Chapter 8- Gaining Experience:
Danny (month later):
I banged my head against the wall. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. Bond was suspicious. I don't know what I did- the green eyes or my habit to turn intangible or what, but I knew he was suspicious. Suspicious of what, I didn't know. He has been giving me weird looks and looks of recognition and just all these weird things. Maybe I was being paranoid, maybe nothing was wrong?
That had to be it. It had to be my paranoia. I mean, I knew I nearly slipped several times, but that couldn't be it. He couldn't have noticed. I was careful, sort of. Charlie walked in and looked at me confused,
"Uh, whatcha doing?"
I winced and put a hand to my head, maybe not the best idea,
"Something stupid and thinking."
Charlie shrugged,
"Sounds like me about half the time- minus the thinking part."
Both of us laughed. Charlie was becoming sort of a best friend. He was pretty cool and I hoped he thought of me as a best friend too. When I think about, all the Soul Finders were becoming close friends- even the Professor. Well, the Professor was more of a grandfatherly-type figure really.
Charlie grabbed a snack from his 'secret drawer' and sat in his bean bag chair to watch a movie on his laptop. I rolled my eyes and left. Some air did me good. I decided for a change and headed to the roof. No one really went there in the winter- especially not if it was snowing. I only had a jacket and scarf on to keep up the appearance. In reality, the cold didn't bother me- with me being half ghost and all.
Luckily for my boredom, I had a book with me. I headed to the park. Not many people were there- with it snowing- though there were kids playing in the snow. It was kind of funny and cute to see them. I smiled and started to read my book. It was a pretty good book- it was, after all, a book about ghosts and the theories about ghosts. Though, I have written in it with my own notes and crossing out the bogus theories.
Then, there was a tap on my shoulder and a fake cough. I put the book down and found myself looking at Bond- the person I wanted to avoid.
"I know who you are," he said coldly.
I froze. My eyes widened. How could he know who I was? I was careful- sort of…Bond took the seat next to me.
"I know who you are," he repeated slowly, "and….I won't tell unless you want me to."
"What," I sputtered. If he knew I was Phantom, why didn't he want to turn me in to the Guys in White?! Bond sighed,
"Look, we may not be on the best terms, but you're still a good friend," he strained out. I knew it was hard for him- of all people- to talk about feelings.
"What," I stuttered, play it cool, "I don't- I don't know what you are talking about."
"Look, Fenton," Bond said, "I know you're Daniel Fenton, okay? I know you're the last survivor and-"
I put my hand over his mouth to shush him, that's a bit of a relief,
"Look, don't tell anyone!"
He moved my hand,
"Didn't I just say that. Look, I know who you are and I just- I won't tell anyone okay," he said, "and…and I just have a question."
"What?"
"Before….you said a ghost killed your parents- but the Great Fire Of Amity did-"
"That was a ghost."
"What?"
Bond looked at me shocked,
"A ghost was the cause of the fire and nothing I could do stopped him, but eventually, eventually I ended the ghost…"
****f
I went straight back to my dorm and shut the door.
"Dude," Charlie said, "What's up with you?"
"I am perfectly fine."
I sat on my bed with the same shocked look on my face. After twenty minutes, the shock wore off. Now, that left me with my thoughts. I sighed and headed back out. I needed more than fresh air this time. Someone poked me in the shoulder and I jumped.
"Whatareyoudoing," I screeched. The Professor raised an eyebrow,
"I do so hope that you are not drunk."
"No, just coffee," I said with my arm twitching, "caffeine and sugar are two big no-no's."
"Good, we have a case."
All the caffeine left my system from that shock.
"What?"
"A case. We have a case, meeting in paranormal research building- as there is not a class now- for a team meeting. Come on."
Soon, we were all inside two big vans. The Professor came to 'show us the ropes', he was in a van with Charlie and Kevin. Gear, Bond, Nancy and I were in the other van. The vans were black and had the words, 'Soul Finders: Ghost Investigation Team' written in green.
Gear was kind enough to give the team all her tech- EVP detectors (that I helped her with), video cameras, voice recorders, thermal cameras, and everything we would need. We all had walkie-talkies to communicate.
"Okay," the Professor said through the walkie, "the place is called Emerson Hotel. No signs of anything demonic, which is good for your first case. Reports of shadows, laughter, voices, footsteps, what most ghost hunters would call a typical haunt. As for why it's haunted- reports of several deaths though I'm sure the owner will tell us more about that. Danny,"
"Yeah?"
"This is your chance to see what you can pick up, do you understand?"
"Yeah…"
I looked out through the window at the hotel. It was pretty large and looked pretty old, but elegant. It looked ancient, but a good ancient. It looked clean, despite the signs of it being old. It reminded me of a Victorian hotel.
I saw Bond still looking at me through the corners of his eyes. It made me fidget, knowing that he knew who I was and everything. At least I didn't tell him everything. I couldn't. I didn't trust him. He didn't trust me- but at least he respected me enough to not tell everyone.
I also saw him looking at Gear. I smirked, love birds. Though, Gear is as clueless as me. I looked over at Nancy, who was looking out her window at the hotel in awe.
"It's so gorgeous."
Finally, we parked and got out. Gear handed me and Kevin a handheld camera for the interviews. Then, during the investigation we would had a handheld one for each pair of us. We headed into the hotel to see an elderly woman waiting. She had silver hair in a bun and a long red dress.
"Welcome to Emerson Hotel, I am the owner, Evelyn Emerson. You are the ghost investigators?"
"Yes," The Professor greeted, "I am Professor Alvin, this is Danny, Nancy, Kevin, Charlie, Gwyn and Bond."
