Ch. 1

I spent my high school career,

Spit on and shoved to agree,

So I could watch all my heroes,

sell a car on TV,

Bring out the old guillotine,

We'll show 'em what we all mean.

~Disenchanted; by My Chemical Romance

I have been living with the Fentons for almost a year. It was Danny who brought me home, telling his parents I didn't have a place to stay. I'm a runaway—I had spent most of my life with a single father I didn't really get along with. What about my mother? She left when I was very little, only leaving behind a golden locket and her wedding ring. Apparently, my parents' marriage didn't even make it to four years. I was too young to remember it.

By the time I had turned fourteen, I had grown tired of how I was being treated by my father and ran away. I knew for a fact he was searching for me the moment he figured out I was gone. I'm positive he even sent whatever Ghostly goons he could find from the Ghost Zone to hunt me down. Yeah—my father has connections with Ghosts. Seems impossible, but it is true. My father's Vlad Masters, half-Human/half-Ghost, billionaire, and thrives on the idea of getting back some woman from his college days. I'm positive that even during the time he was married to my mother, he was still secretly obsessing over the other woman.

That other woman turned out to be Maddie Fenton, mother of my friend, Danny. Maddie had steadily become something of a surrogate mother to me. Since I hardly remember my own mother, it felt like Maddie filled in whatever emptiness I had over my mother's abandonment. But the one thing that stood out to me was Maddie's dedication to fighting Ghosts alongside her husband, Jack. They even built their own Ghost Portal in their lab!

Maddie and Jack were so different compared to Vlad. They were fun, eccentric, a little weird, but supportive! Vlad's only motives were to figure out how to win Maddie over and to make himself richer. He only paid attention to me when he was in desperate need of my assistance. I had gained some of Vlad's Ghostly powers, but he decided that since my mother was fully Human and he was only half-Ghost, he'd have to do a little more to make sure I could actually transform into a Ghost! Before, I could turn invisible and obtained intangibility. Because of my father's. . . .experiments, I did obtain the ability to transform into a Ghost, and that was also the main reason I ran away from home. The idea that my father was undoubtedly OK with experimenting on his own daughter for his own gain made me furious!

I'm sorry for the ranting. Once I get started, it's hard for me to stop.

Anyway, I'm Jaimie Masters. I've been living with the Fentons for almost a year. I guess I would be considered half-Ghost, after what my father did to me. No one knows about that, though. At least, until after Danny had his little mishap with the Fenton Portal. But only Danny, Tucker, and Sam know about it. With Danny's parents being Ghost hunters, it's kinda impossible to find the nerve to tell them.

1 Month After Danny's Accident

"So, Danny, Lulu, you and your little friends wanna hunt Ghosts!" Jack exclaimed proudly. Jack had gathered Danny, Tucker, Sam, and I into the lab so he could talk about the importance of Ghost hunting. Despite Danny—though accidentally—getting the Fenton Portal to turn on, there was still very little understanding on how it could work. Danny and I had our fill on fighting a small number of escaped Ghosts from time to time, but that was rare. The Portal was kept closed most of the time.

"Actually, Dad, I wanna be an astronaut," Danny stuttered.

"I'm hoping to be a musician," I murmured.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fenton, I was into Ghosts," Sam sighed, "but they're so mainstream now. They're like cell phones."

"Waste these looks and all this charisma hunting Ghosts?" Tucker exclaimed. "Criminal."

"Well if you do wanna hunt Ghosts, there're a few things you need to learn. . . ." Jack turned and started rummaging through his stuff. I felt a shiver run up my spine right as Danny stiffened in his seat. The Portal opened and two octopus Ghosts came out.

"Oh no, this isn't good!" Danny muttered.

The octopus Ghosts grabbed Tucker and Sam, with Jack being unaware, still talking like everything was normal. Danny and I quickly transformed, beating the octopus Ghosts and getting Sam and Tucker safely back to where they were before.

