Phantom or Fenton? Chapter Three
The Amityville Horror
Six Years Ago
A fourteen-year-old Daniel Fenton gazed at his parents from his position leaning against the far wall. His features were a bit boyish and could be described as %u2018cute%u2019; after all, he was just a kid. Dressed in his usual red and white t-shirt and light blue jeans Daniel glanced at the clock on the wall again. He yawned. This %u2018experiment%u2019 was dull, he%u2019d much rather be outside playing with his friends or hanging out at the mall. However, his parents insisted this was the %u2018big moment%u2019 and that the whole Fenton family had to be present.
Daniel%u2019s parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton were both world famous scientist working in top government classified fields. But their work was just that, work. Their true passion is ghost hunting. For years now they have put all their free time into proving the existence of these terrors of the undead to those around them. Sadly, this has not won them many party invitations or friends for that matter. Many of their colleagues simply ignore or block them out when the word %u2018ghost%u2019 turned up. Even the government would be more than happy to lock them up in padded white rooms and label them as %u2018insane%u2019 if it wasn%u2019t for their brilliance in their field.
Jack removed his goggles and wiped the sweat from his brow before smiling at Daniel giving him a thumb%u2019s up. Daniel in turn sighed and buried his face in his hands.
%u201CThe portal is just about complete Danny! Come over here so you can get a good view of this historical event! You too Jazz!%u201D
Daniel%u2019s older sister Jazmine Fenton sighed heavily and unwillingly walked closer to the giant door that was to be the Ghost Portal. %u201CI still don%u2019t see why Danny and I have to be here for this Ghost nonsense Dad. Do you know what this could mean for his social life if people found out about his parents love for ghost?%u201D
%u201CHey! My social life? What about yours Jazz?%u201D Daniel question.
Jazmine smiled and ruffled his hair, %u201CYou forget little brother, and I%u2019m not related to them when they%u2019re like this.%u201D She frowned eyeing her mother who was currently fiddling with some tool. %u201CI refuse to be%u2026%u201D
%u201CIt%u2019s done!%u201D Jack proclaimed helping Maddie on her feet with is free hand. %u201CI just have to plug this in and-!%u201D
%u201CDad, did you test this out first? Are you 100% sure there%u2019s no way this could backfire and cause tremendous physical or mental harm?%u201D Jazmine asked taking a step back from the crazed look her father got in his eye.
%u201COh don%u2019t be such a worrywart Jazz, this time we%u2019ve got everything under control.%u201D
%u201CWait, this time?!%u201D Both Jazz and Daniel exclaimed in unison exchanging worried glances.
Maddie tosses a smile over her shoulder toward her children. %u201COh it was a long time ago kids, back when we were in college. We%u2019ve made several improvements since then.%u201D
%u201CThen why do I have this sinking feeling in my stomach all of a sudden?%u201D Daniel asked.
Ignoring their troubled teenage children Jack held up the last two plugs that would feed the Ghost Portal it%u2019s main power, Maddie looked on positive that everything was in order this time, Jazmine kept a good distance between her parents and exit, just in case, and Daniel stood in between his parents with a perfect view of the portal.
The plugs connected%u2026and nothing happened.
Jack%u2019s face fell. %u201CWell that can%u2019t be right!%u201D He pulled the plugs apart and stared at them carefully as if giving it %u2018the eye%u2019 would force it to work before plugging it in repeatedly.
%u201CJake stop it, let%u2019s look over these figures again.%u201D Maddie said taking the plug away from Jack before he unknowingly did something foolish.
%u201CDoes this mean I can go now?%u201D Jazmine asked in a bored tone. She was a little disappointed that their invention didn%u2019t work as they had planed but the part of her that disliked their taste for ghost hunting overpowered that disappointment.
%u201CSure Jazz, you can go too Danny.%u201D
That was all that needed to be said before the two teens were up the stairs and out the basement.
