War of the Worlds

by Vivalandra

Set merely two decades after the catastrophic asteroid threat, two halfas from separate lives cross paths as an imminent threat pushes mankind to the brink of annihilation.

3. Secrets Revealed

~ Lily ~

I loved the summer, but why did it have to be so damn hot? School wasn't out yet and I felt like I was burning from the outside-in. Maybe it was a mixture of the weather and my high-leveled blood pressure after dealing with the world's most obnoxious, most egotistical teenage boy to ever exist. I would've rather had Jared as a lab partner; at least he was more predictable. I knew nothing about this kid and the thought of it killed me.

The lunch hour was progressing at such a slow rate, but it helped that the upper-class were allowed to leave school grounds to grab a bite to eat as it gave us the much needed time away from school to recuperate. Not so helpful, however, when the same people you're attempting to give yourself a mental break from are in the same grade as you and therefore you can never truly catch a break from them. I of course wholeheartedly meant Damien; the little asshole was following behind me in tow as I shimmied quickly down the concrete steps before the front doors.

Why he decided to follow me, I had no clue. Chem class was first period, Mr. Abernathy's calculus class was second (where I had yet another excruciatingly painful exam along with AJ), and third period was AP literary arts. The two latter-mentioned I didn't even share a class with Damien, yet here he was following me like a lost puppy. I couldn't shake the kid, no matter what I did. I had even tried booking it out of the school before he could see me, but he was waiting right by the door when I met up with Max and AJ.

Reluctantly, I let him follow behind me, breaking the trio group apart by division.

My feet landed on the sidewalk and I stopped, turning to face him with a look of pure disbelief.

"Okay, seriously? Chem class is over; you don't have to follow me everywhere."

"We're not done talking about the project," he replied, clicking the top of his felt-tipped pen and stuffing it in the outer side-pocket of his backpack.

"Yes, we are-at least for now. Jeez, give me some time away from you. You're clinging onto me like a shower curtain."

"Relax," he rolled his eyes at me exasperatedly. "I'm not trying to get under your skin, I promise."

"Well, you are, so can you just leave me be for a bit?"

I spun on my heels to leave him the dust, and it had almost worked before he spoke out once more.

"What if I tagged along but didn't say anything?"

I gave him a repulsed look. "You really are desperate, aren't you?"

"I'm new here, okay? Give me some slack; I don't know anyone."

The part of me that was abundantly, visibly annoyed wanted to leave his ass to the wolves to fend for himself. My parents raised me better than that, though; I know that the right thing would've been to welcome him with open arms and make him feel like he belonged somewhere. Growing up I'd heard many stories of my father being the subject of abuse from his high school bully, and it really sucked for him that he couldn't use his ghost powers to stand up for himself. Blending in and trying to be a normal kid when you weren't normal-when odds were stacked against you-it's a burden nobody should have to carry. It wasn't his fault his parents didn't have their shit together-transferred him to a new school with only one month left in the year.

I groaned. I saw the door swing open abruptly as my two friends exited the building, seemingly tip-toeing down the stairs with little effort. They had been talking amongst themselves at a volume only they could register, but once they saw me and Damien facing each other they stopped suddenly. Max looked at him longingly; AJ appeared as if he wanted to crack his head open, a toothpick resting carelessly at the side of his lips.

"Hey guys," I said plainly, crossing my arms over my chest. "This is Damien. He's hanging with us for a bit."

Damien turned to look at my posse, who gave him an odd look. Max batted her eyes in the most feminine way only she knew how and took a step down. As she did so, she "lost her footing" and slipped forward a bit; just as I'd expected, Damien lunged forward and caught her hands, helping her to the ground alongside him.

What a tease, I smirked to myself.

"Oh, thank you," she expressed her gratitude suggestively as her light eyes penetrated his dark ones.

He gave a chuckle. "No problem. And you are?"

"I'm Maxine-"

"Max," I cut off, glaring at her darkly. "Pretty sure you hate being referred to as 'Maxine'."

"I'll make an exception," she gave me a darting look before turning back to Damien. "You can call me Maxine, if you want."

"Whatever you prefer," he responded awkwardly.

AJ joined in and stopped at the other side of Damien, looking him up and down and matching it up with me. He was likely trying to analyze how identical we looked; the resemblance was uncanny, after all. He took a step back, almost as if he were trying to make the picture bigger than what it was.

"Are you two related or something?"

"I hope not," I replied coldly. "I don't want to be any closer to this clown than I already am."

"That's not very nice," Damien very sarcastically pretended to be hurt. "To think that we were supposed to be getting along now."

