Chapter Two
Unlike Sam, Danny didn't look around and appreciate the ambiance in the tent. He merely sat down at the table and looked at the woman. She smiled at him as she sat relaxing in her chair, shuffling cards.
"So," she said as she placed the cards in front of Danny. "You want your fortune told?"
"Not really," Danny answered, wondering why he was still in the tent. It would have been better if he left and finally let Sam and Tucker cheer him up like they were working so hard to do.
The woman nodded her head and pointed to the deck of cards. "Can you cut those for me please?" Danny looked at her for a moment then reached over quickly and cut the deck. The woman nodded as she picked up the cards and looked at Danny.
"I don't do this for just anyone," She said as she placed two cards face down in front of Danny. "Don't look at them and no I'm not just saying that." Danny smiled a little as he watched as the woman started placing the cards face up on the table.
"Conflicted," the woman said then sucked in the corners of her mouth. "Scared. Hurt. Tired. Betrayed. Lost." She shook her head and looked up at Danny. "That's how you feel right?"
"I didn't come here for psychoanalysis," Danny said in annoyance.
"Yes," the woman said as she peered down at the cards. "You have a sister who can do that very well for you." She sighed then dealt another card and frowned hard then looked up at Danny.
"You are the haunted one," she stated.
"Well duh," Danny wanted to say. He only looked back at the woman who hissed something under her breath as she placed down another card. She looked up at Danny for a moment then back down at the cards she had spread out on the table.
"Are we done?" Danny asked, suddenly feeling tired of the charade.
"No," the woman answered as she looked down at the cards. She shifted in her chair uncomfortably, as if she was looking for the right words to say.
"Daniel," she whispered. "The thing you hate the most is what you have become." Danny blinked at her. Yes that was true, he really hated what he was.
"You want to be average. Like everyone else," The woman continued as Danny nodded his head.
"You are foolish," The woman said almost absently. "You fear your power and disable yourself by the sheer stubbornness of wishing you were something you are not."
"What?" Danny asked as his expression became on of extreme skepticism. The woman wasn't making sense.
"Why would you want to embrace mediocrity?" The woman asked as she peered into Danny's eyes. "That's almost insane."
Danny opened his mouth for a moment then said, "Maybe I am insane."
The woman raised one eyebrow. "Only because you cannot accept who and what you are. The peace you so desire is within your grasp. You only need to take hold of it."
"Hey," Danny said flippantly. "Did you get that out of a fortune cookie?"
"All right," The psychic said, trying not to look frustrated. "I see. You doubt my powers. I can be cruel or gentle. Which do you prefer ghost boy?"
Danny swallowed hard. What did she just call him? "I don't care," he answered as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Cruel it is," the woman told him. She stared at Danny for a moment, looking at him as though she could see in to the depth of his soul.
The woman's eyes fixed on a point just beyond Danny's shoulder. "You don't want to become like him, and yet you seem to be veering down a path which would take you straight to his door. You stop running from the darkness and turn to face it." Danny gripped the edge of the table and contemplated running, but also felt like he was glued to his chair.
"The duality of your life scares you. You want to shut everyone out. You are afraid to lose the ones you love the most. However young Danny. Should you continue as you are. You will lose those most important to you."
"Tucker and Sam would never abandon me," Danny said confidently.
"You are right," the woman agreed. "Not willingly. But the shadow will pass over your friends. You have the power to save but one. The other is out of your hands, all you can do for her is to change your path."
"Her?" Danny asked in alarm. "Sam is in danger?"
"Change your path," The woman warned. "Accept who you are, and the responsibility that comes with that acceptance." She looked down at the cards in front of Danny. "Chose a card," she said as she pointed down.
Danny frowned. He didn't want to play this game. This woman knew too much. She was dangerous. He pushed one of the cards toward her and she nodded her head as she flipped it over. She gave a bark of laughter then looked at Danny.
