Error's Rival
Chapter 10: Guilt
Sam cradled her burnt and now broken hand, each pulse spread agonizingly through her arm making her hiss with pain. Someone was coming up the stairs…Sam turned to face the doorway, her body tensing with fear. Tucker? Jazz? Who was it? They had to have heard her right? Sam wasn't sure, so she waited a few more seconds before someone came into the room.
Eyes widening with horror, Sam nearly doubled over when she saw who came in.
"Sammikins!"
Mom!? What the hell was she doing here?
"Oh, Sammy! Honey, I was so worried!" Pamela nearly jumped over to her daughter, a worried expression showing across her face, "are you alright dear?" She lightly touched her daughter's face, "oh honey, I'm so sorry! I heard what happened!"
W-what!? How does she know!? Sam took a quick step back, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words seemed to come out at first.
"Does it hurt? I have some medicine downstairs that you need to clean up that wound with, alright baby?"
Hold on! How the hell is she so calm about all of this!?
"Don't worry honey; the others are down in the basement. I had that Asian boy tell me what happened!" Pamela raised a fist, "he was persistent, but I got the truth!" Tears welled up in her eyes, "I'm sorry honey! Don't worry; they assured me that they caught the raccoon! Those creatures are vicious, Sammy! I've told you so many times to stay away from them! That's how the black plague started!"
(Is she on something?) If Sam's hand didn't hurt so much, she would smack herself in the face because of her mother's stupidity. Oh my god…mom, first of all, he's not Asian, you moron! Second, the black plague was not because of raccoons…and third! Who the hell told her it was a freaking raccoon!? Telling someone that a ghost dog attacked me is more believable! There are no raccoons living around here! I should just be glad that my mom is so pathetically clueless.
"So, Sammikins, what are you doing up here?"
That was an easy way to twist the knife. Sam grimaced in anger at the terrible reminder of where she was. She was in Danny's room, or…his old room. At this, she turned away from her mother, letting her hair fall into her eyes as she bowed her head to her chest. 'Nothing.' She mouthed the word, however no syllable escaped. Maybe I used more words than I could handle. Without thinking, Sam clenched her broken fist in anger and a moment later she cried out in agony.
-30 minutes previous-
Down in the Fenton's basement, Tucker hovered over the Fenton family's shoulders, observing everything that they were doing. None of them seemed to get annoyed by his curiosity and his nonstop questions. "What's that?" "Is that edible?" "Is that alive!?" "What's the gooey stuff for?" "Can I touch this?" etc.
Jack was smart enough to give Tucker (what looked like) a machine gun, which made Tucker's eyes water with fear and excitement. "Here you go! This is our very own Super Fenton Ghost Detector!" He introduced the weapon with a grin, "Right now it can detect any ghostly energy within a twenty foot radius! Cool huh? We're still working on it though," he added with disappointment.
Tucker gazed at the gun, running his fingers along the metal, taking in every detail of this masterpiece. "It's amazing!" He exclaimed, but isn't it a little too threatening-looking for a ghost detector? "What energy is used to power it?"
"Ah, who knows!" Jack grinned, "Something with a long name that is too hard to remember! But, it works great! But if you think that's cool, wait till you see this!" He made his way over to a nearby table, followed by Tucker.
Maddie was on the other side of the room, her fingers typing away at the keys on her computer. She had her jumpsuit hood pulled down, and her goggles hung around her neck, showing that her eyebrows were twisted together with concentration; her husband's rambling didn't seem to bother her the slightest bit.
Jazz walked into the basement from the steps, Maddie immediately turned to her, "How's Sam doing?" She inquired.
"She's fine, I just cleaned her wounds again, and she's still sleeping." Jazz sighed, letting her head fall to her chest almost as if in exhaustion.
"What's wrong, honey? Are you alright?"
"Yeah…it's just…" Jazz glanced at the stairs again, "it's just that Sam…I'm worried about her, you know? The entire time I was cleaning the cuts on her face, she kept repeating the same thing…"
Maddie nodded, not replying with words. She gave her daughter another quick glance of encouragement before turning to her computer once more.
