Hey everyone! I'm pretty new to writing on fanfiction. First published fic *WOOHOO*! No flames PLEASE! Constructive criticism is always welcome, though. I'm always open to new ideas!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or anything else I mention that I does not belong to me.
"Sammykins!" Oh, how I despised that name. My real name is Sam Manson. Yes, it's short for Samantha, but if you call me anything other than Sam, you will suffer a horrible, grotesque death. The only people exempt from that rule is my family, solely for the reason that you can't kill your own family. The obnoxious woman who was calling me before is (sadly) my mother. I swear I was born into the wrong family. Other than my grandmother no one understands my gothic attitude. I hate almost every aspect of my family other than Grandma and my last name, because it can be associated with many dark, creepy, and disturbing Gothic things (Marilyn Manson, Manson Murders, and stuff like that, much to my parents' dismay).
"Sammykins! We have some exciting news!" Mom shouted again. There was no way I was leaving the purple and black Gothic haven of my old room for news I probably wouldn't appreciate anyway. I had graduated college three weeks ago and had a job and apartment of my own. I had to stay with my parents in Wisconsin while my house was being fumigated. (I didn't say I had a good job or a nice apartment). I had gotten a call from the fumigators that morning, and was packing to go back home.
"Samantha Manson," she was relentless, "you get down here this instant!" Five minutes later, there were a series of rapid knocks on the door.
"Sam! I have been calling you for ten minutes!" I heard through the mahogany door.
"Actually, you were calling Sammykins and Samantha. You weren't calling me." I retorted. She rolled her eyes at my sarcasm and grabbed my wrist pulling me down the stairs and into the enormous living room, where my father, sister, and grandma were waiting, along with a silvery-white-haired man with a goatee and a blue-eyed, black-haired boy about my age who was seated next to him. Both unfamiliar men stood as I entered the room. The older one offered his hand first.
"It is absolutely wonderful to finally meet you Samantha. I am Vlad Masters and this is my son Daniel." Daniel showed a small smile and sat back down, followed by his father.
"It's very nice to meet you. And please, call me Sam." I responded politely. I noticed something off about Daniel. His movements were robotic and his eyes were cold. It seemed that eyes that blue should be twinkling somehow, even if he was bored out of his mind.
"Sam, we have an announcement to make." Mother spoke excitedly. Grandma, who sat beside me, squeezed my arm
"Remember to stay calm, Sam." Grandma advised me under her breath.
"We've been discussing this with Mr. Masters for months. You and Daniel are getting married, joining two of the most powerful families and business empires!" I was silent for a moment, taking my mother's announcement in.
"That's very… interesting." I said through clenched teeth, glaring venomously at my parents, who were smiling sickeningly at me.
"Yes, dear Samantha," said Vlad, "it is interesting. It will be the event of the century! Bigger than even the royal wedding!"
"I am an independent, 21-year-old woman! You can't tell me who to marry!" I completely disregarded Gran's advice.
"Now Sammy-"
"If you end that nickname, I swear… If you'll excuse me, I need to go back home." I rushed out of the room and to my car before either of my parents could catch me. I jammed the key into the ignition and pressed the gas pedal, racing down the long stretch of driveway.
They're off the beam if they even thought that I'd let them marry me off willingly. I muttered obscenities to myself the whole ride home to Amity. Thinking about Amity Park made me feel a lot better. I haven't really made any friends other than the one I already had. Valerie was my roommate in college and she persuaded me to move back to Amity with her. Considering what I would have to deal with at home, I said yes in a heartbeat. I got home to the apartment I shared with Valerie to see that she had already returned.
"Val? Where are you? I need to talk to you now." I yelled.
"Hey! Welcome back! How was your parents' house?" Valerie asked with a smile.
"Awful. I hate them. I'm never going back there." I told her. "Now they're trying to marry me off! Can you believe it? I am a 21-year-old woman!"
"Who's the guy?" She inquired further.
