Chapter Text
The first time Maddie saw Phantom face to face, her world turned on its head.
Familiar eyes met hers. That color, the neon green, was foreign. But the shape of those eyes, the startled rise of that brow… that face. She knew that face. She had seen it every single day for the past fourteen years. She had cradled those cheeks, kissed that forehead to both toddler giggles and teenage groans.
She knew the ghost, the boy in front of her. Of course she did. This was her son.
Danny. His name rang in her head, the shock sealing her lips. And yet….
No denial, no disbelief choked her heart. Just a dreadful, stomach-churning certainty. It happened, the one thing that she feared, but in the back of her mind, always knew would happen. Her Danny, her baby, wasn’t human anymore….but then again, he never had been completely human.
Three days. It had been three days since the overshadowings began. Three days of frantically building and distributing weapons, of fighting waves of ghosts, of tending injured neighbors. Three days, and Maddie had barely had a second to rest.
The woman’s heart pounded, adrenaline flowing through her veins despite the weariness weighing down her shoulders. The town hall was in chaos. Eyes glowed ominously, the possessed attacking with fists and teeth. People yelled, shaky ectogun shots going wide. A few blasts hit and ghosts flew back from their hosts. The faceless army of green skin and red eyes in riot gear swarmed.
With a hiss, a ghost rose from one of the overshadowed — a middle-aged woman Maddie recognized as a cashier from the grocery store. Neon green lit the clawed fingers, but the ghost hunter shot before the ectoblast could release. The spirit screamed, sucked away by the green swirl of a temporary portal.
Maddie’s gun beeped frantically. “I’m out!”
“Here!” Jack shoved a new ectoplasm cell in her hands.
In a blink, the woman reloaded. Two more shots, from Jack’s gun and her bazooka. The last overshadowed person in the room was freed, the ghost exorcised to whence it came.
“Where’s that ghost kid?” Jack’s eyes rapidly flickered across the room. “When I get my hands on that menace…” His teeth gritted, angry. “He shot you, Madds.”
“It’s not that bad.” Despite the words, she winced, a hand covering the burn on her side. “Don’t worry about me. Phantom took the mayor. We need to figure out where.”
Phantom… a conundrum even among all the other ghosts. A ghost who fought his own kind, even as most of the teens swore that he was trying to help. Sam and Tucker vowed as much, saying that he saved Sam from the spectral lunch lady during that first ghostly sighting. Not that Maddie believed that was true.
The previous fights had left craters in the street and scorch marks in the grass but the last three days…. These were unprecedented levels of destruction. Dozens of people were overshadowed and there were as many injuries. Attacks at all hours of the day, scores of ghosts turning neighbor against neighbor. And in each fight, Phantom was right there in the center of the action.
And now, the ghost had interrupted the town meeting, stopping any plans to deal with the onslaught in the process. He had shot at Jack and Maddie, landing a searing hit, before dragging the mayor away.
The two scientists jogged across the long meeting room, following the distant sound of ectoblasts.
“There!” Jack pointed, tearing open a side door.
One pounding heartbeat later and a glowing-eyed figure threw itself at Jack. The tall, strong figure of Danny and Jazz’s gym teacher wrestled for the gun.
Maddie avoided the possessed woman, ducking to the side. Swinging back around, she pointed her bazooka.
Just at the same time, a man’s scream sounded. “Help! Help me!”
“Go!” Jack shouted, gritting his teeth against the attack.
Maddie didn’t protest, running towards the sound of the mayor’s cry. The woman dodged a few of the overshadowed, cursing her unwieldy bazooka. The weapon was useless for freeing the controlled people. Who knew what would happen if a portal opened on top of someone? But…
A riot-geared ghost hissed beside the door, deep green gashes gouging its side. Maddie shot, a portal opening inches from it and sucking it away. Luckily, the portal gun was very good at getting rid of pesky ghosts.
Maddie leapt over a softly groaning teenager, her heart squeezing guiltily at being unable to stop. Another scream from the mayor quickened her pace. The scientist rounded a corner, slipping through another door and-
Maddie stopped in her tracks. At the other end of the towering entrance hall, fifteen feet from her, Mayor Montez stood, back pressed against the wall, his suit disheveled and singed. Phantom floated in front of him, hands alight with green.
Anger stirred in her gut. Maddie’s focus narrowed, adrenaline filling her. Silently, she lifted her foot and shifted to the side. If she could just get a better angle…
Then, Mayor Montez’s fearful posture relaxed, a wicked grin splitting his face. “They’ll never trust you now.” His eyes flickered red.
