Part Two: Shadow Man
Chapter Two: Memory Lapse
The object of my affection
is the object of my obsession.
She looks at me, but doesn't see my eyes.
I hide in the shadows of lies,
of self-doubt and darkness.
Yet seeing her gives me never ending bliss.
But not being able to touch, to be,
she doesn't even really know me.
She's always around.
I wish she had never been found.
I would never feel this,
such a yearn for just one kiss.
"Sam!" Danny sat up, panting, and looked around at his surroundings. He was in his room. "What happened?" The last thing he remembered was Sam being whisked off by someone who looked like him, and then…nothing. Actually, all he couldn't remember much of anything else but that one image. That was strange. Hadn't there been more?
"Dude, I don't know what happened, but you were really beat up when I found you in a smoking crater in the football field." Tucker was in Danny's computer chair, on the computer. He looked over at him. "Mind telling me what happened?"
"Sam…he took her." He stood up. "We have to save her! Ow!" He fell down at the painful jab that coursed through his gut. He looked down and saw the hole in his suit. That was right, he had been stabbed. "Aw shit. Hey…how did you get me home?"
Tucker stopped playing and swiveled around. "Well…Valerie helped me out. She was worried about you too."
"Really?" he asked skeptically.
"Hey, man, she's a good person once you get to know her." Tucker instantly went on the defensive.
"Okay. Okay. Calm down." He rubbed his head and winced at the large bump. Oh yeah. He had fallen. "What time is it?"
"It's about half an hour before school starts." Tucker began to play on the computer again. "I came here at about seven. I guess you were out cold for the whole night too."
"Dammit!"
Danny ran into his closet and was changed and ready for school in half a minute. He grabbed his back pack and Tucker as well. They raced down the stairs and out the door, not ready for school, but as ready as they'd ever be.
"You shouldn't look like that," Shade cooed. "Come on, baby. Try to at least look a little happy on my first day here?"
"Why should I?" Sam glared at him. "I despise you."
He grabbed her arm and yanked her back as she began to walk ahead. His grip turned almost crushing. She tried to pull away, but he slammed her into a nearby brick wall. She let out a whimper of pain and surprise. He let go of her arm, and looked at his hands, frowning. He looked back at her.
"Just play happy little girlfriend," he whispered into her ear. "Also, you act like nothing's changed with Danny."
"Wh- what!" She looked at him incredulously. "You mean you want me to go on like we were friends! Are you nuts! He'll remember what happened last night!"
"That would be true…if I hadn't wiped his memory clean." He smirked and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry about it. Last night was a blank for him. He won't know me."
They approached the school and Sam gulped. She felt her pulse quickening and all of a sudden she felt really sick, like she was going to hurl. She stopped for a moment and took a steadying breath.
"Ready?" He looked at her expectantly.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she put on a half smile and took his hand. She gasped at how icy it was and almost pulled back, but remembered what she was supposed to be doing with him.
She put a look of happiness on her face and she and Shade entered the school.
"I'm telling you Tucker," Danny said as he opened his locker, "something happened last night. It was something big, too."
"Then, what was it?" Tucker leaned on an adjacent locker.
"I…I can't remember." His fist pounded against the locker. Frustration was evident, laced throughout his entire body. He trembled. "I just know it had something to do with Sam, but…I can't remember!"
Tucker arched an eyebrow. This was getting more interesting by the minute. He had, actually, wondered where Sam had gone off to last night; but, he had forgotten about her when he had discovered Danny and didn't even try to call her. He guessed that this would all lay out by first period.
"Hey guys!" The two youths turned around at Sam's cheery voice, and their mouths dropped open. "What are you looking at?"
"Who…" Danny ran up to Shade, suddenly becoming irritatingly overprotective. "Who are you?"
"Name's Shade." He shook Danny's hand vigorously. "You must be Danny. Sam's told me all about you. And this other guy is Tucker, right?"
"Uh…yeah," Tucker replied. "Where exactly are you from?"
"New York," he answered. "I'm going to be around for a while."
"That's…great. Um, Sam, can I talk to you for a moment?" Danny had placed himself between Sam and Shade, his back to Shade's. He did catch Shade's glared, but Tucker and Sam had. "It's really important."
Before anyone could object he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from Shade and Tucker. They disappeared around the corner, out of view.
Tucker looked up at Shade and gave a nervous smile. "So…do you like computers?"
"What happened last night?" They were in the science room and Danny had blurted out the question as soon as they knew they were alone. "I feel like something important happened. I mean, I saw someone like my ghost half carry you away…and that was it."
She looked away, uncomfortable. She didn't answer and he saw her begin to tremble. Frustrated, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to look him in the eye, and he saw something he hadn't expected. It was fear, an unknown fear that he had never seen before. He let go and took a step back.
"Promise you won't freak if I tell you?" she asked.
"Promise," he answered. "Now…what happened?"
"And here is our brand new computer lab." Tucker opened the door. "They're the new 2800 models. Pretty sweet, huh?"
He gave Shade a confident smile. Shade smiled, but turned his back on Tucker so the boy wouldn't see him slap himself in the forehead and mentally kick himself. How had he gotten stuck with the ultimate technology geek?
"Uh…Tuck…" He turned back around and put back a small smile on his face.
"What is it?" Tucker sat down at one of the computers and logged in.
"I think I'll go check up on Sam and Danny. They've been gone for a while."
"Uh-huh. Go ahead."
Shade made his way to the door. He turned around one last time, to make sure that Tucker wouldn't change his mind, but he didn't have to worry. The techno-geek and become absorbed in the World of Warcraft game. That would buy him the rest of the time before class started, guaranteed.
As soon as he stepped out, he closed his eyes and focused. It wasn't very hard finding Danny, because, in an essence, he was Danny. He was a part of Danny, just a side that no one would ever see, the dark and bleakness that was harbored in every soul.
He used to be weak in Danny, nothing more than a mere struggle that escaped every now and then…but that all changed when Danny had acquired his ghost powers. While ghosts are spiritual manifestations, they are mainly creatures that can not deal with death and in fact become angry, hence haunting. They are evil and the evil had been locked away inside Danny for some time now, giving him strength.
It didn't take him long. His eyes opened and he gave a sexy sly grin. It was time to tell the young Fenton that he was delving into things that shouldn't be delved into: a certain sixteen year old girl.
End Chapter
Author's Notes- I have a question for the readers. Does this help explain who Shade actually might be and does this chapter help kick part two off? I would've gone further, as usual, but I like to keep my chapters the same length and not have them change radically in length. There is nothing else to say, except please review! I beg of thee, review! Till next time. Ciao.