Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, he belongs to Butch Hartman. Ripley's mine, any Vampire: The Masquerade fans out there? Well… if so, guess which clan Ripley is! If not… don't worry.

Creature of the Night

I'm not alone… well, okay, at the moment I am, but in this world, I'm not the only one that is not fully human… you know what I mean? I met this girl, well, she's not really a girl, but she's something else all together, like me. There's something about her, she's not human, she was once, but not anymore. Wait a second… I'm getting ahead of myself.

It hadn't been that long since I left Amity Park, a few months, maybe a few years, sometimes the days and nights just blur together, I stopped caring a long time ago. Cujo and I were heading east, heading up the coast. Just to keep safe we stayed invisible, I didn't want to scare anyone and go back to being Ghost Public Enemy Number One again. We had stopped on the roof of a building and looked around, getting used to our surroundings, it seemed like a nice place, until we heard the sounds of a fight.

It was a girl, she looked to be around seventeen years of age, yet her hair was as black as pitch, and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, yet she seemed to have no trouble seeing. She was outnumbered by three men who looked to be a lot bigger than her, yet she didn't seem to be afraid. Cujo growled but I silenced him with a hand signal as I watched. Her clothes were well lived in, combat boots, worn jeans, army green shirt, a camouflage jacket and around her neck was a pair of dog tags. She briefly reminded me of Sam, without the Goth of course, even her stance was reminiscent of Sam.

The men attacked her and I, still caught up in how she reminded me of my dead friend, moved to help, Cujo on my heels. The fight didn't take long, hell, the girl wasn't a shrinking violet herself, he easily handled the one guy but didn't move to help me, she just watched. I figured it was because Cujo and I were invisible, boy was I wrong.

"Okay, who are you?" The girl asked, looking in my general direction as soon as the guys who had cornered her ran off. I stayed silent, hoping she would think the guys were just insane or something, no luck. "Look, I know you're there, I can sense Ghosts, who are you, what do you want, and how fast can I get rid of you?"

"You can sense Ghosts?" I was shocked, this was the first time I ever heard of someone alive with a Ghost Sense.

"Yeah," the girl leaned against the wall, arms crossed her sunglasses still on, "It's a gift, or a curse, that I've had since I was born. Now, what do you want?"

"I… just wanted to help."

"I can take care of myself, don't you have some unfinished business to take care of?" She pushed off the wall and ran a hand through her hair, I noticed that her ears were pointed, wolf-like. "How old were you when you died… you sound ten."

"I was fourteen! And no, I don't have any unfinished business… you know, a simple 'thank you' is usually the etiquette when one is saved!"

"Like I said before… I can take care of myself… so why don't you take your friend and leave me alone? Besides, you scared away my dinner."

"What?"

"Oh gods… when did you die? Yesterday?"

"No… over a hundred years ago…"

"And you don't know what I am? Where have you been all that time? Fettered to a box?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, I had to wonder if she ever met the Box Ghost. "No, just in Amity Park."

The girl tensed immediately, moving into a defensive position at the mention of the town, her hands curling into a claw like style. "That was one of the most haunted places on the planet, how'd you get passed the defenses there?"

"I um… I…"

"Show yourself, I know all you Amity Park ghosts can do that."

"I'd rather not…"

"Why? You chicken? Or a loser?"

"I'm neither!" A growled at the girl as I popped into existence, glaring down at her from where I floated. Cujo followed suit and growled at the girl. She raised an eyebrow but didn't seem scared of either of us. She took her sunglasses off to reveal yellow eyes… it was strange, yet it suited her.

"Danny Phantom…" She knew who I was, but she wasn't running in terror or treating me like a God. "And…?"

"Cujo…" I pet the Ghost Dog's head and he relaxed before sitting down and starting to scratch himself. "You know of me…?"

"There were a few times when I've had a few ghosts either pass by and come to me complaining about you. I checked your town out once, saw you in action and bought one of the few thousand books about you." She shrugged and moved to leave, stopping at the mouth of the alley, "If you want to follow you might want to change."

I did as suggested and followed, Cujo followed but invisibly. I watched the girl as we walked, she walked like she was hunting, her yellow eyes looking around before she cocked her head to the side and sniffed. The next thing I knew, she had pounced on a large rat and bit into it. I watched in revulsion as she drained it and tossed it away, wiping her mouth.

"You're a vampire!"

The girl rolled her eyes, "Chill, I'm not 'evil' like most."

"But… you're a Vampire!"

"Yeah, I am," the girl glared at me, "I, like you, had a choice, die a painful death because I was born different, or survive. I chose survival. Your choice was to either go in the portal or not, you chose the portal, you are what you are from your own choice."

I winced at the venom in her voice, she had a point. I could have just said no and never went in the portal, I would have never become Danny Phantom, never stopped aging, never been able to protect those of Amity Park. I guess what they say is true. The truth hurts, I sighed and nodded before looking at her, "Were you gonna kill those guys?"

"Nah, just take a pint or two from each, enough to keep me full and them alive." She tossed me a toothy grin before stopping and holding her hand out. "I'm Ripley… Ripley Draven."

"Draven?"

"I have an affinity for ravens."

I nodded and took her hand in mine, it was ice cold, like a ghost's. "Danny Fenton."

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Fenton. So… why are you no longer in Amity?"

"Everyone's gone…" I looked down, "I'm alone."

Ripley cocked her head to the side and studied me, "We are born into this world alone, eventually we'll end up alone, sometimes we just end up like that in different ways."

I clenched my eyes shut, fighting tears, I might be over a hundred, but I still had the raging emotions of a fourteen year old. "I don't want to be alone! I am tired of seeing people change while I stay the same!"

"Welcome to immortality… never being touched by death yourself… but death all around you." She swept her hand around, "Welcome to the life I am familiar with." She ran a hand through her hair, her bangs falling into her eyes. "I can teach you some tricks… if you don't mind hanging out with a blood sucking, shape shifting, animal talking vampire."

"You can change shape?" I raised an eyebrow, Ripley was starting to interest me now.

"Yep," Ripley gave me a toothy grin, I noticed that her top and bottom canines were pointed, like a cat's. "I can become a Raven, a Wolf, and Mist, along with some other tricks."

"Cool."

"So… Danny Fenton… ready to learn how to become an immortal?"

I wasn't, I doubt I'll ever be ready, but Ripley seemed to know her way around, also it felt good to have someone to hang with, especially since she could help me out with other Ghosts, and Cujo seemed to like her. Maybe things were finally starting to turn around…

Or, maybe I was making the biggest mistake of my life…

All I know, is that I'm not alone, not anymore.