Invisible Girl

Chapter Fourteen

"Hey, so today's your day with the gym course from hell," reminded Lash. They were boarding the school bus and Sammy put her ipod away in her bag, finding her usual seat.

"I know," she answered. "I-I'm a little nervous..." Lash took his designated spot next to her. Other students didn't even give her seat a second glance as the stripe Hero was always the one who filled it without fail. And they certainly did not want to cross him. Which was fine by her, she enjoyed being near him, he was always warm.

"Nah, don't be," he reassured. His hand found hers and she blushed at the contact. Her fingers slipped into the spaces between his and she was surprised how well they fit together. She leaned against his arm, comfy.

"Well, it's a bit scary. It'll be just me against whatever Coach Boomer thinks I'll fail against," she elaborated, brows furrowing in concern.

Lash shrugged. "It can go either way, blondie. We don't know much about them since he plays the Sidekicks first." She bounced her blonde head against the back of the seat.

"Of course. And Coach is so original as to start at the end of the alphabet," she muttered. Lash laughed out loud, his smile making her smile despite the pout.

Layla turned in her seat to look back at her friend. Lash was sitting next to Sammy again, like he did on a regular basis now. Their pairing had always set Layla on edge, she was uncomfortable with them together all the time. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw the faded black eye that the bully sported. The smirk quickly faded when Lash bent down to whisper something to the blonde. He was very close, absolutely invading personal space and Sammy wasn't forcing him away, actually, she was leaning toward him. She turned and whacked Will on the shoulder, motioning urgently for him to turn around.

"You don't think that they..." started Layla, looking to her boyfriend. "That they're...together? Do you?" Will stole another glance back before shrugging.

"It's really hard to tell, Layla," he answered. "Can't say I understand the mindset of a high school villain." She sighed, leaning against the son of Commander and Jetstream. The closeness and not to mention that Sammy still wore the one striped fingerless glove on her left hand. Whatever that meant.

"I certainly hope not..."

The bus landed in the Sky High parking lot relatively gracefully that morning. Sammy and Lash filed out with the rest of the students, and that was when the tall Hero noticed attention being sent his way, the feeling of eyes on his skin. He looked off to the side, the exact direction that Sammy was walking due to her friends waiting for her. He smirked, they were all glaring at him, more so than usual. The idea clicked and his smirk stretched. Oh, he knew exactly how to really get under their skin.

Sammy had just slowed to a stop, issuing the typical morning greetings to her friends. Before the "Hello" could completely leave her lips, the familiar soft rope whipped around her waist and brought her straight to Lash where he promptly pulled her up into a deep kiss which made her gasp, wide eyed. He only released her when there was the chance of passing out from the lack of oxygen. Carefully, he placed her on her feet, giving his best smile.

"See you later, Sammy," he smiled. He took off quickly once Mr. Boy started to call after him about PDA or some sort. He laughed aloud, meeting up Speed and making a clean getaway.

Sammy slowly turned around to face a wary group of Sidekicks and Heroes.

"Um...ha ha...?" she laughed sheepishly.

Sammy took her seat on the bleachers, hands wringing in her lap as the waited for the rest of the class to file in. She visibly jumped when someone sat beside her, startled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Amelia Watson pushed her sunglasses up into her dark brown hair, allowing the blonde to see the light pink birthmark that dashed across her nose and to the far corner of her left eye.

"I-it's all right," she excused. "I'm just nervous about the run is all."

"Don't be. You'll be fine," she reassured. A bubble of silence passed before she spoke up again.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Warren. About the way you found out." Sammy regarded her oddly, brow furrowed.

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about?" Amelia gave a half smile, tapping her temple.

"Sorry, I'm a head case," she laughed. "I get ahead of myself sometimes. Power of the mind is my thing, that's how I knew." A blush tinged her cheeks under Sammy's wide eyed gaze.

"Wow, that's really cool," awed Sammy. Amelia pulled the sunglasses from her hair, opting to twirl them in her lap.

"Thanks. I noticed it when Warren was talking to me today, and I felt like...I should apologize...or something. Even though I'm not "technically" supposed to know, but sometimes I just can't block things out. It's like they're really loud," she rambled. "Um, so I'll get out of your hair, Lash will be wanting this seat." Sammy looked around but did not see the striped boy wonder. Amelia laughed and tapped her temple again.

"He's thinking about it, kind of loud. Remember, head case," she teased. Sammy smiled and gave a wave as the taller girl walked away to another seat, sunglasses back on to conceal the birthmark.

A few beats later, more students started to file into the gym, changed into the gym clothes like the blonde. Speed appeared in the seat to her left as a blur and Lash reached her right seat in one easy stride.

"What's up?" asked Speed. Sammy smiled up at him, quietly appreciative of how he defended her against Lash. Even if it resulted in violence, though well deserved.

"Not much. Just dreading my run," she answered. Lash nudged her shoulder with his own, sighing.

"You'll be fine, Blondie," he said. "It's only going to last a few minutes, that's all." She nodded in understanding. The longest three minutes of her life, she predicted.

"Listen up!" called Coach Boomer, standing on his refereeing tower, clipboard in hand. "Today we start the practice runs! Sidekicks are up first," He paused to check his list, reading the name of his first victim. Sam closed her eyes.

