Chapter 2
At 2:30pm, Casper High's school bell rung, releasing students for Winter Break.
The entire Casper High student body was cheering as they left the campus. It was snowing that day in Amity Park, but nobody seemed to mind the wet and coldness that nipped them as they left the school. After all, it was Winter Break now! Three weeks of rest and relaxation, three weeks of no responsibilities, three weeks of no school! People high-fived, danced in the streets, sang Christmas Carols goofily out-of-tune.
The joy that seemed to blanket the school was lost on Danny and his friends, and not just because of Danny's usual hatred of Christmas. Vlad's words weighed down on Danny.
By the end of the day, she will be mine.
Danny shivered.
"Relax, Danny," Tucker said. "Vlad can't do anything to Sam as long as you're around to protect her!"
"Yeah, Danny," Sam said, her hand placed lovingly on her boyfriend's shoulder. "I'll be fine as long as you're with me."
"Right," Danny said, turning towards Sam. "Which is why you're coming home with me today. I need to keep a close eye on you."
Sam was slightly annoyed at the possessive tone in his voice.
"I can take care of myself, too, Danny," Sam reminded him, her tone a little harsher than she'd planned it to be. "Remember? Ghost Powers?"
"Right. I know. Sorry," Danny apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "But if Vlad attacks you, or tries to take you away, I need to be there."
"I get it," Sam said, reaching out for Danny's hand. "I'll stick with you today."
Danny kissed his girlfriend. Beside them, Tucker coughed.
"As cute as this is," Tucker said. "I think I'm just going to head home. My new video game should be waiting for me."
"See ya, Tuck," Danny and Sam said, leaving Tuck behind as they set off for Danny's house.
"So, what are we even going to do this afternoon?" Sam said.
"Um, I don't know," Danny said honestly. "There probably will be a ghost attack or two you can help me with, but other than that, I'm pretty sure there's nothing else to do…"
"And that's where you're wrong," a voice said. Danny and Sam turned to see Jazz walking toward them, several schoolbooks in her arms. "According to Mom and Dad, we're all going out for dinner tonight."
"Guess you're coming to dinner with us, Sam," Danny said, turning to his girlfriend.
"All right," Sam said. "Where are we going?"
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"Jimbo's Pizza Parlor!" Jack cried. "I LOVE this place!"
Jimbo's Pizza Parlor made even the Nasty Burger look classy. Peanut shells covered the floor, so when you stepped through the restaurant they crunched beneath your feet. The little kids who weren't running through the place playing tag were in their parents' laps, crying in a chorus of despair, adding to the already loud atmosphere of the pizza place.
"I'm so sorry," Danny said, apologizing to his girlfriend for the nth time that night. "I know you hate this place."
"It's fine," Sam said. And it was. Sure, Sam didn't want to be here, but she'd rather be here than in Vlad's grasp. "Don't worry about it."
Suddenly, Danny's ghost sense went off.
"I'll be right back," Danny said, bolting out of his chair and toward the restaurant's exit. He ducked underneath an unoccupied table, went ghost, and flew out into the street, where he met…
"Vlad," Danny spat, glaring at the older Halfa. "Go away!"
Vlad chuckled.
"Again, Daniel, I'm not here to fight," Vlad said. "I'm simply here to collect the girl."
"You're delusional," Danny said. "I'm not letting you anywhere near Sam."
"Well, not in this body, no," Vlad said.
Danny barely had time to send Vlad a confused look before the older halfa had gone intangible and flown straight into Danny, overshadowing him.
Inside of Danny's body, Vlad chuckled. This was going to be fun…
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"You okay, Danny?" Sam asked, staring up at her boyfriend. Ever since he'd come back into the restaurant, he'd been strangely quiet.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Danny said, turning to Sam. An out-of-character pompous smirk bent his lips, one that reminded Sam instantly of Vlad. "Actually, may I talk to you outside for a moment?"
"Um… sure," Sam said, standing up. She didn't notice Danny's eyes flash red.
They left the restaurant. It was still snowing outside, and Sam shivered at the cold, wet air. Sam and Danny leaned against the wall of the restaurant, Danny turning to face her, his smirk changing into a serious expression.
"What is it, Danny?" Sam asked, her teeth chattering in the cold.
"I'm breaking up with you," Danny said. No emotion in his voice.
To say Sam was caught off-guard would be an understatement. Her eyes widened to the size of golf-balls as she looked up at Danny. No hint of remorse in his eyes. He even looked a little smug.
"What? Why?" Sam asked. "I thought everything was great between us!"
"You thought wrong, Samantha," Danny said. "This past month has been miserable for me. Dating you was the worst mistake I ever made in my life. I'm Danny Phantom, for heaven's sake. It's not like I can't do better than some narcissistic freak of a Goth girl."
