Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! What with me being like 275 pages behind on my book for English and at my dad's house, I have a good number of lame excuses to give you all. Of course you don't want to hear them. Ash… some of you feel sorry for him? Good, that's what I wanted. To clarify, yes, it was Vlad that stuck him in the box. We all know how sickeningly ominous he always is… moans over cliffhanger in Reign Storm
This one goes out to anyone who lives in the path of Hurricane Katrina. I hope you and your family and friends are safe and out of harm's way. Also to the family members of those lost in 9-11-01: We still have not forgotten. Hopefully our lives will get back to normal soon, and I'm praying for you all.
Corrupted and Cold
Danny didn't know what time it was. All he knew was that the sun was high in the sky, he was tired as hell, and it was still god-forsaken cold. That and he hadn't found any trace of Sam yet.
For all he knew, Tucker was miles behind him, joining a search party for Rachel and Paul. That was after he'd been interrogated by the police force. They were checking in with each other whenever Tucker was alone to avoid suspicion. Each time Tucker had asked him to come back. He'd gone for over a day now without food and little water. Danny swore he was fine, saying he didn't feel hunger as a ghost. But he had to admit that it was messing with him. If ghosts could feel pain and fatigue, why not hunger?
He sighed irritably, closing his eyes as he flew over the pine trees. It was obvious that he wouldn't last long without going back to the resort for some food and a nap. Sam was going to be safe, or at least that's what he hoped. It was only when he arrived that she'd be in real danger, but it wasn't as if he was going to leave her there.
Besides, it wasn't as if an avalanche would do much to hurt him. He was half ghost. He could just take Sam's hand, go intangible, and all would be well. That's why he was pretty certain that Ash didn't know he had ghost powers. If he did, then Ash was just as dumb as the average ghost… okay; so most ghosts weren't very stupid. Scratch that comment, then. But he was definitely as dumb as the Box Ghost.
He opened his eyes slowly and unwillingly. His eyes adjusted to the light with difficulty, showing that he was loosing altitude and falling toward the trees. Yelping, he straightened himself five feet from the thick canopy. Man, how was he supposed to fight when he could barely fly straight? Perhaps a short nap wouldn't be quite so bad after all.
No, he couldn't. Bad idea. Find Sam, Danny, find Sam.
Find Sam and then faint from exhaustion as soon as she cried, my hero? And that snow did look awfully soft…
Before he could argue within himself any longer, he found himself drifting down to the ground, beneath the sun that supplied a little warmth. He slipped into human form and fell asleep.
Too much time had passed since Sam had awoken. Silence had stretched out during that time, making the hours seem like weeks. Not that she had any objection with talking to her ghost captor; she learned right off the bat that asking question may get her answers, but befuddled ones at best. So, she passed the time staring at the rocky ceiling, braiding her hair, and thinking about how incredibly, unforgivably stupid she had been in the past week.
Falling for Ash's plan was bad enough, but falling for Ash? She wished she could find a decent blunt object that she could hit herself over the head with. How many times had she cursed herself in the past day? It was too much for her to get away with without needing a youth counselor that was for sure.
The one thing that took time to be uncovered by Sam's pride was the fact that she felt like curling into a ball and crying. Not for herself, or for Danny. For Ash. He'd hurt her deeply. Just the thought of saying the words struck a foul taste in her mouth, but she really liked him. Really. And if he hadn't done this, who knows, maybe they could've found some way to go steady even with the distance, and then…
She grasped a chunk of her hair and screamed several more curses in her mind. So the solitude was getting to her. Oh, well. She'd bite her tongue and rip her hair out before letting herself get worked up over Ash.
The worst part was that Ash still liked her, too. She hadn't the faintest idea as to why except that he was insane.
One thing Ash had totally wrong was that he thought Sam didn't have any feelings whatsoever for Danny. Ha, ha, that's a riot. It was actually pretty ironic that the whole point was supposed to be that the girl didn't like the boy. Ash sure did screw up on that small detail.
