Dead of Night
[EDIT] This is loosely based on the song 'Stars' by Reece Mastin, and I didn't realise that some people haven't heard the song (thanks LissyCreator!) So, if you're interested, check it out on YouTube or whatever, but the only part of the song you really need to know is "The stars remind me of you". I hope this clears things up!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or 'Stars' by Reece Mastin
... did I do that right?
The room was getting steadily darker, almost forcing Danny to look away from the picture stuck crookedly onto the wall. Shadows played with the furniture, throwing distorted black figures over the floor, but the grieving boy couldn't find the will to move away from them. It had been too long; the feeling had left his folded legs hours before, and his neck was frozen in an uncomfortable position.
"Danny?"
Jazz knocked quietly before the door creaked open, revealing her hesitant form. The boy didn't move. His tired eyes surveyed the image before him, wearily taking in every precious detail. The sun was set, the shadows spreading to claim the world as they had already claimed Danny's heart and mind. The picture was darkening, becoming dim and indistinct.
Jazz timidly stepped through the door. Danny flinched, but her presence was just barely registering through his troubled thoughts.
"Are…" she started, anxiously trailing a hand over the smooth doorframe. "Are you okay?"
The boy finally moved. His head twitched down robotically, stiff from hours of staring blankly upwards.
"What do you think?" He sighed.
Jazz wavered uncertainly on her feet and she nervously gnawed on her lower lip. Eventually coming to a decision, she walked over to her broken brother and knelt down beside him.
"This wasn't your fault, Danny," she consoled him, rubbing a hand over his trembling back. A few tears dripped down his face, leaving small damp spots on his jeans and causing Jazz's own eyes to glaze over. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Danny beat her to it.
"Why… What if…" he whispered in a small, trembling voice. His breath hitched violently and he shuddered, arms wrapping around himself as if for protection. "What if I was there? I could… I could've helped."
The tears were flowing constantly now, a strong flow that showed no signs of stopping. Jazz felt herself losing the composure she worked so hard for. She wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort her brother, steal him from this dark corner, away from the thoughts and images that plagued him.
"Don't say that, Danny!" She cried, trying to control the volume of her voice. "Th-that's just the same as-as saying that y-you're responsible! And you're not!" Her words broke off with a loud sob and she collapsed beside her brother. "It was n-no one's fault."
Jazz could feel the trembling in Danny's shoulders increase, but she didn't point that out. For an uncountable amount of time, brother and sister sat together in the darkness, holding each other in a hopeless attempt to heal. The shadows grew longer and darker with each passing minute.
"Jazz?" Came a tiny voice. The girl jumped, startled out of her thoughts. "Jazz? I think… I think I'm starting to forget."
"Forget what?" Jazz sniffled, swiping an arm over her damp face.
"I'm forgetting… everything," Danny clarified, though it scarcely made any sense to the mournful girl. "Everything good."
The silence was complete, an almost tangible being that smothered all sounds. Even the police sirens and drunken fights were unable to pierce the sombre mood, unable to make an impression.
"I…" Jazz admitted in a whisper. "I'm starting to forget, too. But being… staring at that photo will only make things worse."
"How? How could it get any worse than it already is?"
To this, she couldn't respond right away. Danny went back to studying the picture, his face flushed and eyes red, but hidden in the merciful darkness.
Finally, Jazz found the answer. "You still have this."
Gently grasping his unresisting hand, she pulled him over to the window. He moved painfully; each step caused his legs to shake and his face to screw up in discomfort. Despite the effort, Jazz could see that it was not in vain.
DPDPDPDP
The air was freezing, but the dangerously low temperature didn't harm the ghost standing out in the open, at the mercy of the frigid Antarctic winds. The girl with him, however, was wrapped up in layers of thick, black clothing. Her hands were bare, but she displayed no signs of being cold as she gently placed a small object into Danny's gloved hand.
"Its… the ring you were going to give Valerie," Sam said, nervously looking up. "You asked me to hold it, remember?" She reached over and turned the ring over, so that the engraving was visible. It read 'Sam'. "Something tells me it was really meant for me."
Danny stared at it without emotion, wondering how she would react to what he wanted to say, and if he would be able to say it. He was broken out of his daze when Sam continued to speak, her words sad but hopeful at the same time.
"Take it with you… but promise to bring it back," she suddenly reached out and grabbed Danny's hand with both of hers, closing his fingers over the important item. "If you promise then… then I know I'll see you again."
DPDPDPDP
"I remember," Danny whispered happily, eyes glistening at he gazed out at the multitudes of stars flickering across the night sky. Bright sparks against the dark blue backdrop of space. "I wanted to go there."
He turned to face his sister. "She was going to help me."
"Yes," Jazz agreed. Her face was wet, but she paid no attention to that. "All those tests, the homework…"
Danny chuckled humourlessly. "Didn't help me much, did it? I mean, how many times did I still get detention!"
"Yeah," the girl murmured, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the stars and knew that Danny wouldn't be able to either. "You can still become an astronaut, you know. If you really try."
