When we entered the basement, there was nothing there, just a table sitting in the middle of the room.

"This is it? How am I supposed to train with a table?"

"Oh, it isn't just a table, you will find out more later. For today, it is just a table, because you are going to train with just me today. And no, I don't worry about hurting you. Today, I want you to show me how good you are at dodging my attacks. After that, I will have more of an idea as to how good you are."

"Ok…"

I didn't like the idea of having to dodge his attacks, because I knew he was going to try his hardest to hit me, no matter what. The hardest I was going to try, he was going to hit me.

"Please, to the center of the floor," he told me, as he nodded his head towards the table.

"Why by the table?"

"Because, I want to see something."

I just followed what he said, and went to the center of the room. We stood there, and did nothing and then all the sudden, he shot out an ectoplasmic blast, and it hit me right in the stomach.

"Oww! What was that for?"

"I was seeing if you were paying attention. You have to be knowing of an attack, at any time Daniel."

"That wasn't fair! You left me standing there bored, and then you just attack!"

"Well, if you were having fun, and we were talking, you would have noticed. I had to do it from the middle of nowhere, because then that way, you would have had to of been ready for an attack at any moment. When I said we were going to practice, what did you think we were going to do?"

"I don't know, but you could have told me about sneak attacks!"

"If I would have told you, do you think it would have been sneaky?"

"Yes."

"No, it wouldn't. You would have been waiting for it."

"Whatever, can we just get on with this?"

"Trying to rush the practice isn't going to help you with anything. I know you want to get to Sam quicker, but I am not letting you leave the practice until 9:00 tonight."

"What time is it now?"

"It is only three Daniel. Now, are you going to practice with me, or are you going to waste your time talking to me?"

"I would rather talk."

"I am sure you would, but that isn't going to happen. Now, I would like to see you dodging my attacks," he said bitterly, and then pointed for me to go back to the table. This time though, he shot one while my back was turned, and it hit me in the back.

"Oww! Ok, there was no point in that at all! I was turned away!"

"Yes, well, maybe you should pay attention."

I glared at him, and faced him. Then, something else hit me hard in the back from behind, and I turned around, and once again, he hit me with an ecto-blast right in the back, in the same spot.

"Ok, what is your big problem?" Are you on purposely attacking me?"

"Maybe, maybe not. You need to pay attention."

"I don't have eyes behind my back!"

"No, but you should try to look in all directions at once."

"How can I do that?"

"Simple. Be alert. When you are alert, you will hear, and see things. If you are focused."

"You really aren't making sense. I am not the most alert person in the whole world."

"No, but you can learn how to be alert."

"No, you are just born with alertness."

"You are mistaken there, you can learn how to be more alert. The more practice you get, the more it will seem as though you do have eyes behind your head, because you will learn how to be more alert, and how to pay attention a lot more. You are one of those kinds of people, that drift off into their own world, aren't you?"

"Sometimes."

"Yes, and that is my point. When you think about other things, that will ruin your concentration. What were you thinking about anyway? Sam?"

"Yes."

"Why? You don't need to worry about her, I promise you, there isn't one little scratch on her from me taking her. I just took her, and threw her into that room. Actually, if it makes you feel better, I set her in the room gently."

"Why don't you let me see her, so that I know?"

"Because, we are training. We don't have the time, and we need to stop talking. I will talk to you on some days of training, because I would like to become a friend to you, but not today."

"I don't want to be your friend."

"Oh, really? If you don't want me to be your friend, that is fine, because then I don't have to worry about hurting you, because then at least I know I am not hurting my friend."

"I don't care, I refuse to call myself your friend. You are a creep."

"That makes me feel wonderful! You know what? I am not a creep, I have been alone my whole life! I wanted to know someone like me, and you are the only other halfa I know of."

"So."

"So, you are the only other one that knows what it is like. I felt kind of happy when I found out I was not the only one."

"Well, if you really wanted to be my friend, you would let me see Sam."

"I will let you see her, at 9:00. Now, let's get back to training." He once again, pointed to the center of the room by the table, and I went where he directed me. He shot one at me this time, and I phased through it, but then he shot another one, and it hit my leg. I grabbed my leg, but then Vlad shook his head, and I let go of it. Obviously, he was also seeing how strong I was too. He kept shooting at me, and I would get hit about 75 of the time.

"Ok, it is 8:45," he said, after what seemed like days.

"So, we get to leave?"

"Yes, but not until 9:00 are you seeing her, because I am going to take you up, and you will eat dinner, by yourself, well, Sasha will eat with you."

"She eats? I thought she was a ghost…"

"Yes, she is a ghost, but she isn't."

"So, she too is a halfa?"

"No, not quite. She is just like a human, but she stays the same all the time, and she is always in her ghost mode, so she is like a human, and a ghost."

"That doesn't make sense, doesn't that mean she is a halfa?"

"No, it doesn't. It is confusing to you now, but I will explain it better to you on Sunday during training."

"Ok…" I still had no idea what he was talking about. Yes, there was something different about her, but if she was half human, half ghost, then she was just like me, right? Except the whole thing with her eyes. Did that have anything to do with it?

