Man, I love this story so much! I've been dying to write this chapter! It's a favorite of mine! Purrbaby101, I checked out the lyrics to the Interlude. They have three lines and I've made the outline already a month in advance prior to the writing of this story, and I'm not about to change anything major. Sorry.

And don't mistake the chapter name/song title for the one by Good Charlotte. Good Charlotte's is "Ghost of You" but MCR's is "THE Ghost of You". Just clarifying, because I was confused when I saw the CD at first.

DISCLAIMER: really. I've said it five times, if you want it, go check out last chapter's.

RATED: T for slightly mature themes and language.

Pretype End: September 18, 2005, 2:43 am

Chapter 6

"The Ghost of You"

"No way, I'll die an eternity before I let you hurt him!" snarled Sam. Vlad just chuckled. He then looked up at her, a smile on his face.

"You're free to go, then!" he said.

"Really?" asked Sam cautiously.

"Yes, of course!" At this, the shackles dissolved into nothingness and Sam was free to go. But she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. But she was free! FREE!

12345678987654321

Danny peered about the house cautiously, but it didn't show on his face. He jumped quickly into the cupboard and as he hit the hard wood of the cramped storage closet, it gave way and led to a gray room where no one could see its boundaries. Danny peered about the gray abyss; it was where he constantly went to think.

He took a seat on the ground, wherever it was, and looked up to the neutral endless ceiling, which seemed much more like a sky where one could look up and eventually see into heaven, where all their friends were.

He sighed; how could he have fallen for that trap? He was so stupid, and it was his entire fault it ever happened! However, another person breaking through the wood interrupted his thoughts. But how? It was impossible, he was the only one who knew of it!

In came Jazz, looking reproachfully at the empty boy before her. Jazz knew she could do something for him now, if he could just talk! If he talked about it, everything would be a lot better. She might not have been there, but it affected her, too. They may not have been as close, but they were close enough to be a pair of bickering siblings.

"Danny?" she asked gently, sitting at his side, touching his shoulder. He couldn't be strong now. "Are you okay?" Danny continued staring up into space as if she had never spoken.

Jazz looked up there. Maybe something was there. But alas, a world of neutral gray met her. She sighed deeply. "Danny, you can talk. That's why I'm here. You're forgetting. We were all like a family, and I deeply regret what happened also. Come on, I'm here for you."

Danny sighed and turned his head to her, the blue eyes that led straight to his soul empty. He began to explain.

"Jazz, you just don't understand. What happened was…"

A breath of blue air released itself from Danny's throat as he walked slowly down the park, going over what had just happened a few hours ago with Sam and him. He looked up cautiously and transformed. He spotted several ghosts made just of ectoplasmic blobs. He jumped up in the air to fight them, suspended on their level when a voice called out.

"DANNY!" it yelled. Danny turned around and saw Sam's wondrous face filled with worry. "LOOK—"

Too late. Danny's relief was enough distraction for the blob to slap him hard and send him plummeting into the ground. Through the path he created in the grass, he looked up at the female peering down worriedly at him and he felt a new determination to get rid of these ghosts. They apparently were tougher than one would think.

He flew up, a smirk on his face, but failed to see that the blob separated in two in his determination. Nonetheless he engaged in battle with the blob. He threw a punch at it, but it created a hole where his fist went through. The blob pounced on Danny and shot him down for a second before he became level again and shot a blast at it. It went intangible, and as Danny was gritting his teeth, his green eyes glowing more than ever through his stark white hair, another, pained yell, rang in his ears.

And it angered him beyond anything. White-hot intense fury raged through him when he heard Sam cry out his name in pain. He flew at top speed to his princess to find that the second blob had attacked her. He immediately forgot about the ghosts and attended to Sam.

He checked her back. Her back was covered in red liquid, her clothes blasted through. She was getting drowsy, and checking her heartbeat, it was slower than it should have ever been.

In his arms, Sam looked at him lovingly, all her life in those amazing lavender eyes. She uttered a last phrase.

"I love you, Danny," she said. And for the last time, she moved up to his face and connected their lips. His mouth was slightly cold, but she still gave all her emotion to him, since it wouldn't be there anymore. "Goodbye," she rasped.

With that, her heart stopped. No more beats could be felt through her wrists or neck. Danny checked frantically everywhere on her limp body, shaking with terror. How could she have left him? Why did it happen? Why would anyone want to do that to such a sweet person?

"N-No, Sam," he whispered, a tear leaking out of his eye. "NOOOO!" he screamed to the heavens in the darkness of the night, ghosts raging through the air.

"Oh, Danny," said Jazz, using all her might to refrain herself from hugging her little brother. He may have been nineteen, but inside, she knew that he no longer had an age. He stayed the same forever, and his best friend's departure made sure of it. "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." His voice sounded strangely grounded and solid. "It's my fault. All of it. Since the start. And I hope you don't kill me for…you know."

"No, I don't," said Jazz comfortingly. It soothed Danny to hear her speak like this, but his pain was overwhelming and pained him in every limb. "I've known for a while, Danny."

"What?" he asked incredulously. "All this time? I've been trying to hide it from you!"

"I've waited for the perfect time for you to tell me," said Jazz, still softly. "And why are you here, anyway? It took me a long while before I realized the cupboard."

What was he supposed to tell her? That he wanted to be alone, mourn his best friend in peace? That he wanted to be out of the sight of the human eye? That he wanted no one to worry about him so he could live an eternity in this large gray universe? That he wanted nothing more than to disappear on the spot? His best friend's life had been lost right in his hands a few days ago, and he wanted nothing more than to see her just once more. But that wouldn't be happening any time soon, would it?

