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Phantom, Danny
The story you know from the very beginning.
…and from a slightly different point of view.
Chapter 7: The Revenge
-Day 17-
Revenge was a dish best served cold. He waited and bided his time, allowing the human body to sleep that night and the human mind to mostly forget the emotions from the previous evening, before starting in on his plan.
When the human stumbled down to breakfast, one of the other humans was there to greet it. It grabbed for The Danny, holding a hand to its forehead, demanding to know if it was feeling better. The Danny mumbled a reply, allowed the other human to settle it into a chair, and started to eat its breakfast.
Normally, he would bury himself deep into the human's mind while it ate. But after the experience last night, he wasn't as horrified by the idea of eating. Besides, if he had his way, the human wasn't going to get much of its cereal this morning. He waited as the human grabbed the spoon, got a spoonful of cereal, and brought it up to its mouth.
Then he reached out and pushed its hand out of phase.
The spoon clattered to the table through The Danny's hand, drips of milk and cereal going everywhere. It made a slightly larger mess than he'd been expecting, but he pushed away the slight moral twinge and settled back into the human's mind to wait.
The Danny stared at its hand, then at the spoon, and mumbled an apology to the other human. After cleaning up most of the mess, it grabbed its spoon to get a new bite.
He phased it again, this time getting to it before the spoon was too far from the bowl. The spoon clattered back into the bowl.
The Danny stared at his hand, then at the spoon.
"Sweetie? What's wrong?"
"Nothing," it replied, its voice sounding sleepy and curious. "I… I guess I just dropped it again."
Slowly it reached out and picked the spoon back up. It raised the spoon towards its mouth, watching it carefully.
He let it get rather close before reaching out to send its hand out of phase and the spoon to the floor. A flicker of an emotion he hadn't felt before – Humor. – curled in his mind. He was pretty sure the emotion was from his own mind.
"Daniel!" the other human said.
"Sorry!" The Danny shot back. "I'm not doing it on purpose!"
"Are your fingers broken?" A washrag was thrust in front of The Danny's face.
It grabbed the rag with a sullen sigh. "No. I'll clean it up." When the other human walked back over to the counter, The Danny hissed, "I know it's you, ghost. Knock it off."
You should not force me to interact with your family.
"You shouldn't force me to learn ghost stuff!" it whispered furiously as it wiped the bits of spilled milk off the ground.
If we are to be stuck together, it is something you should learn.
"Well then vise-versa," it said quietly, dropping the washrag on the table and grabbing his spoon. "You should learn human things."
Humans are disgusting, heavy things. He shuddered at the thought of having to deal with more than just this one human on a normal basis.
"Ghosts are disgusting too!"
"Sweetie? Are you talking to me?" the other human asked, turning around from the sink.
"No, Mom. I'm talking to myself, sorry," The Danny said.
It watched The Danny for a long moment. "You know you can talk to me, right?" it said, a note of concern to its voice. "About anything? And I promise I won't be mad?"
"I'm okay," The Danny replied. "I really am. I just…" it shrugged. "I'm fine."
"If you say so," it answered, turning back around to finish washing the dishes.
The Danny stared at its cereal bowl. "How long are you going to keep this up?" it breathed.
How long can humans go without eating?
It scowled and set the spoon down on the table. "I'm not hungry," it informed the other human. "I'm just gonna go to school." It didn't wait for a reply, storming up to its room to grab its backpack. "And when I'm really hungry, I hope you suffer as well."
.
.7.
.
-Day 17-
The Danny was phased through the ground twice on its way to School. When it saw The Sam and The Tucker standing in the hallway, it was turned invisible, and stayed that way until The Danny started to mutter about Detention and getting in trouble. During its first class, it was phased through its chair once and lost sight of its hands twice before it raised its hand and asked to be excused.
It stormed down the hallway, mind whirling with -Anger!-, slamming through a door and coming to a stop in a deserted bathroom. It looked into every stall before propping its hands onto a sink and glaring into a mirror. "I've had enough of this."
