Chapter rewrite complete

I was plagued with nightmares all through the night, but at least I hadn't woken up screaming. I might have preferred that though. Several times in my dreams, I thought I had woken up, but it was really just the beginning of a new nightmare. When Maddie knocked on the door Sunday morning, I still wasn't entirely sure I was awake.

"Good, you're awake. Sam, I hate to do this to you after what happened with your mother yesterday, but your grandmother called. She wants you to come home today, at least long enough to talk. She said she wanted to come here, but she can't get out of the house on her own and your parents aren't willing to bring her over here."

Granny. I felt terrible because I hadn't even thought about her. After everything she'd done for me over the years, you would think I would at least call her. Granny was the one person in my family who actually understood me and stood up to my mother for me.

"When does she want to see me?"

"She said anytime today would be great. She doesn't want to push you after how your mother acted yesterday, but she has something important to talk about. She wouldn't tell me what it was though." That fact seemed to worry Maddie a little bit.

"That's just because she doesn't know you very well. If it was something bad, she would have said so." I really didn't want to go home, but I owed it to Granny to go. Besides, I could get my phone and whatever else I needed for an extended stay here. If I got really lucky, I might even be able to avoid my mother. "I'll go this afternoon. Mother usually has a hair appointment around 3, if I wait until then I might not have to see her."

"Okay. I'll let her know."

I had six hours to kill and I knew I needed to keep myself busy. Clean clothes seemed like a good place to start. I dug through Danny's dresser for something to wear. I wasn't going to leave the house in his clothes, but I needed something to change into while I washed my own. I figured I might as well wash some of his while I was at it. Danny had done so much for me since the event, I needed to do something nice for him.

I threw the clothes in the wash. Danny had been keeping his distance since I woke up. He'd left the room almost as soon as I opened my eyes. I hoped I hadn't crossed a line. I mean, I had basically forced him to cuddle with me all night. Even without that, he was entitled to some alone time. I'd been pretty needy, and I knew he was still around the house if I needed him.

I was feeling a little stronger than the day before. I still didn't want anyone touching me, but I didn't feel the need to be glued to Danny's hip and I actually got out of bed on my own.

My mind began to wander as I remembered that little kiss I thought I felt the night before as I was starting to fall asleep. At first, I thought I had imagined it, but I wasn't sure anymore. Maybe he was keeping his distance because he was embarassed. Before the event, we didn't have a lot of physical contact, but ever since he found me, I'd barely left the safety of his arms. I wanted to say that it was just because of the event and the need to feel safe, but I couldn't honestly say that. Maybe he couldn't either.

A girl could dream. The event hadn't stopped me from having feelings for Danny, even if it had made the idea of kissing him absolutely terrifying.

I looked myself over in the bathroom. My bruises were worse than I remembered, and my boob was sore to the touch. There was one on my thigh that I hadn't noticed before. It explained why my leg hurt so much when walked around. At least most of them could be covered with clothes. The one on my arm couldn't be, but at least that one already starting to heal.

I tried to take comfort in the idea that my body would heal realatively soon, even if my mind was doomed to be broken for a long time. If I didn't keep my mind occupied, images of Dash and what he'd done to me quickly took over. I had to be careful. If I let it get too far, I started to lose touch with reality. Jazz had called it disassociation. I didn't really know what that meant, but at least I had a word for it.

There was blood in my underwear, but not enough for my period. It was too early for that anyway. I'd heard of spotting before, but it'd never happened to me. It was probably from the stress. It was probably nothing to worry about. Those parts of me were entitled to throw a little hissy fit after what Dash had done to them.

I was letting myself get too involved with those memories again. I needed to stay busy. I hadn't seen Danny in a while. He probably had to go deal with a ghost. I hoped he would be here when I left to see Granny. I didn't want to do it alone just in case mother was there.

I threw the laundry in the dryer and went back up to Danny's room. It really was a mess. Aside from being a teenage boy, he also didn't really have time to deal with it. I started going through the room, cleaning it up. For once, I was glad it was such a mess. This project would keep me busy for a while.

I started sorting things into piles- trash, clothes, ghost stuff, other. I threw all the ghost stuff into the closet. I don't think Danny realized just how much evidence his parents would have found if they ever tried to take the matter of his dirty room into their own hands. Thankfully, Jazz had convinced them that moody teenagers needed a space to themselves, where parents wouldn't intrude without permission.

I started working my way around the room, avoiding the box in the corner. I knew what was in there. That's where Danny had thrown the clothes from the event. My mind started to wander towards what had happened, trying to make sense of it all. Cleaning the room was mindless enough that I couldn't keep all thoughts of the event from my mind, but it required enough focus that the memories couldn't overwhelm me.

Maybe it was good for me. Jazz had said it might be easiest to deal with the memories from a distance. I hadn't understood what she meant at the time, but it suddenly made perfect sense.

Why did it have to be me? Why did it have to be Dash? I had hated Dash for years, but because I thought I knew him and what he was capable of, I let my gaurd down just a little bit. A complete stranger would have been better. At least then, I would have kept my gaurd up and maybe things would have worked out differently.

I finished cleaning around two, and as I stood there admiring my handiwork, Maddie appeared at the door. "Wow. I think this is the first time in three years I've actually been able to see the floor in here."

"That sounds about right, but I'm glad for it. Cleaning kept me busy for a while."

"Well, I'm sure Danny will appreciate it. I just wanted to make sure you didn't lose track of time. You should probably change before you go. Your mother would not be happy if she saw you wearing that."

I blushed a little. I'd completely forgotten I was still in Danny's clothes.

