As always, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Nom de Plume for kindly beta-reading this chapter.
Chapter Thirteen
Danny woke up to the dark and cramped quarters of the Fenton Thermos. He groaned in agony—not only did his whole body ache, but his arm was throbbing and burning. His head ached fiercely, and strangely he was very thirsty.
Movement within the thermos was next to impossible. It was dark, and it smelled oddly of his dad's old socks. Unfortunately, the faint odor of sweaty socks was making Danny feel extremely nauseous on top of everything else.
His first moments of consciousness were very disorienting. He struggled to figure out where he was as he pressed against the cylindrical walls of the container—then it hit him. He was in the thermos. He groaned. Sam was in danger. Errol had bested him and sucked him into the thermos. He shouldn't have hesitated. He should have just destroyed the blasted ghost when he had the chance instead of worrying about ending its existence.
Danny's biggest worry now was getting out of the thermos and protecting Sam. The ghost's words about her made him feel sick. It was obsessed with her. Danny was terrified of what it might do or how it would hurt Sam. He kicked himself for being such a stupid jealous fool and not realizing what was going on sooner.
He heard a noise and he stopped and listened hard. He could hear voices. Where was he?
"Dash!" a man's voice yelled angrily. "Get in here now!"
"Yes, sir," Danny heard Dash reply.
"What is the meaning of leaving this mess in the living room? Pick it up now!" the man hissed. "You're weak, Dash! Weak. We can't have that! When you're done putting your things away we're going to go out to the backyard and work on that lousy pass of yours."
"Yes, sir," Dash said.
"Dash has the thermos?" Danny said to himself as he felt the world around him shake, then shake again, vigorously. Danny tried to brace himself, he was losing consciousness again.
Tucker frowned as he walked down the hall, toward the cafeteria, with Sam. "I really don't think going to Dash's house after school is a good idea," Tucker said worriedly.
"Why not?" Sam asked. "He's just Dash. I've been alone with him enough to know he's not going to hurt me. When he's away from the A-list jerks, he's really a nice person. I wish you could see it."
Tucker shook his head. "What I see or don't see doesn't matter. The problem is that Danny's missing. Dash may or may not be under the influence of a ghost, we don't know. If he is, you could be in danger."
"Both of us have been in danger lots of times, Tuck," Sam said calmly. "I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me."
"We don't have Danny to protect us, Sam," Tucker told his friend. He looked into her eyes and tried to convey how worried and scared he was.
"When did you become so faint of heart?" Sam teased.
"I'm not," Tucker defended. "I'm just trying to be cautious here. We don't know what happened to Danny. He might be…well…you know?"
"No," Sam said as she shook her head. "If he were dead, we'd know."
"Sam," Tucker said. "I just have a really bad feeling about this. Take Dash to your house instead or something. Go to the library. Just don't be alone with him."
"I have the Fenton Lipstick," Sam said. "And my cell phone. If I need help I'll call you and Jazz."
"I think it would be better if we just confronted Dash about any ghostly activity together," Tucker said.
"And he'd deny it," Sam said as she reached the lunch room door. Tucker grumbled something underneath his breath and Sam laughed.
When Danny came to again, he was feeling worse than he was before. He wondered what it was like when a ghost died. Was he dying? It sure felt like it.
He knew he needed to save his strength, but he couldn't help trying to rock the thermos. If it was on a table and he could knock it over, then the thermos would fall to the floor, break open, and he'd be able to escape.
Danny moved and kicked the best he could, but the only thing he succeeded in doing was making himself lightheaded. His other option was to try and transform back into his human form, but since he was unable to use any of his ghost powers at all, he didn't think it would work.
He was right; trying to transform himself back to his human mode didn't work, and it gave him a worse headache than he'd had before. Danny closed his eyes. He could only hope that Sam and Tucker would figure everything out before he grew too weak.