I have not.
"It was one piece of cake!" it said. "How is this revenge for one piece of cake!"
He thought about that. Perhaps he was going a little overboard. But it was infuriating that the human wouldn't even wish to learn to fly. It is more than just revenge. I wish to teach you as well.
"Teach me what?"
How to control the energy inside of you. Do you not wish to fly?
"No!" It threw its hands in the air and paced a few feet away from the sink before turning around and coming back. "I don't want to learn to fly. Or phase through things. Or be invisible. I'm invisible enough just as wimpy little me – much less to be the freak that can actually be invisible."
He settled back, thinking that through. Why not?
"Humans don't do those kinds of things. It may have passed your notice, but I'm human."
I noticed. But why would you not embrace the superiority of the ghost world now that you have the chance?
"I don't want it. I want to be normal."
He reached forwards and pushed a bit of energy into the human's body. The blue eyes in the mirror swirled with an inhuman green light.
"Don't do that." -Annoyance- started to take over the -Anger!- from earlier.
You wish to keep me trapped in here and not be able to do anything that comes natural to me? Do not fly, do not be invisible, do not phase through things?
"It's my body!"
Is it not mine too?
The human stopped, pulling back slightly from the mirror. He could feel -Confusion- swirl through its mind. "It's my body," it repeated.
I will not be caged, human. He might be nothing more than a tiny scrap of a ghost – but he was still a ghost. He was not going be to a human's mental pet.
"How about not during school?"
He didn't answer. The conversation had brought up the frustration that had been circling around for a while in his mind. He wished to be freed – but the human's world was interesting enough that he was willing to put off that demand for a short time. However, his lack of his own form was starting to get to him. He'd been able to do what he wished for his entire existence, and when he wished to do it. Being trapped to the human's boring schedule and existence was extremely difficult.
"Ghost?"
I will not be a prisoner in your mind, he stated again.
The human stared down at the sink. It was biting its tongue. -Frustrated- "I'm going to get in really big trouble."
He waited, not quite caring at the moment.
"You're going to make people figure out what happened to us," it continued.
Perhaps it would be better if they did.
It snorted. "My parents-"
Surely there are others we could tell, he interrupted. He still did not understand The Danny's fear of the other humans in its home finding out about him. The confusing emotions kept him waiting to tell them as well – he needed to understand first.
There was a strange surge of memories at that. People in cages. Sharp knives. Dripping blood. Needles oozing liquid. Screaming and pain and slow death. The human body shuddered.
He drew away from the human mind in surprise.
"No, we can't do that," it whispered.
What are those memories?
"Humans do things," it breathed, "to people that aren't normal."
He was absolutely silent for a long moment, thinking over the memories that had been dropped into his own mind. They were not good memories. Why would humans do this? he asked, not quite sure these sorts of memories were realistic. Surely this is not legal?
The human tightened its fingers around the sink. "It's not legal to do to humans, but we experiment on animals all the time. There'd probably be some question as to whether or not we qualify as human."
He let that thought roll around in his mind a moment. I will tone it down.
The human sagged in relief. "You'll stop?"
I will tone it down, he repeated. It is in my best interest as well to keep the other humans from knowing I am here.
"You'll stop?" it repeated, this time sounding unsure.
He smiled, letting the human feel the emotion in his mind. I will not be in a cage. And I believe you should learn to control the energy in you. But I will tone it down.
It sighed and buried its face in its hands. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" it whispered to itself. "This is why I hate Wednesdays."
He laughed slightly, settling back in the human's mind and letting it moan and groan and slowly head back to class. Eventually the human would come to understand that he was not a pet, only to be let it out when the human wished. Perhaps it would even understand the superiority of the way ghosts lived – although that was probably too much to work towards.
He only phased The Danny through the floor two more times that day.
.
.7.
.
