Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Chapter 14: Lost

Vlad's POV

I still had plenty of time left before the police made it out there and began combing the woods for any sign of Samson Manson and Danielle Fenton, but regardless, I was determined to find Danielle first to avoid any unforeseen complications. She was no doubt rather disoriented and confused which wasn't good news by any means, but sadly it was to be expected after recovering from such a dark form of mind-control. Honestly, I couldn't help but wonder how much Danielle would even remember of this unfortunate turn of events really. For all I knew, she was hiding from her friends, family, and the authorities on purpose because she didn't want to face them like this, feeling ashamed of herself for letting this happen.

Therefore, it was entirely possible she didn't want to be found. Not by them at any rate. Danielle did reach out to me though, which meant she trusts me so I didn't want to let her down. I promised myself I would never let her down again because I want only the best for my little badger, no matter what lengths I must go to to ensure her safety and happiness.

I was a bit unsure what to do about her friends since Danielle only me so much about them and vice versa. Still, she seemed to trust them with Danielle's secret and by extension mine as well, so I did my best to trust her judgment. At the very least having them already aware of our ghostly nature would hopefully make things much simpler for me since I shouldn't have to explain who I am to them if they see me in ghost form like this.

With that in mind, once I reached the bridge Danielle's friend Trish Foley mentioned in her interview, I scanned the area for the tracker in Danielle's phone but to my surprise I detected a strange energy reading deep under water a bit further down the river as well. Part of me wished I had had time to speak to this young lady personally to hear the full story of what really happened on the train, but obviously there was no time for that. From what I've been able to gather, the cover story she gave the police is was that supposedly the three of them discovered had stolen goods on the Circus Gothica train and when Freakshow tried to make a break for it, they followed after him and had some sort of confrontation with the man, but that was it.

I had no way of knowing what happened to Danielle after that though...

But, I was going to find out, one way or another.

When I finally found what I was looking for, unfortunately, Danielle herself was nowhere in sight. But since it might still contain some important clues I deftly picked up the fallen cell phone and tucked it securely onto my belt. Then I reached up to increase my sensor's settings to maximum when I picked up a voice with my ghost hearing. I turned, waiting until I heard it again before teleporting closer to the source. It was a boy with dark black hair that had several streaks of purple, pale skin, deep violet eyes, that was dressed in various shades of purple and black who kept rubbing his arms and sniffling since he seemed to be drenched from head to toe.

After recovering from his bout of shivers though, he then cupped his hands to his mouth and called out once more for Danielle. I contemplated just leaving him there to continue the search on my own without him slowing me down since I assumed this was Danielle's friend Samson, but then I realized he might have valuable information that could help us find Danielle faster. With that in mind, I landed softly on the ground and then snapped a twig on purpose to alert him to my presence and his head snapped in my direction, eyes wide and glaring.

"Who's there?" he demanded harshly before his eyes softened and he took a step towards the trees, asking a bit more meekly. "Dani? Is that you?"

"Not quite," I replied, stepping out of the shadows with my arms folded behind my back, appraising the young man before me with a frown.

Since I was still in ghost form, that set him on edge and the boy assumed a battle stance despite knowing he stood no chance against me and demanded. "Who are you? Are you another one of Freakshow's goons!? I'm warning you, stay back or else I'll-"

"You'll what?" I challenged, raising an eyebrow at him. "Punch my lights out? Oh please, in the state you're in you can barely walk. Besides, if I WAS one of his 'goons' do you really thing I'd waste time on pleasantries? You'd already be dead if that were the case. But no, I have nothing to do with that foolish FOOLISH man who is lucky I have more important things to deal with..."

Confused, he lowered his arms slightly and asked in a more even tone, "Well if you're not with Freakshow then who..." trailing off though, his eyes lit up in realization as he gasped, "Wait a second, horn-like hair, long cape, fangs...are you that guy Dani won't shut up about? That rich creep who's half-ghost too, Vlad Masters!?"

Rolling my eyes at him I nodded. "You assume correctly. And given that you know about me, I assume you're her friend Samson, correct?"

Glowering at me for using his full name, once Samson realized I wasn't a threat to him, he lowered his arms and asked. "Yeah that's right. But what are you doing here...? Don't you live all the way over in Wisconsin?"

Dismissing the question I shook my head and scowled. "Do you really think we have time for this? The police will be here soon to mount a search for you and Danielle so we need to find her first. I also need to know EXACTLY what happened in case she's...not in her right mind yet since I know she was being controlled by an outside force until recently. I received a call from her using the phone I gave her for emergencies, but Danielle fainted before she could tell me anything more than Freakshow's name so I made my way here to assist her."

