If you're keeping score at home, If I Stay has been updated.
I had this brilliant idea for this chapter: "Hey, let's build the suspense some more!"
So that's what I did. HA.
I wrote some stuff down before I started writing this, because I've been meaning to tell y'all but I just kept forgetting. So here they are:
1. The timing of this piece is set sometime between their sophomore and junior years of college.
2. Most of the people they graduated high school with went to college, except Danny, Sam, Tucker and Valerie. Danny didn't go to college because his new lifestyle didn't really leave time for him to go, and he didn't really have any desire to (since NASA tanked, there go his dreams of becoming an astronaut. Sad day). Sam didn't because she wanted to stick with Danny, though she enrolled in a few classes at the local community college just for lulz. Tucker didn't because, hey, he's the mayor. He can do whatever he wants. And Valerie chose to stay at home and work to help support her father. I don't care if it's not accurate, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
3. You'll find out when Danny knows the same time Sam finds out. Like I said before, this piece is Sam-centric, meaning that for the VAST MAJORITY of this piece, you will see things through Sam's eyes. Don't worry, though. There will be a moment in the not-too-distant future when it becomes abundantly clear to Sam that Jack, Maddie, and Danny know exactly what's going on.
To the character deaths: thank you for not asking. I love that most of y'all are freaking out over it. It kind of makes it better, knowing that you're still gonna read even though characters are going to die. I can tell you this: it won't be Danny, Jack, or Maddie. And I've dropped hints in previous chapters that it won't be other people either. So, go ahead and comb through the first nine chapters and try to find those hints. Good luck (:
To the song: Last night, I checked, and my head almost exploded. Instead of three, THERE WERE FOUR SONGS TIED FOR FIRST PLACE. But I just checked again and someone else voted so now there is one song in the lead. I won't say which. Don't ask. But, anyways, if you want your song to win, go vote. If you've already voted, go tell other people to vote. Good luck!
That's really all I have to say, now. If y'all have any unanswered questions or unaddressed concerns, feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM. I love talking to y'all, so...yeah.
I don't own Danny Phantom, and I mention something from Star Wars in this chapter, so I don't own that either. Enjoy (:
They Had Lights Inside Their Eyes
Chapter Ten
August 22, 2012
Fenton Works was in complete and utter chaos by the time Sam and Valerie arrived. The front door stood wide open, and voices carried all the way out to the street. Valerie and Sam exchanged a look before bounding up the stairs and darting toward the basement.
The mob of people from the square appeared to be experiencing a massive traffic jam in the staircase of the basement. Sam squared her shoulders and began shoving her way through the forest of bodies, ignoring the sharp cries of protest that quickly turned into murmured apologies as she passed. Valerie stuck close behind her, snickering at Sam's forwardness. Sam rolled her eyes and continued moving.
She found Jazz and Micah settled behind one of Maddie's lab desks, which they pulled hastily from the wall and set up haphazardly in the center of the lab. Jazz was scribbling names down furiously as Micah quickly handed each person a Fenton Gun and a Jack O' Nine Tails from ancient, ratty cardboard boxes. Sam skirted around the desk and peered over Jazz's shoulder, eyeing the list of names. Jazz, being the OCD person she was, numbered the names. She was already to number twenty-seven, and there appeared to be at least forty more on the staircase alone.
"Are there more people here than in the square?" Sam asked breathlessly, glancing up at the staircase. A few people were watching her, curiosity in their gazes.
"Oh yeah," Jazz said, straightening and glancing at Sam. "We picked up at least ten more just on the way here. I wouldn't be surprised if more show up."
Sam stood and turned to Valerie, who was staring at the list as well. "How are we gonna do this?" Sam asked.
"First thing's first...we need to get the shield up." Valerie said. Jazz glanced around at Valerie's voice.
"Are you guys talking about the ghost shield?" She asked. Sam nodded. "Oh, I know how to work it. Micah," She tapped Micah's shoulder. "Will you keep working on this while I help them? Just ask their names and scribble it down, don't worry about anything else."
