Taking Over Me
Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.
Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.
Chapter Fourteen
To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.
Sam pushed the mashed potatoes aimlessly around her plate, trying to ignore the gray coloring to them. "So how was your second day of work?" Everett asked. She glanced over at him. She always had despised small talk. It was one thing when they cared, like with Danny or Tucker. And there was no way Everett really cared how it had gone.
"Okay. It's really easy. The only thing that's going to take some work is getting the report filing system down."
Ryan interjected. "I saw a girl from my class there! She was getting movies. She even had a PG one!"
"That's nice, Ryan," his mother said absently. "So when's your first payday?"
"This Friday, but it cuts of with your time from Wednesday. So all I'll have on it is today and yesterday. Can we talk about something else?" Sam wished they had something else to talk about. She was already sick of having a job and she'd only started Monday.
"She's just sad cause her boyfriend hasn't wrote her," Ryan said in a sing song voice.
Sam wheeled on the younger boy. "Danny is NOT my boyfriend!"
The phone began ringing as Ryan started chanting. "Sam and Danny sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." She wondered how bad she'd hurt the worm if she chucked her fork at his eye.
Sam watched as Everett got up from his chair and walked out of the room. "Carter Residence. Everett speaking." Sam turned her attention back to the green-eyed second grader just as he finished singing about a baby carriage.
"Sam has a baby," Blake commented, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"She doesn't have one yet, stupid. She isn't gonna get it till Valentine's day!"
"Sam," they all turned at the sound of Everett's serious voice. "It's for you."
Sam tossed her fork down, sparing her marred pile of mashed potatoes. "Who is it?"
"It's a police officer from Amity Park."
Sam froze, violet eyes going wide. "A what?"
"Officer Cunningham, I believe. I figure it's something concerning your emancipation." Sam got up mutely knowing instantly that it couldn't be that. If it were something along those lines it would be Bryce or her parents lawyer contacting her.
She stepped through the doorway, forcing her eyes to adjust to the darkened living room. She could her Ryan at the table asking what Emancipation meant, and Blake ask if Sam was going to jail. She took a deep breath and reached for the phone. She noticed subconsciously that her fingers were trembling. Police were right up there with Lawyers in her book. They never meant anything good. "Hello?" She cringed inwardly at the hitch in her voice.
"Miss Manson?"
Sam took a deep breath. "This is she."
"My name's Officer Cunningham. I'm with the Amity Park Police Department. I hope you wouldn't mind if I ask you a few questions," a deep voice said formally.
Sam swallowed. "That's fine." No! It's not fine, she thought desperately. I am moving on in my life. You're only here to make things worse.
The sound of a legal pad being flipped came from the other end of the phone. "Would it be alright if I record our conversation?" Violet eyes darted from the picture window to the darkened TV. A sense of fear closed her throat. She swallowed.
"That's fine." It was instantly followed by a clicking sound and his words suddenly sounded more distant.
"Miss Manson, would you mind telling me the last time you heard from Daniel Fenton?"
Warning bells went off in Sam's head. Danny? "Uh, he sent me an email around nine-thirty last Thursday. And we talked on MSN around five or five-thirty."
"But not on Friday night?"
Sam swallowed. "No, sir. He had something to do on Friday."
The officer paused. "Did he tell you what that was?"
Don't lie on tape, Sam. The can use it against you. Don't do this. "No, officer. He didn't." She closed her eyes as the guilt washed over her. She wondered briefly what would happen if they found out that she was lying. Too late now.
"And he hasn't tried to contact you since. Not to my knowledge." She had a gnawing feeling in her stomach that she knew what this was but she had to know. "What's happened to Danny?"
The officer sighed. "He's missing."
Sam felt the bottom drop out of her world. She dropped back onto the couch, shaking her head mutely. Her eyes burned. "No," she whispered hoarsely. Her grip on the phone slackened. The ear-piece slid down about half an inch yet she could still hear out the officers words.
"Daniel hasn't returned home since leaving Friday night, claiming he was going camping with Tucker Foley. Tucker's parents said Tucker was home all night and never contacted Danny. His parents waited till that evening and then contacted us. We've been following all possible leads but his sister said to try you. That if he was in trouble, you're the one he'd most likely turn to."
Sam felt the tears well up in her eyes. He hadn't come back from Wisconsin. A vision of Vlad staring down Danny's lifeless body entered her mind and she shoved it brutally away. He had to be okay. He just had to be. A small sob escaped her lips. He would call her or write her. He couldn't be dead. She wouldn't let him. The officer's voice drifted back into focus, "I know this must be a shock, but you need to promise me that you will call if you know anything."
Sam nodded, forgetting that the officer couldn't see her. She swallowed. "Of coarse," she choked out. It came out sounding strangled. She sat there limply, tears burning a hot trail down numb cheeks. She sat there till there came the beeping sound out of the phone. She dropped the phone as the louder blaring started. She felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around to see Tammy. She drew back as if burnt, almost slipping off the couch.
"Sam," the older woman started cautiously. Sam stared at her. And for a moment, she despised the woman. It had been her 'parents' wishes that she be here. It wasn't right. She should be back in Amity Park, unemployed, a Casper High School sophomore, being tormented by the football jocks, sharing a room with Jazz. She should be able to wake up in the middle of the night from her nightmares and go down the hall and talk to Danny about it, rather than sitting alone in an attic three hours away listening to the sound of the creaking house foundation and the wind. "I know this is hard on you—"
Sam could have screamed a million things that went through her head. She glanced over at the door to see Ryan and Blake, fear written all over their faces at seeing an almost adult in tears. She shook her head. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through, so don't pretend you do." With that Sam bolted for the stairs. She reached the attic and slammed the door behind her. She grabbed her laptop and hit the connect button as she fell against the bed. It took a near eternity to load. Sam held her breath as MSN signed her in.
The little blue box in the corner popped up. 'No new messages'. Sam clicked it and her hotmail inbox appeared. The last message was an email from Jazz and everything was read. She jammed the refresh button. The same page loaded. She hit it again, as if in those three seconds Danny could have emailed her. The same page loaded across the screen. Sam fell limply against the headboard, tears clinging to her eyelashes making the screen appear blurred. He was gone. He was really gone.
Sam squeezed her eyes shut as if that would take away the heartbreak and the fear that was becoming overwhelming. She grabbed her left wrist and ran her finger over the scar that prominently ran across it. He was the only reason she was still here. The only reason that she had the strength to go through this and suddenly he was gone. Sam wrapped her arms around her stomach as the baby she had just discovered the gender of gave her rib a good kick. "I know," she whispered. "Mommy's upset. I wish I could tell you everything's going to be alright, but I've already done my share of lying tonight."
Hey. I like this chapter. Very fun to write. I know, I'm a sick twisted person. But at least it makes for interesting reading… And now a list of our sponsors: audi katia, Moody Maud, Medisti, Silverflare07, Wind Cat, Hwoarangsguardie, gothmiko, RainbowSerenity x2, Sakura Scout, Storm Sword, RavenForever, and Ryo's destiny. But was it for the girl...or was it...the MUSIC?