Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/6818824. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: Danny_Phantom Relationship: Danny_Fenton/Vlad_Masters, Danny_Fenton/Sam_Manson Character: Danny_Fenton, Vlad_Masters, Sam_Manson, Tucker_Foley, Jazz_Fenton, Jack Fenton, Maddie_Fenton, Valerie_Gray Additional Tags: Explicit_Sexual_Content, Anal_Sex, Supernatural_Elements, Alternate Universe, Dark_elements, Manipulative!Vlad, Creature!Vlad, Bad_Friends Tucker_and_Sam, Alternative_Creature_Tucker_and_Sam, References_to Depression, References_to_Demon_Possession, Minor_Violence Stats: Published: 2016-05-11 Chapters: 2/2 Words: 41636 ****** Folklore ****** by brunettachoppa687, TTICSY_(phantomofthefandoms) Summary "While exploring his new home, a boy named Danny discovers a secret door in the basement, behind which lies an alternate world that is far better than his own, filled with amazing creatures. He rejoices in his discovery, until the master of this world and the creatures within try to keep him there forever. Danny tries to keep this world separate from his real life, but how long can he resist the siren call of a forever filled with unearthly bliss?" This is a pompous pep au that is heavily influenced by the story Coraline. Written for the Phanniemay prompt "Folklore". Notes There is heavy smut in the second half of this story. And not just any smut, but monster smut. You have been warned! ***** Chapter 1 ***** “All unpacked, Danny?” A sixteen year old boy with shoulder length black hair and pretty blue eyes, looked up at his mother as she stood in the doorway to his new bedroom.  He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, turning to look down at the box on his desk.   “Not yet…” “Well, dinner will be ready in an hour dear,” she said, giving him a tired smile.  Danny turned back to his desk, slowly unloading his laptop and books onto it.  Maddie Fenton frowned at the dejected sight of her youngest child and sighed, coming into the room to give him a one armed hug.  “I know you didn’t want to move, honey, but we had no choice.  Just think though, with your father’s and my new job, we managed to get such a nice house!  Your room sure is bigger than your last one, right?” “I guess so…” “And, you get to miss out on school for a few extra months this summer!  Isn’t that nice~?” The boy frowned, not looking all that happy.  “Just means I have to take summer school next year though to catch up.” “Well, maybe not!  Your father and I could always homeschool you?” “I’d really rather not.” The redheaded woman sighed, pulling back from Danny to put her hands on her hips.  “Danny, we’re just trying to help you.  Now I know this move wasn’t ideal but it was the best option for all of us.” The teen couldn’t meet her eyes as he finished pulling things out of his box and folded it up, putting the cardboard on top of the pile he had made by the door.  His mother huffed, shaking her head. “Well, your father got the modem running if you want to chat with your friends.  I’m going to go finish up dinner but I expect you to come down and set the table, alright?” “Yes, mom.” He watched her go before sighing, turning back to look over his new room.   It wasn’t a large room, but not too small either, with a full sized bed beneath a large window covered in a starry bedspread and a few pillows.  The walls were painted bright blue and the trim white along with the carpet.  It was open, airy… It was indeed better than the room he had had back in Amity, but still, to move all the way to a tiny island off of Nova Scotia, Canada, for something he hadn’t even done . Danny rubbed the back of his neck, pulling up his hair into a messy bun before going back to finish unpacking.  He just had the bookcase and then his desk to set up, really.  He glanced at the clock, noticing it was around the time he had promised to contact his girlfriend, Sam.  He winced, but sat down and turned on skype.  She would just chew his ear off if he didn’t call her. The familiar swooping sound of the program starting up made him sigh, but he clicked on Sam’s window and typed in a hey. Her reply came a few seconds later.   Omg you’re there? Yeah.  Wanna call? Totally, 1 sec brb. Danny eased back, spacing out as he waited.  The sky outside was grey and cloudy… a dried-up garden a dull black shape through the mist.  The squeaking of terrified mice reached his ears from somewhere in the walls.  Great, now they’d have to call an exterminator… Skype pinged.  Danny glanced back at it to see Sam’s reply.  Okay, u can call now! Danny sighed, a small part of him not really wanting to talk right now.  