"WINCHESTER! Go suit up!"

"Yes, Coach Boomer," she answered, getting to her feet. Oh boy...

Sammy had changed into her P. E. gear and was waiting outside the "arena" for her power run. There wasn't any way that she could keep still. She hopped from foot to foot, stretching her arms across her body, retied her shoes to make sure they were tight and redid her ponytail to make sure that it wouldn't come free.

"Alright Winchester, you've got three minutes to defeat your course," explained Boomer. The clock flipped to the three minute mark. "GO!"

The doors opened and she ran out to the course. Instantly, a flurry of spears were sent her way and she vanished entirely, diving into a somersault. She was back on her feet, and in sight, looking around for the next threat. The lights overhead started to flicker and she looked up, trying to locate the source. Was this apart of her course? The lights were apart the actual building. The ground beneath her started to quake and she took off towards the tree formation, jumping and swinging onto the low branch to keep her feet off the ground as the hole opened up, swallowing her previous spot.

So far, so good.

Lash watched Sammy's form intensely, brown gaze never straying as he leaned forward on his knees. She vanished and weaved effortlessly, avoiding the danger and finding the safe spots. He could hear someone make their way over to him, taking the empty seat beside him. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw red hair.

"So," she started. He could feel her glaring a hole into the side of his head and he smirked under her focus.

"So, what?" he snarked. The gym lights flickered and his brow furrowed. That was odd.

"So, as Sammy's friend, I will not stand for you to use her like some toy!" she whispered, indignant. Now there was a low hum sounding. Sammy clearly heard it too, staying on the branch, trying to look around to spot the source. Layla was still ranting in his ear, her voice becoming an irritating buzz. The low humming was also continuing and he couldn't quite tell, but there was an almost a tremoring underfoot.

"—you're a no good bully and Sammy doesn't deserve that—" He whipped to face her, almost wanting to wring her neck.

"Would you shut up!" he whispered back. The temperature was dropping and the lights were blacking out and struggling to come back on. Sammy jumped down from the tree, looking up at Coach Boomer.

"Coach? Is this a part of my run?" she asked.

This time the lights blacked out completely. There were murmurs among the students and Boomer grouching about the Mad Science lab's interference. Lash strained to see in the dark gym, trying to make shapes come into focus. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, there was something wrong. Minutes passed and the lights had yet to turn on again. Something very wrong, especially when Sammy's scream cut through the air the like a knife.

"LASH!"

"Hello Samantha." His greeting was cool and collected, almost polite. Sam backed against the tree, whole body shaking. She wasn't dreaming this time, he was really here. Right here in front of her. The stark white hair, and ice blue eyes that somehow stood out against his death pale skin. Her throat grew tight in fear, the kiss scar hidden under Lash's glove throbbed the longer she stared at him.

"L-Lash..." she whispered. Not loud enough.

Phantom stepped closer, his footsteps soundless. He extended his hand to her, as if expecting her to accept it. "Come now. Show me your power." Then he lunged at her, open palm going through her chest as she went intangible with a yelp.

"Good, quick reflex," he commented. Sammy dove to the side, rolling back onto her feet to take her own defensive stance. To her surprise, Phantom mirrored her. They both stood in a stance with their legs evenly spread, knees slightly bent and hands up in an open palm style.

"Aha, very nice," noted Phantom. "Not to mention that you can still see me even in the dark."

Sammy took a breath. "G-go away. Y-you have...n-no reason to be here..." He raised a brow, a half smile forming, and then he was laughing. He was laughing at her.

"You still don't understand?" he asked, amused. "You still don't see our resemblance?" His form flickered but her eyes remained trained on him.

"See? Right now no one can see me, but you. Only you Samantha, and do you know why?" he asked, thrilled.

"L-Lash...!" she tried calling, but her voice faded away to nothing. He chuckled at her attempt.

"No no, Sammy. No calling for that Hero of yours," he chided, once again upon her with his hand around her throat. He smirked at her wide eyed gaze. "Yes, I know about him too."

His free hand grabbed the side of her face, pressing into her temple. Flashes of images raced across Sammy's vision. A younger Phantom walking with a girl with blonde hair. The angling changed and Sam could see that the girl was her mother. Golden blonde hair and blue eyes, it was easy to recognize her. In the images, Phantom was smiling too, kissing the girl.

"You see?" he asked. "You. Are. Mine. And all I had to do was wait for the perfect moment to bring you into the world. My greatest creation." This time, Sammy lunged at him with an open palm hit, going for his shoulder. He smirked as he parried her blow easily. His hand slipped past her defenses and went for her chest. Sammy's form flickered while Phantom's remained solid. Wide blue eyes stared straight ahead, stunned while she struggled for air.

The heart pounded rapidly against his palm, straining to break free from his fist. Her figure flickered rapidly, trying to find an escape route. No luck. Her breathing was in quick bursts, straining. Her hands griped his arm, trying to pull him off, digging her nails into him.

"L...L..." she gasped. The room was still dark, but Phantom was right in front of her, clear as day. No one outside her run was reacting, no one knew.

"No no, I won't let you go yet, Samantha. We still need to have a proper...father-daughter chat," he smirked. She shook her head, gathering enough air for one breath. A high pitch, piercing scream.

"LASH!"

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