"No reason."

"Danny, you can tell me exactly what you're thinking. It helps a lot just to talk about it. Half the time, in bed, I talk to the air just to make myself feel better." Danny sighed. Jazz just wouldn't give up, would she?

"I just want to be left alone. My best friend's blood is in my hands and Tucker is doing who knows what now. I really don't care."

"Something else happened. What?" said Jazz sternly. She swore she could see the corners of Danny's mouth curl up in the tiniest bit.

"I went straight to Sam after I was let out. But then I walked in and some guy Trey and Sam were making out. Sam didn't remember me. It wasn't until I nearly flew out that she noticed it was me." Danny nearly choked on his own tongue while speaking. Just thinking about it was painful.

"Anything else on your mind?" asked Jazz gently, peering into his face, but he turned it away before she could.

"I think I should run away," said Danny, "chaos follows me everywhere, might as well give it to someone who deserves it. That's not anyone here."

"No, Danny!" cried Jazz. "You are not going to run away. Do you know how much I missed you last year? When I saw you come back home depressed, I felt so bad and guilty that you felt so terrible when you came home after being let out after a few days."

Danny merely shrugged and silence fell as the both of them stared deeply into the grayness of the room, or rather, space. At long last, when a disturbing buzz filled both their ears, Danny turned his head toward Jazz and spoke.

"You knew all the time?"

"Yes, Danny."

"I can't believe it! I was so frustrated the whole time! You could have offered me advice, you're the multi-tasking one!" yelled Danny.

"Danny, I don't understand," choked Jazz. She hated it when he nearly assaulted her immediately. She felt so guilty all the time.

"You could have helped me, but no, you just went along, blathering about Harvard, Princeton, or another Ivy League college!" he burst out. Jazz bit her lip and willed herself not to cry. It was her turn to be strong.

"Danny, I tried my best without letting you on!" she managed to speak, swallowing her sorrows for a split second.

"Oh, yeah, you could have told me! All this time, I was practically picking fights with you when you already knew!" he yelled angrily, his eyes not lit up with anger or an emotion, but they were most certainly empty in such a way that put Jazz through a guilt trip.

"Please, Danny, I didn't want to startle you!" she cried.

"Sure!" he grumbled. Jazz bit her lip so hard an irony substance fell on her tongue. She had begun bleeding on her lower lip from biting down too hard. A single tear ran down her cheek slowly and crossed the corner of her mouth. Once the droplet hit the ground, several more were on their way.

Jazz looked at her disgruntled brother and ran out frustrated from her depressed brother, breaking back into the cupboard. She burst out and ran up the stairs into her room, shutting the door with a loud slam.

Danny stayed, though, wondering about it all. Would he see Sam again? The love of his life, the center of his whole purpose on the earth…gone. And Tucker…now he had no one, not even his sister. He remembered a year ago that his bloody sister clutched on to his shirt while he held it in, looking at Tucker being attended to in the hospital. He could still feel where she grasped him and he felt his hand burn where it had smoothed her hair in an attempt to calm her.

Now…now he could do nothing but be a walking storm. All the smiles ever shot at him, ever aimed at him, meant nothing to him, they were just hollow, pitiful greetings. He literally poisoned the day of people and brought gloom with him wherever he stepped. Normally, that would have bothered him…but now, he didn't really care. He may have even been happy with the idea.

Danny stood up abruptly, ignoring the dizziness and urge to fall over that came from standing up too quickly. He made a silent vow in the neutrality of the cove to never be caught…ever. Not by a ghost hunter, not by a ghost itself. He'd always have the first and last move, and he'd never fall down. Ever.

But was tripping over the loss of his beloved a good reason to fall?

12345678987654321

LYRICS TO THE GHOST OF YOU:

I never said I'd lie in wait forever. If I died we'd be together. I can't always just forget her. But she could try. At the end of this world or the last thing I see. You are never coming home. Could I? Should I? And all the things that you never ever told me. And all the smiles that are ever ever. Ever. Get the feeling that you're never. All alone and I remember now. At the top of my lungs in my arms. She dies. She dies. At the end of the world. Or the last thing I see. You are never coming home. Could I? Should I? And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me. And all the ghosts that are never gonna catch me. If I fall down.

Chapter 6

Chapter 7: not now…

My eyes sting…I want sleep! This chapter isn't as intense, but the main thing of it is Sam's death. I bet you all were like, "WHAT?" at the start of the chapter when Vlad released Sam. Heh.

I want to thank KatrinaKaiba for always being the first reviewer for all these chapters. I just put up chapter 5 and about 5 minutes later, my Yahoo! IM is telling me that I got a review on it! I was like "KatrinaKaiba" when I saw the subject in my inbox! This chapter is dedicated to you!

UPDATE SOON: A Chevron Off (NEW!), Naquida (NEW!), M u r d e rer, Colliding of Two Forces, Following Me To My Grave, D e a t h is But The Next Greatest Adventure, Ten Years, Burn It All (NEW!), Warmth (NEW!), Fusion.

TODAY: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Franz Ferdinand.

Now, I need some help with M u r d e rer! I need help with the depiction of the trial…please review this story and then that one with details on the trial.

As for CoTF, chapter 4 is in the making, right now at page 3. But I'm also planning to put in a lot in that chapter: meaning, Diagon Alley and the train to Hogwarts. So, it'll take a bit. Sorry! And this chapter was typed up the same day as chapter 5. Only thing is, I'm holding off for the cliffhanger.