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dannyphantomtransfemau · 4 years

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Grave layers of misunderstandings chapter 3

Danny turned around, he wanted to think of a lie about his identity but he decided it would be rather hard to keep track of 3 secrets all at once, plus jazz was part of the advanced psychological classes, so she might be able to help him and tucker deal with their current predicament. "Yeah… It's me, i have a lot of explaining to do, meet me at Sam's house in about an hour, I'll explain everything" Danny said exhaustively. Jazz stared at Danny "why an hour?" just then lanced walked up, "because she has detention along with miss Manson here", jazz frowned at Danny "ok, an hour and there better be a very good explanation on why you got detention". Jazz yelled at Danny not unkindly as she was walking away, she didn't want to accidentally out Danny's second secret, she knew about his life as Danny phantom but she didn't know of any ghost that could do this to her brother, tucker ran to catch up to her since they were walking away.

"Now, it's time you do your time" lancer stated harshly. They got to the detention room, which was really just lancers classroom, dash and Paulina were sitting in the back and Valerie was sitting in the front at a separate long desk by lancers looking at her phone, dash again looked to be drawing something, not the ghost kid this time, Danny couldn't really see what it was but from dash's hand movements it didn't seem to be in a human shape, Paulina was in the back filing her fingernails humming the tune “Habanera” lancer pointed to a desk “sit down and be quiet” he ordered, “what's the new kid in for?” Valerie asked. “She made another student miss most of her class”.

That was a good enough of an explanation for Valerie as any, Danny sat next to Paulina this time, “what are you in for?” Danny whispered to Paulina, “a kid was being bi-phobic to me, so I put them in their place, then lancer showed up in the aftermath, it's not like I punched the kid or anything i just threatened to ruin their social status if they ever did it again, but apparently that's considered a form of bullying, I tried to explain to Lancer what happened but he didn't want to hear it, he never does.”

Danny looked surprised “wait your bi?” Paulina stared at Danny, “really that's all you got out of that story?” Danny shook his head “no, so what did the kid say that was bi-phobic?” Paulina looked at her nails to inspect the job she was doing “you know the usual, that I'm selfish and that i only care about the attention, which is untrue. I care about family and friends, not so much about what others think of me” it was at that point lancer marched over “what do you two not understand about being quiet? do i need to separate you?” “no” Danny hadn't realized his voice had raised while talking to Paulina.

He went back to whispering “let me guess it was Mr.personality over there who said it, right?” Danny pointed at dash. “No, it was your cousin’s friend sam, but they apologized after they realized they were being a jerk so we are back on good or at least normal terms, don't be too hard on them, everybody makes mistakes.” Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing sam saying something Bi-phobic, it just didn't seem like her to say such a thing, but he was glad sam learned her lesson.

Danny then felt an urge he was dreading he would have for the whole day, he knew he shouldn't hold it, he once overheard a conversation between his mother and his sister about how to avoid UTIs and other unpleasant things. He never thought he would have to put that information to use, also he thanked his lucky stars that he took health class so he could understand what the abbreviation meant, “Mr.Lancer, i need to use the restroom is it alright if I go?”

Lancer made a grunt that could be taken as a go-ahead, Valerie followed after “why are you following me?” Danny asked walking to the restroom, Valerie sighed, “it's my job to make sure you go where you say your going, come on let's go, so we can get back” Danny finally reached the restroom, he only caught a glimpse of himself before, he was preoccupied with all the stuff he needed to do, this time he got a full view, and to his surprise he was actually pretty happy with what he was seeing, to him it was like a curtain had been lifted, like something inside of him finally broke free.

A door had been opened he could not close, Danny then rushed into the stall, “oh god, i can't do this, im...im supposed to be a boy, I'm not supposed to like being a girl” Danny began to panic he felt his breath quicken, he felt like the walls of the stalls were closing in on him, he slid his back against the wall of the stall and sat down and folded his arms in front of his chest,” what the hell am I doing?” “what am I going to tell my family?”, what am I going to tell tucker?”, his mind was racing with these sorts of questions and his stomach was flipping inside him.

Then Danny heard a knock “hey new kid, are you ok in there?” Danny gathered what little breath he had “no,” he said in a rather meek voice that surprised himself. ‘Want to tell me what's wrong, i might be able to help. No, no you cant Danny thought, but what harm could it do, “i...wasn't, wasn't born a girl” there was silence for a moment. “There's nothing wrong with that, there are plenty of people who will tell you so, but you seem rather, um developed for someone just starting their transition.”

