Either way, this was Danny's exam. Not Rikki's, not Roch's, not anyone's but Danny Fitz. A test against herself, no one else. For her school and for all her friends and belongings. The school's very fate rested on her shoulders.
No pressure or anything though.
With a deep breath, she faced the machine. It was just a box really. Danny didn't really understand how it measured FEAR, but apparently it did. The box buzzed slightly, though that could have been her mind just making up noises to go along side it. Maybe she was just nervous. She could feel the boogymen's stares on her, on ALL of them. Danny wasn't really one to care about people looking at her (she was awful outgoing after all), but something about these Boogeymen unnerved her. She couldn't even imagine how Roch would be doing at the moment. He was probably screaming angry things. Well maybe not, but that's certainly how Danny was imagining the scene.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Roch in the crowd anywhere. Had he maybe missed the memo? Perhaps he was making his own devious scheme to take back the school. Maybe he had already given up and gone home. Definitely not the latter. Roch definitely wouldn't go home or give up. She knew him better than that. He would put up a fight in this best way he could. Hell, if they closed down the school, he would probably just break into it and resume class as always. He was that stubborn.
As she focused her FEAR into her hands, she sighed. Without Amityville High School, she wouldn't even KNOW who Rikki or Roch was. She wouldn't know Taryn or Colette or Bea- none of them! She was even a bit sad to think that she wouldn't know who Edel was.
Going home wouldn't be the end of the world. Unlike a lot of kids here, Danny actually liked her home. Yes, she definitely preferred Amityville and would fight for it, but her home wasn't this big impending doom. Rikki had said something about not wanting to return to his parents, and Ren seemed equally focused on not returning home. She would have to ask them about it later, definitely. Danny had a brief moment of relief realizing that even if she failed, she would have a welcoming home to go to. Many of the other students couldn't say the same. Danny definitely knew Moure couldn't.
Oh Moure. Danny wasn't sure how she felt about him anymore. After defending Edel, and then running away from her dinner invitation, Danny hadn't seen him since. Was he maybe ignoring her? As Danny faced the machine, charging her FEAR, she was oddly reminded of her stand off with Edel. There was no Moure in the way now, just her and her enemy. The idea of punching Edel's face in sounded pretty nice though. It fueled her FEAR just a touch over what she would normally produce.
Most of all, Danny just didn't want to leave quite yet. She would've been okay at home, but things were only just heating up (mind the pun) at Amityville. She had passed her exam with flying colors, and had finally breached the "snot" glass ceiling; she was a knob! One step closer to graduating! The fire demonness finally felt like she was accomplishing something, not just running around. It felt good.
A sly smile crossed her face as she thought of the newest edition to her Amityville experience. Rikki's forehead pressed to hers, while he whispered sweet things to her. How could she just throw her hands up and give THAT away? Like hell she was giving that up without a fight. The boogeymen were starting to give her looks and she knew it was her time to shine.
Danny let out a battle grunt and threw her fist forward, right into the machine's FEAR measurer. The result was outstanding: she scored a solid number, worthy of her year two status, and maybe a little more. Danny panted a little with the effort, but she felt like she'd at least accomplished SOMETHING. Take that you stupid boogeymen. They weren't going to shut down Amityville, not if Danny had a say in it. With a whoop, she sat down in the grass right where she stood and caught her breath. Her mind flitted from memory to memory, but there was one thing that stuck out in her mind the strongest.
It was Red, in her odd draconian and monstrous form in the haunted house. Danny had been scared and trembling, but she remembered Red most vividly. It was a loud, booming voice.
YOU ARE HALLOWEEN. YOU CANNOT DIE.
Danny chuckled aloud for everyone to hear. "That's right," she said to seemingly no one, "Halloween cannot die."