He heard voices. Sam's voice. He wanted to call out to her, but wasn't sure he could make himself heard. He started listening to the conversation, and realized what was going on. Now he was not only sick to his stomach but his heart was aching along with the rest of his body. He closed his eyes and wished he could pass out again.
Sam was nervous as she walked into Dash's house. It didn't make her feel any better that both Tuck and Jazz knew where she was. Relaxing was going to be impossible as long as Danny was missing.
Dash showed Sam into the sterile white living room and she frowned at the thought that people actually lived in such a stark, uninviting room.
"Sit down," Dash told Sam.
"Is it safe?" Sam asked skeptically. "Someone won't get mad at me for tracking in dirt?"
Dash paused, seemingly considering his answer, then said, "Not at you." Sam gave him a worried look as she sat. Dash sat beside her then took her hand in his. Errol took over from that point; Dash didn't even have the time to object. He had brought Sam here to celebrate his victory—there was no time to be wasted arguing with Dash.
The ghost knew Sam was feeling uncomfortable, and perhaps bewildered; part of the reason was because she was had been out of his influence for too long. He sent a surge of power from Dash's hand into Sam and watched as she visibly relaxed.
"Sam," Dash said as he looked into her eyes. Sam looked back worriedly.
"I can tell something's bothering you," he said gently. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sam's worried look changed to one of confusion and she shook her head as Dash's arm came around her and pulled her close. The feeling of warmth and peace she had failed to feel before settled around her, and she relaxed despite herself.
"I have a lot on my mind," Sam finally said. "It's nothing that important." Dash feathered his fingers through her hair and she had to fight to not completely let go and relax. She was supposed to upset Dash—possibly break up with him—to potentially reveal a ghost or, at the very least, break a potential ghost's hold on him.
Sam's eyes fluttered shut as he moved closer and placed a soft kiss on her neck beneath her ear. She tried to fight the haze clouding her mind, but her blood was already singing in her veins urging her to simply turn her head and connect with his mouth.
"Sam," Errol whispered into her hear. "Do you have any idea what I would do for you? Anything. Anything you ask. I love you, my precious Sam." He brushed his lips against hers and shivered as her lips parted, as if in permission to taste and explore…and so he did.
Sam put her hands against Dash's shoulder with the intention of pushing him away, but soon found that her hands had snaked around his neck as he pushed back on the couch until she was laying beneath him as he kissed her lovingly.
"I don't want you to think that I brought you here just for this," he said as he pulled away and looked into her eyes. He caressed her face with one hand. Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I want your heart, Sam," he whispered as he kissed her cheek.
Sam turned her head so he could nibble on her neck. "I want your love," he continued, his lips against her skin made her feel like she was going to burst to flame. She sighed as he kissed his way back up to her lips and one of his hands stole beneath the hem of her shirt and wandered upward.
"I want your soul!" he continued, forcing alarm bells to sound in Sam's mind.
"D-Dash," Sam stuttered as she tried desperately to fight the languorous feeling stealing into her limbs. She wanted to get away, but her body betrayed her. She wondered how her hands ended up beneath his shirt, stroking the warm skin on his back.
"Say you love me," he said as he pulled away and looked into her lavender eyes. Errol wanted to drown in them; he could happily spend an eternity in her eyes alone. A terrible ache filled his entire being as he watched a look of uncertainty growing in her eyes.
"I…" Sam started to say, but he kissed her again, cutting off her words, cutting off her thinking. What was she going to say? She couldn't remember. His hand crept beneath her skirt, causing her breath to catch as he continued to feast on her mouth. Sam's eyes widened as he caressed her thigh, reaching higher—it was like a splash of cold water, breaking the spell. She grabbed his hand and pushed it away before it reached its intended destination.
"No," she said as she turned her head, ending the kiss. Sam looked around in shock; they were no longer in the living room, but lying on a bed. How had they gotten there? He paused and soothed her, kissing her chin sweetly and tenderly until she gave in and let him kiss her again.