"Please come in."
Danny (month later):
I banged my head against the wall. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. Bond was suspicious. I don't know what I did- the green eyes or my habit to turn intangible or what, but I knew he was suspicious. Suspicious of what, I didn't know. He has been giving me weird looks and looks of recognition and just all these weird things. Maybe I was being paranoid, maybe nothing was wrong?
That had to be it. It had to be my paranoia. I mean, I knew I nearly slipped several times, but that couldn't be it. He couldn't have noticed. I was careful, sort of. Charlie walked in and looked at me confused,
"Uh, whatcha doing?"
I winced and put a hand to my head, maybe not the best idea,
"Something stupid and thinking."
Charlie shrugged,
"Sounds like me about half the time- minus the thinking part."
Both of us laughed. Charlie was becoming sort of a best friend. He was pretty cool and I hoped he thought of me as a best friend too. When I think about, all the Soul Finders were becoming close friends- even the Professor. Well, the Professor was more of a grandfatherly-type figure really.
Charlie grabbed a snack from his 'secret drawer' and sat in his bean bag chair to watch a movie on his laptop. I rolled my eyes and left. Some air did me good. I decided for a change and headed to the roof. No one really went there in the winter- especially not if it was snowing. I only had a jacket and scarf on to keep up the appearance. In reality, the cold didn't bother me- with me being half ghost and all.
Luckily for my boredom, I had a book with me. I headed to the park. Not many people were there- with it snowing- though there were kids playing in the snow. It was kind of funny and cute to see them. I smiled and started to read my book. It was a pretty good book- it was, after all, a book about ghosts and the theories about ghosts. Though, I have written in it with my own notes and crossing out the bogus theories.
Then, there was a tap on my shoulder and a fake cough. I put the book down and found myself looking at Bond- the person I wanted to avoid.
"I know who you are," he said coldly.
I froze. My eyes widened. How could he know who I was? I was careful- sort of…Bond took the seat next to me.
"I know who you are," he repeated slowly, "and….I won't tell unless you want me to."
"What," I sputtered. If he knew I was Phantom, why didn't he want to turn me in to the Guys in White?! Bond sighed,
"Look, we may not be on the best terms, but you're still a good friend," he strained out. I knew it was hard for him- of all people- to talk about feelings.
"What," I stuttered, play it cool, "I don't- I don't know what you are talking about."
"Look, Fenton," Bond said, "I know you're Daniel Fenton, okay? I know you're the last survivor and-"
I put my hand over his mouth to shush him, that's a bit of a relief,
"Look, don't tell anyone!"
He moved my hand,
"Didn't I just say that. Look, I know who you are and I just- I won't tell anyone okay," he said, "and…and I just have a question."
"What?"
"Before….you said a ghost killed your parents- but the Great Fire Of Amity did-"
"That was a ghost."
"What?"
Bond looked at me shocked,
"A ghost was the cause of the fire and nothing I could do stopped him, but eventually, eventually I ended the ghost…"
****f
I went straight back to my dorm and shut the door.
"Dude," Charlie said, "What's up with you?"
"I am perfectly fine."
I sat on my bed with the same shocked look on my face. After twenty minutes, the shock wore off. Now, that left me with my thoughts. I sighed and headed back out. I needed more than fresh air this time. Someone poked me in the shoulder and I jumped.
"Whatareyoudoing," I screeched. The Professor raised an eyebrow,
"I do so hope that you are not drunk."
"No, just coffee," I said with my arm twitching, "caffeine and sugar are two big no-no's."
"Good, we have a case."
All the caffeine left my system from that shock.
"What?"
"A case. We have a case, meeting in paranormal research building- as there is not a class now- for a team meeting. Come on."
Soon, we were all inside two big vans. The Professor came to 'show us the ropes', he was in a van with Charlie and Kevin. Gear, Bond, Nancy and I were in the other van. The vans were black and had the words, 'Soul Finders: Ghost Investigation Team' written in green.
Gear was kind enough to give the team all her tech- EVP detectors (that I helped her with), video cameras, voice recorders, thermal cameras, and everything we would need. We all had walkie-talkies to communicate.
"Okay," the Professor said through the walkie, "the place is called Emerson Hotel. No signs of anything demonic, which is good for your first case. Reports of shadows, laughter, voices, footsteps, what most ghost hunters would call a typical haunt. As for why it's haunted- reports of several deaths though I'm sure the owner will tell us more about that. Danny,"
"Yeah?"
"This is your chance to see what you can pick up, do you understand?"
"Yeah…"
I looked out through the window at the hotel. It was pretty large and looked pretty old, but elegant. It looked ancient, but a good ancient. It looked clean, despite the signs of it being old. It reminded me of a Victorian hotel.
I saw Bond still looking at me through the corners of his eyes. It made me fidget, knowing that he knew who I was and everything. At least I didn't tell him everything. I couldn't. I didn't trust him. He didn't trust me- but at least he respected me enough to not tell everyone.
I also saw him looking at Gear. I smirked, love birds. Though, Gear is as clueless as me. I looked over at Nancy, who was looking out her window at the hotel in awe.
"It's so gorgeous."
Finally, we parked and got out. Gear handed me and Kevin a handheld camera for the interviews. Then, during the investigation we would had a handheld one for each pair of us. We headed into the hotel to see an elderly woman waiting. She had silver hair in a bun and a long red dress.
"Welcome to Emerson Hotel, I am the owner, Evelyn Emerson. You are the ghost investigators?"
"Yes," The Professor greeted, "I am Professor Alvin, this is Danny, Nancy, Kevin, Charlie, Gwyn and Bond."
"Please come in."