"I wouldn't 'get along' with you if you were the last person to get along with."

"Okaaay," AJ said, drawing back awkwardly. "Looks like Mom and Dad got some fight to get out of their system."

AJ popped the toothpick back into his mouth and gripped one strap out of his backpack, walking off towards the street. Max almost waited behind for approval from me, but didn't wait too long before she followed suit. This was normally the time that the three of us would grab milkshakes and french fries at Ralphie's, which had been just down the street from school, but I could tell the insertion of a new member of the group made things a bit more complicated. I turned to look at him, giving him an embarrassingly pleading look.

"I don't mind if you tag along, but you don't make me regret it, yeah? I don't want to take a chance of my friends not trusting me to bring the right kind of people around because you say something stupid. I mean it."

"Okay, okay… you've made your point. Cheer up a bit."

I hoisted the backpack up onto my shoulders a bit more, pleased that he'd bitten the bullet and became more compliant this time around. Talking to him thus far was like talking to a brick wall and relying on your hot breath alone to break it down. I've never faced a challenge quite like him before; it was incredibly bizarre just how much we butt heads. As I turned away from him, I watched him follow closely behind out of the corner of my eye. AJ and Max remained waiting in the original spot they'd ended at-on the side of the road waiting for traffic to pass by before safely crossing.

…

At the end of the day, the four of us got together to talk about the upcoming chemistry project that was given to us by Mrs. O'Donnell. According to her, it would count for a good sixty-percent of our grade, so needless to say it was important that we hit the nail on the head first time around. We couldn't seem to come to an agreement on what kind of project to do; Damien kept joking about the cliched baking soda volcano project, but I wanted to do something more creative and less common.

"Why not? I think it's a simple, fun way of getting an easy-A."

"We need to think of something bigger than a baking soda volcano. Everyone and their mother has done that."

"What about a density lava lamp? Pretty easy to make and they're safe, considering everything used is edible."

"That may work… what about luminol?"

"Luminol?"

"Yeah. Similar to formaldehyde, it detects bodily fluids at crime scenes."

"Hm," he rubs at his chin inquisitively. "Interesting. So we could imitate forensic scientists?"

"I think it would be a super cool project, and Mrs. O'Donnell is a sucker for Law & Order: SVU, so it would work."

Max and AJ fell back as the two of us continued slightly ahead, us being a mere four feet apart. I could feel their gazes watching intriguingly as we connected our scientific brains to come up with a good to really ace the semester. As unideal as it was to be granted a new science partner so close to the end of the year, it meant that we needed to hightail a craft together. The grades would be implemented much sooner than any of us thought. Time goes fast when you're having fun, after all.

"It's better than some of the ideas that my partner and I are coming up with," AJ chimed in, his cell phone resting in his hands as he fired away at galactic spaceships with his thumbs. He was so stuck in technology, it's not even funny; I think the kid would sooner live in a Pac-Man game than he would date a girl. Although, he did ask Tiffany Stoupon to the dance one year and that ended tragically with a "hell" and a "no". I'm pretty sure she was responsible for her older cousin tracking him down and trying to jump him; I fought off a fleet of beefy boys that day.

Max was too busy sucking up drool to engage heavily in the conversation, but she sure did try.

"Ethan and I are thinking of something simple: homemade ice cream."

"Where you put milk and flavoring in a small bag with some ice and some rock salt?" I asked.

"So you've heard?"

"Yeah, who hasn't. I think that'd be pretty cool, actually, and it would keep the whole class engaged. You could help everyone make their own ice cream."

"I'd pay to see that," AJ added. "Half of the class probably can't even find their own buttcheeks."

"Well, aren't you just polite?" Max shot back sarcastically, giving his mid-back a nudge with her forearm.

I saw the roof of her house approaching just two houses ahead and I knew it would soon be her time to break off from the group. I invited her over to talk, gossip and do our nails, but it was silly of me to assume she wasn't going to focus on her homework. God only knew it was piling up like crazy, and she was never typically one to put things off until the very last minute.

I guess her focus really was that bad lately.

It was better this way, anyway; if Damien and I were going to get ahead on our work, we needed to start right away.

"My stop is just up ahead," Max said aloud before she jumped ahead of the group. "I'll see you guys on Monday."

We all bid her farewell before she jogged ahead.

"Nice meeting you," Damien called after her, and she turned back to give him a wink.

I wanted to puke; how could my best friend fall for such a butthole? It's absolutely ridiculous.

And here AJ was, just tip-tapping away at his stupid game with no sole objective. I swear if any video games really did melt the brain, he'd half about half of one left and just barely.

