Chapter Two
The Phantom Pair
"A ghost in the kitchen?" Darienne cried as the three rushed toward the kitchen.
"Yeah. She likes meat, which is a plus. The major part, though, is that she's attacking our friend!" Tucker answered.
The three teens arrived in the kitchen to see Sam entrapped in a pile of various meats with a ghoulish lunch lady lecturing her about the joys of eating meat.
As the ghost gave Sam a choice on whether to gobble down a piece of tilapia or chicken, Danny pulled Darienne and Tucker behind a pile of meat boxes. Darienne had never faced a ghost in a real battle and didn't want to make enemies amongst her 'other' kind. This was most certainly a dilemma.
"Tucker, I want you to go distract the lunch lady." Danny ordered to his friend. Tucker gladly obliged and dashed away. Then, the white-haired halfa turned to Darienne.
"Darienne, I hate to ask this," Danny sighed. "Have you ever fought a ghost before?"
"Only in train-," Darienne began. She thought the better of what she was about to say. Then, she answered, "No…"
"All right, well, that's all well and good. You'll be with me. I need you to get the lunch lady over here somehow. Then, we'll go from there."
The halfa nodded. She instantly had an idea of what she could do, but she couldn't transform around Danny.
Darienne dashed out from behind the boxes full force towards the pile of meat. The lunch ghost made a grab for her, but she dodged.
"Hey, meat lover? Wanna have a piece of me?" Darienne called as she backed away from the meat pile.
As the lunch lady attempted to tackle her, Darienne transformed into her ghost alter-ego. Her platinum blond hair changed to jet black, and her normally blue eyes changed to red. Her skin went from being pale to a bluish shade. The red dress became a black jumpsuit with white shoes, something her father had made her wear. This time, she also felt fangs in her mouth. That was new.
Just as quickly as the lunch lady had lunged for her, the big womanly ghost rolled onto the floor behind Darienne. After rubbing her head a few times, the enemy ghost turned around and instantly recognized Darienne.
"Plasmius' daughter? What are you-?" the ghost began.
"Ah great, two ghosts." Darienne heard Danny say. He floated up beside the other halfa, who looked just as surprised as he was frustrated.
"D-don't worry," Darienne stammered, trying to blow off the awkward situation. "I h-heard about the situation and came to help."
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm already-" Danny began.
"You're on HIS side?" the lunch ghost wailed.
Suddenly, meat started flowing from all directions, covering the lunch ghost. Danny and Darienne watched as the meat engulfed the enemy, creating an even bigger monster than likely either of them was prepared to fight.
"On second thought…let's run." Danny whispered audibly.
Darienne grabbed Tucker, Danny grabbed Sam, and together they got the humans out of the room by flying through walls. Darienne had been taught enough skills by her father to know how to navigate as a ghost.
'I might be in a bit over my head this time, though!' she thought to herself.
Danny set Sam down on the school grounds, and Darienne set Tucker down beside Sam. Her new human friends as well as Danny looked equally confused.
"Who and what are you?" Danny inquired forcefully.
"I can explain-!" Darienne began, but was interrupted by a stream of protein.
The meat flung the halfa into the fence at the edge of campus. Darienne was beyond enraged, so much so that she let out her ghostly wail. The halfa had her eyes closed as she wailed, so she could not see what was going on. However, after a minute or so, her ghostly wail stopped. She opened her eyes, and saw that the meat had disintegrated off of their foe.
Darienne watched as Danny shot ectoplasmic rays from his hands. This caused the ghastly foe to start to lose her form. However, the halfa saw that it wasn't enough.
'How can I help? If only there were two of me…think, Darienne!'
Suddenly, Darienne felt a shift in her body. She watched as a clone was formed from herself. Looking at the clone next to her, she grinned mischievously, and both nodded. The two ladies charged at lunch ghost and stopped next to Danny, who was desperately trying to make the foe lose her form with his "ghostly rays."
"Let us help." Darienne's clone said confidently.
Together, Darienne and her clone created a ball of red ectoplasm with their palms. After a few seconds, they threw it at their enemy, causing an explosion. For a few minutes, there was nothing but dust and ash. Darienne coughed and gagged, falling to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud, and a bit of ectoplasm escaped her mouth. She saw the circles of light engulf her body, causing her to go back to her human form. Voices came from nearby, and Darienne recognized Danny's voice caught her attention.
"Darienne?" Danny asked, concerned. "H-how did you get out…"
Danny's voice grew fuzzy as Darienne's world started to go dark. Why did this happen each time? Why couldn't she sustain her ghost form like Danny and her father? To her, it was anyone's guess.
"…get the nurse…!" a voice called.
Then, everything went black.
Darienne woke up in a room with a desk and a bookshelf lined with books. As she studied them, she noticed that most of them were about the paranormal, and a few were about the Salem Witch Trials. She picked one up and started reading, instantly taken by detailed illustrations of how ectoplasm worked, and how one's DNA could be combined with a ghost's.
Suddenly, a door opened behind her. Darienne turned around to see a woman with platinum blond hair in a white evening gown step in. Darienne and the woman looked quite different, but they had the same firm jawline and general body shape. Both were thin, yet of average height. Instantly, a thought occurred in the halfa's mind.
"Mother…?" Darienne whispered hopefully.
"I'm Karla, Karla Masters," the woman said. "And yes, I'm your mother."
Darienne felt her face light up. She started towards her mother, but Karla backed away, shaking her head sadly.
