The Amity Park Haunting

Raising Your Spirits Part 2: A New Threat

"Danny!" Mom yells from downstairs, breaking my attention away from my homework. I stand up from my desk and rush down to meet her in the kitchen, where Dash sits, recuperating from their intense drilling. He doesn't even glance at me as I come into the room, which I am partially grateful for and partially annoyed about. "What's this form here?" She asks, holding up the paper to me.

"Oh." I scratch the back of my neck, glancing at Jazz who sits at the bar doing her homework, avoiding my gaze as well. "It's the ghost attack protocol that our school has put in place. I just need you to sign it cause I have to turn it in tomorrow."

"Hmm..." she mutters something inaudible under her breath as she reads, scanning every word to the letter. "What is this, Danny? 'Leave all personal items and filter out of the classrooms in an orderly fashion, heading towards the streets and police barricades.' That's completely improper! What if the students were to run into the ghost?"

"Mom, I didn't make up the rules—"

"If students stay inside the classrooms, doesn't that then put them at more risk?" Dash asks, engaging in our conversation as if he has the right to butt in. "They could potentially be injured from the ghost, ghost hunters like yourselves, or even debris from the fight. Plus, being within the vicinity of the ghost puts you at more risk of being taken hostage or kidnapped, and ghosts can phase through anything so they could easily maneuver about the building to find targets and escape routes. Staying inside the building is likely only going to get people hurt, so it makes sense that they would want to get us as far away from the fighting as possible." I stand there gaping at his words, trying to pick my mouth up off the floor as I look around to see my family's reaction. Jazz sits stunned in her seat, glancing between Dash and my mom, who seems to be deep in thought, her expression unreadable, and Dash... he seems to have realized the gravity of his mistake, looking at me to help him rectify things.

Why do you always look at me for help? Goddamn my bleeding heart.

I turn towards mom, ready to defend Dash, for whatever reason, but before I can say anything, her face morphs into an obscure smile and she looks over at him with wild eyes. "How clever you are!" She laughs, her bloodshot eyes bulging from her head in interest, a look that dissuades me from speaking. "Oh! You are well on your way to becoming the finest hero this town has ever known! You're acting just like your father would!" She beams at him stepping forward to pull him into a hug, leaving Jazz and I utterly floored. Dash gives her a light squeeze back, seeming a bit relieved, but something else is there. Something... sad, I just can't figure out why. She pushes him away suddenly and returns to the counter, snatching the paper up and quickly signing on the line at the bottom, then hands it to me with a sweet smile, the craziness that she was displaying earlier vanished completely.

"There you go, honey," she beams, sliding the paper into my hands when I don't immediately take it. "You should thank Dash, otherwise I wouldn't have signed this. Though I do still think I should be going over ghost safety procedures with Principal Ishiyama." She turns away from the three of us and pulls out her phone, all the while muttering under her breath, rehearsing what she's going to say to the principal. I turn back towards Dash, who sways where he stands, staring down at his shoes as he kicks them out anxiously.

"Uh," I begin, not sure what I'm going to say. He looks up at me expectantly, seemingly prepared for me to lash out at him, but I don't plan to. "Thanks." I leave the room without waiting to see his response, my pride getting the better of me, but stop at the base of the stairs to look back, watching Mom and Dad as they set up more machinery outdoors, and feeling a pang of jealousy as Dash joins them.

Just as I am about to go up the stairs again, I feel the shiver run down my spine, fully expecting to have an attack like last time, and try to make it to the bathroom before anyone can see me, but only a small amount of smoke leaves my body this time, coming out in a small plume and immediately dissipating. It somewhat reminds me of when that Tentacle Ghost flew by me in the parking lot, almost as if my body picks up on the presence of other ghosts and alerts me. Wanting to test my theory, I lock the bathroom door in a rush, leaving me alone to focus all of my attention on turning into my ghost form, but nothing happens.