I stuck my elbow out and nudged his shoulder; he paused the game swiftly before giving me his undivided attention.

"What?" He asked inquisitively.

"If you ever wonder why you don't have a girlfriend-" I took his phone out of his hands and held it up, giving a small wave back and forth. "Look no further."

Damien gave an almost giddy laugh. It was good to see that he was enjoying someone else's misery for a change.

AJ snatched the device from my hands and secured it under his arm, a hauntingly dark look on his face. "I don't need a girlfriend; my baby pleases me, and I can always rely on her. She doesn't leave me when everyone else does."

"Uncle Tucker also had an obsession with technology like that. It's why it took so long for him to find a girl."

The light-skinned teenage boy puffed his bottom lip out, pouting with enough energy to bleed mine dry. With both hands laced together over his phone, he ventured a little ways ahead and stopped at the corner of the street, looking right and left before crossing. When he reached the other side, he stopped to look at me and called out loud enough for Canada to hear him: "I don't need this kind of negativity right now."

Before I could respond, or even figure out if he was joking, he carried on down the street opposite my direction to his leaving Damien and I to finish out the rest of the walk in awkward silence.

Just a few more blocks, I thought to myself.

Time seemed to tick on much slower at that rate, though.

Damien cleared his throat loudly, and I rolled my eyes. "I don't suppose you don't have anything smart to say?"

"Me clearing my throat doesn't mean that I have anything to say," he responded back without missing a beat.

Very tongue-in-cheek-there were some things about this kid I could relate to. Hell, maybe I might end up somewhat liking him.

There was just something that was off about him, though, and it pissed me off that I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Well, out with it then."

"How did you get your ghost powers?" He asked suddenly.

I grit my teeth and stretched my face, very abundantly taken aback by such a fast question.

"I was born with them."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"What do you mean 'born with them'?"

Palms up and hands on either side of me, I swept in a downward motion over my body.

"I said what I said."

"I just… I don't know a lot of halfas born with ghost powers. My dad told me that most halfas that exist are because of lab accidents."

Just like my dad, I thought to myself. I didn't bother to say anything out loud. What if he knew who my father was? I can't have any connection with Danny Phantom or his heroism. My father always made sure he did the right thing, but sometimes that comes at a great cost. He made a lot of enemies, and it's taken him years to shake them before he married my mom. It was planned precisely and accordingly, and as far as anyone knew Danny Phantom never had any children of his own. This mainly came with him and my mom disappearing off the face of the planet; when Danny Phantom was no longer spotted around Amity Park and scarcely found in the Ghost Zone, he became no more than an urban legend to those who'd never known him.

For those that had, Danny Phantom is simply in a "semi-retirement", still operating on ecto-equipment in the background.

Ghost fighting is my dad's life; nothing could clear his name from it, but he loved me even more. He changed his whole life for me… gave up everything he knew and left everyone he loved for me.

I should sit down with him and give him a genuine 'thank you'.

I put my hands in my pocket, scanning the concrete to find a palm-sized pebble. I kicked at it, doing my best to keep it at least a few feet ahead of me.

"I don't know what to tell you other than that: I've had my ghost powers for as long as I could remember and there was never an accident or otherwise that I can recall or that's been recited."

"Do you have a half-ghost parent?"

Oh, shit… lying. Lying is my least favorite and lead specialized skill.

I hated being put in situations I wanted no part of-lying is a cake-topper.

"My great-uncle is," I spilled out before I could stop myself. "It's weird… I guess somehow it got passed down to me."

"Weird… I've never heard of that happening, but I guess there's a first time for everything."

"What about you?" I continued on, desperate to shift the focus away from me. "How long have you had your powers?"

"Since I was three. My dad said there was a lab accident; I ended up getting into some of his equipment and… I don't know, something happened. I don't remember much, but apparently when my dad found me I was out cold. He thought I was dead… I guess I technically was. They didn't all show up right away-it started with a ghost sense, losing control of my tangibility… sooner or later it progressed to actual powers. That was when I was ten."

"Did you get your… special power?"

"Yeah. It's ground-breaking."

"Oh, yeah? That good, huh?"

"No, I mean really-it's ground-breaking. Like I can essentially do some weird Earth-bending stuff; my strongest thing that I've done was put a huge dividing line in asphalt, but I know it can get better with more practice. You?"

"Tearing. I can open portals to the Ghost Zone in thin air; I can even move things from one dimension to the other. They can't just be imaginary, though. They have to have some sort of existence… that I know of, at least… and the tears can't just be anywhere. There are certain places I can't open them."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"How did you get the cool power?"

