Hello again! This next instalment is kind of short, but it explains alot and I think people are going to like it--or hate it. Depends on what you think of the ending.

Truth and Lies—Part 4

I thought over what the old woman in the parking lot said that night, unable to sleep. All four of us had gotten called into her wonder wagon and each came out with a look on their face that said the universe was punishing them. What was so horrible for me, was that she was right. I couldn't deny anything that she had said to me, what she told me, about myself; and the thing was, none of the things she listed were horrible.

"Every five hundred years," she had began, not bothering to open the book since she must have it memorized by heart, "there is a source of energy so powerful and unchecked that it can do anything. With this power, a person has a chance to play God."

"So, what does that have to do with me?" I had asked.

"There are two parts to this energy—the Source and the Protector. The Protector is the only one that can get close to the Source without getting hurt or power-hungry, the only one in the world that can keep it in check and keep the balance between the Ghost Zone and Earth. It is the Protector's job to do just that—protect and guard the Source."

"I still don't see what this has to do with me."

"Then listen—the Source is an endless pit of ecto-energy and both humans and ghosts can control. It is pure, untouched, and endless in potential. With more powerful ghosts, the whole element of nature can change."

"Yeah," I said, remembering past battles. "Yeah it can, like Ghost Writer did with his key-board to make everyone rhyme. Or Vortex with his crazy weather-controlling powers."

"Precisely," she nodded, "but, the Source can take it to a whole new level. It can create new species of animal and plant, foods unimagined, colors that never existed. To a person with an endless imagination, they can do anything with it."

"Including destroy?"

"Yes, oh yes."

"But, what does that have to do with me?!"

"You're the Protector, young hybrid. The universe has charged you with a great task, and given you the means to do it."

I paused, the words melting in my head, but making no sense.

"How do you know it's me?"

"Because, you would sacrifice your life for those you love. You have been made to give your life away, to give up your life for others. From the very beginning, you were the Protector, even before you gained your powers. You proved this, by protecting your brother—"

I held up my hand for her to stop. I couldn't face that fact of my life, not yet. I still felt betrayed by my parents for that act, of giving my brother—my twin no less—up for adoption. I still don't know why they did it, I wanted to believe it was because they had a good reason, but I didn't see any reason that would justify taking a child from their family.

"Okay, let's say you're right . . . where is the Source? In a spring in the Nevada Desert?"

"Wrong, the Source is a person, one you are close to. The Source and the Protector are always close together, so that they might find each other before the pompous jerks can undo what is meant to be."

"Okay, so I find the Source, then what? Body Guard them for their entire life?"

"Wrong again. The Source and the Protector are only born every five hundred years because every five centuries, it is needed. The pure energy is needed to keep the Ghost Zone and the Earth in perfect balance. It keeps our worlds together, keeping each from falling into nothingness."

"So, I need to get the Source to a destination?"

"Correct."

"But where?"

"I don't know; the location changes each time. All I know is, you will find it. They always find it."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I never kid. Now, get out of here and send in your girlfriend: that creepy girl in black."

I found myself getting up and stepping towards the door. I put my hand on the handle then turned back around to face her.

"Can you tell me how to identify the Source? I mean, there are a lot of people that I'm close to."

"The person won't be able to defend themselves properly. The Source can never defend itself, that is why it needs the Protector."

I nodded and left, her words haunting my every thought up till now. I glanced up at my clock and saw that it was twenty minutes until midnight. I bet the others were tossing and turning or laying awake same as me. We all had a pretty rough shock that afternoon.

Sam had come out of the Van looking very confused and lost, holding that same book the woman had plopped into my lap. She didn't look at me, didn't look at anything really. She backed away from my touch as she told Tucker he was supposed to go in.

Tucker took a deep breath before he went, and he came out looking pretty much the same, but you could tell something heavy was on his mind. Tucker always had a blank face when he was thinking about something deep and meaningful, like the purpose of life and all that crap. He told Valerie to go in next, and I wondered what would happen since she wouldn't know a thing about what was going on. I know the others did because of my half-ghost status and the fact that they felt the same as me—conviction of some destiny that we knew existed but wished had never come upon us all.

