Empyreal
empyreal (em-pir-ee-uhl) adj. - pertaining to the highest heaven in the cosmology of the ancients.

-Eight-

Vlad stayed for a week longer before mysteriously leaving without even a goodbye to his hosts. Frankly, I had no problem with this man leaving; I felt like I was being strictly watched. It was horrible.

This man… he was just like Plasmius. Right down to his mannerisms. And he had this glint in his eye that terrified me… I felt like I had to speed up just to avoid his piercing gaze.

In that week, he watched as Tucker and Sam continued to come over, our friendship growing. It was within that week that I realized that he must be Plasmius. Maybe even another form of Plasmius, for I've heard rumors that Plasmius exists as a human as well.

This man also took a frightening interest in my true form, which had been causing quite a stir lately. After that first save, and a couple more from the ghosts of this town, people began to spectulate just what the "ghost boy's" motives were for helping humans. The Fentons, as ghost hunters and researchers, were especially curious, not believing I was doing it for good intentions. And since my entire plan was for them to think that, I was frustrated. And Vlad seemed to perk up at any mention of the "ghost boy", which was a bit concerning to me.

However, despite all that, what frightened me the most was the way he smiled slightly when he saw me with Tucker and Sam. It sent shivers straight down my spine and left a hollow feeling in my stomach. It felt like he was almost targeting them in his mind. It was a feeling that I didn't want at all.

Especially with Sam. The more I got to know her, the more my affection grew for her. I wanted her more badly than ever before. Sometimes our arms would graze each other in the halls, or while we were sitting on the floor of my room, and I would get a sensation Tucker described as "Goosebumps" up and down my arms.

And the more I watched Vlad watch her, the more I felt that she was becoming his prey.

If this man really was working with Plasmius – what on earth did he want with me?

But it wasn't until he'd been gone for nearly two weeks that, one rainy night, Tucker came pounding on my front door, sopping wet and white in the face.

The Fentons were downstairs, a place I was forbidden to go, so I was just reading in the living room when Tucker's frantic fists sounded on the door, and as soon as I opened the door, he said "It's killing someone."

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.

"What?" I asked, hoping that it wasn't what I thought it was. Tucker looked back into the stormy evening, panting, fists clenched.

"A-a ghost. On Newbury Street – that's just a couple streets over – and it's killing someone. I didn't know where to go, or w-ho to—you have to come!" Tucker cried, his words coming out all jumbled and frantic.

I didn't even think. Newbury Street. Newbury Street. I know someone living on Newbury Street.

"I'm coming," I said, stepping out into the rain, eyes flashing from blue to green as I transformed. Tucker pointed the direction and I flew as fast as I could, whizzing through the rain. In just a few moments I had left Tucker behind me.

Even though I was in my old form, I could still feel my human heart pounding a mile a minute. I was whipping through the air faster than I'd ever gone before, or at least, faster than I could remember.

I swung around a corner into what seemed to be a slightly wealthier neighborhood. I looked around, the rain passing straight through my body.

Tucker had said that a ghost was attacking someone around here—

There.

A ghost – a malevolent ghost – was hovering before a battered body. I gulped.

Even though I'm a ghost, I've never seen a cadaver before… and I'm not about to start.

As quietly as I could, I made my way closer to the ghost, trying to remain as silent as possible. I watched the ghost (a large, oaf-like ghost that slightly resembled an ape and a pig squashed together) bend down towards the body, and begin to… taunt it.

"I told you not to mess with what you don't understand," the ghost sneered. I heard a gasp and a voice. So, the body was still alive.

"G-get away from me," it said weakly. I froze. That voice.

That voice belonged to Sam.

Suddenly, my adrenaline kicked in. I felt as if I could fly faster and fight harder than I ever had before. My breaths became shallow gasps, and I clenched my fists, tensing my body. I flew straight through the ghost and landed between him and Sam, the howling wind completely unaffecting my body.

"You leave her alone," I snarled, and I almost startled myself on how angry I sounded. I heard Sam whimper behind me, then a thud and a splash.

"Whyyyyyy?" The ghost asked, giving me a toothy smile. I narrowed my eyes at him, and focused all the energy that was whirling around inside me. That was when I noticed Tucker at the head of the street, wearing a dark blue rain jacket, even though he was already soaked to the bone.

"Because," I said, my voice murderous, "I want to fight you now. It's my turn."

"You? You're nothing more than a child," the ghost said, waving me off with one hoof-like hand. I gritted my teeth, and I could feel the sudden heat. It zoomed straight down to my toes and up through my skull, as if it was entering my very skeleton in my human body.

"You'll regret that remark."

It was the last thing that creature ever said.

I thrust my arms forward, my palms connecting, and my energy burst. A strong, bright ectoblast nailed the ghost right between his shoulder blades, and the creature turned on his heel, glaring at me.