Maddie’s mind stuttered. What was he-
Before she could question, a great green figure burst through the wall. Sharp teeth bared, it slashed for the mayor with pointed claws.
“Get away from him!” A flash of panic, and Maddie shot at the furry beast.
“Wulf! No!” Phantom’s staticky voice shouted, the swirling green sailing towards both ghosts.
The wolf-like ghost reached out, shoving Phantom out of the path with one arm. The other clawed at the mayor and…. Maddie’s jaw dropped as a skeletal, white suited ghost was pulled out. Mayor Montez collapsed to the floor at Phantom’s feet.
The temporary portal popped into existence, the smell of citrus and ozone crackling in the air. The pale ghost struggled free of the wolf ghost’s claws and dropped to the floor. Still, the eerie green light lashed out at the ghosts. The closer two’s auras smeared. Their blurry forms stretched towards the portal.
“Wulf!” The ghost boy cried again.
The wolfish figure barked something, the staticky words grating to Maddie’s ears.
“I won, you hear me!” The white skeletal ghost uselessly clawed across the floor, wide-brimmed hat askew. “This town is your prison. They’ll always hate you. I won!”
The green light pulsed, tendrils drawing the two ghosts to the opening. They were pulled through, forms distorting. A Venus flytrap closing around its meal. In the next blink, the portal disappeared.
Maddie’s mind spun back into action, pieces of a puzzle clicking into place. The mayor was possessed by a ghost with a vendetta against Phantom. Phantom, drawing the other ghosts here to fight.
“You!” The ghost hunter sprinted. “This is your fault!” She shoved her way between the ghost boy and the mayor, shielding the human with her body. Her heart pounded, lips curling with fury. “Your fault! You filthy ectoscum-“
Phantom whipped around, wide eyes facing her.
Maddie’s world stopped.
Danny. Her blood ran cold, furious expression going slack. The recognition stabbed through her heart like a knife. That was Danny’s face. Danny’s eyes…
Those eyes widened fearfully, flickering from her face to the barrel of her gun.
The barrel dropped, aim going limp in her shock. This was her son. Her son. And she had been a second away from shooting him.
Behind her, Mayor Montez gasped a forceful inhale. “Ghost! Shoot it.”
The words almost jarred Maddie back to reality. Danny. This was Danny. And he was a ghost and-
“Shoot it!” Another terrified demand.
With a flinch, unseeing eyes ripped away from the familiar face, glancing at the gun’s display. “Out of juice.” Her lips moved numbly, a helpless excuse.
Montez shouted something. But the mother’s stare returned to the ghost boy, eyes hopelessly fixed.
For just a second, Danny’s eyes returned to her. Relief softened them, a confused wrinkle to his brow. Wordlessly, he rose from the floor. With one last intense look, he phased through the ceiling and disappeared.
For a long, breathless moment, Maddie’s head remained tilted up, intent on where her son had vanished.
Her mind stuttered and stalled. Vanished. He had vanished, phased through the ceiling, and flown away. Because he was a ghost. A ghost. After all these years, that otherworldly part of him had resurfaced. And Maddie had no idea how or-
Mayor Montez’s fearful voice broke the woman out of her trance. “Aren’t you going to go after it?”
Maddie tensed, grimacing at the dehumanizing pronoun. “There’s no point. He’s long gone by now.” She turned around, facing the man but not really seeing him. Instead, Danny’s wide, fearful eyes filled her mind. “D- Phantom didn’t… didn’t do anything wrong.”
The name almost slipped out of her mouth. Guilt wrapped its cold fingers around her heart.
The mayor’s voice shifted from fearful into something angry. “Didn’t do anything wrong?! That ghost kidnapped me!”
“I don’t think that’s what happened.” Maddie shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the man. Montez’s eyes narrowed, indignant, but before he could argue, the woman continued. “You were being overshadowed by another ghost. Skeletal, wearing a cowboy hat and white suit, of all things.” A white suit… that detail made her shiver, the eerie shadow of something long passed. She pushed the thought away, continuing. “I saw the green werewolf pull it out of you. The ghost overshadowing you had some kind of vendetta against Phantom. It wanted to make him look bad.”
They’ll never trust you now. This town is your prison. The sinister words rang in her head. She had so many questions. Her brow furrowed, a knot of worry. What had Danny gotten himself tangled up in?
