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Chapter Eleven

Errol was frustrated; he had been working hard on Sam in order to eradicate her feelings for Danny, but each night when he returned the feelings were back, just as strong as before. Unfortunately, Errol understood the nature of love, having been witness to the emotion in several forms. Sam's love for Danny was real, though tainted by the sadness of being unrequited. He disliked the taste of unrequited love as much as he favored the tang of new romance. He'd manipulated the situation and formed new romance between Dash and Sam, but in the process, he had somehow become obsessed with the girl. He had thought to give her a happier situation, a love that could be real—at least, one he could control—but he felt as if he had failed miserably. Yes, he had created for her a happy little relationship with Dash, but the bitter sting of her love for Danny stubbornly remained.

Reasonably, Errol knew where his obsession came from. It was jealousy. Errol hadn't known how jealousy would affect him, but he was sure it was part of the reason he was so focused on the girl. Between that and her unrequited love, Errol knew he was going crazy. He could barely remember the plan he had in the beginning. He could scarcely remember where he came from—the lovely cottage at the edge of a great forest, which had been torn down to build a parking lot. All he could think about was Sam. He wondered if, now that he had let himself spiral down into insanity, it was possible to make his way back out. Errol wasn't sure. He knew he couldn't be free until he had what he wanted.

What did he want? He'd questioned himself over and over and over and came to the conclusion that he wanted three things. He wanted to take over Dash, to be rid of Danny, and he wanted Sam for his own.

Errol was not pleased with the desires of his heart. He was of two minds, half crazy, knowing it was wrong, but not caring either way. Part of him wanted a way out. He even attempted a few times to leave Amity Park, but still wasn't strong enough to get very far. He was stuck with no way to escape his obsession. He decided that he would be fine as long as Dash continued to obey him, and didn't try to ask Danny for help as his thoughts so often begged to do.

The ghost wondered how much longer he could go on as he was, torn apart by love, envy, longing, desperation and fear. He wasn't used to such things.


The week progressed quickly for everyone. Sam was kept busy between school and trying to balance her life between Dash and her friends. Danny was kept busy trying to fight off the steady stream of irritating minor ghosts, trying to keep them from terrorizing the city by their sheer numbers alone. Tuck was caught between the two, witnessing his two friends struggle and wishing he could do something for them.

Sam was having horrible nightmares about Danny. They were so terrible that it made it hard to face him. Each night they seemed to worse. She considered the possibility that the ghost had returned, or even that a whole other creature had decided to play with her mind; she'd worn the Specter Deflector the first night Danny had asked, but then she forgot about it. When she finally did remember the device, she couldn't seem to recall what she'd done with it. She assumed she gave it back to Danny, but again, couldn't remember when. Sam decided she needed to talk to someone—maybe then the nightmares would stop—and of course, that someone would be Tucker.

"You should talk to Danny," Tucker told sleepily when Sam called him on Wednesday, early in the evening.

"But the nightmares are about Danny," Sam replied in exasperation.

"Sam," Tucker said gently. "Talk to Danny about them. I'm serious."

"I don't want to talk to Danny about it," Sam told him stubbornly. "I want to talk to you."

"Try Jazz then," Tucker continued tiredly. "Come on, Sam, I'm having a tough week here. You don't know what Danny's like without you around…" He paused and his voice softened. "He misses you more than I do, Sam."

Sam closed her eyes. She missed Danny, too, but the dreams left her unsettled and scared. She also knew that talking to Danny made Dash jealous and that's the last thing she wanted to do. As nice as he seemed to be, he was still Dash, and seemed to be getting harder to reason with. He started out understanding but was now becoming possessive.

"Fine," Sam said. "I'm sorry for bugging you, but I'm tired too. You have to remember I'm trying to juggle spending time with Dash, spending time with you and Danny, and school work."

"Yeah, well," Tucker began. "You're not having to do double-time fighting ghosts like Danny has been. You really need to talk to him. It'll make him feel better."

"There have been a lot of ghosts?" Sam asked in bewilderment. "I haven't seen any."

"That's because Danny's been grabbing them before they can do too much," Tucker answered, then sighed heavily. "You need to talk to him, Sam. I'm serious. Hang up with me and call him. Call. Danny. Now!"

"Okay," Sam growled. "Why are you so pushy?"

"Because I like to be," Tucker replied. "I'm hanging up now. Call Danny." Sam frowned a moment as she considered Tucker's demand, then dialed Danny's house.


Danny had just returned from fighting another of those dastardly little ghosts, and was wondering if it had anything to do with Errol. He'd expected that the creature would rear his ugly head again, and checked Sam over several times for any ghostly influence—but he couldn't detect anything. She wasn't acting any different than her usual self, other than the fact that she was valiantly trying to spread her time between her boyfriend and her friends.

