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wolfjackle-creates · 1 year ago

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Two Ghost Motel Chapter 2

Summary:

Danny is tired. Endless ghost fights with too many responsibilities and too little time; he barely passed sophomore year. When Ember visits town for a bit of fun, she mentions the Two Ghost Motel, a place of peace and refuge for restless ghosts who aren't ready to cross over. “I’m fine, Ember.” Danny’s got a home and friends. He’s fine, really. But when his parents begin experimenting with electricity to destabilize ghosts, it’s too much for Danny. Unfortunately, neither Sam nor Tucker can host him for the night and he’s left wandering in the night, alone. Then he sees it: The Two Ghost Motel. He checks in. “Welcome.”

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: Minor Original Character Death

Fandom: DPxDC (though no knowledge of DC is necessary for this fic.)

AO3, Chapter 1

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The next morning, he woke up to pale sunlight shining through the blinds. Danny groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. He didn’t want to go home.

Something shifted next to him, and Danny jumped out of the bed, taking a defensive stance in the air above the bed. Only to relax when he saw Jay blinking blearily at him.

Danny laughed self-consciously as he set down on the floor.

“Your mask makes that sound so creepy,” said Jay through a yawn.

“Makes what sound creepy?”

“You laughing. I wish my mask did that.”

Danny cocked his head. “You don’t have a mask.”

“Yes I do.”

“Why aren’t you wearing it?”

Jay shrugged and rolled over so he was facing away from Danny. “Dunno. I don’t remember what it looked like, so I can’t wear it. Did you forget a lot of things when you died? I wasn’t like this in life. I know that much.”

Danny chewed the inside of his lip as he stared at his companion. “No,” he said eventually. “But my death was a bit weird. I wouldn’t recommend using me as an example of normal.”

That got Jay to turn around and look at him again. “Weird how?”

Danny just shrugged. “Just weird. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Something passed over Jay’s face and he nodded before getting out of bed. “Come on, it’s daytime. Let’s go outside. There’s a basketball hoop out back.”

Danny shook his head. “I should be getting back home. My parents will be expecting me.”

“There’s someone waiting for me, too. I can’t stay here long.”

Danny landed on the floor and began stuffing his few belongings back into his backpack. “Who do you want to get back to?”

Jay paused with his hand on the door handle. “I need to tell him it wasn’t his fault.”

Danny tossed his backpack onto his shoulders and threw and arm over Jay’s. “Well then, let’s check out. Where’re you from? I got here through Amity Park in Illinois.” He led them out of the room to the walkway.

“I’m from a Park, too. But I don’t remember more than that. We never called it Park, though. I think it was an alley? It was near the ocean.”

“You know, I’ve never seen the ocean. What’s it like?”

Danny felt more than saw Jay’s shrug. “It’s impossible to describe. Unimaginably big, though. When you’re on a boat and can’t see land anymore…” he trailed off and Danny didn’t force him to continue. None of the other ghosts he’d met seemed to have Jay’s issues with memories. But then, most of them weren’t as fixated on their past lives, either.

At the bottom of the stairs, one of the boys he’d met last night was still playing jacks, but his friend was no where to be seen.

“Hey, Matt. Where’s Alan this morning,” asked Danny.

It took a moment, but Matt eventually looked at him with a blank expression. “Alan?”

“Isn’t that your friend’s name? I thought it was. The boy you were playing with last night?”

Matt blinked at him. “I don’t have any friends. I play by myself.”

Danny and Jay exchanged a look and Jay walked over to sit opposite Matt. “I know how to play,” he said. “And jacks is way more fun with two players. Want to start over with me?”

A slight smile flashed across Matt’s face, though it was gone as soon as it appeared. “Fine. I go first.”

Jay shrugged. “Betcha I can beat you anyway.”

Danny joined them on the ground. “Mind explaining the rules to me as you go? I always wanted to learn.”

“Sure,” said Jay. “We’re gonna start with the onesies round. Matt, start whenever you’re ready.”

Matt tossed the jacks on the ground and tossed up a bouncy ball. It’d bounce once, he’d pick up a jack and catch the ball, then repeat the process. Jay explained the rules as they went.