She heard a metallic clang behind her. She'd been hearing noises like that for a while now and had given up on turning around to see. Ash had gone back to the dark part of the cave and if she stood to follow, he'd hit her with ectoplasm again. That was not an experience she wanted to relive. Only when she heard Ash cough behind her did she turn her head.
Ash was standing above her, looking perfectly human again. The sickening taste rose back into her mouth. At his feet was a tray of fruit and bread, with a glass of water. Not very visually appealing, but at the sight Sam's stomach growled. "I remembered you didn't like meat," he said quietly, smiling softly. "Eat before you starve."
Sam glared up at him. "Don't talk to me like that," she said coldly. "You should care less if I starve."
The smile evaporated from his face and he turned before anything could be revealed from his face. "I told you I didn't want to do it," he hissed.
"Then why do it?" she shot back.
"You know why," he said, his voice growing tense.
Sam shrugged. She looked back towards the shadows he appeared from, and a question rose in her mind. "What are you doing back there, anyway?"
"That," he replied, "will be known to you soon. Whenever you're friend arrives."
A lump formed in her throat as numerous possibilities came to her mind. "Don't you dare hurt Danny," she growled.
"Nothing I do to him is worse than anything you've already accomplished," he retorted. Even though Sam couldn't see, she just knew that he was smirking smugly. "Besides, you know exactly what I'm going to do, and why."
"Because of Alice," she said, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I do know. So? Look, I'm sorry she didn't like you and all, but it's not exactly something to kill people over." She didn't realize that what she was saying could be potentially dangerous. She was tired, hungry, alone, and pissed off. "I wouldn't have even turned my back on Danny if it wasn't for you, you know that?"
Ash clenched his fist and shut his eyes tightly, something Sam couldn't see as she drew on. "Shut up."
"You're just bitter and obsessed and you're stuck in a cycle. Seduce a girl, lure her friend away, and kill them both. Do you really even benefit from it? How do they learn some kind of lesson if they're dead?"
"SHUT UP!" he yelled turning on her. His appearance grew fierce as his eyes flashed red and he glowed dark green, his black hair flying in a frightening way. Sam gasped and jumped back, kicking over the glass of water in the process. "You don't know anything! I loved Alice! She killed me, and I killed her. Neither of us meant to, I know she didn't! If we had to die then you deserve the same thing! How do I make myself any clearer?" He took a step toward her. Sam backed against the wall, eyes wide with panic. The air around her was growing colder and colder. "You just don't get it, do you? You're so stupid! Why can't you just get it? I love you. I don't want to do it. But I have to. I already picked you, so now I have to finish it. Two years have gone by without my doing it… two years…" He paused, as memories seemed to fly in front of his eyes. A tall black haired ghost in white, with blue skin…. talking senselessly as Ash tried to ask him how exactly he'd found him. The ghost then pulled a gold colored box from behind him and the next thing Ash knew he was hidden within it for what he had expected to be an eternity.
Then the lid opened. He wouldn't have even noticed it if he hadn't heard the Box Ghost's cries of victory at discovering a powerful box and whatnot. After that, it had been quite simple. The Box Ghost wanted to use him to defeat his arch foe, a certain Danny Phantom. He informed Ash that they were in Amity Park, two years after his imprisonment. Ash would have simply flown away until he found his home if the Box Ghost hadn't mentioned that he'd overheard this Danny Phantom was intending to travel to a resort, something he'd overheard by good chance.
Danny Phantom was half boy, half ghost.
He had two friends that seemed to be everywhere with him: one boy, one rather pretty girl.
"Bull," said Sam, braver after seeing Ash hesitate. "Love me… here's some news: if you hadn't done this, there's a good chance I could've liked you back. You're completely insane, you know."
Ash smiled viciously and laughed. "I know. But you're not for me." He nodded his head to the plate of food. "Eat. You know you're hungry."
Without another word, he walked back into the shadows, leaving Sam feeling more alone than ever. She closed her eyes and breathed heavily. No matter how bad it got, Danny couldn't find her. "Please don't find me," she whispered.
She reached for an apple and stared at the lost water. She turned her head and took a fierce bite.
