Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Annie…but there might be more OC's in the later chapters.
Sadly, the eighteen year-old girl watched as the credits to her favorite show rolled onto the screen, they were followed by an announcement that sent millions of kids across the nation into shock.
"Don't miss the final episode, the conclusion of the Danny Phantom series. Friday at nine…" Annie read off the screen, her face dropping into a frown. "So they finally finished it up." There had been rumors that the five-year-running series was going off the air soon, but she had always considered them to be false.
The girl turned off the TV and headed down the hall to her room and got online to check her mail. Annie deleted her Spam and started surfing the web, accessing a few chat rooms, including a French one to brush up for the upcoming Community College class.
IkldPrrpldnsr: Salut, Je suis Americanne, travaile sur moi frainçaise. (Hi, I'm from America, working on my French.)
BéteChien: Salut, Je m'appelle Jacques. Je suis Français (Hi, I'm Jack. I'm French)
Plasmidhntr: Bonjour enfant. (Hello Child)
IkldPrrpldnsr: Hein! Je ne suis pas une enfant! J'ai dix-huit! (Hey! I'm not a child! I'm eighteen!)
Plasmidhntr: Pardon et moi Sarcasme intentionnel (Excuse me sarcasm intended)
IkldPrrpldnsr: Vous etes trés agaçant! (You are very annoying.)
Plasmidhntr: Peur moi, enfant. (Fear me, child.)
Plasmidhntr: -abbatre éteint á 5:56 p.m.- (logged off at 5:56 p.m.)
Annie raised an eyebrow at the strange post and logged off, she had to remember never to give her name out to the weirdoes who submersed themselves in chat rooms. With a sigh, she slid off her wooden chair onto the floor and stared at the ceiling with a bored, lethargic expression.
"Life is dull, and they're pulling the plug on Danny Phantom," she whispered to herself, then reached one hand up to the sky, reaching towards the white fan with no hopes of touching it. "Of course it kind of figures, the show started in the high school, but then they graduated and will divide go to college. At least they told us and didn't just cut it from the air without warning."
Her hand gripped the still air and she brought it back down to her side with a flourish; Annie might not have seemed like much, but beneath her blank outside, she was bursting with energy. Thoughts ran through her mind and were dismissed or considered in seconds, she would sometimes pull a few through to her consciousness and debate the answer between herself. Today the subject was: are ghosts real?
One side pulled to a definite yes and the other remained undecided. 'If ghosts exist, why haven't I seen one?'
'Because my life is boring a dull and the chances of me actually doing anything exciting is at about a zero.'
'Yes, but what about how they can go through anything and still have shape, form, and thought?'
Annie's first side seemed to squirm, making her right hand twitch slightly, 'Because they're ghosts! Untapped sources of energy and created spontaneously when a person dies with unspent mental energy.'
'What about Danny Phantom…how is he half a ghost?'
'Oh come on, everyone knows there's no such thing as a halfa.'
With those thoughts dealt with, Annie stowed away the conversation and began to meditate, bringing the flow of thoughts to an abrupt halt as she chased away all ideas from her mind.
But there was still one.
'The annoying French guy…calm…peace…tranquility…what a nerve! Calm…peace…tranquility…and I thought that I had a sarcastic mouth! Calm…peace …tranquility.' As another unwelcome thought bounced up, Annie realized that to meditate right now was nearly impossible, and she opened her eyes to see a very strange thing on her computer.
Her original Danny Phantom desktop background had been replaced with a Vlad Plasmius one. Annie raised an eyebrow and another strange thought came to her mind. What if that Plasmidhntr had been…no, that was impossible. He was a cartoon character, that French guy had probably been someone who also liked her favorite TV show.
As the shouted words of "DINNER," floated out to her room, Annie clicked yet again on her computer to see if she had any more e-mail. She groaned as thirty messages appeared on the screen, closed the program, and headed back to the dining room.
Now that her stomach was partially filled with spaghetti and spinach, Annie felt ready to conquer the thirty entries of mindless spam. She cracked her neck and back and deleted message after message, finding only one addressed to her. The sender was listed as a "Silver Genius."
She opened the message and read it:
Bonjour enfant.
Immédiatement, si vous allez un IQ plus que le singe sa, vous allez comprendre qui ce être. Je trouve il amusant que vous etes coulant en français, je pouvois utilisation une trise. Puisque c'est, je préférerais aime être goût plus sur vous devant je offrai vous un emploi, quel vouloir inclure acceptation á la université de ton choicons et voyage occasion.
