Vlad searched his extensive mansion for the other half-breed in vain, for Danny sat on top of the outer wall that enclosed the extensive property, wondering where his future was headed. Vlad had said they would try to help the Ghost zone, but he seriously doubted that would ever happen. If anything like that did come to pass, Vlad would probably want his help in taking over. What kind of a future was that? Frankly, he was beginning to wonder if he had any sort of future at all. In fact, what did he have to live for? Anything that had defined who he was had vanished, and it all began when he'd stepped into that stupid portal. His whole world had completely disintegrated from beneath him, like a sand castle near the ocean with the tide coming in. He could almost feel the last few grains of his old life slipping through his fingers as he desperately clutched for them, but to no avail. He'd reached that conclusion earlier that night. His familyhad gone taking his friends along with them, leaving nothing but the ruined tatters of the life he'd known in their wake. Now, the only person who could even tolerate him was an evil nemesis who only wanted power. The only being he could count as a friend was a ghost. Not that he minded, but still, it said something for his new life. He almost felt like a child with an invisible friend being the onlyperson who seemed to care.

Sighing, Danny realized that he had suddenly found himself questioning all his morals and beliefs. Nothing seemed right anymore, no matter how he looked at it, but did that mean that all of his options were wrong? But that couldn't be right either...could it? No, he told himself. There had to be another way? There was something he was missing, some hope he had overlooked, or taken for granted. There had to be...right? He found himself becoming more and more unsure.He hated the feeling of his life, both future and past, slipping away from him, no matter how hard he clung to it.

Great, he growled to himself, here he was full circle, right back to the thought he had started on, and nothing solved in the slightest. The thought nearly made him scream in frustration and confusion.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed his ghost sense going off and immediately jumped up, welcoming the change of thought.

"Who's there?" he asked, painfully aware that his now deepening voice tended to crack at the worst moments, causing him to lose any threatening edge.

"It's me, Danny," a soft voice soothed his nerves, and relaxed.

"Alesha," he grinned and sat down again. "What's up?"

"Well, "I was lucky I spotted you here," she seemed to look anywhere but at him, acting nervous, or scared.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly concerned for his friend.

"Well," she sighed and looked at him. "You have visitors." He stared at her in silence before glaring towards the barely visible gate in the distance.

"They came back?" he glanced over at Alesha and sighed. "Well, that's a problem I'll have to deal with." He sighed again, although he actually feltgrateful for this second distraction. Taking a deep breath, he stood on the hall, and launched himself into empty space. Looking back for only a second, he gestured towards the gate, and began to fly in that direction. Alesha gulped, looked around, crossed her fingers and followed.


To tell the truth, I got such great reviews, that I wanted to answer asap, so that's why you guys got an extra chappie tonight. Feel loved. ;)

I want all of you guys to know, that this is the first part of a trillogy. Now, true to "Trillogy" form, the first one is actually fairly nice...has a decent ending, but leaves you open for more. The second one, however, is not going to end so happily, and either in the second or third one we'll have Danny reveal his powers, at least to his parents. The third one...well, I'm not sure how that one is going to end. I haven't even decided wether it's going to be happy or sad, or angst, or simply resloved, so yeah. However it turns out I guess. Hope that gives you some idea writerchic16. :D I appreciate your feedback. Thank you for the compliments too.

So Celestial: My friend calls me comma happy. ; For some strange reason, I love commas, and I use them all over the place. I'll see if I can check that one out, but I'm usualy pretty good with it anymore, so I appreciate it. Now, if you like Angst, have you read Danni-2005's stories? Honey, she makes mine look like a walk in the clouds, and they're so beautifully written. I LOVE her stuff. I'd suggest you check it out. Her series starts out with "Hello", and then "Imaginary", "Taking Over Me", "My Immortal" etc... If you can't tell, she's basing it off of Evanescence's CD "Fallen". It's a beautiful series, but very, very angst. Also, on the pic, I HATE short skirts with a passion! I like Sam, so whenever I draw her, her skirt is longer. ; What can I say?

Cakreut: Well, I'm glad you like my pics. I appreciate that you would remember it to connect at all. :hug: Thank you!

I'm sorry about the slurred words. I still think it's a glitch or incompatibility problem with my computer and Totaly my luck. ;)