Once Matt collected all the jacks, he spread them out again and handed the ball to Jay who began the process again.

“So how long have you been here, Matt?” asked Danny.

Matt shook his head. “Dunno. Ma’ll get me when it’s time to go home.” He was entirely focused on Jay’s hands and the ball.

“Are you afraid Jay’ll cheat?”

“You always cheat if you can get away with it. He’d be stupid not to.”

Danny laughed, “Got it. An unspoken rule?”

Jay picked up the last jack and caught the ball. “Not one I’ve heard.” He tossed the ball over to Matt. “Your turn, squirt.”

It was hard to get Matt to talk and even harder to get him to talk about anything other than the game. But Danny did manage to learn that he was born in New York City in the fifties and that he was waiting at the motel for his parents.

He didn’t seem to know he was dead, and he didn’t remember anything about Alan.

Jay won the first round and Matt was setting up another game before they could protest. This time, Matt won. When he set up the third game, Danny joined in. He failed miserably. His complete incompetence made Matt smile again, though, so he considered it a win and was happy to go for a fourth game.

By the time they finished, the sun was much higher in the sky.

“Oh, shit. I need to get home,” Danny said, once he noticed. He looked around and saw more ghosts were wandering around now that it was day.

Two men in suits were leaning against the wall smoking cigarettes, a woman in a floral dress was walking a dog. And leaning against a railing, looking over the drained pool, was Tom.

“Wait, I met that man last night. I’m gonna go say hi. I’ll check out after I talk to him.”

Jay waved him off as he set up another game with Matt.

Danny ran over to Tom and took up a space next to him. “What are you looking at, Mr. Tom.” The cement of the pool was cracked and ghostly plants like the ones in the parking lot grew through them.

“Doesn’t the water look nice? I remember swimming before. With a child? A boy, I think. And a woman. We had fun.”

Danny looked up at Tom sharply. “What are you talking about? The pool’s been drained. It’s just a cement hole right now.”

“They want me to join them.”

“Who wants you to join them? There’s no one there!”

But Tom merely stepped forward through the fence. Danny reached out to grab his arm, only for his hand to pass right through it. “What?” He’d never had a hard time grabbing a ghost before. “Tom! Wait, there’s nothing there.”

Tom ignored him and kept walking. Danny rushed after him, but the delay meant he was still several steps back when Tom lifted his hands and dove off the side of the pool into the empty hole.

As soon as the man was out of sight, Danny’s ghost sense lessened. He ran to the edge and looked down into an empty pool.

“What just happened?” he asked himself. Something about the pool made him uneasy and he backed away from the ledge. Tom must’ve turned intangible and dived below ground. Or invisible and was playing a prank on him.

His back hit the metal fence hard and he winced. He hadn’t realized how quickly he’d been moving. With a mental shake, he turned intangible and walked through it back to Jay and Matt.

“Jay,” said Danny.

His friend ignored him as he bounced the ball once more.

“Birdie!” Danny half-shouted this time.

Jay missed catching the ball and let out a curse. “What’d you do that for?” he demanded. “I was doing well!”

“I think there’s something strange about this place,” said Danny. “Tom— he just, he just disappeared.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “We’re all just here for a short rest before returning to where we came from. He probably just went home.”

“He thought the pool was filled with water and dove right into it. Said something about someone calling him to join them. And then I stopped sensing him!”

The panic in Danny’s voice was enough to get Jay standing. He placed a comforting hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Hey, Phantom. It’s okay. I’m sure he’s fine. Why don’t we ask the receptionist which room he’s in and see if he went back there?”

“I… Okay. Yeah. Let’s do that.” He looked down at Matt. “Want to join us, Matt? See more of the motel?”

He shook his head. “Mom told me to wait. She’ll come for me.”

Danny and Jay exchanged a look, but Danny just nodded. “All right, kiddo. But you come find me if you need anything, okay? I’m in room 214. And Jay’s in 215. Either one of us will help you if you need it.”

But Matt was back to ignoring them as he tossed the bouncy ball in the air and resumed his game.