It was silent for several minutes, then Tucker had another question, "Hey, uh…who exactly is Danny? And how does Sam know him?"
…Jack put down the device in his hands, Maddie's fingers stopped typing, and Jazz's gaze dropped to the floor in silence. The awkward ring that filled the room was horribly annoying, and Tucker then wished he hadn't said anything.
"Uh…uh…" Tucker gave a quick and goofy smile, "Never mind. It's not the big of a deal, really." He chuckled nervously.
"It's no secret," Jazz was the first to speak up, "but…we aren't the ones you should be asking." She looked up at Tucker, their eyes meeting for the first time, really meeting. "It isn't our story to tell."
"Sam knew him better than any of us." Maddie said, "She's known him the shortest amount of time, but even so, if you want to know anything, you should ask her."
"Oh…" Tucker quietly muttered, "Well, I'm afraid of asking her. I mean, you saw her hands, they are completely burnt up and stuff, she held onto that thing like no other! She hasn't really spoken to me yet, I mean…she gave a few orders when that dog was chasing us, and she told me what to do, but we haven't really talk talked."
"Maybe it's not the right time yet." Jazz offered her opinion, which Maddie slowly nodded in agreement.
Tucker looked up at Jack, who hadn't done much other than stay quiet, his usual excited self was replaced by a tense and almost frightening person; not scary, but frightening. Tucker was also curious about why Sam had acted so coldly to these people, they seemed so nice, what could they have done? I'll have to ask her some other time.
A moment later, a light knock was heard from upstairs. The Fentons and Tucker looked over toward the stairs with interest. Unlike the others though, Tucker's heart skipped a beat in fear of who could be at the door. "Who's that!? Is it a ghost?" Even after learning the ghost dog was (for the most part) harmless, he had just spent the last hour learning about hundreds of different ghosts that suck out people's souls or steal flesh from human bodies! "What do we do?" He cried.
Jazz giggled, "If it was someone that was here to attack us, don't you think it's a bit proper of them to knock on the door? In the past when we had a ghost invasion, no ghosts bothered to knock."
"G-ghost invasion!?"
"That's right!" Jack's smile came to his lips once more, "a huge ghost invasion! Lots of freaky ghosts that would scare the living daylight out of ya! But we beat them all, didn't we!" He barked in triumph, raising a fist in the air to prove his point. "Of course, that hasn't happened here in Amity Park yet. But we're ready for a ghost invasion anyway!"
Each of them had forgotten about the door knocking and continued their conversation.
"Jack dear, there won't be any ghost invasions here!" Maddie gave a comforting smile to Tucker, "don't worry; you won't have to worry about it. But if by some chance there was, no harm would come. Ghosts don't hurt people."
"I beg to differ, Mads!" Jack bellowed, "You and I both know that ghosts can easily hurt people and kill them in less than a minute! But, the ones that usually hurt people and eat their souls are the really disgusting and ugly ones! Trust me, none of them are pretty!"
"Um…excuse me?" A new voice interrupted their conversation.
Tucker was the closest to the steps, he turned around and was face to face with a woman wearing a silk outfit, she had diamond jewelry and her hair was a freaky dyed orange colour that curled up at the bottom, not to mention, she looked like she was trying to pass off several years younger than she was with face lift. (Remember, this is Tucker's way of seeing her)
"Oh shit!" Tucker was on the opposite end of the room in less than a second, and under his breath, Tucker muttered to himself, "You were right Mr. Fenton!"
The woman didn't smile or look cheery at all, "My daughter, Sam…what's wrong with her? I saw her upstairs, is she alright?"
Maddie rushed forward, "You're Mrs. Manson?"
"Yes, I am."
At this, Tucker's jaw dropped open, "Oh snap." He backed into the wall and silently muttered, "I didn't mean what I said! Eh-heheh…" But to his great relief, Mrs. Manson didn't seem to give him any attention.
"Tell me what's wrong with my daughter!" Mrs. Manson demanded and even did the horrible putting the hands on the hips thing. "What have you done to her!?"
"Mrs. Manson," Jazz calmly spoke to her, "we haven't done anything to Sam. She was hurt, we found her, that's all, and we're taking care of her now."