"My Sweetness," he whispered tenderly. Sam turned her head to the side, breaking the kiss yet again. She blinked as she looked at the Fenton Thermos sitting on the dresser. She vaguely wondered what a Fenton Thermos was doing there of all places…then it all came flooding back to her.
"Danny," she gasped as she sat up and pushed Dash away.
"What?" Dash asked in rage. "What did you say?" Sam looked at Dash fearfully as she scrabbled off the bed and toward thermos. Dash was quicker. He grabbed it and held it behind his back.
"It's him again!" Dash yelled. "That damned ghost boy! Why can't I get him out of your mind?"
"Give me the thermos," Sam demanded as she tried to get around him.
"No," Dash growled, his voice sounding completely unlike Dash.
"You are mine, Sam," he said as he advanced on her. "Once you accept that fact, all will be well."
Sam swallowed hard. "What have you done with Dash?" she asked shakily.
Dash, or the person who seemed to be Dash, laughed. "Don't worry, my Sweetness," he said. "I couldn't bear to share you with him. He is completely oblivious, in his own little dreamland right now. Trust me, he's happy."
"What about Danny?" Sam asked, trying not to sound hysterical.
"Danny can't harm you, Sweetness," he answered.
"Errol," Sam gasped, guessing at the identity of the ghost.
"Yes," he answered as he reached for her. "Yes. Yes. I am Errol. You are Sam. You are mine. I am yours. Forever."
"No," Sam whispered. "I'm not yours. You need to give Dash back his body."
"No," Errol replied. "It's mine now. Just as you are mine." He reached for Sam and pulled her up into his arms. Sam looked at the thermos in his hand. She knew Danny was in there. It tore her up inside when she imagined how long he'd been stuck in the thermos. He had to be hurt badly for Errol to have gained the upper hand on him in a fight, and to be caught inside the thermos.
"He's not coming back, Sam," Errol said as he caressed her face with a free hand. "You should be happy. He has done nothing but break your heart. He's a vengeful, hurtful spirit."
"No," Sam replied as she shook her head. "He's wonderful. He's the best person I know. There is no one kinder than Danny."
"Kind?" Errol yelled. "Have you seen what he does to the little ghosts? Those poor defenseless creatures?"
"Have you ever seen what those so-called defenseless creatures do when they escape the Ghost Zone?" Sam asked in outrage. "The destruction, pain and fear they cause is unbelievable. Danny puts them back when he could destroy them."
"I've seen his cruelty in action, Sam," Errol told her calmly as he moved closer to her. "I've seen him tormenting them with no good cause." Sam took a deep breath. She didn't know what to say. She knew Danny took his aggression out on the littler ghosts quite often. It was his way of blowing off steam. No one ever thought that the ghosts were anything more than pests, even most ghosts themselves.
"Give me the thermos," Sam said softly. "Let Danny go."
"No!" Errol boomed. "He's staying put. He'll hurt you again, Sam. He'll break your heart. He can't love you like I can." He pushed Sam back and she fell onto the bed.
"Let me show you," Errol said as he forced Sam, who was frozen in horror, further on to the bed, and laid beside her. He feathered his fingers along her bare midriff. "Let me show you how I can love you."
Sam swallowed hard and closed her eyes briefly. "That isn't love," she said as she looked at the thermos. Errol still held it in a death grip.
"You only think you love him," Errol continued as he held Sam's gaze. "It's only because you don't know better." He moved close to Sam and kissed her lips briefly. Sam turned her head away.
"I love Danny," she said miserably. "No matter what you do, I'll always love him. Nothing can change that, not even whatever ghostly tricks you pull."
"You'll forget him," Errol whispered as he pulled at Sam's shirt. "I'll help you. I promise you'll want to." Sam purposefully kept her eyes from the thermos as she snaked her hands onto his shoulders. She watched his eyes flicker in satisfaction, a smile curling on his lips, Dash's lips.
"You need to put this down," Sam said breathlessly as she smoothed her hand down Errol's arm toward the thermos.
