A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Let me see here... Thank you to: AShauni21, Summers Rage, mysterygal02, azngirlchibi, Cat-san, Fey Phantom, xXQuicksilverXx, rikagirls, thechickenlittle and holly. You guys are totally awesome. And some of your reviews have caught my attention, so I wanted to address a few before I got started on the next chapter.
AShauni21: Thank you very much for your kind words. I was really hoping I was keeping their characters in check. Thanks for calming my paraniod writing fears. And don't worry, I keep on rolling along with this fiction.
And there were a few that mentioned the idea of the ghost zone and Tucker's death. I will only say this. Don't jump the gun, the jury is still out on the ending for Tucker you will have to wait and see. Sorry to add, that the Ghost Zone will have little or nothing to do in my fiction. But it's all good. I'm still going and with the pace I'm setting for myself, it will be done in no time... I just don't know if that's a good thing or not.
Now, enough from me. Enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter Four: Gossip Isn't Always Wrong
Sam smiled at the last guest as they left, making sure to make a great impression with them since they now held one of the random surveys printed out from the register. The last thing she needed was a bad review on her first week on the job. After the family had turned the corner and walked out of the electronics area, she massaged her cheeks to get the feeling back in them. She pulled out the printer and began to label the messed up video game selves once again. The kids just knock off all the labels every freaking day and she was absolutely tired of it. If she didn't have enough to think about, she didn't need some snot nosed kids knocking off the labeling she had just finished. Besides that, the titles were out of order again, which meant that somewhere along the lines she would have to reorganize them. Or leave it for the next person to deal with it.
"Hey Sam, how's it going over here in R-zone?" David asked from behind her, making her jump in surprise.
"Oh, hi David," she smiled and held up the label printer and laser gun to scan the prices, "Just great. Just making more labels for the games. How's manager life treating you?"
"Just fine, now that the Christmas rush is over we can calm down a bit. I love it how it become so slow about a month and a half after the holiday is over," he chuckled and patted her on the back, "It always seems like a ghost town around here during this time of the year though. Kinda creepy. Like a specter can just grab you by the ankles and swing you around by your-"
Sam looked down at the printer as another label popped out. David covered his mouth after he realized what he said, "I'm sorry, Samantha. I get carried away with myself."
"It's okay, David," she nodded and gave a small smile, "You stopped yourself before making a big mess of things."
"I did, did I? Good to know," he chuckled and elbowed her in the side to get a small laugh from his new employee, "Keep up the good work, Sam."
"Thank you, David," she called after him. The moment was awkward, but he truly didn't mean anything by it and was kind enough to try and catch himself.
She liked calling everybody by their first name instead of by 'sir' or 'ma'am'. It was like she was actually working with real people and not just corporate robots. David was also the type of guy that was funny and happy-go-lucky, where everything was going great and everyone was just plain happy. Sam sometimes envied him for it, but didn't- or couldn't- hate him for it. Just the opposite, she loved him for a boss. The only problem was that he was about thirty years her senior and maybe a little too happy.
David was right though; the Christmas rush had slowed down. She was only hired as an electronic associate because a lot of the other associates in that area in the store had enough with the workload and decided to quit. Sam on the other hand loved the work. Got her mind off of things, and that's what she needed with the drama and real life aftermath of Tucker's death. It was more than a week after the funeral, but she still had small flashbacks to that day and she still felt the sting in her chest every time she saw a new game come in and thought to herself how much Tucker would have wanted to play it. Even if the work began to get tedious, she still did it with a content face. She didn't have to smile all the time, which was a blessing in disguise for her. Her cheeks had enough to suffer through every time she had another guest to ring up.
"Hey Sam, you need a hand with anything in here?" a brunette head popped out from behind one of the other video game racks.
"Hi Jenna," Sam rolled her eyes, "Let me guess, you finished cleaning your section of the store and need something to do?"
"How'd you know?"
