By Nyassa Kaiba
Chapter 4Hexa woke early the next morning, unsure of what had woken her. Sam was curled up next to her on an unfamiliar bed. She was still dizzy and disoriented from the day before… and the events of the day before came back with startling clarity, along with a sense of being… dirty… violated… physically as well as mentally, because Black Velvet had had access to both her mind and her body, had physically harmed Hexa, knowing that the young Phantom wouldn't be able to fight back if she were overshadowed.
Sam's eyes fluttered open. "Wha… Oh! You're alright! I'm glad of that. You were so weak last night."
Hexa sat up and began to cry.
"Shhhh…. It's going to be okay." Sam said, pulling the younger girl into her arms.
"It's never going to be alright again!" Hexa bawled. "You KNOW that!"
Sam sighed. "Yeah, I know." She blinked. "Hexa, last night you said you were a lesbian. How do you know if you are?"
"You… well… you fall in love with a woman. It starts with a chance stray thought, wow, she's pretty… or a glance at another girl's curves, checking them out… and soon you can't think about anybody but the girl you love." Hexa said softly. "That's how it was for me and BV… man I can't believe she used me like that!"
"It's okay. You'll be alright. You just need to relax a little."
"Right… relax… Oh how can I relax after what she's done?" Hexa said mournfully.
Sam sighed again. She had a point.
"Wait a minute. Are you asking because you're questioning?" Hexa asked, blinking in surprise.
Sam flushed a shade that could otherwise only be found on a piece of peppermint candy. "Um… well… something like that…"
"I know a way you could tell…"
"Oh?"
"Kiss a girl and you'll know." Hexa said with a smirk.
"Okay, that totally didn't sound like you." Sam said, annoyed.
"I only offer my advice." Hexa sat back smugly in the bed. "Go ahead. It's your choice and if you want to kiss me I won't stop you…"
"YOU?" Sam paled. "How… how did you…"
"Wait a minute… I'M the one that made you question?" Hexa demanded. "Okay, now you OWE me that kiss." She growled.
Sam froze. What should she do? But oh she wanted that kiss. Slowly, gently, she leaned down, planting an arm on either side of Hexa and was almost there when…
wham wham wham! The door was pounded on. "It's Jazz, you're going to be late for school and if you don't hurry Danny and I are going to use up all the hot water before you get a shower!"
Sam sighed yet again, in disgust this time. She got up and knocked on the bathroom door. "Yes?" Danny called from inside.
"Get out and let me have some hot water before I drag you out!" Sam shouted.
"Somebody's in a bad mood."
"Your sister interrupted a private conversation to tell me that I'd better hurry or you'll use all the hot water!" Sam growled. "Is she like this EVERY schoolday?"
"Pretty much." Danny came out, with a towel wrapped around his waist and dabbing the water from his ears with another, smaller towel. "Mom left extra towels for you and Hexa."
The bathroom was cluttered. Everybody had different soaps or body washes or shampoos. Toothbrushes were scattered across the back of the sink. Sam sighed, appearantly Danny's folks had an attraction to clutter, because the workshops downstairs had been in the same disarray. She climbed in, turned on the water and took a deep breath before ducking fully under the showerhead. Wiping the water out of her eyes, Sam then reached for the shampoo.
Ten minutes later, fully clean, the gothic girl dressed and headed downstairs, unsure of what to do next. Mrs. Fenton was waiting in the kitchen. She and her husband were discussing the chemical composition of ectosynth. "If we can develop it into a spray we could use it to keep ghosts from escaping." Mr. Fenton was saying.
"According to the files the stuff's too dangerous for humans, even a touch can have a drastic effect. We can't risk hurting innocent bystanders dear." Mrs. Fenton pointed out as she set a plate of toast and jam in front of Sam. "Sam dear, you're not Vegan are you?"
"No, I can drink milk." Sam shook her head. "It's meat and leather I don't like."
"Alright then, let me get you some eggs." Danny's mom came back with a serving of eggs as well. "There, eat up. You're going to be late."
"Where's Danny?"
"Adding the finishing touches to his homework." Mrs. Fenton replied. "He can fly to school, so he can afford to miss the bus. You can't." She shook her head again. "I still can't get over the fact that he HID his condition from us. We wouldn't have attacked him during that fiasco with the mayor if we'd KNOWN that that was him."