Still on the floor, Mayor Montez’s own brow wrinkled. “White suit and cowboy hat… I think I remember…” He shivered. “It did… it was controlling me. It…”
Maddie blinked, finally noticing the discomfort on the man’s face. Slowly, she put down the bazooka, squatting in front of him. “You’re safe. It’s gone. I shot it back to the Zone myself.” She patted the massive gun. “Jack and I dealt with most of the others.” All identical in riot gear, they looked like police officers or prison guards. Subordinates, lackeys, henchmen? Of some kind of… ghostly prison warden? “I left him to deal with the stragglers.”
Almost as if summoned by his mention, Jack burst through the door. “Madds! The hall is clear. Is the mayor- “ He cut himself off, eyes falling on the pair. “Mayor Montez!”
The orange-clad ghost hunter hurried over. At the same time, Maddie’s brow furrowed, concerned eyes scanning the mayor for injuries. “Are you hurt?”
Legs splayed in front of him where he sat, Montez seemed to study his body. “I don’t think so.”
The woman nodded in relief. She stood, offering her hand to the mayor. The man accepted, rising to his feet with the help.
Jack stopped next to the pair, his eyes on the discarded portal gun. “Did you send that pesky Phantom back to the Ghost Zone?” He grinned proudly at his wife.
Maddie’s stomach swooped, a sudden queasy discombobulation at the attitude. “No, he got away.”
The other hunter’s excitement dimmed, a frustrated anger flickering on his face. “That slippery ghost. You’ll get him next time, Madds.”
“Phantom wasn’t the culprit here.” The woman shook her head, shakily reminding herself that Jack had no idea what she’d just discovered. “He didn’t actually kidnap Mayor Montez.”
Insides shaking with disquiet, Maddie explained what she had seen and realized to Jack. The earth-shattering revelation — the ghost boy was their son — burned on her tongue. But Mayor Montez stood right there, eyes wide and attentive. She… she couldn’t tell her husband, not right here, not right now. All the while, the furrow of Jack’s brow deepened, more in confusion than disbelief or suspicion. Still, he stayed his questions.
“That must be emergency services.” Montez said, head turning towards the double doors at the sound of sirens. “I’ll brief them on the situation.”
“We should check and make sure there aren’t any more ghosts or possessed people,” Jack added.
Maddie blinked, mind hazy with the previous torrent of words. The sound of those sirens…. Her stomach knotted. She wanted to find Jazz; the girl had been in the meeting room with the rest of the teen ghost-hunting squad when the attack started. She wanted to hug her daughter. And her son…. Maddie wanted to go after Danny. She needed to see him, to know he was safe.
But…. Maddie forced a deliberate calming breath. She had a job to do.
“Yes.” The huntress agreed. “We’ll send anyone who can walk out to the paramedics.”
With the mayor’s confirmation, the two hunters hurried off to their tasks. They searched room after room, sending the last ghostly stragglers through the bazooka’s portals and checking on the victims. Bruises and scrapes, mild ecto-burns, a few sprained ankles and wrists, one concussion. Jack and Maddie sent most of them out of the building, telling a few to stay put as they called for the paramedics.
Jazz came running up to the two just as they returned to the exit hall. “Mom! Dad!” Relief painted her face as the girl wrapped her arms around her father.
“Jazzy-pants.” Jack’s shoulders, tense with worry, which Maddie had hardly noticed in her own distress, relaxed as he hugged their daughter.
The anxiety in the huntress’s gut unwound ever so slightly. “Jazz, sweetie.” The woman put down her gun, wrapping the teenager in her own hug as soon as Jazz let go of her father. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The girl nodded into her mother’s shoulder. “Are you and Dad okay?”
“We’re fine.” Maddie answered with her own nod. “Neither of us are hurt.”
“Of course not.” Jack grinned, a steady hand on Jazz’s shoulder as soon as the mother-daughter hug parted. “No pesky ghost can land a hit on us Fentons.”
The smile wasn’t the gleeful boasting of a ghost hunter; instead, the gentler comfort of a father. But…. Pesky ghost…. Maddie would have said the same thing less than an hour ago. The knot of guilt in her heart tightened.
Jazz’s lips pursed, a furrow tensing her brow despite the soothing reassurance. “Did you manage to…” She swallowed, almost warily eyeing the portal gun. “Send Phantom back to wherever ghosts come from?”
Maddie blinked once. That expression, that tone niggled at her…. “He got away.” And…. The shift of Jazz’s brow…. Was that relief?
