#yknow i remember naming this ch tempus for a reason but now i cant at all remember

[freshwater--mermaid]

Ersatz Ch 22: Tempus

“You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not." Sam declared for the dozenth time. "Casper High is about to find out what a real haunted house is like!"

Tucker and Danny exchanged a tired expression. Sam had very proudly volunteered to manage the creation of the school's haunted house, which was run every year by a student. Yet another money-saving scheme, the student in charge was not given any help or funding from the school.

Sam's confidant walk through the halls of Casper High was interrupted by a tall blond figure. Dash stood in her path, his fellow football friends clustered close behind.

"With you in charge of the spook house this year, maybe it'll actually be scary for once."

His comment could have been perceived as a compliment, if it weren't for the mocking tone and cruel smirk sliding across Dash's face.

Sam glared up at him as his group snickered among themselves.

"Hey, what're you gonna do, Manson?" Kwan spoke up. "Stand behind the front door and show people your face?"

The moronic comment stirred up a chorus of laughs.

With a heavy sigh, Sam stomped past them. Danny and Tucker followed, the former drifting off in his own thoughts. Dash saw this, and capitalized on the opportunity as the shorter boy passed him.

A long leg sticking out suddenly sent Danny crashing hard onto the tiled floor.

His chin stinging, Danny pushed himself up, roarous laughs buzzing around his head. Dash's voice rose above the rest, offering some blithering comment Danny couldn't bother listening to. He was too busy thinking rather vicious thoughts about the blond, mentally recalling a time when he'd had this big oaf under his control, scared and drooling.

Danny looked up at Dash, hate in his eyes and tingling energy running through his hands.

Dash's expression froze, then faltered. He took a step back, away from Danny, staring down at him with wide eyes.

Sam and Tucker looked on in surprise, before Sam snapped quickly into action. She strode forward, grabbing Danny by the arm and pulling him up.

Danny stood, coming back to himself as he realised who it was that had a hold of him. He blinked his eyes, feeling odd as the energy drained out of him.

He didn't get a chance to look back at Dash, as Sam immediately dragged him down the hall. He did pick up the voices of Dash's friends asking the silent football star what had happened.

"Jesus, dude." Tucker said lowly as they reached the end of the hall, rounding a corner.

"Do you want Dash to figure you out?" Sam frowned heavily.

"Oh please," Danny replied, pulling his arm free of her grip. "Dash barely has the brain capacity needed to breathe and talk at the same time. He won't figure anything out."

His friends both graced him with skeptical expressions.

"And besides," Danny continued, taking the lead and walking further down the empty hallway. "Dash could use a little fear."

"What?" Sam asked, startled.

Danny shrugged. "All I'm saying is a little humility would do the guy some good. And help get him off our backs."

Behind him, Sam and Tucker exchanged looks, glancing at each other with worry in their eyes.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

And so it was another afternoon saw Danny walking the stairway down into his parents' lab. He wasn't sure what had made this into a daily habit; curiosity of the goings on of the laboratory, or a desire to gaze upon the portal.

'Maybe a bit of both.' Danny thought, walking over to his mom and tilting his head down at the sample of green she poked and stared at.

"I was right." the woman declared in a happy tone. "See?"

She pointed down toward the glowing sludge, which lay in a small puddle in the centre of a glass tray.

Danny raised an eyebrow in silent question, and Maddie was quick to elaborate.

"I was right in assuming that a ghost's body parts would lose their structure once separated from their host."

"Maybe it's just a weak one." Jack piped up hopefully from where he sat hunched over his desk. "Maybe a stronger specimen could hold its structure, or even grow into a whole new ghost!"

Maddie sighed. "Jack, that's highly doubtful, and here's the proof."

Jack frowned and turned back to his own work.

"So, where are you keeping the...uh, ghost lady? When she's not in that glass box, I mean." Danny couldn't help but voice a question he'd been holding onto for a while.

"Oh, we keep her in an extra Fenton thermos." Maddie answered, observing the ectoplasm sample as she spoke. "It's the most secure method for holding a ghost that we have, for now."

"For now?" Danny asked.

"Oh yeah!" Jack exclaimed with a grin, turning to wave a hand at the clear containment unit in the corner. "I plan on fixing that baby up to be ten times as secure! Soon we'll be able to cram a dozen ghosts in there at once and not worry about them getting away."

"What are you working on now?" Danny questioned, leaving his mother's side and moving to stand behind his dad.

Jack smiled and held up a mostly rebuilt ecto gun.

