The Superstition Spectrum (Danny Phantom)

Chapter 11

'Or maybe the spell faltered somehow. How could it, though? Corporeal illusions are one of my specialties! The only thing that would make sense is if something interfered with it, got in the way of my magic. But what at the school could--?' 

Oh. Oh, there it was. Of course-- how did he not see it right away? A spell that is remotely powered like a body double would be susceptible to ghostly energy, especially if it came into direct contact with the source itself. The spell would fail and dissipate almost immediately without its caster there to personally sustain it. 

"Great," Kordelle grumbled under his breath. "They're onto me..."

He had to throw Camry off of his trail. If she started to suspect the truth behind Dude's 'disappearance,' it would cause problems for Dude's learning as well as Kordelle's plans for her. She wouldn't know about Dude being a witch, though, right? No, that didn't seem likely. What could have clued her in on that? Kordelle quickly thought back on all of their past encounters and scanned his memories for any sort of indication he might have accidentally given that could have given away his identity. 

No, he felt safe in that regard. He couldn't have said or done anything obvious enough to give himself or Dude away. 

'Hold on. I'm getting ahead of myself' Kordelle chastised himself. 'This could just be an invitation to hang out. It doesn't have to mean anything serious.' 

He was just beginning to wind down his train of thought and relax back into reading when the phone buzzed again in his hands, this time showing a different contact: "Selkie" with the piano and blue butterfly emojis. Before he really had time to think it over, his left hand's second and third fingers touched his adam's apple and he whispered a spell before accepting the call. 

"Hello?" he answered in a perfect mimicry of Dude's voice. 

"Dude!" Saoirse's exhausted but relieved voice exclaimed a little too loudly into the receiver. "Dude, are you alright? Where are you right now?" 

"I had to get home kinda early," Kordelle lied, easily coming up with the fib. "Mamá hasn't really been feeling very well lately."

 "Oh, no," Saoirse sympathized in a soft tone. "I-- Hang on, Cam, he's fine. No nonono--!"

"Dude, what the heck just happened?" Camry suddenly cut in with a shout. "You-- I don't even know-- you just vanished! Poof! Out of existence!"

"Cam, give me my arm back," Kordelle just barely heard Saoirse groan from a little ways off. Then she was back at regular volume, as if she had put the phone back up to her ear. "Dude, can you meet us at Delta Pin? We really need to talk to you about something kinda important."

"And we wanna make sure you're okay!" Camry added. Maybe they were sharing the phone between themselves now. "We're skipping etiquette lessons today, so just meet us where we usually sit A.S.A.P., okay?"

Kordelle couldn't help swallowing down a huge glop of spit; it did little to wet his parched throat. This mimicry spell took quite a toll on the user's vocal chords. "A-Are you sure? I kinda-- keff-- ugh, kinda feel like maybe I'm catching what Mamá is getting."

"It'll be fine," Saoirse assured him. "We won't try to touch you or breathe your germs."

'At least there's that promise' he had to admit. 'A body double should be safer to use in circumstances like that.'

"Please say you'll come, Dude," Camry all but begged woefully. "It's really important! And," she added as an aside, "it really sucks that we haven't been able to hang out more."