This story is oddly getting to be more and more fun to write. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: AlisSilly, GallyHoshi, Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse, Karen Kano, alow, and CharmedNightSkye.Every review is deeply appreciated!
Trapped (in a lie)
When Sam came to, she was first aware of the tingling in her arms and her thudding heart. A moment after that, she realized the wind was whipping through her hair again, and thin arms where wrapped around her shoulders and looped under her knees. "Wha … what's going on …?" She blinked awake.
She was still in the ghost boy's arms, and they were flying. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Sam looked down at her hands. "I can't uncurl my fingers," she said.
"Normal reaction to being electrocuted," the ghost answered. His eyes were facing front, and they flashed through a building. "Walker's chasing my copy, but some of his goons are still following us."
"Uh, what happened?" Sam wanted to know.
"I broke through the net and took off. I don't think Walker was expecting that." The ghost seemed pleased. "You're okay? I mean, except for the fingers?"
Sam worked on flexing her wrists. "I think so. What did you do now, anyway?"
"Nothing! I mean, all I have to do is show up and they start chasing me now," the ghost protested. He slowed, glancing back. "I think we've lost them for now." He floated down into a building and placed Sam gently in a desk chair – it looked for all the world like an office building, if one discounted the ghost machinery visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office. "I'll take you home, okay? Just … let me take a minute." His voice echoed eerily, and it took Sam a moment to realize it wasn't because of the room. The ghost boy leaned against the wall and slid down it to a sitting position, letting his head fall back against the wall.
Sam watched him with interest as he panted, his eyes closed. "Are you okay?" she asked.
The ghost opened one green eye and looked at her, and a thin smile crossed his lips. "I think that's the first time you've ever asked. Yeah, just tired. Making copies takes a lot out of me," he admitted.
"I didn't know ghosts could do that."
"Not all of them can. Just ... a couple." He closed his eye again.
Sam's fists slowly relaxed, and she flexed her fingers carefully as the tingling faded. It occurred to her that this was a great opportunity; Danny had talked about allying with the ghosts, and maybe everyone else thought it was a crazy idea, but Sam didn't see why it was such a big deal. If they were enemies of Pariah, why couldn't they help? Maybe they wanted to. They probably did, if they were being locked up by Walker. "You said earlier that you were on our side," she recalled quietly.
The ghost nodded. "You believe me now?" he asked, his voice slightly hostile.
"Maybe not totally. I mean, for all I know all this rescuing is just a trick to get me to trust you. Besides, you're the one that got me into this situation," she pointed out. "But I do think you're against Pariah Dark." She raised her hand, twisting the ring on her finger again. "Were you the ghost that possessed me at Pariah's big hoopla thing on Sunday?"
The ghost's eyes opened and focused on the ring. An ironic smile crossed his face. "My—the Fentons gave you that, huh?" he asked. "… yeah, I did. I said I was sorry, though."
"I thought I heard you say 'sorry'," Sam smirked. "You know what this ring does?"
"Yeah." The ghost stretched his arms over his head and rested them on his knees again.
"So why did you overshadow me?" Sam wanted to know.
The specter raised an eyebrow. "None of your business."
"Hey, you overshadowed me! What you're doing in my body is my business! How do you expect me to trust you if you're keeping secrets from me?" Sam retorted.
The ghost opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, a scowl flickering across his face, before he closed it again. "… I was spying on Pariah Dark."
"Why?"
"I needed to know something." The ghost brushed off the question.
"What did you need to know?"
"Can you stop with the twenty questions?" the ghost snapped. "Geez!"
Sam pursed her lips. "Look. I … I don't think it's totally crazy to work with a ghost. You guys have advantages over humans, and if you're against Pariah, then why can't we be allies? But if you've got something you know, tell me so I can tell – tell the people I know."
"You already know what I found out!" The specter shot back, floating to his feet. "Pariah's got the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, okay?"
