Aaaaaaaand next chapter =) but a totally awesome idea for a RoTG fanfic came to me and it's distracting!
Sam hardly slept that night. Her thoughts couldn't calm down, the new revelation filling her anxious mind that was going over every information she had about her dreams. She had been possessed, and by a powerful ghost from what she gathered, though she had yet to see it in her dream. Thus she knew basically nothing about the entity. Its powers were obviously connected to nature, her own power in the dreams indicating so, probably taking on the form of a plant or including them on itself as well.
Her ponderings came to a halt when a light yelp sounded from just outside her window. That was on the second floor. The dark haired girl slowly scooted out of the bed, the sheets slightly sliding off after her, and withdrew the curtain to be greeted by a pair of green puppy eyes. Literally. They were glowing, just like the dog's whole body, and looked right at her. Her own lack of reaction kind of baffled her, by the time the curtains were in her hand, the pup's head was already halfway through the glass, as he yelped again and toppled into her with happy barks.
She encircled the small body as she shushed him, it was better if no one in the house awoke to a ghost dog running around the house, and walked back to her bed. It wasn't like Cujo could get fur all over her sheets, she contemplated as she set the small body down beside her.
"What are you doing here?" the teenager asked as she scratched at the pups ears absentmindedly. He gave a happy little bark and moved his head so she could access the area more easily.
She smiled as she reached for a slip of paper and pen; a hasty We need to talk quickly got scribbled on it, she rolled the note up and attached to the dog's collar. Sam instructed the pup to take it back to Danny Phantom and the fur ball wagged his tail before jumping through the window and disappearing in the night sky.
That happened over 10 days ago. As of today written exams were officially over and she finally could heave a sigh of relief. Final exams and nightmares didn't mix well, but she was quite certain she nailed it. Now that it was over, she had more important matters that needed her attention. Like the unresponsive ghost hero of her city, who seemingly decided to ignore her.
Cujo visited her two days after her revelation, the paper already missing from the collar. She had learned that he was highly intelligent during their third meeting, when he saved her from the Box Ghost by turning into a giant hound (at least 1,5 meters if not taller) scaring of the other ghost. She also learned that he kind of considered Danny Phantom his master.
As many ghost now days, the pup approached her out of nowhere, and like the others kept on visiting her. Thankfully his attention did not involve haunting or taking her hostage to get the attention of the so called Invisio Bill (let's just say there was a certain reason she found the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady especially annoying).
"Earth to Sam," a pale hand waved before the ebony haired teen's face and she unconsciously moved back before looking up. Danny looked at her funnily, while Tucker grinned while he tinkered away with his smart phone. Sam blinked twice before focusing on the boy before her. She took a moment to take in everything about him, pale skin, handsome face, ebony hair and eyes that sometimes seemed to glow. She seemed to find herself lost in his eyes quiet a few times for the last few months, or simply staring at him when he wasn't looking, her insides growing warm and butterflies taking flight in her middle. Oh, she watched enough movies and read enough books to know what was happening. She also realized that currently wasn't the best time to develop a crush on her friend. She somehow ended up meeting Frostbite on the weekend, while she escaped home for the park for some peace and quiet, though armed with textbooks and study guides. She found the winter spirit by chance, who set down to have a chat with her for a few minutes before continuing on his errand in the world of the living. She told about her reoccurring dreams and he warned her with a serious expression that it more than likely was the sign of a haunting, probably the original owner of her powers in the dream. When she inquired about who might be it, Frostbite became silent and distant and excused himself with a polite smile before disappearing into thin air. Samantha hated when ghosts did that, reminded her to much to her first encounter with Danny Phantom. And she wasn't exactly sure where to put him in her mind at the moment.
Nevertheless, a more than possible haunting and a budding crush probably did not go well, and Sam wasn't about to test that theory on her own skin.
"Sam?" A hand settled on her shoulders and the girl started as she was pulled back from her musings, which seemed to happen a lot these days. Probably lack of sleep.
She looked at the young man before her (it was becoming hard to refer to the males in her year simply as boys), his eyes shining with obvious worry and maybe the slightest bit of guilt mixed in those ocean colored orbs. Sam's insides did a few nervous flips, and she fought a lost fight against the redness that was creeping up her face. Budding crush her ass, she had fallen for the guy, hard. This wouldn't be so horrible, even with the haunting, if she had the slightest chance that he might feel the same. But it was an open secret that Danny Fenton was head over heels for Paulina, like half the male student body in their year (and even more in the years under them) was.
