Thank you to "random ghost" for reviewing every chapter! It really means a lot to me.
Maddie was in a frenzy. Danny was in a funk. Jazz was very confused.
It was breakfast time and Jazz had come down expecting the new normal lethargy of the morning but was pleasantly surprised to find her mom full of energy. She seemed excited as she bustled around the kitchen, slightly flustered as if looking for something. What that something could be, Jazz wasn't sure.
Her little brother, on the other hand, was lackadaisically stirring his cereal. His head was bowed towards his breakfast but his eyes were clouded like he wasn't mentally in the room.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Jazz said, emboldened by her mother's vigor and ignoring her brother's mood.
"I'm not really sure if I should say anything yet…" She responded, her tone showing she wanted to share even if her words didn't.
"Then don't," Danny stated sharply, stony eyes trained on the table.
Jazz's eyes flicked to Danny but Maddie seemed determined to ignore him for the moment, "Well you see—"
Danny stood up abruptly, almost knocking his chair over. He glared daggers at Maddie and grit out, "Stop it."
Maddie turned to her son, "Young man, that is not an okay way to address me."
He simply huffed then turned around and left the kitchen. Jazz swore his eyes looked as if they sparked green for a moment. Whatever this was had to be something big.
Maddie sighed and subtly shook her head before she remembered what she was talking about. Then she suddenly straightened, looking at Jazz with a bright gleam in her eyes.
"Honey, I saw him last night. Jack was in the lab!"
Jazz felt her heart crack as she prepared herself to give a psychological explanation to a family member convincing them that Jack was dead for the second time in two days. She knew denial was the first stage of grief but they were being way too instant without realizing how much it hurt her.
Maddie must have seen the look on her face because she rushed to say, "I know it seems crazy—I didn't want to believe it at first either, myself—but he was there. He was talking to me and all excited and Jasmine I touched him. I could feel the rubber of his hazmat suit."
"Then where is he? Why isn't he here?"
"He… He got taken."
"What?" Jazz questioned from under the curtain of her hair.
Maddie started to explain, "I was so shocked seeing him at first—I thought he was dead. I couldn't do anything, I just stood there and stared. I completely forgot that darn ghost kid was in the room until he suddenly grabbed Jack and flew with him into the portal. I tried to go after them but I was only fast enough to barely touch Jack's boot."
"Phantom?" Jazz said, "He was there?"
"Yes," Maddie responded, "but don't worry, honey. As soon as I finish putting together this invention, I'll be able to get that ectoplasmic fiend to tell us what he did with Jack."
Jazz didn't like the gleam in her mom's eyes, "It won't hurt him, will it?"
The ghost hunter laughed, "Oh, don't be silly, you know ghosts don't feel pain."
The oldest member of Team Phantom could feel herself try to swallow the lump in her throat. She knew Danny was good at evading their parent's attacks, but with Jack gone and Maddie convinced Phantom had kidnapped him, she had very real fears about her mother's plans.
"I need to, um, get ready for school," Jazz quickly lied.
Maddie—not seeming to notice her discomfort—said, "Alright sweetie."
As her mom went back to whatever ghost-torturing schemes she was thinking of, Jazz quickly made her escape from the kitchen and ran up to her little brother's room. Her mind raced as she went up the stairs. Danny had been so hopeful yesterday before all of these events, how had that changed? Why did he take Jack to the Ghost Zone? Was it a shapeshifting ghost? If so, they would have to convince their mom of it before she could fulfill whatever horrible plan she had concocted.
Jazz knocked on the door. When she didn't get a response, she started banging on the door. She even called his name a time or two. She finally gave up and just forced open the door to find an empty room. Danny had probably gone intangible and flown to school already, looking to avoid his family for whatever reason caused the stark difference in attitude overnight.
Determined to find her younger brother, she quickly went to her room, stuffed some school supplies in her backpack, then rushed out the door without a word to her mom.
—
Sam and Tucker knew something was up with Danny. He somehow seemed worse than he had in the days leading up to today. They knew that his dad's death had hit the whole family hard, but something else must have happened to cause this. His best friends were not going to ask, but at lunch they finally caved. They were sitting at their normal bench outside by the fence and the tree. With a shared look across the table, Tucker cleared his throat and asked Danny what happened.
"Nothing," was Danny's morose reply.
Tucker raised a brow and Sam scoffed, "C'mon, we know something had to have happened. Your aura is darker than my clothes."
The lame joke didn't have much of an effect, Danny refused to meet either of their eyes.
"Dude, just tell us," Tucker pressed, "Not much can top your dad suddenly dying…"
His uncouth comment earned him a swift kick in the shin from combat boots. Sam's actions elicited an indignant "ow!" from the techogeek.
"What Tucker means to say," Sam said with a quick glare his way, "is that we're your friends and your teammates. You should confide in us so we can help you. A burdened shared is a burdened halved, after all."
Their best friend sighed quietly before mumbling something.
"What?" Tucker questioned, leaning forward across the table to hear Danny better.
"I… I saw my dad last night."
Sam and Tucker both blinked at him in confusion. Sam opened her mouth to say something but before she could form any syllables Danny pressed on. "He became a ghost. A-and, I told him to stay away from Amity Park."
Tears were rolling down his face at this point. Sam, who was sitting next to him, grabbed Danny in a fierce hug while Tucker murmured, "Oh, man."
"I, I thought he would be safe. He and mom hunted me all the time, I couldn't stand the idea of mom hunting him. I know she loved him in life, but she believes ghosts have no feelings. Also, what if she thought that he was just some ghost pretending to be dad? It makes a lot more sense than a life-long ghost hunter becoming a ghost!" Sam started rubbing his upper arm while he spoke, "I know he hunted me, but I don't want to see him torn apart. This will keep him safe but it hurts, it hurts so bad."
At this point, Tucker got up from his spot across from Danny and wrapped his arms tightly around his childhood friend as sobs started to wrack his body.
"I did the right thing, right? Tell me I made the right decision. Please tell me I'm protecting everyone. Please, please…" Danny started to beg.
"It's okay, Danny, you did the right thing," Tucker soothed.
"Then why does it hurt so much?" the raven-haired teen whimpered.
Sam replied frankly, "Doing the right thing often hurts, Danny. We live in a cruel world where doing the right thing hurts almost as much as doing the wrong, but you're protecting him. Him and you're family."
Tucker silently nodded while they continued to try and comfort their friend through physical contact. Danny continued to weep.
Here's the longest chapter yet as an apology for my lateness! I meant to get this out sooner but then my body decided it was migraine week and all my classes decided it was exam week. Then this weekend I found out I might be having to get a new car soon. The funny thing is that the more I look at all these fancier, newer cars, the more I wish I could keep my 2008 Hyundai Sonata. It seems to have better gas mileage and acceleration, which is hilarious. Also, it was hella cheap.