Haunted

Every day was monotonous in this stuffy cabin. Aside from the occasional wild animal being mauled in the woodlands or a bird warbling in the early morning, the area was completely silent. If this was a neighborhood, the other residents must have lived miles away. He had not seen a single soul since he woke up in this place. The only evidence that his prison was connected to society was a winding driveway that led to a far-off dirt road. The opossum was utterly alone.

He had tried to escape the cabin multiple times—my god, he tried. But, unfortunately, he seemed supernaturally tethered to the house. Whenever he left the front door, energy would immediately start to drain from his body. Every single step away from the building would significantly weaken him. The farthest he ever managed to reach was barely halfway down the roadway. At that point, he was crawling on his knees. His non-existent lungs begged for air and burned with a fervor that one would only expect from the living. His body felt like it was starting to rot and waste away as toxic green ooze bled from his mouth and nose. He didn't know what would have happened to him if he had pushed himself further, but he didn't want to learn anytime soon. 

The opossum had lost track of time a while ago, but by his guess, it had probably been a couple of months since he woke up. With the sunshine pouring through the windows now, he could tell that it was summer. The autumn leaves he saw when he first awoken had risen from the ashes and gave life to emerald greenery. The days were much longer now, and the wildlife seemed to bask in the warmth of the new season. Summer seemed to be a harbinger of life and vibrance, which left him feeling cold and empty.

The day he woke up, he knew something was wrong. He didn't remember anything about himself. Any attempt to figure out his name, if he had a family, or why he was even here would come back completely blank. It felt like he had emerged from inky darkness with no past in sight. The only thing he did know was that something had happened. When he looked at his body, he could partially see through it. It was translucent and tinted glowing green. Every time he touched anything, he would reach right through it. His breath was abnormally misty and chilled the air around him. His body was not bound by gravity. Despite having no idea what he looked like before, his entire being knew it was wrong... unnatural. He could sense the loss that he could not remember having. He felt like falling apart and wailing as loud as his non-corporeal body could muster. He was dead. 

The amnesia he experienced did not shield him from this fact. He was still cursed with knowledge in the absence of his identity. He was fully aware of stories about the restless undead that haunted abandoned houses. He knew what he was, and it terrified him. He looked and felt young. He probably had a whole life ahead of him. A life he couldn't even mourn. It took a long time for him to even begin to cope with his new existence. Even now, he would still sometimes spiral from the questions and dread of it all. It didn't help that he was unable to sleep, which kept leading his feelings to fester. And now, the liveliness of the nature around him seemed to mock him. The only thing that kept him mildly sane at this point was talking to himself. That was all until one sunny afternoon.

The marsupial started his day like he usually did. He walked around each room of the cabin, carefully looking for any evidence of who he was. Once he would inevitably give up, he would gaze out of the various windows around the cabin for as long as it was interesting to him. This normally would only last a few hours before he would test his various ghostly abilities and weaknesses; however, today was no ordinary day. Amongst the sounds of the forest that surrounded his home, he heard the faint sound of a car pulling into the driveway and then the chatter of various people talking to each other. Had he finally learned how to dream? Could it be? 

The phantom quickly floated to the window overlooking the front yard. A large maroon SUV was parked in front of the garage, and a trio of college kids were slowly exiting the vehicle. 

"Holy shit..." the ghostly figure whispered to himself in disbelief.

The opossum never thought the day would come when he would see anyone, so he was ecstatic. His days of pure boredom and loneliness were going to be behind him. 

"God, that was a long drive," one of the college students remarked as they stretched. "This place better be worth it."

"Of course, it will be worth it! Would you rather be spending the summer with your parents?" asked a dark-furred cat with numerous scars.

The raccoon with various blue highlights shuddered.

"Ok, fair point."

"Come on guys, and help me with the unpacking," a brown canine said exasperatedly as he lugged a seemingly heavy box from the back of the vehicle.

The other two roommates sighed at the undertaking ahead of them as they begrudgingly went to assist their friend.

The transparent resident watched intently as the three of them unloaded the overstuffed car. The strangers seemed like really close friends, and he wanted desperately to be a part of that. Once all of the boxes were out of the car, the blue-haired coywolf mosied to the front door with a key in tow. The canine's face grimaced in confusion when the door didn't need a key to unlock it.

"Huh... hey, did you guys somehow open the door already?" 

"What, no. It was already unlocked?" the raccoon questioned.

"You sure you didn't just unlock it and then forget Abs?" the feline asked genuinely.

"Yeah, I'm very sure. I guess we will have to notify the owners when we get the chance," Abyss stated as he entered the cabin.

It was very quaint but charming. The walls were covered with wood panels, which gave it a charmingly rustic atmosphere. This also caused the entire home to have a slight scent of pine. The place was furnished, but it was obvious that all of the owner's personal items that initially made it a "home" were absent. The absence made the rooms feel somewhat barren, but the three of them definitely had enough of their own junk to make the place their own. It kind of reminded the chocolate-colored canine of living in the dorms at their university. When you entered the residence, it led you directly into the living room, which was open to the kitchen and breakfast nook on the left. To the right, there were two bedrooms and a shared full bathroom. The three guys were going to have to fight over who had to take the fold-out couch. 

When the trio entered his home, the ghost attempted to welcome them in to no avail.

"HEY! Hi? Uh, hellooo?" the phantom asked the strangers as he waved his hands in front of them. "Damn, I guess I was getting my hopes up that they would be able to see me."

The opossum felt kinda defeated despite knowing that the odds of them being able to know he was there were pretty slim. Anything was better than nothing, though. 

The three new roommates continued to explore their summer vacation home, occasionally making remarks on what they were going to put where and what their plans were for their break. After their tour, they went to grab the plethora of boxes that they needed to unpack. The entire process took well into the night. By the time it was around midnight, they gave up on their progress and decided to finish up the next day. The entire cabin was now extremely cluttered: folded clothing was placed in the weirdest spots, broken down boxes were piled in a corner, non-perishable foods were spread around all over the kitchen, and house decor was sticking out of the remaining boxes. Amongst the chaos was the evidence of the trio's beginning organizing and setting up for the move. The most exciting of these to the undead opossum was the television that was now working in the living room. Once the living had gone to rest, the phantom took the opportunity to check out the technology.

He intrinsically knew what a TV was and how to use it, but how he was going to do it in this body was another story. He had been practicing how to hold objects by focusing his energy, but it was still very difficult for him to perform. The opossum reached out his hand to touch the remote on the coffee table. His eyebrows furrowed with intense concentration as he managed to press the button that turned it on. Luckily for him, the volume was not blaring the moment it was on, so hopefully, it did not disturb his new housemates. He didn't know what shows or movies he liked, but he did know he had to check out the device as soon as he saw them bring it in. In the months that he was bored watching out of the windows, he internally itched to be watching television instead, even though he had no memories of doing so in his past.

On the screen, the TV seemed to be left on a channel that aired cartoons. He found that he was in the middle of an episode of something called "Danny Phantom." The premise seemed to be about a teenage boy who was "half ghost" and saved the world from the "evil" ghosts that haunted his town. In this particular episode, it seemed that this one's villain was an undead lunch lady. The opossum felt oddly drawn to the silly animated show, especially by the name of the titular main character. A ping of recognition flowed through him. Danny? Was that his name? Relief and giddiness entered his body. It felt... right. He finally knew something (anything) about himself. His name was Dani.