Dannies, Death, and Dates

Chapter 7

Tap tap tap

Dani groaned, twisting over in bed to see what the sound was. If Danny was pranking her again...

Tap tap tap

The persistent sound was coming from her window. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she complained, grabbing her crutches and limping over to the window. She peered sideways onto the little ledge that extended under his window. 

A boy was kneeling on it, grinning broadly as he tapped the window. 

"Who the heck are you?" Dani asked, keeping the window firmly closed. 

The boy gave a muffled reply through the glass. He pointed to himself expectantly. Dani shook her head, still bewildered by this turn of events. 

"I'm Gage!" he repeated, loud enough to understand. 

Dani leaned closer squinting to see if he was telling the truth. The last time they'd met, the only thing she could see was his eyes. This boy had short dark hair along the sides of his head, and longer blond hair spilling over the top. He was wearing a bright green hoodie, straight grey jeans, and black skateboard gloves. But he did have the same golden amber eyes. 

She cracked the window hesitantly.

"What are you doing out here? And how did you get on the roof?" she asked. 

"I heard you broke your leg," he said, not answering the other questions. "It looks like my first attempt at teaching didn't go too well. Are you okay?"

"I'm good... I guess," Dani replied, still unsure of what was going on.

"Do you even live around here? How did you know where I lived?"

"Yeah, I'm in the area. And I heard your dad shouting that you're the Fentons... No offense, but it's not really a hard place to find," he said, looking meaningfully at the huge neon 'Fentonworks' sign hanging above them.

They sat in awkward silence for a moment. Gage was starting to look unsure of himself.

"Umm... well. Just wanted to check in and see how you're doing," he concluded. 

A shrill beeping sounded in the room behind Dani. She gave Gage an apologetic look and limped back to find the source. 

"Sorry about this. Must have forgotten to turn my phone down," she said, rumaging through her unpacked ski bag. The pocket of her coat was beeping shrilly, faint light showing through the material. 

The ecto reader?

She pulled it out and looked at the flashing screen. It was reading a surge of ghostly energy. Turning slowly, she angled it around the room. It slowed as she pointed it at the door. 

Then it shrieked as she turned back toward the window. Seized by a sudden suspicion, Dani hurried back to the window and yanked it open. 

But Gage was nowhere to be seen.

P.S. The new picture is my attempt at drawing Gage in DP style.