I looked up in horror, my mouth open. My grandparents had always told be how ghost attacks were common in Amity Park, but really? Ghosts? I had never heard of something so stupid in my life. And all the talk about Danny Phantom? From the first time I had heard the stories I had figured that they were just old town legends. But here they were. One of the old town legends was staring me in the face. This one I recognized was Vlad Plasmius. I remembered the story that my grandfather would always tell me about how Danny Phantom had chased him away into space and he was never seen again. And Danny Phantom disappeared along with him.

Despite my grandparents obsession over ghosts and ghost hunting, not to mention the fact that their home, also mine, is a giant lab/observatory, my father has always been against it. Which is probably why I grew to ignore the stories I had once dreamed of when I was younger. My aunt also shielded me from these stories, telling my grandparents how they were corrupting my mind to be telling stories of such nonsense. Even though I was sure I didn't believe any part of what my grandparents said, a very small part of me was intrigued. Every story I was ever told rushed back to me as I stared into Vlad Plasmius' blood red eyes, unable to look away. An evil grin spread across his face as he hoovered about 20 feet above me. My brain was screaming at my legs to move, but I was frozen in place. Around me, I could hear the gasps and screams of my classmates. Some of them had also froze on the way to their cars and buses, ready to leave.

But for some reason, he had singled me out. I could feel his eyes studying every aspect of me. He slowly floated down to the ground. People who had found their legs managed to run away. Once he had made contact with the ground, he slowly started to walk towards me. His look was smug and his eyes never left mine. He had a sort of vampiric look to him. At this moment, he couldn't have been no more that one foot away from me. My ability to make any kind of movement was lost.

"Where is he?" he asked. His voice sounded cold and vengeful. Even if I had had any clue what he was talking about, I don't think I could have found it inside myself to form a comprehensible sentence. "Well, if you won't tell me, I guess I'll have to lure him here." He turned his head to the right and two bright red beams burst from his eyes hitting four busses. I could hear the screams of terror as the busses hit each other and students feared for their own safety and the safety of their friends. Just then, I felt an arm knocking my knees out from under me, then another arm caught me before my head hit the ground. Before I knew it, I was looking down on the mayhem surrounding Casper High.

"Put me down!" I yelled, happy to know that I was in control of my body again. But it didn't last long, as Vlad continued to go higher.

"Of course," he said, and he did what I had feared. His arms disappeared beneath me and I began to fall to my death. Naturally, I screamed, until something caught my arm. It was him. His hand was tight around my arm and my hand was tight around his. If he decided to drop me again, hopefully I could still hold on. This got harder as he continued to fly higher. I was sure that I would die. All he had to do was release my arm. Even though I was holding on to him, my grasp wouldn't be able to hold forever. And I was sure that my life was nothing to him. "Oh, look! Daniel has finally arrived."

I didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then I saw a dark blur that was racing towards us. He stopped in front of Vlad. My eyes widened. I wasn't sure about how much more I could take today. Floating a few yards away, was the hero of my grandparents stories. His bright green eyes focused on my lavender ones. For one moment, I thought I saw the slightest trace of fear on his face, but it disappeared when his eyes met Vlad's.

"What are you doing here?"

"It gets a little boring after 20 or so years in space," Vlad replied casually. I felt his grip on me loosen and I quickly tightened my grip on him, though my hand was beginning to ache. Danny's eyes watched me carefully. "Come for this?" Vlad asked, acknowledging me, pulling his arm up a little.

"Give her to me," Danny ordered.

"Why?" he asked in a mocking tone. "I doubt that this one life bears any importance to you," he said, and his arm disappeared from beneath my fingers.

