AN: *SQUEAK!* Hurray!!! *faints with happiness* I am both overwhelmed and overjoyed with the kindness of all those who have reviewed. I love you. I love you, I love you! THANKS! I co*HUUUG TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED* and a new Danny Phantom section on FFN (Not to mention the upcoming Friends finale and Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour! ;D) Could it get any better!? I think not! :D Thank you, thank you, thank yoooouu! And oh, happy happy day! :D NOW CHAPTER 6! Woosh!
Chapter 6
"Have you found anything?!" Danny asked, indescribably anxious as he paced around the room.
"Will you cut it out already!? You've been asking me that for the last hour and a half! Shut up and maybe I'll be able to do this faster!" Tucker growled back, indescribably irritated. He continued typing furiously on the computer, trying to locate the information he was searching for. He shook his head slightly. He knew he was no good at this. Sam was usually the one who did the research.
He clicked on a small purple link to "Possible Side Effects" with little hope. In all honesty, from the start of this quest, Tucker was sure they would find nothing. He was positive that Danny had dreamed it all from a lack of sleep, from wanting be able to do something to help Sam when he knew he couldn't. He had agreed to help only to calm his friend. He hadn't expected to find anything.
But sometimes, things happen when you least expect them.
"I…I found it…I found it!" Tucker fumbled, eyes wide open. "I FOUND IT!"
His eyes swept over the text on the page. "It's all here Danny. You were right! You were right!"
"I knew it! What can we do?! How do we help?" He asked anxiously, leaning over Tucker to get a clear view.
"I'm not sure…" Tucker mumbled as he continued reading. Danny watched as his friend clicked a few more buttons and then spoke again.
"Apparently, when that ghost had Sam it sort of well, took control of her…infected her with something. That's why she's stuck in the coma…not because she got hurt, but because she's lost in some kind of nightmare."
"So what do we do?" Danny asked desperately. They were so close the answer he couldn't bare it.
"Uh…" Tucker said nervously, "Well, I'm not exactly sure." He continued clicking around. "…it doesn't say."
"It doesn't say?!" Danny asked angrily. "What good is any of this if it doesn't tell us how to get Sam back?! They've got to have it on there somewhere!"
"Here," Tucker said quietly, "You look."
He scooted out of the chair and allowed Danny to sit down. He leaned over him silently but was doubtful he would find anything. The site had said nothing about anyone ever coming out of one of these things.
Danny began clicking more furiously. "Where is it?!" he yelled.
The clicking stopped for a moment and Danny's eyes skimmed over the page.
"Theory speculates that if a victim can overcome these nightmares, he or she will awaken. However, this is merely speculation as no such case has ever been recorded," Danny read.
"Danny," Tucker started, knowing that this information could build Danny's false hopes, "If no other case has been recorded in over two thousand years…the chances of Sam getting out of this are-"
"Good," Danny interrupted, "Because in two thousand years there's never been another halfa and in two thousand years there's never been anyone like Sam."
-
"So it was your powers that let you do it?" Tucker asked skeptically as the two stood in the hospital, looking over Sam's bed.
"I don't know for sure. I think so, I mean, what else could it be?" Danny questioned.
"But you didn't disappear. When you take over someone, you go invisible. But you were still here, lying on the floor," Tucker pointed out. He still wasn't entirely sure that Danny didn't just dream the whole thing up.
"Maybe it is something else. When I was there I didn't have my powers anymore. Well, at least I think I didn't. Sam could see and hear me but nobody else could," he said. His voice wandered off as he considered why it was exactly that he was able to get into her mind but he quickly shrugged it off. "It doesn't matter how I can do it. All that matters is getting Sam back."
For once, Tucker agreed. "Alright, well, how did you do it the first time?"
Danny blushed, suddenly remembering how the whole thing had gotten started. Still, he was certain there was another way. After all, he was pretty sure that when he had dazed out holding Sam's hand the weird flashes he had seen were actually pictures of Sam's nightmares.
"I'm not sure," Danny lied, still blushing. "Let me try this."
He sat down in the plastic chair and held Sam's cold hand gently in between his own. He closed his eyes and silenced all thoughts except for the one pounding need to help his friend.
FLASH! He heard a soft, haunting melody of a children's tune playing in the background. The room had gotten infinitely darker and if not for the faint light from the moon, Danny wouldn't have been able to see at all.
He heard a muffled sound and looked over to a large bed. Underneath the bundles of red covers, there was a small lump that seemed to be shaking.
He walked over and sat on the mattress. He put his hand quietly on the lump and felt it jump. He gently pulled the covers down.
The figure scampered over to the wall, pushing herself against it and breathing hard. "Go away!" the squeaky voice yelled.
Danny had to keep himself from smiling. The girl was Samantha. A tiny, 5 year old Samantha with her jet black hair in tiny pig tails wearing a frilly purple night gown. She was terrified, but clearly ready to attack if she needed to.