Danny sighed “no, i mean this afternoon I was a boy, then I heard a strange voice and then I wasn't” another moment of silence, “what did this voice sound like?” Valerie asked. “it was a girl's voice, but it had a foreign accent to it, one i cant place”Danny explained. Desiree Valerie thought to herself. “Don't worry kid, I'll hunt down this ghost and get her to change you and whoever else she messed with back” “no!” Danny yelled. “No?... don't you want to be put back to norm...ooooh” Valerie realized what was going on then, “kid what's your name? and you can use a made-up one if you want as well. Something new” another pause “Danielle, i think that's going to be my new name, or at least a placeholder” Valerie then knocked on the stall, “may I come in Danielle?”

Danielle opened the stall, while still sitting, “come on, let me help you up ''ok, do you want to use she/her pronouns from now on?” Danielle nodded, “yeah that would be nice she said quietly, “ok, I'm going to tell lancer your not feeling well and should be sent home, do you have anyone you can call to give you a ride, and can i use the right name and pronouns for you while talking to them?” Danielle nodded her head, “my sister, she just got her driver's license, here's her number”.

Valerie dialed the number “Jazz... Yeah, it's me, i have your sister here… yeah sister.. Your gonna need to come and get her… yeah her, look i’m sure she will explain everything to you and i think she’s going to need a lot of support from you and her friends…. Well I'm glad to hear that” Valerie smiled, “your gonna be fine, your sister seems really nice, also I'm going to leave and tell lancer your not coming back and please use the restroom while i’m gone, I know this is probably difficult for you since your new to it and everything will be a shock, but I'm pretty sure that will wear off in time” Valerie then left. Danielle finished up and walked outside and Jazz was waiting for her in their parent's car, “hey sis, get in” Danielle got into the backseat she knew that sitting in the front seat made jazz nervous.

“You… you don't have to tell me anything yet, you can tell me in your own time” jazz said from the front seat “thanks Jazz for understanding” Danielle knew she still needed to find Desiree for tucker just because she was happy this way did not mean he was, Jazz drove to Sam’s house and before opening the door, “don't worry ill think of a lie for now, for mom and dad” and with that Danielle went inside.

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spookytomatoetuesday · 3 years

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Project Wolf´s Cove

Three – Awakenings

It was early, especially after a short night. But the town had awakened. There were no screams, no tears, no desperation. People in cars were on their way to work or school or to the store. It was a light summer day. The perfect day to start the little adventure of going on a school trip. Becky and Rose sat on the curb bordering the school´s parking lot. Their bags lay next to them. A bit sunken together, they watched the other students arrive. While doing that, Becky closed her eyes and took in the early and warm sunlight. “So we get on the bus and forget everything – at least until next week.”, Rose reiterated. “I think that was the plan. If you can call it that.”, Becky replied. She yawned and re-arranged her bag as cushion behind her back. She then leaned on it and looked up into the sky. Rose pulled a notepad from his bag and started drawing. “Hello you two. Good to see you here today after this strange call last night.” Becky and Rose looked up and met the friendly gaze of Tula. “Hello Mrs. Lancer.”, Becky replied. “How are you? Is all still alright?” “Yes indeed.”, Mrs. Lancer answered. “I must admit that your mother´s call was a bit unsettling. But there were no monsters coming to our house last night and all looked quiet and good this morning.” “Good to know.”, Rose commented. “Nothing weird happened?”, Becky asked. “No.”, Mrs. Lancer answered. “No noise?” “No.” “No screams?” “No.” Mrs. Lancer chuckled. “There was just a green light and that was it. Thank you for the concern, though. I appreciate that. But there is no danger in our neighbourhood.” “Well… that is good.”, Becky replied. “So… you are about to go on the trip?” Mrs. Lancer changed the topic but was still smiling. “Yeah… that will be nice.”, Becky answered in a flat voice and as if she was thinking about something else still. “Well then have fun. And excuse me, I want to send off the band as well.” Mrs. Lancer waved a goodbye which Becky and Rose returned. “So… can we assume now safely that there is no danger at all?”, Rose asked. Becky was unsure and leaned back again on her luggage.