There was no reply, both were content to simply enjoy each other's company and allow the stars to remind them.
DPDPDPDP
"Danny?" Sam asked. Her voice filtering through the phone sounded fake, not at all how he remembered, but that might have been a resulting glitch from whatever new invention had just been created.
"Yeah?" Danny replied, falling back onto his bed with a large grin. He hadn't heard from his girlfriend in days. "I miss you. How long's it been now?"
Her answer was quiet, sad. "A week."
"That's a week too long."
"Yeah."
Danny paused, grin slipping. She had never talked to him like this before- as if she didn't… care.
"Sam?" He sat up and looked at the photo on his wall, an image of Sam smiling, her face alight with joy as a grinning Danny playfully threatened the cameraman. "What's wrong?"
His grin faded completely as he heard what she had to say. The phone fell out of his hand and onto the floor. But that didn't matter- the conversation was over.
Slowly, with tears clouding his vision, Danny stood and walked closer to the picture on his wall. He stared at it, examining every intricate detail, then reached up and angrily tore it down.
It's over.
DPDPDPDP
Danny's breathing stopped for a moment. That was something he could have lived without remembering; it was the moment his world began to crumble, the moment that Sam broke up with him.
But the stars made it so much easier. They comforted him, made him realise that there were bigger, more important things for the universe to worry about. He was insignificant- with or without Sam.
"Danny?" Jazz whispered. "Are you feeling better now?"
"I will," Danny was finally able to look away from the view ahead of him, though it was much harder than he thought it would be. The stars were more beautiful than ever, because they reminded him of Sam. "I just have one last thing I have to do."
Slowly, with each step draining him of more and more energy, Danny stumbled over to the wall and pressed close up against the picture. Sam and her parents, all of the faces scribbled out with deep, black lines, stood in front of the Manson's family plane. Danny had received the photo just before the phone call from Sam… only two days before the last phone call…
The one before the accident.
Again glancing back out the window, past Jazz leaning against the wall, Danny remembered the details of the tragedy he had been trying to recall the whole day.
DPDPDPDP
A phone rang somewhere downstairs, its shrill warning doing nothing to help Danny's headache.
"Jazz!" he yelled irritably, burying his head deeper into his pillow. "Get the phone, will ya?"
It was answered mid-ring. There was a short amount of time where Danny could hear nothing but his own breathing, amplified in the small space. Then came a hesitant knock on his door.
Jazz let herself in cautiously, carefully peeking through the gap. Danny sat up, his brow crinkling and eyes wide in question.
"Who is it?" He asked.
She looked at him, nervously wetting her lips. "It's... Sam."
"Tell her I don't want to talk," he requested, falling back onto the bed with a frown.
"I can't do that," Jazz protested, concern clear in her voice. "She's asking for you."
Danny wavered uncertainly. He didn't feel ready to talk to her again, but, on the other hand, it wouldn't be right to ignore her. Maybe she was calling to say sorry, to say that she wanted him back. He sighed, then held out a hand to receive the phone. Jazz gave it to him gently, as if unsure.
"Sam?"
There was a long pause, in which Danny thought she had hung up, but her quiet voice eventually reached his ears. "I'm coming back. Can I... can I see you?"
"You're coming back? Here?" Danny asked disbelievingly. His voice grew hard, unforgiving. "Why?"
"I want to see you," Sam told him, her voice breaking and getting smaller with each word. "I miss you."
"Yeah?" He questioned harshly. "I thought you said we wouldn't work."
"Danny!" Jazz gasped. She glared at him. "Be nice- she's trying to apologize."
Danny paused, lifting the phone away from his ear to stare at it. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah," Sam replied. "She's right. I want- I would really like it if we could... be friends again."
"Just friends? Nothing more?"
"Just friends."
Danny blinked away the tears that threatened to spill and gestured for Jazz to leave. "We can try, but... can you please tell me something?"
"Of course! Anything!" The relief in Sam's voice was clear, making the empty pit in Danny's stomach grow larger. He didn't want to do this to her, but it was important for him to know.
"Why? Why did you break up with me? Did I do something wrong?"
"No! You did nothing wrong, I swear," she objected. "It just... wasn't right. I wasn't..."
Danny waited for her to continue, but she said nothing more.
"I don't understand," he murmured, all emotion eradicated through sheer force of will. "But I'll... we'll see how it goes, I guess."
"Thank you," Sam breathed softly.
'At least she's happy,' Danny thought rubbing his sore eyes.
DPDPDPDP
"I never heard from her again," he murmured softly, gently tracing a finger over the black mark that hid her face.
Jazz spoke from the window, still entranced by the twinkling sparks that lit up the night sky. "It was just bad luck. You had nothing to do with it."
"But I should have," Danny sighed, wearily leaning against the wall. He stayed in that position for a few seconds, then pulled away.
"You know what?" He asked, determination radiating off of him in waves. Jazz look at him slowly, startled by the sudden change in mood. "I'm going to find her."
