The Samhain Chronicles

Every inch of Danny's body ached severely. He felt, oddly enough, like he'd been cooked alive from the inside out via a cataclysmic nuclear blast...and yet, somehow, he was still breathing. The warm, comforting scent of chicken soup greeted him as he came back to his senses, and to his deep confusion he thought he could hear someone quietly singing. With a groan, he unglued his eyelids and looked groggily around his environment. He seemed to have lost his glasses, but the blurry landscape of his apartment was quite familiar and unmistakable. The sky was a hazy pink to purple ombre outside, barely visible from the last dying rays of sunlight dipping below the horizon, and he could barely make out the pale light of the first evening stars winking into existence. Very stiffly, he turned his head toward the kitchenette and squinted at the source of the low, tranquil melody playing on his ear.

There was a woman standing at his stove. He couldn't make out the details of her face, but her slim, petite figure and voice were instantly recognizable. Her head snapped toward him with a soft gasp when she heard him sit up, interrupting her song, then he saw her tense shoulders relax. "Welcome back, Daniel," she greeted pleasantly, "I'm glad you're awake."

"P-Pen...elo...pe...?" He groaned, wincing as his throat felt as rough as dry as sandpaper, "Wh-What...are ye doing here? Y-Ye should leave before-AH!!" He tried to sit up slowly, but fell back again with a growl of pain before his head raised a dozen centimeters off the pillow. Every joint and muscle fiber in his being screamed in protest at the slightest movement, and he shut his eyes tightly to will away the stars dancing in front of them.

He opened them a minute or two later to find Penelope at his bedside. Her facial features were still quite blurry to him, but he could hear the worry in her voice, "Daniel, lie still, please. I understand, and I'm not afraid. I promise." She then produced his glasses from her cardigan pocket and held them out timidly, which he took with a grateful nod.

After they were back on his face, he was confused to see Penelope's face appeared badly sunburnt, particularly across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. "What happened to you?" He asked, confused and deeply concerned by her inflamed skin.

Despite her new pigmentation, Penelope kept a warm smile on her lips. "Don't worry about me," she reassured him, patting his shoulder gently before jogging back to the stove, "You must be famished by now. I made you some soup...and I took the liberty of picking up a few small groceries for you as well. Hope you don't mind." She continued talking rapidly, seeming almost nervous as she poured up a bowl for him, "It looked like you hadn't gone shopping in weeks. What have you been living on, I wonder? I mean, not that it's any of my business. What am I saying? Someone like you may not even require normal sustenance to survive. That would explain a lot, but... Oh, nevermind." She ended her stream of thought with a smile as she returned to the bed, holding the bowl out to him in a tea towel, "Careful, it's hot."

Danny was confused and more than a little disturbed by Penelope's nervous chatter. "Someone like you"? What on Earth did that mean? He had a million and one questions for her, but was still much too sore and tired to ask them. Penelope sat on his bedside very close to him, almost a little too close for comfort, and studied his face intently. He realized after a moment that she was waiting for him to eat, so hesitantly he complied. The first spoonful he took of the soup was small and delicate, but the moment the hot, flavorful broth touched his tongue all sense of decorum went out the window. It tasted like pure liquid comfort, warming his soul from the inside out, and he craved more of it instantly. Invigorated by a sudden burst of energy, he sat bolt upright and swiftly wolfed down the rest of the soup in less than a minute. Penelope giggled in amusement as he raised the rim of the bowl to his lips and tipped the last dregs of soup into his mouth, "I knew you were hungry! Slow down, for goodness' sake; there's plenty more where that came from, Daniel."

"Forgive me," he muttered, humming with satisfaction as he dabbed his lips on the tea towel, "I dinnae realize just how hungry I was." He found the strength to stand, and after pausing a moment to catch his balance strode wobbily over to the stove for a refill. When he turned around to head back to bed, he was surprised to see Penelope was standing behind him.

She blushed sheepishly, but her eyes were still trained on his left shoulder, "Sorry, I was just-..." She trailed off, standing on her tiptoes now and craning her neck. It looked like she was trying to see something on his back, which he found made him incredibly uncomfortable for reasons unknown to him.