"You've chosen a strange path," she said. "Things are only going to be as difficult as you make them. Be confident in what and who you are and you will have all you desire. The only way to change yourself is to accept yourself. You need to learn to stand on your own. Learn to trust yourself. Don't expect those around you to chase away your inner demons for you. You must do it for yourself or pay the price for your cowardice."
"Uh, thanks," Danny said as he stood. "I think."
He started to walk away and the woman called back to him, "Since Tucker won't come in here, deliver him a message for me?"
"Okay?" Danny asked.
"Tell him that an opportunity he's been waiting for is going to come to him. He needs to take the offer despite the turmoil of life around him. Got that?"
"Yeah," Danny said then stumbled out of the tent and into the harsh sunlight. He shielded his eyes and looked around for Tucker and Sam.
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"All right," the woman said as she watched Danny leave. "I did as you asked Clockwork. Where is my payment?"
"It's here," The ghost said as he laid a box on the table. "Thank you for your assistance."
"Yeah, yeah," the psychic said as she picked up all the cards on the table. "You gave me little choice. So are you going to wipe my memory of this or do I get to walk away with all this glorious knowledge?"
Clockwork chuckled as he turned from an infant to a young man. "You only get to keep what we agreed upon."
"It sucks having you for a spirit guide you know that?" the woman answered.
"I know," Clockwork agreed. "But thank you all the same. It was important to adjust Danny's path again. Hopefully your warning will be successful. I don't wish to take a more active role in directing his life."
"And at the same time Danny is lucky to have you for his guide," The woman laughed. "Oh the irony."
"The world as you know it is lucky," Clockwork said as he changed to an old man. "Trust me on that."
"Oh I do!" The woman said. "Which is my only solace in letting you make me forget the details of this little reading."
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Sam was beginning to get another headache. The shift in light from the dark of the tent hadn't helped, but it was the psychic's words to her that made it worse. She pulled a pair of dark sunglasses out of her pocket and slipped them on.
"Oh we are so Goth," Tucker teased. Sam smiled at him wanly then kicked her boot against Tucker's leg, wondering what was taking so long and thinking that maybe she should go home and convince her mother to take her to the doctor right now.
"Hey guys," Danny said as he appeared behind them. Sam spun and lost a little of her footing. She hid her clumsiness well by grabbing Tucker's arm.
Tucker had been watching Sam with an eagle eye lately. He knew something was wrong. The first thing he assumed was that Danny's bitter mood swings were upsetting her, but he gradually began to conclude it was something else. Sam was for the most part an extremely coordinated and graceful person, but lately she'd become very clumsy.
"So," Tucker asked as he put his hand on Sam's. "What did the psychic tell you Danny?"
"Lots of stuff," Danny answered he smirked a little then said in a spooky voice, which of course was lame considering he really could do a spooky voice in ghost form, "She had a message for you Tucker."
"For me?" Tucker asked. Danny nodded then relayed the message about opportunities. Tucker opened and closed his mouth for a minute then looked at Sam.
"That's weird," he said then cleared his throat. "I've kinda had an offer to join this fellowship like thing for the summer. Only a few people are accepted each year and well…I was one of them. It's over seas."
"That's so cool," Sam said excitedly.
"But I'll be gone a long time. Like even into the first part of the school year," Tucker continued. "I probably won't go."
"You heard what the psychic said," Sam laughed. "You're going Tuck."
"Umm yeah I'm going to leave you guys on the say so of a psychic," Tucker replied.
"A really lame one at that," Danny agreed. Sam shrugged her shoulders then shivered. She for one believed everything the woman said. There was no way anyone could know about Danny, unless of course she was overshadowed.
"Come on guys," Sam said as she grabbed both her friend's hands. "Lets go ride The Terror Train."
Danny allowed his mood to be lightened. He loved his friends, being with them was the best. He felt stable with them around. "I don't know what I would do without them," he reflected. Then let himself be happy, and for once in a long time, he went a whole day without having to fight one ghost.