He had already been talking enough with his parents and his older sister, he didn’t really need someone else trying to explain away his feelings.  Or worse, tell him how he was supposed to feel. Well, better do it now than later. He clicked the call button and sat back, letting the skype window take up his whole screen.  A second later and Sam answered on the other end, her face appearing on his laptop screen.  Danny had known Sam since they were kids, and it had almost felt like just a next step in their life to start dating.  His parents had expected it, his sister had, their friends had.  Whatever, it didn’t matter since he liked her, right? Right? “Hey, Sam.  How’s everything back in Amity?” “Ugh, dead in the water as usual.  Not to mention the swim team is crap without you,” his girlfriend deadpanned, her voice tinny and echoing from the poor connection.  “How’s your internet down there?  Our connection is terrible!” “No idea.  Dad just got the modem running so he could have just placed it in a bad spot in the house.  I’ll mess with it later.” Danny paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her chin length black hair and purple eyes -- colored contacts sure worked wonders -- and her black painted lips.  He noticed she was wearing one of her nicer outfits, a purple and black checkered dress she had gotten from some special shop that catered to vegans and environmentalists and such like her. “Hey, are you going out somewhere?  I didn’t mean to interrupt.” “Oh!  Yeah, you remember that, uh, one Victorian zombie movie that came out?  Tucker and I were gonna go see it,” Sam replied, giving a sheepish shrug.  “I mean, the tickets were nonrefundable, might as well, right?” Danny frowned.  That was a movie he had practically needed to BEG Sam to go see, and now she was going without him?  So much for ‘classical and historical inaccuracy designed to please the masses need for horror and blood’.  He sighed, shaking his head.  “No no, I get it… I mean, I wanted to see it, but you're right about the tickets.  I’ll just go see it sometime later.” “Sorry, Danny…” Sam blew a kiss through the screen, smiling halfheartedly.  “It won’t be any fun without you.  Tucker always hogs all the popcorn and sprinkles candy sugar all over it.  Ugh… it’s absolutely disgusting.” Danny chuckled, smiling slightly.  “Yeah, it’s an acquired taste.” “Danny!  Come set the table!” The teen sighed, brushing back a lock of his hair.  “Hey, sorry, I gotta go, dinner’s ready.  Guess it will take some time getting used to the time changes, huh?” “Yeah, sorry again.  I’ll miss you, baby!  Bye!” Sam’s eyes flicked down to the keyboard and he heard a click.  The screen collapsed back into its bright default. “Yeah, bye…” “DANNY!” The teen startled, quickly jumping up and running down the stairs towards the dining room.  His older sister Jazz stood there by the table, arms full of dishes with furrowed brows.  “What took you so long?” “Sorry, was on skype with Sam.” “Oh.  Well here, help me set the table.  Maybe you can call her after dinner?” Danny shook his head, taking the plates from her.  “Can’t, she went to see a movie.  And since there’s nearly a three hour time difference, it’s just not worth the trouble…” “Well, you should at least put forth the effort,”  she reprimanded, putting down the plates.  “You want your relationship to work, right?” Danny frowned but didn’t respond.  He was used to his sister’s psychological babble and judgmental attitude by that point.  He didn’t think she really had a right to judge, since this move didn’t really affect HER life.  She was off to college in the fall, full ride scholarship and all.  She and his parents never failed to bring that up at least twice a day. “You know, if you put in even half the time on your studies as you do those astrology books, you wouldn’t even have to take summer school next year!” Danny huffed and picked up some silverware.  “Yeah.  Sure.”   ~*~   Dinner was takeout from a fish restaurant in town.  It would have been good if it had been warm. Forks clinked dully against plates, carving up filets and putting the pieces into quiet mouths.  The florescent bulb blinked above their heads, illuminating the peeling wallpaper and old hardwood floors.  The house was old.  It smelled like spiders. “So!” Danny held in a groan at Jazz’s ‘psychiatrist tone’ that she adopted when she felt something needed to be done in their household.  “Love the house!” she said. The single lightbulb flickered out with an exhausted plink . Maddie went to get some candles.   Jazz cleared her throat, continuing despite the sudden dimness; the sun was fading behind darkening clouds, what little natural light there was quickly vanishing as thunder rumbled quietly in the distance.  “Now that we’re here, I’m sure we’re going to hit it off with the townsfolk!” she chirped.  “We just need to fix this place up, introduce ourselves, show we have nothing to hide!  We’ll all have friends in no time!” Jack shrugged, his mouth full of cold fried fish.  Maddie came back with a pair of lit candles, set them on the table, and kissed her husband on the cheek; he perked up at that.  “I like your positive attitude, Jasmine!” she replied, settling back into hair chair.  “Tomorrow we’ll call a plumber, get these rusty pipes all fixed up!” “And I can start investigating the mysteries of this house~!” Jack exclaimed brightly.  Maddie grinned and clapped her hands excitedly. There was a moment of silence. Then, Jazz squinted at her parents.  “Mysteries?” she deadpanned.  “Guys, don’t tell me--” “Why do you think we got the house for so cheap?” her father asked merrily, stabbing up a couple more bites of fish.   Danny raised his brows, watching his older sister groan and bury her head in her hands.  “This is what I get for having a demonologist dad and an author mom…” she muttered.  “What’s the book gonna be about this time?” “Well~” Maddie began excitedly, leaning forward. Danny sighed and tuned them out, fiddling with his fish while his mother and father began to weave a tale that was both different and exactly like all the others.  His parents had never really been around much of his childhood, always chasing stories of ghosts and demons around the world and leaving their kids with a babysitter.  And when the babysitter was a horror movie cliche - - chatting on the phone during the days and inviting her boyfriend over to drink beer in the evenings -- Danny had mostly been raised by his sister.   The... incident that had made them move had been labeled a ‘family chance to bond’.   Should’ve known it was a haunted house, he thought to himself, putting his fork down. “What about you, Danny?” The teen looked up, raising an eyebrow at his sister.  “What about me?” She frowned, clearly looking for more positive feedback.  “New town, new start!  You should go out and make some friends!  It’s not healthy to just lock yourself up in your room all day, Danny.” “We just moved here.  I haven’t even had time to settle in--” “Eighty five percent of the students who do nothing all day in the summer tend to have a harder time keeping up, or raising, their grades once school resumes,”  Jazz informed her family, talking over her brother.  “I think Danny needs to keep busy!” “Maybe you could try swimming again!”  Jack enthused, smiling around his mouthful of fried fish.  “You love swimming, and there are plenty of beaches around here!” “That’s right!”  Maddie agreed, smiling at her son.  “You could go out and make new friends!” Jazz nodded.  “Yeah!  Also, I think Danny should look for a job.” Danny looked up at her, incredulous.  “A job ?” “It would keep him busy and active, plus it looks great on a college resume.” She glanced at Danny, raising a brow.  “You do want to buy a car one day, right?” “She’s right, Danny,”  his mom said as she stood up, picking up their mostly empty plates.  “Maybe you could take a look around town tomorrow, scope out your new home and see what there is for you to do?” The blue-eyed boy looked at his family like they had all grown a second head.  Were they even serious right now?  A JOB?  After they had uprooted him from his home and his life and his friends, to this small harbor town where even internet was hard to come by?  Don’t get him wrong, he loved the sudden easy access he had to the ocean, he LOVED water.  But to be pushed to so quickly accept his new life and this new town, pushed to do this and do that, go into town, get a job… god. “I’m going to bed…”  he murmured, standing up from his chair.  He bid them all a quiet goodnight as Jazz started talking to her parents about some college program online she was doing or something.  Nothing new to him. The water was cold as he showered, but he found himself enjoying the rush it gave him, making him feel like he was clearing his head and rinsing his body of all troubles.  He pulled on his pjs and crawled into his bed, staring at the NASA poster on his wall, and tried to sleep.   ~*~   It took over an hour before he finally nodded off… only to be roughly awoken by a loud crack of thunder. KA-BOOM! Danny gasped, eyes flying open.  Fear suddenly swept over him when he saw an unfamiliar ceiling illuminated by false daylight… And then darkness consumed his vision. The boy fumbled clumsily for the light, clicking it on and sitting up in bed.  He frowned, looking around at the walls.  