"Good morning, Mr. Fenton!" Madam Jones, one of the Math teachers and part-time counselor of Canterville school, greeted Danny with a smile.
"Good morning," replied Danny gleefully as he scanned his badge by the door outside the teachers' room. "How are you today?"
"As usual. You know how bothersome things are. Some kids aren't performing well this semester because of the change in syllabus and new subjects introduced. It'll take a while for them to get used to it. Otherwise, I'll have to request the education board to revise the new subjects."
Madam Jones proceeded to scan her badge after Danny. She was a senior teacher in this school for over 20 years. So, she was very familiar with the ins and outs of school happenings.
"And how's it going for you as the new teacher here, Mr. Fenton?"
"Well, I encountered some troublemakers yesterday and managed to remediate just one problem." Danny opened and held the door to let her walk in, "After you."
"Thank you. Oh, was it about a couple of students fighting yesterday?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"News here spreads fast, dear. It won't be the last time you'll hear the students fighting in this school. It's been happening quite often compared to last year," she chuckled.
"Well, that's delightful to know," Danny remarked sarcastically.
"It's just a matter of sorting it out peacefully. In any case, if you have any questions, you can always reach out."
"Oh yeah, I got one. I just recently read an article online about a student here who got violently attacked about a month ago. Is this true?"
Madam Jones hummed and tried to recall something in her mind. "Yeah, I know about that incident. It was a bizarre case."
"What exactly happened?"
"From what I remember, that student was said to have messed with some witchcraft or something. About a month ago, she was found bleeding and unconscious in the old abandoned school building. She's said to be hospitalized and still recovering. The police weren't able to find the culprit. There's no eyewitness or security footage to prove who attacked her. That poor girl refuses to talk to anyone after that incident. So, the case is unsolved."
"That's tragic. Do you think the perpetrator could be someone outside the school?"
"Unlikely. There are security cameras outside the school compound. The school security had already reviewed the footage, and nobody was seen trespassing."
"So, it could likely be done by someone inside the school."
"Possibly, but we have no proof if the culprit is someone in the school either."
"Hmm, you mentioned we have an old abandoned school building...?"
"Yes, it's the building behind block C. All entrances to that building are already blocked to prevent other students from accessing it."
"I see. Well, thanks for the info."
"Anytime. Oops, I need to go to the next class now. I'll chat with you later," Madam Jones looked at her watch and quickly picked up her books.
"See you later."
He briefly waved as she walked out of the teachers' room. He then rubbed the back of his neck and thought, I should probably check out that place...
Recess just started, and Danny had a couple of hours of spare time before his next class started. He walked around to survey the old abandoned school building. The main entrance to the building and the ground-level windows were all boarded up. The walls were stained with mold, and the paint flaked and washed out. Several window panels shattered, and all windows had a layer of thick dust accumulated on the surface. Weeds, tall grasses, and poison ivies surrounding the building were overgrown, making it more difficult for anyone to access.
Not for Danny. He had explored so many risky places that a simple abandoned building like this wouldn't deter him from entering. He looked around to ensure no one was watching, but he did not notice two pairs of eyes peeking behind the bush from a distance. Two girls from the senior class were watching him and wondering what he was doing.
"What's he doing at a place like this?" whispered one of the girls. "I hope he's not planning on doing something creepy. You know what happened a month ago in this place was messed up."
"Shh, look," The other girl pointed eagerly at him as he walked around the corner of the building until he disappeared from their peripheral vision behind the wall. "Let's get closer!"
As they carefully approached the corner, they were caught off guard by the overgrowth foliage and poison ivies blocking the pathway behind the building. Danny was nowhere in sight.
"What the...?! Did he just walk right into the thick poison ivy bushes without a flinch?"
"Shit, we can't go around the other side of the building either. It's entirely infested with bugs and poison ivies. Let's leave. We'll catch him later," both girls groaned and decided to walk away.
Danny dusted off the cobwebs caught onto his sleeve after he got inside the building without much hassle. He found himself standing inside a dingy old classroom and began looking around the place.
Old desks and chairs were messily piled up in the corner. Some were broken and dented, while others seemed as if they got violently crushed by force. Graffiti was haphazardly written on the stained walls, and debris was scattered on the soiled floor. The board on the ceiling was torn with holes. There were even remains of a dried-up rat stuck in the vines that dangled through the windows. The whole place looked like it could crumble anytime soon if an Earthquake were to hit the area.
He walked out of the room and headed straight into a dark corridor. This area was not in any better state than the classroom that he just stepped out of. Several broken glasses and moldy rubbish were lying on the floor. He had to be careful walking in this area. The further he walked down, the darker it got. It wasn't long before he felt a chill down his spine, and mist appeared on his breath. He froze in front of a door to another classroom. Something foreboding was inside. He could sense it.
He slowly opened the decaying door, and he had to be very cautious when entering the room. The temperature in the classroom instantly dipped. His whole body shivered as he looked up at a pair of big glowing eyes staring down at him. It growled at him with a deep guttural sound. Whatever that thing was, it looked huge and inhuman.
"A girl was attacked in this building last month. Are you the one who did it?" Danny spoke to it sternly.
It hissed momentarily before answering him, "She opened a portal for us using her witchcraft. Many had managed to escape through the portal. And as a token of gratitude, we got to break her so that she won't reveal it to her kind." A row of megalodon-sized glowing fangs, that stretched across its vein-filled face, emerged from the dark.
Danny gasped. He knew natural ghost portals were a common sight in Amity Park, but this was the first time he heard about someone opening a portal using sorcery. If that portal was still active, he must seal it before any sinister ghosts kept coming through.
"Where is the portal, ghost!" Danny snapped at it.
"It's in my haunt, and I'm guarding it," it stretched its left deformed bulging arm and blocked a wall scribbled with incantation scripts. Right in the center of the wall was a concentrated pool of swirling green ectoplasmic energy. He recognized that the thing behind the ghost was an active portal.
"You've defied the law of truce between this realm and the Ghost Zone. You've no right to stay in this realm. Now, hand it over before I decide to send you to the Ghost Zone Prison."
"It's mine! No one, not even the likes of you, shall take it away from me!" Its eyes glowed brighter with rage.
The temperature in the entire room plunged to freezing level. A thin layer of icy frost materialized on the wall surface in an instant.
"Not if I take over your haunt, big boy." Danny grinned menacingly at it.