Tucker remarked that it was weird. Sam said not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"And beware of geeks baring gifts," Danny said as he looked at Tucker.
"You're seriously warped," Tucker laughed.
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Danny's mood improved over the next week. He decided that the psychic was right about one thing, if he let himself be happy and accepted himself for what he was, then things were okay. Of course he wasn't prepared for the ticking time bomb that was about to go off and lay waste to his carefully constructed peace of mind.
The explosion came as a frantic call from Sam. She sounded almost hysterical as she rattled over the phone that she was standing outside the hospital and she needed Danny to come get her now, as fast as he could possibly fly. It wasn't like Sam to ask Danny to use his powers for something unrelated to ghosts, so of course Danny dropped what he was doing and did as she asked.
He found the Goth girl pacing back and forth on the side walk. Her eyes were swollen from crying. She caught sight of Danny and ran forward and threw her arms around him and started sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked. "Are you okay? Are your parents okay? Tucker?"
Sam shook her head as she pulled way from Danny. "I need you to take me to Tuck's house," she sniffled. Her voice was shaking and so was she. "He's waiting for us."
"Okay," Danny said as he grabbed Sam and whisked her up in the air. He flew as fast as he thought he could while holding on to his best friend. She said nothing as they materialized in Tucker's room. She simply ran forward and hugged Tuck just as she had hugged Danny previously then turned and sat on Tucker's bed.
"What's up Sam?" Danny asked as he sat beside her. He decided he was going to keep his tone cheerful. He expected to hear that one of her parents were sick or something of that nature, what ever it was, he was sure everything was going to be all right.
"I'm sick guys," Sam finally said as she composed herself enough to talk. "I mean really sick."
Tucker sat on the other side of Sam. "How sick?" he asked. He frowned. It almost sounded like part of a joke, he thought. There was this woman who was really sick? How sick? The crowd would ask, then the comic would deliver some weird punch line. Only Tucker was pretty sure this wasn't a joke and the only punch line was a painful one.
"They say it's a tumor," Sam whispered so softly that Danny and Tucker could a barely hear her.
"A tumor!" Tucker shrieked then covered his mouth as Danny gave him a warning look.
Sam kept her gaze on the curved tips of her boots. "They say that it's possibly benign," she continued. "They want to run all these tests. But really, the good news is that they say it's operable."
"A tumor?" Danny asked. "What kind of tumor? Cancer?"
Sam shook her head. "I don't know."
"Where is it?" Tucker asked.
Sam tapped the side of her head and his eyes widened. He looked fearfully at Danny then stood. Sam put her hands over her face and leaned forward. Danny began to rub her back as she rocked back and forth.
"I'm really scared," Sam said. "I mean they said they've caught it soon enough that it hasn't invaded on any of my brain's functions, but if I'd let it go any longer…" She left the rest unsaid.
Danny took a deep breath as he continued to rub tiny circles on Sam's back. "It's going to be fine. Everything will work out Sam. This is going to be nothing, besides you'll have Tucker and I by your side to help you recover."
Tucker cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "I was going to go to that fellowship thing." Tucker said softly, feeling terribly guilty for bringing it up. "I'll try to cancel, but it might be too late."
"No," Sam said. "I want you to go. This is too good for you to pass up."
"I don't know if I can go with you here and…" Tucker started.
Sam laughed a little, it was a fake laugh out of reflex. "No," she said as she wrung her hands in her lap. "Because I won't be here. My…My parents are taking me to a hospital in New York. It's a big private facility with all the latest advances and stuff. They even called some big shot doctor. I'll be well taken care of, just not here." She looked at Danny and winced at the fear in his eyes. "I don't know how long I'll be gone."
Danny continued to look at Sam then put his arm around her and pulled her into an embrace and held her tight. The psychic had been right. This wasn't something he could rescue Sam from. At that moment he hated the psychic, not bothering to reason that it wasn't her fault, she simply saw the future.