He thought he’d heard something… Bump. There. It sounded like heavy footsteps… coming down the hall. The boy slowly rose up from his bed, fumbling to find the flashlight always by his bed, only to curse as he realized he had yet to unpack it from the few remaining boxes.  Cautiously, he walked around his bed towards the door, approaching it as slowly and as quietly as he could.   The steps were growing closer… Slowly, Danny took hold of the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door.  Down the hallway, an acidic green glow radiated along the floor… and a terrible smell reached his nostrils… Danny swallowed, turned to look… Jack sat in the middle of the hallway in a circle of glowing measuring instruments and dials, wearing glowing green goggles and a hazmat suit.  He stirred a pot on a portable stove -- some kind of hellish concoction bubbling inside it -- spread a bit of it on the sandwich he was eating, and took a big bite.  His dad glanced at him, then did a double take and grinned with his mouth full, waving merrily at his son.  “Hey, Danny!  Come join me for a little demon hunting and some artichoke-and-bologna sandwiches?  These readings are off the charts~!” he called. Danny grimaced in a mixture of disgust and exhaustion.  “I’ll pass.” “Your loss~!” “Uh huh…” The teen sighed, turned back into his room, and slammed the door shut.   ~*~   The next morning brought some blessed quiet, indicating that the rest of his family must have been away from the house.  He rose from the bed and stretched, yawning widely.  He opened his laptop to check his messages, frowning at the two missed calls from Sam.  Eh, he would call back later. His bare feet made a dull sound against the old wooden stairs as he made his way down to the kitchen for some breakfast.  He munched away on some honey nut cheerios, when he finally noticed some notes on the refrigerator.  There was a note from his dad saying he had gone into to town to gather information and stories from the townsfolk, while another note explained that Jazz and his mom had gone to talk to the realtor about the flooding in the basement. They had a basement? With a frown, the teen finished up his breakfast, before looking around the house.  It didn’t take long to find the wooden door near the back of the house, leading down a single flight of stairs.  It was drafty and cold down there, smelling musty and old.  A single light flickered over head once Danny found the switch. “Oh, gross…”  he muttered as his bare feet hit the cold, soaked through carpet.  The floor under him creaked and moaned, acting like it might give out on him at any moment.  How rotten had the wood become for it to feel that soft ? The room was pretty sparse, only a couple of empty boxes from the move near the stairs.  But just as he was about to turn around and go back upstairs, he noticed something out of place.  There was a small wooden door in the corner of the room, farthest from the faint and flickering light, built into the very floor... Danny hesitated for a moment, not trusting the rotten boards and smell of mildew, but it didn’t take long for curiosity to overcome that.  He took a cautious step… Squiiiiiiiish. The teenaged boy grimaced and quickly squished his way over to the door.  The carpet just got wetter and wetter as he got closer, and by the time he stood before the trapdoor he was downright splashing through the water, his toes completely covered with clear greenish water that swam with specks of dirt.  The floor sagged down with his weight, taking the door with it down into the dirty water.  Danny tried to balance, to keep his steps as light as possible.  It would just be his luck that the floor would cave right from under him. Finally, he was close enough to take a look at the old, wooden door, peering at it through the greenish water. The door seemed to once be a thing of beauty, made of black wood and carved with runes that he did not recognize from any of his history classes, with once silvery chains that crisscrossed the boards.  But now, the door was swollen and soft with water under rusted chains, dark fibers dangling free of the edges of runes and tangling in the links.  Moss -- or mold, he couldn’t tell which, either way it was furry and bluish-green -- crawled up over the iron too, covering a small lock. Curious, Danny crouched, reaching under the water to grab the lock.  The water was shallow enough that he could hold it comfortably above the surface.  He brushed off the slimy lichen. Underneath, etched into the black iron, was a strangely realistic rendition of a spider with its long legs wrapped around the lock.   Danny frowned and turned it over, brushing off more mold.  There was no keyhole anywhere on it. Curious, the boy tried to pull on the old looking lock, testing to see if it could be removed with just a bit of force.  