"I'll trade you. I've always wanted to be an avatar."

It seemed like it took forever to commute to my house, but one more kick of the rock and I looked up to see my front door coming closer-a mere fifty meters away. I took a deep breath, trying my best to enjoy the fresh air as the sun began to slowly set and the temperature dropped from the blistering eighties to the refreshing sixties. Although the atmosphere complimented my body far more than the heat did, I couldn't help but shiver slightly. For being half ghost, feeling cold was still very much prevalent for me. My father thrived in the cold; barely felt it. Partly because of his abilities but mostly because of his ice powers.

I was clearly far more human.

I grabbed my arms and squeezed, rubbing up and down and giving a sharp exhale.

"God, I hate the cold," I muttered between slight teeth chatter.

Damien let out a laugh and flung his backpack off of his shoulders, setting it down on the ground before him as he took his zip-up hoodie off. I eyed him cautiously, but not inquisitively. I knew exactly what he was doing, but it wasn't expected of him. Why was he doing something not expected of him? He removed his jacket and took a step forward, draping it over my shoulders before pulling back.

"There."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"I didn't expect you to."

I gave him a slight smile, though starting off slightly sarcastic but slowly morphing into a light-warming, warming glow. He really didn't have to do what he did… but he did. Whoever raised him obviously gave him a soft side. Either that or he learned his chivalry from classic rom-coms. Regardless, I couldn't help but melt at how sappy of a gentleman he was.

Glad to see that it wasn't gone.

…

Each step heading up to my porch felt like my feet were being tied down by cement blocks. I dug my keys out of the side front compartment of my backpack and I could feel Damien approaching me from behind, closing the gap between us. Oddly enough as creepy as it should have felt, it felt warm and protective. Something about Damien had more than what met the eye. I mean, don't get me wrong - the boy still bugs the hell out of me, but it almost feels like he's a long lost brother.

I liked that about him. I could clearly talk to him and be open; that was the most I'd ever ask for anyone I associated with.

He looked left and right at the neighborhood houses as I put the key in the hold and twisted the mechanism, hearing a click before pushing the door open. When we stepped inside, the deep and spiced scent of cinnamon greeted my nostrils. I recoiled, my face smudging together.

"Ugh… I hate that smell."

"Cinnamon?" He asked for clarity. "Me too."

"Straight?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm more of a vanilla bean or lavender kind of guy."

"Vanilla is my favorite scent, too."

I heard chattering in the background and recognized the sound of my parents talking at a basal volume. Shockingly enough it almost sounded too cheery to be my parents. That was sad to think about - my parents only being cheery when I wasn't around.

I'd like to think it didn't have anything to do with me.

"This is your home?" Damien looked up at the decor in an almost trance-like state.

"Yep," I replied nonchalantly. "I guess it looks pretty nice."

"Pretty nice? Your house is insane. What do your parents do for a living - sell drugs?"

"Uh, no," I laughed. "My mom is an environmental researcher and my dad is an aeronautical engineer."

"Sooo basically two smart parents equals one super smart child?"

"I guess so," I shrugged as I headed up the stairs. I could feel Damien's footsteps picking up behind me. "What about you? What do your parents do?"

"Well, I don't have a mom… never met her. My dad is a politician."

I gripped the handle to my bedroom door and flung it open. "What does he do in politics?"

"He used to be the mayor of some city, I guess, but now he's working for the state. I don't know - he doesn't really talk about his work much."

"Sounds boring."

"Eh. Not my place. I'm just a kid."

I lay face down on my bed, my arms crossing one over the other and my legs bent at the knees. Damien sat down beside me, his body facing at one-eighty from mine. When he spoke, it was loud enough for me to note that he was addressing me, but his eyesight never left the wall before him.

"So… our project," he changed the topic in the smoothest transition I've ever seen.

"Right. So, yes, something simple and intriguing - something the class will want in on."

"The homemade ice cream bit isn't favoring?"

"It's something we do in elementary school; we gotta dig deep."

I knew getting the gears turning was going to be bad for the sole purpose that it creates a diversion, and in this case the diversion were the scanning eyes of my accomplice in regards to my bedroom decor. I couldn't really blame him; my personality definitely didn't match my taste in style. I didn't have the girliest room but the boho style was a dead giveaway that it had either a feminine or flamboyant touch to it: silk beige sheets, sheer light-colored curtains, a camo-green area rug, and some astrology decals stuck to the wall. LED light strips aligned the entire top of the boxed-in walls, which was something my dad couldn't stand in the least. He said they were bad for my eyes, and he told me multiple times to remove them.