"When do you leave?" Tucker asked, his voice blank and emotionless. Of course he wanted to cry. He was doing his best not to.
"First thing in the morning," Sam answered as she leaned into Danny. He did the only thing he could do. He held her and rocked her back and forth. He met Tucker's worried gaze.
The three friends jumped as Sam's cell phone started ringing. She sighed but didn't answer it. She just held on to Danny, keeping her head on his chest as tears continued to slide down her face. Tucker fished the phone out of her pocket and answered.
"Hey Mrs. Manson," Tucker said. "Yeah Sam's with me. Yeah she's a little shaken up. Yeah she can stay with us awhile, we'll take care of her." Tucker gave the phone back to Sam then sighed. No one else knew what to say.
Danny was scared. He didn't know what he was going to do without Sam or Tuck. He felt angry too, he was just starting to feel like he had a handle on life. The ghosts hadn't even been that bad lately. Then he started feeling bad for being so selfish. Sam was sick. She needed him to be strong.
"I'm going to cancel my trip," Tucker said as he grabbed a folder from his desk and began looking for cancellation information.
"You can't," Sam said. "The psychic said you should go."
"Like I'm going to listen to some psychic," Tucker scoffed. "You guys are going to need me here."
"No." Danny said. "You should go Tucker. I'll be okay here on my own." On his own? He was terrified. "I'll have Jazz to help me."
"But only until she goes back to college," Tucker pointed out. Danny shrugged his shoulders.
"We might be lucky and I'll be back by then," Sam said ever the optimist. "I'll probably be inactive, but I'll still be around for Danny to talk to."
"Things will be fine," Danny assured his friends. They looked at each other for a moment.
"I'm not going to die," Sam said. "I know I'm going to be fine. We need to stop acting like this is the end."
"Yeah," Tucker said then laughed. "I mean they're only going to shave your head, crack open your skull and cut something out of your brain. Maybe you'll start acting like a normal girl when they're done." Sam kicked at Tucker with her boot and he laughed as he ducked away from her.
"Then this is going to be our last day all together for awhile," Danny stated. He looked at Tucker then at Sam.
"We should do something really fun then," Sam said as she broke into an evil grin.
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Danny and Tucker were at Sam's first thing in the morning to tell her good-bye. Sam's parents kept out of their way as the three friends embraced.
"So," Sam said as she looked nervous. "My mom decided to be surprisingly thoughtful and supportive." She handed Tucker and Danny what looked to be instant text messengers. "She said it's so we could keep in touch with each other all the time."
"Cool!" Tucker said as he examined his new gadget with glee.
"The thing is," Sam said as she made eye contact with Danny. "There's going to be a time when I'm not going to be able to communicate with you, so you'll have to rely on info from my mom."
"Cool!" Tucker said then rolled his eyes at the weird looks Danny and Sam were giving him. "What I mean, he said is we can speak in code to each other."
"Oh geeze," Danny said. The three friends quickly devised a code system to alert each other to either ghostly occurrences and if things were all right or not."
Sam kept their parting light and happy. She didn't want their good-bye to be jinxed by tears. She hugged her two best friends tightly and told them she loved them. Both boys told her she was really strange and she shrugged, not caring what they thought.
Danny and Tucker were left standing together at the curb waving with pasted on smiles as Sam's car disappeared from sight. The smiles faded from their faces as soon as they were sure she was gone. They both sat on the curb not knowing what to say.
Tucker finally broke the silence. "It's six in the morning," he said. "I'm going to go home and go to bed for a few more hours." Danny nodded his head. He didn't think he could sleep. An important part of his being had just left him, and he didn't know if he was ever going to see her again. The possibility that they could have just seen her for the last time, ever ate at his soul.
"Are you going to sit there for the rest of the day?" Tuck asked as he stood.