Later That Night
I can%u2019t believe I%u2019m ding this. Daniel thought to himself as he crept down the basement stairs that night.
For some reason Daniel couldn%u2019t get rid of that sinking feeling from earlier that afternoon. When he left the basement earlier, it was there, when he was at the mall it was there and even through dinner and when he tried to sleep, it was there. Even now, as he stood before the large hexagon, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach grew.
%u201CThis is so silly. It%u2019s just a metal doorway that doesn%u2019t even work.%u201D Daniel reassured himself.
Daniel walked up to the door and pushed his hand over the cool metal around the doorway. Peeping inside he saw nothing but a semi-long hallway of metal. Nothing to be afraid of. He sighed in relief and was about to leave when something inside the portal caught his eye. A compartment had been left open. The sinking feeling doubled.
Something about that open hatch was bothering him, but that was silly right? What did he know about the hatch or anything-involving ghosts for that matter?!
%u201CMaybe just a peak.%u201D He mumbled walking over to the small cabinet that held his parents jumpsuits. Opening it, he was blinded by the rows and rows of blue and orange jumpsuits.
%u201CEver hear of variety?%u201D
He flipped through the mass of blue and orange in hopes of finding one suite that wouldn%u2019t make him look like his parents. A flash of white near the very back in between his father%u2019s orange jumpsuit caught Daniel%u2019s attention. Pulling it out he revealed a white and black suite. Grinning Daniel quickly slipped in and zipped it up. In the center was a sticker of sorts of his father%u2019s face. Cringing he pulled it off and stuck it to one of his mother%u2019s suite.
%u201CThis isn%u2019t so bad. At least no one will recognize me like this%u2026I hope.%u201D
Walking back to the portal Daniel took a deep breath and walked in his gloved hand running along the metal of the walls. As he steeped over the threshold he failed to notice the plugs his father was tinkering with this afternoon was still plugged in and abandoned on the floor.
Daniel had to admit, this was some high-tech stuff. He didn%u2019t understand half of it but that didn%u2019t mean he couldn%u2019t appreciate mechanical genius when he saw it. His parents did have their moments, and this was one of them. He mentally reminded himself to tell his parents that once he got out.
The hatch. The reason why he was in here in the first place. He stood before it now and he couldn%u2019t help but notice that the red %u2018off%u2019 button was switched on and the green %u2018on%u2019 button was off.
%u201CI can%u2019t believe they forgot to switch it on from the inside, how silly is that? I guess I could just flip it on; it%u2019s just a switch. No harm ever came from flipping a switch, right?%u201D
Famous last words.
Three Hours Later
Daniel stirred, his eyes moving swiftly under closed eyelids. With a gasp and a cry, his eyes snapped open and he sat up in alarm.
%u201CWhat happened? Where am I?%u201D Panic laced in his voice Daniel quickly got to his feet and took in his surroundings. He was still in the basement. He sighed. He was okay. Looking down at himself he noticed that the jumpsuit he had put on was gone%u2026did he dream the whole thing? Baby-bye eyes drifted to the portal whose doors were now closed? How odd they weren%u2019t closed before.
Daniel shrugged and yawned, what time was it? Looking at the clock, Daniel screamed. It wasn%u2019t that thee hours had somehow gone unnoticed no it was his appearance. What he saw in the mirror just below the clock was much more important now. His face was covered with a large breakout of acne!
The thundering of many feet captured Daniel%u2019s attention from his reflection as he turned to see his parents and older sister descend the basement stairs. The room was quickly filled with cries of shock, horror and concern. Her motherly instincts taking over Maddie quickly scooped up her frantic son and rushed out the basement.
%u201CCome on Jack, we have to take to the hospital.%u201D Was tossed over her shoulder as she sprinted up the steps and for once Jake didn%u2019t say or do anything silly. His eyes traveled from Jazmine who was beginning to cry to the place Daniel once stood. %u201CCome on Jazz, your brother needs us!%u201D
~*~*~
Daniel Fenton those were the words next to the hospital door. Jazmine stared at them as if she were seeing things. This couldn%u2019t be happening. Daniel didn%u2019t get into things like this. He was a good kid, a bit misunderstood but he never did anything life threatening.
