Description: The story of a girl who became the ghost zone's biggest star.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, that's Butch Hartman's luck.

The Death of Kimberly McLane

Kimber watched her reflection in the mirror as she carefully drew a line from the corner of her eye with black eyeliner. She went to the other eye and drew a swirl that reached to her cheekbone. As a finishing touch, she added bright purple lip gloss and smiled at her reflection. Now she was ready to go to the school Halloween party.

Sixteen year-old Kimber McLane was by far one of the prettiest girls in her class at Casper High. She had rich red curls that fell to her shoulders and piercing green eyes that looked like they could see right through you.

"Kimberly!" a voice floated up the stairs. "Hurry down, your friends are here!" Kimber grimaced at the use of her full name, but grabbed her guitar and headed down the stairs, two at a time, nonetheless. Her friends, Kitty, Sarah and Johnny beamed at her from the bottom of the stairs. Creative and artsy Kitty was dressed up as a biker chick, blonde Sarah was, predictably, dressed as a princess. Johnny, Kitty's boyfriend, was in costume as a biker too, complete with a long leather jacket.

Kimber herself was dressed as a rock star, the only thing she'd ever wanted to be. Her pants were tight black bellbottoms and she wore a midriff shirt with only one shoulder strap. She carried her purple and blue electric guitar on her back with a strap covered in flames. Her fire-colored hair was pulled into a high ponytail on the top of her head.

Her mother appeared at the foot of the stairs, her lips in a tight line. Kimber knew she was in trouble now. Her mom hated the idea of her daughter as a rock idol and wanted her to go to nursing school, just like she had.

"I thought you were going as a ghost." Her mother said, not bothering to keep the accusation out of her voice. Kimber distinctly saw her friends exchange uneasy glances and felt irritated that her mom had to be such a pain.

"I changed my mind." She replied, offhandedly. Her mom's hands went to her hips and Kimber winced inwardly; that was her 'angry pose' that she went into right before they got into a big fight.

"You can't go as a rock star!" she told the teen. Kimber knew she shouldn't argue, but she couldn't help it.

"Why not?" she asked definitely. "You want me to go as a nurse?" Oops. Now her mom was really mad.

"Kimberly Ann McLane!" she snapped, "You go change right now or you're not going to that party!"

"No!" Kimber shouted back. "Why can't I ever do what I want to?"

"Young lady, you are just being rebellious!" her mom yelled. "You know I don't want you to be a rock singer!"

"Why not?" demanded Kimber. They both seemed to have forgotten completely the presence of her friends and were glaring at each other.

"Because you'll either be tricked or never get a record deal!" her mother cried exasperatedly. "It's not a suitable profession!"'

"Can't get a record deal, huh?" Kimber almost screamed. "Well, for your information, I have a record deal and I'm going in tomorrow to record my song! So there!" She strode to the door and yanked it open, stopping fora split second to give her mother a dirty look. "AndI hate being called Kimberly!"She went out to Johnny's sports car, followed by her friends. Her mother just watched without trying to stop her.

Kimber slammed the front passenger and sat there, fuming. This was the worst fight she had ever had with her mom. It really hurt her that her mother didn't think that she could find a record deal.

Well, I did, didn't I? She thought angrily. And I get to start on a CD tomorrow, she can't stop me. It occurred to her that the car was moving and she looked up. Johnny was driving, looking straight ahead, the other two girls were sitting in the backseat, absolutely silent. Kimber felt bad about her outburst now.

"I'm sorry about that, guys…" she mumbled, but Johnny stopped her.

"Don't worry about it. I would've been mad too." He gave her a rare smile, and she felt better.

"So, have you thought of an artist name to go by?" questioned Sarah in her soft voic, trying to cheer her up.. Kimber shook her head; that was a problem she had been working on, but she still had no ideas.

"I have an idea!" Kitty exclaimed excitedly. "You could be Ember!" They all looked at her and she rolled her eyes. "You know, it rhymes and your hair looks like fire." They were all quiet, letting the idea sink in.

"Hey." She said slowly. "That's not a bad idea! You rock, Kitty!"

"I know."

Suddenly, a truck on the other side of the road swerved and hit the semi in front of it. They all screamed as the semi crashed into the side of the car, flipping it.

At Kimber's house, the phone rang. Once, twice; it was halfway through the third ring when Victoria McLane answered it. She let out a faint cry and the receiver clattered to the floor.
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It had been exactly one year since her daughter and her friends had been killed in a car accident by a drunk driver when Victoria got a call from the hospital to come in early; they needed her to work the night shift. After leaving the house, she picked up a single, long-stemmed purple rose at the supermarket; thinking of stopping by Kimber's grave on her way to work.

As she drove down the same road her daughter had been killed on, Victoria dug through the dash compartment, looking for spare change to buy a soda from the hospital vending machines. A small slip of pale blue paper fell out and onto the seat. Curiously, Victoria picked in up and unfolded it as she parked on the edge of the cemetery.

It was Kimber's handwriting. She read the lyrics to the song as she walked slowly to her daughter's grave. She looked up and saw a small band on the back of a flatbed trailer, surrounded by a crowd of teenagers. She wondered what a band would be having a concert in a graveyard for.The lead singer's skin was deathly pale, but her bright green eyes seemed oddly familiar. The girl opened her mouth and started singing.

Ember, you will remember.

Ember, one thing remains.

Victoria looked down at the sheet of paper in her hand. The lyrics were almost identical! She looked up at the familar eyes again and her hand started shaking.

Ember, so warm and tender.

The girl looked straight at Victoria and smiled in recognition. She stopped singing for a fraction of a second. "See, mom?" Victoria dropped the rose and the lyrics and ran, the melodyechoing hauntinglyin her mind, knowing she had just seen her daughter's ghost.

You will remember my name.