Part 4— Chapter 11
Silvi followed Danny for a ways after she had it out with Aquila. That evil pig! How did he get here so fast? She was hoping for some rest before she had to face him again.
When she saw the top of Fenton Works in sight, she veered left and waved goodbye to Danny. He saw her but he didn't wave back. He must not completely trust her yet. She would have to keep an eye on him. If Aquila was interested in Danny like this, then that meant he wanted Danny pretty badly, no matter how much the demon would deny it.
These thoughts were running through her mind as she caught the all-too-familiar sound of a gun charging up behind her back. She turned to see the Red Huntress on her jet sled aiming a gun at Silvi.
"Good bye spook!" she yelled, firing the gun.
A deadly purple blast shot out of the barrel, but Silvi was experienced with hunters and dodged easily. The shot went into the ground harmlessly, but its origin was far from gentle.
'Hostile is more of the correct word,' Silvi thought to herself. 'I never knew Valerie held that strong of a grudge towards Danny. What kind of triangle are these kids in?'
"Stop this!" Silvi said holding out her hand, trying to get peace to take place of this fight, but of course, Valerie wasn't about to back down.
Valerie fired again, without speaking. Silvi dodged and flew up to Valerie to see her face-to-face.
After establishing that Danny was a half-ghost like herself, it only seemed right that Valerie was the Red Huntress. Every time Danny left the school room, Valerie was close behind him and then Amity Park's two most famous ghost hunters would show up out of the blue. That would also explain how Valerie got her wounds, the ones just as bad as Danny's.
"I don't talk to ghost slime!" Valerie yelled firing her gun again.
"And what of those who aren't ghost slime?"
That seemed to get Valerie's attention. She didn't put her gun down, but she did loosen her finger on the trigger.
"You mean half-ghosts like Phantom's cousin?" Valerie asked looking grim.
"I don't know who Phantom's cousin is," Silvi said, puzzled.
"Then, like Vlad Masters?"
Silvi had heard that name echoed throughout the Ghost Zone with fear lately. She knew exactly who the billionaire was.
"He is a disgrace to our people," Silvi said crossing her arms. "but yes, like Mr. Masters. So you have heard of us before?"
"Yeah, but I don't understand you at all," Valerie said putting her gun down at her side.
"Then ask Phantom, he's one of us after all."
Valerie's face went pale behind her visor.
"You didn't know you were hunting a fellow student did you?" Silvi asked. "And you didn't know that you were just about to shoot your art teacher either."
"What!? Wait, you can't be… Ms. Train?" Valerie asked in horror.
"Amity Park is known to be haunted, but not by full blooded ghosts," Silvi said. "This place is a safe haven for our kind. Hundreds of us have hidden in these safe walls at one time or another."
"But then the Fenton's opened the portal," Valerie said putting the pieces together. "Bringing the ghosts here."
"They would have found a way," Silvi said. "It's our job to protect people Valerie, not to destroy them. Masters is different though. He's a twisted old man who needs something that he can't find. Don't judge others before you hear their story."
"You're not going to tell anybody are you?"
"Not if you don't. I've tried to keep you out of detention because of the ghost hunting. You are really good at it, but your aggression is misplaced. Go home and think on it."
Silvi turned to fly home, but Valerie stopped her.
"Wait, Ms. Train."
"Call me Spectral in this form Valerie," Silvi said.
"Spectral, can you tell me who Phantom is? In school I mean?"
Silvi shook her head.
"No Valerie, it's his secret not mine. Just ask him, he'll be your friend, that's all he's ever wanted I think. Peace between you two. You might even be able to help him out with the ghost hunting. He has homework too after all."
Valerie smiled at that. Then she nodded and headed downtown to Elmerton. Silvi went back to her apartment and stayed up, worrying about what to do with Aquila's presence.
Chapter 12—
The weekend was filled with worry and work. Spectral showed up constantly in the public areas, fighting some sort of ghost. It was Technus at the mall; he had been gathering equipment for a new kind of robot that stole people's credit cards. Spectra and Bertrand at the local hospital; they had been feeding off of the pain of the young children who were desperately sick. The Box Ghost at the packaging plant, nothing really happened there, and many other battles that Phantom seemed to be absent in.
Valerie showed up a few times to help Silvi and the Halfa was thankful to see her. The teenager was quite good at this stuff, but she was worried about Danny. When she had kicked the Box Ghost out of town, Silvi took a trip to Fenton Works to try and find Danny.
She found him in his room, lying on his bed, doing nothing. This behavior was odd for him. He normally would be up hunting ghosts on the weekends. She had seen him in action plenty of times before, so what changed this time?