Quickly transforming back into our Human selves, Danny and I stood behind where Sam and Tucker were, out of breath.

". . . .that is the Fenton Portal," Jack went on, still oblivious to what just happened. "It releases Ghosts into our world, whether I want it to or not. Someday, I'll figure out how that works, too! So, who wants to hunt some Ghosts?!"

Sam and Tucker were still trying to get over the earlier scare, Danny and I still hadn't caught our breath.

"You kids—look at you! You're too excited to speak!" Jack exclaimed. "So I'll just go on speaking! I was born many years ago. . . ."

"Danny, I don't even get why your parents built that Portal," I sighed. After Sam and Tucker had left, Danny and I hung around in the kitchen. Jazz had retreated to her room to study, exclaiming how she couldn't be bothered with all that Ghost nonsense.

"They're Ghost fanatics," he muttered. "They've been this way for as long as I can remember."

I jumped up on and sat on the countertop, swinging my legs. I frowned. "If Jack and Maddie ever find out about what happened to you, how would they react?" I asked.

"They'd probably tear me apart," Danny scoffed, wrapping his arms around himself. "Actually, I don't even wanna think about it. I just wanna figure out how to control my powers."

"I have some training," I offered, "I could help."

"Help with what?" Maddie asked, walking in. I quickly jumped off the countertop.

"W-With some of Danny's homework!" I stammered. "Ya know, he was having some trouble, I'm offering to help him. . . .with it. . . ."

"Right!" Danny exclaimed. "I'm having some trouble with an essay and Jaimie's helping with it."

"That's nice of you, Jaimie." Maddie threw a smile my way. I gave a strained smile and nodded.

Leaning against the countertop, I rested one of my elbows against it while Danny rummaged through the fridge.

"I was meaning to ask, how're you doing in school, Jaimie?" Maddie went on, putting out some mechanics on the tabletop.

"Uhm, I'm doing fine," I said, clearing my throat slightly. For a second, it felt like my arm was sinking. Looking at my arm, it was gone. I pursed my lips, quickly putting my invisible arm behind me, hoping Maddie hadn't seen.

"You know we want what's best for you, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," I stammered. "I-I, uh, owe you guys so much for taking me in!"

I looked over at Danny, he was still looking through the fridge.

"Don't be so silly, Jaimie!" Maddie exclaimed, laughing. "You can stay for as long as you want."

I nodded.

Closing the fridge door, Danny had an armful of food. "Well, uh, Jaimie and I are gonna go study now!" he cried.

Danny dumped all of the food he gathered on his bed before closing his door. He groaned and sat himself down on the bed.

"You don't look too good," I pointed out.

"My father wants me to be a Ghost hunter." He let out a humorless chuckle.

"Talk about ironic."

"I really hope I can figure out a way to control my powers," Danny sighed. "I don't want to accidentally hurt someone."

"You're doing fine so far!" I said supportively. "With some more practice, you'll be able to kick more Ghost butt in no time."

Danny let out another humorless chuckle. "That's easy for you to say. You've been half-Ghost this whole time!"

"You wouldn't have believed me beforehand."

"Yeah, well. . . .I could really use your help. You've got more experience than me."

"Barely."

"Barely will have to do."

Author's Note:

This is my first 'Danny Phantom' story! I used to—and still do—love the show when I was younger! I thought it was creative. I'm sorry if it felt like the first chapter was sloppy or rushed, just let me know if there's anything I can fix.

I don't own 'Danny Phantom', the show belongs to the producers. I only own my fillers and characters.

To clarify anything that might've come across as confusing in this chapter, Jaimie's been experimented on by Vlad, so she considers herself half-Ghost in the sense that she can transform like Danny and Vlad can. Jaimie didn't tell anyone about her powers until after Danny obtained his after that accident in the Fenton Portal. Jack calls Jaimie 'Lulu' because her middle name's Luanna.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think of this chapter.

Leave a kind and helpful review, please!

Thank you.

Susan Strong