Danni shuffled along the hall to her locker, head down and hunched over. She could feel everyone staring at her, and a quick glance around confirmed that it was not her imagination. Was it really that obvious?

Of course, it was. Why wouldn't it be? She cringed as a voice called her name, not that any more attention could be drawn to her. She stopped to face her friends and sighed miserably.

"You're kidding," Tucker exclaimed. "It's true?"

"I don't want to talk about," Danni replied through clenched teeth, turning back to her locker. She listened to her friends try not to laugh until Sam failed miserably. "Guys, it's not funny!"

Sadly, her voice's newfound pitch only served to make them laugh harder, along with everyone else in hearing distance. "You know," Sam managed at last. "After yesterday, I can't really say I feel sorry for you."

Danni grumbled something not very nice and left them for first period. The class, however, was a complete disaster. For once, all she wanted was to be able to take notes in peace, and no one would leave her alone. Only the teacher was able to concentrate on his lesson; everyone else stared and sniggered. By lunchtime, she had come to a conclusion. Although many days had vied for "worst ever," this one went above and beyond them all.

"So how did you guys find out anyway?" she asked, joining Sam and Tucker at their usual table.

"We overheard Paulina yelling it all over the school," Sam answered, still snickering.

"How'd she find out?"

"Oh, my gosh," laughed Valerie as she and Star sauntered over. "That ghost really got you, didn't it?"

"How does everyone know about this already?" Danni attempted to demand. Sadly, her indignation only resulted in more laughter from everyone in hearing distance. She clamped her mouth shut and glared at the table, resolving to not say another word until she found and killed Fiona or Elegy. Whichever she could get her hands on first. And probably both.

She never thought she would actually be happy to see Lancer, but his arrival at that moment to tell everyone to keep it down was a blessing. Even if he was laughing as well.

"Come on, Danni," Valerie continued, sitting down while Star wandered back to the popular table. "Lighten up. This is funny."

"Maybe for you," the ghost girl muttered darkly.

The rest of day passed as though Clockwork had slowed it down. The girl wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if that was exactly what had happened. Finally, however, the last bell rang, and she fled the building at 112 miles per hour. In fact, it was probably faster, but she wasn't paying enough attention to care.

There was a small café a few blocks from Fenton Works. The last time Fiona had run amok in Amity Park, Elegy had waited there. Sure enough, as the girl returned to human form and slid inside, her quarry sat in a corner scribbling into a notebook.

The…being seemed different than the last time Danni had seen her. The most noticeable difference was the lack of glasses. However, she also seemed darker somehow. The mousy attitude she had displayed was still gone as though it had never been, and the girl wasn't sure she liked the change. It made her uneasy.

Elegy glanced up to smirk, and the notebook vanished. "Here to beg?" she asked curiously.

If she had been a dog, her hackles would have raised at the tone. It reminded her of the insane psychic Silver. For just a split second, she could almost see a physical resemblance between the two. It was gone just as quickly, but she couldn't keep that remembered hatred from coloring her tone. "Okay, I got into a little argument with Sam, and it was stupid, and I get it. Okay? I get it! Can you please turn me back now?"

The woman smirked and slowly shook her head. "No…I don't think you get it yet. Not really. Actually, I think I like you better this way."

"But you have to turn me back!" Danni protested, once again bordering on annoying tears when she would much have preferred a nice rage.

Elegy laughed. She laughed for a long time, during which the ghost girl became increasingly nervous. Finally, she stopped and leaned forward conspiratorially. "I can do whatever I want, Danni girl. And right now, I want a puppy."

She heard, understood, and was gone in record time.


"Come on, Danni," Sam chastised. "You can't hide in here forever."

Danni sat on her bed, arms folded and head down. She barely glanced up to glare as she replied, "Wanna bet?"

"Oh, come on, man!" Tucker whined. "We were going to see that movie today!"