Samson nodded, his eyes narrowed and determined since he wanted to rescue Danielle as much as I did and he recounted the entire sordid tale starting from when she began acting strangely to when Freakshow actually took control of her mind. Sadly the last thing he remembered was being knocked off of the train and seeing Danielle fly down after him before everything went dark and he woke up by himself safely on the shore, drenched, but uninjured thanks to her. Going off of that, I could only assume Danielle lost her grip on him after they made it to the surface and then was washed downriver along with the staff, which was most likely the other energy source I saw on my sensors earlier...

If that was the case though, where did Danielle end up?

Did she have the strength to fly back out of the river? Or did she try following the train tracks back to her 'master?' She could also be aimlessly wandering the woods in search of the staff so she can return it to him. Either way, she couldn't have gotten far, not in her condition, so that narrowed our options considerably to somewhere near the river or the surrounding area.

Samson of course wanted to help me search for his lost friend, but after sneezing for the third time in a row I suggested he stay behind to dry off first before he caught a cold. He protested at first, but then I pointed out to him that she might be drawn to the firelight too if she was lost, so starting a fire may help guide Danielle to safety. More importantly, I didn't want to have to babysit the boy since unlike me he couldn't see well in the dark or fly.

Reluctantly he finally agreed to stay put and after gathering some firewood, I saved us both some time by igniting it for him with ecto-energy instead of doing things the old fashioned way with a few rocks or some sticks to act as a flint. And then I promptly left to continue my search for Danielle again, ignoring his stunned expression. But at least convincing him to stay behind got him out of my hair and the light would likely attract the search parties instead which would buy me a little more time to find Danielle before they did. Simply put, that fire would act as the perfect distraction, and on the off chance Danielle did notice the fire I would be able to regroup with her there.

Still, even with my ghost powers enhancing my night vision, it was extremely dark and the trees were so dense it was hard to see much of anything even from the air. And as time went on I grew more and more anxious, fearing for her life since my sensors hadn't picked any recent signs of ghost activity. Although to be fair, that may only mean that she had already reverted to human form, which sadly made her ghost signature even less noticeable.

Now I'm not the sort of man that believes in such nonsense when I control my own fate, but I prayed that I would find her soon, especially when I happened to turn around and noticed flashlights in the distance heading towards Samson's campfire. I couldn't let them take her away from me, not in the state she was in since they wouldn't know how to treat her. They wouldn't know how to treat Danielle's wounds if she was hurt so I sincerely hoped she was alright.

Please be safe...I whispered to myself subconsciously, checking the scanner again when I blinked, noticing a small blip on the screen.

I thought I imagined it at first but as I flew further in that direction it went off a second time. Shortly after, I felt something cool brush against my cheek as her voice called my name and no sooner had I felt this...phantom touch that I quite literally sensed Danielle's presence when my ghost sense went off. Like a bloodhound catching the scent, I flew off in that direction at top speed, phasing straight through the trees and that's when I saw her...limping as she walked towards me, eyes glowing dimly but they were green again which suggested that the staff was no longer controlling her.

"Danielle!" I cried, running towards her on foot and wrapping my arms around her limp shoulders as I cradled her head which was resting under my chin and I found myself actually tearing up as relief flooded my system. "Oh thank god! Thank god I found you first! It's alright now, I've got you..."

The moment I embraced her, I discovered that Danielle was still soaking wet just like her friend and shivering. But I paid that no mind because all that mattered was that she was safe in my arms and seemingly uninjured aside from there being something wrong with her leg. Not to mention she was still wearing that blasted robe Freakshow had given her to wear over her hazmat suit I saw earlier in one of those video recordings which would explain why it was so difficult to see Danielle before in the dark.

The poor girl's white hair was practically glued to her face and fell over those frightfully dim green eyes of hers since she was still in ghost form. I didn't know why her energy signature was so weak despite still being in this form, but it didn't matter because I found her! Now I just had to get her out of here before-

"I don't...understand..." Danielle suddenly muttered, her eyes fluttering. "Why did you call me that...?"

"Call you what, my dear?" I asked Danielle calmly while stroking her hair since she seemed to be in a state of confusion herself.

"So warm..." Danielle continued airily, wrapping her arms around me too and sighing. "Why does this warmth feel so...familiar?"

Deeply concerned now, I reluctantly pulled away from her to look into Danielle's eyes as they slowly flitted open to stare at me and I was shocked to see nothing but innocent confusion there. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost go as far as to say it looked as though she didn't recognize me. But no, that was ridiculous. How could she have possibly forgotten me when she's the one who reached out for help from me first...?

