Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should know by now: I don't know where this came from. I was putting dishes away for goodness sake!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even the computer I'm typing this on.

Are We Scared Yet?

"A trip to a haunted house? Sweet!"

Danny rolled his eyes at Dash's excited words. Jazz and Mr. Lancer were standing at the front of the room, the former holding a page of notes and the latter with his hands clasped in front of him. Danny's sister mimicked her brother's actions.

"It's not really a haunted house, Dash. It's a psychological test that I'm running to see if different kinds of people scare easier, or if boys are scared of different things than girls –"

"Well, duh!"

" – and all sorts of information that will really improve the scientific community."

"Ms. Fenton here," Mr. Lancer began, placing a hand on her shoulder, "has been able to get her parents to build some very advanced technology that provides the room with different scary scenarios, getting increasingly more frightening. The technology has been installed in this very room –" here, he gestured to the expanse of the room, which was something resembling an old auditorium " – so we don't have to travel anywhere, saving the school funds and me a whole lot of trouble." At the last remark, he glanced around nervously, hoping the kids didn't hear that.

"Does she really think this'll be accurate?" Danny muttered under his breath. He knew that he didn't scare very easily. It would have to be something traumatic to faze him. If only Sam and Tucker were in this class period with him, they could giggle about it together and ridicule Jazz (not too much, though, because I do love her, he reminded himself).

As kids turned toward each other to chatter excitedly, he sidled over to Jazz, who was fiddling with a box with various buttons on it, most likely the master controller. "Alright, what do you want me to do?" he asked in a hushed tone, not wanting other kids to overhear.

"Be honest," she replied, a bit louder than he wanted him to. "If you're not scared, don't act like you are. You're a different kid, and I want to see what scares you and makes you different than everyone else."

"Jeez, thanks for the ego boost. Aren't you supposed to help kids feel better, not worse?"

"Go away, Danny, and let me run my tests."

Sighing to show his displeasure (and to get on her nerves), he sauntered away, knowing whatever was coming his way couldn't be that scary. To provide himself with a little bit of entertainment, he pinpointed which kids would be scared the easiest and which kids would be scared by which things.

A shrill whistle broke through the constant hum of voices. Danny whirled on his heel just in time to see a whistle on a lanyard bounce back on Mr. Lancer's chest. "Settle down, settle down, class! The test is about to commence!"

Surprisingly enough, the kids all closed their mouths and gazed around patiently. Danny wanted to laugh out loud. He didn't know his class was capable of these things.

Jazz timidly pressed a button on the control box, and the dark walls of the room seemed to dissolve into blank space. At first, nothing happened. Danny gave the room a slow once-over, then looked over to Jazz, who was looking a bit stressed. Make note of that, Jazz. You get scared when your tests have the potential of failing.

Before he could think another word to himself, a creepy voice filled the vast room.

"Hello, children. Care to join me for a meal?"

At least a fourth of the class burst out in screams and yelps of terror, while an even larger amount flinched at the sound. Among those who didn't move a muscle were Dash, Kevin (one of Dash's jock friends), surprisingly enough, Paulina, and, of course, Danny. Why Paulina wasn't scared, he had no idea.

He was shocked even further when Paulina went as far as asking the voice what the meal was going to be. He did have to admit that was an awfully big feat for a cheerleader.

He also had to admit he was slightly creeped out when the voice hissed "Youuuu!"

It was then that at least half of the class let out some kind of noise, including Paulina this time. More were flinching and wincing, but attempting to stand strong.

Danny just stood there, looking bored of all emotions. He saw Jazz madly scribbling something on a notepad that'd come from seemingly nowhere. This had to be a gold mine for her. Unfortunately, for him, it was dry cereal. Bland and unappealing. He wanted something that would freak him out. To be honest, he wanted to find out more about his fears as well.

The next sequence contained holographic, cloaked figures, swinging axes, swords, and knives at their heads. It was Danny who noted that they were holographic when he bravely stuck a finger up into the air just as one of the 'ghosts' was coming to supposedly hack his head off. The finger passed harmlessly through. Unfortunately, Jazz caught him in the act and gave him the look. He didn't understand why, though. Maybe it was screwing up her tests.

Basically the entire class had been freaked out by that experience, including Mr. Lancer. Jazz was too busy taking notes, plus she probably already knew what each of the buttons did. And then Danny?

Now do you think he'd be scared of holograms? He fought ghosts daily!

After the scenario, the class turned to the one person other than Jazz who hadn't uttered a sound yet. He just stared back, trying to look as innocent and clueless as possible.

"Mr. Fenton, are you scared?" Mr. Lancer asked, his voice cracking the tiniest bit.

Danny just shrugged and raised his eyebrows. "Nope."

"Not even a tiny bit?"

"Not at all."

"You aren't shaking or anything?"

"As cool as a cucumber."

The conversation was exchanged quickly, flashing back and forth from the young boy to the older teacher. The latter was growing more and more incredulous with each question he asked and each answer of something along the lines of "I'm not scared" he received.

The same was true for the rest of the class. Weak Fenton, who got beat up on a daily basis (more than they knew, ironically), wasn't even nervous? Dash had to be the most surprised at this bit of information, and Paulina felt a tingle in her gut. She did like her boyfriends to be fearless, just like the oh-so-adorable ghost boy…

After a series of those questions, Jazz interrupted and told Mr. Lancer that the test was being stalled and somewhat messing up her results. He apologized and let her do whatever she needed.

