Author's Note: This one's gonna be a little deep about depression, I'm pulling from my own struggle here so please be kind. I own nothing.

25 Struggling

Dani went straight to the bathroom closest to her room and bolted the door behind herself. Pulling off her shirt she allowed her shoulder to become visible and hissed out under her breath. The panther had slashed her in the arm and it looked like Jazz's light punch in the kitchen had reopened it just a little bit. She fished out a few bandages from the first aid kit and quickly cleaned the split and sealed it as best she could. It would be healed by tomorrow if she could get her hands on some fresh ectoplasm. She was out in her room but there should be some in the lab. Before she could think about sneaking down to the lab there was a knock on the door.

"Dani are you ok in there?" It was Jazz. Dani scrambled to pull her shirt back on. She grabbed her toothbrush and quickly set about brushing her teeth before she opened the door. Jazz frowned at her for a moment but her expression cleared quickly.

"Need my hairbrush." Jazz said with a slight smile. Dani stepped to the side so Jazz could get to her drawer in the bathroom.

The girls had shared the bathroom closest to their rooms for a while now. Fenton Works was large, with three floors before one even reached the Ops Center and a basement that itself was two floors. The first floor was given over to family spaces, a large living room, spacious kitchen and dining room and a few storage closets. The second floor held the bedrooms and the majority of the bathrooms. Only three of the bedrooms were occupied as the fourth was used as a spare. The third floor was a space for her parents to work on non ghost related problems. Jazz and Dani had spaces up there too but they didn't get used often though Dani had thought about using it recently. She finished brushing her teeth and headed to her room, since that's what Jazz would be expecting. She closed her door, turned invisible and phased through her door. She snuck down the stairs and into the lab, invisible. Her parents were in the lab talking around one of the tables.

"So the Fenton Ghost Peeler adjusts to the user?" Jack asked and Maddie nodded.

"That way we don't have to make multiples. Although I'm considering making something small for Dani and Jazz, something that won't affect humans. There have been too many ghost sightings at the school. I'm worried about them." Jack nodded, he picked up the Fenton Peeler.

"The peeler would be good for that! The worst it might do to someone is split some seams on clothes. Plus it should fit in a bag." Dani shuddered at the thought of using the Peeler, she didn't want her parents using that on her, she didn't plan on using it against anyone else, ghost or not. She'd stick to her own natural, well unnatural, powers. At least they weren't used with the intent to destroy the ghosts she fought, just defend her home and the people she loved. With her parents discussing how they could maybe make the peeler slightly smaller for ease of use, Dani carefully wrapped a hand around one of the vials of freshly collected ectoplasm. She allowed her invisibility to spread to the vial. It was capped so she slipped it into her pocket and did it a few more times. It was probably a good idea to stock up while she could. She managed to snag three large vials before she was pretty sure she'd be risking her parents noticing things going missing. She slipped back up to her room and phased through the door pulling the vials out of her pocket and stashing all but one of them in the wall next to her bed. That was definitely a benefit of her powers she could hide shit in walls and floors.

She downed the contents of the last vial in one go and slipped the empty vial away into the wall. She'd wash it and replace it later. She glanced out her window. She should probably head out on patrol but after listening to her parents plan on dissecting ghosts in the lab and the latest session with Spectra, who'd forced her into a humiliating baby costume as a way to 'maker her face her fears' she just wasn't feeling up to it. Remembering Paulina, Star, Dash and Kwan walking in and knowing there were photos of that stupid costume now circling around the school made her feel ill. All she wanted to do right now was burry herself under her blankets and never be heard from again. She buried her head under her pillow and willed the world to just go away.

It seemed that Dani wasn't the only one feeling depressed these days though. The whole of Casper High was mired in an unnatural gloomy feeling.

"What is up this week?" Sam asked with a frown as they headed down the halls. Sam and Tanya were walking normally, Dani trudged along side them.

"Yeah, worst spirit week ever." Tanya pointed out. "Looks like only me, the goth bird of happiness here, and Jazz have any spirit left." Dani rolled her eyes at the mention of her sister.

"What the hell is she so happy about anyway?" Dani grumbled and Sam shrugged.

"It is weird though. Even the cheerleaders aren't peppy these days. It's like only the people who have any life left in them are the three people in school who haven't had a session with Spectra." He pointed out. Dani froze mid step.

"Say that again?"

"The only people who have any life left in them are the people who haven't had a session with Spectra?" Sam said in a questioning tone. Dani shook her head.

"But that doesn't make sense… Unless. Tanya, let me see your PDA." She practically snatched the device from her friend quickly scrolling through her photos.

"I was gonna delete that!" Tanya claimed as Dani stopped on one of the photos of Dani in the Casper High 'Spirit Baby' costume.

"Sorta glad you didn't. Look!" She'd zoomed in on her own mouth in the photo, out of which was spilling a blue mist. "I thought it was cold in her office! She kept the AC cranked so I wouldn't realize it wasn't my breath I was seeing! It was my ghost sense! I think Spectra's caused more misery than she's ever cured. I think she's a ghost." Tanya's brow furrowed.

"How are we gonna prove it?" Dani regarded them for a moment.

"Only one way to prove it." She didn't want to send them in there but she had to know. She really hadn't expected to walk into a plot to murder her sister. She had to stop them, and she had to do it now.