"I'm afraid that we cannot touch in this realm." Karla said.
"But…why? I've waited so long to meet you, Mom!" Darienne cried, choking on her tears.
Karla didn't say anything, giving a soft, sad smile. Darienne took a step forward as her mother left through the door opposite of the halfa. The door closed, leaving Darienne with more questions than a confused fifth grader. She dashed over to the door and started turning the knob.
"Mother, come back!" Darienne called.
The door was locked.
"Mother, please!"
Still nothing.
"Mother, mother…"
"Mother!" Darienne cried, her face soaked in tears. She sat up on the cot, afternoon sunlight streaming through the window next to her. Darienne glanced around and realized she was in the nurse's office. Feeling her head, she noticed she was bandaged in a few areas. Then, she saw Danny sitting on a stool next to the cot.
"Were you dreaming?" Danny inquired.
Darienne looked away and nodded. She had never had a dream like that before, much less knew what her own mother looked like. This was definitely a first.
"Do you mind telling me what it was about?" Danny asked.
"I'd rather not…" Darienne replied.
"That's okay. I won't ask any more about that. I do have one more question, though."
"What's that?"
"Were you that ghost that was with us earlier?"
Darienne instantly stared at Danny, whom was gazing back at her with those ocean-blue eyes. His gaze did not waver in the slightest.
The girl looked back down at the sheet covering her legs. She only nodded in reply.
Just as Danny was about to speak up, Vlad stepped into the room. He briskly walked over and inspected Darienne up and down, left and right, without words. Then, he nodded seemingly in approval. There was a long pause, then Darienne spoke up.
"D-Dad, this is my friend, Danny," Darienne said, gesturing to the other halfa. "He's the one who brought me to the nurse's office after my fall."
"Y-yes," Danny stammered, standing up to shake Vlad's hand. "Danny Fenton, at your service, Mr. Masters."
"Thank you for taking such great care of my daughter, Daniel," Vlad said, shaking Danny's hand. "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from here on out."
The nurse came in, gesturing for Vlad to step back out for a moment.
"Daniel, would you please keep my daughter company? The nurse and I have to go over a few more…details for Darienne's treatment." Vlad said.
Danny and Darienne watched as Vlad walked back out and shut the door. Then, the two halfas turned to each other.
"So…you're half ghost, too." Danny said, sitting back down.
"Yep," Darienne responded, averting her eyes. "But unlike my father, I was born a halfa."
"What's a…halfa?"
"You and me, and dad. Half ghost, half human hybrids."
Danny appeared perplexed, "But how-?"
Suddenly, Vlad popped back into the room again, this time without the nurse. He sat on the end of the cot with his elbows on his knees. After a few minutes, he looked at the two halfas.
"Darienne, for your health and safety, the nurse has advised that you stay home for a few days," Vlad began slowly. "That being said, Daniel here will be bringing you your homework."
Darienne gazed out the window as Vlad and Danny discussed how the other halfa would be getting to their house for the next few days. However, Darienne paid no attention. She thought about her mother, about how she was being pulled out of school, and about how her and Danny would be getting along. The thoughts about her mother, though, were the most prevalent.
"That settles it, then." Vlad said, shaking hands with Danny. "You'll be stopping by every day at four-o'-clock. How does that sound, Darienne?"
"P-perfect!" Darienne answered, though she had only a vague idea of what was said.
Father and daughter said farewell to Danny as he left the nurse's office. A few minutes after Danny left, Vlad turned to his daughter.
"I was told that you fell off the roof," Vlad said sternly. "But I know that you are much smarter than that. What really happened?"
"I…uh…," Darienne stuttered. "I f-fought the lunch lady ghost…with another halfa."
Vlad seemed taken aback by the revelation. So taken aback that nothing was said for what seemed like forever. Darienne felt guilty about revealing this to her own father.
'I'd feel even guiltier if I revealed Danny's secret…'
"Did anyone see you transform?" Vlad asked, turning to face his daughter.
"No. I made sure I transformed away from humans…" Darienne answered quietly.
"And does anyone know your secret?"
"No." A lie, of course.
"And what of the halfa?"
"They disappeared after the ghost was defeated. Next thing I knew, I was in the nurse's office with Danny."
Vlad nodded, seemingly deep in thought. He paced around the room for a while, doing so as the bright afternoon sunshine became shades of oranges and yellows. Darienne was close to falling asleep at that point, but forced herself to stay awake. She knew the long-awaited ride home would be coming soon.
"I suppose I don't see any problem with the situation." Vlad finally stated. "Now, why don't we start our journey home?"
Darienne nodded and started to stand up. She winced, though, as her head started to throb. She sat back down and averted her eyes from Vlad. She hated being seen like this.
"No problem, my dear." Vlad said. He picked her up in his arms like he always did and carried her downstairs and out to where the limousine was waiting. He set Darienne gently in her seat and then got in beside her.
"Dad…can I ask you a question?" Darienne inquired, glancing over at Vlad.
"Ask away, my child." Vlad answered cordially.
"W-what was Mother like?"
"Well…Karla, your mother, was sweet…and gentle. She was smart and actually graduated from Casper High at the top of her class. To be honest, I never knew a kinder woman."
Darienne nodded silently and rested her head on her father's shoulder. She could see dark clouds threatening them with lightning in the distance. As the limousine's lights came on, the halfa closed her eyes. After the events of today, she was certain that those same storm clouds awaited Danny, her father, and herself in the not-so-distant future.
