"Jazz," Danny moaned weakly as he drifted closer to the Specter Speeder. He could only watch helplessly as she struggled against the bulky collar that Walker had thrown at her...like she was a target in a rodeo. He knew only too well how that felt, and he'd never felt so miserable or horrible before. Watching his sister suffer, and not being able to do anything to help could very well be just about the worst thing that could ever happen to him.
Inside the vehicle, Sam broke away from her horrified shock first. "Tucker!" She yelled at the African-American, "Slow down so I can grab Danny!" The boy shoed the fear and surprise out of his face with a shake of his head, and followed the Goth's instructions.
Sam saw Danny reach a hand out towards the red-haired girl now being dragged backwards and held firmly by a cheering crowd of ghosts. She couldn't help but feel for him. How often had she been in that very position, with him being dragged in the opposite direction?
"And you're next!" Walker pointed at them menacingly. Sam ignored them, and leaned out of the ship, yelling instructions at Tucker.
"Left...NOT THAT FAR! Okay, now just nudge it left...forward...GOT HIM!" She crowed in her own triumph as her hand brushed his white, cotton shirt. She grabbed a hand full of it and yanked him inside with all of her strength. He thumped onto the ground muttering about how they couldn't leave Jazz.
Sam glanced at him, breathing heavily. Who would have thought that pulling someone inside a moving vehicle was so much work? "Look," she said. "We weren't planning on leaving her anyway."
"Good, I have an idea," Danny whispered. Sam and Tucker looked at each other, and sighed in resignation.
"What do you need us to do?" Sam asked.
Meanwhile, Jazz flew forward with all of her might, but to no avail. Her heart brimmed with accomplishment and relief when Sam dragged Danny into the Speeder, but she wouldn't allow herself to stop struggling. The fact that every ghost remained behind her and no one had come up to catch her puzzled her. What were they waiting for? Not that she felt like she could complain or anything, but--
At that point, her newly acquired collar suddenly vibrated to life. Not only did her body feel like it would be shaken apart, but a current unlike any she had ever felt coursed through her body.
A scream of pain tore from her throat as her body clenched and tensed. It was the collar, she knew...through all that pain, she didn't know HOW she knew...but vaguely, in the back of her mind, the thought crept through her now tortured brain.
It must have only lasted seconds, but it seemed like an eternity, and the pain finally stopped. Her head throbbed, and her body barely responded to her, but she didn't black out. She knew she probably wouldn't, running on the extra "spirit" to make use of a horribly bad pun.
"Alright boys," Walker crowed behind them. "Now, let's bring her in." So that's what they had been waiting for. Maybe the collar created some sort of force field. Jazz strained to move, but she felt like she had been suddenly placed in molasses and told to swim through it. Her limbs just didn't want to move.
She gasped, just realizing how hopeless her situation had become when she saw movement in the Specter Speeder.
"Wanna bet?" She heard Danny's weak voice drift over to them, barely. Sound seemed to carry far more in the ghost zone. Did it have something to do with their slightly echoing voices? Right then she knew she would be in trouble. Her mind didn't wander often. She'd trained herself specifically to avoid the attention lacking symptoms...and when they did...well, the thought scared her.
She shook the thought from her head and focused her blurred eyes on Danny, and gasped. He wore the familiar metal headband that had at least 7 arms sticking up in odd positions, and she could see him flip the switch. Vaguely, she wondered how someone so blurry only seconds before could suddenly seem so clear...just before the white light hit her, and she saw no more.
I'm dead here, and I have horrible heartburn...so gone. If this chappy sucks, please inform me so that I might fix it when I'm not in a tired stupor.