"How did she get hurt though!?"
"Well, we weren't there, Mrs. Manson."
Mrs. Manson then glared at the teenage boy who seemed to be having a mini seizure while standing up, he was sweating with nervousness; "You! Boy!" She barked and marched over to him, "You were with my daughter!"
"How did you know!?" Tucker squealed, shrinking in size by the second.
"I didn't, but now I do! Tell me! What happened? I won't let my daughter be hurt anymore! Now tell me!" When it was silent, Mrs. Manson sighed and continued "My daughter has been through enough as it is. I don't want her to get her heart broken any more than it already is, so whatever the hell you're doing, just leave her out of it!"
"M-Mrs. Manson… I never had any intention of hurting Sam, honest!" Tucker swore by holding up his right hand, "Nothing bad happened though! You see…we were walking around and…suddenly out of nowhere this freaking huge raccoon just came flying at us!" Tucker waved his arms around dramatically.
Mrs. Manson gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth.
Tucker continued, "It was terrifying! Sam and I tried to run away! But…that horrible creature caught up…and…" Tucker shuddered, "it attacked! It managed to get Sam on the face, but before it could do any more damage, I (bravely) grabbed a nearby stick and hit that thing with all my might! I am, after all, an excellent baseball player, so that raccoon didn't stand a chance against my swing!"
Although Mrs. Manson couldn't see them, each of the Fenton's had their mouths open in disbelief at both Tucker's pathetic story and the fact that Mrs. Manson believed him!
"I'm just sorry that I hadn't gotten rid of that foul beast sooner! Then Sam wouldn't have been injured." Tucker sadly ended his story.
"Oh, dear." Mrs. Manson patted him on the shoulder, "it wasn't your fault! You are both lucky to be out of there alive! Raccoons are vicious things!" She turned to the Fentons who immediately closed their mouths and acted natural(er), "Will my Sammikins be alright? Does she have rabies or anything?"
"No, no!" Maddie assured her, "of course not! But just in case, we did give her a shot to fight against rabies!" She smiled crookedly, "We caught the raccoon soon after we found those two and sent it off to the slaughter house! They will take care of it immediately!"
"Good!" Mrs. Manson exclaimed.
Jazz looked about ready to cry from the pathetic lie and Jack just looked completely confused, however Mrs. Manson also didn't notice any of this.
"That's a relief. So, once Sam wakes up, is there anything else we need to do?" Mrs. Manson inquired, not seeming to find anything fishy about this.
"Well," Maddie replied, "yes, we do need to give her some medicine to clean up those cuts and probably some pain medication as well. But for now, rest is the best thing we can give her."
"Thank you for taking such good care of her." Mrs. Manson smiled.
A moment later, all of them heard a loud cry coming from upstairs.
"Sammy!?" Mrs. Manson's eyes widened and she took off up the stairs in search for her daughter. Tucker was about to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Not yet." Jazz held his shoulder, "Sam should see her mom first."
"But-but…" Tucker reached into his pocket and clasped the small orb there, "I need to give this back to her…"
--
Without thinking, Sam clenched her broken fist in anger and a moment later, she cried out in agony.
"Sammikins! Are you alright?" Pamela stepped forward.
Very quietly, but loud enough to hear, Sam replied with clenched teeth "no."
"S-Sammikins!" Pamela exclaimed, "Y-you just spoke!" Her mouth was wide open with disbelief, "You spoke, didn't you!? How long have you been talking?"
Oh, that's right. Sam remembered, she hasn't heard me talk in…about half a year. "You're the one that taught me how to speak; I've been talking since I was a baby." She grumbled, supporting her broken hand and waiting for the pulsing to calm down. Sam tripped over her words while she spoke, but it was enough for people to understand.
"Well, ever since that Danny-boy left-"
Sam shot a horrid glare at her mother before she began walking out of the room, "come on, let's go."
Pamela stuttered, "Oh...oh alright! Let's go then, shall we!?" She tried to smile.
Just before Sam closed the door with her good hand, she scanned the entire room one more time…as though she would never see it again.
"Oh look Sammy! It's your little friend!" She beamed.