I for one love to go against authority; my dad telling me no makes me want to do something even more.

Speaking of, there was one more thing I felt needed to be done.

I crawled to my feet and faced the window, transforming into my ghost half with a burst of light and circles moving in opposite directions. I turned to face Damien, who was eyeing me incredulously.

"What are you doing?"

"Going patrolling. Want to come?"

"Uh…" he slowly stood up, "patrolling? What do you do then?"

"Just scope the city, look for signs of ghost activity… suck them into the thermos and put them back where they belong. Or… we can be more secluded - go somewhere on the outskirts of town and show each other what we can do."

"Uh… I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Oh, come on. What's the point of having these awesome powers with no desire to show them off once in a while? Besides, you can think of this as practice."

"Why don't you show me your power now, and I can show you mine later? I mean who knows, maybe we'll cross paths in ghost battle one day."

"You drive a hard bargain, Damien…"

"Uh, Matias… Damien Matias, if it's the last name you're wondering about."

My face grew in interest. "Damien Matias. I suppose it's fair, since my special power is more… isolative. Alright."

I changed back to my human form, and I could swear I heard a breath of relief escape the teenage boy's lips. I paused, taking two giant steps back away from my bedroom window, holding glowing hands up in front of me. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I focused my thoughts solely on my powers and allowed the world around me to shrink to nothingness. I exhaled sharply, placing my hands facing away from each other and, with a grunt of effort and a piercing headache, pushed them apart. Before me, appearing out of thin air, a tear formed before me as an opening to the Ghost Zone greeted me on the other side. The gust of wind blowing my hair, and every feather-weighted object surrounding me, around like crazy.

Damien walked towards me, completely awestruck and nothing short of mesmerized as he gazed at my unnatural, magnificent ability.

"Wow," he whispered.

I couldn't take my eyes off of it to face him personally. Not metaphorically, but literally: I couldn't look away from a tear once it was opened. Losing focus on it meant losing the tear completely and prompting me to start over.

We both watched as we saw bright green, glowing ghostly figures migrate back and forth by the opening of the tear. They paid us no mind, possibly because they didn't notice that we were there. Tears were a lot like mini-portals: anything that we saw on that side, the other side could see back. Anything could be pulled from the other side, hence why it was important to be cautious about where tears were opened - you really never know what could be on the other side.

Damien watched as two ghosts with gleaming red eyes slowly hovered in the distance, only a mere fifteen feet from the opening, before halting and turning to look at us. With a low and inhuman growl, the ghosts immediately fled towards us.

"Oh, shit! Lily, close it!"

"Uh," my heart skipped in my chest as I tried feebly to close the tear before me. Despite a few attempts to seal it shut, my efforts were proven unsuccessful when it remained open before me. "I can't!"

"What do you mean 'you can't'!?"

"I mean I'm trying to and it's not working!"

"Just-!" Damien couldn't finish his sentence before a ghost flew out, knocking me off of my feet and onto the ground. The second ghost never made it before the tear sealed shut with a flash of light.

The deformed ghost flew around hecticly, like a headless chicken with no sense of direction. Damien and I simultaneously transformed, hovering off of the ground and facing the ghost in unison. The ghost bumped into the wall accompanied with my bedroom door, hit my floor lamp (which in turn knocked off the shade), and knocked jewelry off of my dresser before flying through the ceiling, leaving my room a complete wreck. Off to the side, I spotted a small metallic container that looked similar to lip balm to the average person, but what I knew all too well to be an ecto-net. I held my hand out, seeing a pink glow surrounding it which was a sure indicator that it was being influenced by a supernatural presence. I flung my hand towards me, ushering the object to me and grabbing it out of mid-air.

"Fuckin' hell," I muttered, turning intangible. "My dad is gonna kill me!"

With that, I flew through the ceiling, hoping that Damien would be willing enough to follow behind me without a request. I rematerialized as I watched the ghost fly up and down, in a circle, and forward and backwards as if it were wired erratically. I groaned, holding my hand out towards it and firing a few ecto-rays but not-so-surprisingly missing each time. I rolled my eyes, flying forward and higher above to gain more leverage.

"Sit, ghost! Heel!"

Bringing out the ecto-net, I pushed the button with my thumb as I pointed the head of it at my opponent, a net bursting out of the mechanism and landing on top of the ghost. The ecto-plasmic rope sealed atop of the ghost and completely disabled his ability to move, and I saw Damien fly out in the open from seemingly nowhere. He pulled off his thermos, which was strapped around his torso, and opened the cap before sucking the ghost in. The beam of light pooled down towards the opening of the thermos as the ghost vacuumed up and Damien closed the lid firmly with a sharp exhale.

