Thank you to my several reviewers: GallyHoshi, AlisSilly, Nobody Famous, and Esme Kali Phantom. I'm glad you're enjoying this story
Too New
The next day, it was as if the meeting the night before had never happened. Dash didn't talk to her. Valerie was still obnoxious and rude. And Danny …
Danny's bruise was already completely gone.
"Wow, you heal fast," Sam remarked when he walked into the classroom early.
Danny seemed surprised by this. "I guess. The bruise wasn't that bad, anyway," he remarked.
"Here, sit next to me," Sam suggested. "Hemingway doesn't even notice when we pass notes in this class, so we can talk about whatever we want."
"Really?" Danny slid into the seat next to her. "That seems weird. Is security really that lax?"
"Well, like I said, Pariah acts like the humans aren't even there. I think he has us educated just to keep the parents somewhat happy. I mean, you saw the … you know. There's not that many people who'd want to bother to fight back, since somehow we've still got all our basic necessities and money to buy stuff with. Besides … if you get caught …"
"Walker, huh?" Danny looked like he'd heard of the rule-happy ghost before.
"He's totally fixated on the law." Sam rolled her eyes.
"He's overboard, all right," Danny remarked darkly. "Have people disappeared?"
"A few," Sam admitted. "Wow … were they …?"
"Killed? Maybe." Danny's scowl deepened. "Walker's favorite part of the job is 'executioner', after all."
Sam was shocked enough that she didn't speak again before Hemingway came into the room to start class.
&
He kills people? What if they turn into ghosts?
Not all ghosts were once people, actually. Only the really weak ones.
Really? That seems weird.
I dont know. Ask my mom.
They said they've been ghost hunters for twenty years?
A little longer than that. Dad's been totally obsesed since high school. Pariah Dark is one of the best things that ever happened to him, in a wierd weird way.
What? How?
He proved that ghosts are real.
Funky.
Funky? Who says that any more?
Thats it. Im not writing any more notes.
Come on sam. Sam? Oh fine.
&
Sam didn't share any more classes with Danny that morning, but at lunch the new kid reappeared at her table. "Don't be mad that I said it's weird to say 'funky'," he pleaded before she said anything.
Sam grinned at him. It felt good to grin, she realized; she rarely had reason to before she met Danny. "I'm not mad, but I'm touched that you're so worried," she mocked. "Siddown."
Danny obeyed. "So … uh … is there anything at all fun to do in this town?"
"I'm surprised you're asking," Sam said. "Well, every so often new games and stuff sneak into town. I'm guessing it's from the same places that bring in all the stuff for new ghost weapons. And my parents have access to all the latest computers because they're ghost pleasers."
"I heard they're kind of buddy-buddy with the ghosts," Danny admitted. "I'll bet the … you know … want to know what's going on with them."
"Oh, I'll be glad to tell them anything they want to know," Sam promised. "I always knew something was wrong with my parents. I didn't think it was this sinister though."
"Mom always says that the best war is fought with intelligence," Danny remarked.
"Your mom sounds smart."
"She's the second-smartest person I know. Jazz is the first."
"Nice. Where do I rank on that list?"
Danny blushed, caught in a faux pas. "Let me get to know you first," he protested. Sam snickered.
"Hope you don't take offense if I say you're a little jumpy."
Danny smiled ruefully. "My sister says the same thing. You should totally meet her." But suddenly he looked uneasy, his smile fading as he glanced down at his wrist. "Oh, no …"
"What?" Sam wanted to know.
"Oh, uh, nothing," Danny answered awkwardly, but it was obvious that it wasn't 'nothing'. "I have to go to the bathroom."
"You're a liar," Sam accused. "Do I really make you that nervous?"
The pained look he sent her way took her aback.
"I'd really like to stay, but I've got to go," Danny insisted. "Sorry. I'm really sorry. I'll explain later if I can," he promised.
Sam stared at him. "Look, I don't know you well enough to insist you explain everything you do," she said. "If you don't want to tell me, it's your business."
Danny looked relieved for all of a moment before he got to his feet. "Maybe I'll explain once you get to know me, then," he said hopefully before running out the cafeteria door.
&
This time, however, Danny reappeared before sixth period. He was breathing hard, visibly winded, and his hair was a tangled mess. "History, right? Please tell me I'm right," he begged as he pounded up to Sam.
"Right," Sam said slowly. "What happened to you?"
"Long story. Really long story. No time. Class," Danny panted, struggling with his locker. "Argh!"
