Time passed, and Sam slept. Ember lay with her back to Sam, and revelled in the heat. She had been afraid Sam would not only refuse to share her heat, but order Ember out of the house. She should have trusted Sam to realize there was nothing untoward in the request, only a matter of comfort for the ghost. She smiled, once again realizing what a good friend she now had.
The smile faded as Ember's thoughts went back to a more important subject; Vlad. Both he and the thought of the iron box terrified her. There was a solution that would probably keep her safe from him, but she didn't want to resort to that until all other options had been exausted. If she could think of any other options.
The night passed, and finally day broke. Ember was no closer to a solution than she had been the night before.
They met Danny and Tucker at the park entrance the next morning. It was the weekend for the monthly Amity Park Swap Meet, where Desiree had accidentally been set free months ago.
Madam Babazita was there, and Danny waved to her as they passed.
They wandered down the rows, looking at the knick-knacks, and had fun wondering what some of them were.
Sam found a stack of back issues of a Goth magazine she collected, and was able to fill most of the holes in her collection.
Tuck found some memory cards compatable with his computer, and Danny found a game controller like he had before his dad confiscated it to build some ghost-hunting device.
Ember got a pack of guitar strings, but really had no use for anything else there. She had fun watching her friends, but for herself she wondered what was the big deal? It was just physical stuff, after all.
Several hours later they left the swap meet, and reconviened at the Nasty Burger. Sam told the boys about Ember's lack of memory, and how a web search had turned up nothing about her beyond what they already knew.
They spent some time questioning Ember, trying to trigger a memory, and find out what the limits were on what she remembered.
"So what it boils down to, for example, is that you know what a 'telephone' is, and how to use one, but have no memory of ever doing so," said Tucker.
Ember nodded. "That's right. Just like when I used Sam's computer that first night. I knew how to do a web search, but I couldn't tell you how I knew."
"Really strange," said Danny, "It's almost like your memory has been blocked on purpose."
They all looked at him, eyes wide.
"I hadn't thought of that..." said Sam, "You could be right."
"Let's go back to my place, and let a REAL computer expert do a search," said Tucker,
cracking his knuckles.
"And just who might that be?" asked Sam.
Tucker looked at Sam sourly, while she, Danny, and Ember laughed.
Back at Tucker's they spent a couple of hours at the computer, but had little more luck than Sam had had. Tucker tried every trick he knew, but it was ultimately a futile effort.
"I'm sorry, Ember," he said, "It seems like info on you just doesn't exist."
"That's okay," she replied, "Thanks for spending the time looking, anyway."
"There IS one place we haven't looked," said Danny.
"Where?" asked Tucker.
"The Ghost Zone. Her first memories are there, so that's where we need to look," he replied.
"Oh, man, I HATE that place," said Tucker, shivering.
"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," said Sam, looking worried.
"I'm not fond of it either," said Danny, shrugging, "But Ember deserves to be a whole person. I think we owe it to her to help."
"You're right, Danny," said Tucker, after a moment's thought, "I'm in."
"Me too," said Sam, "When are we going to go?"
"How about tomorrow morning? Mom and Dad are out of town at a supernatural convention,
and Jazz won't bother us," said Danny.
"Sounds good," said Sam. "Ember, is this okay with you?"
"Sounds great! I'll try to remember what I can about the Ghost Zone." Ember looked at her friends. "Thank you all so much for caring about me," she said.
"That's what we're here for!" said Tucker.
They made their plans, then went their separate ways for the evening.
Back in Sam and Ember's room, Sam lay on the bed, reading "The Collected Gothic Poems of the Year, Vol. 5", while Ember stood and looked out the window. The sun set, and darkness took over. Lights appeared in windows about town, and Ember stood unmoving.
After some time had passed, Sam noticed the silence. She put down the book, and looked at her roommate.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, "You've been brooding all day."
"Yeah, there is," replied Ember. She left the window, drifted over, and sat down cross-legged on the bed. The bedclothes barely stirred.