But even though the wood was rotten and old, and the metal was rusted… it all held fast. With a sigh, the teen dropped the lock back into the water and straightened, looking down at the door for a moment.  Maybe he could ask his mom later about it, surely the realtor mentioned it, right?  With that thought in mind he turned around and walked back up the stairs, turning the light switch off behind him.  He needed to go get a start to his day, finish unpacking and maybe call Sam back before she got mad. He shut the basement door behind him.  The water slopped quietly against the walls, and the lock floated back to the bottom, unassuming.   ~*~   After he finished his chores and called his girlfriend again, Danny pulled on his black-and-blue wetsuit, his swimming goggles, and his flip flops.  He grabbed a towel, left a note on the kitchen counter, and left the house. The temperature crawled higher as the day went on, the air still cool and humid from the rainstorm the night before and the sun slowly burning away the morning mist.  Danny padded over the concrete path, grateful for his shoes when the cracked pavement abruptly ended, giving way to moss and gravel as he moved down towards the old abandoned docks at the base of the cliff.   The two long piers slowly came into view as the mist retreated off the green water.  Old and dark and creaking with each roll of the ocean over the rocks, they were another reason why his parents had picked the house; so that once Jack had “exorcised” whatever “demon” lived here, they could be a pet project for him in twenty years to rebuild and keep his boat tied up at.  Once he got a boat.  And once he became handy in any sense of the word.  Until then, the piers were little more than an old, morbid decoration. Danny carefully walked down one of the docks, stopping just at the end to toe off his flip flops and pull down his swimming goggles.  With practiced ease, he dove into the cold water with barely a splash, blinking through the murky, green waters.  It was clearer than he would have suspected, and the chill permeating his suit was brisk and refreshing.  He rose up for a gulp of air, then dove back down, swimming further out and away from the docs. For a brief moment he could forget.  Forget about the move, about his parents, about his sister, about his girlfriend, and about the mistakes that lead him here.  He could just be himself here, think of nothing and just swim and swim… Just keep swimming, just keep swimming… what do we do, we swim.  Swim… he hummed within the peaceful confines of his own skull. The sun beat down overhead, casting crystalline light through the cold waters.  Down below he could make out rocky reefs and coral, some mussels and clams making a home for themselves along the sea bed.  He ran across a few fish, nothing much, just minnows and a couple stingrays, even an eel that peeked out at him from its reef home.  To him, everything here was beautiful, peaceful, timeless.  The sea was ever changing and yet it never changed.   Danny swam back up to the surface, long since losing track of time and how long he had been out in the water.  He smiled up at the sun, floating onto his back and stretching his limbs out under the warm rays, the cool water almost numbing his back.  He closed his eyes, and just drifted… the sound of the waves blending with sound of the wind, and a distant sound of voices... Suddenly, wood knocked soundly against his head.   Crak. There was a brief starburst of pain in his skull and then everything went black.   ~*~   Danny woke up with a stunning headache, staring once again at an unfamiliar ceiling.  Unlike the one at the clifftop house, this one was new, made of gleaming amber wood, and the smell of frying fish and clinking dishes and muffled, conversational swearing meeting his senses. The boy winced and sat up, touching his head.  A clean, damp rag fell off his forehead and into his lap; he picked it up and glanced around.  He seemed to be laying on a small cot, in a clean, well-kept broom closet of some kind, alongside crates of rubber gloves, vegetable oil, and fishing rods. The teen slowly climbed to his feet, stumbling a bit due to his immense headache, and slowly made his way towards the sound of people.  The smell of oil didn’t sit well on his senses, making him feel like he was going to throw up.  Shit, he hoped this was just a really bad headache and not a concussion or something… He stepped into what appeared to be a restaurant kitchen, his eyes squinting under the bright fluorescent lights.  He looked around at the few busy cooks frying fish and seafood, before stepping out into the main body of the restaurant.  