"Er... what exactly are ye doing?" He asked, unnerved by her odd behavior, "Have I got something on my shirt?"

Penelope blinked, snapping out of a kind of trance, "What? Oh... sorry, I was merely trying to figure it out."

Danny bristled a bit, growing more confused and concerned by the minute, "Figure out...what?"

Penelope then suddenly walked around behind him again, then ran her hand delicately over his shoulderblades. "Where do they go, when you're not using them, I mean? Do you fold them up somehow under your skin, or...do they just disappear and reappear like magic?"

Danny stiffened up and turned around to face Penelope again, staring at her as if she'd grown fangs and a tail, "P-Penelope, what on Earth are ye talking about?!"

Penelope smiled at him excitedly, her eyes sparkling with intrigue and curiosity as her head tilted like a Cocker Spaniel pup's, "You know... your wings. I've never seen anything so beautiful or magnificent in all my life! Have you had them all this time? Well, I mean, you must have! Right?"

Danny's eyes grew wide, too shocked and frankly afraid to speak for a moment. After a few seconds he gingerly set the bowl of soup he was holding on the counter and began walking slow and stiff toward the door, "Right... Thank ye very much for the soup, Miss Whitehall, and the groceries. I will be sure to compensate ye for them later when I'm feeling a bit better. I'll see ye in the morning."

Penelope knit her brows in confusion and uttered a small, nervous laugh, "Daniel, come on; you don't have to be afraid to tell me the truth. I saw your wings, right before-..." She pushed up her fringe to rub her forehead and laughed again in disbelief, "Well, I honestly have no idea what the bloody hell it was, except that it was incredible! You were glowing, Daniel, and there was this...explosion of heat and light that came from inside you."

"Wings... and now glowing," Danny repeated, then sank into his desk chair and rubbed his eyes, "Penelope, I am exhausted; whatever game ye think ye're playing, I have neither the patience nor energy to entertain it at the moment, so please-"

"Daniel, I know what I saw," Penelope retorted, her tone curt and impatient, "I am neither a child nor an idiot! Why can't you just tell me the truth? You can trust me Daniel, honestly!"

Danny squared his shoulders and eyed her with annoyance and frustration, "Penelope, listen to yourself! Do ye have any idea how insane ye sound right now?! I don't have wings, and I have ne'er glowed a single instance in my entire-..." He trailed off suddenly, pausing at the hazy memory of his burning skin and the inexplicable golden light surrounding him. His heather grey eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as a hand moved to his forehead, "God in Heaven... I-I was glowing...? I thought... I thought that was a dream... like the bonfire." He looked at Penelope, afraid and in deep disbelief, "But...y-you saw it... It really happened? I mean...the pain felt real enough, but..."

"Yes, Daniel," Penelope nodded, taking his hand comfortingly and giving it a squeeze, "it did. You mean to tell me that you didn't know you could do that?" Danny shook his head silently, earning another small chuckle from the woman kneeling in front of him. "Well, I can assure you it was amazing, Daniel; absolutely spectacular... I would say almost biblical, too." Danny's mind was reeling out of control at the myriad of intense, conflicting emotions running through it: joy, fear, confusion, elation, panic, uncertainty... If he really did glow, then that meant he truly did have wings like Penelope said. Could that be true? If he did have wings, where did they come from, and why did he have no inclination of their existence until now? Nothing made sense anymore at all. Penelope leaned forward, almost resting her chin on his knee, as she stared up at him with quiet reverence and awe, her intense brown eyes searching his face for answers, "Daniel... what are you?"

Danny's tempest of emotions finally settled on panic, and he shook his head frantically, "I... I-I dunno... Penelope, I'm frightened!"

Good... As you should be.

Danny's eyes darted rapidly about the room, trying to find the source of the harsh, disembodied Phantom Voice overhead, "C-Can ye hear that?! Please, tell me ye can!"

Penelope frowned and shook her head, "Hear what, Daniel? What is it?"

