Danny Phantom – Vampire heart

Chapter one: Awakening

Deep within the deep and dark realm known as the ghost zone, a lonely ghost flew. He wanted to be evil, he wanted to be a super villain, but he couldn't as no one would take him serious – not even in the human world. As he flew on, he fell upon a huge, stone built castle with creepy gargoyles and high, gothic turrets. The huge, old-fashioned door had a crack in the corner, one just the right size for him to squeeze through. He knew he shouldn't go in, but curiosity got the better of him. The house was lit by candles that seemed to never go down and there was a cold, eerie feel about the place. The castle was the sort of thing that could be expected on a horror movie - he could imagine the portraits on the wall having eyes that followed his every move; the floorboards creaked; a dull sheet of dust lay think upon everything. The ghost soon tired of exploring. Old bedrooms containing ghosts of forgotten memories, libraries containing spell books so old that the master of time wouldn't know about them, flickering lights – there's only so much that one could hope to find in an old, seemably dead house that time simply left behind. At the end of a long corridor was a door with strange symbols written all over it. He slowly turned the handle and opened it, revealing a church-like room with candles and a red carpet, he stepped in and the door slammed shut behind him. Spinning round he grasped the handle, but it was no use – it wouldn't budge. He tried to phase through it with his ghost powers, but couldn't. Turning around to look for an escape, he couldn't help but notice the coffin in the centre of the room. Slowly moving closer, he noticed that there were the same symbols on the coffin's surface as those on the door. There was only a small part of the ancient writing he could understand. 'This mark of death shalt forever contain the darkest creature to ever walk upon this sacred realm.' Being the stupid ghost he was, his first thoughts were to open it, but of course he failed. But he wasn't about to stop there, oh no. Using his unique ghost powers, he managed to get the lid to shudder. "Come…on…" He whispered to himself. "YES!" he yelled in joy as the lid flew off the coffin, but his happiness soon turned to fear when the creature crawled out and stood before him.

"I am the box ghost! FEAR ME! Who are you?" He yelled, trying to act tough.

"I… am free! Allow me to introduce myself…"

Danny Fenton stared daggers at the man sitting across from him at the dining table. "Might I say, Maddie, this was a delicious meal! I must thank you again for inviting me to Daniel's birthday party!" Vlad Masters said smarmily, returning an evil grin at the boy. This was by far the worst birthday he'd had in years. He'd been given 'birthday bumps' by Dash Baxter and the other popular kids. He'd almost been killed by Skulker during the movie that he and his friends went to as a birthday celebration, his parents had given him an anti-ghost gift that if he touched would probably kill him, and to top it all off his arch enemy was dining with his family. Life was great.

"You alright honey? You haven't spoken since Vlad arrived…" His mother said in a concerned tone.

"I'm Fine. Can I be excused?" He interrupted, getting out of his seat.

"But Danny we haven't even…" It was too late; he had already got up and left. The woman gazed at the ghost-designed cake she was about to put candles on and sighed. What was wrong with her son lately? He wasn't eating much, he isolated himself from the ones who loved him most, he even seemed miserable on his special day. She had thought of it as stress from school, teenage hormones. But it was something more, something deeper; he was hiding something from her.

"Maybe I should go and talk to him…" she nervously suggested heading for the door.

"No Maddie, my dear; I think I should talk to him, after all it seems to be me he has issues with." Vlad insisted.

"I'm not so sure that's a good…"

"Marvellous! I'll be back soon!" He interrupted, rushing towards Danny's room before anyone could object.

"Half-human, half-ghost, you say?! That's impossible! If I understand correctly, he is the protector of those pathetic mortals?"

The creature from the coffin asked, or rather demanded an answer from the pathetic ghost before him.

"Yeah, Danny Phantom, he's known by the ghost zone as a 'halfa'…"

"Ghost zone? My realm has become a place for senseless spirits to reside?! Oh things just keep getting better and better. It seems this world has gone dramatically down hill since I was last here… although I am rather curious about this Danny Phantom... I shall now go to the human world!"

"What about me?"

"Are you not but a pathetic, weak and unintelligent ghost? I have no desire for you to remain in my presence."

With that the dark creature left the box ghost alone and unwanted.

Vlad didn't bother knocking, walking straight into Danny's room. It wasn't really any different from any other teenage boy's bedroom; a few band posters on the walls, a bed, school work scattered all over the place, and the boy himself, even though he was the one thing out that was truly of place; didn't really appear much different to any other boy his age. He sat lazily leaning back on his computer chair, legs resting on his desk with his back to Vlad with a cell phone held next to his ear.

"I know Sam, but sometimes I wonder why I even bother…." Sam's reply could faintly be heard, but it was impossible to understand what she was saying to anyone other than the person holding the receiver.

"I'm not the hero you seem to think I am, almost every time I've saved people like Dash's life, I have thought about it. And I still do, maybe I shouldn't bother saving people like him…" He replied in an angered tone, awaiting the girl's reply.