"Ah, I'm alright," she stuttered, ready to step back and away from his touch when suddenly she was yanked away forcefully from her friend. She looked back dumbfounded, only to be met with her mother's irritated glare.
"You were due to fitting an hour ago," she stated with slight disdain and, with a last glare at the two males standing a few meters away, dragged her to the waiting car. Sam let herself to be tossed into the car, half baffled by her mother's sudden actions and half wanting to get away from the situation. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with her hormonal reactions.
"You should really stop associating with those boys, especially the Fenton child," her mother hadn't even waited for the car to start before reprimanding her. Sam sighed inwardly, here we go again.
"His family is strange," she said looking at her, "after all, they do fancy themselves as ghost hunters," Pamela snorted. "Mom, there are ghosts," the teen argued, though she knew it was a lost battle, "we saw enough of them already". Her mother continued, undeterred. "That maybe, but still, ghost hunting? That's ridiculous. And besides, their family holds no considerable status," and the cat is out of the bag, Sam thought cynically. "You should really not waste your attention on him," she stated.
Sam looked at her mother startled; she couldn't have been that obvious. Pamela took a side way glance at her daughter before averting her eyes to the scenery outside. "Samantha, I am your mother. Of course I would notice it," she answered her silent question. "That boy is not fit for you," she said sternly "he does not deserve your attention. And I don't wish to hear anything of this for the moment."
The ride home after that was quiet. The fitting less, especially when Sam noticed the pink lace addition to her white dress. Her mother quickly changed subject (though the yet to be seamed laces were taken off) to Jack Smith. The dark haired teen wanted to bang her head against a wall, hard.
"I can't see what your objection against him is, darling. He is handsome, he's from a good family and his future is solid. He has status, he has connections, he has a name to be proud of," Pamela stated as she calmly sipped a cup of herbal tea. "He is a pretentious jerk, who only has his family name and what's standing behind it to show, nothing else" Sam retorted. She was getting tired of these conversations about Jack Smith. Although the man wasn't a womanizer, it was obvious he had many irons in the fire, his interest not lying only in her family, but he seemed to give special attention to her, out of all the daughters of Amity Park's high society's families. She contemplated telling Pamela about the incident during last year's Halloween party, when Jack tried to kiss her. Although the thought was appealing, but she realized later on that he had no recollection of the happenings that night, probably a mix of alcohol and ghostly possession.
The 18-year-old heaved another long suffering sigh as the tailor pressed the last pin in her dress, that was for the ball organized by Amity University every year for the students, accepted or still pending, that wished to attend the institution (a tradition she learned went back decades). Pamela, dragged out the white Victorian styled dress (also a family tradition) that she and Sam's grandmother too wore (and many other females of the family from both sides, as dates were allowed to the ball) about two weeks ago and called for the tailor for the necessary adjustments so it would fit her daughter perfectly.
The amethyst eyed girl had to admit that the dress was beautiful, even if it was white and reminded her of a wedding dress, none that she was overly fond of where she was concerned. It was shoulder-less with silver seams laced in intricate patterns in the bodice, the skirt hunched up giving the illusion of having three layers. It was simple yet elegant and Sam was taken with it. She took a turn before the mirror when her mother and the tailor leaved to discuss further details.
The dress made her skin look lighter than it already was, her hair darker and more pronounced, her violet eyes seemingly glowing. I wander what he'll think of it she found herself thinking and stopped abruptly in mid turn, her face heating up involuntarily. She should really stop doing this to herself, it was unhealthy. Yet she could not stop the warm yet excited smile that lit up her face. The ball was in two days, and though Jack Smith was to be her escort, she could spend the night with Danny and Tucker, as both of them were invited as future students of the University, like herself.
A sudden chill in the air drew her attention and Sam hastily pulled her skirt skywards when she felt something rub against her leg. A relieved chuckle left her lips when Cujo's green body materialized, tail wagging happily, and she scouted down to pet him, only to notice the neatly folded note attached to the dog's collar. Sam hastily took it out and slipped it open. Meet me at the fountain at 6 stood in capital letters on the paper and she hardly had time to crumple it in her fist as her mom and the tailor reentered the room.
It wasn't even half an hour later that she left with a loud "I'll be back in a few hours," signaling her exit to her family. She decided against the bus and walked to the park, needing time to sort and organize her thoughts before bombarding the unsuspecting ghost with her questions.
