Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters.

Hello.

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Present Day Amity Park

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"Miss Redd?"

Isabelle snapped back to reality and turned to see who had called her. Mr. Lancer was wearing a expression that she was familiar with among her teachers. He waiting for her to answer the question that she wasn't paying attention for.

It's suck a stupid thing to do. Setting kids up for embarrassment like that. Yes, okay I was zoning out and don't know the answer… or the question. Moving on please? "Oh, Mr. Lancer! When did you get here?" She asked, hiding a smirk behind her best poker face.

Some of the kids were snickering, though wether it was at her or with her, she was unsure. So she just ignored them.

"Jules Verne!" He exclaimed. "Have you heard nothing I've said since you walked in here?" He turned to point at the clock. She was already well aware of the time. "It's been nearly forty minutes."

The bell rang for lunch, but Mr. Lancer held her after to chew her out.

"What happened today is unacceptable. You're grades have been slipping, and you're not paying attention. You're already so far behind from coming in after term has started." He ranted. "Furthermore-"

"Yes, you're right." She agreed quickly. Killing his rant. "And I'm going to study tonight and I will pay attention in school, join the glee club- whatever I have to do to pass." Hoping to sound sincere. One of the easiest ways to shut up a teacher, is to agree with them.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I." She replied before he should start up again.

"Good." He said.

Isabelle relaxed, and started to leave but her stopped her. "One more thing, bring your parents tomorrow for a meeting."

She sighed. "Yes, sir."

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Some of the kids cheered a bit when she entered the lunchroom. Her face turned scarlet and she quickly joined Danny and his friends.

"What's that about?" She asked, sliding into a seat next to Tucker.

"Immature children are easily excited over the littlest things." Sam said, earning her a snicker from the… much… older girl.

"What she means is, good job putting Mr. Lancer in the spotlight like that! He looked like he was going to blow a fuse!"

"I shouldn't have done it though." Isabelle said after they all shared another laugh. "Not only did I get chewed out for it, now I have to bring my parents for a meeting."

"Been there. Done that." Danny said in a bored tone, but gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine."

"You've been there and done that, but your dad doesn't-" Sam was quietly saying to Danny, but he stopped her from continuing by covering her mouth with his hand. He glanced at Isabelle to find her staring directly at him.

"Subtle." She said sarcastically, and after a moment of thought, added "You know, you're going to have to shed some light on all this mystery sometime."

"What mystery?" Sam asked, as she started becoming defensive.

"All of it." Isabelle replied quickly. "The fact that this town is infested with and being terrorized by ghosts. Ghosts! of all things."

"Some people just have a hard time coming to terms with th-" Danny started.

"But then there's you." Isabelle interrupted, her words causing all three teens to jolt.

"W-what about m-me?"

"You had that disagreement with the new mayor the other day. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you two have some serious static between you two." She paused to let them soak her words in, before adding, "And I'm starting to think that the two problems may be related." It wasn't true, but it got the reaction she was looking for.

Looks of indignation and suddenly all three were speaking at once.

Danny. "-That's not true-"

Sam. "-You can't just make accusations-"

Tucker. "-It's not what you think-"

They were all cut off by the sharp ringing of the bell, signaling that lunch was over. "I just want answers." Isabelle said as they got up to return to class.

Danny seemed to consider her for a moment. She saw his resolve fade in through his eyes. She knew his answer before he even said it. "Okay." He sighed. "Meet us after school."

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker yelled in unison.

"Don't worry." He assured them as the four students ducked into their classroom. The conversation was over before they reached their seats.

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Isabelle waited out front of the school building, trying not to look too eager, but she couldn't help glancing left and right, searching for the trio of misfits. When she finally caught sight of them, she gave Danny a small nod, and she joined him and his friends as he walked home, telling her what she wanted to know.

Almost too easy. Isabelle thought.

"…and then my mom and dad met Vlad in college. They were working on making ghost portal- oh, uh… like a bridge to another world- and there was an accident. Vlad was hospitalized, and… he blames my dad for it."

"Also for stealing your mom, who he thought he had ANY chance at." Tucker added.

"And for stealing my mom and that bit." Danny agreed. "But that's it. He's just still bitter at my parents."

"So how does that tie into the ghosts?" Isabelle asked. "And you?"

"Danny's parents are ghost hunters." Sam replied.

"And Vlad keeps hiring all kinds of other yahoos calling themselves "ghost hunters" in an attempt to show up my parents." Danny said.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that." Isabelle said, truly sorry for Danny's situation. They rounded a corner and Isabelle spotted a building with a giant sign on it, reading: Fenton Works. Three guesses who lived there.

