Danny's PoV.
The first thing I became aware of was the fact that I wasn't in as much pain as I was before I lost consciousness. My back still felt like it had been torn open but at least it didn't feel like it was on fire too. Second thing I noticed was that I wasn't on a hard floor, but instead on a cushioned surface with something on top of me. I opened my eyes only to shut them again because of the light. After a minute or so I tried again and after blinking a couple of times everything started to come into focus. The walls of my bedroom greeted me.
It took me several trys but I was eventually able to get out of my bed and stand on my feet, leaning heavily on the bed frame. Slowly, I made my way downstairs to the living room where I saw my parents. Mom was talking on the phone with someone while Dad just sat on the couch with his head in his hands. They were worried.
"Sally it's been three days and neither of them are waking up. What do we do?" Mom said and paused as she listened. "What do you mean this is the first time that this has happened? Surely you know what you're daughter...do you know how much longer they'll be unconscious for?...alright, but what do we do until then?" She signed after a beat. "Okay, Sally, I will...yes I'll keep you updated...goodbye." and she hung up as she sat down next to Dad.
"Who was that?" I asked, my voice was rough. Both my parents jumped, startled.
"Danny!" Mom was at my side in an instant pulling me into a hug. "Thank goodness. I was so worried." When she let me go Dad pulled me into a bear hug which did not agree with my injured back.
"Dad...my back." I managed to gasp out and he quickly put me down.
"Sorry, Danny, got a little carried away." He said sheepishly.
"It's fine." They caught me when I stumbled and led me to the couch so I could sit down. "Who were you on the phone with?"
"That was Sally, Calli's mother." Mom answered. "I was getting so worried about you and Calli that I called her to see if she would have an idea of what to do."
"And does she?" I asked.
"She said to give the two of you time to recover and make sure you don't die from dehydration or starvation. She also said to throw a bucket of water on Calli."
"How would that help?" I interrupted my mom but luckily she didn't get too mad about it.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure of that myself. We didn't really get a full explanation of it ourselves." She answered sounding frustrated at not knowing something. "How are you feeling, Danny? Are you in pain?"
"Well, in this instance I can't say that I've been worse because I have never felt so much pain as I did when that spiked club ripped up my back, not even when I got electrocuted by the Ghost Portal. But most of the pain has gone away." I told them when I saw that Mom was about to start crying. "Now I'm just extremely sore, exhausted, and my back feels like someone took a knife to it a few days ago. Not to mention hungry." Mom ruffled my hair.
"I'll be back. Stay put." She said and went into the kitchen.
"Danny, I'm sorry about wanting to dissect you." Dad told me after a few minutes. When I looked up at him, he looked ashamed of himself. "And for thinking that you were evil."
"It's ok, Dad, your a scientist, it's just what science told you about ghosts." I told him. Now that I was sitting and comfortable my exhaustion was starting to over come me but I was able to push it away for the time being, won't be able to stay awake for long though.
"No, Danny, it's not ok. Your my son and I..." He trailed off and put his head back in his hands. At that Mom came back in and handed me a sandwich, a glass of water, and a small pill. I gave her a questioning look.
"To help with the pain." She answered my unspoken question as she sat back down next to me. I didn't feel like arguing with her about not needing it so I quickly swallowed the pill before inhaling the sandwich and washed it down with the water. Now that I had eaten it was much harder to stay awake.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked with a yawn. "Were any of them hurt?"
"There at school sweetheart." Giving me a slight smile. "Paulina got her arm hurt but other than that they're fine. They'll be coming over after school. They've been so worried about you, we all have been."
"But what happened to Calli? She wasn't there when the fighting started. Did Dan get to her?" It was getting harder to speak as my exhaustion began to pull me under. I yawned again and could barely keep my head up. Mom carded her fingers through my hair which only served to make me sleepier.
"It's hard to explain and it will have to wait till you're not about to pass out again. We'll still be here when you wake up." Once again I didn't try to argue, just curled up on the couch with my head in my mother's lap like a little kid and fell into a dreamless sleep. Second time I came around I could hear people talking quietly.
"How do we even know if we're looking in the right books?" Someone said and I could hear a slight accent. "She might not have any connection to the Ghost Zone."
"Skulker knew something about her. There has to be some sort of connection." Sam, I think, replied. "Plus, I know that I've read the term 'demigod' somewhere."
"How many more books do we have to read?" Dash, maybe, asked sounding bored.
"Reading is good for you, so stop complaining." Valerie told him. I opened my eyes to see my friends sitting around the living room with books and papers scattered across the floor.
"Oh no, the apocalypse has come. Dash Baxter is using a book for its intended purpose." I said and they all jumped. A chuckle escaped from me at their shocked faces. "Hi."
"Danny!" Sam nearly shouted as she knelt down in front of me. She had a smile on but I knew that she would be yelling at me soon enough for scaring her. "How are you feeling?"
"Not as bad as I was earlier." I told her as I struggled to sit up. "What are you doing?" I gestured to the books they were reading, a few of them looked familiar.
"We're trying to figure out what those things were and what Calli is." Tucker answered from where he was sitting next to Valerie. "No luck yet."
"Where is Calli?" They all shared a look at my question. "Still unconscious?" They nodded simultaneously. "What happened after I blacked out?"
"Your parents showed up just a few seconds before you...got hurt." Kwan started. " then a big metal ghost turned up-"
"Skulker?" I asked, interrupting.