The teen exhaled a sigh. “And the other ghosts? Are they gone?”
“Yep.” Jack smiled proudly. “Your mom sent that green wolf ghost and the big boss that was overshadowing the mayor back to the Zone. I didn’t see it myself, but…” The man whistled.
In any other situation, Maddie would have blushed, pleased at the praise. But now it just reminded her. She’d… she’d shot at Danny, the woman realized, paling. She hadn’t just almost shot him point-blank. She’d shot at the wolf ghost, and Danny had almost been caught in the crossfire. If the other ghost hadn’t pushed him away….
Jack must have picked up on her subdued attitude, an arm wrapping around her. “What do ya say we check on the rest of the ghost getters and head home? It’s been a long day.”
Jazz nodded eagerly. “Danny’s at home.” A little quieter. “I hope he’s okay.” Her eyes widened, then giving a nervous laugh. “I mean, of course he’s okay. He’s been at home this whole time, safe behind the ghost shield. You know how scared he is of ghosts.”
Maddie’s own eyes widened at the uncharacteristic ramble. Jazz looked as tired and frazzled as any of them. Even then, being worried about her brother wouldn’t be unexpected after the widespread ghost attacks. But… that previous relief at Phantom escaping, the emphasis that Danny was at home…
Jack chuckled a reply to Jazz’s ramble, the words lost to Maddie’s racing mind. The father and daughter turned, exiting through the front double doors.
Jazz knew about Danny being Phantom, didn’t she? How…How? Jazz didn’t even know that human-ghost hybrids were possible. Not like Maddie herself did.
Maddie followed her husband and daughter, body acting without thought.
An image flashed in her mind. Behind glass and water, tiny, half-lidded eyes flicking from blue to green. A wisp of fluorescent white baby hair. Maddie knew that this, Danny being a ghost, was always a possibility.
The light of the setting sun bathed the town hall’s parking lot. A firetruck, three ambulances and as many police cars. Voices buzzed, people bustling around the vehicles.
No, not just a possibility. It wasn’t just possible but probable. Danny was designed to be a human-ghost hybrid, from his conception. Despite his ghostly side being dormant, it was still always present, somewhere below the surface.
Some called for more gauze, more burn cream. A voice called. “Doc… tor?”
The dread sank in Maddie’s stomach like a stone. This was always going to happen, wasn’t it? She had tried to deny it, tried to ignore it, desperately hoped that it wouldn’t. But a part of her had known and feared, always suspected.
Jack turned, looking at her. His lips mouthed a word.
Her Danny, her baby, wasn't human anymore. But he had never been completely human. Finally, inevitably after all these years, his ghostly side showed itself.
Jazz’s eyebrows wrinkled, lips moving in an unheard question.
But how? How did his supernatural aspects reactivate? And how did Jazz know before she-
“Maddie.” Jack saying her name cut through her runaway thoughts.
“What?” The woman blinked.
The man motioned towards one of the ambulances. “They were calling for you.”
Maddie’s attention snapped to one of the paramedics.
An orange jacketed young woman looks up from her patient. “Doctor Fenton, is there more of the ectoburn cream you gave us on Friday?”
“Yes, in the GAV.” The huntress shook her head, chastising herself for the previous distraction. “I’ll go get it.” She still had a job to do.
Maddie marched across the parking lot to the ghost assault vehicle. She threw open the side door. Equipment in various levels of development -- an electrified net gun, the new version of the Fenton thermos, a pair of metal gauntlets -- lay in the back. And in a clear plastic box… half a dozen tubes of ectoburn cream.
Maddie turned around, returning to the ambulances. “Here.” She handed over the tubes.
With a nod, the paramedic gratefully accepted. She turned her attention back to her patient.
In front of one of the other ambulances, Jazz and Jack stood next to a blonde boy on a stretcher.
“Don’t worry about it.” The boy who Maddie recognized as a football player in Danny’s class, shrugged, even as he cradled his wrist to his chest. “Doc says it’s just a sprain.”
“I’m not a doctor.” The brown-haired paramedic tending him grimaced. “And you really should get that checked out at the hospital.”
“You should listen to him, Dash.” Jazz chided, brow wrinkled with worry.
“She’s right, bro.” Another football player, this one with black hair and monolid eyes, agreed. “You need like, an x-ray or something.”
A few other kids stood around the cot, offering their own agreement. Each one sported bandages covering various cuts and scrapes.
“Fine.” Dash frowned. “I’ll text my mom to take me to the hospital.”
