What You See Isn't Always What You Get

Chap.4

When Danny woke up, he was in his room, hurting all over, but alive besides. Maddie, looking very shaken up, was sitting next to the bed.

"Mom? Hey…I saw Terri." Danny weakly told her.

"Oh, did you now, Honey." She replied, just as feeble, if not more, than him.

"Mom, Terri said he made a promise. A promise to someone a long time ago."

"Promise? Is…is that really why he's still here?" Maddie murmered.

"What do you mean?"

"Danny, a long time ago…."

"Terri, do you think we'll always be together?" Maddie asked. Terri let a hand toy with the yellow ribbon in her hair.

"I don't know. Fate works in mysterious ways, you know, Maddie."

"Terri…even if we aren't always together like this, I want you to always be there for me. Even if that means just watching in the background. I want you to be there at my wedding, and I want you to see my kids, and I want you to be there even when I die. Please?" Maddie begged.

"But we loved with a love that was more than love…" Terri shut his eyes slowly, smiling on the Edgar Allen Poe quote he'd told Maddie.

"Promise me, Terri! To always be there." Maddie pouted. Terri opened his eyes and picked up one of the ends of Maddie's yellow ribbon. "Promise?" She asked again. Terri gently kissed the ribbon tail.

"I promise with all my heart."

"I never knew he…..he meant he was going to keep it forever." Maddie sobbed. Danny's eyes went wide.

'Terri wants to stay by Mom's side forever. But….he can't stay like that forever!' Oblivious to Maddie, Danny slipped out the window. He grunted as he hit the ground. Being hit by a car, even if you survive, has some nasty after affects. Even if you're half ghost.

"Danny!" Sam called, panicked. She was standing on the sidewalk near the very street Terri had been run over. In the middle of the road was Terri. His clothes were tattered, moreso than when Danny had last seen him, and beneath him was a puddle of a thick liquid. Blood….?

"Terri, look, my mom doesn't want you to-" This is as far as Danny got before something slammed him back. Terri's eyes were glowing fiercely.

"I have to keep the promise I made to Maddie. No matter what. I have to keep it."

"Why's he so obsessed with some promise he made to Danny's mom?" Tucker asked. Sam bit her lip, thinking it over.

"Well, I heard that if a person wanted something or wanted to do something before they died, they can't rest til they do that. You know, having unfinished business. So if we get what he promised your mom, Danny, Terri can rest in peace." Sam called to Danny.

"No can do, Sam. He promised to be there for my mom always. To even be there to see her grave." Danny replied. Terri suddenly froze, and a sly smile sneaked onto his face.

"To rest…to see her grave. Thanks for the idea, Daniel." Terri phased down into the street, and the headlights of a car blinded Danny.

"Not again." He sighed. The car screeched to a halt and a door swung open.

"Hey, you're Maddie's son, right?" An elder voice asked. Danny nodded. "Good. If my eyesight hasn't deceived me yet, that was Terri. And unless I'm wrong, which is rare, Maddie's in danger."

"Danger!"