Valerie came out, looking distraught and betrayed. She headed straight for me and looked me in the eye. I heard her mutter something then she slapped me, gave me a good black eye for about three hours before I finally healed. She had stomped off after that, not looking any of us in the face, probably not having the guts to do so, or she was so angry that us that she just didn't want to.

I knew she knew the truth, there was no doubting that. At least I didn't have to worry about telling her—explaining everything, though, would be a different story. I wished I knew what everyone had been told, but I didn't want to tell them what I was told—not until I got a better grip on it anyway.

So, I was the Protector? Some guy who was suppose to guard the Source from evil hands and get it somewhere—still unknown by the way—and I still didn't know what would happen after that or if there was a deadline. I just knew it had to be done. What the woman said about balance between here and the Ghost Zone was true. The Ghost Zone was the flipside of our world, they were connected. If the Zone went, then the Earth went with it.

The only thing I would complain about would be the name. What kind of unimaginative person would name me the Protector? Oh well, I guess it really didn't matter—it fit description wise and who was I to question the universe?

At the thought of all things powerful, I decided I would have to see Clockwork about this. I trusted his opinion better than anybody else's when it came to things like this.

The Ghost Zone seemed to be too quiet. Normally, the whole place would be filled with howls of the miserably dead or someone would be shouting an insult at me and chasing me to all ends of this seemingly unending realm. No one was in sight today, which only made me wary that an attack was being planned on me, or something was horribly wrong.

Clockwork's lair was far out, almost too long of a trip for me to take. He was an older ghosts—probably one of the first ones—and preferred his privacy, but for some reason, he didn't mind me dropping in every now and then. I think he liked my company. Yeah I did ask questions, but I never demanded anything out of him like some ghosts did. I asked for advice every now and then, but that was it. I had already learned my lesson about messing with the time stream and I wasn't about to repeat it.

"Danny," Clockwork said to me, completely unsurprised that I had come to visit, but he asked anyway like a good host, "what brings you to this side of the Zone?"

"I need to ask you something—actually, a couple of things," I said, and he nodded—the questions were expected. "I ran into someone earlier today and I was wondering if it was true, what she said?"

"Yes, every word from her mouth was truth," Clockwork confirmed my suspicions, and I suddenly wished he had just denied them.

"You knew, didn't you?" I asked him, but I wasn't mad if he did; I had long since learned that Clockwork had his reasons for keeping silent.

"Yes, that was why I didn't kill you three years ago like the Observants told me to. You needed to be in the time stream, you needed to fulfill your job, just like we all do."

"So, my evil-self, did he ever know about the Source?"

"How do you think he became so powerful?" Clockwork asked me. "He would have been captured eventually, but when he found out about the Source, he knew he could become unstoppable. He sucked the Source dry and became both Protector and Source, a combination which should never happen—understand?"

"Fully," I nodded, "so, is there like a deadline to this whole thing?"

"You'll know it when you see it, but it is a ways off yet. You have time to gather your friends and locate the Source before you have to find the location."

"I don't suppose you could supply the answers to any of those questions?"

Clockwork smiled, but shook his head no. I was on my own with those.

"What are your other questions?"

"Why is the whole Zone suddenly vacant? It's like everybody just up and disappeared, and I haven't had much trouble at home either. What's going on?"

Clockwork's face became dark and I knew at once that the answer was not good.

"The humans are getting bolder," he said, his voice rough with anger. "I'm afraid that I can't tell you what's going on—but you will know soon enough, and you must put a stop to it Danny—you must."

Great, two problems I had to worry about.

"Clockwork, are you the only one left here?"

"No, others are hiding, but I soon fear that I will fall as well."

"What do you—"

My question was cut off—a large explosion behind me blowing me off my feet and sending me sprawling to the ground. I shook the chunks of Clockwork's walls off of me and got back to my feet as fast as I could. I turned around, ready to fight, but I couldn't believe what I saw.

A giant white ship—vaguely looking like the Spector Speeder on a larger scale—came blasting its way into Clockwork's home. The ecto-cannons blasting in every direction, shooting off the clocks on the wall and destroying everything in its path like a bulldozer. The whole place was shaking, unstable on its hinges as the structure began to fall apart and collapse. Of course the chunks of wall were sliding right through the ship as if it wasn't there: the attackers were human.