Danny looked up at his friend for a moment. He wanted to say, "I'm going to sit here and wait until she comes back, like a faithful old dog."
"No," Danny answered. "I'm going to go back to bed too." The two friends walked together until their paths diverged. Tucker looked at Danny for a minute.
"Call me when you wake up. We'll hit The Nasty Burger and maybe the arcades or something."
"Sounds good to me," Danny answered. He looked at Tucker a moment then turned and walked home.
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Danny decided that Jazz was put on this earth solely to annoy the heck out of him. He came to this conclusion as she stood over his bed with her arms folded across her chest and her left foot tapping. He smiled a little. At least it was her left foot. If she was tapping her right foot then he knew she was mad because of something he did wrong. The left foot just meant she was irritated, and not necessarily at him.
"What do you want Jazz?" Danny asked as he opened his eyes blearily.
"Dad is driving me bananas," She said. "I need someone to talk to."
Danny sat up and rubbed his eyes as he looked at his sister in irritation. "So you just had to wake me up and share the wealth? Don't you have friends you can talk to about this? What about Bearbert?"
"Ha ha Danny," Jazz said as she sat down. Suddenly a beeping noise filled the room and Danny jumped. He retrieved his new instant messenger from his pocket and smiled.
"Hey handsome," the message read. "No this isn't from Tuck don't worry. It's me. Sam. I hope you haven't forgotten me yet. I just wanted to send you a message to let you know that I miss you already."
Danny smiled. "My heart aches for you," he typed back then quickly looked at Jazz then back down at his new gadget. "But I guess I'll survive."
Jazz leaned forward and looked at the message. She blinked a few times then asked, "You're flirting with Sam?"
Danny blushed and shook his head. "No," he answered. "We're talking in code."
"Oh," Jazz said, her excited expression fell into disappointment. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Where did you get that thing?"
"From Sam," Danny answered. "It's how we're going to keep in touch." He looked up at his sister. She didn't know yet and he knew once she found out, she'd subject him to one of her counseling sessions.
"Keep in touch?" Jazz asked. "Where is she going?"
"New York," Danny answered. He paused as he looked thoughtfully at his sister. "She's sick."
"Sick?" Jazz asked worriedly.
Danny took a deep breath. He hadn't said it out loud yet. Once he did, it would truly become real. "She has a tumor."
"Oh?" Jazz said her eyes widening.
"Brain," Danny answered before Jazz could ask. "And before you go grilling me about everything, I'm going to tell you now, I don't want to talk about it."
"But," Jazz started as she held up her finger…
"No but!" Danny growled as he put effort into sending his sister a green glowing glare. "I just don't want to talk about it yet. We just learned the news yesterday and I'm not ready to talk okay?"
Jazz's expression softened. "Okay."
"Good," Danny said then looked down at the next message from Sam.
"Jazz harassing you?" she asked.
"What?" Danny typed. "Are you psychic or something?"
"No," came Sam's reply. "I am just well versed in the rhythm of your life."
"It's good to know I'm so predictable." Danny typed as he ignored the inquisitive looks from Jazz.
"I've already talked to Tucker," Sam messaged. "He contacted me first. He has the whole thing figured out. He even has a picture of himself up already."
"What do you expect when you give a Techno Geek a new toy," Danny said. He bet that Tucker didn't go back to bed but spent the rest of the morning fiddling with his new, "baby".
"I need to go," Sam said. "I just wanted to tell you hi really quick."
"Ok," Danny typed out as he ignored his sister who was still sitting on the edge of his bed, watching him curiously.
"Is she going to be all right?" Jazz asked as she watched her brother finish his conversation and put the little instant messenger on the table.
"Yeah," Danny said stiltedly, really not wanting to talk about it.
Jazz fidgeted on the edge of the bed a minute. "I have to warn you. Dad has a new ghost hunting device."
"What's new?" Danny asked as he rolled over and pulled the cover over his head.