Répondrez s'il vous plaît á cette adresse: (the A symbol isnt working)
She scanned over the message again, translating it in her mind to English:
Hello child.
Right now, if you have an IQ more than that of a monkey, you have realized who this is. I find it amusing that you are fluent in French, and I could use a translator. As it is, I would like to know more about you before offering you a job, which would include benefits like acceptance to a university of your choice and travel opportunities.
Please reply to this address:
"This could be a good opportunity," Annie's mind whispered at the same time her other half told her she just wasn't ready. She left the message open and left her room for the outdoors to jog.
When she returned, sweaty and panting, the message was still up and she typed a brief response, which translated, would come to the English equivalent of:
Silver Genius,
I am interested in your offer, but I would like much more information about it before taking. Where would this be located? What kind of things would you need me to translate, etc.
Sincerely yours,
Annie
She debated for a while as whether to actually type her name at the bottom, but figured that hers was such a common name that he wouldn't be able to figure out much more about her with that small piece of information. Annie read over the note once again before sending it out into the vast Internet.
Over the next few weeks, Annie learned a lot about her would-be future employer; his name was Vlad Silvers, he lived in Quebec, Canada, and was interested in getting a translator for his trade business. Although she hadn't planned on going into a language field, the girl had to admit to herself that this was a golden opportunity.
As Vlad pressed her more and more for an acceptance, she also got much more nervous. Why didn't he just hire a qualified translator, someone with experience? And yet she wanted to travel, to get out and see the world and finally go to the college of her choice.
And so, three weeks past the finale of Danny Phantom, Annie typed an e-mail saying that she would accept his job, and went to bed, still unsure that she had made the right choice.
The next morning, Annie woke in her same bed; in the same covers she had had since ninth grade, and flipped on her bedside light. Her computer was still on, and she quickly answered her e-mail to find a message from Vlad Silvers. It's English equivalent was:
Annie,
Thank you for accepting my offer, at the bottom of this screen, you will see a small green box, please press your right index finger on it and say "Portal."
Surprised by the short letter and instructions, Annie let out a growl, which was partially induced by the lack of caffeine. She scrolled down to the bottom and saw a small box, a square of green about one inch tall.
Annie rolled her eyes and lifted up her right pointer finger to the screen, then, in a doubtful voice, muttered, "Portal." She jumped as a small shock bit at her finger and tried to pull away, but found she could not. Then, slowly, her finger began to disappear into the computer; as she began to lose the sensation in her finger and hand, she reached back and braced herself against the computer table in an attempt to pull her finger out, but instead found she was only being sucked in at a faster rate.
The computer grew nearer to her head, and Annie let out a yelp just before the screen swallowed her. Now she could feel her arm, though it felt like a rubber band that had been stretched beyond its limit. Her whole body was now inside the computer and she felt like she was in a wind tunnel.
Then the sensations stopped, and the girl felt like she was being projected out of a closed waterslide; Annie saw light and was suddenly lying on a carpeted floor. Her head swam and she groaned.
"Well, look who's awake." Annie looked up and saw a rather handsome man sitting on a well-padded chair; his long silver hair was tied back into a ponytail, and he was dressed in a black suit. "It's nice to meet you…Annie."
"Vlad Silvers?"
"Why yes…though here, people tend to call me Vlad Masters."
Annie stood up, using a sturdy metal chair behind her for support, "How'd I get here?"
"The magic of the internet," he answered with a sly grin that madeher become immediately suspicious.
"And why are you speaking English?"
"Let me show you to your room, you'll be staying near the labs. I've made sure that you'll have everything that you would need," he walked away, and Annie stared at his retreating figure before following him down the long winding corridors.
'This must be some kind of mansion,' Annie thought, wondering why in the world someone would need this many rooms, at the same time she was very suspicious. Why would someone who could speak both French and English need a translator who spoke both of the same languages?
As the pair passed a large room, Annie stopped for a second to peer through the crack in the doorway and saw something she had only dreamed of. Something large and green and swirling, something she'd only seen projected from her television and in her dreams.
It was a Ghost Portal.
Please review people…the second chapter will be up early Thursday, Eastern Time. More will be explained then. As for the addresses, I dunno, something about them screwed up the document, so I left them out...K?