Glowing Green Chapter 22

Chapter 22

“Sam! SAM!”

Danny forced his way through an overgrown forest, freezing with one hand and blasting away with the other. He was forced to pause when his sweat soaked black hair dropped down in front of his eyes.

“Danny?”

Quickly pushing his hair out of his eyes, he looked up to see if he could find the owner of the voice. “Sam?” he floated upwards only to find Anita. The girl struggling in the vines suspending her high in the air.

“Danny, help me.” Anita cried, looking up only for the vines to slowly pull away at her face.

“It’s your chose, Danny.” Sam cooed.

Danny ripped around to face Sam being held up by her own vines. Her leaf dress leaving her shoulders bare.

“Come on, Danny. Be my king in this forest.” Sam extended a hand towards him, commanding a vine to wrap around his waist.

“Danny…”

The teen looked up only to drop to the ground, the forest disappearing into a field of black glass and stars.

Danny pushed himself up onto all fours only to freeze as all around him stood the burnt bodies of all his friends and family.

“Daniel, you failed us.”

Danny gasped as he sat up in bed only to grimace as his stomach cried out in pain. Slowly he laid himself back into the bed and let the darkness of his room surround him.

“Danny?”

The teen turned his head to the voice and made out the form of his father sitting in the computer chair rolled over to the side of his bed. Beside the man, the clock read 12:04.

“How long have you been there?” Danny asked, dropping his head back on the pillow.

“Ever since we brought you up here.” Jack said, his voice almost void of emotion.

Danny closed his eyes, knowing his father didn’t trust his ghost half. He opened his eyes as questions formed inside his mind. “Dad, why do you dislike ghosts so much?”

“I’ve told you, they’re all evil.” Jack said bluntly.

“Your parents don’t think so.” Danny pointed out.

A sigh filled the room for a moment  before Jack said anything. “That’s because they didn’t see what happened.”

“Huh?”

“You know your mother and I got married right after college.” Jack started. “We moved here because of its past with ghost activity, but blinded by my parent’s belief and our nativity, we didn’t see to have any means to protect us from ghosts. We’d just come home from dinner when we found the home wrecked. Ecto blasts covered almost every wall and waiting for us was a humanoid ghost sitting at the kitchen table, his lab coat and black hair making him remind me of the Mad Doctor from those thirty’s cartoons. He said that he’d been waiting for that night.”

Danny waited for a moment only for his father not to continue. He turned his head and activated his ghostly vision only to bite his tongue at the sight before him. His father was crying. He extinguished his eyes before asking, “You ok?”

A sniff before Jack managed, “Ya. Just remember that ghost hurt us. We ended up in the hospital because of that ghost and his group.”

“His group?” Danny asked, surprised. The discretion of the one ghost sounded familiar but he doesn’t have a group. Though he does get ghosts to work with him.

“He had five friends that night.” Jack admitted.

“So you’re going to say just because six ghosts hurt you all ghosts are evil?” Danny asked. “Then I could say that all humans are evil.”

“Now, you know that isn’t true.” Jack defended.

“Oh sure, you know you’re such a hypocrite.” Danny declared, his face growing hot. He bit his lip to stop himself from going on.

“I’m a hypocrite!?” Jack’s voice boomed as he stood up, the chair squeaking as his weight released. “How many times have your mother and mine inventions saved you from ghosts?”

“Hey! Normally it’s me going out there to save your butt!” Danny worked his way so that his elbows propped him up. “And I always had you two on my tail, but I still did it.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Linda’s voice asked as the door burst on and the lights flared to life. She hurried over to Danny and slowly pushed him back down on the bed. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“Mom, can you stay and watch him.” Jack said, leaving the room.

“I don’t need watching!” Danny called after the man, mad.

“Calm down, hun. I’ll deal with him when I’m done with you.” Linda said, eyeing the boy. “I need to check your chest anyway.”

Danny pushed away his blanket, a slight sting spreading through-out his torso, as he avoided his grandmother’s eyes. “Sorry about… well, you know.”

“You’re father’s a bit suborn sometimes.” Linda nodded, slowly peeling away the already soaked bandage. She examined the line that had been a gaping hole and nodded before going over to the desk to get a new bandage and gauze. “Oh, Anita and Dani were here but Anita had to head home. She’ll be back probably about seven in the morning.”

Danny’s dream filled his mind at the Suffolk native’s name and asked, “And Sam and Tucker?”

“Sam’s mom forced her home but Tucker’s sleeping on the sofa.” Linda explained, redressing his wound. “I might have to send him home though.”

“Why?” Danny asked, knowing he needed at least one of his good friends.

“He’s been coughing a bit and if he’s got something, you don’t need to catch it, too.” Linda explained.

Danny knew his grandmother was right, but he still wanted his friends.

“Come on, go back to sleep.” Linda smiled down at the boy as she finished. She pulled put his blanket to his chin, tucking him in like she did when he was little.

Danny wasn’t sure if he really wanted to sleep, if he really wanted to dream, but he could feel his eyes already dropping.