Danny yawned as he walked into the school. He walked up to Sam and Tucker and was just about to greet them when heard Paulina sobbing into Dash's chest by her locker.
"Woah." He said. "What's happening?"
"Star's still missing." Sam whispered.
"It's been a week since her parents filed that report and no one's seen any sign of her since then." Tucker looked at his PDA. "No one has anything new to report online. I think it's starting to really wear on Paulina."
"Maybe when we patrol later we should check up on some other places rather than just the ghost hot spots." Danny said, looking back at Paulina. "Maybe we'll be able to find something while we're out."
"Maybe." Sam said. The first bell rang and they started heading to class. "But if we're being realistic, a week is a long time with this kind of thing. She could be long gone out of Amity Park by now. Or, you know." She whispered that last part.
"It wouldn't hurt to try looking around though."
The three of them walked into Lancer's class. The empty desk next to Paulina felt like it took up the entire room and many of their classmates were trying not to look at it. The final bell rang and Mr. Lancer turned from where he was writing on the board.
"Alright, class." He said somberly. "Let's get started."
QQQQQ
"We're having no luck down here, Danny. What about you?" Tucker called through the Fenton phones.
Danny flew past the arcade and an ice cream shop and stopped, floating in front of an alley. "Nothing here. I think we can call it for-"
Danny's head whipped towards the sound of trash cans crashing around. He floated into the alley slowly, looking around. When he came out the other end there was no one there.
"Are you okay, Danny?"
He turned back around. "Yeah, I think some cat was getting into one of the garbage cans over here or something." He flew back out of the alley.
"Okay, well then-"
Danny stopped listening to her when he saw something laying on the ground. He touched down on the concrete and bent over to pick up a pink clip.
"Hey Sam." Danny asked. "Dash and Kwan were talking about taking Paulina for ice cream, right?"
"Yeah?" She said, confused. "Why?"
"I found Paulina's hair clip on the ground."
A heavy silence settled between the three of them.
"She probably left with them, right?" Danny asked. "They wouldn't have left her alone here?"
"There's no way they'd just leave her there. Not with Star missing." Tucker said.
Silence hovered over them again for a few seconds before Danny spoke. "You guys go home. I'm gonna fly up and down the streets over here again."
"Are you sure?" Sam asked.
"Yeah." Danny took off, flying above the buildings and scanning the ground below him. "Be careful getting home and let me know when you get there."
They both gave him affirmatives and he looked up and down each street. In fifteen minutes he got notice that Sam was home and ten minutes after that so was Tucker.
He let out a deep breath, a bit more relaxed now that he knew Sam and Tucker were safely at home. He had a bad feeling, but he hadn't seen anything suspicious along the streets or in the alley, so maybe Paulina did leave with Kwan and Dash and she just dropped her hair clip.
He turned around to start heading back home. He dropped down in between his house and the neighbor's and transformed. Before heading inside, he let Sam and Tucker know he was home and he turned off the Fenton Phones and put them in his pocket.
Danny opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. He greeted his parents who sat waiting on the couch, his mom reading the paper and his dad cross stitching something. He yawned and started heading upstairs to get ready for bed.
After brushing his teeth and changing in the bathroom, Danny crossed the hall into his room, closing the door and turning off the light. He flopped down onto his bed and pulled the covers over himself.
He hoped Paulina was doing better tomorrow.
QQQQQ
Paulina was missing.
She had never come home last night and her parents called all her friends, asking if they knew where she was. No one had seen her since yesterday, and her parents filed a missing person report. It spread like wildfire through the school.
Dash and Kwan in particular looked horrified and close to hysterics throughout the day. They didn't talk to anyone, didn't even really look in anyone's direction when their names were called.
It took until lunch, but soon word spread that one of the underclassmen was missing too. One of the band kids. No one had seen him since last night either and he just happened to live in the area that the ice cream shop was in.
It didn't stop there either. Day after day, more and more kids were disappearing. Mikey, Dale, Sarah, more underclassmen. It was getting to the point where they cancelled school until someone had some answers.
