Heh…heh… Sorry about last time, the rant thing at the bottom. I was just, well, you all probably know exactly how I felt…feel. Sorry about that, though.
Blegh.
To the story!
Those darn villainous ghosts and their evil plans...Chapter 14!
"SAM!" Danny yelled, sinking down to his knees. "…Sam, I need you." He told his hands quietly. But she doesn't need me. A little voice whispered spitefully.
He choked, tears running down his face.
They were gone, his two best friends were gone. He curled up on the forest floor, sobbing.
He'd never realized how much he needed them till now. And now, when he needed them most, they had left him.
No, I pushed them away. The little voice whispered, hateful. I couldn't deal with my own problems so I burdened my friends with my troubles.
And now he was alone, he realized, his frightened eyes staring at nothing. He was completely and utterly alone.
"YOU! YOU WERE BEHIND EVERYTHING!" Sam screamed at the ghost. The ghost stared at Sam, her face blank, her calm golden eyes reflecting Sam's hateful purple ones. Sam's gaze darted to the exit, her thoughts with Danny.
The ghost picked up the rock lying at her feet. Sam actually laughed.
"You think you can stop me with a rock? You really are crazy." Sam took a step forward.
"I am a ghost, humans cannot touch me." She said, somewhat haughtily, "This rock, however, can do quite some damage to your head, if you don't remember." Sam stopped, hating how helpless she felt.
"Why are you doing this?" Sam growled, her mind harboring crazy thoughts of just running through the ghost and praying that she had horrible aim.
The ghost smiled, whether at Sam's inner thoughts or because she was proud of her plan, Sam couldn't tell.
"I have my reasons…" For a second, Sam swore a look of pure hatred flashed across the usually calm golden eyes. Sam did a double take, but only saw blank golden eyes staring back at her. After a few moments of Sam staring hatefully at the ghost, she decided to speak up again.
"Who are you, anyway?" The ghost looked taken aback for a second, apparently not expecting that question.
"Interesting question, but I guess there is no harm in answering…" Sam waited for about two seconds, then lost what patience she had left at this point.
"Well!"
"Sorry, I had forgotten. I believe that I was… no, I am called Einzel."
...Einzel? That's...
"Any more questions?" Einzel asked, a slight note of humor in her voice, "Because I'm sure your friend Tucker would be happy to answer them for you." Sam's gaze shot to the entrance of the alley, her mind going blank. A silhouette of Tucker appeared at the entrance, slowly getting bigger as Tucker walked calmly up to Einzel.
"Hello, Sam." Both Tucker and Einzel spoke, their faces grinning at Sam. She clenched her fists, a desire to punch the ghost burning through her veins. Sam watched, grinding her teeth, as Einzel sent Tucker to guard the entrance with a flick of her eyes.
Finally getting herself under control, Sam straightened and glared as Einzel floated in front of her, a grin plastered across her face.
"Nice puppet. What, was Danny too hard to hypnotize?" Sam asked spitefully. The ghost's face actually darkened at this.
"Yes, he was. But it does not matter, I've taken care of him just the same." Einzel said calmly. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"You had to rely on a rock to knock me out, there's no way you could hurt Danny." She said, regaining her confidence.
"Oh really? Then he wasn't hurt after Skulker exposed him and his fellow students rejected him? What about when his own father turned on him, shorting out his powers? Or when Tucker, one of his best friends, left him?" Einzel looked at Sam standing in the corner with her mouth open.
All of them…?
"You…?"
Sam's eyes flared, her fists clenching as her whole body shook with rage. She hissed through clenched teeth, hatred seeping through her voice.
"That was all you!" Einzel ignored Sam as she continued, her voice low, emphasis on each word.
"…or, what about when the person whom he most admired left him, the one person he always thought would be by his side helping him through whatever came his way, the only person that he truly could not live without." Einzel looked calmly at Sam's shocked figure, her quiet voice echoing through the dark alley.
"What will he do without you, Sam?"
She stared at the ghost floating in front of her, fully realizing just how deep her plan went. Sam licked her lips, her voice coming out in a dry rasp, lacking its usual confidence.
"He'll survive." She said softly. Einzel looked at Sam curiously for a second, seemingly pondering something.
Sam glanced around nervously, her gaze coming to rest on Tucker's silhouette. She narrowed her eyes, racking her brain for something, anything.
"…I think she was afraid of the fire in my hands…" Danny's voice ran through her head, followed by an image of the school cafeteria and a confused Danny sitting next to her at their lunch table, explaining his weekend to his two friends.
Sam's eyes widened, her gaze shooting to the outline of Tucker's backpack.
That just might work…
She glanced at the ghost, who was currently staring off into space, her mind somewhere else. Ignoring her common sense, Sam leapt towards Tucker, closing her eyes when Einzel blocked her way.