“There are the boys.”, Rose announced after a moment. Becky looked to the parking lot and saw how the mint green car of John´s grandma pulled up. John and Neil jumped out and pulled their bags from the trunk. Then John hugged his grandma goodbye. She waved to Becky and Rose who returned the gesture. Neil walked over to the curb while John watched his grandma getting back into her car and driving off. Then he also joined the others.

“Good morning, students, citizens of Wolf´s Cove, friends.”, Neil greeted Becky and Rose, but his heart was not in it. He dropped his back on the asphalt and sat on it across from them.

“You look tired.”, Rose commented. “You as well.”, she added as John settled down next to Neil. They all compared now the dark shadows below their eyes.

“´Tis was a freak night.”, John commented. “We thought a monster was on the loose.”

Becky and Rose exchanged a glance.

“We… had the same suspicion.”, Becky remarked. “We saw a part of the asteroid breaking off and crashing into town. And then we witnessed animals fleeing the scene. All animals.”

“I had not dared to suspect that there were so many rats here.”, Rose added.

“Shit.”, commented Neil and became even paler than before which made the shadows below his eyes stick out even more.

“This one here saw a shape of claws and fangs.”, John reported, nodding in Neil´s direction.

“What?”, Becky exclaimed and almost jumped up.

“It was more like seeing a shadow puppet. And I saw it from far away. There were no fangs. At least none I could see. But it looked like a beast with more limbs than a cockroach and long claws or talons.”, Neil said, his voice almost a whisper.

“Did you call anyone?”, Rose wondered.

“We tried to call the cops, then Elisabeth called the sheriff directly.”, John answered.

“We had my mom call Mrs. Lancer who lives around there where we thought the crash happened.”, Becky remarked.

“Did that do something?”, Neil inquired, still in a low voice.

“No.”, Becky replied, leaning back again. “At least my mom seemed to believe us.”

“Same with my mom and what we achieved.”, Neil said.

“The women understand the issue first – like the Great Law of the Peace.”, Rose interjected, maybe to change the mood.

“Is this still from the friend you made in summer camp last year?”, John asked. Rose nodded. “Yes!”

“So, as we all sit here, waiting for the bus, we did not succeed in solving this situation or even find out what it really entails?”, Neil asked.

“I think it is fair to say that nothing was achieved last night.”, Rose conceded and fought back a yawn.

“This is worrying.”, John commented while he tried not to catch the contagious yawn. Becky nodded in agreement and then yawned as the first with all her teeth on full display.

“Well, at least we did our duty. And if there is something happening in the town, we will be away for the week. Together with all our classmates.”, Neil summarized. “I think that is good. We sensed and issue and now we are here to see that some people will get out. Like, the idea to just hit the road sounds pretty great now.”

The others thought about that. Quickly, Becky and Rose got distracted by the sight of the big yellow school bus, property of the county school board, arriving. Neil and John turned around and watched the bus as well. The other students, who stood in little groups on the parking lot, took up their baggage and walked over to the bus. There was chatter and laughter and some mild jumping.

“Great. Let the fun begin.”, Rose said in a monotone voice, pulling up her eyebrows in a gesture of scepticism. Neil got up and took the handle of his bag. Rose and John got up, but hesitated a moment. They noticed that Becky did not join the overall movement of getting ready.

“This is not good.”. Becky spoke in a low voice and looked at the ground in front of her. Then her eyes flashed up, took in her friends one after the other. “I feel we should not just leave now. There might be a danger. What we experienced and what you saw last night convinces me of that. It would be wrong to just leave now.”

“But… we tried to do a thing against the scary thing.”, Neil exclaimed, wringing the handle of his bag. “We did and you did. People know about the danger. Grown-ups know. They should take care of that now. We can get on that bus to relative safety with Fran and Stephany and Bill and every one we know.”

“Good that they leave – but there is still the rest of the town. All these people are still in danger. We should stay behind and make sure that something is really done about it.”, Becky said sternly. John waved in direct of the other students now boarding the big yellow bus.

“Yeah. They are safe for now. But if there is really a monster, our families are in danger. And they might not know. There are no steps they can take, no end game, as they do not know what they are playing.”, John said.

“Hm.”, Neil grunted, looking at the other students. “That I get. I see what you did there.”

“For them and the town, we should try to do more.”, Becky insisted. She looked at Rose.

“I… don´t like these trips.”, Rose said instead of a reply. John nodded then nodded some more. Rose wiggled around. “But right now, it seems safe. Honestly, this morning, I had hope that this was just a nightmare.”, Rose expanded and this time, Neil nodded. “But I get your point. And I have some doubts that those we told so far will do something before it´s too late.”