That didn't stop Sam from going out and searching for any clue she could find though. The first time Danny had seen her when he was patrolling on his own, he scooped her right up and took her home, scolding her.
When his mom got a panicked phone call from Sam's hysteric mom, his heart dropped into his stomach. His hands went numb and he stared at his mom until she got off the phone and walked over to where he sat on the couch.
She pulled him into her arms tightly and whispered into his hair.
"Sam's missing."
QQQQQ
"Come on, Danny!" Tucker yelled through the computer. "You can't just walk around waiting to be kidnapped! If you get kidnapped how are we gonna fix this?"
"What we've been doing hasn't been working, Tucker!" Danny yelled back. "I can only cover so much ground when I don't know what I'm looking for and you can't be out there. I can barely do any patrols as it is, my parents are always coming up to my room to check on me. I don't see any other way to do this."
"What if you don't come back either?"
Danny paused. "I have to come back. If I don't come back then neither does Sam."
Tucker sighed. "Just. Be careful."
"I'll try to be as careful as I can while being kidnapped."
Tucker made a face at him just before Danny logged off. Transforming, Danny jumped into the air and flew out the window. He flew around town a bit before dropping off into the alleyway he found Paulina's hair clip in. The areas that the kids were last seen in seemed to be all over town, but he couldn't shake the sound that the garbage cans had made that day out of his head.
Pressing his back against the wall, Danny transformed and strolled out, walking down the street. There weren't many people out most days now. Most of them were too afraid of going outside and getting snatched up like all the teenagers.
He'd been walking for fifteen minutes before he heard the crunch of gravel underneath tires behind him. He didn't turn around and kept walking forward. Footsteps rapidly approached him and suddenly a bag was over his head.
"Hey!" He shouted.
"Are you sure we should take this one? What about his parents?"
Someone else scoffed. "They're too dumb to do anything about it. They won't even know where to find him. Just help me get him in the car."
They picked Danny up and hauled him back towards the car. He heard the trunk open and they tied his wrists together before shutting the trunk heavily above him. Soon the vehicle was moving and driving away.
Well, he accomplished what he sent out to do. It wasn't very comfortable though.
They must've been driving for at least an hour because by the time they stopped, both of Danny's legs were asleep. The trunk popped open and he could feel the cold air rushing in. They pulled him out and placed him on the ground, yanking him back up after he almost collapsed from the pins and needles feeling in his legs.
They walked him to an entrance where he could hear key cards being scanned at multiple points. They led him through squeaky hallways until they stopped and were suddenly lifting him up onto a bed? No, a stretcher. They strapped him down and once he was tightly bound they ripped the bag off of his head.
Danny scrunched his eyes up at the white light bouncing off the bright white walls. Looking around, he saw two faces staring down at him. Agent K and Agent O.
"The GIW?" Danny said. "What the fuck? Why are you kidnapping humans?"
They ignored him and started pushing him down a very long hallway.
Rolling down the long hallway, Danny can hear the moans and groans, most of them coming from ghosts. He looks around and sees room upon room, windows letting him see the people inside each of them.
His heart drops when he sees Star. She's floating inside her room, a small husk of a ghost. When she sees him, her eyes immediately light up with rage and sparks fly off of her as she bounces all over the room.
In the next room is Paulina. It doesn't look like she's a ghost, but it looks like she's sick with ghost powers again. She's pressed tightly against the wall she shares with Star. She hiccups and a ghost sense floats out of her mouth.
As they push him by, he sees everyone. Mikey, Dale, Sarah. All of the underclassmen that went missing. Even Dash was there. Each one various levels of dead, alive, and sick.
They reach the end of the hallway and his pulse is spiking, his heart hammering in his chest. He hasn't seen Sam anywhere.
He clears his throat. "So, uh, wanna share what you guys are doing here?"
"Ghost studies." Agent K clips out.
"Right. Why are you kidnapping humans then?"
"It's easier to make ghosts than to catch them."
