Chapter Nine

"Vlad?" Sam gaped at him. "How can you say that! He tried to kill your da- uh, you… and steal your mom! He's your archenemy! He's going to try and turn you evil, use your powers for darkness!"

"No. Because I'm not going to use my powers anymore. I'm tired of being a halfa, of being hated by everything around me. I'm tired of Danny Phantom."

"I don't hate you Danny," Sam whispered. "I still want you here. Are you going to leave me?"

"I… I have to," he replied.

"No… Danny, I just got you back."

"I'm sorry…"

Sam nodded, blinking back tears, but still keeping her head high. "Well, I guess if that's the way it has to be."

"It is."

"I'll just leave then. So you can pack." She headed for the door.

"Sam, don't-"

"Good luck Danny."

Jazz was just outside the door, looking quite frustrated. "Sam, I told you to- wait, is that blood? What happened?"

"Ask Danny," she answered simply, making her way to the stairs. He didn't care. He just didn't care. He was going to fall right into Vlad's hands. After everything they had done to stop the man, and Danny was just giving in. He didn't care. Not about anyone but himself. Vlad was the easy way out, and Danny was going to him with open arms. He didn't care. Not for Jazz, not for his mother, not for the town. Not for her. Falling into a dead sprint, Sam ran out the door and slammed it shut.

Jazz looked after Sam, confused. Then she turned to Danny's room and gasped. Jazz ran in, slammed the door, and locked it tight.

"Danny!" she whispered harshly. "What have you done to yourself?" Jazz took Sam's extra towels and began to mop up the floor. "Was it a ghost? What?"

Danny frowned, his mind still on Sam. Did she hate him again? That look on her face... and he had never heard her voice so cold.

Jazz snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Danny, answer me!"

"Mom shot me."

Jazz seemed taken aback at actually receiving an answer. "… you you or ghost you?"

"Ghost me. I thought there was a ghost in the lab, but it was her and she was, well, mad…" 'Did she even hate me in the first place? I mean, she was angry, but she did apologize.' Why did he have to ruin it so soon?

Jazz wiped down Danny's door where he had been lying. She kept glancing back at her brother. His face, for once, wasn't wearing an expression of pure sorrow and self-hatred. He merely looked thoughtful, regretting, and tired.

And he had talked!

"Danny, are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"You seem, well… sort of happier. I thought you would be furious with the whole Vlad thing."

Danny frowned again. "I was. But it's actually a good thing that we're going there."

Jazz dropped the saturated towel. "Did I just hear you say that? It's good we're going to Vlad's?"

Danny merely nodded and turned his mind back to Sam. 'I don't have to stay with Vlad forever. Maybe when I'm old enough I can come back for her. Would she still want to be my friend?' Sam had never abandoned him before. Not even when he was being an absolute jerk. He could still fix things, right?

"Ugh! This isn't working!" Even after soaking the blood up thoroughly, it still stained the carpet, his bed sheets, and spots on the door. "Danny, put some clean clothes on and take your comforter out to the trash. Then get me that bottle of carpet cleaner and any other cleaning supplies you can find! Hurry, we can't let Mom see this!"

Danny nodded, reluctantly pulling his ruined pants off and taking a new pair from his dresser. He put a clean black T-shirt over his bandages, black so that nothing would show through it. He rolled up his bed-cover, putting the bloodied section in the inside to hide it.

This was all routine, except he had never lost so much blood before. It was making him woozy and lightheaded.

"Can't we just stash this in the closet?" he asked. "If Mom sees she'll wonder why I'm throwing my sheets in the dumpster.

"Fine, but please go get the cleaning stuff!"

Danny stared at her blankly. Why were her lips moving if she wasn't saying anything? The edges of his vision began to blur.

"Danny? Danny!" Jazz waved her hands in front of his eyes, but her brother wasn't seeing anything. He was shaking and extremely pale.

And suddenly, he collapsed.

"Oh my God. Danny!"

---

Not my best work, not by far, but as much as I've tried to revise it, I can't seem to do anything with it.

This was actually written several months ago. I'm at school right now, feel blahseh, and just wanted to update something, I didn't care what. So, here you go! And I promise I'll try to work on this again.

And... sorry for leaving you with ANOTHER cliffie. (still evil, through and through)

Thanks to: Linkmaste, ghostgirl14027, Me-agaisnt-the-world, soccergurl1990, Asilla, danitonfen13, crazyvi, DP fan, Kantrix Gabriel, Shenhua Phantom, phantom-willow217, animegurl088, Yenattirb, odi8200, Jideni3