"I'm sure we'll find out something about you tomorrow," said Sam.
"It's not that," said Ember, "It's the other situation. Sooner or later, Vlad is going to find out he didn't destroy me, and try again. He'll know for sure if I make a comeback."
"If he tries anything, Danny will protect you," said Sam.
"But Danny can't always be there, and it's not fair to him to expect him to be. He's got other ghosts to worry about," was the reply.
"Well, what do you want to do?" asked Sam.
"I want you to cast that spell on me," said Ember.
Sam blinked. She opened the drawer on the side table, and pulled out a piece of paper. When she did, the iron necklace fell on the floor. It was ignored.
"This spell?" asked Sam, waving it.
Ember hesitated, then nodded. "I've thought about it a lot, and this is the only way I can see that I'll be safe."
"But this will make you my slave. Is that what you want?" asked Sam.
"No, but I'd rather belong to you than him. I know you won't abuse me," was the reply.
"Do you really trust me that much?" asked Sam.
"You sleep with a ghost in the room. That takes a lot of trust," Ember pointed out.
"That used to be true, but you've earned my friendship and trust since then," said Sam.
"Just like you earned mine when you freed me from that necklace," responded Ember.
"I guess you're right..." Sam said, reluctantly.
"Then let's do it, before I chicken out," said Ember.
"Okay. But I want you to know this is not going to change our friendship! I promise"
said Sam, with emphasis.
Ember smiled. "I believe you."
Sam started to read the spell aloud, then stopped. "You sure you don't want to wait until we get back?"
Ember shook her head. "He might be in the Ghost Zone," she said.
"All right, then. But I'm doing this with reluctance and reservations," said Sam.
"Me too..." murmured Ember.
As Sam read the spell aloud, green smoke issued from the paper, and formed a cloud over their heads. When the last word was spoken, the paper suddenly burst into green flame.
Sam dropped it, but it was consumed to ash and gone before it touched the bed. The cloud drifted down and surrounded them both, then slowly vanished.
To Sam, nothing seemed different. Ember was standing and staring off into space, unmoving.
"Uh...you okay?" asked Sam.
Ember jerked around like she had been shocked, and stared at Sam like she had never seen her before. Suddenly she stepped over and dropped to her knees in front of Sam.
"It worked," she said, bowing her head, "I belong to you now."
"Ooookay..." said Sam, and Ember stood up. "Does anything seem different to you?"
"It's hard to put into words... I'm much more...aware of you, now. I'm attentive to every breath you take, every word you speak, every movement you make. I'm ready, willing, and eager to do anything you tell me to," said Ember. "It's like... you've become the center of my universe."
Sam cocked her head, and eyed Ember.
"No, not like that... I'm not... in love with you, or anything. Just your willing servant"
Ember quickly added.
"That's a relief. But we expected something like this, anyway. And I'm not going to give you orders if I don't have to," said Sam.
"Your choice," replied Ember.
There was an awkward silence, which Sam finally broke by asking, "How about a test? I'll tell you to do something you would never normally do."
"Sure," said Ember.
"Okay... pick up that necklace, and put it on," said Sam, pointing at the pile of iron links by the table.
Without hesitation, Ember stooped and reached for it. With her hand an inch from it, Sam cried "STOP!". Ember obeyed and stood up.
"Were you really going to pick it up?" asked Sam.
"Well...yeah..." answered Ember.
"But it would hurt you. Why would you do that?" asked Sam.
"You told me to," said Ember, and her eyes grew wide. "I didn't even think about it! I just obeyed!"
"I can see I'm going to have to be careful about what I say to you..." said Sam, picking up the necklace and putting it away.
"I think you're right," said Ember.
The hours up till bedtime passed in near silence.
As Sam crawled into bed, she looked up at Ember floating near the ceiling. "I'm really sorry about this," she said.
"Don't be," said Ember, "I asked for it. And, I do feel...safer."
Sam smiled, and turned out the light.