Danny hardly left his room for almost a week after that. Vlad kept putting off practices and training, and Danny found himself getting more and more depressed, and more and more reclusive. "Why me?" He asked himself. "Why did I have to get this curse?" It was the ghost powers, he concluded. That was the reason his life sucked...wasn't it? He felt like a cloth had been wrapped around his mind, and he was having trouble focusing on anything but his current situation, and immediate future. He felt like he didn't know anything anymore.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts, that didn't notice as his ghost sense went off, like it did so often lately. Alesha peeked through the door, and cleared her throat.
"Um, Danny?" She ventured. He nodded to say he'd heard her and she floated over to him, landing on the bed next to where he was sitting, staring out the window. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. Even ghosts can starve emotionally. Actually, that's the easiest way for us to starve. If you keep this up..." she faded off, not wanting to finish the thought.
"I know," he said. "And I don't care." Alesha looked away, biting her lip unaware that her fists clenched the bed cover under her hands more tightly. "No one wants me," he continued. "I thought at least Vlad wanted something WITH me, but he doesn't. I can't figure it out...and my parents." He shook his head. "This is too confusing," he groaned. "And I don't really want to figure it out anymore. It hurts to much, and I don't see any point. No one cares."
"I care," Alesha said. "Since my brother..." she faded off, swallowed and continued. "Well, you're the first friend I've had in a long time." She saw him turn his head to slowly look at her out of the corner of his eye. "It really means a lot to me." A slight smile, barely noticeable, but there none the less, touched his lips.
"Thanks," he said, standing up slowly. "Well," he sighed, "I think I'll keep training, wether Vlad wants me to or not." Alesha stepped away as the rings appeared around his waist and his ghost form replaced his human body.
"Why wouldn't he want you to?" She asked. Danny shrugged.
"Don't know, but he's been putting it off, and telling me to take a bunch of breaks lately," he shrugged. "Frankly, I really have no clue why, but I feel like working out, a little." He looked up, his eyes showing the struggle with the pain he kept fighting. He shrugged again and waved before he disappeared through the wall. She let out a small breath, although she really didn't need to breathe, and sat back on the bed. That had been close. If he became any more depressed, he'd get suicidal...that thought alone tied her stomach into knots. She'd been having trouble with a decision in the last few days, and it looked like she had just been given her answer
Sighing, she jumped into the air, and through the wall, knowing exactly where her destination lay. She didn't notice the figure following her as she approached the now familiar room, and entered. The walls reflected the creepy green color that the large tanks in the room produced. She floated past several empty tanks, and passed them, heading for those at the far end of the room. Figures floated in the gel-like ectoplasmic liquid, lifelessly suspended as she passed. Not that that was surprising, seeing as they were all ghosts, but it still sent shivers up and down her spine. The whole scene made her nervous and jumpy, but she took a deep breath, and continued.
She stopped in front of one of the most recently occupied tanks, and put her hand on the glass. A boy floated limply inside. Vlad had just put him in here a few weeks ago. He'd chosen this boy because apparently he thought Alesha was of more use to him. If he'd thought differently, Alesha would be the one floating in the eerie substance. The sudden turn of events that had put him here almost made her cry. They had just gotten raises, and had both been doing so well. They were even thinking of quitting, but apparently Plasmius had gotten wind of their plans, and then he'd come to her and told her about this room...and what he'd done.
"Oh, Brian," she said, calmly petting the glass. "What did we get ourselves into by taking this job?" she asked the floating figure. "I just don't know anymore." She reached down to the controls enfolded in an ectoplasmic shield to keep her from releasing him.
"Brian," she said to him, watching as his short black hair wave softly in the gel. "I've come to ask you a question. Is it more important for you to maintain your afterlife, or for someone else to live. We never got the chance, but does that mean we have the right to take that from someone else?" She turned and sank to the floor, with her back to the ectoplasmic glass. "I've known for a while that this whole thing was going to end up as a choice," she felt hot tears come to her eyes. It had surprised her that she could still cry as a spirit, but she'd gotten used to it by now. "A choice between you and him," she continued before pausing for several seconds. Trying to hold back the tears, she turned and looked up at her brother. They looked so much alike, they could almost be twins, but that didn't matter now, did it. "Vlad said he'd release us after my work is done..." she went on, "but I don't see how it ever will be." She turned her back to the glass once again and put her arms around her knees, feeling a lump rise in her throat. "I've made my decision...but," she couldn't stifle a sob, "I had to ask for your forgiveness." A steady stream of tears now streaked her brown cheeks. "I know that I'm bringing about your annihilation, and I'm so sorry, Brian. I do love you, and I am so sorry."
Still crying, she phased through the wall and flew to town, her tears falling onto the ground behind her. She knew the consequences of her actions, but that didn't make this any easier.
