Chapter Thirty-Four: "It's just a movie…"
They arrived at the theater with plenty of time to spare and found Sam and Tucker already there playing a game together. "Dan!" Tucker waved, looking away briefly from the shooter game he was playing. "Hi! I thought you were leaving town today?"
"Apparently not." Dan shrugged, then looked at Valerie. "What do you want to play?"
"The racer?" Valerie pointed to a bike-racing game. Dan nodded and walked over, getting onto one as Valerie put in money and got on her own. "You ever ridden a bike before, Dan?"
"No." He shook his head. "Can't be hard to figure out, though; it's just a game."
Valerie grinned. "I am gonna waste you."
He shrugged again, clearly not committed to the game enough to really care about winning or losing. Valerie beat him, having had more experience, and he climbed off.
"Hey, since we're all here, let's take a commemorative photo!" Tucker suggested, pointing to the photo-booth. "Something for Dan to take home!"
The girl exchanged looks and Dan made another non-committal shrug before they went to the photo-booth. He wondered briefly if he would even show up, but if he has a crystal-clear reflection he most likely would show up. The question is, would his glow?
Apparently he needn't have worried. The dampener kept him safely concealed, the picture didn't have the faintest indication who—or what—he really was and he had four goofy (Well, Tucker was, at least) pictures to take home and keep in his room.
By the time they finished playing games and taking pictures (Tucker kept trying to convince them to take more), they headed in to watch their movie.
It was a horror movie, but while Tucker cheered and cowered in his seat Dan was unfazed. He'd, quite honestly, seen worse in his fights against REAL ghosts, and the effects were cheesy as all hell. He felt a hand grip his and looked to the side to see Valerie looking a bit nervous as the girl on the screen was cornered by the monster. When the monster struck, she turned her head into his shoulder and squeezed his hand tighter. Blinking, he slipped his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.
Sure Valerie fought ghosts on a regular basis, but it must've still been horrible to watch a defenseless woman who was trying to escape with her life fail and die in such a horrible way. Even Dan was unfazed by that, feeling sorry for the poor woman. Then a creature came on-screen that made him think of one of the mutants at the arena and he stiffened up a bit before relaxing. 'It's okay.' He thought. 'It's just a movie. Just a movie. You're not seeing Danny up against that creature again. It's all scripted; no one is actually dying or being beaten half-to-death in front of you.'
"That was wicked when that huge praying mantis came out!" Tucker said as they stepped out of the theater into the afternoon sun. "Sam, didn't you think so?"
"I dunno, it seemed a bit…cliché?" Sam shrugged. "It was a good movie, though."
"No, the cliché part would've been if she bit someone's head off." Dan said calmly. "Science has taught us that the female praying mantis will bite the head of her lover off while they mate."
"True. Having her tear apart the guy when he refused to mate with her was a little out-of-character for a female praying mantis. Still, it was wicked!" Tucker grinned, punching a fist into the air.
"Well, it was worth the money we paid to get in." Valerie said, though she looked like she was going to be sick. "Dan, you must have a strong stomach or a super poker-face. You only reacted to, like, one thing."
"The thing I reacted to is similar to something I see in my nightmares." Dan explained. "Everything else didn't faze me because it's cheesy graphics and most of the movie was screaming with a little bit of dialogue."
"Listen to the movie critic over there!" Tucker laughed. "You didn't like it, Dan?"
"It was enjoyable; I'm just saying why I wasn't fazed by it." He shrugged again.
"There you go again! Shrugging! Like you don't have a care in the world!" Tucker shook his head, grinning. "Well, shall we go to Danny's grave to give our reviews?"
They all agreed and went to the graveyard, talking about what they were going to say. When actually faced with Danny's grave, though, everything was silent. Sam looked close to tears and Valerie squeezed Dan's hand tightly while he stared blankly at the name engraved on the stone.
Danny had been given a really nice grave and marker, Vlad making sure he got only the best sort of treatment. Heck, if Vlad had it his way, the boy would've had his own crypt – there just wasn't room for it.
Tucker finally broke the silence. "I forgot to say, Dan, that was a really nice speech. Thanks…for speaking for him. I wish you knew him before…"
Dan nodded. "…I don't know what to say to him about the movie. I guess….the words just died on our lips."
"He…wouldn't care anyway." Sam said softly, wiping at her face. "If he was sick at home he'd just go see it himself, and tell us not to spoil it if we told him. But, right now…"
"Let's leave this place for now. We'll come back later." Dan suggested.
They nodded and walked away, quieter than when they came.