He was about to say something when I hit him again, this time zooming into the air and flying at him with full force. I stretched out my arms, opened my hands as wide as I could—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH!!"

I could feel the threads of ectoplasm that held him together splitting like tissue paper; my hands connected with the ground and as soon as I felt the sting of hitting the ground I went through it. I turned right around and blasted my way through the pavement, hovering above what was left of this beast.

But it was still trying to fight back. It looked up at me and lunged at me, glowing red claws extending from it's hoof-hands. What kind of creature was this?

I moved backwards, moving so quickly I must have vanished for a moment because the creature began looking around wildly, thrusting its claws into the air.

When I landed, I felt a horrible aching pain in my side, but as soon as I felt it, the pain disappeared. I looked down and saw a great gash in my cloak, with something that looked like a green-red goo seeping out. I was leaking ectoplasm and… was that blood?

The creature sniffed the air and turned around, picking up the sent of the blood. The blood had a very distinct smell when coupled with the ectoplasm.

Tucker was kneeling in the street, half-hiding, half watching. I glanced over at Sam and watched her roll over, trying to pick herself up. It was then that I felt my own heart begin beating as fast as it had before… but for a moment, my anger vanished.

Sam pushed herself up, her bare arms practically white, and her entire body shook. Her clothes were wet, her skin was wet, her hair was sticking to her face. She had bloody gashes on her neck and her side, and I could see the blood mixing with the rain water. She was coughing and shivering.

I watched her take a deep breath, and then collapse right into a puddle. And she didn't move from that spot. As a ghost, and especially an apprentice of the great Clockwork, I could sense when a human was struggling with death.

She was dying.

"No!" I cried, just as the creature swiped at me. I was caught off-guard and was thrown a few feet away.

And that just made me angrier. I bared my teeth at him as all sensible thought left my mind. My entire body grew hot once more; this time I could feel even my eyes changing. Suddenly everything around me was much brighter and… greener.

I put my palms forward again, and this time, I opened my mouth. I wasn't very good at this attack, but it was powerful, and I was going to do anything I could to save Sam.

A long, low note poured from my throat along with the ectoblasts. The ghost only gave one glance up before—

He was obliterated.

I lowered myself to the ground, falling to my knees. My entire body was emanating a white light, as it often did after using such powerful attacks. It was trying to gain as much ectoplasmic energy from the atmosphere around us as possible.

Tucker was just staring, completely shocked. I was kneeling on the ground, panting. I hadn't noticed this before, but because I had a human half, my ghost powers were limited to my human body. That meant that there was an entire range of things I couldn't do!

I punched the pavement.

"D-damn…" I muttered. I heard a soft moan and looked up, glaring through the rain, when I saw her. And remembered.

"Sam!" I cried, forgetting I was still a ghost. I knelt before her, afraid to touch her. She was lying on her side, her legs crossed at the ankles; she had one hand lying gently across her abdomen, her other arm lying next to her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed, and her skin was pale with a slight bluish tone. The rain continued to fall.

With shaking arms, I lifted the upper half of her body into my arms, holding her with one arm, and using the other to brush her dark hair from her face.

"Sam," I murmured. "Open your eyes." My eyes darted to and fro, almost looking for some sort of answer. I gripped her by her shoulders and her head hung limply, rolling to the side. She wasn't breathing. Her skin was almost white and she was cold to the touch. She was completely soaked through.

I shook my head, trying to hold as much of her body in my arms as possible. Tucker had come over, carefully walking around what was left of the ghost, and knelt beside us.

"No, no, no…" I whispered. Tucker reached out and moved her hair from her face, touching her cheek gently. He pressed his fingers to her neck and closed his eyes.

"W-what are you doing?" I snapped in a whisper, rounding on him. I could feel my eyes glow in anger and he pulled back immediately, looking shocked and scared. I held her even closer to my body, cupping her head in my hand. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, shaking my head at the same time. I could feel the white tears welling in my eyes. My chest began to ache as I held her lifeless form. She was in pain, she was cold… she was dying.

Tucker just looked at me, pity in his eyes. I glanced back up at him and my entire body shook with tears. I have never, in my entire existence, felt so helpless.

"I was checking for a pulse," Tucker said softly, reaching out again. "It won't hurt her, I promise." With that, he again pressed his fingers to her bleeding neck and concentrated on them, as if willing them to do something. He pulled them away and looked at me again.

"She's still here," he said in a whisper. "She's not gone yet." As gently as I could, I touched my hand to her chin, and then grazed it over her neck. I touched my fingertips to her neck and closed my eyes. I concentrated all my power into my hands, and forced my mind to empty. I took a deep breath.

