Guess who's back? I know it has been forever since I updated, so I'm going to give a paragraph or two as a refresher. Thank you all for being so patient and for you continuous reviewing. It meant a lot to me to see them after I logged on.
Danny pulled at my hand still clutched on his collar laughing. " Why are you dragging me, you don't even know where you're going." Danny continued to laugh before his laughter merged into a gasp. A blue wisp past his lips. His expression changed from carefree to serious in under a second.
"What's wrong" I asked. I glanced around but I saw no sign of a ghost. Then a hand grabbed my arm and shoved me to the side. I grunted when I hit the ground and rolled into a bush.
Groaning I pushed myself up so I was on my hands and knees. Shaking my head to remove the countless leaves and twigs from my hair I attempted to get up. Something cold and slimy brushed against the back of my neck and gripped the back of my T-shirt lifting me off the ground.
My feet dangled mid air as I was brought face to face with a giant..meat monster?
"Put me down" I demanded with my hands heating up. Before I had the chance to even punch the monster something smacked into the back of its head and I went flying through the air. I felt dizzy and I couldn't focus. Plummeting towards the ground I braced for impact. Swallowing my screams I winced when I felt something wrap around my waist and under my legs. When I opened my eyes I was face to face with Phantom.
-End Refresher-
We glided through the air together as one, although the activity was very familiar it felt so exhilarating to put so much trust into Phantom. To allow him to support my weight knowing he would never allow any harm to come my way. It was amazing, and so unlike our numerous past encounters.
I watched him carefully, his hair whisked back from the force of the oncoming wind, his eyes were squinted, but glowed as bright as ever. His face that had previously gone blank had suddenly turned in my direction, his expression softening. I felt my cheeks heat up at his close proximity.
"Are you alright?"
Jerking out of my daze, feeling quite foolish, I nodded my head once. "Besides for getting attacked by whatever that thing was, I'm just peachy" I retorted.
He shook his head, slight amusement brushing his soft features Just as he dipped down in the sky. We descended a few feet, coming closer and closer to the ground below. The closer the the ground we came, the more the disapointment in the pit of my stomach began to set.
"I have to say I was surprised at how you seemed to be able to hold your own back there."
"I guess I just don't like being the damsel in distress."
He gazed at me with a certain fondness that caused me to look away due to its intensity. We were still practically strangers, yet he looks at me like we have known each other forever. "There's nothing wrong with it. Everyone needs to be saved sometime."
He took one final swoop, his feet touching down on the ground with a soft thud. He set me down, making sure my feet were firmly planted on the ground before he retracted his hands from around my form. "Will you be alright from here?" He asked taking a step back, his hand subconsciously rubbing at the back of his neck.
"How many times are you going to ask me that?" I asked with a light teasing tone evident in my voice.
He seemed perplexed by my question, his eyebrows knitting together. "Asking what?"
"If I'm alright." I shook me head before adding. "Don't worry about it, Ghost Boy."
Understanding flooded his features. "Worry is a hero thing" he joked.
"Well I have to find my friend. He ran away when he saw the meat monster, I'm sure I'll probably have to go pry him out if tree."
Danny suddenly straightened up and puffed out his chest as if he were offended by my statement, but I just raised an eyebrow feigning intrigue at his response. "I'm sure he was probably just running off to get help."
"I don't know. He always seems to disappear around ghosts. He seems pretty terrified of them. Ironic that his parents are ghost hunters, don't you think?"
Phantom lifted off the ground slightly, his legs morphed together in a single, transparent tail that looked like if you reached out and touched it, it would disappear into nothing.
He turned away from me as if he was about to fly off, he craned his neck back to look at me once last time. "I-" Phantom began but he was interrupted by distant shouting. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. It was deep, yet childlike.
"Maddie! I got him! I got the ghost!" A large orange blob carrying some heavy machinery ran out into the middle of the street. He knelt down on one knee, and just as Phantom and I realized what was happening and where the shouting was coming from, he pulled the trigger on his high tech gun. Phantom acted instantly and hurled himself in front of me, his tail separating once more into two legs. His hands glowed,a shade of bright green radiating from his clenched fists. In a blurred motion his hands came together, drawing apart only for the glow to expand and harden into a physical object; an ecto shield which took the impact of the blast.
"You got him, Jackie?" A more feminine voice answered before a second form clad in a similar styled teal blue jumpsuit emerged from the general direction Jack had appeared from. A look of disappointment flooded her features as she caught sight of Jack who was empty handed of any ghostly hostages.
"Jack!" Maddie scolded. "Don't brag until you have actually captured a ghost."
Jack seemed to ignore her words and kept his focus strictly on Phantom.
I half expected the man in the orange jumpsuit to turn his gun on me, but he left the barrel trained only on Phantom. I guessed that his ghost detectors would pick up my ecto signature no better than Danny's had.
My last encounter with Vlad was still vivid in my mind. He would be back, I knew it, he wanted this bracelet as much as I needed to keep it.