"Danny, get out of here," Clockwork yelled at me over the deafening noise.

I turned to him and saw that he was holding up a shield for us so we would be smashed by the many falling pieces of ceiling and clocks.

"Can't you stop them?" I yelled at him, pointing at the ship.

"I'm afraid not, they're destroying my whole lair, it's what gives me my strength. I'm powerless right now. Get out of here, I can't afford for you to get captured."

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

With one hand, Clockwork kept the shield up and with the other, he grabbed me and threw me to the side, close to his dais where a portal was waiting for me to jump in and return home. I was not going to leave with my tail tucked between my legs! I was going to protect my friend.

I slowly got to my knees, Clockwork's shield having failed and the debris was now hitting my unprotected body. I created a shield of my own and hefted it over my head. Dust and dirt was now being kicked up like a stampede of horses were running through the tower, it was thick like fog and I couldn't see a thing.

"Clockwork!" I yelled into the desolation.

I heard him yell, but it wasn't for me. The white ship rose from the dirt like a submarine from the depths of the ocean, a captured Clockwork underneath it in a super-strength ghost shield, even one I couldn't get through with my human DNA.

"Clockwork!" I yelled for him.

I don't think he could hear me. The white ship turned around and sped back off into the Ghost Zone, having claimed its prize and was now heading back home. I watched it go off at warp speed, too fast for me to follow now. It was out of my sight within seconds.

The shaking of the ground got my attention back to where I was. Hating myself for letting them grab Clockwork and getting away, I had to force myself to turn around and jump through the portal before the whole thing collapsed on me and I was left buried in the Zone without anyone knowing where I was and no chance for help.

I tried very hard to think of who could have kidnapped Clockwork over the course of the week, but nothing came to mind. Clockwork seemed unstoppable, untouchable even. I didn't know how to take this information; it just seemed impossible for Clockwork to be gone. At least the universe wasn't pulling apart at the seams—yet.

On top of this, I had a number of growing problems. First off was this Protector and Source thing I had to figure out, but according to Clockwork, I could put it on hold until I figured out what was happening to all of the ghosts.

There were none around, here or in the Ghost Zone—even the Box Ghost wasn't around to annoy me to death. I had gone back into the Ghost Zone to try and find some clues, but there was nothing I could figure out except that the same white ship that took Clockwork was the same one that stole everyone else. Each major ghost's lair was ruble, just like the Time Tower. The only one that was untouched was Pariah's Keep, and that told me that these people knew the legends, or they were waiting to have more powerful means to take on the Ghost King.

With these major ghost-side problems came my normal human ones. My parents were putting the pressure on me to get good grades, and they were closing putting on even more pressure about college and taking over the business. My blood boiled at these discussions, not wanting any part with it, but I still didn't know my future and I wanted to figure it out myself, not for my parents to pave it for me.

Also, the troubling thought that they could hide from me that I had a brother was disturbing. I felt betrayed, wounded like an animal shot in the heart. I knew I had good reasons for lying to my parents, but I still hated doing it. I hated hiding my true-self from them, but it couldn't be helped. They hated ghosts and wouldn't see past the ecto-plasma base. For them to lie to me so easily like this for years, I hated it. I didn't even know why they sent my brother away, I didn't even know his name.

Of course there was Valerie as well. She was avoiding me like the plague, I couldn't even get a glimpse of her face to see what she was feeling. I knew I should give her time to adjust, but I also knew we had to confront each other some time. I wasn't looking forward to it, and if I knew Valerie well enough, she would try to avoid it forever, so that meant I had to be the one to make the first move.

My life sucks!

"Danny, are you okay?"

I turned to see Sam looking at me worriedly. I hadn't told her or Tucker about that night when Clockwork was taken so they didn't know what I knew. Of course they were hiding their own secrets—like what that woman told them in her smelly van. Of course those were personal things, very deep things and I could understand their want to not talk about them out loud. The need to figure it out on your own.

"I'll live," I told her, shutting my locker door quietly.

I had long since given up lying to Sam, she could spot a lie from me as easily as she could shoot Tucker down in Doomed. I became accustomed to telling her kind of half truths—revealing just enough, but not everything. Sam hated this, but she didn't try and drag it out of me, she knew I would talk after I had come to grips with whatever was bugging me.