Micah nodded and Jazz twisted out of her seat, scuttling toward a large control panel. Her fingers flew over the buttons expertly. "Mom and Dad modified it last year to keep everything out, so it's more like a force field now that a shield." She explained. "I can change the area covered here," She gestured to a small dial, "and I can change the height of the dome here." She pointed to a small lever. "I don't want to put it on max power, because it absolutely drains the power. We'll only be able to keep it up for, like, ten minutes," Jazz typed in a command on a small keyboard. Sam watched in amazement as symbols flew across the screen inches from Jazz's face. "But we can keep all animated objects out of the vicinity."
"What does that mean?" Valerie asked, leaning over Jazz's shoulder at the screen.
"Basically, anything that is living and breathing or moving on its' own accord will be repelled by the shield from the outside." Jazz said. "It won't stop debris from coming through, but it'll stop Vlad and his army."
"What about bombs?" Sam asked. Jazz craned her neck around to raise an eyebrow at her. "Oh, don't act like it's a far-fetched idea for Vlad to have bombs. Will that level of protection from the shield repel bombs?"
"I don't know," Jazz said, turning back to the monitor. She began to type in a complicated command. "I can try to make it repel anything with heat, but -" The screen dinged and went blank. "Oh. Well. There we go." Jazz turned back to Sam, smiling from ear to ear. "I just made it repel bombs."
"Is it up and running yet?" Sam asked.
"No, I didn't -"
"Go ahead and put it up now. Vlad said he wouldn't attack until tomorrow, but that doesn't mean he doesn't already have his army moving in the city."
"Is the bunker sealed yet?" Valerie asked, moving away from Jazz and Sam and glancing at the mob still waiting for their weapons.
"Tucker was gonna do that," Sam said absently, watching as Jazz set the shield to arch over the city exactly one mile in from Vlad's shield. That left a mile-wide ring between the two shields. Jazz hit a large red button and almost immediately a deafeningly loud mechanical whir started over their heads.
"It's produced by Fenton Works." Jazz explained over the noise. "That means that Fenton Works is the center of the shield."
"Fenton Works isn't in the center of town, though." Sam said, trying not to shout.
"I can't change the orientation of the shield." Jazz said loudly. "It covers most of town, except for the south-east side..."
"That's where our apartment is!" Valerie cried suddenly. Sam grimaced at her.
"Big picture, Val," She muttered. Valerie's face fell, but she did not say anything more on the subject. "Okay, that's fine. Now, how are we gonna get back through our own shield?"
Jazz stood and rushed to one of the many cabinets cluttering the sides of the lab. She threw the doors open as the whirring stopped. Sam watched, wondering if she should assist Jazz, but before she could move toward the cabinet Jazz appeared again. She was holding a black plastic box, a look of triumph in her eyes. "These will let you pass through the shield no problem."
Sam peered inside the box cautiously. It was full, nearly to the brim, of slim, metallic, green-and-white...
"Bracelets?" Sam deadpanned. "How are bracelets gonna help us get past the shield?"
"These aren't just bracelets," Jazz tutted as Valerie stared into the box over Sam's shoulder. "They lock into your specific genetic signature. They're directly linked to the shield. When you get near the shield while wearing this bracelet, you'll be able to pass through it harmlessly."
"What are they called?" Sam asked warily, snagging two from the box and handing one to Valerie over her shoulder.
"They haven't been named yet," Jazz said. Sam slipped her bracelet over her left hand, gasping when the metal contracted to fit snugly around her wrist. "Oh, yeah, they do that. That's how they lock in to your genetic signature."
Sam eyed the bracelet before fixing a deadpanned gaze on Jazz. "Are these prototypes?" She asked.
Jazz glanced down at the box, a blush coloring her cheeks. "They've been tested..." She murmured. "It's not like they're dangerous."
"If they don't work, they will be dangerous. Did they work when they were tested?" Sam asked, trying to keep her voice from rising.
"Yes." Jazz grumbled. "It'll be fine."
"Okay, we need to talk strategy," Valerie interrupted. She twisted the bracelet on her wrist as Jazz skipped toward Micah, brandishing the box at the mob. "I think we should split them in half."