We locked eyes for the longest time, picturing the moments leading up to our current position-how quickly one thing could go wrong and pretty soon you're fighting a bigger battle than you intended to. As a partner, though, Damien was trustworthy-moreso than I thought he would be.

Maybe he wouldn't make such a bad lab partner after all.

"We don't make a bad team," I said as I hovered casually mid-air. He gave me a sweltering smile as he used the back of his glove to wipe beads of sweat off of his forehead.

"Yeah, I agree…" He threw the thermos over his back. "I would ask you to open another tear to get rid of this clown but…"

I nodded in agreement. He didn't need to finish his sentence-no one needed to finish their sentence when they commented on just how clumsy I was. No matter what I did or how hard I tried to avoid it, I always managed to mess things up.

My mom calls me "Lopsided Lily". True story.

"No more tears for a bit," Damien offered, though I could've sworn it came out like an order.

I couldn't help but agree, at least in this instance. He repulsed me sometimes with his behavior, sure, but he was smart. Definitely one of the smartest boys that I know.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry… I thought I could handle it. Last time I opened a tear, I was able to shut it pretty easily… I don't understand what happened."

"Don't sweat it." He placed a hand on my shoulder, flashing me a reassuring grin as his pearly white teeth twinkled in the light of the dusk.

He was pretty handsome, actually. If he really put his mind to it, he'd be able to get himself a girlfriend easily.

As the dust settled, we realized that it would be best to head back to the bedroom to clean up the mess that was made. As we phased through the ceiling of the house and landed two-feet planted on my carpet, we changed back at the same time, our jumpsuits morphing to our original clothes and our genetics returning to our original form. No sooner than the split second that it took for us to do so, I heard a very crisp and hasty wrapping of knuckles against the wooden door.

"Lily?" I heard my mom's voice on the other end.

My mom's voice.

Oh, shit!

"Uh, yeah? Hold on!" I froze in a panic, eyes wide like a doe stuck in headlights before I frantically moved about my room and picked up the straggled, flipped upside-down belongings from the previous mishap. I scrambled around, trying but failing miserably to cover my bases, and I felt an overwhelming amount of embarrassment.

Damien watched me worriedly, looking as if he was helpless and smaller than his natural size.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked. I could hear in his voice that he genuinely wanted to help me, but was lost on how to do so.

"Hide! My parents cannot find you here, or they'll get the wrong idea."

Damien gave a swift nod and turned himself invisible as I continued to work to pick up my room. My mother knocked again, this time far more desperate.

"Lillian Jessum, open this door."

"Mom, I'm changing! Just give me a second!"

I had just picked up the last of my dresser top items and placed them back where they belonged when I realized that a few shirts previously laid out on my bed were sporadic on the floor.

Really? I begrudgingly scoffed as I picked them up and placed them right back where they belonged. Setting myself up as if I were ready to put on a show, I cleared my throat before calling aloud, "come in, Mom!"

She opened the door urgently, darting her beautifully jet black-haired head left and right. She was expecting to find someone, I could tell, but when she failed to see anyone for herself she almost looked disappointed. It was as if she were so adamant on catching me in a lie, and that actually… kind of hurt me. I never expected my mother to anticipate me becoming a liar, although it doesn't help the very common frequency of me evading the truth. Still, the fact that I didn't have my parents' whole trust was actually a little heart-wrenching.

"Sup?" I asked plainly, earning me a glaring look.

"I thought I heard someone in here," she responded accusingly.

"Don't you and dad trust me for anything? Honestly, I'm 17-years-old!"

"I understand that, Lily, but lately you've just been acting… different."

"'Different' how? You guys don't make sense-you make me tell you everything, but when I do it's still not enough."

She shivered, a wisp of air visibly escaping her lips. She hugged herself and rubbed her arms up and down vigorously.

"Jesus, it's freezing in here."

I pucker my lips awkwardly, my bulging eyes scanning left and right. I knew damn well where that dropping temperature came from, but I hoped my mother would just change the topic and leave it at that rather than pry.

My mom gave me an apologetic look, letting go of the door handle before she approached me. Her body features, once tense with shoulders up to her ears, softened and relaxed. She braced my shoulders with her hands, looking up at me as if I were a wounded soul.

"Honey… I love you. I just want what's best for you."

I sighed. "I know, Mom… but you guys have to trust me. I'd never do anything stupid or dangerous or anything that will put the family secret at risk."

