Hello ghosts, ghouls and everything in-between! Happy Halloween and Ectober. I wrote this story for Halloween, but it is not Halloween themed. This was betaread by my beta-reader, missingSkywalker or Ebony as I call them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

o.0.o

"I sit here and cry for you-

not for me.

What you've become,

I wish you could see."

-Anne Kathrine

o.0.o

She looked at the floor, her golden-green eyes pulsing. She didn't want to be here, her knees in front of the King. She wasn't even allowed to say his true name.

"Why have you brought this rat of a girl to my presence?" The King scowled. His green eyes seemed out of place, a light in the dark. His eyes.

"She was raiding from your stores, sire." One of his guards responded, a shock of purple hair on his head, "This is not the first time she's done this either."

The King looked over her, taking in her ragged dress and matted hair. She doubted that he would recognize her, after all, she looked completely different that when she was alive. But it doesn't mean that she didn't recognize him. He still had his snowy white hair, making him look more innocent that he actually is. The King narrowed his eyes, wearing an amused facial expression. "Now, why were you in my reserves?" He asked her, leaning forward.

"My family is starving." She locked eyes with him. She didn't like how he acted oblivious of the livelihood of his citizens. It was his fault that no one had any source of ectoplasm.

"But are they working?" He said with false concern. A monster like him could never truly feel empathy. No longer the person I once knew. "Everyone knows that you need to work to be rewarded."

If there were any jobs, they would work. This is your fault. "No, there is no opportunities."

"That's your problem." He smiled like he knew that there was nothing she could do and he didn't care. He would have cared. The King's gaze drifted from her to his guard. "You said that this wasn't the first time you've caught her?"

"Yes, sire." The purple haired one responded, "We never brought her to you because this isn't something that you usually are concerned with."

"No, it isn't." He rested his head on one hand. "But she won't leave with just a slap on the wrist." The look on the King's face morphed into one of muted excitement that sent chills up her spine. She shivered. It wasn't the same look as one could get on a birthday, it was more animalistic. Like a predator finally catching a slippery prey. Unfortunately, she was the prey.

"Whatever you're planning, I can take it." She reminded him. She will just regenerate stronger and faster.

"I know." He said with a knowing look. Like he recognized something about her. What if he did remember? She hoped that the bond that they used to share would be enough to save her. "Leave me with her. You may keep her wrists shackled."

Both of her guards turned with a nod of their heads. She was alone with the King, something most people would only dream of. But she highly doubted anyone would take her place. "What do you want with me?" She asked pointedly.

"You intrigue me." An almost manic-like grin spread across his face. "And I want to see you break."

Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She has never felt fear like this before, not even during her death. She didn't feel fear for herself, but for the people she risked her life for. "You can do nothing. I will be coming back stronger."

The King stepped off his throne, an action that made her feel as if she was a child about to be scolded. "You think that I don't know that." A smirk curved on his lips. "I am more attentive than your people think. Than you think."

"Then why don't you do anything?" She asked, looking into his glowing eyes. "Your people starve while you just sit here." He would have never sat by and let this happen. This King disgusted her, and she had once believed in him.

He walked forward, his cape of white flames dancing behind him. He gently grasped her chin, a sensation that felt like a butterfly's wing. "I don't just sit here. I'm the judge of criminals and bringer of justice." Justice? She wanted to say. You call this justice?

He definitely seemed ethereal and mythical, something that she would associate with someone who would bring forth justice. But she highly doubted that his sense of justice wasn't twisted. "Isn't justice supposed to be balanced?" She asked. His grip had tightened and she wished that she could break free from his grip. "Only punishing the bad?"

The King smiled like something was funny. "Isn't it from the perspective of the person? To me, you're a criminal on the floor. And nothing will save you, Sam." Her heart nearly froze from hearing her name fall from his lips.

So he did remember. Sam didn't know how twisted his heart had become, but it seems that he still had a place for her. "So, what are you going to do with me?"

"What I do with all criminals: execution." He stepped back, waiting for her response. But she didn't know how to feel. By what she has been taught and experience, ghost can't die by another ghost's hand. They can be severely hurt but will regenerate over time.

"You're bluffing." But Sam couldn't keep the slight stutter out of her voice. When she was alive, she knew that she would become a ghost. Or at least, there was a high chance to. Now she has no idea where she will go.

"I read my parents' research. As twisted as it was, it held some relevant information. How to truly kill a ghost." The King seemed excited, his eyes lighting up. It would be so much easier to believe that those eyes were still blue and Tucker had just told a joke. "You'll be my first test subject."

When he was a talking a large sword laced with green had appeared in his hand. He must have stored it somewhere for this very occasion. "Any last words, Sam?" He placed the tip of the sword where her core is.

She looked to meet his eyes once more. "You're no longer the person I knew, Danny." Because the Danny she knew would never have done any of this. After all, the Danny she had known was dead.

o.0.o

I hope you enjoyed this! Also, as a side note, Ebony and I will be starting a writing challenge about mental illnesses. If you would like to participate, you can read about it on the profile of the account, I'm going Demigod. If you have any questions, PM my account or that account. See you later!

Fade