-Day 19-
Friday bloomed cold and rainy. It was the first rainy day that he'd experienced in the two and a half weeks trapped in the human world. He found the idea of stuff falling out of the sky a bit odd. The human had not wished to wake up when the alarm clock went off, so he'd taken the body to the window and sat there, watching the rain fall. Wind whipped.
Then something bright and powerful raced across the sky. He jumped to his feet, eyes wide, started by the loud rumbling noise that made the entire house shake. He'd seen something similar in the ghost world – it usually meant that some very powerful ghost was angry and he should spend the next period of his existence hiding from it.
It's just a thunderstorm. The human yawned, then paused. Why're you afraid of a thunderstorm?
"I am not afraid," he said, but he edged away from the window none-the-less, heading towards the closet to grab clothes. "I was simply not aware that such powerful things existed in this world as well."
Well, it can't hurt you. As long as you're not flying up in the clouds.
He shuddered slightly at the idea of flying in the thunderstorm. "The clouds make that?" he asked.
Yup. Can't have a thunderstorm without clouds. Something about electrical charges in the clouds, or something.
He glanced over his shoulder out the window, thinking back to the times he'd dived through those clouds. They'd seemed rather innocent at the time. He hadn't realized what would happen if someone made them mad. "Are we going to School again today?"
Why do you always say it like that? Its just school. And yeah, we have to go to school today.
"It is how you think it." He shrugged. "Your alarm clock rang several minutes ago." Then he paused, tapping his fingers against the top of a dresser. "We are not walking to School in this thunderstorm?"
Mom'll give us a ride. Don't wear the same shirt again today.
He looked down at the white shirt with the red logo. "I like this shirt."
Yeah, but you've made me wear it like four days in a row now.
"So?" Ghosts always looked the same.
Beyond the fact that I'm starting to get looks, it needs to be washed. Smell it.
He brought the shirt up to his nose, startled at the strange scent that now lingered on the cloth. "How does one 'wash it'?"
I put it in the laundry bin and Mom washes it. Pick something else to wear. The human yawned and curled back up to go back to sleep.
"I do not wish to," he said, but The Danny wasn't paying attention. He scowled down at the shirt, not willing to wear it now that he was aware of the disgusting human scent. Dropping it onto the floor, he picked through the human's other clothing, not finding another copy of the shirt. "Do you not have another?"
The human sleepily muttered and buried itself deeper, making him wince. With a deep sigh, he grabbed a green shirt, eying it with distrust. "I wish my shirt laundered before I must wear this monstrosity twice."
Then tell Mom.
He bristled. "I do not wish to speak to the humans of this house. And I do not know which is The Mom."
There was no response.
He quickly got dressed, staring at himself in the mirror. He looked odd in a green shirt. It was not the correct color of green, either. He leaned forwards, squinting, and making a bit of energy flow through the human body. Ghostly green swirled in his eyes. "That is the correct color," he whispered.
He spent a moment contemplating The Toothbrush and The Hairbrush, but left them on the counter. Neither appeared necessary to The Danny's morning ritual. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his bladder, but he refused to even contemplate the task of getting rid of the feeling. Leaving the bathroom, he grabbed The Danny's backpack and walked down the steps.
The other humans were in the kitchen, eating breakfast. Still not wanting to deal with the idea of eating, he sat down in a chair in the living room and watched the thunderstorm rage outside. Light flashed and swirled around the sky. From the safety of the house, he watched the power rage.
"Ready to go, Sweetie?"
He flinched, startled out of his daze. He blinked up at the red-haired human. "Yes," he said, getting to his feet and grabbing his backpack.
"Wear a coat," it said as it dug around in a closet, eventually throwing a jacket in his direction. "Jazz! I'm leaving!" it yelled.
"Coming, Mom!" came another voice.
He slowly put on the jacket, studying the human in front of him. Red hair, blue clothing. This was The Mom. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, thinking of his shirt upstairs – too smelly to wear to School. "Are you washing clothes today?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too different from The Danny's voice and not knowing how to ask for the white shirt to be cleaned.
