The Return of the Phantom

Pilot Part 4

The next day at school was relatively uneventful despite the odd circumstances of the previous day.

Of course there were numerous whispers and stories that were blown up all out of proportion and rumors could not be farther from the truth.

"Nick told me that like a thousand squid ghosts were chasing him all over the school!" one kid informed his companion. "And they were all yelling like bloody murder!"

Soon everyone thought that the ghosts wanted to murder them, with blood present. And the terror only continued to build. In fact, despite the impeding silence of the school board, Danny took it upon himself to comfort his classes at least, especially since they were located on the epicenter of the previous day's event.

No one could concentrate on that day's work, instead silently staring at it unseeingly with dull eyes from lack of sleep from fear or nightmares.

After pretending to be busy grading papers for a few agonizing minutes, Danny finally stood up, walked to the front of the classroom, and cleared his throat. Immediately everyone looked up at him expectantly. Danny knew they were eager to escape their impossible work.

"We...we all know what happened yesterday was... terrifying." he started. "There's no denying that." He checked to see if he still had their attention, and though he knew he shouldn't be, he was surprised to see every eye trained on him. 

He continued, "I don't think the right thing to do is to keep silent about this. If any of you don't feel safe coming to school, or at least my class, I won't object to it. But, if you stay, remember to be brave."

Wow, I didn't realize I was such a motivational speaker, he thought, again surprised.

"I say this because what we're dealing with... well, it's the unknown. And as long as we keep fearing the unknown, then that gives it power over us. If we stop fearing it, then we can do a lot more things."

He added, "If that doesn't help, just know that even though I can't really do much..."

Even though that's kind of a lie...

"...I will do everything I can, along with hopefully my other fellow teachers, and make sure you guys are safe. That is every teacher's (or should be every teacher's) priority."

Finishing his impromptu speech, there was an awkward silence, then Tony broke the ice by starting a round of applause.

"Yeah Mr. Felton! Great speech!" he complimented between claps. Quickly everyone else started clapping too, genuinely appreciative, it seemed like.

Danny looked around the class and his gaze rested for a moment on Nick's empty seat. It would only be obvious that he wouldn't come to school today. Hopefully his parents could send him back soon, but maybe they were true in their judgement. The school wasn't quite safe... yet.

Though what "yet" meant he still wasn't comfortable with.

"But seriously, do you understand the point I'm trying to get across?" he asked.

The class dutifully nodded, and though they still looked fearful, Danny hoped that they could appreciate a teacher who cared.

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Danny drove up to the cheerfully painted sign of Cloverfields Daycare, which was simultaneously a daycare and a cow farm.

At least it was entertaining the children who could often take field-trips to go see the cows.

Though it made Danny a little uncomfortable to think of reasons to explain to Lily why some of the cows "disappeared" each year, and though Sam objected to Lily going there due to its involvement in the corrupt meat industry, she had to agree that it was a very good daycare, and the closest one in town.

Staff would play educational games with the children, give them healthy (no beef, thank goodness) snacks, and you could tell they genuinely enjoyed their jobs. Lily constantly brought home craft projects and pictures, so they decorated the walls back at home.

One of the daycare attendants had said the other day that they would try working with clay today, so Sam told Danny to bring a bunch of tissues and other cushiony objects to help protect Lily's ceramic creation.

Danny had argued back that the daycare would probably provide those sort of supplies, but Sam had been adamant.

So, walking into Cloverfields Daycare, he carried a paper shopping bag stuffed to the brim with tissues and foam. At the bottom was a pillow.

Rolling his eyes at the burden, he hurried into the building, shivering. It seemed freezing outside; though it was only October.

Upon entering he came to the reception area. They had a reception area mainly for safety, so a parent or guardian could show their ID, instead of some stranger picking a child up. Or, if the parent had called in earlier, a designated person could take their child home.

Though Laurel Copse was a relatively safe place (until yesterday, that is), it was still appreciated by all users of the daycare, the Feltons included, how much care was put into everything.

At the desk, instead of the usual elderly lady who ran the daycare, a plump, young redheaded, freckled woman sat there instead, smiling.

"Are they training you as a new receptionist?" Danny asked her. She smiled and nodded, her ginger ponytail bobbing. "Well, I'm Lily's dad. You can send her out, I guess," he responded, smiling back. He was glad to see a friendly face after such a stressful day, and of course looking forward to see Lily's.

But instead of pulling out the intercom to send Lily out, the lady shook her head, still smiling.

"Sorry, but I can not send Lily Felton out at the moment." she told him sweetly.

"Um, are they looking at the cows right now or something?"

She cocked her head, still looking very amused. "Nope! No one is coming out at the moment."

"Um..." Danny was starting to feel a little irritated. "May I ask why?"

Standing up, the receptionist gazed down at her long pink fingernails, still smiling, but it was starting to look a little strained. "So many questions!" she squeaked, her voice going up an octave on 'questions,' almost to the point of hurting his ears. "Why would they need to come out? What's wrong with them staying in for a little while? Nothing could happen to them then..."

Her voice was now starting to reach a hysterical pitch, and now it really did hurt his ears.

He stood up straighter and locked eyes with her assertively. "I would like very much to take my daughter home. You understand?"

Instead of getting his point like he'd hoped, she was now so enraged she seemed to be floating off of the floor.