"You have 'I'm bored' scribbled all over your hand," Sam grabbed Jenna's hand and showed it to her. Jenna looked at her own hand and smiled sheepishly. She was more of a punk than a Goth, but she was someone that Sam could relate to. She had her lip pierced, which she had to hide because of company policy, as well as three or more piercing in each of her ears. She always had her hair up in some kind of mismanaged style, and yet it always turned out all right in the end. It was actually strange how the smallest of movements made her hair seem so bouncy. Wristbands were her obsession, at least at the moment; there was never a time where she didn't have at least one on her wrists. The only down side to her personality was that she loved gossip and would spread it as far as she could. Not to be mean or malicious, just because she loved to talk and find out what's going on in the world. Well, at least the world around her.
Sam walked from the video games over to her register and hid the printer once again from view, "What exactly would you help me with, anyway? The cleaning is done, I've finally finished the labeling and I have everything semi-organized, at least for the rest of my shift… what could you possibly help me with?"
"I could sharpen your skills on the new demo of Kingdom Hearts!" she squealed and hopped over to the demo Play Station 2.
Suddenly a flashback just hit Sam and all she could hear is a voice in her head, Please get me the new Kingdom Hearts when it comes in! Please…
"Sam?" Jenna waved a hand in front of her face, "You still in there?"
"Yeah… just got lost in my thoughts," Sam shook herself out of the flashback, "How about we just play some 'Destroy all Humans' instead, huh?"
"Okay, why not?" she smiled as they both went over to the XBOX system and began to beat the heck out of one another as the human body count began to rise.
After the third or fourth turn, Jenna turned to Sam and began to walk over to her register to sit on the counter, "The truth is, I don't want to be stuck alone in my section. You know with all the talk and everything going around. It's not safe for an unescorted female anymore. Not even in a toy store… how twisted is that?"
"Now what gossip are you talking about?" Sam rolled her eyes as she tossed a digital cow across the field in the video game and called it quits for the time being. She turned around and leaned on the demo system, waiting for Jenna to explain.
"It's not gossip…" Jenna began but saw the look on Sam's face and hopped up on the counter, "Okay, it is gossip, but not all gossip and rumors are lies, you know."
"But most of them are," Sam nodded and sighed in frustration as Jenna gave her the look that she was going to tell her about it anyway.
"Look, I've been hearing about some kidnappings and rapes happening around Amity Park and I'm just worried is all," Jenna rubbed her arm. Sam had noticed that she did that when she was nervous or anxious about something, "They are kidnapping girls our age from anywhere really. Malls, parks, stores, even off the streets. No one sees them and no one is able to really report them. Just some semen or something really bad at the scene of the kidnapping- or sometimes nothing at all."
"You're becoming paranoid," Sam said immediately and looked at the games lined up behind the registers, "Those three video games aren't alphabetized right, are they?"
"Sam," Jenna said in an annoyed tone, "Aren't you a least a little bit scared about this? I mean, they've never found one girl alive… or even a body yet."
"Would it be better if they had found a body? Would it make you feel better or more secure?" Sam asked and Jenna shook her head while Sam went back to the case behind the registers, "Now, seriously tell me… are those three actually alphabetized? Because I keep moving them around and someone keeps moving them back."
"Well H does come before I in the alphabet, right Sam?" Jenna chuckled a little, "And you call me crazy."
"She calls everybody crazy," Danny came up behind the two girls and scared the heck out of Jenna who fell backwards and landed behind one of the registers. She let out a little yelp and stood up quickly, brushing herself off.
"I'm okay," she announced and hopped back up on the counter.
"Hey Danny," Sam smiled, "What brings you by?"
"A new controller," he holds up an older PS2 controller that was broken in half, "Kinda had another incident with the new ghost boomerang."
"I thought your dad took that with him this morning when your parents left for the ghost conference," Sam asked.
"Yeah, but you know my dad. Always forgetting something… unfortunately it had to be a metal boomerang hunting for my head."
"All right, say no more," Sam shook her head, "I have more in the back. You want blue, green or black?"