Her phone's watch read 17:46 as she took a seat on the bench facing the fountain. She pulled up her legs, her heels resting against the edge of the bench, hands encircling her knees, her back flat against her seat and head falling backwards so she could stare up at the sky. Being May, the days were long, the sun setting early in the evening, around 7 o'clock she thought absentmindedly, the descending body starting to color the otherwise blue sky different hues of the rainbow. She watched the clouds slip by lazily their shadows turning more colorful each passing minute, as her mind wandered back to the first time Danny Phantom had save her (that she actually remembered), hen to a topic that had been bothering her for sometime now, the ghost boy's ability to change his emotions. It was strange, to be honest. From what she had seen and learned, ghosts were stuck with one set of emotions, sadness, anxiousness, madness, the list goes on, the one they had at the moment of their death. Frostbite's tribe was an exception, but she learned from the gentle giant that he was part of a race that had a long life span, and they deliberately moved to the Ghost Zone thousands of years ago, where the atmosphere changed their genetics, thus the ghostly powers (meaning they were basically yetis with superpowers). And that's why Danny Phantom's wide range of emotions baffled her. From what she knew about the white haired ghost, either from him or other ghosts, he was originally human, meaning that he should be stuck in the state he was in at the time of his death. Yet, he was capable of being happy, sad, angry, mischievous, flirty, and so on. All the emotions a healthy person his (seeming) age should produce.
Deep in her thoughts, she haven't realized that the subject of her thoughts had materialized before her, called her name then took a seat next to her on the bench. She had also missed the warm smile that had crossed the specters handsome features as he gazed at her. He shook his head, the smile turning into a mischievous grin as he lifted his hand that had started to glow a light blue, and touched her arm.
Sam yelped and jumped away from the cold that had swirled on her skin into a delicate flower pattern and glared up at the ghost that was sporting a rather satisfied grin. On impulse she hit his shoulder, or would have anyway, but her hand went right through him, causing the grin to widen. She trough another nasty glare at him, though it did not cease his seeming glee.
"We need to speak," she stated with an irritated sigh. His answering smirk kind of infuriated her. "So it seems."
"You were there," Sam started, but seeing his confused expression she explained, "when I was possessed." His expression turned serious, his eyes guilt filled.
"Yes. Yes, I was there. How much have you remembered?"
"Enough," at his raised eyebrow she huffed and went on while taking her dream book out of her messenger bag. "I still haven't seen the boss, but I know I've been possessed, I shot energy orbs out of my hand, the plants obeyed me, oh and I kinda turned Amity Park's population into my, its, zombie slaves. Did I summarize it well?" By the time the last words left her mouth she was out of breath, her hand gripping the bench, her body slightly leaning toward the ghost. He waited for her to calm down. "I don't exactly remember, just write my dreams here," she waved the book in her hand, "and read them. Again and again. But I know you have saved us. You caught me when it was still controlling me, when we were fighting," Sam felt for the first time a sudden guilt creep up on her. She hadn't even thought about it that way before. He was fighting to save her while he had to fight against her. How much easier it could have been for him, just to take care of her quickly and stop the ghost that was endangering everyone, yet he chose to fight for her, to save her.
Another wave of guilt washed over Sam for her earlier thoughts and anger toward the specter. Feeling ashamed she leaned back, trying to put some distance between them and averting her eyes from his relenting gaze.
Probably that was why she was so surprised when a cold hand encircled her own and another grabbed her chin gently but firmly, lifting it up so she would have to stare straight into his eyes. "It wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could have done, and you've done nothing to deserve this, any of this," he hushed as his hand on her chin moved upward to cup her cheek, his forehead touching hers as he pulled her closer. "It's alright, Sam."
Samantha took a shuddering breath as her walls crumbled, all the nightmares, her hormonal whirlwind of emotions, basically the pent up stress of a whole year tearing apart all the defenses she had put up, had fallen now, leaving her overwhelmed and tired. A silent tear slid down her face followed by a second, then a third. She felt Danny pull her into a tight embrace and let herself be engulfed in his strong and protective arms. It was funny, his touch was so cool, so cold yet so warm and comforting at the same time. It also felt rather familiar, though Sam couldn't pinpoint why.
"I cannot tell you what happened," he started and the girl stiffened in his arms, "nor can I tell you who is after you." Sam had tried to wriggle out of his grip at his statement, and had managed after a few seconds as he set up slightly, though his hands were still on her arms. "But I can take you to someone who can."
"Who?" Sam questioned. Curiosity won over her, after all that had happened she'd get her answers, no matter what.
"Clockwork," he smiled at her confused look, "your kind likes to refer to him as Father Time."
It's longer than usual, and I even reached the point I originally wanted to. Well, that is kinda why it's basically twice as long as usually =) Or not. Welp. And now there's romance, and Sam's totally cute being all girly, with her fears and love problems, and all that jazz.
Reviews plz