"I'm giving it a bit more kick." he said. "The blast it gives was good enough for those little blobs, but but these big ghosts we've been seeing lately require more energy to take 'em out."

Danny stored the knowledge away, making a mental note to do better at avoiding his parents' line of fire next time he found himself facing off against them.

'Next time...' Danny thought, recalling the sight of them chasing him and Ember down not so long ago. It had been terrifying, and he would do his best to avoid a future encounter.

Seeing his son's face drop into a morose expression, Jack guessed at the reason behind it, slapping a hand on Danny's shoulder and startling the boy.

"Don't worry, Danny!" he said with another big smile. "It'll only stun 'em, not blow them up completely. After all, we need more subjects, not just ol' one-o."

"O-one." Maddie corrected from across the room.

Jack went back to his work, and Danny watched him in silence, wondering what a blast from the improved gun would feel like. The last time it had burned away skin and left him dazed and in pain. He didn't want to contemplate an even worse injury.

Having his fill of information for the afternoon, Danny ascended the stairs and headed for his bedroom. Part of him wished that Vlad were still around, but after the Packers game marathon that weekend, of which Danny did not partake, the elder man was off with assurances that he'd be keeping an eye on things. Danny assumed that meant he would be making sure Danny could handle any spikes in ghost activity on his own.

Danny had enjoyed their adventure into the depths of the Ghost Zone, remembering the feeling of disappointment when they had returned to the portal. The living world felt almost crushing after being weightless for so long. He hadn't told the details to his friends yet, and they never asked.

'They're probably still mad that I missed out on Sam's craft project.' the teen figured. 'At least she has a new project to work on now.'

Danny's mind drifted to the topic of the annual haunted house, held at the high school. It was never very scary, with only teenagers being the ones in charge. But Sam was sure to see it as a challenge, and that meant that Dash's words may prove true. Sam would make that year's haunted house a true scare.

'Well, she definitely has the budget to get whatever she wants for it.' Danny thought, lying back on his bed aimlessly.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

"What!" Sam exclaimed in outrage.

"You heard me, young lady." Pamela wagged a manicured finger at her daughter. "You're not about to use our money to turn your school into some kind of horror show."

"But Mom, it's a haunted house; it's supposed to be a horror show!" Sam protested.

"Don't raise your voice at me, Samantha." her mother replied calmly, smoothing away imaginary wrinkles from her evening gown.

"I'm sure you can come up with some neat ideas without needing money, pumpkin." Jeremy said, straightening his tie. "If you made some nice festive banners and hung a few little bats, I'm positive people would enjoy it far more than some blood-soaked massacre room."

Pamela shuddered at the mental image, clutching her tiny purse tight as she looked down at her frowning daughter.

"The matter is closed." she said with finality. "Now, your father and I won't be back for several hours, so don't answer the door for anyone, and be in bed by ten."

With that, the two Manson adults glided out of the room and down the hall. Sam managed to wait until they were out the front door before letting loose the frustrated groan that had been building within her. She couldn't believe they were being so unreasonable. It wasn't like she was asking for holograms or hired actors. Just some props and fake blood. Now her idea was ruined.

Sulking, Sam returned to her room, pulling out her latest purchase, a book on medieval castles. She'd been poring over the subject ever since Danny's discovery in the Ghost Zone. This was the fifth book she'd bought, the entire concept fascinating her endlessly. A place forever frozen in time. She half-wished that there had been inhabitants for Danny to talk to, but fear for her friend's safety kept the wish from blooming in full.

Minutes passed in silence as Sam idly turned pages, unable to fully focus on the images and words. Until one image in particular had her thoughts halting. Illustrated on the page before her was a castle that looked very much like the one from the Ghost Zone. It did not float in an endless space, but instead rest upon an expanse of green land. The resemblance was so uncanny that Sam abruptly stood, book gripped tight as she stared down at it.

She searched the page for the name of the castle, and then practically ran to her computer.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

"Danny!" Sam yelled, causing the black-haired boy to jump.

"That castle was real!" she continued, coming to stand before her locker.

"What castle?" Danny asked.

"That one from your little adventure." Tucker added, having heard all about Sam's discovery on their walk to the school.

Danny's eyes widened momentarily, before he gave Sam an annoyed look.

"That's what you shouted at me for? Of course it was real, I was there." he said, closing his locker.

"That's not what I mean." Sam rolled her eyes, stuffing her books into her own locker. "I mean that I found out that it was a real, actual castle that existed centuries ago, in Europe. Now it's just a bunch of ruins, but back then it was the centre of a powerful empire."