The last students boarded the bus. The driver and Ms. French looked around one last time and noticed the group of four students with baggage who were not really making an effort to join the others.

“Are you not going to join the trip?”, Ms. French asked.

“No… no.”, Neil answered. Ms. French seemed confused.

“We have another project we need to take care of. We thought it would be done by now… but it is not.”, Neil explained.

“For which course?”, Ms. French asked.

“English.”, John jumped in.

“Ok.”, Ms. French conceded even if she was clearly not fully convinced.

She left and walked back to the bus. Becky, John, Rose, and Neil waited until she was out of ear shot.

“So… we are not joining the school trip of the higher years and thereby miss out on underage drinking, drama and light romance. We stay here, facing monsters and slow bureaucracies.”, Neil summarized. “If we do this, let´s at least hole up at John´s grandma´s. She´ll rip the monster apart if it comes to that…”

So they took their belongings and walked over to Becky´s car. John took the seat next to Becky, while Rose and Neil took the back seats. They would have driven off directly, but had to wait a second for the bus to clear the way.

“Now that we are all enterprising around the mystery of the danger to our home town – what is the plan exactly? What are our next steps?”, Neil asked as they drove down the serpentine road towards Wolf´s Cove´s center. Becky pulled over at the next possible spot. She parked between the road and the cliff on a little pocket for emergency parking so that they all could overlook the sharp edge and the water below.

“I’ve no idea.”, Becky admitted, staring blankly ahead.

“Maybe now, by daylight, we should check out the area where the crash happened.”, John suggested. He almost uttered this as if it was a question, though.

“This is super stupid.”, Neil replied. “How does it help anyone if we get eaten first?”

He paused. “On the other hand, this is probably the logical next step.”

“Also, we are four now and it is day.”, John observed. “And maybe we see that nothing happened or that the authorities are present and can be assured that the situation is taken care of.”

“The town looks a lot less creepy than last night.”, Rose partially agreed, but she did not nod.

“Ok, let´s start there.”, Becky said and started the engine again.

“Just driving by, right? We will just drive by. Right?”, Neil asked.

They drove by Neil´s house and tried to find their way from there towards the house that was hit by a piece of the sky.

“I think it was in Whaler´s Town, at Camil Drive.”, John said. “Right, Neil?”

“Hm… yeah, sounds about right.”, Neil answered. Becky looked at him through the back mirror and he nodded towards her. John nodded as well.

“I also think that sounds like the right area.”, Rose agreed. So Becky drove them up to the oldest part of the town. She decelerated as they went onto Tusk Road, which cut right through Whaler´s Town.

“I always thought that name was weird.”, Rose commented when they passed a sign for Tusk Road. None of the others felt they had something to add here. Intently, they monitored the surroundings.

“How would a monster-infested house look like?”, Becky wondered at one point.

“All curtains drawn, scratch marks on the windows, doors, and the concrete walkway leading to the street.”, John said.

“And a big dark cloud hovering over it, ready to rain at any moment. It will also be quiet like a grave and cold like loss.”, Rose added.

“This is very specific… and I don´t see such a house here. The sky is also an early summer blue.”, Neil remarked. “The place we saw the rock strike down should be somewhere here, though.”

Becky stopped the car on the high point of the street, just across from a green two-story house with a small front yard and a porch.

“This one?” John sounded a bit disappointed. Becky pointed towards the porch. There was a half-eaten sandwich sitting on a plate next to a bench.

“Why is this not eaten by now?”, Becky wondered.

“The rats are all gone.”, Rose reminded them.

“True, but also the owner of the sandwich did leave at some point and did not return.”, Becky said.

“Could still just be forgotten.” Neil meant but was getting nervous. “Can we drive a bit further? I think the side view looks familiar. As in yesterday´s nightmare familiar.”

Becky let the car roll slowly a bit further. “This better?”, she asked.

“Yep… that´s it.”, Neil said and went pale again as his memory and this view aligned. “Like, not that I have a photographic memory, but I think this is it.”

Immediately, Becky stopped the car. The eyes of all four were glued to the house. Then Rose looked around again.

“I do not see any cops here. Or anybody with any authority for that matter.”, she remarked. That made Becky take in more of the surroundings as well. Then she stopped the pickup truck.