"Ah!" Errol laughed as he pulled the thermos away from her searching fingers. "You beautiful sneaky girl. I know what you're trying to do." He placed the thermos on the nightstand then moved Sam away from it.
"I'm so sorry, my love," Errol said. "I understand what you're going through. I understand your heart…so much better than you think."
Sam held his gaze. "I don't want this," she said. "I don't know how you can say you love me, care for me or anything else while you're torturing me like this."
Errol shook Dash's head. "I'm sorry, Sweetness. It's a necessary evil."
Sam swallowed hard. "You're right, it's evil." Errol's eyes showed their guilt.
"No evil is necessary!" Sam continued angrily. "And I'll never love you. I hate you!"
Errol blinked in pain and astonishment, then anger. "You will change your mind," he growled as he dug his fingers into Sam's shoulders then crashed his mouth over hers in a punishing kiss. Sam clamped her jaw shut and turned her head. Errol put his hands on either side of her face, holding her still, begging her to respond to the tenderness he was now trying to convey in his kisses—trying hard to infuse his power into her, to hypnotize her into acceptance. All he needed to do was claim her, and she'd be his forever, no going back. Why couldn't she just understand how much he loved her? It would make things so much easier.
"No," Sam said as she brought up her knee. Where it made contact, Sam wasn't sure, and she didn't care as long as it freed her to roll toward the nightstand and grab the thermos. Her fingers just brushed it when Errol pulled her back. She kicked again and fell forward, hitting her head against the sharp corner of the nightstand.
Everything seemed to happen at once. Errol dove for Sam, trying to prevent her head from striking the corner of the nightstand. Sam's head struck; the thermos fell over and landed on the floor with a crash. The thermos opened and Danny was free. Errol left Dash's body and grabbed Sam, who was out cold, and fled.
Danny was listening to the argument taking place between Dash and Sam—or Errol and Sam, rather. He had to strain to hear Sam's voice. He was so relieved that Sam was able to break free of Errol's spell. He wondered what gave her the power to do it.
He felt Errol pick up the thermos, which made him feel sick and faint at every movement. He fought hard to retain his consciousness. As much as it hurt to listen to the events taking place on the outside of the thermos, Danny was able to take heart in the fact that Sam wasn't alone. He was with her.
He heard her confess her love for him, and he knew what protected her against Errol. He would have smiled happily if he could. It was funny, Tucker told him that Sam loved him, but he didn't quite believe it was true. When he heard Sam actually say she loved him, he wondered that the thermos itself was able to hold the joy bursting from his heart. It was true. She loved him!
Danny continued to listen to Sam and Errol argue. He would have done anything to break out of the container and protect Sam from whatever Errol was doing. He had heard Errol's confession of love. He'd heard the terrible things Errol said about Danny breaking Sam's heart. He wanted to yell that it wasn't true. He'd never intentionally hurt Sam.
He felt like screaming. He wanted out. He wanted to hold Sam. He wanted to destroy Errol. The pain coursing through him was ignored as righteous anger filled him. Then suddenly, without warning, the thermos was shaking again. Had Sam reached it?
Danny was stunned as he was released from the thermos. He appeared from the cramped confines with a bright flash then landed on the floor with a thump and changed to his human form. He looked up in time to see Sam laying half off the bed with a bloody gash on her temple. He was just about to reach for her when Errol abandoned Dash's body, which fell unconscious on the bed, seized Sam, and was gone.
"No!" Danny cried as he reached out in a futile effort to grab Sam. He collapsed back on the floor and groaned in pain. He took several deep breaths and looked at Dash, who was beginning to stir on the bed.
"Crud," Danny groaned and with great effort, returned to his ghostly form. He could possibly explain why Danny Phantom was in Dash's room, but how would he reason away Fenton's presence?
Dash sat up and looked around the room. He caught sight of Danny who was standing shakily. He blinked in amazement for a moment, his mouth open dumbly.