"Don't think of it as a condition." Sam said defensively. "It's just the way he is. There's nothing wrong with it."
Hexa yawned. "Feed me some dead pigs and I'm away." She said, setting her backpack down next to her seat. "I called mom to let her know that I'm okay and I'll be staying at her place. Is the shield still up?"
"It's been up all night so that you and Danny can rest without worrying about Black Velvet coming after you." Mrs. Fenton gave her husband another serving of eggs. "Dear, put your equations down and eat. Even I'm not that single minded."
"Thanks." Hexa said as Mrs. Fenton handed her her plate of food. "So did you make any headway on the analysis?"
"I've figured out that ectosynth has three parts to it." Mr. Fenton told her. "The first are stray pieces of DNA that act as a virus does, taking over a cell and transforming it into a ghost's cell protein by protein. That's common enough with genetic engineering. But for a human its should be rather painful."
"It was. Go on."
"The second part is a bonding protein that lets the DNA be accepted by the host cell. And the third is the ecto energy that makes ectoplasma."
"But what the ecto energy is needed for neither of us could guess." Mrs. Fenton finished.
"It's like the lifeforce of a ghost. I think mom put it in there to act as a delivery agent." Hexa replied. "Next dose I take you can monitor how it spreads into my system if you'd like." She offered.
"I think that's a good idea." Mr. Fenton commented. "We know what it is, the next step is to know what it does."
The two of them continued tossing equations back and forth. The Fentons appeared to be surprised the science that Hexa knew. "Science and mythology are my specialties." Hexa replied when asked about it. "Odd combo I know, but its essential when dealing with ghosts as often as I do. For example, would you know how to deal with a ghost known as Tengu, for his tengu like powers, if you hadn't read Japanese Mythology?"
Sam finished eating. "Ready to go Hexa?"
"I'm going to be flying in, if you don't mind."
"Just don't let Valerie catch you." Sam warned. "She HATES ghosts. And she's got the power to finish them off, big time. And then there's Black Velvet herself."
"I'll be careful. See you in Mr. Lancer's class okay?" Hexa finished her meal and transformed. "See you, thanks for breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!"
Mrs. Fenton put down the shield for Hexa and Danny and the two of them flew off. They'd made it about halfway to school when a plama blast zinged past Hexa's shoulder. "THERE YOU ARE GHOST BOY!" Valerie yelled, fully suited.
"Go, I'll take care of her." Danny turned.
But Valerie swung around them in a slow, menacing circle, preventing escape. "What trouble are you up to."
"No trouble, but we WILL be IN trouble if you don't let us pass." Hexa told her. "It's called school, you know, the purgatory that you sit through half the day with evil teachers glowering at you over a desk. But see, if you're late, you get detention, and that's not fun at all."
"Don't give me that line. Ghosts don't go to school." The hunter replied.
"Um… actually we do." Danny replied. "And our teacher is kind of strict." He would have to lie to Mr. Lancer if time got too tight. And Mr. Lancer was VERY good at smelling a lie.
Hexa sighed, resignedly. "Are you going to let us through or do I have to say please?"
"I'm NOT going to let you through, and please won't work."
"Oh really. Danny, straight down in three… two… one… GO!" Hexa shot upward. Danny dove towards the ground. Unable to decide which target to pursue, Valerie was left behind to curse.
The two of them sailed back to a level altitude and exchanged a high five. "Nice one."
They made it to their separate closets, got their books, and made it to Mr. Lancer's room the instant the bell rang. "You're late." Mr. Lancer said crossly.
"We missed the bus." Hexa replied. "And then a bully decided to pick on Danny."
Lancer glared at Dash. Dash shook his head. "I was here the whole time Mr. Lancer, you can't blame me this time."
"It wasn't him Mr. Lancer. Wasn't even anybody at this school." Danny lied.
"His name was Brutus I think." Hexa lied.
"Well then, since this 'Brutus' can't serve detention it looks like the two of you will be joining Mr. Baxter in my office tomorrow afternoon." Mr. Lancer drawled. "Take your seats."
Danny grumbled something unintelligible about unfair, not his fault. Hexa silently took her seat. It was better than being attacked by Black Velvet.
"Now class, if you'll open your books to page thirty four and begin from the top of the page…"
He he, Mr. Lancer reminds me of Mr. Strauch, my old Latin Teacher! Not evil, simply misunderstood..
