Authors Note: Yes, it's finally here, the sequel to My Life as a Teenage Genius, it's...

The Book of Shadows

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of the characters from the show; any characters not in the show are my invention.

Note: This is the sequel to "My Life as a Teenage Genius" so I suggest reading that first.

It was a quiet morning in Retroville and local boy genius Jimmy Neutron was lying awake in his bed.

The last couple of months for Jimmy had had their ups and downs. First the crazy dean from his former mental hospital had kidnapped him and his two friends Kelly and Nigel. Then he brought them to a penthouse outside of Retroville. Then his parents had brought the ransom money to him. In the final showdown he and Jonathan Sterch, his kidnaper, had had a struggle. Then the biggest horror came when he had accidentally knocked Sterch off the building sending him to his death.

The memory of Sterch's death still haunted Jimmy.

Jimmy got up and went to the bathroom. He surveyed his face in the mirror; he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked much like he did last year when he was too guilty to sleep.

Then suddenly his image in the mirror turned to Sterch's.

Sterch grabbed Jimmy from through the mirror.

" Ha ha ha. Right where I want you now Jimmy." Sterch said.

Jimmy tried to free himself but Sterch held tight.

Sterch tightened his grip on Jimmy's throat.

" I could kill you right now." He said. " I could crush your wind pipe and then you'd be dead. But what fun would that be?"

He dropped Jimmy onto the ground.

" I will make you pay." He said then he disappeared.

Jimmy shot up in bed, breathing deeply.

He tried to calm down but he couldn't.

In the dream Sterch had said he would " Make me pay." But how could he?

Sterch was dead and he was never coming back.

Hadn't he promised to himself that he wouldn't live in the past but now his mind couldn't get off of Sterch, he often thought of the rooftop of the penthouse hotel. He thought of what it might have been like if he hadn't tripped Sterch.

He lied back down and fell asleep.

The next morning Jimmy consoled his feelings with Sora, who lived right near him.

" Jimmy it's probably from guilt." Sora said.

" Maybe but what if it's not." He said. " It didn't feel like a dream. After I woke up I felt like I was just being strangled."

" That's nonsense Jimmy. Sterch is dead."

" You're right, I was probably imagining it."

He walked away waving goodbye.

Later that day Jimmy was walking through town with his friends

Jimmy wasn't listening as Libby droned to them of her newest CD or whether or not that cute boy in her algebra class liked her. He was too busy thinking, that dream of Sterch was haunting him.

There was a little voice whispering in his head " You can not escape me. Light is your only salvation."

" No," Jimmy thought. " No, it was an accident!"

Jimmy was shaken out of his mind by Cindy's voice.

"Jimmy are you okay?"

"I don't know," He said. " I've felt strange lately, I can't figure out why."

"What's been up with you lately Jimmy?" Cindy asked. "After the Sterch incident you've been acting really weird."

"It's hard to explain, I've tried to forget and move on but it seems like no matter how much I try and push it into the back of my mind I can never forget it."

"Jimmy why do you always have to over-exaggerate everything?" Sheen asked.

"I'm not over-exaggerating."

"There you go again."

"Butt out Sheen," Libby said. "Can't you see Jimmy and Cindy are trying to have a conversation?"

"Fine take their side."

"As I was saying," Jimmy stopping any arguments from breaking out. "I'm going through some weird times but I'll be okay."

"You promise?" Cindy asked looking into his eyes.

He leaned down and kissed her softly, mirroring the events back at Silver Lake only reversed. "I promise."

"Aw gross!" Sheen exclaimed.

They continued walking and the conversation switched back to normal. Jimmy's thoughts reverted back to his dream. Could it have been real? Could Sterch possibly be alive in any way, shape, or form? No, he couldn't, spirits didn't exist; they were just made up for kid's stories, there was no other explanation. And yet, somewhere deep down in his mind he doubted this, hadn't weirder stuff happened to him, hadn't it?

That night at home he felt nervous all throughout the day little voices had been whispering in his head, voices he couldn't suppress, voices he couldn't ignore.

"Are you okay honey?" He looked up to see him mom. "You don't look well."

"I'm okay mom, I'm just going through some hard times; you can understand that, right?"

"Are you sure Jimmy? Ever since Sterch died you've been different."

"I don't want to talk about right now."

"I'll let you tell me when you're ready."

"Thanks mom."

He walked upstairs up to his room; he changed and got into bed, unsure if tonight he'd get a halfway decent sleep.

He lied down staring at the ceiling above him; he slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes next the ceiling wasn't visible, he slowly got up looking around him.

The ground was covered in fog; around him the sky was a dark green color. Where was he? He then looked around and he knew where he was.

"No," he said. "Not here."

He was on the roof of penthouse suite outside Retroville where Sterch had fallen to his death.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" The deep, menacing voice filled the void.

Jimmy turned around to see Sterch towering over him, hatred burning in his eyes, a permanent scowl on his face.

"Sterch!"

Sterch picked him up and started walking towards the edge; he was going to drop him off the building this time.

Jimmy tried to kick him in the shins again and free himself, but Sterch was unaffected.

"That won't work this time Jimmy."

He struggled to break free, to do something, anything.

The edge of the building drew closer and closer, he was helpless, he was going to die, and in the morning when his mom came to wake him up his eyes would be glassy, his chest unmoving, his mouth in the form of a scream of terror.

Sterch reached the edge of the building; he started laughing maniacally, his scowl transforming into an insane grin.

"SEE YOU IN HELL!" He exclaimed dropping Jimmy down into the void.

He fell, rows of windows flying by him until all the windows disappeared into nothing but a fog, and then he saw the ground coming, he was going to die, he shut his eyes in fear.

He opened his eyes and saw himself back in his room; everything was the same as it was before he went to sleep, no ghosts, no ghouls, no demons, and no Sterch.

He let out a sigh of relief.