She kept running, right through the ghost.
Sam gasped, her whole body suddenly felt like it was drenched in ice water.
That was Einzel! She realized, opening her eyes when her body returned to it's normal temperature.
Her eyes trained on Tucker's silhouette at the end of the alley, ignoring the ghost behind her. Which, in retrospect, probably wasn't a good idea.
Einzel wasn't defeated yet.
A dull thump echoed throughout the alley.
Sam stumbled, crying out in pain. Her back started throbbing, she could already feel a huge bruise starting to form where something hard had connected with the middle of her back.
The rock! Sam remembered the black rock Einzel had pointed to earlier. Sam pushed away the pain and continued running, her eyes one again focused on Tucker's silhouette.
She really does have horrible aim. She couldn't help but think with bitter humor, glad the ghost had missed her true target.
Her head.
Almost there…!
She absently noticed Tucker's outline reach down and grab something.
…almost…!
Suddenly, a long metal pipe shot out of the shadows, headed towards Sam's skull.
Sam's eyes widened, her mouth letting out a startled squeak.
DUCK! Her mind screamed at her.
She did, just in time.
The pipe whistled over her head, it's momentum swinging Tucker around in the process.
Recovering from her shock, Sam reached forward, grabbing for where she thought Tucker's backpack was while he was still off balance. Her hands ran into soft material, stretched tight over several bumps and bulges.
I knew Tucker wouldn't leave home without his technology! Sam thought with relief, running her hands over what she suspected was his PDA.
She grabbed the soft material, and with a heave, ripped the backpack right off of Tucker's shoulders, knocking him to the ground in the process.
Sam heard the pipe clang against the concrete as she turned around, coming face to face with a pair of burning golden eyes.
"Ahh!" Sam jerked backwards in surprise. Einzel's narrowed eyes followed, continuing to stare at her with pure loathing.
Trying to calm her shattered nerves, Sam backed up another step, discretely slipping her shaking hand into Tucker's backpack.
Einzel's golden eyes followed her, the soft yellow light of the street lamp beginning to illuminate the rock she was slowly raising over her head.
Sam took another step back, the pale light of the street lamp falling on her face. She watched the rock rise slowly over the ghosts head, Sam's hand desperately searching through the backpack that she held low to the ground.
Einzel paused with both her hands held over her head, the rock glinting in the yellow street light.
There! Sam looked down at the backpack,her hand wrapped around Tucker's PDA.
She ripped the PDA out, looking up to see the ghost swinging the rock towards her head, her aim dead on.
Sam's mind went blank, her body freezing up as she watched the rock descend towards her forehead. The backpack fell from numb hands, falling to the ground with a soft thud.
Her instincts finally kicked in, taking control of her frozen body. Her arms swung up in front of her face, the PDA still clutched in her sweaty palm, while she flinched away, closing her eyes with a soft moan.
Sam tensed, waiting for the impact...
The rock slammed down onto her hand, shattering the glass of the PDA. The impact shook her whole arm, a dull throb sinking down through her hand all the way to her shoulder. She felt something hot trace it's way down her arm, dancing along her skin.
Her empty mind was suddenly filled with thoughts running through at a million miles an hour.
I'm alive? The PDA! Wait, what about Einzel? Ahh, my hand hurts! But I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm alive!
She heard Einzel gasp, the pressure from the rock disappearing.
What...?
Sam peeked open one eye, the blurred outline of the rock falling by.
Einzel backed up slowly, her wide eyes focused on the sparks that were floating down to the ground, landing softly on Tucker's backpack.
…it worked? Sam glanced down at the backpack, watching as a few of the sparks caught hold of the backpack and began to eat away at it.
It worked! Sam thought triumphantly, lowering her stinging arm, the fried PDA still clutched in her hand. She glanced at the PDA, then at the growing flame on the backpack. That wasn't exactly how I had planned it, but it worked!
She looked up just in time to see Einzel disappear into the shadow of the alley, her face twisted in fear.
Sam grinned defiantly at the dark alley, silently laughing at her own self doubt.
She kicked the burning backpack towards the alley, sending long shadows down the entrance.
Take that, Einzel! She thought triumphantly.
She turned around, tossing the shattered PDA over her shoulder.
Her worried mind once again turning towards Danny, she started off towards the edge of town where the dark forest sat, adrenaline running rampant throughout her body. She only had a little while before the fire burned itself out, and she couldn't let herself get captured again, not if she wanted to help Danny.
She absently heard someone moan behind her, someone who sounded a lot like Tucker.
Wait…Tucker?
"Tucker?" Sam stopped, spinning around. Her gaze searched the street, finally landing on a figure sitting just outside of the lamplight, rubbing it's head and looking around in confusion.
"Tucker!" Einzel must have lost her concentration when I lit the fire!