Jay grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him to the front office. “Come on, we’ll go find out what happened to Tom.”

The office didn’t look much different by light of day. The women on the couch had gone, replaced with a man and a boy. Both were dressed formally; the man was reading a newspaper while the boy had a comic book. Danny thought he recognized Spiderman on the cover, though it was hard to see with how the kid was holding it.

The same receptionist from the night before sat behind the desk and Jay hurried them through until they were standing opposite her.

She didn’t so much as twitch.

“Hey, lady,” demanded Jay, “we’ve a question for you.”

“Jay!” protested Danny. “Don’t be rude.” To the woman, he said, “I’m so sorry for my friend. I had a concern about another guest and I wanted to find out which room he was staying in so I could check on him. Can you give me that information?”

But she still sat there frozen as if she were a mannequin rather than a person or even a ghost.

Jay leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of her face. When she still didn’t react, he shrugged and reached down to grab the log book from under her hand.

That, however, did cause a reaction.

The receptionist’s hand transformed into claws that wrapped around Jay’s wrist. As she stood, she grew until she was towering above them. Her hair transformed into flames that framed her face. The lights flickered and the shadows deepened.

Jay screamed in pain and Danny rushed forward. He shot an ectoblast at the receptionist, then another. She didn’t let go.

She let out a breath of fire. “Motel records are private!” she screeched.

With one hand, Danny threw up a shield to block the flames while he used his other hand to grab an ectoknife he had in a pocket in his suit. Maintaining the shield, he sliced at her arm. It got her to loosen her grip just enough for him to yank Jay free and get between them.

“We’re sorry!” he yelled. “We didn’t realize! We were just trying to find someone’s room number because I was worried about him.” He grit his teeth and braced himself against her attack. He felt himself pushed back a foot, but managed to keep the shield going.

The flames continued for another moment and Danny’s arm began shaking. But then she stopped. He lowered his arm, but remained ready to jump back into the fight at the slightest provocation.

She stood, so tall she had to stoop or her head would be through the ceiling. Her hair glowed fire red-yellow as it licked around her chin and shoulders. Her eyes were black and teeth pointed at she glared at them. Her injured hand to her chest was clutched to her chest, but the other one was poised protectively over the log book.

“Motel records are private,” she repeated.

“I understand,” said Danny. “We didn’t realize. Would you be able to tell me which room Tom is staying in? He was in the office last night when I checked in. We were talking this morning and he disappeared. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

She seemed to shrink in on herself slightly, though her hair remained flames and her fingers claws. But she was no longer taller than the room. Danny felt Jay shift behind him and froze his feet to the floor to hopefully keep him from making things worse again. “Don’t you dare,” he hissed.

He ignored the whispered, “Hey!”

The receptionist lifted up her logbook and flipped through a few pages. “No Tom is currently a guest at the Motel.”

“Did he check out? Because I spoke to him just ten minutes ago. Actually, how do we check out? You didn’t react when we first came in and tried to talk to you. Only reason we touched the logbook to begin with.”

And suddenly she was back to looking like a normal, human woman. “Is something not to your liking?” she asked with her slight Southern accent. “Is the television not working? Do we not have your preferred snacks in the vending machine? We have coffee, as well. The pot is over there.” She pointed at a table that had two coffee pots and some mugs. Danny hadn’t noticed it last night—was it new?

“I— no. Everything has been great,” said Danny. It was only his experience with Dora’s and the Lunch Lady’s mood swings that kept him from taking a step back.

Behind him, he heard Jay let out a whispered, “The fuck?”

“I am glad to hear it! If you need more towels or anything, there is a tag you can put on your door handle—”

“It’s not that!” interrupted Danny. “I just want to know about Tom. You said there’s no Tom staying here, what about a Thomas? I’m afraid I never got to know his last name.” He was tense and ready to throw up another shield at a moment’s notice, though his hand shook. He felt exhausted already and he’d barely done anything. What was going on? He bit his cheek and locked his knees.

The receptionist just smiled at him. “No one by the name of Tom or Thomas is currently staying here as a guest.”

Danny hesitated and asked, “What about Alan? Or Matt?”