Silvi entered the room and put her hands on her hips, looking down on the boy with a worried frown. Danny glanced up at her, but did nothing else. He pulled the covers over his head and did nothing.
"Danny get up," Silvi said. "It's Sunday, a day to be enjoyed, but not in bed."
"Go away Silvi," he said, his voice muffled by the bed sheets.
Silvi stood there for a second then sat on the bed beside him, taking the lip of the blanket and pulling it down so she could see his face.
"I knew you were smart, but not that quick," Silvi said grinning at him.
He only scowled at her.
"Valerie and I have been doing the ghost hunting for you all weekend. Mind telling me why Phantom is no longer around the streets?"
"He's tired and giving up," Danny stated bluntly and grabbed the blanket back from Silvi.
"Everyone needs a break Danny, but you can't quit," Silvi said. "This town needs you."
"You and Valerie seem to be just fine for it!" he said angrily.
"I won't be around forever, and neither with Valerie. She has many scholar-ship options in Europe if she wants. I know of many good schools who would kill to have her. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself."
"What's the point?" Danny asked, sounding oddly depressed. "Every time I try, I fail. What's the point?"
"The point is to keep trying. God created us with a spirit of will and power, not failure. You acknowledged a Creator before Danny, what happened to that optimistic outlook?"
"It died. You showing up was a coincidence. There is no way God can hear me, or even want to bother with me."
"Danny, God loves all people, and he loves you more then you can possibly imagine. With love that large, then He has to want to help you."
"Then why doesn't He?"
"He has been, you just can't see it, or you try to make it on your own. In order to hear God and to have His help fully, you need to acknowledge Him fully. It's just like having a friend, your friend wants to help you, but you won't let them. It's just like that with God. You need Him, but you need to let Him in first. Think about it."
She patted him on his arm and left the room, having her senses go off and to find a large green dog running through the fences of the neighborhood.
"Come back here pooch," Silvi called to it. "This is going to be a long night."
Chapter 13—
"Silvi!"
Silvi looked up from her desk where she had been reading and saw Lancer running into her room.
The school had been evacuated for the worst blizzard of the year a few hours ago and Silvi was going to catch a ride with Lancer to her apartment. Her car had been buried in snow and it wouldn't start. Lancer had a better car and it ran fine in these conditions.
The worried look he had on his face right now though was troubling her.
"What is it Lance?" she asked getting up.
"It's Danny, I can't find him anywhere," Lancer said out of breath. "The Fentons called a minute ago, wondering where he was. I think he's stuck outside somewhere. He's nowhere in the building."
Silvi's head swerved to the windows, seeing nothing but a wall of snow blowing past her at a hundred miles an hour. If Danny was stuck in that…
"We have to find him," Silvi said. "He could die from hypothermia. It has to be dangerously freezing out there. Come on Lance."
She grabbed Lance by the arm and dragged him through the school, flying at top speed. She stopped only to grab their coats and Lancer's keys.
"I'll look, I don't think he got very far," Silvi said phasing through the door. "I'll call you."
Lancer nodded and Silvi took off in the snow. It didn't bother her that much since she had a shield of fire around her frame. It melted the snow, but it didn't stop the wind. It knocked her around, but she was straight on course. She couldn't hear anything in this weather, but she tried.
"Oh Lord," she prayed. "If Danny's out here, please help me find him."
She felt the comfort that came with God's spirit when she prayed and soon she let her instincts drive her. God was with her, guiding her to a specific place behind the school.
'The football field!' she realized and zoomed towards it.
"Danny!" she yelled over the snow, hoping that Danny would hear her voice. "Danny!"
She landed on the ground, the snow ankle deep already in an hour's time.
"Danny! Danny!"
She saw something grey against the white snow and soon made it out as a backpack. She ran towards it, being able to see the figure laying in the snow.
"Danny!"
She slid next to him, landing on her knees hard, but she didn't care. He was stiff as a board and blue, just barely breathing. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close to her, turning up the heat on her body and rubbing his arms.
"It's going to be okay bud," she told him, not knowing if he could hear her or not.
She pulled out her phone and called Lancer up. He said he would have the car back there in a few minutes. After getting Danny in the warmth of the car, Silvi got in and held Danny, warming him up even more. He was close to dying out there.
"Should I go around back?" Lancer asked, stopping at the hospital.
"No, go through the front. I can request Doc up front. He's a genius with this sort of thing," Silvi said looking out through the frosted car window. "I hope this isn't Doc's day off."