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 Eighteen
I believe in you.
Danny walked around the corner to see the door labeled stairway swing shut. He jogged over and pulled it open only to find two laughing boys that he recognized instantly. Blake and Ryan. He felt the same red fog as last time cloud his mind as last Friday. They're the reason Sam left. Danny desperately squeezed his eyes shut, backing into the wall. They're the perfect little family that you lost her to. He pressed himself further into the wall as if he could back right through it.
He felt his heart stop and his breathing cease as he desperately tried to negate the effect. It was impossible he was losing the battle. He dug his now gloved fingers into the gaps between the bricks as if he could physically stop himself from going after them. But this time it wasn't like last time this time. He didn't black out. He was painfully aware of hovering off the ground. It was happening again. He felt even more helpless than right after the accident. Perhaps more so. Then he wasn't sure if he could ever control his powers. Now that he did, it was so much more frustrating.
The littler one was falling behind his brother, walking with his hand on the railing, which he had to reach up to do. Danny found himself suddenly hovering next to him. Look at his tiny little neck. Danny watched petrified as he reached out, fingers already curving to strangle the life out of the small child. No, he screamed mentally. His minds eye filled with the memory of Blake curled up head resting on Sam's shoulder staring unblinkingly at him. He couldn't do this. Blake hadn't done anything to hurt him. He's done everything to hurt you, the other half of him countered.
He felt his fingers brush the sides of the preschoolers neck lightly. With one last desperate attempt, Danny tried to take control of his own body. And for a precious few seconds he broke free. He did the first thing that came into his mind. He shoved the small boy away from himself. With a scream Blake tumbled down the last six steps to the landing, screaming the whole way. Ryan screamed his brother's name. It was seemed like an eternity that the young boys were sitting there but must have only been a few seconds. But it was enough, he lost his precarious grip on being in control and was forced into the background again.
A sort of malicious laughter echoed hauntingly through his mind. They're both sitting ducks now. The voice took on a mocking tone, and try as he may, Danny couldn't block it out. Danny's heart sank. There was nothing he could do. He almost wished he had lost consciousness like last time. That he could be spared and not have to watch this. Because I want you to see this, the voice whispered. The fifteen-year-old shuddered inwardly. The ghost flew down slightly closer, when something stopped him in his tracks. "Guys?" came the soft call up the stairwell.
Danny froze. Speak of the victim, and she will come. Danny screamed internally. No, he couldn't let this. Everything just seemed to freeze. He listened to the young boy screaming. "Blake!" Sam called and suddenly she was next to him on the landing. And here's to saying goodbye. With that the spectral flung itself down the stairs and Danny mentally threw himself against the force that he was currently losing to. In that moment he managed to stop it in its tracks.
Danny looked down to see Ryan gone, but what instantly hit him was that Sam's upturned face was staring right at him. Danny instantly turned himself invisible and flew as quickly as possible to the top of the stairwell. He phased through, not even caring if anyone saw him at the moment. Once outside he went human. His breathing instantly started again, quicker than it should have been. He slid down the wall, closing his eyes. His fingers were shaking and he felt suddenly frozen.
He couldn't let this happened. blue eyes that were a few shades darker than normal. He could have killed her. No, He would've killed her. That thought shook him. He would have. There was no way he could ever go ghost again. It was just endangering Sam and who knew who else. What if he killed someone else? What if he killed Sam? The thought made his skin crawl. He was supposed to be her best friend, the one who stood by her and protected her when no one else would.
And that's why he told her goodbye. He couldn't let himself hurt her. He refused to let her get hurt. If that meant never seeing her again that was a consequence he would have to live with. No matter how much the idea hurt. He felt like his life had been ripped away from him. He had lost his ghost half and now he was losing Sam. He felt like a part of him had died. The two things that his life had revolved around for the last year or so were suddenly gone. It was as if there was no safety net. He hated this feeling, but as much as he wished he could overcome it, he knew he couldn't.
He'd lost his best friend all over again. He knew that it was stupid to dwell on it. It wouldn't change a thing. Now all he could do was go back to Amity Park and hope that he could forget about her, knowing he never would. It was his job to protect her. It was a job he had been failing at miserably for a while. Now, he wouldn't be there to watch over her. All he could do was try to protect her from him. At the moment, he wasn't even sure if he was capable of that.
Hey! I'm hoping those of you who were confused are a little less confused now. If not, I apologize. I really am trying. For those of you who haven't heard Taking Over Me is going to be done by Sunday night. In order to do this, I am posting a chapter every three hours. So for those of you who have me on your Author Alert list, I apologize for spamming your inbox. Tanks and Gattling guns to all today's reviewers: Mrs. Granger-Weasley, autumngold, WormmonABC, pinkXfairie, Spice Of Life, YAY!!!, Kagome51, MayB, Mr.Delmont, RavenForever, Ryo's destiny, cheerin4danny, Medisti, Silverflare07, Cooperstar and Blink, Sakura Scout, Hwoarangsguardie, Moody Maud, The Fuzy Llama, gothmiko, and The Good Girl. Huggles at you all!
A Shameless Plug: I am just shouting out that everybody who hasn't read it yet, needs to go read Eaten Alive. I know it's really short but it I really enjoyed reading it so thought I'd plug it! P.S. You all need to check her out cause one of these days when Fallen gets caught up I'm co-authoring a story with her.