"Green is good… uh, you got a bathroom in this place?" he asked and rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's by the dressing rooms on the far side of the store. Better run fast," she joked and he nodded as he ran toward the 'far side of the store'.
"Who was that?" Jenna asked, actually interested in the new boy that popped into electronics.
Sam was in the storage booth, looking for another green controller in the mess that she still had to clean, "Who was what?"
"That boy- or should I say man… is he gorgeous."
"You mean Danny?" Sam popped her head out and struggled to get out of the mess with the green controller tight in her grasp.
"'You mean Danny?'" Jenna imitated Sam, "Yes, Danny. Wow… He have a girlfriend?"
"No… not really," Sam said and began to whisk herself away into her own dream world and out of the way from Jenna's questions.
"Ah, you mean 'not yet'," Jenna jumped off of the counter and stood in front of Sam's register as she began to get ready for a sale, "You like him more than a friend, don't you? Oooo, Sam's got a crush on her friend."
"Don't be ridiculous, Jenna," Sam shook her head, "I've known Danny since we were practically in pull-ups. I doubt that it will be going any further than what it is."
"But you would like it to," Jenna said in a sing song voice.
"Can we shut up about it now?" Sam looked into her eyes.
"And defensive, not a good sign, Sammie," she chuckled as she heard Sam growl.
"And don't you dare make any gossip about this. I don't want to hear other people in the store talking about my personal life," Sam warned.
"Me? Make gossip?" Jenna pointed to herself as if in shock, "Oh no, my dear friend I only spread it. Never start it. It only causes problems."
"Imagine that," Sam mumbled and saw Danny come back into the department.
"Well, my section needs tending to," Jenna said in a sly voice and walked to Danny sticking out her hand as she did, "Nice to meet'cha, Danny. Name's Jenna, kind of Sam's trainer around here."
"Nice to meet you," Danny shook her hand cautiously.
"You too, later Sam," Jenna bounced out of the electronics department.
"Later Jenna," Sam had slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand and was cradling her head, "I'm sorry, she must be on another one of her sugar rushes."
"Now I understand how you got so lost your first couple of days here," he chuckled a little and looked at the controller in Sam's grip, "So what's the damage?"
"No damage, although I do have a high suspicion that something had hit her head when she was very young," Sam pretended to ponder about her co-worker.
"I meant the damage on my wallet," he smiled and pointed to the controller.
"Oh, twenty-seven thirty," she looked at the computer screen and took the cash from her best friend.
"How long until you're off?" he asked as he pushed the bag inside his large pocket in his sweatshirt.
"In another fifteen or so," Sam looked at the clock on the computer screen and sighed in boredom, "Man, it's so dead in here. And there is no way I'll be able to finish sorting the games before I go."
"Wanna pass the time on some video games?" he pointed to the systems.
"I guess so," she smiled and began to play Mario Baseball against him, "Have you played this one yet?"
"No, but I hear it's okay," Danny shrugged and stayed in the second player position, "So what was Jenna so happy about?"
"Different things," Sam replied and picked her team against Danny's.
"Like what? What kind of high sugar product to ingest next?" Danny laughed as his character stepped up to pitch.
"No, at least she hasn't told me yet," Sam hit the ball for a two base run, "She told me that she's actually scared more than anything else at the moment."
"Why's that?" Danny's eyes furrowed with the concentration on the game.
"She says there've been kidnappings all around Amity Park," Sam punched one of the buttons on the controller and got two of her runners home.
"No way! How'd you do that?" Danny frowned and let go of his controller.
"It's called practice. I get too much of it in here," Sam smiled and looked over her shoulder to find her next shift coming in to R-zone. She checked the clock and found that he was early. I didn't matter to her all that much, that meant the faster she could get out of there and more time she could spend with Danny, "Come on, next shift is here and I can't wait to get out of this ghost town."
"Hey Sam," a man a few years her senior had greeted as he punched in to start work.