"Guys," Danni grumbled between clenched teeth. "I'm wearing a bra."

Sam flashed a self-satisfied grin. "Welcome to womanhood!"

"It's one of Jazz's."

"Could be worse. Could be one of your mom's."

The three friends shuddered in unison. "Look, I'm sorry," Danni sighed. "I just can't go out again like this. You have no idea what today was like."

"Ready to admit girls have it rough, too?"

The girl paused to glare at Tucker for laughing before she answered. "I think the bra alone makes it worse." She sighed and shook her head. "I guess I'll come with you," she muttered, although her better judgment screamed that it was a bad idea. Still, she felt should get used to it; she had begun to doubt she would ever be herself again.


The trip went relatively well. The three friends didn't meet anyone they knew, and Danni found that she had never been more grateful for high school football.

"So Fiona wasn't a ghost?" Tucker asked between bites of pizza.

Danni simply sighed and glanced around furtively. This was already turning out to be the same conversation she'd had with Jazz. With the game over, the Pizza Shanty was slowly filling with people, and she wanted nothing more than to hurry up and leave. Perversely, Sam seemed determined to make her stay and pay for her thoughtless comments.

"So why didn't you tell us?" the object of her thoughts asked.

She shrugged and turned back face them. "I don't know. I guess I thought you wouldn't believe me." She laughed nervously. "I mean, all-powerful beings from another planet? It sounds like a bad movie." She had not mentioned that Kat might be one of them. For some reason, she didn't want to believe that of the overdramatic gremlin.

She glanced around again as her friends speculated. At least, they believed her. She just knew they would start laughing again, and…

Across the room, a familiar form leaned against the wall. They locked eyes, and the girl was alarmed to see Elegy's blue-grey eyes turn a demonic red. It was only for an instant before they were back to normal, but she suddenly had a very bad feeling that didn't have a thing to do with ghosts.

She cringed as a nasally voice rang out, "Hey, everyone! It's Fen-tina!" Dash's proclamation was naturally followed by an explosion of laughter from the other popular kids. Danni felt her face turn red and stared at the table before her glowing eyes could give her away. Sadly, it still wasn't anger she felt, and she was beginning to think her emotions might have been altered along with the of her.

"Hey, guys?" she muttered. "I'm just going to go, now."

"We'll come, too," Tucker said, standing. He motioned to Sam, who just shook her head.

"Nope. I think Danni needs to learn to deal with it." She glared up angrily. "After all, it's not like you'll ever get changed back."

Danni stared for a moment, blinking back annoying tears, then turned and left quickly as dignity would allow. She wanted to simply run, but that would have made the situation worse. "She's not acting like herself," she sniffled once they were clear of the building.

"She seems normal to me," Tucker replied, perturbed.

Of course, she did. They were both being controlled by something, after all. No, not controlled, but definitely influenced. The girl wiped her eyes, determined to start acting like her old self even if she couldn't look the part. She was grateful for the silence her usually talkative friend maintained while they walked back to Fenton Works. When they finally reached the door, she sighed miserably. "Thanks, Tucker."

The technogeek nodded, his face an interesting shade. Danni sighed, afraid that she knew what was coming. Sure enough, Tucker rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um…you wouldn't want to, maybe…go out sometime, would you?"

Danni glared. "I'm not a girl!"

"So that's a no?"

She closed the door in his face and heard him yell from the other side, "Call me?" It was decidedly disturbing.


A/N: To A.L.Anderson: I don't know if you're still reading my work, but I wanted to thank you for the review you left to Black and White. It is truly gratifying to be so appreciated; not many people are willing to take the time to leave so detailed a note. I'm glad I could instill such fear in you with my humble little trilogy. I also wanted to thank you for giving me back my motivation to write original horrors. It's always been a dream of mine, but sometimes it feels like fanfic is all I'm good at.

I wish you well, always, and if you ever decide to write your own stories and need a beta reader, my inbox is always open.