He was proud of her; other than that Friday when she came to school looking like a stranger, she'd done a good job standing up to the pressures she faced. He just wished he could tell her to her face how much he admired her strength.

Danny's cell phone rang and he smiled as he saw who was calling. "Sam," he said, then answered the phone.

"Hey," he said happily.

"Hey," Sam replied nervously. "What are you up to?"

Danny looked around and laughed a little. "Not much. You know how it is."

"So can I come over and see you?" Sam asked quickly, feeling a little uncomfortable asking. Before Dash it wouldn't have been a big deal, but now it some how was.

"Sure," Danny answered, trying not to feel overly excited.

"I'll be over in a little bit then," Sam said.

"I'll be waiting," Danny replied happily. He hung up the phone and looked around his room. Suddenly it was just too messy to for Sam to see. It didn't matter that Sam had been his friend forever and seen his room in worse condition than it was currently; that was then and this was now.

He had just finished shoving dirty clothes into the hamper when he heard the doorbell ring. Jazz yelled that she was getting it so he waited impatiently. He tried to sit, but couldn't stay still. He ended up pacing around the room until a light knock sounded on the door.

Danny raced forward and opened the door to let Sam in. He felt breathless, giddy and shaky, just being alone in her presence. Sam gave him a funny look as she walked past him.

"Why are you grinning like that?" she asked worriedly.

"No reason," Danny answered, then sat down and looked at Sam. He decided he could look at her all day.

"Okay," Sam said warily as she sat in her usual spot in Danny's room.

"What did you need to talk about?" Danny asked as he tried not to be too obvious in his adoration.

"I've been having some really bad nightmares," Sam finally said. "About you."

"Why?" Danny asked worriedly, causing Sam to sigh.

"I don't know, Danny. Everything is complicated," Sam answered. "Plus, I miss spending time with you and Tuck. I like Dash, but I just feel so uncomfortable and there just seems to be this force just pushing me closer and closer to him."

"A force?" Danny asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

Sam shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just imagining things." She paused. "And the nightmares are really disturbing, Danny. I know you'd never do any of those terrible things, but…"

"But what?" Danny asked as he moved toward Sam. He reached forward and took her hand, twining his fingers with hers, and marveled at how right it felt. He looked up at her face. She was looking down at their hands.

"I don't know," Sam said as she looked up and met his eyes. It hurt now to meet the blue gaze she loved so much. She felt like she was moving further and further away from him, and soon their friendship would be just a distant memory.

"Sammy," Danny said as he held her gaze. "You know I'd never do anything to purposefully to hurt you."

"I know," Sam replied as she looked down again. "It's not the purposeful that's been bothering me. There was that time when Freakshow used that crystal ball to take you over, and…"

Danny sighed. "So suddenly now, you're starting to become afraid of me?"

"Sorta," Sam answered she looked up at Danny with wide eyes. "I don't mean to be. I don't know why I am. It's these stupid dreams."

Danny frowned and kept his eyes on Sam's face. "Forget about the dreams, Sam," he said softly. "They're just dreams. They're not reality, and even if they were, as long as I have you in my life, nothing is ever going to turn me into some evil creature. You keep me grounded. You keep me focused." He sighed deeply as she looked back up at him and searched his face.

"Danny, I…" she started to say as her cell phone began ringing. She growled in irritation then sighed as she saw who the caller was.

"It's Dash," she told Danny. "He doesn't know I'm here." Danny nodded his head, as he tried to hide his jealous reaction, and politely walked out of the room while she took the call. He could hear her arguing with Dash a little. He felt bad for eavesdropping so he walked down the hall and stood at the door to Jazz's room.

Jazz was reading a book and gave him an annoyed look as she pointed for him to leave. Danny sighed. He swiped a blue bouncy ball from a shelf near her door, giving her a pointed look as he left. Jazz just smiled and rolled her eyes.

After Sam finished her call with Dash, she stuck her head out of Danny's room and watched as he was leaning on the wall bouncing a ball on the floor and catching it as it rebounded. She smiled and walked over to lean beside him.

"Do you have to go?" Danny asked, not looking up at Sam.

"No," she answered. As she caught the ball Danny bounced as it rebounded off the wall. She threw the ball and watched as Danny caught it and bounced it against the wall and toward her so she could catch it again. They stood there for a long time, not talking, just alternating catching the ball as it bounced and rebounded.

"Sam?" Danny asked.

The ball bounced twice between them before Sam answered. "What?"

The ball bounced before Danny responded, "Are you happy?"

Sam sighed and let the ball bounce between them four times before saying, "I guess so. I'm not unhappy."

Danny let the ball bounce five times then said, "Are you…are you in love?"

The ball bounced between them too many times to count. A smile grew on Sam's face that Danny wish he hadn't seen as he turned his attention back to throwing and catching the ball.