"Oh, geez. What's your combination?" Sam asked, exasperated.
"Uh, twenty-two, fourteen, thirty," Danny recited, and Sam expertly opened his locker for him. "Thanks."
"No problem. What'd you do, run across Amity?"
"Closer than I'd like to admit," Danny wheezed in response. "Ugh." He sucked in a hard breath and let it out. "I'll tell you on the way home, okay? I promise."
Sam shook her head slowly. "All right."
&
"So … tell me what happened," Sam demanded the moment they were out of Casper High.
Danny had agreed to walk as far as Sam's house with her, but after that he claimed he had to go straight home. "We're unpacking, after all. I mean, what there is to unpack," he allowed. Sam felt like she was swallowing his whole life in Amity as it was, so she just let it go.
Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Well … I was running interference," he explained.
"Interference? With what?"
"Interference with ghosts," Danny answered. "We're still smuggling stuff in from the Amity border, so … someone's gotta keep Walker's guards busy."
Something clicked in Sam's head at that. "Hey … wait a minute. This is going to sound really weird, so don't get upset with me, but I, uh … I met this ghost."
Danny looked up at her sharply. "You met a ghost that wasn't one of Walker's guards?"
Sam rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, yeah," she said slowly. "He's got white hair and green eyes … actually, he looks a lot like you, incidentally," she realized. "I mean, build-wise."
Danny had tensed briefly at the suggestion that the ghost looked like him, but he relaxed when she clarified. "Huh. Go on," he said, now sounding slightly amused.
"Well, he was getting chased around by Walker's goons … and he said he was keeping them distracted. But he didn't say from what." She paused. "Are there ghosts who want to revolt against Pariah Dark, too?"
Danny's sighed softly, although Sam hadn't noticed him growing more nervous until he relaxed again. "Actually, yeah," he said. "We think. Walker has two prisons, you see … one for humans … and another for ghosts. He's been keeping the Ghost Zone in line for over a thousand years, or so we think."
"A thousand years? But he looks like he walked out of a bad 1930's movie," Sam protested.
Danny grinned at that. "Ghosts can get new looks just like humans can. He probably saw 'Casablanca' and liked it."
"So Walker keeps rebelling ghosts locked up, too," Sam surmised.
"Right. We think," Danny qualified again. "My mom is pretty sure of it, and so is Jazz, but my dad doesn't think so." He shrugged. "Anyway, maybe that ghost is a rebelling ghost helping break ghosts out of jail or something."
"You know," Sam said thoughtfully, "If there are ghosts that want to fight against Pariah …"
"Yeah, I've thought so too," Danny said, apparently catching her drift. "But the Guys in White and everyone else think it would be crazy to ally with ghosts." He sighed as if this pained him personally.
"Maybe it would be exactly the right crazy to throw Pariah off-guard," Sam said hopefully.
"Maybe," Danny said doubtfully. "You know he ruled the Ghost Zone for two thousand years, right?"
"That I did know," Sam said ruefully. "It's all we talk about in History."
"Well, he spent a thousand years taking over it," Danny added. "He put all the ghosts in line. They're all scared of him. So I don't think he'd be too surprised by ghosts trying to fight him."
"Oh." Sam frowned. "How do you know so much about the Ghost Zone, anyway?"
Danny brightened a little. "Parents. Ghost Hunters. They've been studying this stuff for ages." He looked up. "This is your place, right?"
Sam blinked at him. "Yeah, it is. How did you know?"
"Well, er, it wasn't hard to find out," Danny said, visibly uncomfortable. "The Mansons were pretty famous even before their hometown got sucked into the Ghost Zone."
"You have an explanation for everything, don't you?" Sam joked.
Danny smiled a little. "I try. Jazz helps."
&
The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Danny kept disappearing at odd times, but now that Sam had an explanation, she didn't ask about it. She also tried not to gawk too openly when he came in on Thursday with his arm bandaged all the way to the elbow.
"What happened to you?" she demanded.
"Wulf," Danny answered, his voice sour and laced with warning.
Sam let it drop.
&
On Friday night Sam was in her room, listening to the only band she had managed to get a hold of (Dumpty Humpty, apparently the hottest thing in the real world since N'Sync) at as loud a volume as possible. She knew her parents hated the band, and she loved annoying them. Besides, it covered the sound of her rapid typing as she worked on breaking into her parents' computers. If she could just get past their firewall, she would have full access to information about everything her parents were doing for the ghosts – she was sure of it.