It was bright. Everywhere he looked all he saw was white, expansive space. Itseemed like the pure light of it all would burn into his retinas.He turned to his right and saw a blur of black contrast against the palette. The blur cleared and he could see ebony hair, shining in the sun. Sam smiled and winked, pushing herself forward on her skis down the hill.
Danny laughed and took off after her, racing her down the mountainside. Faster and faster he went until he was side by side with her, her face glowing with genuine joy. Just the sight made him smile wider.
"Can't catch me," she called mockingly, taking the lead yet again. Danny came out of his daze and got his head back into the race, but Sam had already gone too far ahead. Soon they had both reached the bottom of the slope, panting. She took off her skis and lay back on the snow. "Told you. You couldn't catch me," she sighed.
Danny sat next to her and pulled her up eye level with him. Her smile faded as he focused on her gorgeous eyes, reflecting his own nervousness yet total calm. Their visible, smoky breath mixed as he closed the gap between them, all traces of cold leaving him as he met her warm lips.
Pulling back, he smiled and lifted her hands up by her wrists. "Caught you," he whispered. She smiled back and their faces neared again…
The sound of wings fluttering stirred him and he opened his eyes. A large bird took off from a branch hanging over him into the dark night sky…
"Crap!" he cried, standing up. Nightfall! How long had he been asleep? How far into the night was it? He quickly transformed and flew up past the trees, looking for the moon. Lucky him: it was August fifth, the new moon. The time didn't matter, anyway. Nor did the fact that he knew the fifth was the new moon, even though he was slightly impressed with himself.
The dream…
He had to catch her, no matter what.
"Alright, people, listen up," called Officer Newhart, leader of the Night Shift C group that Tucker was so fortunately a part of. What an honor. "In thirty minute's we're heading back to be replaced by the next shift. Be back at this point in twenty-nine minutes." With that, her and her subdivision took off on the snowmobiles. Tucker and his subdivision of two policemen and one thirty-something man took off to the right and the rest went left.
He hadn't heard from Danny in hours now. Maybe he'd fallen asleep; it wouldn't exactly be unexpected. He couldn't help but constantly worry, though. He just knew he was just going to break out like he did whenever he was under stress.
"We'll go ahead for fifteen minutes and then double back," said one of the policemen. "I know you two are tired, but keep your eyes peeled. We don't have a use for napping civilians."
Law enforcement was so very kind.
Tucker steered away from the group, but not too far. He wanted to search as much area as he could to find those kids. They'd been gone for days, with no food, no water, and nothing to keep them from the cold. The actual seriousness hadn't really sunk into him before that morning. But now that he was out in the field (on the ground field, at least) he could see the panic hidden behind the people's eyes. Four kids missing with no explanation except ghosts or psychotic killers…
Knowing it was both didn't exactly lull him to sleep.
He slowed the snowmobile when he spotted something that contrasted against the blues and grays of the world around him: a wool, maroon blanket thrown messily against a tree. He remembered something about the missing items that the kids' parents thought were taken by the runaways.
"Hey!" he yelled, honking the horn on the handlebar. "I found something!" The other three turned at his call and drove back towards him. He parked the snowmobile and picked up the blanket. One of the policemen took it from him and looked at it closely.
"It matches the description," he said. To the other officer, he said, "Call Newhart. Tell her we have a-"
Tucker started walking away from the small group, looking behind trees and bushes for any more signs of the kids. To his left he heard the faint sound of a cough. He turned sharply and ran in the direction. Up against a large rock, beneath the other missing, navy blue blanket that blended so well with the darkened surroundings, were a girl and a boy, huddled next to each other for warmth. Both appeared asleep and the girl coughed again.
"They're here!" he cried out, smiling in relief. "I found them, over here!"
The boy stirred from the racket and blinked upwards, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Seeing Tucker, he smiled weakly and shook the girl lying on his shoulder. "Rae, wake up," he said hoarsely. "They found us." Rachel awoke and sat up, coughing more as the rest of Tucker's division arrived.
"Oh, thank God!" said the man with them, placing a hand on his heart. "Are you children alright?"