She flipped through her log again. “There is no Alan here, either. However a Matt has been assigned room 117.”

Danny nodded and smiled only to remember he was still in his ghost form and had the full mask. He bowed his head in acknowledgment of her information. “Thank you for your assistance. Just wanted to confirm, when is checkout due by? I need to leave today, but want to try and find Tom and Alan before I do.”

The woman smiled sweetly at him. “We do not have a checkout policy. And we have no guests named Tom or Alan at this time.”

“So I can checkout whenever? Great.”

She repeated herself. “We do not have a checkout policy.”

Jay snorted behind him. In a near-whisper he said, “I don’t trust her.”

Danny kicked his ankle to try and get him to shut up. “Oh, and one last question. How long has the pool been out of order?” Could Tom be from another time? If he was existing in a time when the pool was open, it could explain why he saw things Danny didn’t. Might also be the reason Danny couldn’t touch him.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, however the pool is out of commission at this time. We will inform guests as soon as it is operational.”

“I know it’s out of order, how long has it been out of order?”

All she did was repeat the same apology as before.

Danny let out a grunt of frustration. Behind him, Jay shifted and asked, “What else is off-limits to guests?”

“Guests have access to their rooms and all public areas. Public areas include the walkways to the rooms, the parking lot, the pool area, the basketball hoops, and the paved area behind the motel. The areas behind this desk, the door behind me, and any service areas such as the electrical and boiler rooms are off-limits. No guest is allowed to view any motel records or documents.”

“Good to know,” said Danny. “You’ve been very helpful, thank you for your assistance.”

“Of course. Please come to me with any questions you may have.” Then the woman settled back in her chair and froze in the position Danny had seen her in each time he’d entered.

Only now, there was a thin slice on her one wrist. It didn’t bleed, but the skin was damaged and a thin wisp of gray smoke seemed to rise from the wound.

Danny backed away, and grabbed Jay’s wrist. Only to let it go when his friend hissed in pain. “Sorry! Forgot you were injured there. Let’s get outside and I’ll take a look.” With a thought, the ice covering Jay’s feet disappeared.

“How’d you do that?” asked Jay as they exited the office.

Danny didn’t answer, just led them further from the door. Now that the danger appeared to be over, he felt the ache in his core that indicated he’d over-exerted himself. Which shouldn’t have been possible. He’d had much tougher fights than that one.

But his legs shook with every step and he gave up walking and sat down on the asphalt in the middle of the parking lot rather than near the sign like he’d been planning.

Jay sat across from him. “You okay?”

Danny waved off his concern. “Just a bit tired. She was stronger than she looked. Let me see your wrist.”

Jay held out his arm and Danny could see burn marks where the receptionist’s claws had grasped him.

Danny looked around, even kneeling to check under the cars, and confirmed no one was near them. He reached up and unclasped the mask of his hazmat suit, revealing his face to his new friend.

“Holy shit! You’re just a kid!”

Danny snorted. “Oh, come on. You look like you’re about my age, too.”

“Yeah, but I’m used to being the youngest. Thought you were older than me. Especially since you can do so much more than I can. Speaking of, how did you fight her off? Could I do that?”

“I’m sixteen. How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

Danny nodded as he breathed in deeply. Then he blew out, freezing his breath into frost as he did so in a technique Frostbite taught him. The frost coated Jay’s burned wrist, soothing the angry burn and causing the other boy to sigh in relief.

“Damn, wish I could do that.”

“I’ve got an ice core. Means I can control ice and snow. My doctor taught me that trick. If you have an ice core, you could do it as well. But you should be able to make an ectoshield and shoot ectoblasts and stuff. Those are powers all ghosts have.”

“I’ve never seen anyone here do anything like that. Sometimes they’ll walk through walls or objects, but never anything more than that.”

“Huh, weird.”

“You’ll teach me, right?”

Danny shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Never had to teach someone before, so don’t blame me if I’m bad at it, though. But I want to focus on finding Tom and Alan.”

“Obviously.”

Danny couldn’t help but look back towards the motel. Only this time, instead of welcoming, all he could feel was foreboding. “Something’s wrong about this place.”

