A/N: Well, here it is. Sorry for the long wait.
Chapter 2: Secrets Revealed
Four years have passed. We graduated out of high school about a month ago. A couple years ago Paulina started liking Danny, and she still does. But Danny and I have remained together. A few months ago this ghost attacked and wanted to steal Danny's powers. Unfortunately he escaped.
Right now Danny, my parents, and I are sitting on a bench near my house and just enjoying the night. All of a sudden a green streak zooms by and Danny is knocked to the ground. It's that ghost! He's on top of Danny right now.
"I've got you now, ghost-boy!" the ghost growls.
Danny glares at him and goes into ghost-mode and pushes the ghost off of him with an energy blast. They attack each other for a while, then the ghost takes out some kind of gadget and sticks it on Danny. What is that thing for? The ghost waits a few seconds then swipes the gadget away. As soon as he does Danny goes back to normal. The ghost laughs evilly and flies away. I quickly run over to Danny.
"What did he do?" I ask with concern.
"He took my powers!" Danny says with a cough.
I turn around to see my parents walking towards us with very mad faces. Oh uh, I forgot about them. They saw the whole thing! I gulp and smile shyly.
"You two come with us!" my dad says angrily.
He grabs Danny and my wrists and pulls us with him.
"Hey!" we cry in alarm.
Dad ignores us, and he and Mom walk us back to my house. When we get there Dad leads us downstairs, where we sit down on a couch.
"What's this all about!" I demand.
"Samantha, there's something we need to tell you," Mom says calmly. "Your father and I are… the king and queen of a far away country."
Oh, come on! This has to be a joke or something. "What? Are your serious?"
"Yes," Mom continues. "Right now your brother is taking care of the kingdom. We came here a few months after you were born because we wanted you to live a normal life."
"So, you lied to me!" I question with a tone of rage in my voice.
"We did what we thought was best for you!" Dad explains harshly.
"Why are you telling me this now?" I ask with confusement.
"Because of him!" Dad points directly at Danny, making him shrink away in fear. "He is a ghost! And according to our law, he has to go through the trial."
"But he doesn't even have his powers anymore!" I exclaim. "And what trial?"
"Why, the trial all male criminals go through. Everyone who wants to watch goes in the arena. There are two doors in the arena. The criminal has to choose a door. In one there is a lady, and if he chooses that door they will get married immediately. In the second door there is a vicious tiger waiting to kill the criminal."
I look at Danny with horror. He gives me the same terrified face. This isn't fair! What am I suppose to do?
"We'll leave tomorrow," Mom explains further. "We will pick a lady from here for that one door and bring her with. If Danny picks that door, we will come back here and have them married."
"And Danny is spending the night here in the guest room," Dad tells us. "And don't think about trying to escape. I'll have all the door and windows locked tight. Now say goodbye. This is the last time you'll ever get to talk to each other."
Danny and I stand up and look into each other's eyes, both with tears in them. Great! Look how much trouble that stupid ghost got us in! Why did he have to come when my parents were there? I embrace Danny tightly, and he hugs me back. Suddenly my dad pulls Danny away and leads him to the guestroom. Danny looks back at me with sad eyes that made more tears come.
That night I am awakened by the sound of my door opening. I look up and see my mom walking towards me. What could she want? Hasn't she ruined my life as enough?
"There's something I want to tell you," she says in a low whisper. "I feel sorry for you, so I am going to tell you who the lady will be and which door she'll be in. Then you'll be able to make a signal to Danny and tell him which door to choose. Listen carefully. We're bringing Paulina, and she'll be in the right door."
Mom quickly shuffles out of my room. Paulina? It's bad enough I have to make a hard choice, but now Danny will either be killed or married to someone I hate! This sure complicates things. I decide not to think about it now and go to sleep. But I know I'll have to make that tough decision soon.