Maddie followed me down the stairs and we found Danny in the livingroom. I felt awkward- it seemed like he'd spent the day avoiding me.

"Danny you might not even recognize your room when you go in there. Sam did an amazing job in there!"

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"It's fine, Danny. I think it was good for me. I didn't get to your closet though, that's it's own special breed of mess." I hoped he got the message. I had left all his ghost hunting gear in there, I didn't want him going out unarmed just because he could no longer find what he needed.

Danny nodded. "Seriously, thank you. I'll try not to screw it up again."

There was a tense silence. Things with Danny had never been this awkward.

"Danny, Sam is going to her parents house soon to visit her grandmother. I think you should go with her, just in case Pamela tries to start a fight again." I don't know if Maddie could sense the tension in the air or not, but I was grateful she had brought it up. Danny was acting so weird and even though I knew I needed him to come, I was too scared to bring it up myself.

"Okay, I'll go."

"I want you to stay with her, Danny, even if they try to kick you out."

"There's not a whole lot I can do if they kick me out of the house, mom."

"I know that's not true, Danny."

Danny's eyes went wide, and I couldn't blame him. We thought his parents were completely in the dark about everything involving his secret. Maybe what Maddie said had nothing to do with it, but there weren't a whole lot of options.

Suddenly, there was fire in her eyes. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not as oblivious as you seem to think, young man." Shit.

"How much do you know?"

The fire in Maddies eyes died out almost as quickly as it had appeared. "Almost nothing. I know you've been hiding something and I know you sneak out of house several nights a week. I don't know how on Earth you do it though. Your father and I have tried to catch you in the act countless times, but we never do. One moment you're here, and you're gone the next. I'm sure half the time you're back before we even notice you're gone.

"You used to tell us everything, but ever since the accident you've been so secretive. All I know is something caused you grow up suddenly, and I wasn't there to help you through it." I couldn't stand to look at the pain on Maddie's on face.

"I'm sorry, mom. I just can't tell you, at least not yet."

"Danny, you don't have to hide from me. Whatever it is, we can figure it out together."

"I know that. I just... I don't think you can handle it. Not yet, not until I get things under control." I had never seen Danny this close to giving in. I could tell that he wanted this to be just a normal teenage secret, like weed or a girlfriend.

"It doesn't matter how old you get, you'll always be my baby boy. Whatever it is, I'll be able to handle it just as well now as in the future." Maddie was practically begging her son to tell the truth, one that he couldn't reveal yet.

"Mom, I promise, I will tell you someday, I just can't do it yet."

"Okay." Maddie wiped away a tear. I felt for her. Danny had intentionally kept her in the dark to protect her, but after years of secrecy, she had stumbled upon just enough for it to hurt and leave her worrying. "Just know that when you're ready to talk, I'll be here to listen. There is nothing you could say or do to make me love you any less."

"I know, mom. I'm not keeping this secret because I don't trust you, I'm just not ready to involve you, yet." Danny wrapped his mom in a hug. "This isn't forever, I promise."

When Danny let her go, Maddie quickly composed herself. "You two should probably get going. You're going to be late as it is."

"I still need to change, then we'll go. Granny knows I'm trying to avoid my parents, so she shouldn't worry too much."

Danny followed me up the stairs, waiting patiently for me to finish. The conversation with his mom had gotten to him.

"I wish I could tell her," he said, barely waiting for the front door to close behind us.

"Honestly, Danny, I think you should. I think she knows more than she's letting on, she's just afraid you'll lock her out more if she says anything."

"Do you think she already knows?"

"No. If she knew and was just trying to get you to fess up, she'd be a lot more cryptic. I can't tell exactly how much she knows, but it's enough to hurt her."

Danny ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know how to tell her. Even after all this time, she still barely acknowledges that Phantom isn't evil. I know what she said, but no one could see this one coming. As far as she knows, a human-ghost hybrid isn't even possible."

"You're mom cares about you. Her problem with Phantom isn't really about what he does, she's blinded by the fact that she thinks he's just a ghost. Her whole career has been built around ghosts being evil- it's going to take something big to get her to see the truth. She's gotten a lot better over the years, but your secret is probably the only thing that could be big enough to get her to see the light."

"Maybe." Danny wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "We should probanly take the aerial route or your granny might kill me."

He started leading me towards the alley he used to transform. I stopped in my tracks when I saw it.

Danny was safe, but my body was screaming at me that this alley was not. No amount of reminding myself I was safe could get me to go in there. It was dark and secluded, just like the one where Dash had... attacked me. I couldn't do it. My mind was filled with the images of the event and I couldn't move. I was frozen.

"Sam? Sam, are you okay?" I could faintly hear Danny, but every bit of my psyche was back at the alley where the event happened. I could feel Dash touching me again and I couldn't break free of the memory.

I felt something cold on my shoulder, and it snapped me back to reality. Danny had used his ice powers to drop a snowball on my shoulder.

"Sam?"

"Sorry." It was all I could say. It felt so stupid. It was just an alley, not even the one it happened in.

"You don't have to apologize. We'll just walk. Everything will be okay."

I know he really meant it, but I didn't believe it. If something this simple caused me to freeze, how was I ever going to lead a normal life again?

Guys, you have no idea how easy rewriting this has been. It's kind of a good news/bad news thing.Good news is I'll get through the rewrites and finishing this story faster than I thought.Bad news is I know it's only going this way because shit hit the fan and now this story hits too close to home. It's good for me, though. I know it is.Anyway... comments and feedback are always welcome.

Invisible One