"Danny, you've been depressed all week," she pointed out, not backing down like I thought she would. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"Not now Sam, I'm not up to it," I turned tired eyes to her and she held my gaze. "It's almost impossible that you could relate to me, I'm sorry but, I think I need to talk to someone else about my problems—at least my major ones. Can you understand that?"

"Like how I talk to Grandma about my girl problems?" she asked.

"Yeah, something like that," I nodded and started to walk off, but a hand stopped me and shoved me back into the row of lockers.

I heard Sam shriek a second later.

"You need to be put in your place Fenton!"

It wasn't Dash, it was Joel. Joel was a big-shot on the team, a senior this year. When Dash started to back off of me, Joel strolled in and started to pick up speed. He was worse than Dash; in the past, I was just beaten up because of a bad grade or a lost game, now I was beaten up for no reason other than I existed. When Joel spoke to me or my friends, it was hatred, loathing for us outcasts. He saw us as something that should be exterminated.

"Back off Joel, I'm in no mood to deal with you today," I spoke up boldly, each word true down to the last syllable.

I looked around, trying to see if anyone was around to help, but the halls were empty; just my luck. I looked back up at the big senior and scowled.

"I think you'll cooperate," Joel took my head in his hands and twisted it to the side roughly.

I saw Sam, being held by another senior. He had her hands behind her back and a hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream. When Sam screamed, it was more piercing them my Ghostly Wail—she had plenty of practice thanks to her parents' constant push of all things fluffy and pink.

"You know, you're too ugly for a girl like Manson here," Joel told me. "She's quite a catch."

A third member of Joel's gang I hadn't seen earlier, snuck up to Sam and I didn't like the smile on his face. He brought his hand up and ran the back of his fingers across Sam's jaw. She flinched away from him instinctively and I was frozen in fear of what they were going to do.

"Now, I like my girls perky," Joel spoke, calmly and resigned, almost as if he was talking to his friends in the lunch room, "but my buddies here like them a little, darker."

"Don't you dare," I growled at him, he shoved my head into the lockers, making my brain spin.

"Now, now, I think I can make them back off, if you just do one thing for me. Rumor says that you're good at fixing things, like you're a miracle worker or something."

I said nothing, not liking where this was going.

"Now, my boys and I are in kind of a bind. They found narcotics in the gym earlier and I don't need them thinking it was me or my friends."

"But it was you, everyone knows you use."

He slammed my head harder into the metal.

"Yes, but the teachers don't know that. I'm eighteen now Fenton; that means I can get jail time and college is out for me. I can't let that happen now can I? They don't think it was me, since I'm always talking about not using since it ruins your future. But a kid like you, with no future and people don't know anything about, you're perfect."

"You want me to take the fall for you?" I asked incredulously. "Are you stupid?"

He slammed his fist into my gut and I heard his friends laugh.

"No Fenton, you're the stupid one. No one would think twice when they find the drugs in your locker and you confess to everything. I always thought you didn't have a purpose Fenton, but I guess I was wrong."

"You know they're going to want to do a narcotic's test on me."

"That can easily be arranged, or forced on you, that is your choice. Of course, they probably won't bother. It would solve all of the mysteries about you, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was true."

"I won't do it."

"I knew you were going to say that, now I can't talk my boys out of anything if you disagree."

The guy with his hands free began to let his fingers creep up Sam's shirt. She kicked at him, but the other guy's hold was strong and she couldn't writhe out of his grip.

"What do you say now Fenton?" Joel asked me, sounding smug.

All of my hate, all of my confusion and pent-up frustration came to the surface in something that was completely inhuman. I hissed at Joel like an animal, a deep throated growl escaping my throat that surprised me and Sam. Joel and his buddies laughed, thinking it was some kind of pathetic attempt at sounding threatening to them—if only they knew.

"Back off," I said, growl still evident and a slight echo to my words, as if I was in ghost form.

I pushed Joel off of me, only it was just a push. I sent him flying, his body flying into the next row of lockers and completely demolishing them. It wouldn't surprise me if he was dead. I turned glowing, hate-filled eyes on his buddies and growled at them, walking up slowly.