“Ok, let´s check it out.”, she said and jumped out of the car. John followed her, but then stopped for a moment.

“Maybe one of us should stay in the car, ready for an emergency start if the rest of us come screaming and running out of this house.”, John suggested. Rose and Neil looked at each other.

“I can drive.”, Neil said.

“So can I.”, Rose replied.

“I… oh.” Neil seemed to just remember something. “I´m also the only one who has seen the… the monster. So I should follow you inside. Unless you insist that I stay with the car.”

No one insisted.

Rose moved to the driver´s seat, one hand on the wheel, one on the key. Meanwhile, the other three went over to the house.

“You could’ve insisted.”, Neil whispered.

“Your argument was convincing.”, John answered while Becky gave Neil an encouraging and thankful smile. There was no movement around the house. For a change, there was no wind this morning. The sounds of animals were missing as well. Not even the seagulls could be heard here as they seemed to avoid this place as well. Becky walked over to the door. She knocked. The sound of that was loud and intrusive in this silence. John and Neil stood at Becky´s sides and waited with her for an answer. But there was none. The silence returned as thick as before. So Becky tried the door knob. It was open. The three stepped inside the house under the worrying glances of Rose.

Inside, the house was moderately clean and tidy. There were pictures on the walls but almost no knickknacks. And the house was empty as there was no living being apart from the three students inside. Then they saw the mirror in the hallway. It was ripped from the wall and lay broken on the floor.

“Weird.”, John commented.

They moved on. Neil checked the fridge in the kitchen.

“Nothing weird here. Luckily.”, he said relieved. “The people here are only a bit low on mustard. Well or the person living here. How many people do you think are living here?”

Becky and John did not answer. John only shrugged and so they all went on to the backdoor that lead to the backyard.

“This, on the other hand does look unusual.”, Becky stated. There were large, long scratch marks. The wood had even splintered around these. It looked like a being bigger than the doorway and with sharp claws had pushed itself inside the house. A bit further inside the house, there were additional, but smaller marks.

“Does this like what you saw yesterday?”, Becky asked.

“That does look like the creature I saw could have done this.”, Neil replied. In the backyard itself, they found a round patch of burned grass.

“Look spectacular, but a real asteroid would have burned more ground, destroyed a lot, right?”, John asked. Becky nodded. “This was something else.”

“Well, we have seen the claw marks.”, Neil added. They went back inside and followed the marks. When they went to the living room, they could still see some scratch marks. They formed imperfect, broken circles on the hardwood floor. In-between, there were rubber marks of shoe soles. The couch and some cupboards also bore scratch marks.

“Like someone danced with a clawed demon here last night.”, John commented. But that was it. In the bathroom, they found another smashed mirror.

“Let´s head upstairs.”, Becky suggested. On the second floor, they found the bedroom and a small office empty.

“That leaves one area of the house to search.”, John said on their way back downstairs.

“It is not a good idea to go to the cellar of this house.”, Neil remarked. So they waited in front of the door that lead downstairs. They watched the door, ready for a monster to jump out of the cellar at any moment. But nothing happened right there and then.

“We should at least take flashlights.”, Becky decided. “I´ll get them from the car. Be right back, scream if there is something.” With that she sprinted to the front door and out of the house.

“What happened?” Rose almost started the car when she saw Becky running towards it.

“We found some marks, but no monster. I´m here to pick up the flashlights.”, Becky explained.

“So… the guys have not been eaten and you are not the sole survivor?”

“No, not yet.” Becky opened the passenger door and grabbed the flashlights. Then she returned to the house.

“Good.”, Rose yelled at Becky´s back.

“Did something happen?”, Becky asked the others when she arrived back at the cellar door.

“No.”, John replied. “Still, we were shivering a lot in the last minutes.”

Becky handed him a flashlight, switched hers on, and opened the cellar door. She was also the first to climb down the narrow stairs. John followed her, while Neil took up the rear. As there were just two flashlights, Neil went without one. But he quickly found the light switch. The one lamp in the cellar still worked and filled the only room with a muddy yellow light and way too many shadows. Sharp dark edges connected shelves and cut the floor into pieces. There were corners and nooks where any size of creature could hide. But there was no movement. Becky and John shone their flashlights into every corner and were relieved not to find anything. All they found were several woodcarving tools as well as objects that looked like carved portraits of human heads. One old cupboard also held drawn sketches of the wooden sculptures.