"His name is Daniel Masters. He's the son of Vlad Masters, the emperor of the business world. He has more money than the queen. If both he and Bill Gates were dinosaurs, Vlad would be the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Bill Gates would be one of those little dinosaurs that made up the T-Rex's diet. I'm not going to lie, though, his son is really good looking, but I can't help but notice something off about him." Val raised her eyebrow, yet said nothing.
I studied her gaze at me. She must have thought I was going insane for passing up marrying into the richest family on earth.
"You know, Vlad Masters is also-" My cell began to ring in the middle of Val's statement.
"Sam, you need to come into work now. We're short of employees and we're unbelievably busy. We need another cashier." Jeffrey, the manager, sounded breathless.
"I'll be right there, Jeff." I snapped my phone shut. "Sorry, Val. I gotta go into work. Tell me when I get home, okay?"
"Alright, Sam. See you later."
I needed some fresh air, so I skipped driving and walked to the Nasty Burger, the local burger joint in Amity Park. I hated this job almost as much as I hated my parents, but it was the only thing I had until I could find an actual job.
Jeff wasn't lying. Nasty Burger was absurdly busy tonight. I was a whiz with the cash register, so things went by quickly. It was closing time and Jeff entrusted me with locking up the Nasty Burger. I was cleaning the counter and doing a few last minute things in the kitchen when I heard the bell on the door jingle, signaling a customer.
"Is this place still open?" A male voice shouted from up front.
"Yeah! I'll be up in a second!" I replied in what I called my "Nasty Burger" voice: the voice I used to talk to customers. If I used my normal voice, which was naturally laced with sarcasm and indifference, I would drive customers away. I painted a smile on my face and returned to the counter. I looked up at the customer and saw the face of someone I wished I wouldn't have to see again.
"So you're following me now?" I asked dangerously and glared. The boy looked around, searching to see if there was any other person in the restaurant I could possibly be talking to.
"Yes, I'm talking to you." I sneered, crossing my arms.
"Okay, I don't think you're going to get any more customers if you talk to them like that." Daniel said, his blue eyes sparking with a mixture of anger and confusion.
"Oh, come on. My explosion at my parent's house wasn't enough of a hint?" I seethed.
"Look. I have never met you before in my entire life. I'm sorry for whatever I did that freaked you out, but right now I'd really love a Double Nasty Burger with extra Nasty Sauce!"
I glared intensely into his eyes and he returned my intensely angry gaze. His eyes. I realized. Daniel's blue eyes were lifeless and dull. But this boy's eyes were full of emotion and life, despite the identical coloring.
"You're not him." I whispered, mostly to myself.
"No kidding…" He replied with a slight chuckle.
"I am SO sorry…"
"Danny. My name is Danny. And it's okay." He smiled. Sure, he wasn't the same person, but he had the same name? This was getting creepy.
"I'll get your burger right away. Is it for here or to go?" I started to head toward the grill where I could make a quick Double Nasty Burger for Danny.
"Here. Just so you can tell me all about why you flipped out at me before." He said with a smirk. Was he… flirting? I grilled up his burger quickly, not forgetting the extra Nasty Sauce he ordered. I turned off the grill and all the other machines in the back and left the kitchen.
"Your order, sir." I delivered it to his table and sat down. "It was unbelievably busy tonight." I sighed, leaning back in the booth.
"Wow. So… care to explain your freak-out before?" he asked.
"I come from a really… well-off… family. They were trying to force me into a marriage to a guy with a very wealthy and influential father. So I yelled at my parents and left. I can decide who I want to marry on my own. Now this is the creepy part. The guy they wanted me to marry also looks exactly like you do. What's weirder: you both have the same name." Danny's eyes widened. "Yeah, I know. I knew it weren't him because…" I trailed off.
"Why?"
"It's kind of stupid." I blushed.
"Tell me!" he pressed.
