A/N: Another up-date! I'm on a roll!
The Art of Deception
Chapter Four
"All these dreams and all these plans
I built them all with these two hands
Everything I've realized my dreams..."
"Mr. Folluka?" Danny mumbled, knocking on the open door to the classroom. Sam was right behind him, waiting for the busy teacher to reply. It was already the next day: Tuesday. Tucker was absent that day, but at least he was awake. He'd called both Sam and Danny that morning to remind them to make sure they told him what they were going to have for homework that day.
"Mr. Fenton, Miss Manson," Mr. Folluka greeted. The short, chubby man folded his hands on his desk and motioned to them to enter. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, we were sort of wondering if there was any way we could raise our grades for this class," Sam offered with a sincere smile.
"Maybe extra credit work?" Danny added. Mr. Folluka looked at both of them.
"You both know," he said. "That I do not offer extra-credit. If you do all your work, homework, and do well on tests then there would be no need for extra-credit."
"But we really need to get our grades up," Danny said.
"Please, Mr. Folluka, just this once?" Sam pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot offer privileges to you that the other students do not have," the teacher said. He stood his ground, unmoved.
"Mr. Folluka, you don't understand," Danny said. "If I fail this class, I'll be failing this grade. I don't want to be a ninth grader forever!"
"Then you should have studied for this test," Mr. Folluka said.
"Is there any way we could raise our grades without having to do extra-credit?" Sam asked.
"Two more tests are coming up," Mr. Folluka said. "Tomorrow and Friday. If you ace these tests, your grades are guaranteed to be raised up two full grades. That's all I can say."
"Thanks, Mr. Folluka," Sam said. Danny looked at her. They would have to ace both tests. How would he manage that? Sighing, he also gave his thanks and both exited the room.
"How are we going to do that?" Danny questioned once they were out.
"I'll be at your place today at five," Sam said. "Or right after school if you want. We'll study all night if we have to."
"I hardly understand what we did on the last test, how am I going to learn all of this in one day for tomorrow's test?" Danny asked.
"Don't worry," Sam said. She looked at Danny with a sly grin. Danny looked back at her with questioning eyes. She reached into the shoulder bookbag she'd decided to bring that day and held up to him a packet of about five papers. Danny's eyes quickly widened at he realization of what it was.
"Sam!" he accused her. She put a finger to her lips and shushed him, quickly looking up and down the crowded hall. "How did you get your hands on that?" Danny hissed.
"It was just there," Sam told him, putting the packet back inside her bag. "I couldn't help myself."
"We're gonna get caught," Danny said.
"Danny, think of it this way, if we get caught, it's not going to be a 'we', it's going to be me," Sam said. "I have a B in this class, you have an 'F', it would be better if you stay out of it. Study the answers and if I get caught, fine. I can live with a 'C'."
"You can't do that," Danny said.
"Yes, I can," Sam said. "Can't live on the safe side forever, Danny."
"Sam, remember what would have happened if I had cheated on the CST?" Danny reminded her. "I'm not going to cheat."
Sam sighed. "Fine, I'll do this alone. But I'm still going to help you study," Sam said.
"Okay," Danny agreed, nodding slightly. Sam rolled her eyes, but in her head, she was taking good notes of this. Danny's still afraid of turning evil when he's older. She smiled unnoticeably. A weakness.
After school. Near four-thirty.
"You're not going to get away with this," Tucker murmured weakly.
"I can get away with anything I want," the girl from before said, chuckling softly at the boy's condition. "I never wished for this to happen to you, but Walker got away with it. All I can do is go according to plan. i'm sorry, Tuck."
"How can you call me 'Tuck' when you're-" Tucker started, but quieted down when the girl put a hand to his throat and squeezed.
"I don't want to have to kill you, Tucker," she said harshly. Tucker looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Now pay close attention. You're only friend in this world was Samantha Elizabeth Manson. The Fentons only had one kid. Her name is Jazz. You and Jazz are only acquaintances. You're going to forget everything you've ever been through with Daniel James Fenton. He never existed. You don't know him because he was never there. All the memories you've had about ghosts are to be forgotten." As the girl talked, she forced Tucker to look directly into her eyes. Tucker tried to struggle, but could not. Soon, he went limp. "Now, you're going to fall asleep. You never saw me here. It was all just like a dream. The reason you're here in your room from school is because you're home sick with the flu. Got it?"
"Yes," Tucker said vaguely. The girl smiled.
"Good," she whispered fondly and let go of the teen. "Good night, Tuck."
Danny opened the door to the knocking of Sam. "Hey," he said. It was exactly five o-clock, just the time she'd said she would arrive.
"Hey," she said, smiling. Danny stepped to one side and let her in. She looked around. "Where are your parents?"
"Lab," Danny said. "They want to know exactly what caused what happened to Tucker."
"Oh," Sam mumbled. "I just came from visiting him about an hour or so ago. Then I hung out at the Nasty Burger afterwards."
"Did you tell him what we had for homework?" Danny asked, leading her upstairs to his room.
"Yeah," she said. They entered his room. "What should we do first?"
"I think we should do some homework first, then hit the books," Danny said.
"Alright," Sam said and plopped down next to him on his bed. "Let the school work begin!"
"Did you take care of the boy?"
"Yep. He doesn't remember a thing. His parents have been taken care of as well. Say, why wasn't there any ghost attack like you said there would be?"
"We decided against it in the end. We've done all we need to do. Now we need to get the boy away from everyone else so we can put every ghost under our control to...how do I so nicely put it? Erase him from existence."
"Wow, nice," the girl said, shaking her head.
"Just focus on what you have to do," Vlad snapped.
"Fine, fine, tomorrow he'll be yours, Walker," she said. The ghost grinned. "He'll be in prison, and you, Skulker, can hunt all you want."
"And if he agrees to my terms," Vlad added. "Then he will be under my control." The man smiled wickedly.
"You still creep me out," the girl whispered quietly so none would hear her.
E/N: Okay, plot is building up. I hope you liked this chapter! And I don't own the song 'Mountain' by Good Charlotte. It was another song that inspired this story.
--Airamé Phantom