“These sharp knives and stencils and weird heads would look legitimately creepy.”, John commented. “With this thick layer of dust on all of it, though, I would say this is not the creepy that we were looking for.”

“Yeah. No one was in here for a while.”, Becky agreed. They left the cellar and stood in the living room, unsure what to do.

“Maybe I should go out and tell Rose that we are still alive and have not found our own or the town´s demise yet.”, Neil suggested and walked out.

“This is not good.”, Becky remarked.

“How so?”, John replied. “We did not find a monster in this house.”

“No – but we found these traces. Traces indicating something big and with large claws. It came from the backyard.”, Becky summarized.

“Yes. But we cannot find such a being in here… oh.”

“So it has left and could be moving through the town right now.”

All four of them sat in the car again, looking uneasily outside the windows and upon their town. Rose remained in the driver´s seat, Becky sat next to her, and John and Neil in the back.

“So whatever we are looking for was in that house – but now it is gone.”, Rose reiterated.

“Yes, it left. And it did so without causing a lot of scares among the neighbours.”, Becky remarked.

“So it is invisible.”, Rose suggested.

“Or it looks like a person.”, John said. Silence followed and there were more anxious glances outside.

“This is the house of a family Miller.”, Neil ended the pause. “Which… does not say much to me. I don´t think I know them.”

“At least we have the address. We can give it to the authorities.”, Becky replied.

“And see if they do something.”, John added.

“First, we might need gas, though.”, Rose interjected and gently tapped the dashboard. “This sounds like a situation that likely involves a chase or at least driving around and the tank is almost empty.”

“This whole operation is really badly prepared. Sorry… I mean I second that we get gas.”, Neil said. Rose drove them to the gas station. It was located on the town-side end of the old steel bridge that connected Wolf´s Cove with the mainland. Pipps the owner leaned on the door poste of the small building that housed the gas station´s shop. Next to him and the entrance and underneath a window with the red neon “open” sign was a foldable table and two chairs set up. A candle stood already on the table, a bit to the side towards the window. Pipps stood there in his blue work pants and white under shirt, read a magazine and only briefly looked up as the students’ truck stopped at one of the two gas pumps. Becky jumped out and filled her car´s tank. Meanwhile, Rose turned to John and Neil on the backseats.

“Here is what will happen: We need the gas. So she will fill the tank completely. Then she will say: Well here goes the camp allowance. She will only say this to herself and not tell us that, of course.”, Rose said. The boys stared at her. Rose nodded in direction of Becky and John and Neil followed her view. Sure enough, they saw how Becky murmured something to herself before heading towards Pipps. Rose looked at the boys again.

“So… we pool the money for the gas from out camp allowances as well?”, Neil suggested and Rose nodded.

“Yeah, we should.”, John agreed.

They all three got out of the car and followed Becky and Pipps inside. While on his way to the counter with the cash register on top, Pipps replaced the magazine he was just reading in the magazine rag in the popular science section. Very carefully, he then moved a chair out of his way. The chair stood behind the counter and had a fine shirt and a suit jacket that was slightly bigger than Pipps´ size draped across the back. Pipps even looked back twice to be sure that he had not disturbed the clothes too much before bringing up the balance. As Becky was about to pay him, Rose intervened and all four of the students put some money on the counter.

“Hm. Is this an effort to secure the fuel to enable you to go on a little car chase and catch up to the school trip bus?”, Pipps asked as he collected the money and put it in his register.

“No, not really.”, Becky answered.

“Oh, I thought the trip started today and you had missed the bus.”, Pipps explained and smiled.

“No… we skip the trip. To… go on a monster hunt.”, Rose said. When he heard this, Pipps looked up and mustered his customers with concern.

“Is this about some creeps?”, he inquired.

“No. Not this kind in any case.”, Becky replied.

“This is about a monster as in monstrous and not human being.”, John expended. Pipps face lighted up with a smile – then became concerned again as he saw that the students were not joking. Pipps mouth opened as if he wanted to say something. Then his eyes wandered to the side and he closed his mouth as he could not come up with something to say. Neil then tried to describe to Pipps what he had seen and what they had found and not found in the Smith house. Pipps scratched the fuzzy and patchy attempt of a beard on his chin. His eyes wandered between the four kids.

“This all is hard to believe.”, Pipps finally said. “Like, I don´t even know how to tackle that story to get a grasp on it. This all sounds like the stuff the Prof sometimes talks about.”

