WoM- 'dizzy,' Too many stories, too little time! After I finished one of my fics, I think I'll break off from the whole 'one-update-every-single-day' thing. It's getting way too hectic, especially when that little thing called life interferes. Anywho, here's chapter 8. I'm not sure how close we are to the ending, but I'm expecting it to fall around either late February or early March.
Danny: (To Valerie) Look, I don't wanna hurt you.
Valerie: What makes you think you can?
Hunting for Promises
'This is truly the lowest point of my career as a ghost hunter…'
"How much further?" Valerie demanded.
"Can't say," Phantom grunted back, "But I think we're almost halfway there." Valerie sighed in annoyance.
"Is there any way to pick up the pace?" She demanded, "We've been here over 19 hours already! We're running out of time!
"Hey, in case you haven't noticed, I'm doing the best I can," Phantom snapped back sounding very irritated.
Then again, he sort of did have a right to be. He hadn't eaten anything since they got to this strange world, and the constant use of his powers was starting to show clear signs of draining him. Still, he wasn't as bad as Valerie, who still didn't have the strength to stand.
'I'm so glad that the only person here to witness this also seems to have to problem with blackmailing me,' Valerie thought bitterly, glaring at the little girl walking beside Phantom, who was carrying the ghost hunter in the same fashion Heather herself usually rode. Heather looked unimpressed with the look.
"Phantom?" Heather called out in a singsong voice, "When we get back to our home, you'll still visit me, right?"
"Sure," Phantom responded with a smile for the girl.
"Great!" Heather said enthusiastically. "Cause you know my Uncle's supposed to take me to a Costume Party this Friday, so I was kinda hoping you'd come too!" Valerie rolled her eyes. She didn't know what was more disturbing, the nine year old's blatant flirting or the fact that the ghost still hadn't noticed it.
'And here I thought only Fenton was that blissfully ignorant of things like that…' She thought dryly. Then she sighed. Phantom missed it, but for some reason beyond Valerie's comprehension, Heather managed to catch it.
"Something wrong, Valerie?" She asked innocent. Valerie stiffened. She didn't like the way the girl said her name like that…
"No," Valerie said at once, "Everything's fine," Heather gave Valerie a little smirk.
"You're not thinking about your boyfriend, are you?" She asked, her tone as innocent as can be. Valerie's eyes narrowed. She knew the girl was mocking her, and before she knew what'd happened, she was saying things before thinking them through.
"So what if I am?" She challenged, "At least Danny thinks of me as at least a friend, which is more then you can say about the guy you like," Instead of glaring like Valerie thought she would, Heather paled rapidly and glanced quickly at Phantom, who'd stopped dead when he worked that statement out.
"Wait, you like Danny?" Phantom asked loudly, "As in Danny Fenton?" Valerie frowned. She couldn't see Phantom's face but he sounded shocked for some reason…
"Yeah, so?" Valerie said. Then, remembering her earlier reservations, she added, "And if you lay a hand on him, so help me-!"
"Relax," Phantom said, "I won't hurt him." Then, in a would-be casual voice, he added, "So, how much do you like Fenton, anyways?"
"Enough," Valerie answered.
"Oh, that helps," Phantom snorted.
Valerie rolled her eyes. Then, remembering that she owed him as it was, she added (begrudgingly.) "I dunno how else to put it, okay? I mean, I really like the guy, okay?"
"Why?" Phantom pressed. Then he quickly added, "I mean, last I heard you hated his guts," Valerie cringed slightly as she remembered some of the things she'd said about Danny while trapped in the Ghost Zone with Phantom.
"I dunno." Valerie admitted with a sighed, "I got to know him, and it turned out he was a really fun guy. He's sweet and really easy to talk to and just hang out with. It's like… when I'm with him, I can pretend I'm normal,"
"Who says you have to pretend?" Phantom asked, "You seem pretty normal to me,"
"Right, because every girl keeps an arsenal in her room and spends her free time hunting down undead spirits," I said sarcastically.
"Every girl in my life, anyways…" Phantom muttered dryly.
"Huh?" Valerie said.
"Nothing," Phantom sighed. "So anyways, you'd really go out with m- Fenton if he asked you out?"
"Maybe," Valerie blushed slightly, "I mean, I want to, but not if it means I end up showing up on dates late because of ghost problems, or Danny gets attacked just because he's my boyfriend."
"Maybe he won't care." Phantom said casually, "Or maybe he'll understand. His parents do hunt ghosts for a living. He's probably used to stuff like that by now,"
"But I don't want him hurt because of me," Valerie said with a sigh. "And I don't want to keep secrets from him. Not if I don't have to, anyways…"
"So you're serious about him?" Phantom clarified.