It shot him a look as another human raced down the steps. "Yes," it answered.
"My white shirt is dirty." He fiddled with the zipper of the jacket, not sure how to get it working. It was not connected at the bottom, like the zippers on pants. He quickly gave up.
"You've worn it every day this week," it answered. "No wonder it's dirty." It handed another jacket to the other human. "I'll wash it today, if you'd like."
"Yes," he said, heading towards the door and glancing out into the rain. Another strange not-his memory flickered through his head – this one of a greenish looking human, melting in the rain, surrounded by strange flying monkeys. "I will not melt, will I?" he asked as he pulled back.
"Don't be silly," one of the humans – he'd already gotten them confused – said, pushing him out into the rain.
He followed it towards the car, feeling the rain collect on his hair. It wasn't unlike the showers The Danny took every other day. Just much colder. He looked up at the roiling clouds, at the wind blowing through the trees and soaking his shirt. Light flashed across the sky and he shivered.
The humans climbed into the car. He followed, carefully doing what they did. The humans grabbed at odd straps, then the car started to vibrate and make noise, and then they were moving. He'd seen cars on the streets, knew they carried people around, but this was his first experience in a car.
By the time they reached School, he decided he wasn't a fan. The car went fast and wasn't under his control. He slogged into the building, poking at the human mind. "I have survived your torment of the morning," he muttered. "It is your turn."
I think you can go to school today.
His eyes flashed. "I will not." He closed his eyes and took a step backwards into his head, pushing at the human mind.
It took over. "Whatever," it yawned, stretching. Then it paused. "Dude, you didn't go to the bathroom this morning?"
It is a disgusting habit you should learn to break, he informed it.
"Yeah, like that can happen." It headed through the school, stopping at the first bathroom. "And you didn't brush my hair? I don't suppose you ate breakfast, huh? God, Ghost. I'm glad you don't have a body of your own. You'd kill it."
Gym class fell right before lunch. The humans were doing some bizarre ritual that involved climbing a long rope. He helped The Danny by making the human's body float. It hadn't been pleased.
At lunch, the human mind had refused to participate, requiring him to contend with the cafeteria and The Sam and The Tucker. Fortunately, the two humans were in the midst of an argument and hadn't required his input. He doubted he would have been able to give anything helpful, anyways. He picked his way through the school lunch, managing to eat a few of the 'French Fries', although he'd refused to dunk them in the red juice that had looked like spilled blood. He hadn't been pleased either.
The study period after lunch, when The Danny usually spent time in the library, had been spent keeping the human invisible. It hid in a closet and argued with him for the entire hour. He hadn't given way until the end of the period. The human hadn't even tried to fix the invisible problem.
The next class was the history class, where he generally paid some attention. The adult human – The Teacher, so The Danny termed it – was talking about the later days of the Revolutionary War, a time that he couldn't remember even vaguely. He figured he had died before this point. The Danny had thought perhaps he had died fighting in the war. He didn't think it likely, although he couldn't remember.
The Danny made him attend today, steadfastly refusing to take control of the body. Walking through the hallway had been torture. Sitting in a chair that was designated as 'his' was something of a relief, even if The Sam and The Tucker sat next to him. He was quite sick of those two humans by this point. There were many humans on the planet – The Danny needed to meet new ones. Less nosey ones, at that.
Oh great, a guest speaker. You lucked out.
He looked up from the desk to study the humans in the front of the room. One was The Teacher, the other was an unknown. It was talking to The Teacher animatedly, gesturing towards the screen in the front of the room where pictures were being displayed. After the bell rang, it started to talk to the class, showing pictures and telling about its life.
For the first few minutes, he was very confused. This human did many things. It didn't just go to sleep, and go to School, and go to a house with other humans. It showed pictures of it falling through the air – learning to fly. Of it climbing mountains. Of it going deep below the water to see the fish. Of it making its way through deep underground caves.
Then he understood. The Danny was simply a boring human. Not all humans led simple, boring lives.