"What-" Danny stops and his eyes widen. They can't be serious. Making ghosts? His thoughts go back to Star, bouncing around her room like a comet and his blood runs cold.
They roll through a set of double doors and when they open they're in an operating room. His thoughts are buzzing and he can hear the click and ping of metal objects being placed on the counter. They're just about to roll a utensil cart over to his stretcher when he hears a scream that fills his veins with fire.
Without even thinking about it, Danny rips his wrists out of the restraints and punches Agent O in the face. He falls into the cart and all of the tools clatter to the ground. Danny shoots an ectoblast at each belt binding his ankles to the stretcher and hops off the bed, facing Agent K, glaring at him, hands filled with ectoplasm.
"You're a ghost!" Agent K exclaims before Danny kicks him in the stomach.
"And you're scum." Danny snarls. He shoots an ectoblast into the side of Agent K's head, knocking him unconscious.
Transforming, Danny jumps up into the air and starts flying from room to room, looking for Sam. He finally finds her in another room in a different hallway, another agent sticking a needle full of ectoplasm into her arm. She screams again.
As the agent is reaching for something else from a tray, Danny picks up the tray, sending its contents flying, and smashes it into his face. The agent tumbles to the ground and Danny grabs his keycard. Picking Sam up, Danny phases them out of the room, locking the agent inside.
"Sam! Sam, are you okay?" Danny asks shakily.
She shakes her head. "We can't worry about me right now. We have to get your parents and the cops."
"But-"
Sam shakes her head again. "Some of these kids won't make it long enough for you to patch me up. They've been sick for too long."
He looks at her for a few seconds before nodding. He shoots up into the air, holding Sam close to his chest as he flew as fast as he could back home.
He flew straight into the living room, halting abruptly when he saw his parents standing there. They stared with wide eyes at Sam in his arms and started reaching for their guns.
"Wait!" He shook his head. "We need your help! I found out where all the kids are!"
Maddie's gun clattered to the ground. "Where are they? Was Danny with them?"
"Danny's fine, he's not there." He said hurriedly. "They're in a GIW compound outside of town. We need to hurry."
"Let me just-" Maddie started reaching for Sam.
"No! We can't waste any time." His grip tightened on Sam. "She said she'll be fine for now but there are kids who won't make it much longer. They need our help more right now."
"Okay. Okay, Jack. Get the keys for the van and a couple of bazookas. You take Sam to the van and direct us to the compound. I'm going to get in touch with the police."
They all piled into the van and Danny directed them toward the compound. Danny kept a close eye on Sam and Maddie stayed on the phone until they reached the compound, giving the police the address. The van slammed through the brick wall surrounding the compound and straight into the front wall of the building.
They all jumped out, Danny still carrying Sam, and he keycarded them through all the locked doors until they got to the wing full of students. Maddie covered her mouth as she looked at them.
Soon the police got there and they began to cart out the agents that remained in the building. Paramedics came in to take care of the kids who were still alive while Jack and Maddie worked on calming Star and the other ghosts down.
Danny let go of Sam's hand slowly as the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance. He turned around and flew back into the building where he found his parents trying to comfort a distraught Star.
He floated up to her and held a hand out. She looked at it and her eyes darted up to his face, recognition flashing through them. Tears welled up in her eyes and she stood, wrapping her arms around him as she sobbed.
He loosely wrapped his arms back around her and waited with her until she was ready to go.
QQQQQ
Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat closely together on top of Danny's bed. They had just gotten back from the memorial held for all the kids that died inside the compound. Danny and Tucker each held one of Sam's hands, gripping them tightly.
Sam took a deep breath and let it out shakily, her fingers twitching and going through Danny's hand before settling back in place.
Danny hoped to whatever deity there might be that this would never happen again. No matter what anyone thought of the ghosts in Amity Park, they had never stooped low enough to kill someone. They weren't collecting humans for a ghost farm.
He glanced up at the window, looking at the night sky. A ghost flew through the night, sparking brightly like a comet.