"It's okay, I'm-" he paused. If he said he was Danny, it might confuse the little girl even more. "I'm Doug. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you."
'Doug's' soft tone and genuine eyes had convinced the girl, her tense body seemed to relax a little and she scooted away from the wall.
"I'm Sammy," the little girl said, nervously tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"That's a pretty name," Danny smiled. "So Sammy, what's got you so scared?"
Her eyes darted towards a closed door. "It's the closet monster," she whimpered. "He's coming to get me."
On queue, there was a loud rumbling from the closet and a low growl. Little Sam squeaked and threw her arms around Danny, burying her head in his chest.
Danny blushed, not exactly knowing how to comfort a child afraid of a monster in her closet when the monster was really there. He squeezed her gently and ran a comforting hand over her hair. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," he promised.
"Doug?" she asked. Danny remained silent for a moment before realizing she was talking to him.
"Yeah Sammy?"
"Are you my guardian angel?" she asked quietly.
Danny smiled and laughed awkwardly. "I guess so," he told her knowing that would be an easier explanation then the real answer."
"And you'll stay with me? You won't be like Mommy and Daddy and leave me here all alone? You'll protect me? You'll take care of me?"
"Of course," he smiled, "After all, that is my job."
Samantha grinned brightly and the whole room lighted up. Literally.
The increasing light forced him to shield his eyes. When he moved his hand away, it was dark.
He urged his feet to move forward but they were stuck in something. He tried to lift them up but whatever they were stuck in was heavy.
"SAM!" he cried out, knowing she was there somewhere.
"Danny?" a voice whimpered from somewhere nearby.
He forced his legs to muck through whatever it was surrounding them. As he drew closer he felt some sort of liquid soaking through his sneakers, socks, and pants. He grimaced at a familiar smell of metal. What was this place? No, that didn't matter, he had to find Sam.
"SAM!?" he called again but it was unnecessary. He had found her.
"My god Sam, what happened?" he asked in horror. His best friend looked down at the bodies piled around her, at the blood stained all over her clothing, face, and hands.
"I killed them," she told him, eyes on the verge of tears. "I killed them all."
He gathered the strength to look to the floor and felt himself dry heave. They were bodies. He was standing in bodies, trudging through them, and the liquid seeping into his clothing was blood.
Animals, humans, different races, different sexes all blended into one horrifying mass grave and Sam in the middle, covered in their blood.
"Why?" was all he could croak out. He clutched his stomach, fairly certain he was going to vomit.
"I couldn't save them," she whispered, looking at the bodies in front of her and the bloody dagger on her lap. "I killed them. I killed them all."
He opened his mouth to speak but felt his stomach acting up again. He shook his head, unable to find words to help the situation. Her eyes met his and she silently asked him for an answer.
He didn't have one.
The scene flashed again. He heard the quiet sound of rain hitting a window covering up the dull roar of the engine. He was in a car, and of course, Sam was driving. He remained silent, not wanting to upset his friend to where she might lose control of the car and send them flying off the road. But it was pointless and he should have known. A while back, Sam's aunt had gotten into a car crash and flown off a bridge to her doom. Sam had been afraid of suffering the same fate ever since.
He knew what he had to do.
He quickly rolled down the windows. Sam, noticing the spontaneous window movement, looked beside her.
"DANNY!" she screeched, letting go of the wheel. The car swerved and made a loud screeching noise. Danny ignored it all and reached for Sam's seatbelt, quickly unbuckling hers and his own. Sam ignored him and screamed as the car plummeted over the bridge. They hit the water fast and it began to pour into the car almost instantaneously.
"Take a deep breath!" Danny yelled just as the water reached his mouth. He had grabbed the stunned Sam's hand and quickly kicked his way to the top. He was blinded by the need to survive and he didn't stop kicking until the reached the shore.
Sam climbed weakly onto the grass, coughing up water. Danny, even more exhausted, fell down beside her, closing his eyes as he tried to catch his breath.
"We made it," Sam said, shocked. "We made it. We actually made it!" She laughed, smiling widely.
Another flash of white light and he was dry.
"DANNY!!" A familiar voice screamed out.
He flinched as he watched himself plummet into the ground, head first, from a ghost's deadly blow. Sam had rushed to his side.
"DANNY!" she screamed again, clutching him desperately as he had once done for her. He was dead and she screamed and cried and wailed and he bled all over her.
"DANNY!" she continued to howl. Danny approached her cautiously.
"Sam," he said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder.
She looked him over.
"You're…alive?"
"It would appear so."
She laughed, throwing her arms around her friend.
The world started flashing again but this time, an echoing voice ran through his head.
"Danny! Danny! If you can hear me, its Tucker. You've got to hurry up man, the Mansons should be back any second!"