“Which Prof?”, Becky asked.

“One that would believe us?”, Rose added. Pipps lifted his baseball cap, scratched his head, and then replaced his hat. Then he spoke again: “I have no way to answer this. But he lives in the old house down by the water at the foot of the cliffs, where the old port was located.”

Becky looked at the others. “Maybe it´s worth a try to talk to this person. Maybe he can help us raise the right kind of alarm on this one.”

“I guess this is better than driving around town in hopes to find the monster.”, Neil replied and the others agreed. Pipps described again where he thought the Prof lived.

“Was there once I think. Oh, and I have no clue when he is at home or what he does during the day. But he seems like a proper decent person I guess.”, Pipps added then thought a bit and offered: “Do you want a snack for the way?” He waved in direction of the beef jerky rag.

“On… on the house, of course. Oh, yeah, and if there is a problem, come to me kids. I can´t leave here just like that, but… I don´t know… you can come see me here if you need something.”

“Thanks.”, Becky replied.

“We will try to make it back here.”, John said and nodded.

“That is the lonely old house next to the ocean where a weird Prof is supposed to live.”, Rose said chewing on her beef jerky and indicating an old lonely house.

“Unless he is dead or undead.”, John replied while folding the empty packaging of his jerky.

“Then he us supposed to live here or be dead or undead here.”, Rose corrected herself.

“Very inspiring talk.”, Neil interjected.

“Let´s see if he is home in any case.”, Becky ended the conversation.

Close by and close by the water, the small house with two storeys hugged the cliff. It stood in the part of the town that had been used as main port in times that were now historic. It was a pier build over a narrow strip of land between the ocean and the cliff. There, pressed against the rock and next to the crack that the road up to the town proper lead to. The house might have been an office building as it was lacking the large doors and cranes of a ware house. It had small windows on both levels, but the curtains were drawn. As old as it was, it seemed a miracle that the wooden structure still held. The mail box in front of the entrances had a patch with the hand-written words “MacShane, PhD.” on it.

“Sounds legit.”, Neil commented as Becky knocked at the door. Behind it, a rattle could be heard and steps, but nobody opened. So Becky knocked again. Still nobody opened the door even though it became even clearer that somebody was home. Once a cough was clearly audible.

“Professor MacShane? Please open, we would like to talk to you.”, Becky yelled at the closed door.

“About monsters.”, Rose added. Meanwhile, John walked a few steps back and looked at the house. He noticed a curtain moving and assumed somebody was looking through the window closest to the door. John waved when he saw the movement.

“Professor?”, Becky asked again.

“Phd”, came as answer from the other side of the door. Becky stepped back in confusion.

“I´m not a professor.”, the voice explained.

“Okay.”, Becky replied. “But this is not why we are here. Could you please open this door? This would make talking to you easier.” The students again heard steps from the other side of the closed door. Then another moment of silence followed. Becky looked at the others and turned towards the house again, resolved to knock one final time. But then the door opened and a middle-aged man stood in the opening.

“Is this about a monster coming from the sea or about one coming from the woods?”, MacShane asked.

“Neither. We saw something coming down from space and landing in our town.”, John explained.

MacShane looked down at the threshold at his feet as if he was considering something. Finally, he looked up and invited the students in. They all gathered in the living room where there was a couch and a table that were not cluttered with books and magazines. Some books were different editions of the same as if MacShane had bought them again and again. The students sat down on the couch while MacShane himself was just standing on the other side of the table. He picked up a mug that said “Misk U” on it and sipped from it. In-between sips, he asked his guest to describe what they had seen and experienced. They relayed it to him and he continued to sip and nodded now and then.

“Hm… did you go to the so-called authorities and did they not believe you?”, the scholar asked after the students hat finished their tale. Becky answered that they had not succeeded in convincing the authorities to take action against the monster or at least investigate it.

“Yeah.”, said MacShane, “That´s because your tale sounds fake.”

Becky, John, and Neil felt as if they had been whipped with a giant chain while Rose shook her head.

“It is obvious that you fabricated this story. A real beast would come from the deeps of the sea. This is a coastal town after all.”, MacShane elaborated. He even put down his mug and waved his arms while he explained, drawing shapes of monsters and gateways into forbidden dimensions into the air. “We have planned for this for years. We knew that one day an old terror would come from beneath the sea. Something so terrifying that it would rob normal people´s minds when they as much as looked at it. But I and… some friends are well prepared and therefore equipped to withstand this sight. So we hope.”