There had to have been at least ten more experiences where the entire class was frightened, one of which included a scene of holographic people, lying bled out, broken, and dead. That was the only one where Danny showed any sign of emotion. He winced, but it flew under the radar of his classmates, who were too busy trying to figure out if the bodies were real or not (for some odd reason, it took them a while to figure out that the bodies were holograms as well).

Finally, it all came down to see if the Fenton technology could scare the boy. The class was almost more scared of Danny than what they'd been through in the past hour. He'd had to been through something terrible if none of these things were causing him to freak out.

"This is the only button I haven't pressed," Jazz announced to the students, some of which were staring at Danny like he had three heads. "My parents didn't tell me what this one did, so it's a surprise. Let's see if this one gets him," she said, referring to her dark haired brother. He did have to say that he was awfully nervous to see what the mystery button would do (not aloud, of course). He closed his eyes and prepared for whatever was to come next. Not like it would make a difference if he did or not.

He heard the click of the button being pressed by Jazz's finger, then a swoosh, like a gust of wind had blown through the room. He frowned; his hair hadn't been ruffled or anything, and he couldn't remember this sound when Jazz started the other sequences.

He opened his eyes slowly, now beginning to get a bit startled.

When they were open all the way, he gasped aloud, not caring that it would ruin his streak.

Jazz, Mr. Lancer, Dash… everybody was strewn about the room, some with blood coating themselves, some with limbs twisted in what he was sure couldn't be the right direction, some with holes in their hearts or head. They were so pale and… lifelike.

"Didn't we already do something like this?" Danny asked, an edge of worry in his voice. It was bad enough seeing random people hurt, but people he knew and even loved? That was starting to go off of his charts.

He noticed that the true forms of his peers were nowhere in sight. Maybe the swoosh of air had been something rushing them out of the room, leaving him alone with the holograms (what else could they be?).

"Alright, guys, you can come on back in. I give up: I'm freaked," he announced to the air, wondering if they were in some sort of observing room with one-way glass. He began to pace around, avoiding the holograms, waiting for the results. What was taking them so long? He was beginning to miss the yelps and shouts of his sissy classmates.

Another reason why he wanted to get out of there: it was beginning to stink bad.

"Come on!" he shouted, a bit louder than he wanted to. The echo of his voice ricocheted off the stone walls and came bouncing back to him. That echo was creepy, making him feel like he was alone.

A loud crashing sound startled him, interrupting his pacing. He tripped and fell to the ground, holding out his hands to break his fall.

What was that?

He shook his head. It was probably just a sound his parents had programmed into the machinery to scare them. He turned around to see what he had tripped over – what was there to? Other than his own feet, of course.

When he did see what was behind him and what he'd tripped over, he began to rethink that.

He'd tripped over Mr. Lancer's body.

He scuttled back, doing such a fast crabwalk that Ms. Tetslaff would break into tears only to bump into something cool, yet clothed.

Turning around, he saw it was Dash.

Not a dead hologram, but a real dead person.

He was on his feet in a second, racing around and checking everyone, saving Jazz for last. She couldn't be…

But the stillness of her wrist didn't lie.

His heart was now beating at such a rapid pace, it had to be off the charts. His palms were sweaty, and he could feel beads of perspiration dripping down his face. He was shaky all over, very visibly. When he held his own hand in front of his face, it would not stop quavering.

No. This had to be part of the program. Why would his parents make a button that caused people to die?

He flashed over to the emergency exit Jazz had pointed out in case the technology malfunctioned, not caring that he was using his ghost powers in front of kids who didn't know. They were…

No. No they're not.

He pushed as hard as he could on the door, but it didn't budge. He was positive it wasn't a pull door, but he tried anyway, only to get the same result.

The scent of decaying matter was starting to get stronger…

He got impatient trying and turned intangible, trying to push his way through the wall. When he tried, though, he was thrown back by an electric charge that really hurt.

Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad. Why would a ghost try to interfere with this?

He figured that answer out pretty quick, but reminded himself that there were more important things to tend to. How was he to get out of here, for instance? He pressed his back against the wall, trying to breathe slower and more calm.

This was freaky beyond freaky.

He closed his eyes and continued to tell himself that it was all fake, that everyone was waiting outside, alive and well. How could they have all died in a second? The swoosh of air couldn't have done much…

"Danny…"

His head flew up when he heard the same voice that'd played before. Was this seriously part of the program? How could the button be just for him?

"Get me out of here!" he shouted to the voice. He almost smacked himself for being so crazy. Talking to an automated voice? Ridiculous!

"Now, now, won't you stay here with us and play?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

There was no reply for a while, and Danny figured that the program had shut down or something. He didn't quit hyperventilating, though. The echoes of the deep voice still bounced around in his head.

Wait a minute…

Didn't he know that voice?

The answer hit him just as the voice said, "Well, I guess you'll just have to join them by force."

Join them… What?

A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the suddenly darkened room.

Where were Jazz's notes? He was certainly scared now.

When the owner of the red eyes lashed out at him, he let out a scream that would've scared the entire town of Amity Park alone.

-CatchingWind