"Yeah, I guess," Valerie admitted.
"What if he were, oh, I dunno… A ghost or something? Would you like him then?" Valerie was startled at the strange question.
"Why does that matter?" She asked, "Danny doesn't like me back. Everyone knows he's in love with Manson. I even saw them kissing once when I was chasing you. And don't tell me you didn't see it, it was kinda hard to miss."
"That was a fake-out make-out!" Phantom said, his tone harsh enough to make Valerie jump.
"A whaty-what now?" Valerie asked, her eyebrow kicking up, "How would you know, anyways?" Valerie felt the ghost's muscles tense.
"…Uh…" Just then, a loud roar cut off anything else Phantom might've said, and a strange creature came out to attempt to take a swipe at Phantom and Valerie before dodging back into the forest
Phantom (the only one who had both the energy and ability to fight even if he couldn't take out anything more major then a mediocre ghost in their world at his current energy level) cursed slightly before setting Valerie down to go ahead without them and deal with the problem.
"You guys wait here," He said before taking off. Valerie rolled her eyes after he left.
"As if we have a choice," She muttered dryly under her breath. Turning her attention towards an oddly silent Heather, she decided to address another subject, "See, Heather? I told you he didn't like me. If he did, he'd be jealous that I liked another guy or something."
Heather gave her a blank look, before sighing and shaking her head. "You're an idiot." She announced dryly, "You both are. You know that, right?"
'…What's that supposed to mean?'
Valerie still hadn't figured that out by the time the three of them reached camp, to the absolute shock of all the humans there. They didn't even bother hiding it when the three passed by, and Valerie became uncomfortably aware of how weak she had to look to them.
"You're alive!" Wole said happily as he ran over, "I can't believe you're still alive! Treya said you were attacked by three Yovven! Three! No one's ever lived through three Yovven! Not even when there were ten humans, forget just two!"
"Think she could've mention that before the fight?" Valerie asked irritably, fuming over what the boy had told her. That was vital information as far as the ghost hunter was concerned, and the fact that Treya knew this and still left them to fight the monsters blindly…
"It doesn't matter now," Phantom said. For the first time, Valerie noticed how exhausted he sounded. As nice as it was to know that the ghost did indeed have a limit, she would've preferred to have found it in more agreeable conditions.
"Valerie's hurt, and Danny really, really needs to rest," Heather piped up, taking charge as the only healthy one of their group (Never mind the fact that she hadn't actually done anything other then throw a rock) "Plus Treya needs to keep her end of the bargain and help us go back home."
"Right," Wole nodded, "Follow me, you can rest in Treya's tent, and she's a really good medic,"
'Of course she is…' Valerie thought sullenly. If it turned out she played the piano too and knew more then one language, the ghost hunter would be tempted to murder her on the grounds that no woman should be allowed to seem so freakin' perfect.
At least in the eyes of shallow, self absorbed men.
"Your back!" Treya said, her eyes wide as she leaped to her feet.
"Is it really that much of a surprise?" Phantom asked dryly, "If I wasn't about to pass out, I'd take offence to that."
"Danny needs a room to sleep," Heather said, "And Valerie needs someone to look at her injuries."
"You can take the spare room, Phantom," Treya said walking over and helping Valerie off Phantom's back. "And you can come with me to my room. All my medicinal supplies are there."
Scowling slightly, Valerie begrudgingly left Phantom and Heather and headed to the room, supported all the way by Treya. Halfway through the door, Heather's ultra sweet tone made her roll her eyes in exasperation.
"I'll stay with you, Phantom, so I can wake you up if something comes!"
"Thanks," Phantom said, sounding genuinely grateful. Valerie wondered for a moment if maybe ghosts were more vulnerable in their sleep or something, and made a mental note to ask someone later. Maybe Mr. Masters or one of the Fentons…
"You've certainly done a number on yourself," Treya said dryly as she set to work.
"Maybe because I prefer to fight for myself," Valerie shot back, earning a glare from the girl.
"You don't know what we face here," She said coolly, "And you have no idea what kinds of horrors we see.
"Can't be as bad as mine," Valerie said defiantly. "In my world, few humans have the ability and resources to fight ghosts. I'm all alone,"
"You don't seem that alone with Phantom," Treya said, "Are you two intimate?"
"No!" Valerie said, horrified. Treya's eyebrow kicked up.
"It was just a question," She said in dry amusement, "After all, Phantom's far from unattractive as I'm sure you've noticed, and he seems quite attached to you…"
"Why does everyone think he likes me?" Valerie asked in annoyance. "And what makes you think I like him? Nothing's going on between us, okay? As a matter of fact, up until we came here we were bitter enemies. We hated each other,"
"I don't think Phantom hates you," Treya said absently, "He's passionate. If he dislikes someone, I think it would be far too obvious. Around you, he is too playful for it to translate into hatred."