“This sound very much like madness.”, Rose comment.

“Exact!”, MacShane exclaimed. “Glad you understand. And I am glad that you did find your way to me. You know, I wanted to tell you kids about these matters earlier, but your school would not allow it.”

“So… are you going to help us?”, Becky asked. “Will you assist us in convincing the authorities to take the monster serious?”

“Your title and all would surely help.”, Neil added. MacShane hesitated a moment, then picked up his mug again.

“Well… yes… but also no. It´s an academic grade. Also, you see…”, MacShane looked at his guest individually, focused on them for several seconds each. “You see, many of the traditional authorities are not accessible for me. They would just not listen. This includes the sheriff and the mayor, as well as much of the scholarly world, I am afraid. But together we might be able to change that.”

“How?”, John asked.

“Well, fist we have to change your story. Streamline it and make it fit to what we already know about the creatures from the deep down…”

“Should it not be just the deep?”, Rose interjected. “That is already down.”

“Besides, this is not what we saw.”, John remarked. MacShane waved his hand in a defensive gesture.

“No, but when we align can we maybe improve our chances to convince somebody with the power to do something… to do something.”, he elaborated.

“This all feels as if we are losing track, though.”, Becky interrupted.

“Totally.”, Neil agreed.

“Track of what?”, MacShane asked.

“Of what we came here to do... to find help to… help the town.”, Becky explained.

“Yeah.”, Neil agreed again. “How does all this talking and making up fake stories help us with that?”

MacShane looked startled for a moment, then caught himself again and was about to say something. However, he was interrupted by Becky. He stood up and left the room. The other students were a bit surprised, but followed suit once they unfroze.

“May I point out that not only were we not offered snacks, we did not even get offered some tea or coffee.”, Rose said on the short way from the academic´s house back to the pickup.

“True that.”, Neil nodded and then yawned. They got into the car. On the backseat, John looked at Neil and knew immediately what Neil was about to say. So John decided to beat his friend to it.

“So… what´s next?”, John asked. Becky had her hands resting on the steering wheel and stared directly ahead.

“I’ve no idea.”, she said.

“We could just cruise around watching out for monstrous activity. But I guess this is not really promising.”, Rose mused after a moment. Neil nodded, then yawned again.

“This all has been a quite disappointing experience.”, John conceded. Then Becky started the engine.

“Well… maybe we need some rest and time to regroup. Let´s head home for now.”, Becky said. She dropped the boys off at John´s place and afterwards headed to her home. Independently of each other, the two groups ended up on couches and sofas, dozing off while the TV was tuned to a local news station. They woke up in the late evening to the unsettling sight of blue and red lights moving through the streets.

There was no going home again, go to where he had been a person. Neither could he go anywhere else, he felt. For it was still there. It seemed to sleep maybe. Or just let him loose for the moment. He went therefore down to the sea, contemplating the waves, seeking shelter among the rocks. Stiff steps up the stairs from the beach: A puppet with strings that are held too tight. It led him out into town again. It made him move once the dusk set on. He thought he could still run and jump again – but it did not want him to. So he was slow as before, used-up as before. Only he did not tire, as a force drove him forward. The same that made him do its biddings without hope of resistance. They moved as one through the streets of his hometown, down the winding way he had taken so often before. It made him keep a steady pace. It seemed to want to see where it was now that it was one with him. He felt irritation, the feeling of being lost. He felt hurt and scared. Only all this lay behind the anger and rage he felt since last evening. And hunger. They felt a hunger that no food in his house had been able to still. It were those feelings which made him go, made them both go. There where people on the streets, retrieving their mail or getting in and out of their cars. He knew them the thought. Like usual, he did not great them, did not reach out to them. For what could they do for him? Then there was a store. It was the hardware store that had changed owner shortly before, he seemed to remember. The owner, now standing opposite him, was not familiar. There was no name to this one in his memory, nothing he could tell it about this man. There was no name he could call out now to ask this man. So there was silence that only grew into a snarling again. The hunger pushed itself to the foreground again. There was nothing he could do as it returned his strength but for one purpose. All the horror silenced the hunger and drove back the anger. It left the fear and shame. He tumbled down a street he did not recognize as he had only known it in a past life.

#horror #spooky #fiction

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