"Breathe," I commanded, in a voice that I wasn't altogether sure was my own. A white light zipped from my fingertips into her neck, and a moment later she began coughing, her chest heaving. She tried to push herself up, but fell back when I wouldn't let her. Her eyes opened and I could see how watery they were from her tears. She squinted at me, blinking a couple times.

My entire body suddenly filled with warmth, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight of life in her body. She was alive!

"Who…?" she asked in a hoarse voice. But as soon as she asked, her eyes rolled back into her head and she was gone again.

"Thank God you two were there," Mrs. Fenton said, for the third time. "I just… oh, that poor girl."

"Still no response at her house," Jazz reported, coming back into the lobby area. She sighed. "Her parents have no idea that their daughter is in the ICU." Tucker and I sat in silence, both of us with towels around our shoulders. I had a large, white bandage across my shoulder. Apparently, the ghost nicked me a few times without my realizing, and I transformed back into my human half before it self-healed. Thus, when Tucker and I showed up at the hospital with a battered, soaked Sam, the nurses had rushed us off to be dried off and bandaged up.

"Doesn't that hurt?" the nurse had said when dressing my wound. I couldn't feel it, so I pretended it did. And I think I did a crappy job of pretending, too.

"You two were brave," Jazz said, smiling at us. Her face became solemn immediately after. "Let's just hope it wasn't in vain."

We sat in silence, waiting. Tucker and I glanced at each other, and the more I held onto the sides of the chair, the harder I gripped them.

"Sam…" I whispered. I couldn't let her die. I couldn't. I wouldn't. It would hurt too much. I had just become her friend. I was just earning her trust. I was just… My head started hurting. I groaned and held my head, leaning forwards.

"Danny?"

I was just beginning to know her… Except… I already know her… But—I just met her—

"Danny? Danny?!"

"Danny!"

"Danny, are you alright?"

"Dude, are you okay?"

"What's happening?"

"Danny – snap out of it!"

I leaned forwards, gripping my head. It felt as if someone were trying to slit my skull in half. My breathing increased and suddenly I felt as if I couldn't get enough air. I was hearing voices all around me – and inside me?

"Danny, what just happened?"

"Nurse!"

"Tucker, move out of the way!"

"I think his head is hurting him!"

It was so incredibly painful that I could barely think—

"Danny?"

"Let's see if we can get him into the ER—"

"Guys?"

"What?"

"I… I think I'm a ghost."

And then, as suddenly as the searing pain had appeared, it vanished. I sat upright, panting, one hand on my head, the other on my chest. Sweat dripped down my face and my skin felt clammy to the touch. A nurse was leaning over me, a confused look on her face.

"…Danny?" Tucker asked in a small voice. I stared at him, and then looked at the people around me. Jazz, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, the nurse… they were all giving me quizzical looks.

"Are you alright?" Jazz said finally. My breathing had calmed, and the pain was gone.

"Yeah, I think so," I murmured. What was that?

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" a voice was saying in the background. Everyone turned away from me for a moment to look at a large man wearing a white jacket next to a young woman wearing a green shirt and what appeared to be a cloth cap on her head, a face mask down around her neck. She was sweating and looked very tired. The man was holding a clipboard and giving us rather professional looks.

"The girl is going to be alright," the man said, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Even I seemed to have been holding my breath. "Have you contacted her parents yet?"

"Not yet," Jazz said in a defeated tone. "We have no idea where they are." The doctor frowned and looked down at his clipboard. "Well, we'll have our staff keep trying. For now, would you like to see her?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, jumping up. Everyone turned to stare at me now, and I felt Tucker give my knee a hard jab. "Er, I mean… yeah." The doctor raised his eyebrow, shrugged, and turned back to the Fentons.

"Just to let you know, if she wakes up, she's not exactly in the… right mindset, if you will," he said, coughing. "I mean, she was just brutally attacked by a ghost… and she woke up briefly while she was in her room," he continued. "She said… she said something about an angel rescuing her."

"An angel?" Jazz said, staring at the doctor. "Danny and Tucker were the ones who found her."

"Well, maybe it was that ghost boy that saved her," Mrs. Fenton suggested. "You know, the one that's been seen around 'saving' people?" She turned to us. "Did you boys see the ghost boy?"

I looked at Tucker, and he looked back at me. We were silent for a moment, and then we turned to the Fentons.

"Nope, we didn't see a thing."

I apologize for taking so long to update. Life was starting to interfere again. Band camp, work, and the realization that my summer reading is due in two weeks. NJ was fun; beach, warmth, and NOT BEING HOME was nice. Umm, I wrote the scene with Sam being attacked by the other ghost for another fic about half a year ago, found it, revamped it, and used it here instead. Yep. Random random. I've been dying to write this scene ever since I first planned it when I was planning the fic forever ago. Whoopdeedoo. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again before school starts (August 29th), but I should soon after school starts and everything starts to wind down...