"What happened?" he asked Danny in alarm. "Where's Sam?"
"He took her," Danny answered as he picked the thermos up off the floor. "I can't stay." He flew out of Dash's house as fast as he could and hoped Dash would stay put and keep his mouth shut.
Jazz jumped up in shock as Danny flew haphazardly into her room, landed with a thud on the floor and transformed into his human self.
"Danny!" Jazz cried as she knelt down beside her rather beat up brother. She looked at his arm, which was now bleeding freely and profusely.
"What happened?" she gasped as she put her hand on Danny's icy face, then examined the deep puncture wounds in Danny's arm. She wondered how much blood he'd lost.
"He took Sam," Danny answered breathlessly as Jazz pulled a first aid kit from under her bed and began trying to stop the flow of blood from his upper arm.
"You can't do anything about that right now," Jazz said softly. "You're in pretty bad shape, little brother."
"Call Tuck," Danny ordered.
"In a minute," Jazz answered as she finished bandaging his arm. She looked into his eyes a moment then frowned.
"I think you might have a concussion, Danny," She said worriedly. "We should get you to the emergency room."
"No," Danny replied forcefully. "How would we explain this? Besides, all of this happened last night. I got stuck inside the thermos." Jazz tried not to laugh and Danny narrowed his eyes at her.
"You need to call Tucker," he told her again. "We have to go after Sam before he…hurts her." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to hold back the fear and worry threatening to overwhelm him.
Jazz examined Danny one more time then finally did as he asked and called Tucker who said he'd be over as fast as he could run, which Danny said wasn't fast enough. Danny tried to get up, thinking that maybe he could go after Tucker, but Jazz pushed him back down onto the floor.
"I'm going to lay you on your side," Jazz informed Danny. "On your good arm." Danny nodded his head. "Is there anything else I can do to make you more comfortable?"
"I'm really thirsty," Danny said. "Can you get me a drink?" He looked up into Jazz's worried eyes. He also wanted Sam. He wouldn't be comfortable until she was back, safe and sound. Jazz hesitated for a minute then got up and ran out of the room and downstairs.
Errol very gently laid the unconscious girl on her bed. He did his best to make sure she was comfortable, then dabbed at the gash on the side of her head in an effort to stop the bleeding.
"I'm so sorry," Errol whispered softly in an anguished tone. "I didn't do a very good job of protecting you from him, did I?" Sam wasn't able to answer—she was still out.
"I promise, my love," Errol continued as he caressed her face. "He'll pay for what he's done to you. You will be mine. You'll be happy. I promise."
Sam stirred a little and Errol stilled. He waited calmly and patiently for her to speak. She opened her eyes blearily and opened her mouth to speak. Errol bent closer.
"Where's Danny?" she asked.
Errol growled in anger and slapped her face, "There is no Danny! No Danny!"
"Help! Danny!" Sam called weakly, then began to cry. Errol gathered her into his arms and began to cry himself. He realized he was to far gone; he was long past the point of no return. The only sanity he clung to was his love for this girl…the girl he'd just hurt. Oh, how he hated himself.
Sam tried to curl up away from Errol, but moving made her feel like throwing up. She couldn't remember how she had ended up in the situation she was in. She blinked at Errol as he stared at her worriedly.
"What happened?" she asked.
Errol paused. He had figured that Danny would show up at any moment—but maybe he'd be lucky. After all, who would think that he'd simply bring Sam home?
"I saved you," Errol lied, but believed every word he said. "I saved you from him. He was going to hurt you. I saved you."
"Who?" Sam asked. "Dash?"
"No," Errol answered. "Danny. I saved you from Danny. He's lost his mind, Sweetness. But I'll protect you from him now." Sam's eyes filled with more tears and she clung to Errol as she sobbed, breaking his heart as she cried for Danny.
The next update may not arrive until Saturday. I've some drama of my own in my life. Oh joy. Reviews will help propel me onward, so…do your thing and I'll do mine.