Sam looked at Danny a moment and wondered if she should even answer the question. He didn't ask if she was in love with Dash, but if she was in love. Should she take it to mean is she in love with Dash, or simply in love?

"Yes," she finally said as she took her turn bouncing the ball. Danny's heart sank and he held on to the ball for a moment as he looked at Sam.

"For real?" he asked as he worriedly met her gaze.

"Yes," Sam answered. "For real."

Danny started bouncing the ball again. He didn't know what to say. He wished that the question hadn't been asked. He had been hoping she'd say no.

"Danny," Sam said softly and worriedly. "Can you do something for me?"

"Sure," Danny answered. They continued to bounce the ball for awhile. Sam finally caught the ball and walked back to Danny's room. He followed.

"Can you check something out for me?" She asked as she turned and looked at him. "See if there's a ghost hanging around me?"

"I've already checked," Danny admitted. He sighed. "I've checked several times."

Sam shook her head. "Maybe not at the right time. Maybe you should check on me at night. Maybe that's why I've been having these dreams. Some have been really horrible, but mostly they seemed geared toward making me hate you." She looked down at her boots. "And I could never do that. I feel like I've been fighting a horrible war."

"Why haven't you been wearing the Specter Deflector like I told you to do in the beginning?" Danny asked.

"I did, but now I can't find it," Sam said in exasperation.

"Are you sure you just didn't throw it out because it's so uncomfortable?" Danny teased. Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"No," Sam laughed. "I wouldn't do something like that." She hesitated for a moment.

"Was that the only one there is? Or is there another one?" she asked hopefully.

"Sam, I don't think there's a ghost involved," Danny said. He cleared his throat. "I've been at your house late at night. Nothing was there."

Sam smirked. "Well maybe you need to check again," she teased.

"You really think it's a ghost?" Danny asked. Sam nodded, then stepped forward and put the top of her head on his chest. Danny was at a loss. This was all news to him. Why hadn't she come to him sooner? How long had she suspected? He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her closer so he could hug her.

"I'll check things out," Danny told her. "Don't worry about it anymore."

Sam pulled away and looked at Danny for a moment. She smiled slightly and mussed his hair a little. He smiled back.

"I need to go," Sam said as she continued to look into Danny's eyes. She wanted to remember their kindness, so that when she was confronted with the nightmares, she would remember how he really was.

"I'll talk to you in the morning," Danny said. "Before school." He paused. "You are walking to school with Tuck and I, right?"

"Yes," Sam replied firmly. "I am." Danny smiled and walked with her downstairs and to the front door.

"Don't worry about the nightmares," Danny said. "We'll figure it out, and just to make you happy I'll look for another Specter Deflector. Maybe Dad's made a new and improved model, you never know."

"Thanks," Sam said then walked out the door. Danny waved to her for a moment, then closed the door, ran upstairs, transformed into his ghost mode and followed her home.

"Just to make sure she's safe," he justified to himself.


Dash was waiting for Sam when she arrived. Sam sighed deeply as she walked to the door.

"Are you checking up on me?" she asked in a teasing voice.

"No," Dash said defensively. "I was out and walked by your house and make sure you got home all right."

Sam gave him a sly look. "So, do you want to come in or do you have to go?" She looked at her watch. It was getting late.

"I need to go," Dash said as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

Sam smiled happily then hugged Dash. She was now used to the peaceful feeling which enveloped her when she was around Dash. She no longer questioned it, but accepted it as part of the relationship.

"Goodnight," Sam said, then slipped inside the house.

Danny, who was floating invisibly, decided to follow Dash for awhile. He wasn't sure why, but some internal alarm was going off and he'd learned never to ignore that irritating pang when it sounded.

"Leave me alone," Dash said to himself. Danny frowned as he floated closer and listened curiously to the one-sided conversation.

"I'm not going to do that," Dash continued.

Danny smiled. No, he grinned. He could barely contain his joy. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier? Why hadn't the thought even occurred to him that Dash could be the one being manipulated by the ghost?

He paused and chastised himself. The reason was because he was simply too eaten up by jealousy to think straight. He followed Dash until he reached his house, then flew back home.


Jack Fenton looked up as his son entered the Ops Center. He smiled broadly and motioned for Danny to sit down.

"This is unusual," Jack remarked as Danny sat. "What brings you up to talk to your old man?" He arched an eyebrow up. "Is it girl trouble?"

"No," Danny answered quickly.

"Hmmm," Jack said. "I heard about Sam. I didn't even know you two broke up."

Danny gave his father an exasperated look. "She and I were never together, Dad."

"Oh?" Jack asked then looked confused. "I thought you were."

"I'm looking for a Specter Deflector," Danny said quickly. He really didn't want to have a discussion with his father about the nature of his relationship with Sam.

