A/N: I don't own the song 'Faint' by Linkin Park. It is one of the songs that inspired this story.

Chapter Six

Everyone

"I am
A little bit of loneliness
A little bit of disregard
A handful of complaints
But I can't help the fact
That everyone can see these scars
I am
What I want you to want
What I want you to feel
But it's like
No matter what I do
I can't convince you
To just believe this is real..."

Danny had quickly gone into his room afterwards, trying to figure things out and clear his mind. First the dream, now this? Was everything against him all of a sudden? Next thing you know the toaster will be giving his visions. He sighed. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, elbow resting on his knee and chin resting in the palm of that hand. Vlad had said he was going to be making some calls. Danny didn't know to who, but he had a feeling it had something to do with school.

The last thing he wanted now was school. He didn't want to meet new friends or new teachers, or new anything. He didn't want to forget all of his friends just because their faces were going to get replaced by new ones. It just wasn't fair. "Life's not fair," he mumbled to himself suddenly. "It's tough." Then he smiled and fell back onto his bed, stretching his legs out in front of him and stretching out his arms. "Get a helmet," he told himself, closing his eyes, smiling.

Before he knew it, he'd fallen straight to sleep.

Walking. Down a long dirt road. I don't know where I'm going, why. All I know is that this is important. All around me is barren land with randomly scattered vegetation. Everything is as still as stone and you can't even feel the wind. The whole scenery just sends shivers spiraling down every nerve in my body. It's pretty unnerving.

Off in the distance, is someone. I can't tell who it is, why he's there. He's with two other people. Two of them are ghosts, I know it. One is holding what looks like a staff of some sort, the other is grinning with such evil behind the smile. The boy in the middle looks more confused than confident of what he's doing here. I stop suddenly. Something's wrong.

The sudden blast of air coming from behind me nearly made me fall. Eyes wide, I turned quickly on my heels, nearly falling in the process. But I keep my balance, leaning forward in a battle-ready stance. Then I freeze. An explosion. Voices shrieking, screaming for help. "No." The word escapes without so much as my consent.

"No!" Danny shrieked, finding himself gasping for air, fighting to breathe. He gripped the blankets tight in his hands, eyes wide, senses flaring. He gulped, looking around the room.

"Daniel, what's wrong?" Vlad's voice asked, piercing through Danny's thoughts. He quickly turned to the older man opening the door.

"Nothing," Danny said, looking down. He blinked a couple of times before finally looking up. "It was just a dream," he said, watching as Vlad sat down beside him.

He sighed a deep, guilt-filled sigh. "Daniel," he said, pausing to search for words. "You cannot go on like this. You had a similar dream this morning, correct?"

"Well," Danny started, looking away uneasily.

"I heard you," Vlad said, sighing again. "It was almost the same as now: I'd come in to check on you, but did not want to wake you. I thought, maybe, it would simply stop on its own. That maybe it was a sort of aftershock from the explosion."

Danny sat without any movement. He sat emotionless. He decided changing the subject would be a good thing to do. "You said you'd be making a few calls," he said, still not looking at Vlad.

Vlad nodded. "Yes," he said. "I've been making a few preparations for your education. Just because you've been robbed of your friends, family does not mean you will stop your education." Danny nodded; Vlad continued. "I've even arranged a few things so that you can get some help. There's a psychiatrist at the school that I believe to be very good and understandable. She has a very good reputation."

"She?" Danny asked, his attention flicking to Vlad. One name came to mind: Penelope Spectra.

"Yes," Vlad said. "She is also a student at the school. Her name is Jennifer Robb," Vlad explained. "She is almost a graduate and she's studying to be a psychiatrist when she grows up. The school believes her standards are high enough for her to help the students there as a type of councilor."

"Like Jazz." Danny's voice was hollow, unfeeling. He was no longer looking at Vlad."She loved to study about all this psychology stuff. She wanted to be a brain surgeon you know. And Sam, I guess she knew a little bit too because she was always the voice of reasoning."

Vlad watched the boy with great sympathy as he talked about his friends and sister.

"Sam would hate it when Tucker, or even me some times, would talk as if we knew everything and when we talked without making sense. Some times..." Danny stopped, choking on his words. He took a deep breath and let out the breath in a shaky rush of air.

"Daniel," Vlad stopped him. "Maybe you should rest. We'll talk in the morning."

Danny's fists clenched. "Vlad," he breathed. Vlad stopped. He'd gotten to his feet and had started out the door when he heard Danny's plea. "Vlad, I know I'm not the easiest person," Danny said. He paused, choking on his words again. "I know I'm not the easiest person to take care of, but I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel as if everyone's watching me, pressuring me to return my life back to normal, to return to being my regular self, but...I can't. I can't help the fact that I'm like this. I know it's not alright...But I don't know what's worth fighting for anymore. Everything's gone. Everyone I've ever cared about, ever loved. You don't know how hard it is." Danny's voice was on the verge of breaking, uneven and strained. But still the tears would not come. His fists tightened and his finegrs dug deep into his palm.

Vlad didn't turn around, he couldn't. He felt tears well up in his eyes. He knew only a fraction of what Danny was feeling and he knew it couldn't, wouldn't, compare. "We'll talk in the morning," he repeated, trying hard to keep his voice even. "Good night, Daniel."

Danny only sat there, thinking.

"So I let go
Watching you
Turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here
'Cause you're all I got..."

E/N: If any Linkin Park lovers are reading this, you may have noticed that in what Danny told Vlad he used a small line from the song "Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park. I decided to put that, but that song was not the otehr one that inspired this story. I just thought it would fit. Hope you liked this chapter. I know it was short, but I'm trying my best!

--Airamé Phantom