"Hey Derek. You're a little early today. Not that I mind at all," Sam swiped her card to punch out and smiled, "How's life been treating you?"
"Oh, it's all good, you know," he smoothed his hand over his recently shaved head, "Nothing could bring down a debonair guy such as yours truly. I'm just too good for anything bad to happen to."
"Right… also too full of yourself, too."
"Hey! I resent that," he pouted.
"Okay," she shrugged and laughed to tell him she was joking and handed him the communications booklet from the counter, "Everything that needs to be done tonight is in there for you. Have fun tonight."
"Leaving me so soon?" he frowned and flipped through the pages to find the right date.
"Sorry, just made plans," she nodded over at Danny who was still standing by the system they were playing on, "Danny this is one of my many co-workers Derek; Derek this is my best friend Danny."
"Hey there," Danny stepped forward and grasped Derek's hand firmly, telling him in his own way he didn't appreciate the flirting between the two and finally turned to Sam, "So, where are we heading?"
"I thought we could stop by the Nasty Burger across the street," Sam said handing her walkie-talkie and keys to the case over to Derek who was still shaking his hand from Danny's grip, "See ya later, Derek."
"All right, later Sam," he chuckled and nodded to Danny as they left.
Danny and Sam made it out of the building without anyone really noticing other than the front desk where Sam had to get checked out. They crossed the street and found a small booth rather easily. Danny ordered and paid without hesitation and went to sit back down. Sam looked out the window to the parking lot and found her car still sitting in the employee parking. Then she noticed that she couldn't find Danny's car anywhere in the parking lot.
"Danny, where's your car?" Sam asked and Danny waited until their drinks were set down and the server left before he answered.
"I flew over," he sipped on his drink, "Don't worry, I was invisible too."
"I'm not going to stress over it. You're pretty careful bout that kind of stuff."
"Yeah. Um, not to say that I wasn't listening earlier… but what was it that Jenna was so scare of again?"
"You were too absorbed in the game, weren't you?" Sam smirked and Danny nodded, "I was talking about the recent kidnappings and rapes around the city. You know, all of them around my age."
"You worried about it?" he let the server set down Sam's salad and his cheeseburger and then the server walked off to let them enjoy their meal.
"Not all that much," Sam shrugged, "It doesn't really seem to register with me. I mean, we've never had anything like this happen here before. I guess I just don't really see it as a threat. Don't know why."
"I know what you mean," Danny nodded and ate some fries.
"It must be horrible for those girls though," Sam poked at her salad and slid a piece of hair behind her ear, "I'd rather kill myself than live after a rape. It would be too much for me to deal with."
"Why? It's not the end of your life, you know," Danny said trying to bring in some common sense.
"Yeah, but to a woman, well most women, the one you give yourself to is the one you are bonded with. When they take your virginity, they also take a part of you. It's something that has to be given, not taken by force," Sam chewed on some of her lettuce and looked at Danny, "At least that's how I always felt about it. Just to think that some one could take that from me or any other girl or woman is just atrocious."
"Nice word usage," Danny smiled, happy he could find another route of conversation.
"Thanks," Sam said sarcastically and began to chow down on her salad. Unknown to the two of them someone was listening in and laughed a little. Once they got outside and on the roof they began to laugh louder at the conversation they overheard.
"I was lucky that the halfa didn't sense me," Desire smiled to himself, "So she would rather die at her own hands than to be taken by force? That's interesting."
Desire looked over the top of the building and in through the window where Danny and Sam continued to talk and laugh, "Since my original attack and strategy didn't work in tearing them apart, why not let her do the tearing herself? My new pets will help in the process. And then I have a clear shot in creating misery for the boy. But I will have to do a little test first…"
A/N: And Desire is back! Dun, dun, dun! What's in store for Danny and Sam in the next chapters? Sometimes, I'm not even sure myself. Finally, I got Sam working. It took me a little while, but I finally got there. Thanks for the reviews, I love you all. Keep them coming please, I will keep coming with the chapters.