Her window shattered.
Sam let out a startled scream as a black and white bundle crashed through her window, slamming into her dresser and collapsing in a heap on the floor. "Ow," the thing said pitifully, picking itself up with all the energy of a well-beaten wrestler.
It was the ghost boy.
"What are you doing?" Sam demanded.
The ghost's head whipped around, fixing a shocked green gaze with a vivid black eye on her. "I, ah, whoops?" he offered nervously.
"Get out!" she shouted, more out of surprise and fury than anything else. "Get! Out! Of! My! Room!"
"I didn't mean to land in your room!" the ghost protested, but his gaze shot upwards and out of her window. "Oh, geez, seriously, I'm sorry—!"
"Samantha! What is going on up there?" demanded a shrill voice – Sam's mom.
"Great! How am I going to explain that a ghost broke my window?" Sam hissed at the ghost.
"Tell her a ghost broke your window!" the ghost answered, apparently exasperated and obviously distracted. "It's not like she won't believe you!" And that suddenly, he was flying back out of her room.
"Over here, dipwads!" she heard, and when she poked her head carefully through the broken glass, she saw the ghost again leading off Walker's goons.
"Samantha?" Sam's mother poked her head in the room. "Oh my! What on earth did you do?"
Sam took a deep breath and let it out. "Actually, Mother …"
&
It took a lot of explaining, but her parents bought it. "I can't believe Walker is having so much trouble capturing a fellow ghost," her mother huffed. "It's so unlike him!"
"Don't worry, Samantha," her father reassured. "We'll make sure Walker never lets a convict get near our house again."
"Fantastic," Sam said darkly, wishing her parents would just leave her alone in the spare bedroom she'd been regulated to.
They did eventually leave her alone, but Sam's plans for the night had been ruined. She was tired, and there was no way she was going to manage to break into her parents' firewall tonight.
She had just curled up to go to sleep when she heard a thump by the window. She sat up sharply. "Who's there?"
"It's just me," said an annoyingly familiar voice, and the ghost boy materialized next to the window. He still had a dark, blackened ring around one eye. "Sorry about breaking your window. I didn't go intangible in time," he explained himself.
"Well, you're just lucky my parents are loaded," Sam said tartly. "Fixing a window means nothing to them." But she hesitated. "What are you doing with Walker's goons all the time, anyway? It's like they're always chasing you."
"They are always chasing me," the ghost answered sourly. "I think Walker's got a special contingent by now."
"Why?" Sam asked. "I mean, why are they chasing you?"
"Isn't it obvious?" The ghost looked mildly offended. "I'm not on Pariah's side."
"Whose side are you on, then?"
The ghost hesitated just a moment before a thin, ironic smile spread across his face. "Yours."
"Hah. Why would a ghost care about humans?" Sam snorted.
"Who says a ghost can't care about humans?" the ghost retorted. "Besides, it's not his town." His gaze darkened. "It's mine."
Sam blinked at that. "Hey, last time we talked … didn't you say you were trying to take the town back?"
"Probably," the ghost allowed. "I am. It's my birthright."
"Your what?" Sam tried not to sound as incredulous as she felt.
"I was born here," the ghost answered flatly. "And – and I guess you could say I haunt here. So it's mine. I was here before Pariah Dark."
"Awfully territorial, aren't we?" Sam observed dryly.
"Look," the ghost said, visibly becoming exasperated, "I don't like the way he does things. No one does. I don't even think any ghosts like it, except his mindless skeletons. I … I want Amity to be normal again. Safe again," he added. "I ... like humans. And I want humans to be happy and normal. Is that so hard to understand?"
"It's surprising, coming from anything spectral," Sam answered, blunt.
"Of course," the ghost answered tiredly. "Doesn't make sense to you. Well, I guess I wasn't expecting anything different." He broke off, looking out her window. "I'd better let you sleep."
Sam snorted. "That'd be great, thanks."
"Then I'll see you later," the ghost boy said, disappearing through the wall.
"How about never," Sam muttered under her breath. He was only confusing, and trouble seemed to follow him everywhere he went.
&
"I can't come," said the voice on the other end of the phone.
Sam made an exasperated sound. "Danny …"
"I know, I know," the boy answered. "I promised to meet you at the arcade, but I really … I just …"
Sam heard a lie coming on. "Don't bother," she said. "Don't lie to me about it. If you don't want to come, just say so. It's not like we're attached at the hip or something."