Sam started back towards her confused friend, noticing the fire flicker out from the corner of her eye.
She stopped, looking back towards the direction of the dark forest, hesitating. I can't get caught again...
…Danny…
"Sam?" Her friend croaked, his voice raspy. "Where am I? Wha…" Tucker's voice stopped with a gasp. "NOOOO!" Sam turned away from the forest, images of Einzel looming over her friend flashing through her mind.
"Tucker! Close your eyes!" She yelled, frantically searching for him through the pale light. She spotted him bent over with his hands covering his face.
He was sobbing over his shattered PDA.
The ghost was no where in sight.
Sam shook her head with a sigh, relief washing through her body.
"Geeze, Tucker." She muttered, rushing over to her friend. Only Tucker would cry over the destruction of a PDA. She thought somewhat guiltily, mentally promising to replace all of her friend's equipment.
Before she could reach him, golden eyes flared open from the dark alley, narrowing when they focused on Tucker. Sam choked, her heart freezing.
A pale hand shot out of the shadows, landing lightly on Tucker's shoulder. Golden eyes looked softly down on her friend.
Sam stuttered, trying to shout out a warning. But her voice seemed frozen.
"Huh?" Tucker said, looking up.
"Tucker, don't!" She screamed, regaining her voice.
But it was too late.
Tucker's eyes flashed gold, his expression going blank.
Sam swore loudly, torn between her two friends.
Tucker or Danny? Danny needs me… but so does Tucker! … but Danny…
Tucker stood up slowly, turning around to face Sam.
Sam took one look at her friend, Einzel floating ominously behind him, and then she turned around.
And ran.
I'm sorry Tucker! I'll come back, I promise!
Sam looked up from the ground rushing beneath her, her gaze focusing on the forest in the distance. Her eyes hardened in determination.
Hang on Danny. I'm coming.
Far away, Danny looked up at the clouds, tears streaming down his face. He was exhausted from searching the entire forest for Sam, his voice gone from screaming her name. At first he hadn't believed Tucker, Sam would never leave him, right?
"We've got your back, Danny." A faded image of Sam smiling at him replaced the forest. But it disappeared quickly, the black trees once again filling his vision.
No one had answered.
Sam really was gone...
Shivering, he drew his arms close as a cold breeze whistled past.
"…danny…!" A barely distinguishable voice floated by with the breeze. Danny slowly looked up, his wide eyes searching the forest.
"…Sam?"
Heh heh…heh. Ok, in defense of my continuous cliffhangers, in one of my english classes we are currently reading and discussing "1001 Arabian Nights". If you've read that book, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, well, I recommend it, because it really is a good book, y'know?
Oh yeah! All of the answers to previous chapters should be in this chapter. (Well, except for one. Remember that one shadow floating over the alley a few chapters back? Yeah, you still shouldn't be able to guess who that is.) But you kinda have to guess at the answers, I just gave you all of the evidence. But if you don't like guessing, (the horror!) then just wait a chapter or two. The main characters still have to figure everything out, of course. It's just fun to figure it out before they do. Yay dramatic irony!
cough Yes, well… to the reviews!
(Crazy) DING DING DING! Takes on game show host's voice You are our 100th reviewer! You've just won a prize! It's, uh... um... behind...dooooor number three! Door creaks open OMG! It's an imaginary 100 dollars! Congratulations! ...heh heh, and thanks for your review. XD (SleepW) Yeah, I signed that too. Those evil people at nick, sitting in their evil leather chairs. They probably have hairless cats that they pet...ALL EVIL LIKE! ...eh, I just watched Invader Zim. SQUEE! Anyway, thanks! (MissM) Heh heh, yeah... I just thought that that was a bit stupid, even for them. Oh, and being evil is fun. : ) (ilikedan) Oh man, Danny 24/7! That would be just plain amazing. Heh heh, wasn't Tucker evil? I had fun with that. XDAnyway, thanks for the review! (ObiQ) That's why I like Weakness so much, I could never pull off Evil Dan. I'd probably have him say something cheesy like "Now for my first evil deed... I will hide Mr. Lancer's chalk, HAHAHAHAAAA!" As people stare at him, trying not to laugh at his un-evilness. Heh heh, yeah... Thanks for the review! (EnigP) Er, opps. I sorta ranted... a lot. Sorry. But, hey, I'm glad you thought it was motivational! Thanks for the review! (JCrystal) Thanks! And, yep, that's it exactly. Danny's greatest fear. Or, at least, what I think it would be. Btw, my friend passed on that chain thingy around dA. But I don't know what else to do...
Oh yeah, that reminds me. I started the pic thingy I mentioned a while back. I haven't finished it yet, but if ya want to see what I have done so far (which really isn't much), I posted it in my scraps. Here: http /www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 28510302/ Just remove the spaces!
(Does the review dance) C'mon, reviews!