"You lead one half, I lead the other?" Sam predicted. Valerie nodded. "Okay, and from there..."
"We split the halves into quarters, each quarter gets a fourth of the town?"
"I was thinking the same thing. But we should figure out where Vlad and his army are hiding." Sam said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"You think they're already in town?" Valerie asked, turning to face the map of the town the Fentons had tacked to the wall of the lab. Sam gazed at it as well, letting her eyes rove over the city.
"Their shield circles around here," Sam drew a large circle, five miles wide, around the city. "And our shield is here." She drew a smaller circle inside the first. "We know they're not inside the shield, or else the alarm would have gone off."
"So they're somewhere in here?" Valerie asked, gesturing to the ring between the two shields. Sam nodded. "The question is..."
"Where?" Sam muttered. She stepped back and gazed at the map, willing Vlad to appear on the paper.
"Okay, we need to talk shifts." Valerie said, turning away from the map. "Fifteen hours sound too much for you?"
Sam furrowed her brow, attempting to do the math. "That leaves nine hours to eat and sleep?"
"Yep. Too little?"
"No, that should be fine." Sam said. "You have a preference as to who goes first?"
Valerie grimaced. "No..." She lied, glancing back at the map.
Sam rolled her eyes. "I'll go first." She said. Valerie snapped her head back toward Sam and widened her eyes in thankfulness. "Alright, how are we splitting them up?"
"Paulina and Star are definitely in charge of the infirmary," Valerie said. "We'll let them decide who's going to help them. Dash and Kwan could be our second-in-commands."
Sam rolled her eyes. "I get Kwan." She said sharply.
"Fine!" Valerie groaned. "I'll deal with Dash."
Sam smiled. "Okay, now, how are we gonna work out communicating between the groups? Fifteen hours means there's a six hour period when everyone is out there. Right? It's...it's nine hours on our own, six with everyone, and then nine to eat and sleep. That's the shifts, right?"
"Yeah," Valerie nodded. "Um..."
"Fenton Phones!" Jazz called over her shoulder.
"Of course!" Sam said, slapping a hand to her forehead. "Fenton Phones will work inside the shield, no problem. Not to mention, it'll block out any kind of ghostly sounds Vlad tries to use against us."
"Ghostly sounds?" Valerie repeated uncertainly as Sam dropped to her knees and flung a cabinet door open. "What do you mean, ghostly -"
"Remember Ember?" Sam asked, digging through old weapons that always seemed to backfire on Danny in their younger days.
"Yeah?" Valerie called. "What about her?"
"She hypnotized the entire town...three times...with her music." Sam crawled out of the cabinet with a box full of Fenton Phones. "Thank God they decided to mass produce this shit," Sam muttered as she straightened and wiped the dust from her knees. "Anyways, the only way me, Danny and Tucker...well, mostly me and Danny...were able to resist her music the first time was with these."
"Oh, I remember these!" Valerie said, pulling a pair out of the box. "You called them techno-goth earrings..."
Sam laughed at the memory. "Yeah I did..." She said, chuckling. She recalled the feeling she got when she wrapped her arms around Danny's middle, desperately trying to help him restrain Tucker. And then the memory of Danny's flight came to her. She shook herself as tears pricked at her eyes. "Alright, everyone gets a pair of these. Set them to the first frequency, we'll be able to maintain constant contact that way."
Valerie nodded, taking the box from Sam's hands and slapping it down on the table beside Jazz. "Everyone come get a pair of these, and make sure they're set to the first frequency! This is our method of communication, okay?"
Sam turned away as the mob murmured its' consent. She focused on the map, nibbling on her bottom lip and twisting the bracelet around her wrist nervously. "C'mon, Vlad," She whispered to the map. "Where are you?"
The map stared back at her, silent and unwilling to reveal its' secrets. Sam glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
Eighteen hours.
I don't like the shortness. But I couldn't think of anything else to write and I'm running late today, so there. Next chapter should be up in the next day or two. Hang in there.
- Tori