Jay looked over, too, but shrugged. “I haven’t noticed anything.”

“What movie did we watch last night?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You came to my room and we watched a movie. Your favorite. You told me all about it as we watched it and we fell asleep at some point which is why you were still in my room this morning. What movie was it?”

Jay looked down and scuffed his foot on the pavement. One of the plants tried to bite at it, but his shoe kept it from hurting him. “I… We did watch a movie, didn’t we. Why don’t I remember?”

Danny chewed his lip and wished he could soften his voice. “Birdie, how long have you been here?”

Jay frowned. “Just a night or two.”

The foreboding feeling grew at that response and Danny shook his head. “I’ve been here for one night. It’s mid-morning now. You are much more familiar with this place and the people here than I am.”

“No I’m not. No one has ever acknowledged me before. Not like Matt did when we played with him.”

“Matt and Alan. There were two of them, remember?”

Jay reached up and rubbed at his face before nodding. “Two, right.”

“Now, please answer the question: how long have you been here?”

“I—” Jay scowled as he glared at a crack in the pavement. “I don’t remember. I remember sleeping in my room more than once, though.”

“And once in mine. Jay, I think this place is messing with our heads. I can’t remember last night’s movie. It was new-to-me, but you were so excited about it. I remember you talking about it, I remember pausing it so you could go on rants. But I can’t remember what those rants were or what movie it was.”

Jay shook his head. “I need to go back; they’re waiting for me.”

“Who, Jay? Who’s waiting?”

Jay jumped to his feet and kicked a rock. “I don’t remember! They need me though!” He punched the air before squatting down and burying his face in his knees.

Danny moved so they were side-by-side and put an arm around his shoulders. “We’ll figure this out and get you home. But we can’t leave just yet. I won’t leave until I know what happened to Tom and Alan and can make sure Matt is safe.”

“His mom isn’t coming, is she?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“I don’t think my mom was any good.”

“My parents try, but they’re too focused on their work to notice when my sister or I need anything.”

“Why do you want to go back? Can you remember?” Jay looked over at him and Danny pretended he didn’t notice the wetness on his cheeks.

“Yeah, I can.” Danny tilted his head back until he was looking up at the sky, it was overcast, a uniform gray that stretched from horizon to horizon. “I’m… needed back home. If I don’t go back, people will get hurt. Ghosts, too. I stop them from hurting each other. As much as I can as a high school kid.”

Jay hummed. “It’s a lot, isn’t it?” he asked, as if he understood. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and held out a hand to Danny. “Well, what do you say? Let’s see if anyone knows Alan or Tom. We’ll save some people, then get the hell outta Dodge.”

Danny grinned at him and took his hand. “Yeah. Let’s do it.” Once on his feet, Danny reattached his mask.

“Why do you wear that, anyway? Is that normal clothing where you come from?”

Danny looked at his glove-covered hands and shrugged. “Of course not. But it’s what I died in. Been wearing it ever since.”

Jay shuddered. “I’m glad I’m not stuck in the clothes I died in.”

Danny gave a wry smile Jay couldn’t see and shrugged. “It is what it is. I’m used to it by now.”

“So how do I know if I have an ice core or whatever?” asked Jay as they began walking back to the motel.

He was still tired, but the short rest had helped a little and he didn’t feel like he was going to fall over as he walked. “I’ve never tried to describe it before. Can you feel for your core?”

Jay’s brow furrowed. “How do I do that?”

“Ghosts really only have one organ and that’s their core. Think of it as, like, your soul. It’s your brain and heart in one. As long as their core is intact, a ghost can survive anything that happens to them. The body you have around it is just ectoplasm given shape by your own expectations and perception of yourself.”

Jay hummed. “Okay, so you want me to try and mentally connect to my core?”

“Yeah. That’s where ghosts get our powers from. If you have the strength and there’s enough ectoplasm around, you can shape it and use it in interesting ways. And that’s on top of the flight, invisibility, and intangibility that any ghost can do.”

“You’ll have to show me how to do that, too.”