She cannae hear me, Danny Boy...and ye know very well why not!

The Voice almost snarled, sounding deeply angered and resentful toward Danny. He gave an involuntary shiver as the temperature in the room suddenly dropped twenty degrees in a matter of seconds. "Why," he demanded, trying to sound much braver than he felt, "What do ye mean? Why can't she hear ye?! Answer me, damn you!"

Penelope's teeth chattered and she pulled her cardigan around herself tightly, cuddling closer to Danny's leg instinctually for warmth, "D-Daniel, I'm n-not s-sure who o-or wh-what you're t-talking to, b-but they d-don't seem overly f-friendly! W-Why is it s-so c-c-cold all of a s-sudden?!"

Hm, not a very bright one, is she? Whatever do you see in her anyway? Perhaps I should tear her apart... See what makes her tick!

Danny leapt to his feet and pulled Penelope up with him, shielding her from the cold and the Phantom Voice by holding her close to his chest, "No! Go away, leave us alone! Why do ye insist on tormenting me so?!" He grew angrier by the moment, his breath pluming in front of his face with every agitated breath, "Whatever ye are, stop playing games with me this instant, and face me like a man!"

As you wish. Turn around, Professor; I'm right here!

Danny obeyed, bracing himself as he had no idea what to expect. To his surprise and mild confusion, he found himself looking through the open bathroom door at his own face in the mirror over the sink. "I... I don't understand," he muttered. He did a double take when his reflection's lips twisted in cruel grin and beckoned him close to the silvered glass.

I'm right here, where I've always been. Come... Take a closer look.

Danny slowly let go of Penelope and walked five steps forward robotically, his eyes fixed on his reflection, until he was standing at the sink. The closer he got, he realized his reflection was changing right before his eyes. His tanned skin dulled and paled to a sickly bluish-grey, almost like a corpse; his reflection grinned, showing off a set of fangs ground into razor-sharp points, and a pair of bright red-orange eyes glowed from deep in their sockets, their pupils long, feline veritcal slits.

Do ye see me now, Danny Boy? I'm right here, in your wee pointy head. She cannae hear me, because I am you...or, at least I will be, once the Ritual is completed.

Danny stared dumbfounded at the face that simultaneously was and wasn't his. "R-Ritual?" he repeated, his voice not much more than a squeak, "What...? Wh-What ritual?"

The one started long ago, Professor Pinhead... the one that was never finished. The Iron Boar, Golden Bull and Black Lion are going to war, and the Iron Boar needs you to bring them the victory they believe they deserve.

"No," Danny mumbled, shaking his head feverishly, "N-No, I don't believe any of this! This isn't happening!" He bent low over the sink and loosed a small, mad laugh, "I-I'm having a psychotic break... That's the only explaination. My medication... I need my medication! Yes, that's it! Where is it?!" He tore open the medicine chest to find his pills, and once he had them in his grasp he downed a handful of the pale green capsules immediately. After choking down the pills, he began feeling dizzy and nauseated right away, but to his relief the cackling voice in his head began to fade into blissful silence.

You cannot keep me away forever with those poison pills. Samhain is upon us, and the Iron Boar will stop at nothing to reclaim ye as their own!

The temperature in the room seemed to return to normal after a few minutes as Danny shambled slowly back to bed. Penelope's eyes were wide with alarm as she processed what she'd just seen, "What in the world, Daniel-...?! Who were you talking-" Her dark eyes flicked down to the pill bottle as it fell from Danny's hand and rolled to her feet, "Daniel, are you alright? What is this?" She nabbed the bottle off the floor and read the label, then looked over fearfully at Danny as he flopped onto the bed, "Daniel, why didn't you tell me you were on antipsychotics?! How many of these did you just take?!"

Danny grumbled incoherently into the mattress, then leaned over the opposite side of the bed and heaved his guts. In hindsight, taking such a large dose seemed not to be such a good idea suddenly. "Dr. Horace," he moaned, "C-Call Dr. Horace... N-Need him right away, Penelope... please..."