"Yeah, yeah," Valerie rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"And as far as your hatred of him goes…" Treya smiled, "Hate him all you want, but you're still a woman before you're a fighter. I have no doubts that you've had at least some primal attraction to Phantom, even if you won't admit it." An image of the ghost half naked flashed through Valerie's head again, and her cheeks burned before she could stop them. In an attempt to keep Treya from seeing this, she hastily turned her head away.
"You're insane," She murmured stiffly. Then she remembered something and frowned slightly as she turned back to face the other girl. "Uh, hey, Treya?"
"Hm?"
"You mentioned earlier that I would be the only one to die if we didn't get out of here in a day, right?"
"That's right," Treya nodded, "Phantom and Heather were not the ones to open the box. They'll just go straight back to their home."
'So all this fighting Phantom is doing… is for me…?' Valerie thought, swallowing back a lump that seemed to work it's way in her throat.
'It is all deception,' The voice in her head told her, 'He probably even tricked you into opening the box. He's a ghost, Valerie, and he's not to be trusted…'
"You should be able to walk again soon," Treya said, standing, "When you can, I'll take you three to Grandmother. She should take you to your home." Valerie's eyebrow kicked up.
"Grandmother?" She repeated.
"Well, there are actually seven or eight greats in front of that, but just saying grandmother is much simpler." Treya shrugged. "Though I must admit, I'm a little put out,"
"Oh?" Valerie's eyebrow kicked up. She half expected to hear treya say something about missing Phantom…
"I watched you fight today. It's a very interesting style, and not unattainable by humans like Phantom's is. Part of me was hoping I could ask about it before you left," Treya explained to the surprised ghost hunter.
"Uh, thanks," Valerie blushed and grinned proudly, "I'm a ninth degree black belt in my world. Not much help against ghosts, considering they're intangible half the time anyways, but no mugger or rapist is ever gonna walk it off after trying to mess with me," Treya laughed at the girl's tone.
"I must say, the more I see of you and Phantom, the more interested I am in this world of yours," Treya said, crossing her arms, "Especially if there are more men there as strong and handsome as your Phantom," Valerie wasn't sure if she approved of Treya calling Phantom 'hers,' but she shook it off.
"There are better men out there then Phantom," She insisted stubbornly.
"So there is someone you are intimate with, then?" Treya smiled secretively.
"It's not like that," Valerie said quickly, blushing.
"But you want it to be," Treya stated, not missing the girl's expression.
"We're friends," Valerie said stubbornly, "And considering what my life's like, it's probably better to stay what way. So for now, Danny's just gotta stay the cute guy I go to school with and who helps me in science because he knows more about astrology then I do and who I help with trigonometry because he loses his head over anything more complicated then basic adding and subtracting." Her look had softened into a slight smile as she added the last part.
She really did have a lot of fun with Danny Fenton. One of the things that was so great about him was that he seemed willing to ignore all the ghost weirdness in Amity to just concentrate on being with her, and it was easy for her to do the same with him. It was like…
…Like they could both just pretend stuff like that never happened to them. Danny wasn't the weirdo son of the freaky ghost hunters, and Valerie wasn't the penniless girl who was once on top. Things like that didn't matter, and they could just have fun and be themselves.
Just then, the door opened up and a burly man stepped inside the room. Treya stiffened when she saw him, getting to her feet with an unreadable expression.
"Who are you," She demanded. "You aren't one of my men," The man grinned and stepped aside, and Valerie and Treya gasped in union when they saw Wole and Heather being detained by two more humans, both grunting as they struggled.
"You're coming with us, woman," The man said in a rather sadistic amusement, "You and you're little pets…" His eyes met Valerie's as he said this, and all the ghost hunter could do was glare back…
WoM- Bad Sadie! Bad! 'grins sheepishly' I'd like to say I didn't plan this, but… 'chuckles nervously,' Anywho, Like I said before I don't think this story'll be too much longer. I might do a sequel, though, if I can work it in with my ten billion other stories. 'Makes face.' As soon as I finish this story, though, I'm probably gonna free up a day since warmer weather is rapidly approaching, and that can only mean one thing… trips to the cabin every weekend, no computer.
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Thanks to;
JPElles
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dramaqueen07
My Eternal Facade
Kikiness
Firehedgehog
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leilanisangel
Light Dragon SunsSong
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Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
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Petitio Principii
Tetsukon
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vorsith
the sleep warrior
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conan98002
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Next update; February 6th
See you then!