Saving Sam: Chapter 9
A/N: Thanx to my reviewers: Sakura Scout, Wiggle Lizard, autumngold, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, and cheerin4danny. Important marvelous updating notice! There will be daily updates until the Rabbyt's Joyous Day of Existence Celebration, traditionally called September 15. Be here! In other news, Wiggle asked about the wincing and the twitching. Danny does that because he's stressed out and/or exhausted clean out of his mind, and most people do a lot of twitching and wincing in those circumstances.
Danny felt Tucker glowering behind him as they flew. "I still say we should have taken the thermos."
"Even if we caught him, there would still be two more out there. And what if Alex stole it? Those two buddies of his are our only leverage, and if we lost them we might never see Sam again."
"More people than Sam are being put at risk."
"You really don't have to remind me of that, Tucker." Danny felt a Cerberus of doubt, worry, and condemnation stir inside. He paid close attention to where they were headed and watched the afternoon light play on the windows of the city buildings. The mental disturbance died down after a moment.
"Alright." Tucker glanced around at the city. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"The docks. Pier 17. Here's what I think we should do. You put on the mask, and I'll stand next to you on the floor. I don't want to let you phase in if I can help it, but if I have to let go, at least you won't fall and you'll have the mask." He glanced back. "Sound good?"
"Yeah. You could probably let go of me, though. It can't be that bad."
Danny gave a thin laugh. "No, Tucker, this place really is that bad. It's amazing how well it suits him."
They flew on for several more minutes before they came to the docks. Tucker whistled, incredulous. "You weren't kidding."
Danny wrinkled his nose and frowned. Pendulous clouds hung from the sky, blunting the sunlight and making the water seem dirtier, more viscous. "It looks worse than the last time I was here." He looked up and down the waterfront. "Come on. It's over this way."
They came to the warehouse. It squatted on the dirty, cracked pavement, lugubrious and ambivalent to their predicament.
Tucker recoiled at the sight of it. "It's in there?" Danny nodded. "Can't we just call it out?"
"We're going in, Tucker." He pulled them both through the roof, meeting that bitter chemical stench once again. Danny shouted for Alex, but his voice was dulled and absorbed by the rotted wood. Tucker adjusted the lead vest with his free hand. Five minutes passed, then ten. They had searched the place and were on the verge of leaving when a wisp of blue drifted from Danny's mouth. An instant later, a black, malignant aura emerged from below the floor, followed closely by a figure. It was Alex.
He frowned in displeasure. "You've brought your friend. I told you not to do that."
"He's my best friend, and I'll bring him if I want."
The ghost glanced between the two of them. It brought its head up sharply, giving them a cunning smile. "Just so you know what's at stake." Danny was watching its eyes closely, ready to warn Tucker at the first sign of blackness. So far, they remained that same piercing green.
"Do you have news for me?"
Danny nodded. "Jazz has agreed to see you. We could meet later today and exchange hostages, then you could talk to her."
"No."
"No?" Danny said. Tucker discreetly adjusted his vest again.
"No. You've brought your little mortal lackey and now I'm postponing it to tomorrow."
"I did my part-" Danny sputtered.
"But you didn't follow the rules." The ghost showed him that same smug grin which had so infuriated him last time. "Besides, I'm not quite finished yet with your friend. Some of her mind still remains intact." A shard of darkness shot through his eyes.
Danny felt an explosion of indignation and denial. He scrambled to keep himself together, to keep from screaming and fighting and crying. Must stay strong for Sam must stay strong for Sam must stay strong for Sam...
Tucker snorted. "What is it you're doing to her, anyway?"
"Would you like to see?"
"Shut your eyes, Tucker!"
Tucker did, but not before he got a better look than he needed. At Danny's warning, Tucker gasped and jerked an arm up in front of his face. It was the arm Danny had been holding. Tucker phased back into existence and coughed in his mask at the smell. Danny snatched his arm and phased him out again.
Alex chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you two to your own devices. Meet me tomorrow at noon at Stacey's Cafe." With that, he slid back through the floor.
Danny rushed after Alex, being careful not to let go of Tucker again. He searched the earth frantically for any wind of blue from his mouth or any trace of Alex, but the ghost had vanished.
Danny and Tucker walked back along the streets in the late afternoon sun. Tucker tried to start some upbeat conversation about their chances not really being the pathetic, struggling, dying things they actually were, but neither of them had the energy or imagination to sustain such a dialogue. At a cross street, they parted ways, and as Danny walked one way and Tucker walked another, Danny looked up for a moment. Twilight had come quickly, and the brightest stars and planets peeped onto the road from the azure sky. He walked slowly, thinking idly of his good times with Sam, Jazz, at school, his family. Sam.
He zapped into ghost mode before entering his house. He didn't want any unintentional run-ins with his parents. He went up to Jazz's room in human form to let her know about the meeting. She was working on her homework when he knocked, and she called him in. He told her about the appointment, and she nodded.
"Are you doing any better?"
He leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his legs. "I'm doing just peachy."
She gave him a sympathetic look. "Well, alright. I'll be there. Just don't burn yourself out."
He left her room and flew down to the kitchen. He grabbed food out of the refrigerator and flew up to his room to eat. Keeping the lights out, Danny sat back in his computer chair and munched on leftover pizza and a box of Cheez-Its. He turned on the computer and played a distracted game of solitaire. After a half hour of it, he closed the game and took out some ruled paper from a desk drawer, preparing to write a letter. Working slowly, Danny went through several drafts, crumpling them and shooting into the wastebasket, stopping to think many times and blinking furiously, before he finally finished.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I want you both to know that I love you. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you or take you seriously. I went somewhere I shouldn't have even after someone warned me, and now something has started that I don't know how to stop. I don't know if I'm coming back from where I'm going, because I have to go help someone. I want you both to know that you were right, ghosts exist, and the portal turned me into one of them, halfway. I'm sorry I never told you about it. I want you to know that Jazz helped me out a lot. If she doesn't come back, I'm sorry, because that's mostly my fault too. If she does, and I hope to God that she does, she gets all my stuff. Tucker gets my computer, if he comes back.
You guys have to take me very seriously here. If any of us come back-Sam, Tucker, me, or Jazz-ask them how it went and take them seriously. If none of them come back, move. There will be something coming after you, and if it can find you IT WILL KILL YOU. Please believe me. I'm sorry if I never told you what I was, I'm sorry I never listened to you, but listen to me and MOVE before it gets you.
Your son,
Danny Fenton
