Gravitational Phantoms

Chapter Fifteen

Yup, computer again. My phone has been acting really glitchy for Wattpad, so I decided to work on the computer for a while. Onwards my dragonlings!

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Danny was lying on Mabel's bed, face slightly pinched and drawn. He had been asleep ever since the incident with Bill, which was a few hours ago. They had no idea why the ghost boy was like this, but the Pines family suspected that it had to do with whatever the yellow dream demon had done to him (although what exactly that even was they didn't know).

"Well, his heart rate is normal. At least, normal for a Halfa," Ford sighed. Halfas were confusing. They weren't full ghosts, so they had heartbeats. But their heart rates were far slower than a normal humans, so they seemed as if they were about to die. The research on it was incredibly spotty, even in these strange modern times, so estimates and guesswork was the best that anyone could do.

"But he'll be okay, right?" His great nephew demanded. Damn, that was strange. Not to long ago, he didn't even know that his baby brother had even had kids, much less grandkids. And when one of them had revealed that he had found the third journal, had lived through the monsters, had learned the secrets, was also shocking.

He didn't know why he was thinking about this now; maybe it was because his brother was practically on top of him in an attempt to see over his shoulders at the prone teen on the bed. Ford tried to shove him away, but even though his brother was old, he was still solid.

"Stop that," he growled. That seemed to be the only way that he talked lately. "Danny isn't going to get better just by you looking at him."

"You didn't answer the question," Mabel pointed out. Her voice was shaky.

Ford sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Because I don't know. Halfa anatomy is strange, and what seems normal to us might be dangerous or potentially deadly to him. We also have no idea what that assh-

"Ford." 

"-ole demon did to him, so we have no definite way of waking him up. It might happen on its own, but I honestly have no idea."

"That's a first," Stan muttered. Ford rolled his eyes.

"Are we seriously going to do this now? Because I'm sure that we have more important things to do than argue about who's is-"

"That's enough!" The two younger kids shouted in unison, glaring. Dipper closed his eyes and mentally counted to three before opening them.

"All you two do is either argue or get mad at each other about the simplest things. And usually, we don't care. But right now, we need you, Danny needs you, to work together instead of bickering. So can we please just figure out a plan?!" The twelve-year-old boy's teeth were gritted, and his hands were clenched into fists. His sister nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah. You two need to hug it out."

Dipper elbowed her and rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest, Mabes. I don't think that they'll ever do that without you tying them together."

"Yes they will! I can repair anything!" She declared.

Stan sat on the opposite bed with a sigh. "Kid, there are some things that even you can't fix."

Danny's breathing suddenly became ragged, which was unusual (and bad) for a Halfa. Ford bent back over the hybrid. Suddenly, the ghost boy's back arched up, and he let out a choked cry.

Mabel and Dipper were beside him in an instant, looking worried. 

"Is he okay?" The girl whispered. 

"Physically? Yes. Mentally? I don't think so," her great-uncle answered. "He seems to be having some kind of lucid nightmare, even worse than the normal kind."

"Then why isn't he screaming like he did last night and the night before that?" Dipper wondered aloud.

"I don't really know, but it could be because the nightmare either hasn't picked up speed yet, or because whatever is keeping him unconscious is also internalizing all of his reactions."

"That could mean that his dreamscape might carry over into real life, and if he gets any injuries than they might manifest physically."

"If Danny gets any fatal wounds, he could end, dissipate, or have some kind of reaction that might him to lash out and injure somebody in either the physical or mental state."

Mabel and Stan exchanged a look before turning back to the resident nerds and speaking together. "But what does that mean?"

Their respective twin brothers both facepalmed. 

"If he gets hurt in his dream, than it will happen in real life. And if Danny gets hurt in a way that might kill him (in the nightmare), he might end, which is how ghosts die. Or he could attack us while trying to wake up," they explained. 

Mabel gulped. "Oh. Um, that's bad."

"That's an understatement," her brother shook his head.

They were silent for a little while longer, watching Danny's fitful sleep. Ford moved over to the side of the room where Stan and Dipper's bed was. He stood there, absentmindedly resting a hand on the side of his jacket where he still kept the first journal. There was something that he wanted to bring up, but he wasn't really sure how to broach the topic.

"Kids," Ford began awkwardly, speaking in a quiet tone. "There's a very good chance that Danny won't survive this."

Mabel shook her head frantically. "That's a lie! He will! He has to!"

Stan gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "We don't know that for certain."

"He will! Danny's strong! He'll be okay!" Mabel insisted. Her brother looked at the body on the bed. Mabel followed his gaze.

"Right?" She asked meekly. Dipper grabbed her hand and try to give her a reassuring look, even while his own mind tried to rebel against the program.

"He can do this," the male twin said. "If he can fight ghosts and protect his town, than he can do this. I guarantee it."

But the words felt empty, and for once Dipper didn't know if this was a promise that he could keep.