It was small but clean, and it was pretty much packed with locals eating a weekend dinner of fresh fish and coleslaw.  It was weird how the scent of food was making his belly flop and grumble in hunger at the same time. Danny debated walking out the door, but he had no idea where he was or how to get home… “Oh, hey!  You’re awake!” Strong brown hands grabbed his arms, turning him around slightly.  Danny blinked as he found himself looking into dark green eyes.  “W-Who’re--?” he started to ask. “Geez, you look terrible!” The stranger pressed a hand against his forehead.  “Well, you don’t have a fever and your pupils aren’t weird, so you should be okay,” she muttered, wiping her hands on her apron.  “You’re not gonna sue, are you?” Danny blinked again, lashes fluttering, and frowned at the girl.  Getting a good look at her for the first time, she was a short, plump girl -- even shorter than he was -- with dark brown skin and a full head of coiled black curls, pulled back under an orange headband.  Her features were rather nice, with long lashes, soft cheeks, and plump, dark pink lips, and she was wearing jeans and a shirt labeled Grey’s Seafood.  A cartoon tuna smiled and waved at him under a name tag, labeled “Valerie.” “Um, hi,”  he ventured, waving a little before he stopped, suddenly feeling silly.  “I’m Danny.  I just moved here two days ago, in the old house on Raven Way and 13th?” Valerie’s plucked brows shot up. He frowned at her, confused.  “And um… why would I sue?  How did I get here, anyway?  Last thing I remember, I was out swimming…” “What?  Oh!  Uh, no reason!  That’s a great question, why would you sue?” she repeated, parrot-like.  “Hahahaha!  Ha.  Okay, um.” She wiped her hands nervously on her apron and made a vague gesture towards the kitchen.  “Are you hungry?  You’ve been out for a while--” “Oh, you’re awake!” Danny blinked in surprise as a broad-shouldered man with a salt-and-pepper mustache, a cook’s apron, and the same shade of brown skin as Valerie appeared out of nowhere and shook his hand.  “Thank goodness you’re alright!  I’m so sorry I hit you with my boat!  I swear I didn’t see you,” the man said.  “Are you hungry?  You’ve been out for a while.  It’s on the house!  I’ll get you a plate!” “Wait, wha--?” The mustached cook turned away so fast that Danny barely had the time to catch his name tag, labeled “Damon Grey: Owner.”   He blinked in surprise and looked back at Valerie.  She was rubbing her face like she was the one with a headache.  “Yeah, that was my dad.” Valerie made a frustrated gesture at the quaint little restaurant.  “After his stockmarket shares went belly up, this was the only thing left in the family that we could use for income!” she snapped.  “Now we run this entire place on our own.” She got in Danny’s face, poking his stomach with a sharp nail and squinting.  “So don’t sue.  I know where you live!” Danny took a hasty step back, raising his hands in the air defenselessly.  For such a tiny girl, she was pretty scary.  “Dude, chill, I won’t sue!  It was an accident right?” “That’s right, so don’t you even dare cause trouble!” “I won’t, I--!”  he blinked then, looking around the restaurant.  “Wait a minute… my dad got takeout from here last night.  He really liked the place.” He looked around, taking in the busy, yet happy atmosphere.  The place was pretty laid back, was by the water…  He actually liked seafood… “Yeah!  Also I think Danny should look for a job.” “A job?” “A job…” “What?” Danny startled, looking back at Valerie with wide eyes.  He opened his mouth, then closed it again… Oh gosh, was he actually thinking about this?  Seriously? But if he did this now… He could get his family off his back for awhile! “I want a job.” “ExCUSE me?” Valerie snapped, cocking her hip and folding her arms. Danny clasped his hands together and all but pleaded with the girl.  “Listen, I just moved here and already my parents AND my sister are on me about making friends and getting a job.  You can give me the smallest, cheapest job ever, I don’t care!  Just please, ANYTHING to get me out of that house!” Abruptly, the ambient din quieted. Valerie glanced over her shoulder at the other patrons.  The ones closest to them had stopped eating, staring at Danny warily. The brown-skinned girl groaned… then she grabbed Danny’s arm and hauled him along, speaking unusually loudly.  “There is no way you can hold us up like that!” she declared.  She slammed open the door to the kitchen.  “You don’t get to come in here and ask for a job!  I am going to kick your--!” The door closed behind them. Valerie immediately let go of Danny and sighed, turning to face him.  “Look, I really can’t say anything, man.  