"Are you kidding? The whole town practically hates me." His statement was followed by a pause before Sam's response; although it sounded louder and let's say less soothing than before.

"You know what Sam? Screw the world, screw Amity Park, and screw you!" He yelled, hanging up and almost smashing the cell phone down on the desk. The boy stood up, knocking over his chair and walked towards the window and, after transforming into his alter-ego Danny Phantom, flew through the window and out into the night.

'Don't follow him. Do not follow him. DON'T FOLLOW HIM!' Vlad though to himself, but unfortunately curiosity got the better of him; a rash decision that he would soon regret.

Danny had sensed someone following him a long time ago. It didn't really matter as he wasn't headed anywhere, he just felt like flying to relieve stress. "I know you're following me, either show yourself or get lost!" He yelled, turning around half expecting to see a ghost behind him, but didn't. "I am so not in the mood for this…" he muttered to himself as he turned away. He twirled around church turrets and swooped under bridges, flying both high and low, fast and slow. It was fun; the feeling of wind brushing against his face and through his hair, the feeling of being weightless and soaring through the air. However, all pleasure left when he reached the city centre. Usually it was a busy place even in the evening, swarming with people. Elderly couples happily wondering around hand in hand; boys flirting with girls that are out of their league; and angry parents hustling their children and pushing prams. Instead he was greeted by a scene of ghoulish slaughter. Bodies were thrown on the pavements and roads smeared with blood, cars with their windscreens smashed and elderly couples hand in hand… in death that is. Danny had never experienced this kind of death; ghosts usually preferred to just scare people – or to an extent fire ecto weapons which never really hurt humans, and destroy things such as buildings. This was different, these bodies had been killed individually by something more blood thirsty than a ghost. The boy landed beside a teenage girl who lay on the ground. Her body was thrown carelessly on the road and her arm was at an awkward angle. Her dark hair covered her face and neck. Kneeling beside her, the boy gently moved her hair out of her face – it was Paulina. He always thought girls like her were full time damsels in distress, but also always considered them somewhat invincible. He was wrong. But what scared him more wasn't the fact that the hottest girl in the school was dead, wasn't that he hadn't been there to save these people, but was the bite marks on her neck. She had been bitten; her blood had been drained from her body and consumed by whatever monstrous creature did this. He stood up and stepped back in shock, not able to take his eyes off the corpse before him.

A firm hand rested on his shoulder, Vlad's hand. "W-what did this?" the boy managed to choke out. He looked up to the older half ghost, fear and uncertainly written all over his face. Before he had a chance to reply, Danny suddenly gasped.

"Sam was here… Sam said… Oh my god. SAM!" he shouted worriedly, frantically checking the bodies in search of Sam. His eyes fell upon a small, black object by the gutter with a flashing green light. He quickly picked the object up. It was a cell phone, and it looked like hers. Quickly checking the recent calls list he saw his name, it was definitely Sam's phone. His hands were shaking and his heart felt as though its next beat would break through his chest. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she even still alive?

"I was thinking I'd have to come and find the two famous half ghosts, but it would appear that you found me first." growled a dark voice from behind. Vlad and Danny quickly spun around to see a figure standing in the shadows. "I suppose this just makes things a lot easier." He grinned evilly, stepping into the light. "Allow me to introduce myself, Count Dracula. Oh my, I was expecting a rather more… aged pair of half ghost, though it would appear that you, Phantom, are a mere boy." He growled. The vampire's hair was black and long, tied back with a blood red ribbon. He was wearing an old fashioned suit with a long overcoat. He opened his mouth, huge fangs appearing, and dived for Danny, pinning the boy against the wall and slowly moving his fangs perilously close to his neck. "I'm going to kill you Phantom." The boy struggled to free himself but it was hopeless – the count was too strong. He closed his eyes tightly, preparing for death when all of a sudden Vlad appeared out of no where and punched Dracula in the face catching him off guard and giving the boy enough time to escape the vampire's grip. He edged behind Vlad; he'd fought wolf ghosts, monster ghosts, even evil plants; but never anything like this. This wasn't his usual everyday experience; the devil's children, creatures of the night, bringers of death. He wasn't used to what lurked in the shadows and didn't know what to make of it.

"Seems I under-estimated the two of you, eh? No worries, rest assured that tonight will not be the last time we meet…" He said slyly, before disappearing into the surrounding shadows.

Police sirens could be heard in the distance heading for the murder scene.

"I don't know about you but I'm outta here, they'll point the finger at me if I'm seen around here…" Danny said, backing up and preparing to leave. He didn't want to fly home alone, he didn't feel save. He'd just encountered the nightmare of all nightmares. To think, vampires; Dracula! It was almost as ridiculously crazy as it was horrifyingly scary. What if he was attacked on the way home, even worse what if he was bitten; what if every ounce of his blood was consumed by him… it?

"Good idea, you're parents are probably wondering where we are." Vlad replied, taking flight. The younger half ghost was secretly relieved, he felt safer even with his arch enemy as company right now.