When we arrived at the dinner table, Sasha already had the table set, and the plates were full of food. We all sat down, but I never even really looked at the food on my plate, I just picked at it.

"You might want to eat," Sasha told me, watching me poking at my food.

"I'm not hungry."

"He has been worrying about Sam," Vlad explained to her, and she just nodded.

"You two had better learn to get along, because you will be hanging out a lot more than you think," he told us both, and Sasha just smiled at me, and I gave her a angry look, and her smile faded.

"Maybe you should just let him go, to see her," she suggested.

"No, I want him to eat. As soon as he finishes his plate, he can leave."

"I'm not hungry though. I never eat a full plate, and right now, I don't want to eat."

"Fine, be that way, but you don't eat until tomorrow night anyhow," Vlad shrugged, and continued to eat his dinner.

"Are you even feeding Sam?"

"Yes, but she doesn't want to eat either. I am telling you, teenagers these days."

"Can I go now?"

"Yes, Sasha, take him to his room. And no funny business Danny, because you are sharing that room with Sasha too.

"I don't want to share with her."

"Not enough privacy?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, deal with it," he said, and then nodded at Sasha, who led me down the hall, and pulled out a key from her pocket, and unlocked the door. She then threw the key on the ground, and we walked in. I didn't see anyone else in the room.

"Where is Sam?"

"Oh, there is two bedrooms, there is only one way to get in and out of the other room though, you can phase threw that wall. That is where we put Sam. The rest of the walls though, you cannot phase threw."
"Ok, thanks," I said, trying to sound nice, and I phased threw that wall. Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor, and then she lifted her head when she heard a noise.

"Danny!" She hollered, and ran up to hug me. I looked at her eyes first, to make sure it was her, and she had the same beautiful eyes she had always had.

"Sam, I missed you."

"Same here. Vlad said you were coming, but I didn't believe him."

"Yeah, for a second, I didn't believe him either."

I looked about the room, after I had known that Sam was with me once again. The room was totally black, and the one bed in the room had lime green blankets, which stood out really well. There was a closet, in which was empty at the moment, and there was a fan hanging in the center of the ceiling, with a light attached to it. The light threw of a dim light, but it might have just seemed darker in the room with the dark paint. The first room I was in, I never paid attention to, but I figured there was two beds over there.

"Are you Ok?" Sam asked me, and I gave her a strange look.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because, you're holding your stomach."

"Oh, yeah, I had to have been hit at least 20 times in the stomach by Vlad in training."

"Oh, maybe you should sit down."

"No, I am fine."

"Really Danny, sit down." I decided it was impossible to refuse to do so, so I sat down, and leaned up against the wall that the bed was laying next to. Then, I noticed Sasha had come into the room.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her suspiciously.

"Nothing, just came here to let you know that you can sleep in the other room, because there is two beds over there."

"I will go over there when I feel like it."
"Ok, suit yourself, but there is a TV and a radio over there too. It is like a living room, and a bedroom put together. But, if you want to stay in here, that is fine by me."

"Could you leave us alone now?" I asked her hatefully.

"Yeah, I was just trying to be nice. And look Danny, it might have seemed like I hated you, but I don't, I would like to be friends, if you would give me the chance," she told me, before she phased through the wall, into the other room.

"I don't like her," Sam said to me.

"I don't either. There is just something about her."

"Well, maybe she will turn out nice, but right now, I think she is just trying to get you to like her."

"Yea, lets stop talking about it though, I want to just relax now, I have had a hard day."

"Yeah, I know you have," Sam said comfortingly, and she sat down on the bed next to me.

"You want to go in the other room?" I asked Sam, after she had just sat down.

"Sure, might as well, you should probably sleep anyhow."

"No, I don't want to sleep, I just want to get out of this small room."

"Ok, if you insist."

I phased us both threw the wall, and saw Sasha sitting on a chair, watching TV.

"You decided to come out here?" she asked me, turning away from the TV, and she clicked it off.

"Yeah."

"I figured you would. That is my room you guys were in anyway. Vlad doesn't like me in this room, he thinks I only deserve that room."

"Ok, then go in there," I told her.

"OK, I will. You two enjoy yourselves," she said, and then went into the other room.

This room was a lot more comforting than the other room. It had a lava lamp sitting on an end table by one of the beds, a flat screen TV, a radio, 2 beds, and two chairs. The room was colored in different shades of blue, and the ceiling had white sponged on it, to make it look like clouds. The two chairs were both a dark blue, and one bad had light blue covers, and the other had dark blue. The two chairs were sitting right next to each other, facing the TV, and the radio was sitting up against the wall in one of the corners. Also with a ceiling fan with a light, but the light was a lot brighter than in the other room.

"It is a lot nicer in here," I told Sam, and I sat down in one of the chairs. The chair was soft, and I sunk right into it, and it felt so good on my sore back.

"Yes, it is," she confirmed, and sat in the other chair beside me. We turned on the TV, and watched cartoons for a while, but then my eyes were getting heavy.

"Maybe we should turn the TV off, it is making me tired."

