Into the shadows you must run.


Shadows
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria


Chapter 2: Invisible


Danny knelt, his mind tortured with images of his mother dying. Slowly he brought his head up, staring at the flickering, green candle. Stupid candle, he hissed in his mind, too tired and aching to actually speak. What can I do?

I need to rescue her, but how? His brain refused to answer. He dropped his head back to the floor, darkness swirling around the edges of his vision with just that movement.

A picture of his weakened mother not able to fight off the guards all by herself flooded into his mind. Stop that. She's a ninth degree black belt. She can handle anything.

Nevertheless, more pictures slid into his head, digging into his tired body like needles. In many ways, they were worse than the pain. "Fine," he whispered aloud, raising his head to stare at the hallway. The darkness clawed at his sight.

Pushing himself to his feet, he stood perfectly still, swaying. He swallowed harshly, fighting back the nausea that swirled through him. Carefully, he slid one foot forwards. He could see the floor through his legs. Fighting off a wave of terror at that, he forced his eyes upwards, focusing on the door. "I can do this."

Step by step, Danny wove his way across the room. He reached the wall, following it into the black hallway. After a few feet, he paused, leaning against the wall to rest.

"Ah!" he yelped, tumbling through the solid wall. He lay on the floor in the dark hallway, halfway through the wall, blinking in confusion. I'm not solid enough. A morose chuckle trickled out of him as he staggered to his feet once more. Permanently intangible. Doing his best to push the aches and pains out of his mind, he struggled across the hall. Ignoring the next wall completely, he simply walked through it.

A few walls later, he heard it. "Move," a tired voice commanded. Danny held still, his breath lodged in his throat. The female voice continued. "Then I move you."

"Mom," he rasped, throwing himself through the last wall, knowing that he was too drained to be much help. Two men appeared right before him, glowering down the hallway. One of them raised a gun, the barrel sparkling in dim sunlight.

Danny stared at them, yanking more energy out of his soul. His entire body beginning to unravel, he focused the slight bit of energy into his arms. Daggers of pain sliced along his arms and into his brain. The glow of energy was barely visible. I have to make this count…

He threw himself at the guards. His fingers reached out, swirling energy at his fingertips, and he clawed at their faces. Fingernails found soft tissue. Energy flared. Caught off guard, the two guards screamed. They collapsed, pawing at their eyes, smearing thick streams of blood around on their faces.

Danny fell on top of them – fell through them, actually – and closed his eyes in agony. Breathe, he commanded, the pain wreaking havoc in his mind making it impossible to do anything.

He used his arms to pull himself out of the men's writhing bodies. Unfocused eyes flickered up to where his mother was standing, staring at him with a look of terror on her face. "Go!" he gasped, making a half-hearted effort to point out the door. His eyes caught a glimpse of his hand as it moved. Nothing more than a vague outline.

Tears prickled in his eyes. The ever-present pain started to slowly recede. Almost in awe, he raised his hands before his face, staring down at the blurry outlines. The throbbing, stinging feeling vanished completely a few moments later, leaving him feeling like he was floating a mile over his body.

This is it, he thought again, not even really able to sigh anymore. His body was becoming more transparent by the second. He clenched his fingers, feeling the distant pain of the movement, barely able to see his fists. Something huge and vast and powerful was closing in on him, curling around him. This is what it feels like to die.

Anger, frustration, and hatred drained out of him. It was nothing compared to the emptiness. Caught in his own thoughts, he didn't even notice his mother until she poked her finger through his shoulder. He glanced up at her, feeling a warm glow in his stomach when he looked into her eyes. At least she'll be fine.

"I'm sorry," he rasped. He knew he should be feeling pain and sorrow, but this empty, distant feeling was too pervasive. "I can't help you anymore. You're on your own." The words were like the wind, soft and gentle and barely audible.

"No… you'll be fine," she whispered, her eyes hard and determined. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Danny merely shook his head. No, I won't. But that's okay.

His eyes focused over his shoulder. Two new men were rounding the corner and dashing towards them. Danny felt a distant cold finger twist into his stomach. Fear? "No…" He looked up at his mother. "Run!" he screamed, praying that it was loud enough for her to hear.

She hesitated a moment longer, glancing over her shoulder. "Not without…"

While her head was turned, Danny called on the last of his energy, forcing himself invisible. Maddie's eyes came back around, looking for him. "Phantom?" She crouched there for a few more heartbeats, Danny staring invisibly into her eyes with tears in his eyes.

Finally, she ran.

To be continued…