really? How did you know I wanted it?"
The large human, who was licking a finger that had been covered in something pink, flushed and sat up straighter. "Dann-o told me."
It turned to look at him. He caught the paper ball when it came down into hands again, shifting on his chair. He didn't like the way it was looking at him. "Um…"
It suddenly leapt out of its seat and raced around the table to where he was sitting. He leaned back in his chair, but it did no good. The human threw itself towards him, wrapping its arms around him. It was heavy and felt oddly warm. "Thank you!" it said, breathing loudly in its ear. He couldn't help the shudder at the moist feeling of the air against the side of his face.
"Welcome," he muttered stiffly, holding perfectly still until the human decided to release him from its grip. When it released him to search through the rest of the colorful boxes, he eyed the door leading back upstairs hopefully.
It wasn't to be, however. The large human threw an arm around the back of his chair, holding him in place, almost like it had sensed that he wanted to bolt. He leaned forwards, keeping the human's arm from touching his body.
By the time the smaller red-haired human had finished opening the colorfully wrapped boxes, it had accumulated a pile of books and clothing options. It was laughing and thanking everyone.
He still hadn't figured out why the human's belongings had been taken and wrapped in colorful paper, and why the human would be so excited to get them back. Did humans have that short of a memory span? He wondered if this was something like a normal occasion for humans.
He poked at the human mind again, getting nothing but a sleepy response, and he sighed. How much longer would he be trapped doing this?
"Time for cake!" the largest human announced suddenly – and loudly – making him flinch. Being that he was perched at the edge of his chair furthest from the human, he nearly fell out of his chair.
"Yes, Jack, but the neighbors aren't invited," one of the humans chided. "You don't need to yell. Besides, you scared Danny."
"Sorry," it replied sullenly. "Can we have cake now?"
"Before supper?"
"Just this once, Mom?" the other human chimed in, with a pleading sound to its voice.
The human reached over and touched the large human's arm. "Yes, I suppose this once we can have desert first. Light the candles."
It pushed out of its chair and grabbed a strange red object. It clicked, making a small flame jump from the end. It slowly moved the object around, setting the wax candles that were on the pink fluffy square alight.
He leaned forwards, interested. Cake was a word that sparkled some sort of memory in his mind. It was a food, one that many humans craved – that much he remembered. But he hadn't any idea that they were something that was to be eaten while on fire. Quite suddenly, human eating rituals became interesting. How did humans eat things that were burning?
It didn't take more than a few moments for the pink square cake to be set in front of the red-haired human, to have it squint its eyes up, and then to blow all the candles out. It grinned happily when the candles sizzled and let out tiny streams of smoke.
Slightly disappointed, he sat back in his chair while the humans picked out the candles and then cut into the cake. Squares were placed on plates, then set in front of each human.
Including himself.
He stared at it, then poked the human mind for what felt like the dozenth time. "Please wake up," he whispered.
"What was that, Sweetie?" One of the humans, mid-bite, looked at him.
"Nothing," he answered, slowly reaching forwards and awkwardly picking up the fork that had been set on the plate. He fiddled with it between his fingers, staring at the fork, then the cake, than the humans. They were all eating, exclaiming the wonderfulness of the cake.
A hand pressed against his forehead again. He jerked backwards, staring at the red-haired human who was gazing at him with concern. "Are you sure you're feeling alright? You're acting oddly."
He swallowed, holding the fork tightly. "I am fine," he said. He smiled at it, hopefully reassuringly.
It didn't look convinced, but sat back in its chair and took another bite of its cake.
There was little chance he was going to get out of this without… eating. The thought made a shudder run up his spine. He was trying to not get the human in trouble, and it appeared the humans would be angry if he didn't eat this cake. It was part of this strange ritual. With a deep sense of dread, he slowly pushed the fork through the cake.
It squelched. The cake squished slightly under the pressure of the fork before bouncing back. The bit of cake settled onto the tines of the fork as he lifted it up. Little crumbs tumbled off. Pink smeared the silvery tines. A sickly-sweet scent drifted from it.