They ran of course, not dumb enough to stick around with an angry ghost. They shoved Sam down to the floor in their haste and I quickly came back to my senses, joining her there and hugging her tightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I'm fine," her voice wasn't shaking, but I could detect the fear. "Danny, what was that?"

"I'm not sure, but I didn't like it," I said pulling her to her feet. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"I'm going to hunt them down and—"

A low groan stopped my words and I looked to see Joel stirring. It was a miracle that he didn't have a concussion. Sam pulled at my arm and we both ran from the scene of the crime, hoping Joel wouldn't remember anything that had happened to him. We fled down the steps of the school and down the sidewalk, not knowing where else to go.

Eventually, we stuck to hanging out at the park. It was last period that we skipped anyway, and I could always go back and get out bags if we needed them. We waited for Tucker to get there after he called, wondering what had happened. The whole school was talking about what had happened to Joel. They didn't have any suspects, but Tucker knew I was involved somehow.

"He was going to hurt Sam," I told him simply, that monster just bubbling on the surface.

"He wanted Danny to take the fall for him," Sam explained. "Wanted Danny to admit to using drugs. If he did, Joel wouldn't hurt me—or his buddies."

"I blew my top," I finished.

"Understandable," Tucker nodded, "I mean, there haven't been any ghosts to punch around so I guess you're filled with energy you don't normally have."

"Yeah, I guess so, but I don't feel any different than normal."

"But Danny, you are different," Sam said, I looked at her baffled.

"Of course I am Sam, that's what makes me half-ghost," I told her.

"No, I mean you're habits are different. Haven't you noticed that you haven't been eating much anymore? I mean, I understood that you had to skip a meal or two before, but there hasn't been a major ghost attack in weeks and you're still eating less."

"Yeah, sometimes you go whole days without eating," Tucker pointed out, getting out his trusty PDA and looking through logs he must have taken down about my diet. "You've only had one lunch and two breakfasts this whole week, I'm not sure about dinners, but you've never eaten when we eat anymore. You never even snack."

"I, haven't noticed," I said truthfully, I didn't feel hungry.

"Danny, you not eating is doing damage to your body," Sam spoke up again, looking at me worriedly. "Your ghost side must be holding you up somehow, but you look wasted now. This past week, you're just shrinking away faster than usual."

"And you're not sleeping," Tucker put in. "I overheard my mother talking with yours and according to her, you haven't slept a wink at all in the past month."

"But, I am, I think," I put a hand to my head, everything suddenly feeling fuzzy. "I'm confused. I never noticed that I was tiered or hungry. Tired mentally yeah, but I've felt fine otherwise."

"Danny, we're worried about you," Sam said.

I was going to say something to reassure her, but my phone rang in my pocket and I had to answer it. Mom was on the other line, sounding furious. She wanted me home at once. I sighed and hung up the phone.

"I got to go," I told my friends and left.

"Danny, you've gone too far now," Mom said, nearly yelling it in my face.

"What did I do?" I asked, completely baffled as to why she was acting this way.

"You nearly killed a fellow student Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said.

My jaw dropped, seeing my teacher on my living room couch. My dad was next to him, looking stern, but uncomfortable. Punishing wasn't his area in the parental department—embarrassing your kid was more of his deal then Mom's—okay they were both really good at the embarrassing part but Mom was harsh when it came to punishments.

"Joel identified you as the student that shoved him into the lockers, but how you managed to do it," Mr. Lancer shook his head. "But there is no denying that you did it. We are going to have to suspend you from school."

"Suspension!?" I yelled. "This is completely unfair! How do you even know it was me?"

"Joel said he saw you do it," Dad spoke up softly.

"So, they guy probably has a concussion," I said, sputtering over my own words.

"He said that you were high and went delusional," Mr. Lancer said, eyes narrowing. "To be honest, it makes perfect sense."

"What!? That's crazy! I don't use."

"It would explain things Danny," Mom said, voice hard and eyes harder. "What you've been doing to yourself, your appearance. We've had it, now we're taking action."

"I've already signed you up for a treatment center Danny," Mr. Lancer spoke, rising from the couch. "They're the best in the state, they can handle anything that you're having trouble with."

"Trouble?" I said, voice dangerously low and my eye twitching slightly. "I'm not having trouble with anything."