"Okay," Danny replied. "So what does this have to do with anything?"

Sam's expression became excited once more. "Well, according to legend the king dabbled in demon and spirit summonings, and kept several artifacts hidden in a vault inside the castle."

"So?" Danny was already predicting where this was going, but hoped he was wrong.

"So, what if some of those artifacts made it into the Ghost Zone? I mean, the whole castle made it, so why not other things, especially if they were connected with spirits."

"Sam, are you asking what I think you're asking."

"All you've got to do is go back there, explore around a little more, find the vault and see if anything is still there."

"Why?" Danny asked. "Just buy some cool looking medieval stuff for your haunted house."

Sam's face fell once more.

"Her parents cut her off." Tucker replied, not bothering to look up from his PDA.

Sam scoffed. "They don't want me 'wasting their money' on Halloween stuff."

"Well that sucks." Danny said, "But that still doesn't mean I'm going dungeon diving so you can have a centre piece for your haunted house."

"Come on-" Sam began.

"Look, guys." Danny interrupted, looking over his shoulder at the few students down the hall to make sure no one was listening. "Mr Masters said that place was bad news."

"I didn't realise Mr Masters was in charge of your actions." Sam sniped.

Danny glared at her briefly before turning and walking down the hall, the other two following behind.

"I know you don't like him, but sometimes you just have to have common sense. And common sense says to listen to the guy who knows what he's talking about."

"What is so bad about the place, anyway? Did he say?" Sam asked.

"He didn't give specific details, he just said it was really dangerous, and that I was lucky the first time I went there."

"Maybe he knew about the castle's origins." Sam thought aloud. "Maybe there's some kind of powerful device in there, and he wants to use it."

Danny didn't reply to the idea, instead sending Sam a dubious look.

"It's likely!" Sam insisted, before sighing heavily, crossing her arms.

"Fine, just don't help." she conceded. "I'll figure something else out."

Danny felt guilty, but not enough to go back to the castle. It had given him the creeps last time, and Vlad's warning only proved that something was off about that place.

He waved goodbye to his friends and entered his classroom, not noticing that it was empty. The other students and teacher would not arrive until around fifteen minutes later, most barely giving the teen a glance.

Danny paid no mind right back, the day's lesson passing right over his head as his eyes drifted repeatedly to the windows.

It was a bright, clear day out, and Danny couldn't help but long to be flying free in that blue sky. Instead, he was trapped in this drab cycle, day after day. Danny just couldn't see the point in wasting his time at school, and the only things that made him show up were the fact that his friends were here, and his parents would surely find out if he began skipping regularly.

Danny stifled the urge to get up and leave the classroom, the droning voice of Lancer scraping at his nerves. Trying to relax, he slouched low in his chair and stared unseeing at the whiteboard, letting his mind drift further.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Deep within a remote corner of the Ghost Zone, where few spirits dared to tread, a presence was slowly awakening.

A familiar sense of foreboding began permeating out across the area, causing the few ghosts nearby to flee in fear, searching for a safe hiding place before it was too late.

A cluster of tiny glowing animals raced from door to door, using them for cover as they went, all too convinced that the source of their fear was somehow watching them.

In the distance, they spotted a large structure, and upon reaching it, discovered that it was empty.

Here they felt safe, and so they stayed, drawing the attention of similar little ghosts that also sought shelter. And soon enough a small hoard of various blobs and animals were amassed inside the lone-standing house.

It was definitely a welcomed new addition to that area, the spirits all agreed. They soon became bold enough to begin exploring their new home, splitting off into groups as they floated throughout the rooms.

A few flew to the upper level, where nothing of real interest was found, save for a strange find in a small dark space. It was a large dark object, and the spirits could not make sense of it. It was definitely not of the Ghost Zone, and the little ghosts swirled around it curiously. It did not move, or emit sound of any kind, and one ghost became brave enough to poke the object. When nothing happened, they all quickly grew bored, and left.

Another group had ventured below, to the deeper level. Here they felt they could be even safer, tucked away from prying eyes. Instead, the ghosts were greeted by a large eye.

A single green, glowing eye stared at them from across the large room, and the group startled and instinctively turned invisible.

They quickly realised, however, that it was no eye, but a swirling mass instead. It hypnotized them, drawing them closer.

As moths to a flame, they gathered around the portal, and few by few began to enter the glowing gateway.

Upstairs, the remaining cluster noticed the group's absence, and soon became curious enough to investigate.