Tucker, who now stood halfway up the staircase pointed to himself in confusion "little?" Then he looked up at Sam, "Are you okay? I heard a scream."
Sam nodded to answer his question before walking right past him, trying to hold her tears back.
"Sam!" Tucker called to her and ran to catch up, "here, you dropped this." He pulled out the orb on the chain and held it up, "I thought you might want it back." He smiled nervously.
Very slowly, Sam stopped and looked at the orb. Her eyes suddenly became wide, and unexpectedly, Tucker suddenly was smothered in a tight hug. "Thank you." Sam cried before pulling away and gratefully taking the orb back. Her hands were still crispy, but they didn't hurt anymore, except her broken hand still throbbed! She avoided touching that one.
Tucker couldn't help but blush like any teenage boy would do. "Anytime. But, come on, there is some stuff down in the basement that should help your hands heal quicker…Sam, is your hand alright?" He saw the swelling.
In response, Sam nodded "I'm alright." She followed after Tucker.
They came into the basement…Sam felt her heart stop for a brief moment, standing there in the basement were the Fentons, she quickly stopped in her tracks, eyes narrowing and teeth grinding together.
"Oh…uh…" Tucker forgot completely about Sam's issue with the Fentons, he didn't know what it was, but he knew that there was one! "Yeah, Sam…the Fentons have been taking care of you."
Sam hadn't thought that they would be there; she was too caught up with Danny's room and then the necklace that she completely forgot. "Mom," Sam whispered to her mother that was standing beside her, "I'll be home later, you don't have to stay." She spoke with a complete monotone voice, but a hint of fury mixed in there.
"Oh but honey, I can stay. I-" The look that Pamela received let her know what her daughter was thinking. There was something that Sam wanted to do that she didn't want her to be there. Pamela hated to leave, but who was she to interfere? "Alright. Take care, baby." She turned and went up the stairs, then soon walked out the front door.
Minutes, no hours, seemed to snail by as the silence went on. Tucker looked back and forth between the Fenton family and Sam, waiting for one of them to speak…or attack in Sam's case.
"Sam…" Maddie broke the silence, "We-"
"I don't want you to be treating me. I don't want your help." Sam growled.
"If there is something that you have against us, we can resolve any-"
"Something against you!?" Sam's voice rose and echoed against the walls of the basement/lab, "HA! Don't make me laugh!" She took a step forward, "the reason I don't want any of your fucking help is because you are all obviously not trusted to help anybody! Isn't the right!?"
"Sam, if this is about Danny…" Maddie's voice faded out.
"Hell yes this is about Danny! Your so-called help was never there in the past! So why all of a sudden are you available to help me!?"
Tucker was so confused; he had no idea what they were talking about.
"That is a completely different situation than this one, Sam."
Jazz nodded, "back then, we couldn't do anything."
"Obviously!"
"Sam, we were always there for Danny-"
That sent Sam off, she shook with anger and her good hand clenched in anger "You were always there for Danny, huh?" She chuckled, "that is the greatest load of bull shit I've ever heard! Where the hell were you when Venom showed up! Your freaking ghost radar things had to have noticed him! Where were you when I was under control and started attacking Danny!? Where were you when I was locked up!? Where were you when Danny came to my rescue and was brought into his worst nightmares!?" Tears leaked out of her eyes as she continued, "where the fuck were you when Danny was tortured and forced to redo all of his damn tests!? Where were you when he DIED!?" Her heart beat so fast that it hurt Sam's chest, she suddenly felt her legs grow weak.
Clang! Sam collapsed onto the hard floor below her after her eyes rolled back into her head.
"Sam!" Tucker cried, "Sam! Are you okay? Sam?"
All of the Fentons came forward to assist Tucker, but each of them had the same guilt written all over their face.
A/N: I'm surprised no one guessed that Sam's mom would be the one to show up! ^^ Jezebel wanted me to put the raccoon thing in there for some reason, heheh…So, how did you like this chapter? Was it alright? Please review! =D
This is my new-year's present for you all! I wanted to update by Christmas, but I was gone that week, sorry! Hope you all had a good Christmas though, and happy (early) new year!
-Desi-