"Danny," his sister groaned. "You know they're missing. When I came in here, it was to help you get ov- feel better. I didn't mean for you to go looking for her. It'll just make it worse for you... for everyone."
"Not if I find her," he carefully reached up and unstuck the photo, placing it in his pocket. "And I will."
Jazz whipped around in alarm. "No, Danny, this is a bad idea. Please just let the authorities handle it."
She sprinted across the room and grabbed her brother's wrist tightly, causing him to gasp in pain and surprise. He glared at her half-heartedly, before delicately removing her hand.
"Thank you, Jazz," his confident smile did little to comfort her. "I'll see you again soon. With Sam."
There was a flash of light and Phantom flew off into the night, leaving his sister to sob uncontrollably in his bedroom.
DPDPDPDP
The ground passed underneath him in a dark blur, only the bright lights of passing towns and isolated houses to break up the pattern. Ahead of him was a large, black expanse of water. Sam was somewhere in there, he knew it. And he would find her.
The sea was approaching rapidly. Waves were becoming visible, the pale foam continually washing up against the shore. The sand shone dimly in the moonlight, but Danny paid no attention to the beauty. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the stars before him, following them to Sam.
He flew for what seemed like hours, but the night was still as dark as ever. The water was getting closer and closer to Danny, until he was almost touching it. At that moment, he stopped, hovering above the distorted surface of the ocean. His eyes and the glow from his body illuminated the water, but it was the thousands of millions of stars that had recaptured his attention. They floated serenely over the waves, dancing to a song only they could hear.
"Sam?" Danny asked quietly of the stars. "Where is she?"
They didn't reply, and Danny felt tears once again fill his eyes. They dropped into the ocean, little drops of luminous liquid, shining almost as bright as the stars for which they were shed. The ghost boy rolled onto his back, watching as the sky replaced water, as if he were surrounded on both sides by the tiny, glistening sparks.
He clenched his eyes shut, blocking out the sight that gave him so much pain.
"Danny..."
The ghost boy quickly shot up, away from the water and the voice that had come from it. Tentatively, he floated back down.
"Sam?" He asked the waves. "Is that you?"
The water rippled, bending and twisting the stars into a new shape. The gleaming face smiled up at Danny, who stared back with longing filling his pained expression.
"Sam," he whispered, more glowing tears landing on her cheek, and running down as if she were really there. "I miss you... I miss you so much..."
"I miss you too, Danny," she said back, her voice trembling. "My parents have already gone- I was so lonely."
"I'm here now," the ghost boy smiled. "As your friend, just like you wanted."
The stars matched his smile. "No," they murmured. "More than that. We've always been more than that.
"Join me, Danny," the stars whispered. "Join us. You'll never forget her, and she'll never forget you."
His eyes widened, lips curving even further upwards. "Never?"
"Never."
"But..." Danny frowned. His actions felt fake, his mind distant. "But I'm already forgetting... something."
Sam's face morphed into Tucker's, then Jazz's, then each of Danny's parents in turn.
"Your friends?" The stars asked, shifting back to Sam's image. "Your family? They all end up the same. Join us now, and you can welcome them."
An icy cold shock ran through Danny as the tips of his fingers hit the water. The stars moved to form a glowing hand which gently grasped his own. He gasped as he felt the warmth emanating from the shining fingers.
Danny slowly slipped beneath the surface. Sam's glowing form beckoned him, drawing him further and further down.
"Let go, Danny," she said as they both sank. Colours began to stain the stars that made her; purples, blacks and whites replacing the silvery gold that had existed before. "We don't need the stars anymore. Everything is right- they reminded you."
Danny nodded and let his ghost form go. The water and lack of air instantly attacked him, but Sam was there to help, rubbing a warm hand over his back like Jazz had done earlier. Bubbles floated upwards towards the surface, but as Danny's life slipped away, he found himself less anxious to follow them.
Strand by strand, his black hair drained of colour and began to glow. His clothes shifted and changed into the jumpsuit that was so familiar. Finally, he opened his eyes. They glowed green and clear with happiness. Sam looked at him sadly, memories overwhelming them both.
"Nothing has changed," she whispered, looking down at the darkness below them.
Danny lifted her chin until they were looking directly into each other's eyes. Small sparks, the reflections of stars that had somehow sunk below the surface, shone around them, dancing through the water.
"But everything is different," Danny told her. The stars came closer, until both ghosts were covered in the tiny lights. "And maybe that's a good thing... because now we're together."
Sam studied him closely, then a large grin spread over her features. "Do you still want to be an astronaut?"
With joy on their faces and lights in their eyes, they shot straight out of the water and up into the night.
AN:
Hey! pale-blue11 here!
This is for my friend Gabby :) We always listen to music at her house, and then this song came on! 'Stars' by Reece Mastin. This story is based off of that.
So thanks to deborahpflover and Gabby for proof-reading this :) You're both awesome friends!
Please review, favourite and/or follow this story! Tell me what you think- good or bad :) All reviews make me happy coz you took the time to write something! I'll reply to all reviews :) (except guest. Sorry, guys)
Have a nice day!
pale-blue11