"She needs medicine," said Paul, his voice still hoarse. "She's sick. I think it's pneumonia, or something."
"What the heck were you kids thinking?" Tucker asked as the policemen helped Rachel up from the ground. Paul was still strong enough to stand and walk on his own.
"She ran away after her and her dad had a fight about…" Paul hesitated and glanced to Rachel before he continued. "She brought some food and stuff but she ran before I found her, and I was low, too. She had told me that she was leaving but made me swear not to tell, so I just went after her in the direction she went. I wasn't going to just leave her out here but I wasn't going to break my promise to her."
Idiotic middle school kids, Tucker thought.
The two children were wrapped in more blankets and, when the rest of the group arrived, given water and medicine. They were both placed on different snowmobiles with the high-ranking officers and taken back to a point where a medical helicopter would pick them up and take them to a hospital twenty miles away.
A new priority was set for the search teams, one that Tucker knew was a wasted resource anyway: Find Sam Manson and Daniel Fenton.
Right about now, Danny's new best friend was the Box Ghost.
He was flying quietly behind the ghost at a safe distance, shrouded by the occasional tree as he was now away from the heart of the forest. The ghost was moving slowly toward a mountain deliberately, yet not without the characteristic random loops.
It was obvious that the Box Ghost and the Specter were connected somehow. All of the 'my partner' and 'our plan to destroy you' comments made a little sense in his head now.
As Danny flew closer behind him, he could see a dark gray blemish on the white and light gray mountainside. He narrowed his eyes as he realized what it was, and why they were going there.
Finally…He became invisible and sped ahead of the Box Ghost. He reached the small cave, from which a faint green light glowed. Hanging back at the edge of the entrance, he poked his head in and tried to see. No way was he going to light his hand to see better; it might call attention to himself if anyone was in there. He saw and heard nothing except for the green glow, which in itself made the cave worthy for inspection.
The Box Ghost had caught up to him and flew into the cave, with Danny watching from behind. He moved in to the center of the hole and watched after him, though he couldn't see. Suddenly, the back of the pudgy ghost was coming back and a fast speed. Danny ducked to the side as he flew past, crying out. Screw stealth, Danny was going in.
Still invisible he flew deeper into the cave, looking around for signs of Sam. He headed for the source of the green light. As he neared it, the walls were lit up with a phantomlike aura. Hey, a pun. Ugh, focus!
He heard a faint moan. Turning to the sound, he saw a white pillow splashed with ebony hair. He smiled and groaned quietly in relief. He found her! And no sign of the Avalanche Specter.
He flew to where Sam lay against the wall. Next to her laid a silver tray littered with fruit rinds. Holding back the laughter that wanted to escape, he shook her shoulder until her eyes fluttered open. She gasped and he covered her mouth with his hands.
He found her. She was safe. They were hightailing it out of there.
"Shh, Sam," he whispered. "Don't worry. We're maybe five miles from the resort, we'll be back in no time."
Sam sat up and pulled Danny's hand from her mouth. "Danny, go!" she said quietly. "Get out of here, leave me. I'm fine."
What the hell? Danny looked at her, confused. She didn't want him to save her? What was that about? "What… Why? Look, Sam, nothing's going to happen. We can leave right now. The Specter doesn't know I'm a ghost, he's not expecting-"
"Danny, listen!" she hissed. "Ash does know you have powers. He's expecting you! I don't know what it is but he's been doing something back there, and I don't want you to get hurt."
"The Specter isn't going to hurt me," he said, wrapping his arms around your neck. "If he tries, I have the thermos with me. Let's get out of here." He began to go intangible when a cold struck him and he shivered, exhaling blue.
"But you just got here."
A sharp, twisting pain hit him in his back.
He fell forward, his dark hair falling in his face.
Dark…?
He staggered and fell into Sam, his eyes inches from her wide, shocked amethyst. Then everything faded from green to black.
Author's Note: Ooh. Heehee. Not much to say except that after this, you all better have some reviews to give! Much love,
Saramis Kismet (new name)