New Beginnings

Old Nightmares

It was around 4 o'clock in the morning. Fire was curled up in a ball on the bed in the room the Fentons had provided. Her eyes were clenched shut, flashes of an electric chair and flames refusing to let her sleep in peace.
The wolf girl's jaw clenched, a whimper escaping her lips as ice crawled across the floor and froze the door shut. She curled up into a tighter ball, her human form burning away to reveal her true form. It only made things worse.

Phantom woke up with a start, feeling a massive amount of paranormal energy coming from Fire's room. He sighed, looking down at Danny, who was curled up next to him. Maybe it can wait until morning? Another spike of energy erased that thought from his mind and he sighed through his nose.

The ghost prince slowly moved Danny and had him hug a pillow instead. With a soft smile and a shake of his head, Phantom floated across the room so he wouldn't wake anyone. He went intangible and stuck his head through the door.

Upon seeing no one out there he floated out and went toward Fire's door just down the hall. He frowned, landing softly on the floor and becoming solid. The albino let his hand hover over the knob, but he could feel the chill radiating off of it. An unnatural chill.

Inside the room, the walls were covered in frost. Fire herself was shaking in her sleep, her brow furrowed as her breathing quickened. The hybrid didn't even wake up when Phantom entered the room via intangibility. Not even a twitch or flick of the ear signaling acknowledgement.

Phantom tilted his head, worry apparent on his face that only increased when he saw dark grey smoke puffing out of her mouth. The prince took a step forward, "What are you dreaming about?" He asked absentmindedly, not expecting an answer of any kind.

He took another step forward, but stopped when a little scene played out on the floor. It was a chair of some kind and two light blue figures were dragging a red figure toward it. His green eyes widened as he watched the two blue figures strap the red one in. Then they were gone in a flurry of snowflakes, leaving the red one to struggle until...until...
The red figure jerked and even from the small model Phantom could tell it was screaming. Crackling ice energy around the chair and figure made his core skip a beat. The red figure was being electrocuted and that chair was an electric chair.

The red figure slumped and the two blues returned, but the red- no, it was Fire. She shook her head, snapping at them until the jerking and screaming started again, the electricity being turned back on.

The scene shattered soundlessly, the real Fire's breathing picking up again like she was struggling to breathe, more smoke puffing out of her mouth in her distress. Phantom's eyes snapped up to look at her, taking another step, but having to stop once again. Another scene formed from light blue ice.

Little houses lined up like a neighborhood. It was surprisingly peaceful. Black eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, watching a darker blue coat the houses. Then, they caught fire. He jerked back, looking up at Fire but she was still sleeping, tears running down her face and muttering something. The prince looked back down, watching as a few figures ran around in a panic until they just...stopped. The scene melted away and evaporated.

Phantom waited another second before making his way to the wolf girl's side. He carded his hand through the fur on her arm, "Fire, wake up." He said gently.
"It's just a nightmare." Phantom tried, but he had a bad feeling that it wasn't "just a nightmare".

Fire curled in on herself even more if that were possible, her tail curling around her legs and her hands tugging on her ears. Her teeth were bared while her jaw locked into place, like she was trying not to scream.

The albino listened carefully when the mutterings started again. Things like, "it's my fault," "I killed them," "lock the doors, burn it down," and "I just wanted the pain to stop" passed her lips. Those phrases along with some names he didn't know and a number, 337.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. What is all that supposed to mean? He looked back down at her, a frown on his face. Finally, after a few minutes of him coaxing her out of her little ball and petting her ears, the wolf hybrid relaxed, her breathing slowed down. It didn't look like a peaceful sleep, but it didn't look like a fitful one either. Dreamless then, he concluded.

The ghost stood up, stretching with a sigh and scratching his head. He looked over his shoulder at her one last time before walking over to the door. Thankfully, the ice had evaporated so there was no mess and no more smoke was puffing out of the girl's mouth so the fire alarms wouldn't go off. With one final look around the room, he nodded and walked back to Danny's room.

When he got there, Danny was still asleep, which he was grateful for. Phantom took the pillow away and reclaimed his spot with little complaint from the raven haired teen.
His blue eyes cracked open a little as he yawned and snuggled closer, "Have to deal with a ghost, Phantom?"
The prince smiled despite everything he'd seen and heard from Fire, wrapping his arms around Danny, "I'll tell you later." He could ask her about it when she woke up.