Phantom wore a look of pure terror as he stood only a few feet away from his parents. He kept a careful eye on the women, most likely seeing her as the bigger threat. After all, no one would know them as well as he does. His body suddenly disappeared and I knew he had gone invisible. The woman lunged forward and got down on one knee and held her bazooka up, as if she was expecting some sort of sneak attack.
It suddenly crossed my mind that even after he had put himself in danger countless times to protect this town, and his parents still see him as a threat who will turn against them, like it was only a matter of time.
I was blatantly reminded of the presence of the meat monster as a single grey minivan promptly hit the ground almost 20 feet away. Gasps rang out from all directions. Danny's parents were the first to step into action.
Jack reached into one of the many pocket of his jumpsuit and pulled out a thin, metallic cylindrical device. At first glance I had assumed it was the Fenton Thermos, since that was clearly a favorite of the Fentons. But upon closer inspection, it didn't exactly replicate a thermos. It was too thin and was missing the handle.
Jack lunged forward waving the device in the air. He stopped short, pulled his arm back and slammed his thumb down on the great big red button as a single line was ejected out with a fishhook tied to the end of it.
The line successfully wound around the monster, the slack in the line abruptly tightened with enough force to drag Jack forward a few centimeters. The monster grunted and thrashed around due to it's constrictions. One finale tug created enough force to rip the device right out of Jacks hands. The handle flung through The air rapidly, following the motions of the monster.
I stood there watching the events unfold before me feeling utterly helpless.
A form clad in all black and grey flew overhead in a blur. Instantly I knew exactly who that black blur was. He circled around the meat monster once, before zeroing in on the small device still attached to the line. Without even a second of hesitation he flew straight down still clutching at the small cylinder. Just before he hit the ground he went intangible and phased through it. The shear force combined with his speed was enough to send the monster tumbling. A few feet ahead Phantom phased through the ground, his body returning to normal.
Maddie ran forward fumbling with the Fenton Thermos. She popped the lid off with ease and stood with her arms extended out in front of her. She pressed the button Releasing a whirlwind of force towards the monster. An elderly woman with sickly green skin was sucked out and the meat lost it's shape the second she was released.
The ghost disappeared within the thermos, but Maddie instead of screwing the lid back on immediately turned toward Phantom. I cried out, without a second thought I shoved Maddie from behind. The brute force of my shove was enough to send the thermos out of her grasp.
Phantom stood mere feet away, he just blinked a couple of times seeming to not understand my reasoning for helping him.
"Everyone needs to be saved sometime" I explained, repeating his earlier words.
He flashed a smile, clearly recognizing my words. He lifted off the ground, mouthed the words 'thank you' and flew off.
Maddie picked up the thermos, franticly looking in every direction in hopes for the ghost. "That was strange. It felt like something crashed into me just a moment ago."
A small flash of light came from behind a nearby tree caught my attention. A second later, a human hand snaked out from behind it as a body was soon to follow. Danny walked out from his spot behind the tree looking drained in every single motion he made, from the way he used the tree to support himself from the way he seemed to struggle just lifting each foot off the ground. Both his parents lowered their weapons at the sight of their little boy. If only they realized that they had just had their weapons trained on him just before the appearance of the ghost possessed bundles of meat.
His mother lifted the strap of her gun over her head, pushed the weapon over her shoulder so that it now hung securely off her back. She rushed forward and engulfed Danny in her arms. "Are you okay, Danny?" Her
His father was soon to follow, and I followed closely behind him.
Danny was quick to accept her hug as if she didn't try to waste him just a minute ago. His lids drew open a minute into the embrace, once we caught eyes he suddenly pulled back from her as a slight blush colored his cheeks. His mother followed his gaze, gave me a once over before extending her hand out to me. "Are you a friend of Danny's?"
I nodded in her direction, watching her hand warily. I wasn't sure what the gesture was, but I knew she was expecting me to do something in return. I raised my hand with uncertainty and she grabbed hold of my hand in hers firmly before letting go. "My names Marcaline. Maddie, right?"
"You've heard of me? I guess being a ghost hunter has it's perks" she gushed.
"Of course she knows us", Jack declared triumphantly. "Where the greatest ghost hunters Amity park has ever seen."
I had only known her name because her husband had screamed it earlier, but I guess if they want to think I actually pay attention to a couple of ghost hunters...
"Well, we were about to go over to Nasty Burger so..." Danny interjected appearing eager to get away from his parents. Judging by the fact that he was a teenage boy I figured that he was just concerned about them humiliating him.
Maddie's face fell, but she nodded her head in understanding. "Okay you two, have fun." Her eyes scanned past both of us, the lines on her forehead creased. "where is Sam and Tucker, Danny?"
"They were busy so it's just Marcaline and me."
I offered her a smile as I wrapped my fingers around Danny's wrist rearing to go. "Maybe I'll see you around, ?"
She returned my smile genuinely. "Looking forward to it; her eyes traveled down to my hand holding Danny's wrist "you two kids have fun." Just be safe." Her voice held a touch of worry.
Thanks again for sticking with me, even after I had let this story go for so long. This is sort of just a filler chapter, I'm not even sure if anyone is still interested in this review, complaints, suggestions, criticism are all welcome.