We only have, like, two employees and we’re still having trouble paying the bills.” Danny blinked at the sudden change in attitude, totally thrown for a loop.  For a moment there, he really thought she was going to kick his ass AND kick him out of the restaurant.  “H-huh?  Look, seriously, I really don’t need the money!”  he argued, trying to keep up with the conversation.  “I can be anything, a busboy, an errand boy, even just like, a filler guy or something!  You can pay me whatever you want, I just want to tell my parents I have a job and you can vouch for me that I do.  Please?” Valerie sucked in a breath, and slowly let it out, considering the boy with blue eyes…   ~*~   “Alright!  Four dollars an hour, three days a week!  You start tomorrow~!” Damon shook Danny’s hands and went back to frying fish.  The boy beamed, nodding, and returned to Valerie’s side, who was holding a dark gray Grey’s Seafood shirt, along with a blank name tag.   “Write your name in permanent sharpie,” she told him, handing him the clothes and propping her hands on her hips.  “Jeans or shorts are fine, just make sure they’re in decent shape and have no holes, same for closed-toed shoes.  You get one shirt for free.  If you lose it, you pay twenty bucks for a new one and five bucks for a new name tag.  So don’t lose them.  Got it?” “Got it!”  he beamed, practically hugging the shirt to his chest.  “Thank you so much for this, Valerie!” He waved goodbye and headed out the door, not paying much attention to some of the locals that eyed him as he went.  People had been acting strangely since he and his family first arrived, he just assumed this place was so small, the locals weren’t used to anyone moving in. With the flip flops he borrowed from Valerie -- under strict order to bring them back the next day -- he began the long walk back home.  It was a good thing this town was so small, he at least knew that he could take his bike to work each day.  But it looked like if he wanted to do anything even remotely interesting, he would have to hope he could borrow the car to get to the city, nearly an hour away. Hey, at least now he had some good news to tell his parents! He jogged up the long path all the way to the end of 13th, where the dirt mountain path Raven Way intersected with the very edge of civilization and his house stood, tall, decrepit… and looking a lot more plausible for a demon haunting, now that he was looking at it with fresh eyes. Danny slowed a bit at the thought. Then his gaze strayed down to the over sized white surveillance van with a satellite on top that his dad called “the Fentonmobile.” He paused for a moment, then continued up the steps at a walk.   Entering the house, he found the front door unlocked and walked up to his room, putting his shirt on his bed and wrestling out of his wetsuit.  He could hear his mom talking on the phone downstairs as he put on some jeans and a t-shirt.  “Yes, he’s five feet four inches, and he has black hair and blue eyes!  Please--” Danny yawned and walked downstairs.  Maddie was fretting on her cell phone, pacing around the table.  “Keep an eye out for him?” she pleaded.  “Thank you, constable.” “Mom?”  he asked, startling the woman as he reached into the fridge to get a bottle of water.  “Is something wrong?” “OH MY GOD, DANNY!” The woman practically jumped over the table to hug her son, clasping his face between her hands and checking him over.  “Your father and I got home and you were gone!  We thought the worst!!” Jack came tromping in, heavy with demon-hunting gear.  “Alright, Maddie, let’s hit it-- oh, Danny!” He pulled up his goggles, smiling.  “You’re home~!” “Yeah, I went for a swim like you guys suggested,” Danny replied, used to his parents’ antics and paranoia at this point.  “Didn’t you get my note?” “What note?” Danny looked around the kitchen, glancing at the counter, only to frown.  Nothing was there.  “I swear, I thought I left you guys a note… Anyway, I’m fine, and guess what?” He smiled at them, holding up the shirt and name tag Valerie had given him.  “I got a job!” Maddie’s face lit up.  “Oh, baby, that’s great!” she said, pinching his cheeks.  “And at Grey’s Seafood too!” “It’s the best seafood place in town!” Jack grinned.  Then he shrugged, acknowledging otherwise.  “Well, it is the ONLY seafood place in town.” Danny actually hadn’t noticed that, but it made sense considering how small the place was.  “Yeah, well, I met the daughter of the owner and she offered me a job.  It’s not much, but it’s a start right?” “A job?” Jazz came into the kitchen, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul in her hand and reading glasses that she didn’t need on her face.  “That’s awesome!  Way to take initiative, Danny!  How much do you make?  What kind of hours are you working~?  Tell me everything!” Oh boy, Danny knew that look... “Um, I work three days a week starting tomorrow, five hour shifts.  It uh, it was the only place hiring, apparently this town isn’t doing well economically, so they can only pay me four dollars an hour.” He saw his sister's expression fall a bit, and was quick to try and get those smiles back.  He wanted ONE win today, just one! “But Mr. Grey said if I work hard, he should be able to give me more hours and pay soon!” he lied.  “They plan to train me to be a waiter and help run errands... That uh, that will look good on a resume, right?” Jazz sighed deeply and reopened her book.  “Yeah… well, just try to get those extra hours,” she advised her brother.  “And ask about them!  That shows initiative.” She sat down at the table and resumed her reading.  “Plus, with that kind of pay you’ll want all the hours you can get.” “Yeah, right…”  Danny sighed, giving his mom another smile, but this one was strained.  “Hey, I’m gonna go… call Sam.  I’ll talk to you guys later?” “Of course, dear!  And congratulations, I’m sure things will start to look up soon~!” Danny nodded, waved goodbye as they headed out to do god knows what, then headed up to his room.  He dropped the shirt on his bed and went hunting for a sharpie, taking the time to unpack his last two boxes while he was at it as well.  He wrote his name down as neat as he could on the name tag, then plopped down on his bed with a sigh. Well, he did say he was going to call Sam.  He didn’t really want to with this headache that was still lingering from before, but he knew he still had to call her back from this morning. He glanced at the shirt, smiling.  Hey, he even had some good news to share!  He grabbed the shirt and moved to his desk, pulling up skype as he did.   Hey, you on? He got up, pulling on his pjs while he waited for a reply.  He’d give it ten minutes before heading for bed. No such luck. When he came back, Danny spotted the three dots blinking at the bottom of Sam’s half of the skype column.  He sighed, but he sat down and forced himself to smile, trying to focus on the good news of today!  He got a job!  He’d made a friend!  Sort of?  Sam would be… excited to hear about that.  Right?  Ugh who was he kidding, she was never excited to hear about anything except the death of a major politician or CEO. Yeah, just finished dinner.   Huh.  Pretty short reply for a solid two minutes of typing. Danny sighed, cracking his neck before replying.   Wanna just chat or should I call? Eh, chat.  I kinda look like shit. Oh good, maybe he’d get to go to bed early after all.   Cool, works for me, I’m actually heading to bed. He waited a moment for a reply, then went ahead and just jumped into it.   So, good news!  I got a job! Oh great, did ur sister go off again about the job apps like she did that one summer? Yeah, sorta. He typed back, snorting.  She convinced mom it was a good idea too.  But I got lucky and met some girl whose dad runs a seafood place.  She got me a job! Girl?  What girl? Danny winced.  Great, this again. I met her in town, Valerie Grey.  Like I said, her dad runs a seafood place and she was able to get me a job.   What were u wearing? I was out swimming, so I was wearing my wetsuit. ARE U KIDDING?!  Of COURSE u’d geT A JOB WEARING THAT CMON DANNY!  ID GET A JOB TOO IF I COULD WEAR A BIKINI omg i can’t frickin believe u, i thought u were bigger than that!  U better not have a crush on her! OMG SAM wth?! Danny typed out, face redding in both mortification and anger.   I was swimming I just ran into her!  She didn’t even WANT to give me a job I had to BEG!  I just wanted my parents off my back!  Come on sam you know me better than that! Ugh fine.  I forgive u.  Just leave me alone this week, k? I’m on my frickin period. Danny scoffed and rested his back against the chair, mouth agape in indignation at the computer screen.   Then the three dots appeared again. He hesitated, then rolled his eyes and took his hands off the keyboard, waiting for her to finish.  Finally, the balloon came up. And I miss u… im sorry baby… Great… how was he suppose to be angry at that?  She always did this, blew up at him, claimed to “forgive him” when ever he called her out on her own bullshit, and then played the effing BABY card.  Seriously, why did he put up with this? Oh, right, because she was the only girl who would give him the time of day… Yeah, miss you too… Call me later? Yeah totally… sorry about being such a bitch to u… You’re not a bitch. Yeah I am! Sam, you’re not.   Thanks… I know I am but thanks for saying I’m not.  I love u.