While the teen did so, Jack’s head turned, surveying the rest of the youngsters. “Huh, all your little friends are here, Jazzy.”
“Dad!” Jazz whined, blushing in embarrassment.
Jack continued, ignoring the complaint. “Great job, Ghost Getters!” He congratulated them. “We couldn’t have sent all those ooky, spooky ghosts away without you.”
The teen ghost hunters traded looks, a few shoulders lowering with released tension.
“Thanks, Mr. F.” The second football player -- Kwan, that was his name-- nodded. “Honestly, that whole thing was freaky.”
“More like terrifying.” One of the girls, a blonde cheerleader muttered.
“But.” A dark-haired girl --Paulina, Maddie recognized her as the girl Danny took to that disastrous homecoming – Paulina cut in sharply, putting a comforting arm around her friend. “It was nice to be able to do something. Like, Phantom is a good ghost and he saved me from that icky overshadowing. But I got to shoot that cabrón in the face.”
Maddie’s nose wrinkled, fighting back a reprimand; she didn’t know what that word was but she was pretty sure it was a curse word. But at the same time…
Phantom is a good ghost. Earlier, Maddie would have been skeptical at best, harshly opposed at worst. But now… “That is why Jack and I wanted to train you kids, so you could defend yourselves. Phantom is a good ghost and trying to help,” Now, the words rang out, full of unshaking belief. “But we can’t leave him to do it all by himself.” They definitely couldn’t now; this was her son, trying his best to help even as clumsy and inexperienced as that effort was.
Most of the teens’ eyes lit up, pleasantly surprised by her support. Jazz’s brow wrinkled, expression becoming suspicious. And Jack… Her husband fixed her with a puzzled look.
Maddie hardly noticed the eyes on her, mind circling back to Danny. “Jack, What do you say to taking the kids home, then heading there ourselves?”
“Of course, Madds.” He smiled gently, a question in his eyes. And with how Jazz was looking at her… there would be questions in the GAV.
With agreement from the rest of the Ghost Getters, the group started for the Ghost Assault Vehicle.
“Doctor Fenton?” That is… until the chief of police, Chief Scott, interrupted Maddie. “Mayor Montez said that you saw the final confrontation between Phantom and the ghost who was leading the attack. Could you answer some questions about that?”
The huntress blinked once, surprised. Then… a longing look back at the GAV. “Please. Can this wait until tomorrow? Right now, I just want to go home.”
“We really do need to hear it fresh, right after the fact.” The chief’s face softened slightly, reassuring. “I’ll do my best to make it quick.”
Maddie’s lips pursed, another plea on her tongue.
But then… Jack’s hand was on her arm, eyes round and understanding. “I’ll check on Danny when we get home.”
The woman’s own face softened, always pleasantly amazed at her husband’s ability to read her mind. “Alright, tell him I love him.”
With that, Jack led the teens to the GAV. Jazz turned back, giving her mother one last look, no longer harsh but still suspicious.
“This way, Doctor Fenton.” Chief Scott ushered Maddie back into the town hall, to a side room with the mayor and a few officers.
“One more time?” The chief asked.
Maddie huffed a sigh. “I walked in on what I thought was Phantom pressing Mayor Montez against the wall.” This was the third time explaining in the past two hours and Phantom… the word still felt wrong in her mouth now, when she knew this was Danny she was talking about. “But the mayor’s eyes started glowing red. He gloated about the town never trusting Phantom now.”
“Except, it wasn’t Montez speaking, but this white skeleton that was controlling him.” The chief officer raised a brow. “The one you say was leading the other ghosts in the swat gear.”
“The mayor said he remembered the pale ghost overshadowing him.” Pointedly, her eyes shifted to Montez. “And he doesn’t remember yelling for help in front of the cameras.”
The mother’s heart ached at the reminder. Not only had her son been framed for attacking the mayor, but it was immortalized on the nightly news.
At the other side of the table, Montez nodded. “That is all true.”
Maddie continued. “And after the skeleton was pulled out of Mayor Montez, it boasted to Phantom that it had won. That Amity Park was now Phantom’s prison and everyone would hate him.” Her insides churned, queasily uneasy at the words. She rubbed her stress-tensed forehead. “This was clearly a coordinated attack, designed to increase negative public opinion of Phantom and damage his reputation.”
“I can agree it was coordinated.” Montez agreed. The man sighed into his hands. “This is all developing so fast. Just three days ago, we didn’t even know ghosts could coordinate like this.”