"Yeah, he told us that those things were monsters and that we were better off trying to run than to fight them." Tuck picked up the story.
"He said he'd hold them off while we ran but the head honcho guy said that they would be able to find us." Dash continued. "But before any of us could do anything else Calli just showed up and kicked their butts in like three minutes without a scratch."
"If she wasn't hurt then why is she unconscious?" I was confused about that.
"Apparently the metal that the clubs were made out of started to 'burn your life essence' or your soul." Paulina said, trying to remember the explanation. "Calli used her abilities to heal you and I guess the strain took too much out of her and she has been unconscious ever since."
"Jazz went to check on her a minute or so ago." Sam finished and I thought about the new information. It was harder than it should have been because my mind was still foggy but I got the main points.
"She can heal people?" I asked, shocked.
"Yes, and she can also manipulate your ecto-ice." Sam muttered as if she jealous of that fact. "Just so you know, no one else besides those of us there know about the monsters, everyone thinks that it was another ghost attack. Anyone who did see the monsters later said that they saw ghosts but they couldn't agree on what they looked like. It's as if someone doesn't want it getting out that monsters exist too."
"I would say it was more like they couldn't remember what they saw so their brains tried to fill in the gaps and stuck with whatever image their mind provided." I heard Jazz say and I saw her coming down the stairs.
"What makes you say that?" I asked her and she smiled at me when she saw I was awake.
"When the reporters were interviewing witnesses they got a faraway look in their eyes and they looked slightly confused like they couldn't exactly remember. When they did start speaking they were hesitant at first like they didn't even believe what they were saying but the more they spoke the more that they believed what they were saying."
"That's...I don't even know what. My brain is still to foggy for this." I sighed. "How's Calli?"
"Oh, she said that she'd be down in a few minutes. Just to warn you, she's not in a very good mood." My sister informed us.
"Is she ever in a good mood?" Sam grumbled.
"Yes, I am, but only when you leave the room." Calli appeared at the top of the stairs and was brushing her wet hair. She was wearing sweatpants and a worn out orange t-shirt that was spotted with burnt holes. What caught my attention was the streaks of white that ran through the front of her raven hair.
"That was a rhetoric question." My girlfriend glared at her. "That means it was meant to be unanswered."
"The point of asking questions is to get answers. If you don't wish to get an answer then you don't ask the question." Our house guest said, unaffected by Sam's glare.
"You're impossible to talk to, nothing you say makes sense."
"I think that your a bit confused here, Sunshine, you're the one that doesn't make any sense. First you get mad at me for not answering your questions but now you don't want me to answer your questions. So for the sake of what's left of my sanity, can you please make up your mind?" She joined us on the main level and picked up one of the books my friends were looking at. "What are you looking at these for?"
"We were trying to figure out what you are." Kwan told her sheepishly. "And what those things at the mall were." Calli glanced up from the book in her hand.
"What, pray tell, are your theories?" She gave him a slight smile. "Possession, hunter, or half ghost like Dirtball over there."
"All of the above." Dash told her cautiously. "Can you tell us which one?"
"That's a bit hard since the answer is none of those." Came the not so helpful reply. "Though I have been possessed before. I can tell you right now that it wasn't much fun."
"Then what are you?" Valerie asked her.
"You've already been told the answer to that. I'll give you a few hints, we were at the mall and I have no direct connection to ectoplasmic entities." Calli tossed the book back to where she found it. I tried to remember everything that happened and I got sidetracked by the words on her orange shirt, 'Camp Half-Blood'.
"Half-blood, those giant monster things said something about a half blood. Is that what you are, a half blood?" I asked her and she gave me a smile.
"Those were cannibals giants, from the north. Monsters ignore mortals for the most part. Only when they're getting in the way of their next meal will they actively attack them as well. Oh, and you owe me for saving your life."
"It's wrong to expect payment for saving someone's life." I told her with a glare.
"And normally I wouldn't but having my hair turn white because I saved your life is a bit of a mind changer in some instances, such as now." She glared back and I felt like my blood was turning into ice. "This," she grabbed a lock of the white, "is what happens when someone uses so much power that all of their energy is spent and the magic starts draining their life essence as well. Meaning, I could've died, so you owe me."
"I'm sorry." I hung my head, ashamed of myself for getting hurt.
"Never apologize, Danny, it's a sign of weakness and you have nothing to be sorry for. I don't regret saving you, I just hate that my beautiful black hair now has white steaks in it. Don't beat yourself up over it." I didn't look up and I heard her sigh.
"What's the significance of being a half blood?" Tucker asked in a subject change. "And why'd the giants go after Paulina? You said they don't want mortals."
"They don't, so what does that tell you about her?"
"They called me a demigod." Pauline spoke up. "Demi means half, right? So the translation would be half-god." She paused for a moment. "I'm half-god!"
"The politically correct terms are demigod, half-blood, or hero." Calli said and I glanced up to see a tired smile on her lips. Everyone had shocked expressions, Paulina still looking excited as she jumped up and down. "Don't let it go to your head Paulina, pride leads to faster deaths a majority of the time. Also, no one else can know about our lineage. Ghosts are one thing but gods, they aren't very nice and will kill anyone if they think their power is threatened. If people don't like the existence of ghosts, imagine what will happen if they find out about us." The Latina suddenly didn't look so excited. Just then the door bell rang and mom came in to answer it and lo and behold, pizzas.