"Okay, okay! It was your eyes, alright? You both have the same exact eye color, but his eyes were lifeless and dull and yours are bright and full of emotion, if that makes any sense to you." I explained sheepishly. He smiled at me.
"No, it makes perfect sense. That's really sweet." He told me after finishing up his burger.
"I gotta lock up. How was your burger?"
"Best I ever had." He was surprisingly nice considering our fight earlier.
"Why, thank you!" I laughed. "So I'll see you around sometime?" I asked as I locked the door.
"Sure thing. I didn't catch your name." he realized.
"Sam Manson." I smiled and we walked in opposite directions. I hadn't moved three feet when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Actually… do you want me to walk you home?" he asked me, his eyes full of concern. I nodded. Normally I would have said no. I don't like being babied because I know can handle myself. It's one of the main reasons I wear combat boots. But there was something about Danny that made me feel safer than I would have alone.
As we walked, we laughed at different things like Nasty Burger, my experience in Amity Park so far, and our families. I learned that his parents were ghost hunters and made crazy inventions every day. He also told me about his sister, a therapist, who was nosy and peppy, but always had his back. I described my family: my parents were overbearing and my sister and my grandma were the only normal ones. I'd trade my parents for his any day. We reached a quiet moment in our walk about halfway through. A white limousine sped past suddenly.
"Ugh, really? Who the heck in this town owns a limousine? Limos are for the obnoxious (i.e. my parents)." I hated the reminder of my parents.
"Probably the mayor." Danny spat. Obviously he didn't like the mayor too much.
"What's your problem with the mayor?"
"Don't want to talk about it." I left it at that. I tried to take his mind off Mayor Mystery by talking about other things.
"So what do you do?"
"I study astronomy. Someday, I want to be an astronaut. I have a busy life, though. I usually help my parents with their experiments. Between you and me, I do a little ghost hunting on my own."
"That's really interesting. Maybe I could help out sometime. You know, it would really prove me as a Goth to work with actual ghosts."
"I suppose it would." He chuckled.
"Well, this is my stop." I said, standing in front of my apartment building. I took out a scrap of paper and scribbled my telephone number on it. "Call or text anytime. Thanks for walking me home, Danny." He returned my smile.
"I will." He assured me and began walking away, leaving me standing at the door. I pulled on the handle only to have the door remain closed. Where in the world is the doorman? I dialed my cell phone and Val picked up. "Hello?"
"Val, I'm locked out of the building and the doorman isn't here. I need serious assistance."
"Ok I'm at the store right now, but I'm almost done shopping. I even got those little gummy bats you like!"
"Thanks so much Val!" I snapped my phone shut after I said the words.
"Samantha Manson? Is that you?" I heard a voice from behind me. I turned slowly and saw the white limo that drove past Danny and me on our walk. The window, which was opened a crack, lowered further to reveal the face of Vlad Masters. Of course my day just had to get worse.
"Uh, hi, Mr. Masters. I apologize for my little 'episode' back at my parents' house earlier, but–"
"Think nothing of it, dear Samantha. Pre-wedding jitters are incredibly common, especially in arranged marriages." He informed me, as if the wedding was still going to happen. He still thought I was going through with this.
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Mr. Masters, but it appears as if you believe I'm going to go through with this." My voice was laced with a little more venom.
"Of course you are," his voice was more threatening this time. "Your parents and I have been working for months on this and Daniel is also looking forward to it. Why would you want to let all of us down Samantha?" Ah, so he was trying the guilt treatment…
"Because I'm an independent woman who doesn't need her husband handpicked for her. Wait a minute… why are you even here?" I retorted, losing more politeness.
"I am the mayor of this town, my dear, and tomorrow, at noon, I'll be announcing your betrothal to my son," he chuckled sinisterly, "to the entire world and return you to your parents afterward."
"Over my dead body!"
"We'll see." said Vlad as he rolled up his window and drove off in his stupid, white limo. With his last two words, shivers ran up my spine.
So... lots of information in the first chap!
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Till next time,
TheNumberFour