"Danny don't lie to us, it's over," Mom spoke. "We know you're stressed about everything that's been going on—"

I snapped then.

"Stressed!? Don't talk to me about stress!" I yelled at them, my hands balling up and my eyes glowing a sickly neon-yellow. "You have no idea what I have to deal with and you think it's stress! Let me tell you something—it's NOT!"

The T.V. blew up, and I didn't notice their wide-eyed stares.

"I've been helping this crummy little town for three years, the world even and how do you people repay me? By sending hunters after me! By putting laws out and a bounty on my head! And those weapons!"

The basement began to smoke as various small explosions were heard echoing in the tiled room.

"All I've done is protect you people, and you think I'm some sort of criminal!" I continued to rant. "Now you think I'm using? You have no idea what it's like!"

Dad hopped up from his chair as it suddenly flew up and crashed into the ceiling. Various objects around us floated, glass in the windows cracking and the temperature dropping fiercely, but I didn't notice—I didn't care.

"Every time some new stupid invention comes into the house, I have to dismantle it or hide it to make sure I'm not found out, to make sure I'm not hurt. Every time I turn my back, another ghost is there, wanting to take over the town or have a piece of my hide. All those sleepless nights were because I was trying to stop ghosts from taking over the planet! Every failed test was because I rescued some stranger off the street from an untimely death. Do you know how many times I had to save the universe itself!? I've traveled in time, seen things no other person could possibly see, and probably never will.

"I've done things and can do things no other person can do, and it drives me insane because I can never tell anybody about it. If I do, it's straight to the dissection table! I don't even know if I'm fully dead!"

The clock in the hall was spinning out of control, the windows blown out and the light glinting off of the shards that littered the yard and the carpet. Ice began to build around the walls and the picture-frames began to crack.

"I'm tired of people trying to run my life! They don't even know what I am, so don't judge me until you know what I have to deal with!"

I was spent, my energy burned out and everything came back to earth with giant clatters and bangs. I fell to my knees, feeling the glass from the windows digging into the skin of my shins and palms of my hands as I tried to stay steady. The world spun, I felt ill.

"Danny?"

I turned away from whoever was talking and retched on the carpet, nearly fainting with the exertion I put on myself. I felt hands on my back as they turned me over after I stopped heaving. I was too dazed to care what was happening to me. The world swam unsteadily and the murmurs of voices were loud in my ears, but I couldn't make out words.

The last thing I remember very clearly was my body laying on a cool surface and hands running over me as they tried to do something to me. I tried to fight back, but I was too weak to do so. I only ended up making myself fall from the cool surface only to hit something else. I felt my nose smash into my face and a faint cry that came from my throat. My head hurt worse then and I blacked out.

I jerked awake, my head leaving the surface slightly before I put it back down on the pillow. I felt awful; everything hurt, my eyes felt heavy, and my stomach churned uneasily. I felt weak, unable to turn over and lift my upper body off of the—what was I laying on anyway?

"Danny?"

Mom's face came into view, her face looking haggard and worried, but her eyes looked me over critically.

"Honey, are you really awake this time?" she asked me.

I only blinked lazily, unable to find my voice. Mom ran her fingers over my face and down my neck. I could feel the sweat roll off of my skin and onto her gloves as she moved them.

"Good, you're sweating," she said, moving my hair back out of my eyes. "You gave us a scare sweety."

I was confused, I had no idea what she was talking about. She must have interpreted my look correctly because she started to explain.

"You're sick honey, you had a bad fever but it broke a little while ago. You just need to sweat it out now. Is your nose any better?"

I wrinkled said part of my body once she mentioned it. It did feel odd, as if it was bandaged or something. Mom was gentle in taking the bandages off after my feeble attempt at taking them off myself. She was a little stunned to see it was perfectly fine, but she didn't look as surprised as she should have.

She reached up out of my line of sight to fix something and then returned her look to my eyes. I began to feel the heat of my fever and it made me terribly uncomfortable. I shifted, trying to find a cool spot on the bed but I couldn't move much. Everything felt wet and warm to me.

Mom got a wet cloth from nowhere and put it around my neck to make me stop fidgeting. It felt good, as if it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen.

"Does that help sweety?" Mom asked.