Danny stored this information in the back of his head and used his immediate attention to focus on where he was. For once, the setting was tranquil. There was no overshadowing darkness, no terrifying landscapes, no malformed objects. He was in the middle of a quiet country side, filled with pine trees, mountains, and lakes and on a small hill sat a lonely little log cabin that looked as if it could be blown away with one large gust of wind.
Danny knew automatically that was where Sam would be, but he wondered what exactly was so nightmarish about a place like this. He walked slowly up into the cabin, knowing he would soon find out.
And there she lay, an old, crippled woman in her 90's. Her brittle gray hair was short and thin, barely covering her wrinkled skull. Her body was sickeningly thin, so much so that you could see the outline of every arthritic bone in her body. She wheezed more then breathed, each rasping breath shaking her fragile frame.
But he had no time for shock or for sadness, this wasn't the real Sam, it was the real Sam he had to save. "Samantha," he said in order to catch her attention.
The old eyes struggled to open. She lifted her weak eyelids just enough to see a narrow picture of the boy standing before her.
"Who are you?" her cragged voice whispered accusingly.
"I'm Danny Fenton," he said impatiently. He could feel time slipping away with him no closer to his goal. Alright, so she's afraid of getting old, he automatically assumed. "Look," he launched off immediately, "Okay, yes, you're going to get old but that's no big deal. Everyone gets old eventually and you've lived a good, full life, right? That's all that's important. So, er…be happy?"
"Danny Fenton," the woman repeated dreamily, "Yes, I remember you, but just barely. You see, Danny, that is where you're wrong. I didn't live a good, full life at all." Her eyes met with his. Her face gave off a painful mix of laughter and tears.
"Don't you see, Danny? My life meant nothing. My death means nothing. My existence on this world was meaningless. I didn't make a difference. Not one out of the millions of people alive will mourn my death or even notice that I'm gone. I wanted to be something so badly. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to be a one woman revolution but I was nothing. I was the norm. I wasn't special and now, I will die, having wasted all my chances to be such. I will die as I have lived, worthless and alone."
"You're not worthless Sam and you're not alone either," Danny responded quickly. He sat down determinedly beside her, his eyes set seriously on hers. "This isn't real. This future isn't real. You will make a difference Sam, because you already have. Come on, you have to realize how far off base this is. Something like this would never happen but it could be much worse if you don't fight this. I know it's hard to believe…but this is all just a bad bad dream, this whole place is just a nightmare. But you can win Sam, you can win if you fight it. Promise me Sam, promise you'll fight for me." His eyes were watering now, this was his final, desperate attempt and he was praying that she believed him.
"Yes," she responded easily, shocking Danny. She smiled, "I will fight."
The world flashed again and he was back in the hospital.
"Sorry man," Tucker said, seeing the distressed look on his friends face, "I had no choice. The Mansons are in the lobby."
Without answering, Danny jumped up to stand beside Sam. He grabbed her hand and closed his eyes.
FLASH! A little Sam straightened out her purple nightgown and walked bravely to the closet door. She took one deep breath and threw open the door. Out jumped a tiny yellow kitty. She smiled.
FLASH! Samantha stood up amid the carnage. She trudged her way to a nearby stream and washed her hands in the water. "It's not my fault."
FLASH! "Need a ride?" asked a man from a passing car. The soaking girl smiled brightly. "Sure could."
FLASH! She grabbed the thermos, pointed, and the ghost was out. "Uh," Danny groaned from the ground, rubbing his head as his eyes began to open. "Major headache."
FLASH! Samantha turned around suddenly. "I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU! COME AND GET ME, WHATEVER YOU ARE!" And nothing came.
FLASH! "Like I care what you morons think," she growled and pushed her way through the stunned faces in the circle.
FLASH! "Oops?" she smiled innocently as she 'spilled' her soda on Paulina's cashmere sweater. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Paulina screeched, hoping around like a lunatic. Sam smiled even wider and Danny broke into hysterics.
FLASH! "I'm not alone." A light switched on. She walked away.
A thousand more scenes flashed before Danny, all of nightmares Sam was stuck in, all of nightmares she had overcome. They seemed to on forever until finally-
"I fought," smiled the old woman. "I made a difference."
Danny gasped and stumbled backwards, letting go of Sam's hand.
Sam coughed violently as a black smoke escaped from her lips.
The coughing and the smoke subsided.
"Woah, I just had the weirdest dream."
AN: Hurray! :D Sam's awake! I kind of feel I rushed through the whole "nightmare world" idea, bunching it all into two chapters, but I didn't want to get too repetitive and I could already see myself repeating a lot of the themes in the nightmares so, I cut it short and ended it here. ^_^ I'm thinking that that the next chapter is going to be the LAST chapter (dun dun dun nuh!) but I've yet to finish it, so it might take me a little while to get it out. Be patient! :D
Best wishes, warmest regards, and lots of love,
Soragirl
"Have you hugged an author today? Write a review and make ones day!"
*Dances around happily!!!* Thanks to all of you who reviewed, my days have been made for the next year!!!! :DD!!!