He did not get a good night's sleep.
Dash had hardly even gotten any sleep the night before and now he was on his way to school. He was jumpy and twitchy as he walked down the streets of Amity Park towards Casper High. He jumped every time a car passed him on the road. He was always looking over his shoulder. Every time he heard suspiciously close sounds of tires crunching over gravel he was ready to bolt.
How did he know that he wasn't gonna get snatched in broad daylight? He still didn't even know what the hell happened last night. He had to keep his guard up until he got to school where he was safe and out of the open.
Dash saw the school peeking out from in between the tall buildings on either side of the road he was walking on. Thank god!
He quickly made his way to the school, even running a little bit to make sure he got inside as fast as possible. He walked to his locker, pointedly ignoring Fenton's where he usually made a beeline to, and grabbed the stuff he needed for his first class.
He sat down a few seconds before the late bell rang and he let out a big sigh. He made it. He was in the clear. He was safe.
"Dash Baxter?"
Dash jumped. He looked up to see one of the office ladies standing in the doorway.
"Yeah? That's me."
She nodded. "Come with me to the office, please."
Furrowing his brows, Dash looked first at Kwan and then at Mr. Lancer and shrugged. Kwan looked like he wanted to say something but Dash turned away before he could. He followed the lady out of the classroom and cleared his throat.
"Why am I going to the office?" He asked.
"You have some scholarship donors here!" She said cheerily. "They're looking to talk to you about the details of what they're offering you!"
Dash smiled as his chest swelled. Finally some good news. He didn't know how he was going to pay for college. He had applied to a couple places, but there were some that he knew he wasn't going to be able to afford. Maybe this could help.
He followed her into the office and she walked him to one of the conference rooms in the back. She opened the door and his heart dropped into his stomach.
Sitting there in the conference room were the two agents who kidnapped Danny Fenton the night before.
"Here you go, gentlemen!" The office lady called cheerily. "Here he is! I'll let you guys discuss the exciting news that you have for him!"
She pulled the door shut behind her and Dash was left alone with these two horrible awful men.
They stared at him for a few moments, studying him from under their sunglasses. He gulped and fidgeted in his place.
"Sit down." Said the agent sitting on the left side of the table.
Dash mutely pulled the chair out from underneath the table. He sat down without taking his backpack off and stared at them stiffly.
"We know what you saw last night." The agent started. "We have reason to suspect that there's been a ghost posing as one of the students in this year's graduating class. We are taking whatever measures necessary to apprehend it."
Dash's brows furrowed. He was confused. "You think Fenton's a ghost?"
"We believe that something happened to the boy and his ghost took his place. We are taking necessary measures to find out what happened to him and solve the situation accordingly. But none of that is any of your business."
The agent leaned forward, clasping his hands on top of the table in between them.
"The only reason I'm telling you any of this is because you are to never share the events of what happened last night with anyone."
"What?" Dash asked. "Me? What happens when you release Fenton and he starts telling people about how you kidnapped him?"
"He will not be released."
Dash stared at them. "You're just gonna keep him there forever? What if he's not even a ghost like you think he is? Are you just gonna keep a random human locked up in there for the rest of their life?"
The agent slammed his fist down onto the table and Dash jumped. "He is a level eight ghost. He is too dangerous to let roam on his own. This is for the safety of Amity Park."
Dash rolled his eyes. "Have you seen Fenton? He can hardly even hurt a fly."
"What you think doesn't matter." The agent said. "This is what we're going to do. You are going to keep your mouth shut, and in exchange we will give you a full ride to any school of your choice."
He looked at Dash threateningly.
"But if you don't, you'll end up in a holding cell right alongside Mr. Fenton."
Dash stared at them in shock. He could feel his hands starting to shake out of fear. He clenched them into fists to try to hide it.
This was so messed up. Fenton? A ghost? That was the craziest thing he's ever heard. No one would believe them if they said that's why they detained him. But if they could make Fenton disappear without hardly a trace, they could do the same to Dash…
"What will it be?"
Slowly, he nodded his head. His heart was racing and all he wanted to do was get out of this room.
"Okay. I'll- I'll take the deal." He didn't want to disappear.
The agent smiled sadistically at him. "That's a good boy."
He stood up and stared down at Dash. "We'll be in contact. Let us know when you decide which school you'll plan on attending."
Together, both agents exited the room. They left the door ajar and all Dash could do was stare at it and he willed his body to not start hyperventilating.
How could he have done that? He just let them get away with it. He could still go to the police. He could still tell them what happened.
But the GIW could just lie to them, say that some kid had seen them capturing a ghost that night. That he must've been high on some drugs, that he wasn't thinking straight. And then they'd make him disappear. Locked in a holding cell wherever they were keeping Fenton.
He stood up and left the room with a heavy pit in his stomach. He felt disgusted and as he walked past the lady sitting at the front desk in the office, she didn't seem to notice how distraught he was.
"Congratulations!" She smiled at him. "I heard that you've got yourself a full ride! You sure are one lucky kid."
"Yeah." He swallowed thickly as he pushed the office door open. "I sure am."
What else could he have done?