"…Well, this is my stop." Danny said, giving Sam and Tucker pointed looks that Isabelle couldn't decipher. "So… I guess we'll see you at school tomorrow- bye!" He said with a quick wave and turned to leave.

Isabelle felt hurt that they were so quick to ditch her (and she thought they were beginning to get along so well too) but quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind. After all, she wasn't really their classmate.

"Wait!" She called, causing them to almost literally screech to a halt, before slowly turning to face her. "You never told me why Mr. Masters hates you so much. I mean, it's not like you put him in the hospital or anything."

There was a split second before Danny answered, where Isabelle watched his eyes look down and to the left. It was only for a split second, but she had been trained to spot tell tale signs of liars. But she pretended to accept his answer.

"Well, he blames my dad, so I figure it's because I'm related to him or something-" He began to awkwardly gesture with his hands. "-I really don't know."

"That's so cool that your parents fight ghosts." Isabelle said changing the subject, and Danny was more than happy to go along- a grin slowly speed across his face. Tucker grabbed his arm and started pulling him along.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Isabelle called and turned to leave. With her sensitive hearing she overheard them until they entered his house.

"Come on Danny, I think you've told her enough already." Sam said, irritation laced her voice.

"Yeah, Danny. You're getting to open around this new girl." Tucker said. He sounded concerned for his friend. "You need to be more careful." The front door closed behind them.

Putting that last bit of information away for later, Isabelle continued down the road and on her way to see the mayor.

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Isabelle was surprised to walk right in and be taken back to his office. She figured he would be swamped with work, but when she entered his office he looked as if he'd been expecting her for some time. The secretary, a short twitchy guy named Harold, immediately turned and left as soon as she walked over the threshold. Presumably back to the front desk.

the door closed behind her, the handle clicking into place, leaving the room isolated from the outside world. He was sitting with his elbows propped up on the desk and hands clasped together under his chin. She stood still for a moment, silently assessing him, not unaware of his own inquiring gaze. He was the first to break the silence.

"You're late, Miss Alexander." He said with a hint of a smile. "You didn't get detention already did you?"

She granted him a smile as she walked up to his desk and took a seat in one of the chairs opposite of him. "You can call me Agent Alexander." That effectively stumbled his thoughts for a moment, then he smiled and corrected himself.

"Agent… Alexander."

"As for my tardiness, I was socializing with a few of the other students after school."

"Did you learn anything useful?" His reply was immediate.

"Nothing I didn't already know about." She lied easily. "The town is infested with ghosts. There are a few individuals who have taken it upon themselves to… well, they have become vigilantes."

His lips curled into a smirk for a brief moment before he continued. "So how goes you hunt for said ghosts?" He asked. She noticed a glint of mischief in his eyes that was very out of place. "Captured any yet?"

"No. I have not." She replied simply. Not breaking eye contact in case he gave something else. Did he not realize how expressive his eyes were? It was like reading a book!

"Have you even… seen any?"

She fought to keep eye contact, blinking slowly. "I have." That was all the confirmation he really needed, but it only seemed to pique his interest. He sat up a bit straighter and lowered his hands to rest his forearms on his desk. When she didn't say anything, he urged her to continue.

"Well? Which one was it? We do have more than a few in this town."

"He is known as the Wisconsin Ghost." Isabelle said, the memory of her encounters flashing through her mind, bringing a wave of fear through her whole body. Every nerve sparking at once. As quickly as it came, it was gone leaving her feeling helpless and angry. When she looked back up at the mayor, he wore a confused expression. One brow lifted, gaze inquiring.

"Tall, blue-green skin, devil horns for hair?" She elaborated slightly. His confused countenance fading. "Has a white cape?"

"Yes, I know who you're speaking of now." He said quickly, before leaning back in his chair and adding. "So you only saw him then?"

"Yes." She said evenly.

"So what happened?" A small smile was tugging at the corner of his lips again.

"He disappeared."

The smile disappeared too. Clearly not the answer he'd been expecting. The rest of the meeting went like that. He would start asking questions or making statements about something ghost related, and she would kill the conversation with a two or three word answer. Learning to kill conversations or deter questions, had been a part of her recent training. The Guys wanted her to always be aware of how peoples minds were working. It played a major part in staying those few steps ahead. When it was time for her to go, he stood up and walked her out of his office and all the way to the front door. The placement of his hand on her back as he ushered her out didn't go unnoticed, nor did the genuine smile as he waved her goodbye. But she was oblivious to the dark menacing scowl that took his features once he was back inside his office.

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A.N. Well, as always, thank you for reading. Please leave your comments and questions, as they are appreciated