"I know, I just… I feel bad. Your father feels bad. He thinks he's doomed you with this… this ability for the rest of your life; he doesn't want to make you feel obligated to protect people because you were given a special talent you didn't ask for… and he blames himself. He blames himself for you and he blames himself for Luke. I just… I just think he wants you to have the adolescence he didn't get to have-"

I cut her off abruptly, my stature changing as I drew back a bit. "Who's Luke?"

Her mouth fell agape before her lips transitioned to a pursing appearance. The look on her face said it all: she revealed something she wasn't supposed to.

I could only imagine how Damien was reacting; he must've been eating that shit up like candy. Family drama is fuel for the intrigued; something about seeing other people's lives go to shit made ours look better.

Behind every comfy home was a bursted pipe. A broken window. A pulled up carpet.

Clearly our home wasn't as renovated as I thought.

I asked her again, attempting to break the trance she went into. "Who's Lucas?" It sounded much more desperate than I intended it to this time around.

"I…" she started quietly, like a mouse cornered by a cat. "I think your father should be here to tell you."

…

I followed my mother down to the basement, her lavender bathrobe fluttering in the wind gust as we made our way onward. She was holding my hand, and I'm not sure if it was to avoid me falling or worried that I'd be so irate that I'd run off. I heard the sound of clinking metal much sooner than I'd seen a body, but when we reached the bottom of the steps there my dad was across the way, tinkering with some ghost equipment. He had a blowtorch and a few handy-man tools lying around on the tabletop, and he had been so focused that he didn't even hear me and mom approaching.

I heard a boombox somewhere in the room, bellowing out heavy rock music. I immediately recognized it: AC/DC. My dad and I listened to it all the time growing up when we'd stay in the basement for hours crafting new and improved ghost equipment for the family hunt… back when we used to hunt as a family. I missed those days. I wasn't entirely sure why dad was reverting back to old memories; maybe it had something to do with his "little girl" growing up and this was his way of remembering what used to be.

Only thing wrong with the picture was that I wasn't invited.

Why wasn't I invited?

"Danny," my mom called as loud as she could, whilst being drowned out by high-pitched guitar riffs. My dad didn't even budge. "Danny!"

I rolled my eyes, holding a glowing ecto-plasmic hand. I watched his backside as a wisp of air came from his mouth, and he perked his head up before he turned around to look at us. Once he saw what I was doing, he relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you guys," he sighed in relief, grabbing the remote control to turn the volume of the music down.

"Danny…" my mom started as my dad grabbed a cotton rag and wiped lubricant off of his hands. "We all need to talk."

"Okay… yeah, it'll be just a second. I'm just finishing up this-"

"No. We need to talk, like, now. She knows."

He stopped wiping, his eyes moving to look at me. I must have had sweltering anger painted all over my expression because his response look was one of pity.

"Is anyone going to tell me who Luke is, or am I just supposed to pretend that no one said that name?" I came off rather bitchy in my statement, but I couldn't help it. I knew my parents were lying for the longest time, and why they decided to keep things from me when they expected me to tell them everything was backwards. Here I am thinking the worst in just about every scenario-some of them pointing towards my dad being a cheater. Was Luke some bastard child that wasn't supposed to be here? Did I truly have a brother this whole time and didn't even know it?

I felt sick to my stomach. Mostly, I felt a chill as the temperature in the room dropped.

Damien was somewhere around here.

Good. A witness in case something goes awry.

"Okay, okay," my dad said defeatedly with his hands in a surrendering stance. "Luke is… Luke-Lucas-is your older brother… your twin, actually. He was just like you-supposed to have ghost powers and everything. After you two were born, we stayed in Amity Park to be with your grandparents on both sides. Your Uncle Tucker was still there… everyone was still there. Your mother and I had already been married and living in our own home… I was still ghost fighting, but she stopped… I made her stop. I couldn't have something happen to me and her all at once and leave you both alone.

"Your uncle and I were out on a patrol… we got tied up and we were gone longer than we intended to be. Your mother was home with you and your brother… she called me in hysterics… someone stole your brother-took him from his crib. It took us over three weeks straight; we searched all over the town-all over the Ghost Zone for him… but we never found him."

My eyes began to water and glossy orbs gave darting looks to my parents.

One way. Back.

One way. Back.

A never ending cycle.

"We wanted to tell you for so long, Lil, but…" my mother began, her voice sunken and low. "We didn't know how." She reached up to push my hair behind my ear and I stepped back to expand the gap between us.