“What I’m not getting…” Chief Scott cut in. “is your insistence that Phantom wasn’t the instigator here.” His brow furrowed, disbelieving but luckily not all that suspicious. “Just earlier today, you and Jack were saying the ghost kid was the problem.”
Still, Maddie’s stomach knotted. Curse every previous harsh comment about Danny’s alter ego. “That was… a hastily made, overly critical assessment.” The woman fought not to grit her teeth. “Phantom has been the common denominator in all the sightings and attacks, at the center of everything. But after what we saw today… things are more complicated than they appear.” The mother’s eyes unfocused, gaze distant. After all she saw, the incredible revelations…. “There has to be more going on here.”
The words trickled to a stop, falling heavy in the air. The chief’s eyes were distant, face wrinkled thoughtfully. At the same time, the mayor rubbed his forehead with one hand. Both look just as tired as Maddie felt.
Finally, Chief Scott sighed, gaze returning to the woman. “What do you suggest we do next then?”
Maddie blinked, surprised at the question. Not hostile or suspicious but… genuine. Maybe the chief was just as shaken and unsettled by the past three days as she was.
The woman swallowed. “We gather more information. A lot of the teenagers had already been saying that Phantom saved them during ghost attacks. We’d been dismissing that as coincidence or…” Her heart throbbed guilty. “Some form of manipulation. But maybe there’s more to it than that…”
Chief Scott nodded. “I can get my officers on that. We’ve already started on interviewing the people who were present tonight.”
“Good.” Maddie agreed with her own nod.
Really, she and Jack should have talked to the teens weeks ago. They should have listened to Sam and Tucker after that first ghost attack, the first Phantom sighting. Her brow furrowed into a frown.
“What is it?” Mayor Montez asked.
“I….” Maddie hesitated, her heart pounding. Her veins felt like they were filled with more adrenaline than blood. Her shoulders ached with the tension, the feeling radiating down her side. Her mind swam with questions, so much uncertainty.
“Doctor Fenton?” Chief Scott prompted.
The woman’s stomach swooped, a swaying uneasy feeling. Like a tightrope over a deep chasm. She struggled to balance. She was a mother; she had to protect her son, to do what she could to repair his reputation. But with his secret…. No one here could know, for Danny’s own safety. Maddie had to be a scientist, a professional. Confident, logical, clear-sighted.
The huntress lifted her chin, lips drawn straight. “I need to talk to Phantom.”
And that was logical, wasn’t it? If she’d seen and heard what she had earlier and Phantom wasn’t her son, wouldn’t she still have questions for the ghost boy?
The chief and mayor traded a look.
“That’s easier said than done.” Chief Scott raised a brow. “That ghost kid’s flighty.”
“Well, he can literally fly.” Maddie rubbed her head, wincing at the words as soon as they were out of her mouth.
Montez and Scotts’ eyes were fixed on her, a complicated mix of emotions she couldn’t quite parse on each face. The woman’s heart pounded, a rising note of fear. Had she overstepped, appeared too eager?
Giving into the growing nerves, Maddie shifted in her chair. In response, a twinge of pain radiated up her side. Her shoulders rolled forward, a hand reaching to cover the spot.
Montez’s expression shifted, gaze fixing on her side. “Are you hurt?”
Maddie blinked down at her singed suit. “Oh, right….” She frowned, the memory of Phantom, of Danny, hand raised and lit with green flashing in her mind. “One of the ghosts shot me.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” The mayor pressed lightly, concern in his eyes.
“I’ve had other things on my mind.” A thick feeling rose in her throat, a hint of wetness behind her eyes. Danny had… had shot her. But then again, she’d almost done the same.
“Why don’t you get the paramedics to look at that?” The look of pain must have been more visible on her face than she liked, the chief’s question almost pitying. “Then one of my officers can take you home.”
Maddie didn’t have the presence of mind to be offended by what might be patronizing. Instead, she numbly agreed. Passively, her eyes followed along as the paramedic applied salve to the burn and wrapped it.
“Thank you for your help, Doctor Fenton.” A blonde officer directed her to a police car.
In another circumstance, Maddie would have been nervous or offered a curious comment on the novelty. But now, all her mind could grasp was Danny’s green eyes, wide and fearful, her gun pointed at his chest.
The ride passed before Maddie could blink, the car pulling up to a hauntingly quiet and dark Fentonworks.
The woman opened the door and exited. She stood at the bottom of the steps, staring up as the police car pulled away. Maddie was left alone.