Hey there!
I know you all are probably waiting for me to update another chapter of "Remember: The Story Of Ember McLain", "The Secret Trio One-Shot Series", "The Secret Trio: A Delusional Phantom" or "Danny Phantom And Storm Banshee-Season One(From The Very Beginning…", but I had the idea for this fanfic for a while now, so I hope you like it!
No, I don't own Danny Phantom; that solely belongs to Butch Hartman. I only own this story and the OCs in it.
Frostbitten
Prologue
Darkness. There was nothing but darkness.
I ran down the dim lit corridor, breathing heavily. My hair flew behind me as I continued to run, my thumping heart seemed to echo down the never-ending hall. My boots pounded against the hard concrete.
Then His voice pierced the stale air
"You can't run from me, Nicola. No matter how far you run, no matter where you hide, I will always find you. Always."
His laughter reverberated throughout the hallway, His shadow slithered along the blackened wall. I could feel His breath on my neck, cold tendrils that snaked down and tightened around my lungs.
RUN, I screamed at myself.
Suddenly, the smell of something metallic, like rusty copper pennies, filled my nose. My feet flew out from under me, and I managed to catch myself with my hands before my face hit the floor.
Then I realized the floor shouldn't be this warm and... wet.
Blood. There was blood everywhere. Blood pooled on the concrete in shallow puddles. Staggering and trying not to take in anymore air, I pushed myself off the ground and took in my abhorrent surroundings.
Blood stained the walls of the corridor, coating them in a gruesome wallpaper, splattered across the ceiling and flowing in thick streams on the floor. Lying on the floor was a vaguely humanoid shape, blood covering it and coagulating, so it looked like it was a part of this gory blood-covered room.
I choked back a scream as I stepped back, feeling nauseous, one crimson hand clutching my stomach, the other clean hand covering my mouth. His laughter filled my ears and my face paled even further as I saw His figure curling against the furtherest wall, eyes glowing red.
"You can never escape me, dear Nicola. I'll find you wherever you are. I will track you down, and I will get you. You can never run from me... and you certainly can't run from who you are.
"NO," I tried to scream at him, but it came out as a strangled moan. Stepping back even further, wanting to get away from this room, from Him, I ran in the opposite direction
His footsteps thundered behind me.
"No no no no-AHHHHHHH!"
My cries escalated into screams as I lost my footing, falling forwards into a dark, never ending pit. His laughter echoed above me as I continued to scream, free-falling into blackness. Rushing sounds, like a large circular waterfall, surrounded me, and the smell of rust returned with an overwhelming vengeance. My screams becoming louder and louder as I tumbled into darkness, His voice whispering through my ears.
"Keep on running, Nicola. In the end, I will find you... and you will succumb to who you really are."
"No!" I screamed, voice finally at full volume, my hair whipping wildly, cutting sharply into my face. Tears began pouring from my eyes and disappearing into my hair, as I continued to fall. It wasn't long until I could see a stone floor below me getting closer and closer... "No, no, no, no, no…"
…
"NO!" I screamed, jolting awake. I looked around wildly, seeing nothing but darkness at first until my eyes adjusted. Feeling the space around me, I slowly understood that I was still in my bedroom. Not being chased through a blood-filled hall.
A single tear brimmed, and I quickly wiped it away. If my mom came to check on me, I couldn't let her see me crying. Pulling the covers to me tightly, I hugged my legs. I was no stranger to nightmares, but this marked the twelfth consecutive night since they had started. Each time, they got a little more terrible. The emptiness, the blood, Him... it's a wonder I managed to get any sleep at all.
I never told my mother about the nightmares; she would think that He was using my dreams to find us. But I didn't think so. Fear had made itself at home inside my head, and after Alex… my subconscious mind was determined to make me more paranoid, and absolutely terrified of who I am.
In the end, I will find you.. and you will succumb to who you are.
Closing my eyes, I told myself that was just the nightmare talking. But it felt real, like a promise. His voice always sounded more real in my nightmares. I wanted to believe that moving to this town, Amity Park, would mask our location with their ghost attacks and keep Him from looking for us here. I hoped it would work, but my paranoia speaks for itself. We might last two months, possibly three.
Eventually, He would find us.
You will succumb to who you are.
I buried my face into my pillow, wanting to block it out, but I couldn't. Those words always haunted me during the nightmares and afterwards; a constant buzzing in my head, reminding me that I wasn't as "in control" of myself as I wished I could be. He was determined to make me like him, to make me give in.
And I had. Once.
It tore me in so many directions that I questioned whether or not I still existed.
He said it would free me. Becoming what I was always meant to be would free me from the discomfort of trying to keep it at bay. He said I was denying myself true happiness and living. Even though it might seem like a huge mistake, if I gave in to it completely, it would become second nature and wouldn't seem like a mistake anymore. I wanted to bury that side of me. Lock it up in chains and melt the key. I could never become that again. Not after Alex...
