Chapter 5

"Please tell me we're almost off of 71," Danny said as he checked the clock. They were a little behind where his mom had hopped, still on the interstate by noon. It was 12:26 and even though the last rest stop had been just half an hour ago, he was starting to hope for a second. He gave an evil glair to the Pepsi hanging in the cupholder on his left that he had grabbed out of the vending machine at that last stop, blaming it for his currant bladder issue.

"238, there's the sign for it," Maddie said, pointing at the windshield towards an exit marker.

Danny checked over his shoulder and got into the left of the two lanes labeled as an exit and asked, "Which one?"

Maddie gave a look at her papers before saying, "Stay in this one." She looked at him as he fidgeted in the seat and said with a laugh, "We're almost there."

"There better be a bathroom," Danny grumbled.

"From the paperwork, it's a one story house they're letting us stay in," Maddie explained, shuffling through the papers. "The key should be in a lock box by the door."

"Good," Danny mumbled, trying to think of dry things only for it to not help him at all. He took the exit, quickly finding them looking for the next exit that was to take them past the Glenn Research Center, where he was going to spend most of the next two weeks. He had hoped when they first drove by the NASA building he'd be a little more excited but all he wanted was what they were going to call home for the next two weeks.

After two back to back right turns they pulled into the driveway for a red roofed house with two garages.

Danny quickly put the car in park and killed the engine, phasing out of the seat belt so he could push open the door.

"Here's the key code!" Maddie called out.

Danny grabbed the paper but didn't even bother giving it a glance as he stepped up to the front door and turned it, and the lock above it, intangible to push the metal through the door frame. He dropped the paper on the back of the sofa as he rose off his feet and flew over the arm chair and into the hallway to quickly find the bathroom.

He hurried into the small bathroom, the tub on his right and the sink on his left only for him to notice the toilet paper was on the wall behind the toilet. He gave it a pitying glance as he finished his business, washing his hands before leaving the room.

He stepped back into the living room, finally able to see that the living room and kitchen were separated only by the counter and barstools. A kitchen table sat pushed against the far wall next to what he assumed was the door to the garage.

"Danny, fix the door," Maddie said as she stepped through the open doorway with the paper box in her arms.

He passed her as she went to put the box on the kitchen table only to see what she meant. When he had thought he was only making half of the door intangible he must have made the whole door intangible as it now rested outside of its hinges and the pins holding nothing on the doorframe. "Oops," he let out with a laugh. "That's a new one."

"How often do you break through doors?" Maddie asked with a retort in her voice as she left the table to stand behind him.

Danny shifted to the side, letting her step passed him, as he retorted back, "You wanna know how many house keys I've had get melted or destroyed?"

"Do you have one now?" Maddie asked, turning to walk backwards a step only to stop on the walkway.

"Yeah," Danny said. "Jazz gave me my last replacement."

Danny turned to look back at the door, trying to ignore the look on his mother's face as she lingered on him. She turned to go back to the car as Danny took hold of the door, giving it intangibility as he picked it up with a little ghostly strength. Looking at the hinges, he lined the three up and dropped the intangibility only to forget about his hand still holding onto the edge and was now trying to fight for space in the doorframe. Letting out a startled scream, he pulled his hand through the doorframe's metal and held his hand in his other, grounding his teeth to hold back the worst of the pain.

"Danny, are you okay?" Maddie asked from the car.

Unable to answer, Danny turned towards the inside of the house and felt his hand where his bones had been in metal as he took deep breaths. He couldn't let out what wanted to come out, knowing they couldn't draw attention to themselves in the unfamiliar neighborhood.

"Danny, what happened?" Maddie asked, walking up the steps. She stood beside him and held out her hands to grab hold of his. It quickly was turning purple and yellow as his body tried to repair what he had done to it.

"Come on, let's get some ice on it," Maddie said, releasing the injured hand to take hold of his shoulders.

"No, it's fine," Danny tried, his voice cracking as the bruise turned green and gave off a faint glow.

Maddie released his shoulders and pulled out the chair closest to the fridge at the table. "I'm your mother, let me mother," Maddie said, silently ordering him to sit.

Danny sat down, watching as she rummaged the kitchen for a bag to fill up from the ice machine on the outside of the fridge. She zipped it up and wrapped it in a few paper towels before handing it to Danny.

"What happened?" Maddie asked, watching him put the ice bag to the inside of his hand.

"Forgot my hand was there," Danny admitted, the ice feeling good as the ectoplasm inside him healed his hand. "Molecules don't like sharing space," he added with a laugh.

"Have you ever done this before?" Maddie asked, worry on her face as she took the seat next to his.

Danny looked at the back of his hand, the glow evident on that side as well, as he laughed. "Oh, you should've seen me after the beginning of Freshman year. Try going through puberty when thinking you wish you could vanish makes it happen."

"I remember your science teacher calling about implementing a ban on glass," Maddie mumbled. "I thought the accident might have messed with your muscles, but shortly after that it seemed like you were fine."

"During all of that I had fallen through the floor at school," Danny admitted. "Turned solid in a panic and felt the floor and my gut fight for space."

"You need to be more careful!" Maddie exclaimed, her eyes wide in panic.

"Well, I heal really fast now," Danny tried, taking the ice away to squeeze his hand into a fist. Smiling at the lack of pain or bruise, he turned to show his palm to his mother and added, "See, all healed."

"Ectoplasm does have a lot of self generating properties," Maddie said to herself as she took hold of Danny's hand. She ran fingers along the bones, giving it a slight squeeze as if to judge by his reaction as she asked, "But how does it heal your human bones and tissues?"

Danny blushed, unsure how to take his mother's curiosity about how his body works. He took his hand back and stood up to dump the ice into the sink and said, "I guess we'll find out while we're here."

"I guess," Maddie mumbled.

Danny threw the bag and towel in the trash can on the other side of the back door before turning around to ask, "Is there still stuff in the car?"

"Huh, oh, yeah," Maddie said, taken out of her thoughts as she pushed herself up to her feet. "Is your hand well enough to work?" she asked.

"I could fight if I had to," Danny said, gripping the hand into a fist once again to prove his hand was fine.

"Hopefully no fighting while we're here," Maddie said.

Danny led the way around her and back out the front door as he asked with a laugh, "You know more about natural portals, hopefully there's no hotspot around here."

"Well, Franklin Castle's east of here but the Norton's own it," Maddie offered. "They've been trying to buy Fenton Works for years."

Danny smiled as he pushed open the trunk lid, pulling out his mom's suitcase and his duffle bag as she collected the road cups from the back seat. He knew the Norton's by name very well, it being another husband and wife ghost hunting family. They called the house number at least yearly all his life and after the portal was finished it turned to almost monthly. A part of him worried what would happen if he ever saw his parents and the Norton's in the same room, but threw the idea away as he closed the trunk.

He noticed Maddie crouched at the corner of the door, making him worry he might have still put the door back wrong. He took the short path from the driveway to the steps leading towards the door and called out, "Everything alright?"

A buzz sounded as Danny stopped on the bottom step to the small front porch, letting him see his mother pulling out a key from a small lock box.

"Just getting the key," Maddie said as she rose to her feet. She turned to the still opened door and tested the key in the lock as she added, "There's only one, but I'm sure we'll be fine."

"As long as I don't take anymore doors with me," Danny joked, following her inside. He pushed the door closed and headed for the hallway once more to find the two bedrooms.