I just barely caught her in time when Danielle's legs suddenly gave out from under her and I gently eased her to the ground, supporting her shoulders as I held her upright. She blinked slowly, dazed, and muttered frantically. "I know you. I know I do so why can't I remember-? Everything is so dark. So red. Red. All I can see is...red. Red like the fire that burns me from inside if I don't obey him and...it hurts! It hurts so much! I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again! Please make it stop! Please make it stop...please...please...I don't want to remember!"

After that she covered her face in both hands and started to tremble more violently. But all I could do was sit there in shock as I held her gently yet protectively in my arms. This was much worse than I feared. For some reason, she couldn't remember who she was. That man had caused her this much pain to the point where Danielle had lost herself and I was going to murder him for hurting my precious little badger like this.

And his would not be a swift death...

Danielle's POV

Something inside of me was broken, even I could tell that much, but I couldn't remember how or when it happened. I couldn't remember anything. Not my name, my age, or my own face when I noticed my reflection in the water as a wave brushed against my cheek. I woke up to a dull throbbing pain in my leg and then suddenly felt this urge to move, to go somewhere else as fast as I could.

Where that was or why I felt that way I didn't know.

Away. I think I was trying to get away from something. Not like a literal threat, but more like something I couldn't remember. In fact, whenever I tried to remember anything there was a burst of red light and everything became way too blurry to recognize. I could only see fragments of my past, but each one felt like an open wound punishing me with another wave of pain so eventually I stopped trying to remember. It hurt less that way. I just had to keep moving...

I could remember that I'm half-ghost and that I wanted to protect others. The only problem was I couldn't remember why I wanted to do that or who anyone was. It was like I was remembering only half of a dream, or more accurately, half of my own life. Actually no, I take that back. I could only remember bits and pieces of my life which were only vague images and sounds. But my ghost half...I could remember things about that part of me much more clearly since it was more like...a reflex.

That's how I knew that the glowing green liquid dripping down my leg as I limped into the forest was ectoplasmic blood. I didn't pay much attention to the injury though. I should have, but I didn't, because I was too distracted by sharp pain I felt in my head whenever I tried to remember who I was or how I got here. All I could remember were these strong feelings of frustration, disappointment, and heartache, so I instinctively blocked those feelings out to protect myself from the crushing weight of it all. But at the same time I knew there had to be more to it than that because there was another feeling that kept me going...

It was hope.

As long as I kept myself moving, never looking back, I had a feeling I'd find who I was looking for that would take away all of my pain. I couldn't tell you how I knew I had someone like that, but it was all I had to hang onto. So I wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, and since I was already lost, it didn't really matter which direction I was going.

I could have floated or flown into the air I suppose, but I was exhausted and I didn't want to fall out of the sky after suddenly passing out mid-flight. Not that I was paying much attention to where I was going anyway. It already felt like I was sleepwalking so I fell into a steady rhythm of touching every tree I passed or if there was one blocking my path I just phased through it and kept moving. And before long I lost track of time too...

For all I knew, I could have been walking for hours or days. That's when I heard it. Out of nowhere I heard a familiar voice, faint but comforting, calling out to me and I instinctively began heading in that direction where I felt the presence of another ghost as a familiar puff of cold mist escaped my lips. I wasn't sure why, but something told me this wasn't a hostile ghost.

Once I was face to face with the ghost in question, he suddenly embraced me and acted like...he knew me. How strange. It felt like I knew him too and I knew the name he was calling me, but the rest was a complete blank. But his warmth was so comforting that I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him too. And the longer he held me, the harder it became to think and something was screaming at me to remember him because he was important to me. How important he was I wasn't sure...

When he held me out at arms length and I looked into his pupil-less red eyes, I was confused because he looked worried, almost scared. Fear...I could remember feeling afraid of something, something red that both hurt and captivated me. After that I winced when a flood of images blinded me and he instinctively caught me before I collapsed onto the ground completely.

There was so much rushing into my head. I could see someone holding a staff high above their head, hear them ordering me to kill someone who was getting in their way, and remember feeling such horrible pain burning inside my head whenever I refused to obey. I saw the frightened faces of two people I assumed were my friends but then I saw the towering forms of two other figures looming above me, their voices cold and accusing. I didn't want to remember anything like that so I recoiled from those memories as the ghost in front of me unlatched his long while cape and draped it around my shoulders.

I didn't feel threatened by him so I let him take care of me. It wasn't like I understood what was happening around me anymore anyway. All that mattered was that this stranger was offering me some small comfort, which was more than I could have asked for given how lost and scared I was right now since there was nothing left of the person I was and all there was was this pathetic, weak, and broken girl who had narrowly escaped a fate possibly worse than death.