"But I do! I just can't," Danny answered.
There was a moment of awkward silence as Sam tried to come up for an explanation as to why Danny simply couldn't come. "You're not bedridden, are you?"
Danny laughed at that. "Nah, nothing that serious. Just … I can't see anyone right now. Family stuff. Can we reschedule for tomorrow?"
"I'd love to," Sam answered, trying not to sound exasperated, "but I'm being forced to come with my parents to come to some big hoopla party thing."
"Wow. The town has parties?" Danny was intrigued.
"Trust me, Danny, this isn't the sort of party you want to come to," Sam answered with a thin smirk. "No one would. Pariah Dark is supposed to make a cameo."
"Pariah Dark?" Danny sounded amazed.
"Oh, it's not that big of a deal," Sam huffed. "He comes in, he glares at you while you bow, then he leaves. We don't even know why he bothers. Look, I'll see you in class on Monday."
"If you say so," Danny answered doubtfully.
&
The party was long and boring, not unexpectedly. Sam hovered around the punch bowl, trying to ignore the little fleet of ghosts guarding all the entrances and exits. This party was … not exactly a fundraiser, but more of a soundoff to his great majesty, Pariah Dark.
Sam hadn't thought anything of it until now, actually, but she was one of the few in Amity that had actually seen his face in person. His presence made the room a whole ten degrees colder, and he seemed to have no interest in the proceedings; he was usually only present for a few minutes at most.
It was his right hand ghost, Fright Knight, who was usually gracing the party with his almighty presence.
Frustratingly, Sam couldn't even manage to be unique at these things. She preferred black as a rule, whereas her parents preferred pink and other cute, pastel colors, but where the Fright Knight was, a Halloween theme seemed to overtake the town. Everything, even Sam's parents, was decked out in orange and black.
Sam was a little startled, however, when one easily recognizable blond-haired jock appeared next to her at the punch. He looked visibly uncomfortable in a black suit and tie. "Hey, Manson," he said.
Sam looked up at Dash incredulously. "I didn't know you were here."
"Yeah, well. My parents have to come to these things, and they drag me along too." Dash looked unhappy about this, and Sam could relate.
"That's exactly what happens to me," she confessed. "I don't even get the point of these things."
"I don't really either." Dash made a face. "Some ghost guy is all about making things like, kinda humanlike or something. I don't get it at all."
"Maybe it's just to make some of us feel important," Sam said pointedly, looking at her parents. "It's not Pariah's idea, though, that's for sure. It would never cross his mind to c—oh, look … here he comes now …"
"Bow before your king!" boomed the Fright Knight's voice.
Sam fell into a curtsy only because she'd seen someone 'smote down' for their insolence in not deferring to the Ghost Zone King. Dash did the same thing, and Sam tried not to snicker at the way he looked, awkwardly bowing.
She heard a rustle next to her.
"Sorry," said a familiar voice, and then everything grew hazy. She felt her body move, but not of her own accord; her eyes studied Pariah, but she didn't really register what they were observing.
Suddenly something slammed into her chest, and she sprawled on the floor.
When she woke up, there was pandemonium. Sam, dizzy, started to get up by supporting herself on the table; Dash was wrapping an arm around her shoulders, shouting "Manson?" at her.
She grimaced. "What happened …?"
"Who is that insolent upstart? I demand Walker's presence immediately!" Thundered Pariah. "Get the humans out!"
"Samantha!" her parents were running to her, pushing Dash aside. "Oh, Samantha, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Mother," Sam answered, standing slowly. "Seriously, what happened?"
"How did he get past the shield?" Pariah was demanding.
"Some ghost was overshadowing you!" Sam's mother was almost in tears. "Luckily a guard ejected him from your body! Oh, Samantha – Samantha!"
Sam let herself be clung to, but seeing the gagging faces Dash made behind their back, Sam smiled slightly, gagging back.
"Mother, it's going to be fine," Sam groaned. "It's over. Whatever. No one cares about the human meat puppet, right?" Although Sam had never been overshadowed before, some of her classmates had been; they all claimed to not remember much of anything that had happened while a ghost possessed them. Sam found their observations to be fairly accurate. The ghosts seemed to be aware of this as well, and overshadowed humans were never questioned or, indeed noticed after the possession was over.
But why would a ghost overshadow her at a ghostly party?
Tbc
Thanks again for reading! Please leave a little review; it's wonderful to know you're reading this story, and I want to know what you think.