“Frostbite—my doctor,” he clarified at Jay’s confused look. “He made it sound like this was instinctive for most ghosts.”

Jay shrugged. “Well it’s not for me. How do I know if I’ve connected to my core?”

Danny threw up his hands. “I don’t know! Mine feels like a ball of cold ice in my chest, only comforting. When I’m afraid, I feel it jolt. When I push myself too hard, it aches. When I’m happy, it pulses.”

Jay bit his lip and seemed to consider Danny’s words. Silence stretched between them as they walked. By unspoken agreement, the two avoided the main office and instead made their way towards one of the far ends of the motel.

A woman in a patched coat and skirts was sitting on a bench there with a sketch pad on her lap.

Right before they were about to reach her, Jay said, “I had magic when I was alive, you know.”

Danny’s steps faltered. “Humans don’t have magic.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Some do. Look at the Justice League. But that’s not what I meant. I had a type of magic. Something that made me more than just a regular human. But I can’t remember what it was or how I got it. I wonder if that’s why I can’t find my core.”

Danny shrugged. “I don’t know. It could have to do with your memory issues, too. I don’t think most ghosts have problems like that.”

“All here do,” said the woman on the bench.

“Do you know what is going on here?” asked Danny.

She said nothing, just kept drawing on her sketchbook.

“What are you working on?” asked Jay.

She set her pencil down on the bench next to her and turned the notebook around. On the page was a swirling black mass, far too reminiscent of the portal in his basement.

But then he realized it wasn’t just a dark circle. Ghosts were drawn on top of ghosts. The ones on the edges, he could make out some features—a face or a hat. He thought he recognized the women from the office the night he’d checked in. But at the center, so many figures had been drawn on top of each other that no details could be made out and it looked like a solid drawing.

Instinctively, Danny took a step back. Jay, however, stepped closer.

“Is that me?” he asked, pointing to a figure near the edge. His face was clear, with only the faintest lines from other figures crossing it.

“It is all of us,” she replied. She pulled the book back and picked up her pencil once more to resume her work.

“You’re really talented,” said Jay. “It looks just like me.”

Like the rest of the people they’d met, she didn’t react to his statement. Jay didn’t seem to care, though, and moved until he was standing behind her and could watch what she was doing. Danny hesitated, but joined his friend when he was waved over.

They watched as she started adding a new figure to the mess. It wasn’t long before Danny’s core sunk in fear.

“Dude, I think that’s you,” said Jay.

Danny swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. The more detail she added, the more obvious it was.

“Why are you drawing me?” he asked.

“You’re here, now. One of us,” she said absently.

“I’m leaving. Once I find out what happened to Tom and Alan, I’m leaving.”

“No one leaves,” she said as she continued to draw.

Danny bit his lip, then asked, “Do you know a ghost by the name of Tom? Or Alan? I can’t find them and the receptionist said there weren’t any guests here by that name. But I met them, I know I did.”

“No one leaves,” she repeated.

“I’m gonna leave!” protested Jay. “There are people waiting for me.”

But it appeared the woman was done replying. She just kept drawing Danny, at the edge of the vortex of ghosts, one of his arms extended as if trying to escape. Then, once every detail was finished, she drew a crown over his head.

Danny’s brow furrowed. “Why’d you give me a crown?”

When they got no response, Danny and Jay exchanged glances.

“You’re definitely not wearing a crown,” said Jay with a shrug.

On the page, however, it was the clearest part of her drawing. Nothing crossed the path of the crown.

“Look, lets just go,” said Danny when it was clear the artist wasn’t going to say anything else. “Maybe one of the other ghosts can tell us something.” Danny grabbed Jay’s upper arm and led him away.

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Chapter 3

And this marks the halfway point of the fic! Hope you enjoy.

Couldn't resist the little nod at the end there to Ghost King Danny. And it's a trope @i-think-in-metaphors (my artist) likes, so I didn't even try.

#dpxdc #ectoimplosion2023 #danny fenton #jason todd #the receptionist went freaky #what do you guys think of her?#shes my fav #danny realizes something is wrong #and is gonna make jay recognize it if its the last thing he does #will they ever get home?

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