Jack froze and looked at his son suspiciously. "Why?" he asked. "Have you been having trouble with ghosts?"

"No," Danny said quickly. "No ghosts. No. Ummmm, I have a science experiment." He paused and thought. "Yeah, a science experiment and I wanted to use the Specter Deflector to test out some…umm…theories."

"Ah!" Jack boomed happily as he walked across the room and opened up a large cabinet. "Following in the old man's footsteps. That's what I like to hear." Danny watched his father warily.

Jack closed the cupboard door and frowned. "I was sure I left it there," he said to himself, then walked across the room and opened a drawer.

"Aha!" he said. "That's where I left it." He then walked back to the table where he'd been working and set down a box of fudge. Danny looked from the box to his father in disbelief.

"Do you want some?" Jack asked as he pushed the box toward Danny.

"No thanks," Danny said. "But what about the Specter Deflector?"

Jack looked at Danny dumbly for a minute then reached under the table. "Here," he said as he threw the belt at Danny.

"Thanks, Dad," Danny said feeling a little relieved.

"Don't tell your mother," Jack said. "She'll just worry."

"Okay, Dad," Danny said. "Good night."

"Goodnight, son," Jack called through a mouthful of fudge. "Sleep well."


Sam had just crawled into bed and was about to turn off the light and go to sleep when a knock on the window made her nearly jump from her skin. She walked to the widow, opened the curtain, and came face to face with Danny's glowing green eyes. She clutched her hand to her throat in fear, then realized how silly she was.

"Get in here," she told him as she stepped back.

"Sorry," Danny said as he floated through the window. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," Sam lied. "I was just surprised." Danny handed her the Specter Deflector and she smiled sheepishly.

"Don't lose this one," he said. "In fact, I want to see you put it on." Sam rolled her eyes then put on the bulky device. Once the latch snapped together, the belt activated.

"The key?" Sam asked happily. "That is, if you can tear your eyes away from my legs."

"Oh yeah," Danny said as he blushed. He was staring at Sam's bare legs, thinking how rarely he saw her without some sort of covering over them. He handed her the key and was rewarded with a very unpleasant shock as his fingers brushed her palm.

"Well, we know it works," Danny said as he blew on his sizzling fingers.

Sam fought the urge to chuckle at him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Danny answered, "But this means I'm not going to kiss you goodnight."

Sam laughed like it was the joke she knew he intended it to be—but had she thought he was serious, she'd take off the ghost repelling belt so fast his head would spin.

"'Night, Sammy," Danny said blithely.

"'Night," Sam said. "Sleep well." Danny gave her a look that told her he doubted he would.


Danny left Sam's house with a happy smile on his face, glad in the knowledge that she'd be safe. He wondered if he should tell her what he knew and what he suspected, then thought it was better for her piece of mind that she didn't find anything out until he knew all of what was going on.

He had no intention of going home and going to sleep. He was going to Dash's house. Danny thought over his options. Should he simply confront Dash and rid him of the ghost, or should he be more subtle and wait for the ghost to go after Sam, as he assumed it would?

After a short debate, Danny decided that it might be safer for Dash if he waited until the ghost left, assuming it would. Danny did consider the possibility that the ghost never left and that Sam's nightmares only had to do with her contact with the ghost through Dash.

Danny sat in the tree in Dash's yard and thought. Part of him was elated. If this ghost was interfering with and manipulating Dash, then that would mean both Dash's and Sam's feelings weren't real. That meant the relationship would be over. On the other hand, their feelings could be real, just magnified by the ghost. Or worse, Sam's feelings could be real and Dash's feelings not, and then Sam would be hurt. Danny put his head in his hands and groaned.

What if Sam really loved Dash? What if Dash really loved her? Danny wondered if he had any hope at all of winning Sam's heart, and if he did, was he a terrible person for wanting her relationship with Dash to fall apart so he could be happy?

Danny sat up. He knew he could agonize over the situation forever. The best he could do for the moment was be patient and hope that Sam wouldn't get hurt. He tried to care about Dash, but that idea was a little more difficult to carry through. He also knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, the likelihood of getting hurt was high, but he couldn't help it. He wouldn't care if he had to hide his feelings for Sam forever; as long as she was back to normal, hanging out together with Tuck and himself all the time, he'd be happy.

He was just about to nod off, sitting in the tree at Dash's house, when his ghost sense went off. Danny floated up in alarm then watched as the ghost he knew as Errol flying swiftly from Dash's house. Danny followed with a sinking feeling, knowing where the ghost was going. He knew that this would be when the fight started. Everything would go up- or downhill from here, and regardless of what happened between Dash and Sam, Errol was in for one hell of a beating tonight. Danny wasn't feeling merciful.


I apologize for this chapter being later than usual. You could say that I had a little "test of faith", but I shall overcome. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please do me the honor of a review.