Who wants to become a monster?
Frostbitten
Chapter One
I laid my head against the ice-cold window, our car speeding past the town's sign.
"WELCOME TO AMITY PARK! HERE, IT'S SAFE!"
What a load of rubbish.
I continued sulking as I gazed out the window, watching as other cars and buildings sped past, barely listening to the song that was playing on my phone through my earphones.
"Again, why did we move here?" I asked sullenly. We had already been in this town for a few days, but it was a far cry from the warm ocean-side home I was used to. I had a lot to be moody about.
My mother, eyes fixed on the road ahead, answered, "You know why, Nikki."
I sighed and tore my eyes away from the window and leaned back against my seat, glaring.
"I know why we had to move from Savannah, but did we have to move here?"
At that, my mother turned around to face me, an angry look in her eyes.
People say that I looked like my mother, but I couldn't really see the resemblance. My mother had dark golden blonde hair that fell in gentle waves around her face and down her back, even up in a high ponytail like now. Her sapphire-blue eyes reflected the bright sun. Warm, peachy skin was complimented by her white blouse and dark blue denim jacket. Her jeans were distressed and faded from the frequent wear they got. Tucked underneath her jeans she sported her tanned brown boots from our days living in Houston. Even in her casual clothes, she was absolutely stunning.
Me, I had golden brown hair that was determined to be forever rambunctiously curly, no matter how many times I straightened it. Emerald colored eyes that stood out too much for my taste against pale skin that would have put milk to shame. I typically wore the same outfit, since I spent a lot of time on the road. Ash-grey shirt, dark blue jeans that were frayed at the knees, black and white Converse sneakers, and my trademark olive-green bomber jacket with black accents.
People say that I am beautiful too, but compared to my mother, I was grungy and plain. That was okay. I knew that I could never be as beautiful as my mother. Good looks were never going to get a guy to like me – not that I wanted a boyfriend. With my luck, he would have figured out my secret and turn me in. I knew my cynical personality and sarcastic remarks made it hard to figure me out, but don't guys like that?
"Nicola," Mom started, bringing me back from my thoughts. "Because of all of these ghost attacks. If He has heard about all of these hauntings in this town – and I doubt that He hasn't – then He would be smart enough to know to never come here, and that we wouldn't dare hide here. He will emnever/em suspect we're in Amity Park."
At the end of Mom's angry answer, her hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly, her knuckles were turning white, and a noticeable chill hung in the air at the mention of Him. I looked out the window uncomfortably, wincing a bit at the bright sunlight.
Why does it have to be so damn bright?
The rest of the drive continued on in silence, save for me listening to blaring music on my phone with my earphones, just watching the houses pass by in boredom, until one house caught my attention, however.
It was a simple two-storey house, painted red with black accents. On top of the roof was a mangled mess of blinking machinery and metal tubes. The front door opened, and three teens walked out, two boys and one girl.
The first boy had fair skin, disheveled black hair, and icy blue eyes. He wore a white T-shirt with a red oval in the centre, light blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. The other boy was African-American, with striking aqua-coloured eyes, and was wearing a yellow sweater, olive-green cargo shorts with a PDA tucked into a pocket, brown hiking boots, black-framed glasses and a red beret.
The girl of the trio was obviously a Goth, and had short, shiny black hair pulled into a half-up ponytail, amethyst-purple eyes, purple lipstick, heavy black eyeliner, and smoky black eyeshadow. It all stuck out against her pale skin, although her skin was definitely not close to my milky whiteness. She wore a black sleeveless shirt that exposed her midriff with a purple oval in the centre, a black knee-high skirt with a green cross-hatch pattern, purple leggings, black combat boots, a black bracelet on each wrist and a black choker.
They were the oddest trio of friends that I have ever seen, but there was an undeniable positive aura to them. As our car sped past them, I had a feeling in my gut that I would encounter them again.
I wonder if I could become friends with –
No, I thought. You can't get close to people. And especially not after Alex..
I shook my head, clearing it of dark thoughts, and as my mom continued to drive to our new house, my stomach rumbling faintly. No matter what, I was determined to not get attached to this place. When He finds us, it will uproot us and force Mom and I to move again.
And if I became friends with that trio and they found out my secret, well… there would be no need for Him to come to uproot us from our home.
I would have already been chased out of town.
Well… what do you think?
Hate it? Love it? Tell me so in your reviews!
What do you guys think of Nikki so far? In case you guys are wondering, this is not, and I repeat, this is NOT a DannyXOC story. Danny doesn't fall in love with Nikki, and Nikki doesn't fall in love with him. They'll be just friends. If there's any romance in this story, it will be mentions of DannyXSam. That's all.
And Nikki will meet Danny, Sam and Tucker next chapter; I promise!
Thanks to the amazing Aurora Marie Williams for beta'ing this chapter!
See y'all next chapter; please read and review!
GhostWriterGirl out!