I could only moan low in my throat—it felt so good right now that I could barely tell I was sick.

"Jack, we'll need more of that concoction. It's helping him a lot. His levels are coming back up already," Mom spoke behind her, over her shoulder, but I was already drifting off again. "Danny, don't sleep just yet, we need to get another sample."

She patted the side of my face to bring me back around. It gave me a slight shock, but I wanted to sleep so badly. I felt a sharp prick—I'm not sure where on my body but I felt it—and I shifted uncomfortably again, whimpering at the feeling.

"Shush, it's okay," Mom's voice told me quietly, stroking my hair until the pinch left.

"That's it sport," Dad's voice said, and I felt his larger hand ruffle my hair. "We won't need another one for awhile."

I sank deeper into the comforter, feeling weaker than before. Mom kept bathing me in that cool liquid and I was thankful for it. I sort of dazed off for a while, not entirely in sleep and not awake either. My breathing was slow and steady, I had a hard time trying to breathe normally. At one time, I began to panic because I was afraid I wasn't getting enough air, but Mom was there and soothed me back down.

"It's okay Danny, you're okay," she chanted over and over again. "You're fine."

I believed her, she was the only thing I could believe at the moment. Breathing slower than normal felt odd, but I wasn't uncomfortable. I got use to it after a few hours, though I still sort of panicked every now and then. Mom always brought me back down, sometimes I wondered if she was worried I would worry myself to death.

"Mads, his strands are stabilizing, I think he's out of the thickest part, but not completely out of the woods," Dad's voice said, softly as if I was sleeping. "Danny, you need to sleep. Your body needs to recuperate."

"He's right hon," Mom said, taking the cloth off of my forehead to dip it again. "Go to sleep, we're going to be here the whole time so don't worry about anything. Just sleep."

I took her advice, their voices melding into blurs as I went completely senseless.

I woke up more slowly the second time. I didn't feel as bad, but I wasn't a 100% either. For the first time, I was able to tell I was in the lab, on one of the examination tables. I wasn't strapped down though and my blankets were on me, my pillow still there from when I woke up the first time. I was shirtless, wires of all sorts stuck to my chest. I had some weird monitor thing tapped around my finger and an I.V. needle stuck in my right arm. I looked up to see the bag was dripping some sort of mixture I couldn't recognize, but I realized it wasn't normal human fluid. It was glowing slightly and green in color. It wasn't ecto-plasma, but it wasn't morphine either.

Small beeping noises brought my eyes to a large screen, keeping a watch on my vitals. My breathing was slow, and my heart beat was even slower. I counted at least thirty seconds before it beat again. That would be enough to give someone a stroke and die.

"Danny," Mom came into my view again, "how do you feel?"

"Lousy," I said, but I could barely hear myself.

She must have heard me though because she smiled sadly.

"I'm not surprised, would you like something to drink?"

I didn't have to nod to tell her yes. She gave me a glass and helped me sip from it without needing an answer.

"What happened?" I asked.

"That's kind of complicated," Mom said slowly. "I don't think you're up to anything right now, but you have improved a lot since last night."

"How long was I out?"

"A couple of days. Don't worry about school, Lancer understands."

"So I'm not suspended?"

It was a stupid thing to ask, but I wasn't really myself at the time.

Mom's smile was humored now as she shook her head.

"No hon, you're not suspended. You're not in trouble of any kind anymore."

I sighed heavily, feeling a great weight lifted off of my chest.

"What's in the I.V.?" I asked.

"Supplements," Mom said quickly, "um, ghostly ones."

I blinked.

"You're body was lacking the vitamins a ghost needs. We just gave you the ones you need. With all of the energy you carry around with you, I'm surprised that you didn't burn out sooner."

"I don't understand," I said after a moment.

"I know you don't, which I why I'll explain after you are fully rested. Okay?"

"Fine," I settled back into bed, feeling sleepy again, "and Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for not tearing me apart molecule by molecule."

She winced but nodded. I reached out with my hand and clamped onto hers.

"I don't blame you for anything," I told her firmly. "Everything was my fault, I should have told you sooner."

"Danny, not now," she her other hand over mine though. "You need your rest okay?"

I nodded and yawned, closing my eyes and letting the hum of the Ghost Zone sing me to sleep.