"So… this is what this is all about then? The training and the courses and the engineering… moving away from Amity… this is what this all stems from?"

"I'm almost confident that Vlad has something to do with it, but when I went to his house in Wisconsin it was on the market and he was gone. I searched everywhere for a sign that Luke could be there, but there wasn't anything. I'd go to the ends of the Earth-the ends of the Ghost Zone-for both of you… and I did… and when I realized that I'd failed our son… your brother… I did what I had to do to protect you: I moved away from Amity Park, I stopped the patrols, and I suffered in silence. I stayed away from the Ghost Zone and I let go of that entire portion of my life because it's not worth it, baby." My dad approached me, one foot in front of the other slow and steady. Was I the gazelle and him the lion? I genuinely felt like I was vulnerable prey to my family. He stopped just ahead of me, and my tight lips with rosy red cheeks and streaking tears was a sure sign that I didn't want to be touched, so he kept himself at bay. "I had to protect you, and your mother… I let go of Danny Phantom, and saw to it that he was no longer a part of me."

"But he is a part of you, Dad! Don't you see that what you did was counter-productive?! People may be slow to catch on, but eventually they do, and every ghost that I put away-that I take back to the Ghost Zone-they talk. Word will spread, and they'll find me!"

"They're not going to find you because I'm not going to let them-!"

"You both lied to me! All this time and you fucking lied!"

I began to get angry, so much so that my body was shaking, and that was the first time I'd ever dropped the F-bomb on with them. I couldn't help it; I was just so mad and heartbroken and upset and sick all at the same time.

"Lily, calm down-!" My dad began, but I was just getting started.

"Don't tell me to calm down; this is so messed up! My brother… oh, my God, my brother is gone… all this time I thought I was just imagining things, but I really was… I really am a twin."

My parents looked to the ground in shame, dogs with tails between their legs and hands resting on their hips. I'd never been more betrayed in my whole life. My own parents-the ones I trusted to be honest with me and to always be there for me-had been lying to me this whole time. I trusted them with everything and they lied to me.

I didn't even know what to say. I was beyond shocked and angry, but mostly just scared-scared that they couldn't be trusted anymore. Scared for my big brother, who I may never meet. Scared for everything in the world-for my future and for the future of the Ghost Zone.

"I need… some time," I replied breathily, a shake making it come out far more insecure than I really felt. "I need to be alone."

I could see my dad raise a finger at me but he was too slow as I turned on my heels and booked it upstairs.

…

~ Damien ~

When I'd gone to Lily's house, I was expecting a normal get-together to brainstorm ideas for an average AP chemistry science project. When it slowly manifested into a saddening Dr. Phil Show segment, I realized I'd been in for more than what I bargained for. I barely knew Lily-only met her twelve hours prior, but I'd already felt sorry for her home life. When she talked of her parents, her powers and her friends at school, she seemed to have the perfect life.

I suppose the wallpaper sees all.

Once the end of the conversation was wrapping up, I phased through the ceiling and landed in the living room before transforming back to my original self. I almost freaked out when I heard footsteps trudging up the staircase leading to the basement, but sighed in relief when I saw Lily's face. She closed the basement door behind her roughly before giving me a look of despair.

I felt my heart crumble in my chest; damn it, if I weren't an empath…

Poor Lily… it's gotta be hard to find out that your whole life is a lie.

"Lily… are you okay? You wanna go blow off some steam?"

"I don't know what to do," her voice quivered. Her face was beet red, and her cheeks appeared hot. Her once amethyst eyes had dulled to a dark green color, a sign that a shift in her mood had occurred.

That was the beauty of us halfas: our emotions-not just the form we take-determine our eye color. Lust, anger or sometimes even sadness can revert our eyes to the color of that of our ghost half. I knew all too well what it felt like for the whole world to crumble around you.

I held her arms, craning my face to look at hers. "Tell me what you need me to do."

She slowly looks up at me, her eye color beginning to gradually return to their natural state.

"There's nothing you can do. My parents are liars and that's that."

"There has to be something I can do to distract you… or cheer you up… anything."

She sighed heavily, her chest moving out and in. "Let's just… get this stupid science project planned out."

I wanted to stop her before she moved past me, but instead I let her walk up the stairs leading to her bedroom. My shoulders slumped as I followed behind her. I felt horrible for her having been put in such a horrible situation, and I didn't know how to make her feel better if I could. At the time, I suppose the only thing that could consist of was going through the process of planning out our science project so that I could leave her to her own confines.

I just hoped that she'd at least trusted me enough to come to me if she needed to.

...

A/N: Great chapter, right?