"Danny, you need the sleep anyway, go to bed, I really don't care."

The beds were also lying right next to each other, and it made it look like one huge bed in a way. I got up slowly, and limped over to my bed. My legs were sore, and my back, my stomach and my arms. Vlad was hitting me hard the whole time in training, and I knew I was going to be stiff tomorrow.

"Good night," I told Sam, as I got under the covers, and rested my head up against the pillow. The bed was one of those beds that made out the figure of your body, and it really did feel as though you were sleeping on a cloud. It didn't take long, before I fell asleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night though, because my leg was aching. I sat up, and grabbed my leg, and tried to think of a way to make it feel better. There wasn't anything in the room though, so I just tried to go back to sleep, but my leg was hurting to much, and it seemed impossible to fall asleep. I got up, and moved over to the chair, and tried to see if that was more comfortable, but it didn't help any. I then got back up, and slowly got back into bed, because I could have made the other bed move when I got into my half, since they were literally right next to each other.

I sat there, looking off at the wall across from me, trying to fall asleep, but it wasn't going to happen. If you have ever had one of those times where you couldn't fall asleep, and you began thinking about things, you will know how it feels. It feels as though nothing is happening, and as though it will be years before something does happen.

I then turned to face towards Sam, who was fast asleep, and I wished she was awake right now. It was tempting to wake her up, but I didn't want to. When I had tried to wake her up in the past when she spent the night at my house, she would wake up, and she was really grouchy, and would usually fall asleep about five minutes after I had woken her up. I turned away from her again, and faced the wall. I got up, and walked to the lava lamp, and turned it on, so it would give me something to do. I stared at the blobs moving around, but I still wasn't getting tired.

Maybe Sasha was awake. Wait, why would I want to go talk to her? She was the only other one I could try to talk to right now, so I decided to try anyway. I got up, limping on my leg, and phased threw the wall. Sasha was sitting on her bed, looking up at the fan, watching it spin around in circles.

"Danny, what are you doing awake?" she asked me, and turned toward me.

"I can't fall back asleep."

"Why?"

"My leg hurts."

"Ah, lift up your pant leg."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

I did, and there was a huge lump on my leg, and a bruise.

"That would be the reason why," she told me.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I take it you are deciding to give me a chance?"
"Yeah, I guess so. You don't seem that bad."

"Just because I work for Vlad, doesn't mean I am bad. I have to work for him, because he will kill me if I don't listen to him. He found me, and decided to take me for his own."

"Oh, I wouldn't have went with him."

"Yeah, if I knew how mean he really was, I wouldn't have either."

"So, what are you anyway?"

"Vlad calls me a shape-shifter. I am a ghost, and a human, but I am not exactly human. I can change my forms."

"Yeah, I realized that. But why would you have pretended you were Sam? You do realize that had made me really mad."

"I know it had, but I had to. Vlad made me, and there was nothing I could do about it."

"Yeah, sorry."

"No problem. If you need to yell at someone, come and yell at me since I am used to it. If you get mad, take it out on me."

"No, if I get mad, I will take it out on Vlad."

"I wouldn't do that Danny. He will do stuff to Sam. He is not scared to hurt her."
"I know he isn't."

"He is using her against you, and I know it must suck, but you have to just try and deal with Vlad, if you get on his good side, maybe he will be a little nicer to you."

"He has been trying to be nice to me, but I won't let him. He wanted to be my friend, and I refused."

"I wouldn't have passed up that offer."

"I know, now that I think about it, I wish I wouldn't have."

"Maybe you will get lucky, and he will ask you again, and next time, say yes. Then, he might try to arrange better living for you, since you have to ring a bell to go to the bathroom. He has one down the hall, and he has to walk down there with you, and walk you back."

"Wow, uncomfortable there."
"Yeah, you think? So, about Sam, is she your girlfriend? I mean, you two were sleeping together out in the woods and all."

"No, she isn't."

"Then, you have to like her, right?"

"No."

"Yes you do. We all saw you on TV."

"I know. And she knows, but we aren't dating or anything, why do you ask?"

"Because, I like to talk about that stuff."
"Why? Shouldn't you be wanting to talk about evil?"

"I am not evil! I am really nice! And I love talking about romance, and relationships and stuff."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so, if you don't mind, can we talk about it more?"

"Sure… if that is what you like."

"Ok… have you ever kissed, outside of that thing on TV?"

"Yeah."

"See, I say you two should be a couple. You would look cute together."

"Thanks. Have you ever liked anyone?"

"Never have had the time to really get out and meet people. I have never been to school, only a couple of times, and I never really got to know the people."
"Oh, that is to bad."

"Yeah, you and Sam are really the only people I have met in a long time."

"What about that party?"

"Oh, in the windows? Those weren't real people, and the people I was with, are just like me, and they aren't even here right now."

"Oh."

"You should head back to bed."

"Yeah, I will." I said, and I went back into the other room, and laid down. After talking for a while, I fell asleep fast.

Ok, sorry that was soooooooo long! Heehee, can't ya tell I was having a fun time writing? Lol. Please review!