Valerie felt betrayed. She refused to meet Danny's eyes as she passed him in the hall. Although she continued to not believe he could possibly be Danny Phantom, the obvious similarities crashed around her head, mocking her for not knowing. And still, she held onto the hope that it was all a trick. There were any number of reasons Electra and Phantom would do such a thing. They were evil ghosts, after all, and probably hoped to turn her against Danny. It was obvious that she liked him; they wouldn't be the first ghosts to notice.

And then she remembered the time she fought that wishing ghost, and how Desiree had mocked her for not knowing. The ghost had never mentioned what it was that she didn't know, but they had been talking about Danny. The human Danny, that is.

No, it wasn't possible. Danny was nice; he was a good person. Phantom wasn't. That still didn't explain what he'd written on coming back from Baltimore.

'Silver came back. I knew going to Baltimore was a bad idea. It's where we had to leave from when we went to Carnate. At least, she wasn't as bad this time. Oh, what did I do? I shot her. I shot her with her own gun and I killed her. I can't believe it. I couldn't have. It couldn't have been me. I don't even remember doing it. I need to write this down or I'll go insane. It started a little after we got there, down in the party. She started messing with my head again, making me see things that weren't there.

'I went back to the room and fell asleep and dreamed that there were dog things chasing me, the Maulers. Man, those things were freaky. They had dog bodies, but they were so thin I could see their skeletons, and their faces were almost human. Anyway, they were chasing me and Silver and two of her marksmen showed up to destroy them. I didn't get it then, but now I do. She said I was hers, that she wanted to be part of me. She's completely insane.

'Anyway, when I woke up, the news was on. They were talking about monsters, so I went out to look for everyone. I found Mom, and she found out about me. After Silver died and I got those new powers, I made her forget, though. I almost wish I hadn't. I can hear thinking her downstairs now, trying to figure out how Phantom managed to fool her into thinking I was Fenton, but it's still better than hearing her think about what a horrible mother she is for not figuring it out sooner.

'Okay. I really don't want to relive this, but I think I need to. Copperfield caught up to us. It was me and Mom and that Ed guy from the PS. I told them to hide, and then I fought Copperfield and his maulers. He got away from me, and I thought he was going to kill Mom, and then Silver showed up and killed him. Well, actually, I'm not sure what she did because I don't think they can actually die, but he was gone, anyway. It was really freaky too; the maulers ran over and started eating him. Silver told us Ed was behind the whole attack because he'd been importing monsters from Carnate, and then she shot him. And then we fought.

'I can't do this. I killed her. Me! I'

It ended there, as though he didn't have the courage to finish, or even look at it for another second. It was Danny's "voice", not Phantom's. Those were the words of a scared fourteen-year-old boy, not an evil, sarcastic ghost. Valerie would almost have been tempted to believe Electra had actually stolen his journal if that entry weren't immediately followed by:

'Technus just attacked me with an army of Robo Raptors outside the Radio Shack. That ghost has officially reached an all-time low. In lighter news, I think I've finally gotten control of this telekinesis thing. At least things weren't flying around the room freaking everyone out today. Now if I could just figure out how to keep from broadcasting everything I'm thinking.'

Valerie remembered that. She had thought Danny was being stalked by Phantom, but it was becoming painfully obvious that they were the same person.

'Well, great. Now Angel's back in town. We raced around for a while until I got her out on the back roads and I convinced her to give up. I know she's planning something; she wouldn't give up that easily.'

'I should have known Technus wasn't finished yet. Him and Angel attacked me together, then he took her motorcycle and I woke up down at the warehouse she was staying in. We finally beat him, though, and Angel says since I helped her get her bike back, she won't bother me again. She really does love that thing. Oh well, we'll see how long this lasts.'

It was strange, though. She had seen Phantom and Fenton in the same place before, and that was the only thing that kept her from marching out of class and down the hall to confront him. As soon as the teacher's back was turned, she flipped through the specific time she was thinking of, when Phantom brought Fenton home after Silver attacked Amity Park.

'I am so tired. I can't believe it's actually over. I mean, I thought it was over after Carnate, then Baltimore happened and now, I keep looking over my shoulder expecting her to be there. I talked to Jazz, and I think I got it figured out. Whenever Silver killed someone, their ghost got trapped in her head. She was crazy to begin with, and that must have made the ghosts crazy which made her even more crazy and it was just this huge chain reaction that got worse and worse. That's got to be where she got her psychic powers, too. Or maybe she already had them, but I'm convinced the Malice made them stronger. She just wasn't human anymore.

'Anyway, when she took over my other half and all her voices vanished, she seemed to lose her will. I was feeling sorry for her, but I'm back together, so I'm not anymore. She was too evil. She didn't care about anyone but herself. I'm not entirely convinced I killed her anymore, either. Diego, her husband, was the strongest spirit in the Malice, and I think he may have possessed me back in Baltimore. I don't know, maybe I'm just in denial or something, but it makes me feel a little better.'

Valerie tightly closed her eyes. It all made perfect sense if he could split himself in half, which that second paragraph seemed to imply. She checked the time, toyed with the notion of burning the thing and forgetting it ever existed, and forced her eyes back down.


Danny dropped his head onto his folded arms and prayed no one would notice his burning ears. He remembered only too well the disastrous school musical, and how poor Rick, who was supposed to play the Phantom, had been possessed by Erik the auditorium ghost. Rick was one of five people in the entire school who actually objected to people reading Danny's journal. The poor thespian had been removed to the back of the classroom and had a trashcan dumped over his head. Surprisingly, Paulina had also decided to object, but no one was listening to her, either.

"Okay, okay!" announced the only kid in the room who had not had his copy confiscated yet. "Look, I'll read it aloud, okay?" As the rest of the class, or the majority at least, agreed that was suitable, Danny could feel his face getting hotter. He knew if he looked up, his glowing eyes would give him away, but he couldn't seem to get it under control. He just prayed no one would figure it out because he wasn't sure he could live down the shame.

"I am never going anywhere near the auditorium again," that annoying teen began.

'Never. I mean it. Well, no. Erik's gone, so I guess it's okay. That was still pretty freaky, though. And kind of scary. I had no idea who I was. At least I wasn't as under his spell as everyone else was. I want to know how he avoided me for so long. He must not have been very powerful, but then how'd he managed to brainwash everyone into thinking Phantom of the Opera was real? Oh, well. At least, everyone's okay. And Rick seems to be okay after being overshadowed.'

"He knows my name!" exclaimed a muffled yet joyous voice from underneath the trashcan. Rick pushed it off, grinning broadly. "Paulina, eat your heart out!"

"He knows my name, too," she retorted, uncertain whether to consider the boy competition or not. Danny didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he listened to the two fight over who his ghost half liked better. It was with great relief that he heard the door open.

"Everyone to your seats," Mr. Lancer ordered. "I'll be taking that, thank you." There was a collective groan, and Danny finally felt safe enough to lift his head. As soon as school let out, he was going to kill Kat.