A large hand clamped over her shoulder and she jumped. She turned to see her father and mother behind her.
%u201CThe doctor says we can see him now.%u201D
Jazmine nodded and moved towards the door, her hand reached for the doorknob and froze. She couldn%u2019t do it. Seeing her standing there with her hand outstretched for the door Maddie laced her hand with Jazmine%u2019s and together they opened the door. The electronic Beep was a somewhat eerie yet calming sound to hear when you knew it belonged to someone you loved.
In the middle of the room lies Daniel Fenton. He was sleeping and a thick solution leaked through the bandages on his arms and face. It was a heartbreaking sight. He was only fourteen and yet he looked so sad, lying there unmoving, in a deep sleep.
The Fenton family sat around his bedside, Maddie holding one of his bandaged hands in her own.
%u201CWhat did the doctor say?%u201D Jazmine%u2019s voice broke the silence.
%u201CThey%u2019re not sure what happened to him. His break out is unusual and they can%u2019t identify its origin.%u201D Jake explained.
%u201CThe doctor%u2019s have agreed to let us run some tests as well. Your father and I are going to look around the lab again to see if anything stands out. It happened down there, there has to be some kind of clue as to what happened to your brother down there.%u201D
~*~*~
Beep%u2026.
Daniel%u2019s eyes fluttered open. He flinched as the bright lights of the sun rushed into his sensitive eyes. Groaning he rolls away from the light only to find himself on the floor. Had he fallen out of bed? Looking up he almost had a heart attack.
Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026
The bed was above him! He had fallen through?! But how was that possible? Thinking quickly, he roll out from under the bed and stood up to look at it. The bed seemed normal enough. He reached out to touch the bed and watched as his hand turned intangible before his very eyes and slipped through the bed complexly.
Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026 Beep%u2026
%u201CWhat%u2019s going on?!%u201D Daniel%u2019s voice cracked.
He held up his hand and watched as it flickered between a solid and well non solid.
%u201COkay Danny, think, what%u2019s the last thing you remember? What could have happened to cause this?%u201D He began pacing around the room.
%u201CI remember going into the basement, finding the open panel in the Ghost Portal, putting on the suite and flipping a switch%u2026did I activate the Ghost Portal when I flipped that switch? Oh man this can%u2019t be happening to me.%u201D
His fears were only doubled when he saw his own reflection. Not only were body parts disappearing at odd moments but also his hair had changed from black to white and he had glowing green eyes. There was only one thing that could explain this, his interaction within the Ghost Portal while activated had somehow changed him, changed him into the one thing he knew nothing about. He was a ghost.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep%u2026
~*~*~
Things only seemed to get worst for Daniel and the Fenton%u2019s. His parents never figured out the cause of the acne and Daniel kept his little trip into the Fenton Portal a secret along with his new powers. But word had already gotten out to the rest of Amity Park.. Daniel was in the hospital because there was an accident in the Fenton lab. The details were not known but then again gossip tends to be more important than facts in theses cases.
The town was in an uproar. As far as they knew the Fenton%u2019s were crazy in the first place believing in ghost, now there were sending their own son to the hospital with an unknown and unexplainable breakout?! There was no room for people like them in Amity Park.. A petition was signed and a town meeting was held, within a month the Fenton%u2019s were asked to leave by order of the mayor of Amity Park.
TBC%u2026
Questions? Comments? Input?
Basically I wanted to explain how Danny without Sam or Tucker could get ghost powers. It%u2019s kinda like a fate thing, he was meant to have them, I can%u2019t picture Danny without it. To be a bit different I gave Danny Ecto-Acne before getting his powers, kinda like what happened to Vlad Masters
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