"It's called the Fenton Burrito Maker." Jazz said in menacing tone.
Danny groaned. "Tell me it makes burritos and that's it."
Jazz smiled. "I don't know," she said. "It's supposed to catch ghosts and wrap them up in neat little packages, like a burrito."
"Oh joy!" Danny moaned.
"Danny!" Jack called from down stairs. "Come here a minute son. I have a new invention! It's call the Fenton Ghost Burrito. You've got to see this."
"Hide me!" Danny said frantically to Jazz. But it was too late. Jack burst into the room, scooped Danny up and carried him out of the room.
"Help!" Danny called to Jazz.
Jazz crossed her arms and followed her father and Danny down into the lab. "Don't worry," She said soothingly. "If you get made into a ghost burrito, I'll get you out of it."
"Mom!" Danny yelled. "Dad is going to make me into a burrito!"
"Don't be silly Sweetie," Maddie called from the kitchen. "It only works on ghosts."
Danny looked at his sister who had begun to smile smugly. "I'll let you go after we talk," she said.
"This is so wrong," Danny cried.
"But so fun," Jazz laughed as she closed the lab door behind her.
It wasn't too long before Maddie, up in the kitchen hear a loud bang and a zap then a scream. She ran downstairs to find Danny laying on the floor, wrapped up in a glowing green burrito.
'Hmmmm," Jack said. "It must be malfunctioning. It's only supposed to work on ghosts."
"Great," Danny said then looked up at Jazz. She knelt down by his head.
"You and I need to talk little brother." Jazz whispered as she watched her father and mother vanish up the stairs.
Danny closed his eyes and shook his head. "This is cruel and unusual punishment," he cried. "I have rights you know."
"So when did you find out about Sam?" Jazz asked as she sat Indian style by Danny's head and bent down to look into his eyes.
If he had use of his hands, Danny would have covered his face. "Crap," he said. He had no hope of rescue. Tucker would only find the situation amusing and find more ways to torture Danny now that he was captive. Life with Sam gone was going to be hell.
"Start talking Danny," Jazz said or I'll let you stay a ghost burrito until Tuck comes, then I'm sure he'd love to spend the rest of the day singing, Tucker's greatest hits.
"Okay!" Danny yelled. "I'll talk. But I'm going to get you back for this Jazz. You better watch your back."
Jazz held up her hands. "Ooo I'm so scared," she said then smiled. "Come one little brother. It won't be so bad?"
"Isn't holding a patient hostage and forcing them to talk against some psychologist code of ethics or something?" Danny asked helplessly from the floor. The ghost burrito was very uncomfortable. His arms were going numb and he couldn't faze through the material he was wrapped in.
"I don't think so," Jazz said. "Besides the big sister code of ethics takes precedence in any situation. And that means I would be remiss in my big sister duties if I let and opportunity to torture you, pass me by."
Danny rolled his eyes and said, "Oh man."
"Besides," Jazz continued. "This is all for your own good." Danny scoffed at her words then took a deep breath and began to pour out everything to Jazz, and when he was finished, both siblings were in tears.
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I bet your looking for authors notes now huh? No? Well fine. I'll keep this short and simple. Don't expect super frequent updates from me. I want to keep the quality of this story high, therefore fewer updates. You'll probably get longer chapters though.
Sorry for making Sam sick with a brain tumor. I had to get rid of her semi-permanently. I didn't want to kill her off, and if I moved her away not only would our ghost boy have gone after her, but then I would need to find a device to bring her back. I'm not taking Sam and Tucker away from Danny forever, just for the biggest part of this story.
My next order of business is dealing with Tucker….
Yeah and sorry if the psychic was kinda lame. She didn't really give Danny a prediction or a prophecy. And yeah I had to use Clockwork. Why? Because I wanted to.
Now, if you're still reading. Review. I really need reviews to keep writing. So do it!