"No!" Danny yelled, and he began to fly after me, only to be struck by one of the bright red rays I saw Vlad use earlier. The last thing I saw was Vlad laughing before my body flipped in the air and all I saw was the ground that soon enough, my body would be flattened against. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. That's when something hit me. But it wasn't the hard, black asphalt I had been expecting. I was still in the air, but I wasn't falling. I opened my eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Danny Phantom had recovered and was holding me in his arms. He would get me to a safe place. Just then, a red beam skimmed his head.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I was surprised by the true concern in his voice. I tried to answer him but nothing came out, so I just nodded. "Hold on tight," he said. My arms locked around his neck and I buried my face into his chest. His grip on me tightened as he increased his speed and dodged various red beams. I kept my eyes closed, not really wanting to know what was happening. I felt him begin to slow down and stop, then he was walking. He slowly and gently put me down on the sidewalk. I unwillingly removed my hands from around his neck.

"Where are you, Phantom?" I heard Vlad calling through the town. Before I could mutter any type of thank you, he was off.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth! Are you alright? Honey, say something!" my grandmother was calling to me, shaking my shoulders. I noticed she was wearing a blue jumpsuit. I snapped out of my thoughts and found my voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I said, though my voice came out a little scratchy and shaken. People were running through the streets. I could hear car horns, sirens, screaming, and above all that, I could hear the fighting between the two ghosts, though it was not in my view. My legs were shaking beneath me.

"Come on, honey. Grandpa is going to take you home, okay?" she said. I noticed she was leading me to a RV type vehicle that I had never seen before and my grandfather was in the driver's seat. Before I could protest, my grandmother pushed me into the passenger's seat and shut the door. I quickly grabbed the seatbelt. With my shaking hands, it took me a little while longer to get it to click. As soon as my grandfather heard the click, he sped towards our house, weaving in and out of cars. I clutched onto the seat. If I thought I was going to die earlier, it was nothing compared to now.

"So Lizzy, what do you think of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle 2?" he asked. I looked at him. He looked oddly excited and was also wearing a jumpsuit, though his was orange. I looked at the road, which was full of abandoned cars. I shut my eyes tight, hoping that if I didn't have to witness my grandfather's lethal driving skills, the ride would

end sooner. A few minutes later, the RV halted to a stop. I opened my eyes and released a sigh when I saw our house. But I stiffened again when I noticed our home was surrounded by a glowing green orb. "Yep, the Fenton Ghost Shield. I dusted it off as soon as I heard the news," he said, the smile was still on his face.

"So... all the stories?" I asked. Her grandfather nodded. "But, then, why did dad and aunt Jazz tell me that they were just legends? Why not just tell me that it all really happened?" I questioned. Truth be told, I was a little aggravated.

"We didn't see the need. Yeah, we told you those stories when you were younger to keep you entertained, but it had been years since anyone had seen a ghost. We were all positive that they wouldn't be coming back," he said. That's when aunt Jazz opened the front door, motioning for me to come inside. My grandfather pulled me closer to him and kissed me on the forehead. "You've been through enough today. Go and get some rest. Everything will be fine," he said. I managed to give my grandfather a small smile and a nod before getting out of the RV. I rushed up the stairs and through the front door. I heard my grandfather zooming off behind me. I had hoped that my dad would be home, but it was only aunt Jazz.

"Oh no! You poor thing! You must be so shaken and shocked. I heard about everything. Thank god you're all right!" aunt Jazz said, pulling me into a tight hug. She led me to the kitchen and motioned for me to sit down at the table. "I made you some soup. You should eat it while its still hot." I looked down at the soup, but I didn't have much of an appetite. Regardless, I lifted the spoon and twirled it around while aunt Jazz continued to talk and walk around the kitchen, wiping the counters. "I still can't believe it. After all these years..." she mumbled.

"Where's dad?" I asked. She froze for a small moment. It was such a short moment, I wondered if she had hesitated at all.

"He's just fine. He was still at the office when I spoke to him. He said he would hurry home as soon as he could," she said. I thought about it for a moment. My dad on his way home, and then getting caught in that ghost fight. What if something horrible happened? The ideas raced through my mind. I'm guessing that aunt Jazz saw the worry on my face, because she began talking again. "Michael called for you. Not to long ago. He sounded worried. You may want to call him back," she said. My mood had instantly changed.