Sam's mouth popped open at Danny's words.
"Now Vlad is after you yet again, and I just can't be bothered to protect you anymore," Danny said, his tone distracted. "I have a whole city to watch over; I don't need some damsel-in-distress clinging to my sleeve everywhere I go, too."
Sam opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Slowly, she started backing away from Danny… she needed to get away from him…
"What… what are you saying, Danny?" She asked, her voice breaking. She could feel warm tears starting in her eyes, her throat burning with the effort it took to hold herself together.
"It's merely the truth, Samantha," Danny said, shrugging. "Just the other day, I was talking with Tucker…"
"Tucker hates me too?" Sam squeaked. She hated how she was acting. So vulnerable… just like the damsel-in-distress Danny had accused her of being. Sam had always considered herself tough.
Guess I was wrong.
"You're really that oblivious?" Danny snorted. "Yes, Tucker hates you! Everybody hates you! The only reason anybody puts up with you is because you're rich!"
Tears were falling freely down Sam's cheeks now.
"You're…" Sam couldn't finish her insult. She had nothing to say to Danny. Turning on her heel, she ran as fast as she could away from him…
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Danny Fenton had never felt worse in his entire life.
Sure, Vlad was overshadowing him, and he had no control over what he was saying, but the words were still coming out of his mouth… words that were causing Sam more pain than he had ever seen her in.
As Vlad piled on the insults, Danny struggled to push the invading half-ghost out of his body, but it was hard. The elder halfa was skilled.
Danny could hear what Vlad was saying to Sam.
"This past month has been miserable for me… dating you was the worst mistake I ever made in my life… everybody hates you!"
Lies, lies, all lies! Danny was screaming. Sam, don't listen to him!
But Sam was already fleeing the scene.
Finally, Vlad left Danny's body. He was grinning manically, from ear to ear.
"Sam, wait!" Danny yelled, but she was long out of earshot. "Vlad… why did you do that? Do you really enjoy messing up my life this much?"
"Of course not, Daniel," Vlad said, his tone a mockery of true sincerity. "I hated to have to do this to you. But you wouldn't give Sam over to me willingly."
"How is this going to help you get Sam?" Danny spat.
"You'll see, Daniel," Vlad chuckled before disappearing. Danny did a 360˚ turn, still in his battle stance, looking for Vlad, but he was long gone.
"Sam," Danny said quietly, sitting down and letting his body shake with agonized sobs.
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Sam ran for a long time before finally she had to sit down. She was in the middle of the park when she stopped, and she collapsed onto a park bench, still sobbing. It was freezing outside, but there was no way she was going home in this state. Sure, her parents weren't home, but the various butlers and maids that lived in her mansion would definitely tell her parents if she came home like this. Her parents already disliked Danny… how would they react if they knew what kinds of things he'd just said to her?
Forget a restraining order, Sam thought wryly. They'd probably find some reason to send his whole family to jail!
As much as Danny apparently hated her, she didn't hate him enough to sick her parents on him.
So she continued to sit in the park, having nowhere to go. She shivered violently in the cold, and she wrapped her arms around herself, still sobbing. People looked at her, but she didn't care. She was far too miserable to care about her reputation. Danny… it had all been a lie.
I'm sorry, Samantha, a cool voice said. Vlad.
"What are you sorry about?" Sam hissed. The crazy girl talking to the voice in her head.
What Daniel said back there was completely unacceptable. I would never have thought that he of all people would put you down like that.
"That makes two of us," Sam muttered. She'd put all of her trust, all of her faith in Danny. And he'd crushed it. He'd crushed her.
Samantha, my offer still holds. I know you don't want to go back home right now, and apparently your two best friends hate you. Come stay with me.
As much as she hated it, Vlad's offer sounded pretty good to her. She really didn't have anywhere to go… and imagine how angry Danny would be if he heard she'd gone off to live with Vlad… she smiled at that last thought.
You could stay with me for the three weeks you have off for Winter Break, and then you can decide whether you want to stay or not. No obligations. It would just be you and me, learning about your powers… together.
Sam hated to agree with Vlad. She really did. But… this deal seemed perfect. A place to stay, learning how to control her powers, no obligations…
"What do you think?" Vlad said, and it took a moment for Sam to realize that his voice was no longer inside of her head, but standing right in front of her. Sam jumped in surprise.
"V-Vlad!" Sam sputtered, looking up at the middle-aged millionaire with surprised wide-eyes.
"Samantha, do we have a deal?" Vlad said, holding his hand out to her.
Sam's mind was made up. She'd go with Vlad. Anything to get away from Danny, from Tucker, from all the lies that she'd been living here in Amity Park.
"Y-yeah," Sam said. "I think we do, actually."
They shook on it.