He leaned forwards in the desk, listening carefully as the human talked about traveling around the world. It mentioned many different places and countries he'd never known existed. "I wish to do this," he whispered.
No you don't. It takes a lot of money to travel, and I don't have anything.
"Then I will get money."
Yeah, I don't think so. I don't want a job and, from I know about you, you won't want one either. The human seemed adamant.
"I do not like your boring existence."
Too bad. I do. And you're not taking my body on trips around the world.
"It is my body too."
"Mr. Fenton."
For a moment, he looked around, then looked up at The Teacher. He winced as he remembered that The Danny was sometimes known as Mr. Fenton – although he was at a loss as to why that was. "Yes, sir?"
"Something you wish to share?" The Teacher said.
"I live a very boring existence. I would like to try some of these things," he told it.
The Teacher arched a skeptical eyebrow. "I wish you luck. But for now," the human tapped the blank paper on his desk. "You should be taking notes."
He picked up the pencil, watching The Teacher walk back to the front of the room. The speaker continued to talk about a trip to a strange triangle-shaped structure in the middle of a desert.
You gonna take notes?
He pressed his lips together, fiddling with the pencil. Actually putting the marks on the paper sounded extremely difficult.
I need to take a test on this crap, you know. Or, at this rate, you'll have to take the test. Please, Ghost.
With a glance towards the front, he set the pencil on the paper and slowly drew a line across the page. It was relatively easy – much more so than he'd been expecting. With that little most of confidence, he bit his lower lip and slowly started to make squiggles on the page that hopefully looked close to the ones on the slide.
What the Hell? Can you do notes that someone will be able to read?
Confidence lost, he let the pencil make random marks across the page. Lines and dots and squiggles.
Ghost!
For the first time, he wished he had a name. Being called 'Ghost' was getting annoying. He made a few more marks.
This is stupid. Just write-
He set the pencil down on the desk harder than he'd been expecting. Listening to the human rant in his mind was frustrating. He raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Fenton?" the teacher asked.
"May I use the bathroom?" he asked. It seemed to be the general way to ask to leave the room.
The Teacher looked at him, then towards the speaker, then back. "Fine. But hurry back."
He scooted out of the chair, not caring about the looks The Sam or The Tucker were giving him. He made it to the hallway, then to the empty bathroom. He crossed his arms tightly, unwilling to touch anything in the room. He had come to understand what the other humans did in here. "I cannot write."
The human was silent. What?
"I cannot write. I cannot read either."
Why not?
"Mother did not believe in School for people like me. I was not allowed to attend." He shivered, not having remembered that before just that moment. He hated those memories – the ones that were his own – that surfaced at random points.
That's kinda sad.
"There is no point to learning to read or write. I am a ghost. We do not have to. It is a human thing."
Well. The Danny poked at him with its mind – it made his nose tingle. You're not really a ghost right now. Another 'human thing' you should learn.
"Why is it I must learn human things?" he hissed. "Especially when you refuse to learn ghost things?"
We're not in your world?
He paused. He looked around the dirty bathroom – at a place that would not and could not exist in the land of the dead. Mirrors and toilets and sinks and water. Even hand driers. "This is true," he conceded.
Until we figure out how to get you out of my head, it's kinda your world too.
Suddenly, the bathroom took on a much darker tinge in his mind. "I will not claim a place such as this my world," he said darkly.
The human mind laughed. I saw what you were thinking, it said between fits of chuckles. I wouldn't want to have those toilets in my world either, if I had a choice.
"If you are to insist upon written notes, you will have to do them," he said.
I figured. The human reached forwards to take control of the body and he stepped aside, letting it. The human wiggled its fingers, then ran a hand through its hair. "You'll have to learn to read sooner or later."
He curled up in its mind, letting the worries of the human world fall away. As you will have to learn to fly sooner or later.
It snorted and headed out of the bathroom. "Agree to disagree?"
I do not think so, Human.