"Well, I shouldn't keep him waiting, should I? I'll call him from my room," I said, as I got up from the table. Michael is probably the greatest friend anyone could ask for. I've known him ever since he first moved here in second grade. It was a year after the incident, and I was still having a hard time trying to cope. But he manage to make me feel normal again. I walked up the stairs, turned left, and went through the very last door. Everything was just where it normally was, like my room was ready for a normal day. But since this morning, the day had made an abrupt u-turn. I grabbed my phone and crashed onto my bed. I dialed his number with ease, almost as if it were a reflex. The phone rang twice before someone answered.

"Hello?" His voice made me relax.

"Mike?"

"Liz? Oh my God! Liz, are you ok? I can't believe this! Any of this! Are you hurt?"

"Its okay. I'm fine."

"Ok, you sound oddly okay with this. You can't possibly be okay. Did you forget that you nearly fell to your death today? I had to watch in horror as your body fell thousands of feet through the air. I thought I was going to lose you and- and you're okay?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Mike. I don't think its really hit me yet. I think I'm still in shock. I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night and start screaming about it or something," I said. He laughed.

"You better! You need to have some kind of reaction to all this. Can you believe it though? Ghosts! In Amity Park!"

"Well, you might think I'm crazy, but I don't think this is the first time that something like this has happened," I said. Suddenly, I heard a loud crash not to far away and our house shook a little. This was followed by a new wave of running civilians and screams. I looked out my window and realized that people were crowding into the ghost shield.

"Liz? You still there? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," I said. Either I was finally snapping out of shock and was about to have a break down or I was sure I could hear the sounds of the fight getting closer.

"Are you sure? Because you definitely don't sound-" but the line went dead and the power went off. It was only maybe four or five in the afternoon, but the day was overcast, making it a little darker than usual. It wasn't long before my door sprang open and aunt Jazz grabbed my arm, pulling me downstairs.

"We should stay together."

"Did the shield-"

"No, the shield runs off a generator," she said, cutting me off. I could still hear the fight. It was the closest I had heard it yet. Just when I thought the house was going to go down, all the sounds of fighting stopped and everything was silent. It was so abrupt that if it wasn't for the fact I could still hear my heavy breathing and my thumping heart that was about to leave my chest, I would have thought that I had gone deaf. My mind was racing, unsure if this silence was a good thing or a bad thing. I could hear the jumbled voices of the people outside. I made my way towards the door.

"Elizabeth, I don't think-"

"We're in a ghost shield, right?" I said, cutting her off. She hesitantly nodded. I opened the door and left the house. I walked as far as I could go before the shield ended. I could see where the fight had finished. I could make out a dent in the pavement, but nothing else. The crowd began to disperse in the streets. My eyes and thoughts were pulled away from the street when I heard squealing tires as they came around a corner. Even though I knew my grandfather would never hit me, I hurried back to the steps. The RV came to a screeching halt in front of me.

"Elizabeth, why don't you go up to your room and lay down?" aunt Jazz suggested. I watched as my grandparents climbed out of the RV. I nodded and headed up to my room. I hoped my dad was okay. If it wasn't for the fact that the phones were out, I would call him right now. But I felt sure that he was fine. I laid down on my bed and held my pillow close to me. I guess it's a comfort thing. The things that had taken place today began to sink in. What if when I had left the house this morning was the last time? I tried to remember the last things I had said to people. I felt my eyes close, and my last thought was when I had last seen my dad this morning.

"You need to sign this," I said, handing him my test.

"D? You got a D on your last english test?"

"If you're referring to the big, red letter on top, then yeah."

"Elizabeth, this is unacceptable. You can't be getting Ds!"

"Oh, but it was perfectly fine when you got Ds. I have to hear it from Mr. Lancer every day. "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.""

"You need to get your grades up. I'm concerned. What's going to happen when its time to apply for colleges?" he asked, signing the paper. I snatched it from him once he was done.

"Whatever," I replied, and made my way for the front door.