He glanced towards the humans, but the red-haired one was still watching him oddly. He smiled – although he wasn't sure it was a very good one – and quickly set the bit of cake into his mouth.
Taste exploded in his mind. Sweet. Chocolaty. It was slightly warm and gooey. He very slowly chewed on it, the substance squishing against his teeth and tongue. He chewed and chewed before getting up the nerve to swallow.
The thought of what the food was – matter that did not belong to him, being taken into his body to be broken down, liquefied, and eventually expelled when the nutrients had been extracted – was beyond disgusting. He felt a horrible urge to try to remove the cake from his stomach.
But the taste… that had been something else. It had been intriguing.
He sat still, twiddling the fork in his fingers. All humans ate. It was a fact of nature, or so The Danny told him. It was disgusting, gross, and a horrible concept overall. If he didn't do it, The Danny would. And, to be honest with himself, the taste thing wasn't so bad.
Not that he wanted to experience it very often. But for this one time, it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd been dreading.
His fork snuck out and carefully scraped up some of the pink topping. He licked it off the fork, holding the pink substance in his mouth until it was nearly gone. It was extremely sweet. An almost unconscious smile settled onto his face as he grabbed another bite of pink.
"So what's for supper?" the red-haired human piped up. It was eying the plates set on the table.
"Only your favorite, birthday-girl," the other red-haired human said, leaning forwards to pull the cover off one of the dishes.
The scent that had been circling through the house the last few hours exploded in his mind. He sniffed, leaning forwards as well to peer at the substance. It was more food – something colorful smeared with brown sauce. He shivered slightly, worried that he was going to be required to eat more. Surely a few bites of the pink cake topping was enough? He shot a hopeful glance over his shoulder towards the stairs.
"Stir-fry!" the human cheered. Then it paused, the smile fading slightly. "Did you make it?" it asked hesitantly.
"We ordered," the other human answered, "and warmed it up in the oven."
The red-haired human's smile returned. "Awesome. No offense, but it's better from the take-out place."
Something cold settled into the kitchen. He froze, looking around, even as the humans scooped the brown goo onto their plates. His body shivered, odd sensations racing along his skin.
"Sweetie?" The human was in front of him again, watching him with narrowed eyes.
He couldn't help the shiver that went through his body at a new swirl of cold air. "I am fine," he told it. When it hummed disbelievingly, he scowled and crossed his arms. "I am cold."
The fact that the human didn't seem to be affected by the cold air made him look down at his toes, and pull his arms closer towards his chest. He hoped it wasn't something that would make the human start to wonder if The Danny was still completely human. While he wanted to be free of this form, he hadn't yet made the decision to tell these particular humans.
"Why don't you go lay down for a while, Sweetheart," it said softly. "I'll bring you up something to eat later."
He was about to look up at it and tell it that he was fine – once more – he stopped himself from the reflexive comment. Here was his chance to escape the humans and be by himself few awhile. "Alright," he said, slinking out of his chair and hurrying out the door. As he left the kitchen, the cold faded away.
He was most of the way up the stairs before The Danny spoke up. That was rude.
With a scowl, he closed the door to the bedroom and sank onto the bed. "You are awake," he said angrily.
It's my sister's birthday. Of course I'm awake.
His fingers curled tightly into the soft covers. "How long have you been awake?"
Since the first time you tried to wake me up, it answered pleasantly. You liked the cake, didn't you? it teased, but it didn't sound incredibly happy.
"Why did you do this?" he hissed. "I have been forced to deal with those humans."
Those humans are my family, it shot back. And perhaps you should remember that next time you try to teach me to fly by dropping me out of the sky!
He understood. "This is an odd sort of revenge."
The human mind settled back, feeling a little sullen. I'm not good at revenge.
He settled back on the bed, lacing his fingers behind his head. "That is obvious, human."
Are you ever going to use my name?
"Are you ever going to free me?" He closed his eyes, allowing himself to feel the softness of the bed beneath him.
Trust me. I'd love to.