Sam drew back slightly. "Hey … how did you know I knew that already? … can you read my mind?" She recoiled at the thought.
The ghost's shoulders drew up as he pressed back against the wall behind him. "No! No, of course not!" His eyes darted away. "I, uh, I figured you knew since you were at the party! I just couldn't stay invisible long enough to get a good look myself, so I borrowed your body! And I'm sorry, so leave me alone already!"
Sam crossed her arms, pleased to have the motor skills back to do so. "Right." She sighed.
There was a moment of awkward silence before the ghost boy broke it. "So … er … what's your name? You never told me," he asked.
Sam blinked, looking back up at the ghost. "You first."
The ghost hesitated, then said slowly, "I never really … I don't exactly have one."
"None at all?" Sam raised her eyebrows. "Not even from when you were alive?"
The specter panicked slightly in a way that reminded Sam sharply of Danny. Weird association! It's just the build and the hairstyle. "I, er, don't remember it!"
Sam smirked slightly. "I'm going to call you … hmm. Let's see. How about Phantom?"
"Phantom?" the ghost asked.
"From The Phantom, the American ripoff of The Phantom of the Opera," Sam explained. "Since you're ambiguously evil and totally fixated on a girl."
"Hey!"
"Too late! You're Phantom," Sam crowed. "I'm Sam. Nice to meet you. I guess."
The ghost's scowl at the reasoning for his name faded as Sam stuck out a hand. He took it firmly. "Nice to meet you," he said, before suddenly sticking his head through the wall.
He drew his head back inside. "Okay, the coast is clear," he reported. "I think, anyway. Let's get you back home."
&
The flight back home was far more lazy than the frenzied flight from Walker and his goons. He floated down through the roof, letting Sam down onto her feet gently. "I, er … would you mind if I dropped by from time to time? You know, when I'm not getting chased around by Walker."
Sam sighed. "Is there any way you could warn me ahead of time?" she asked.
The ghost looked around in apparent confusion. "Er …"
"Look, just knock on my window, and if I shake my head, don't come in," Sam answered. "Fair enough?"
"Fair enough," the ghost agreed. "You're gonna be okay explaining to your parents how you got to your room without walking in the front door?"
"Phantom, I've escaped out my window so many times my parents were thinking about boarding it up," Sam snorted. "Don't worry about it."
"All right." He smiled slightly at her. "Sorry about tonight."
"Nah. If we can get some allies together, all the better," Sam answered. "I'll … I know I've got some friends who'll work with me on this. We'll get our people's heads on straight."
"Thanks." Phantom glanced out the window. "I'll see you later?"
"See you later," Sam agreed.
Phantom floated out through the closed window, and started down the street as Sam watched.
Then out of nowhere, a green blast hit the ghost in the chest.
Sam jumped, emitting a startled gasp. Phantom tumbled back through the sky, righting himself uncomfortably as about twenty of Walker's goons popped up from the surrounding buildings, along with Walker. Phantom's wrists and ankles were surrounded by a green, flickering glow that Sam had seen before – ghost cuffs.
She cracked open her window as Walker floated up to the dazed ghost.
"—come back here," Walker was saying in his phony accent. "You may be able to sense my forces, but you can't sense them when they're overshadowing humans, can you?"
Phantom mumbled something that Sam couldn't make out.
"Move one inch and you'll be turned into an ectoplasmic smear on the sidewalk," Walker sneered. He reached down and grabbed Phantom's cuffs, dragging the ghost boy after him as he shot off into the sky. "Let's go, men!"
"No," Sam gasped.
She had to do something!
Danny. Danny's parents can do something, can't they? But it's a ghost, will they really want to defend a – Oh, I know Danny will! He thinks allying with ghosts isn't such a bad idea! She grabbed her phone and dialed Danny's cell.
It rang and rang and rang, and finally went to voicemail. Sam slammed her phone down in frustration. "Where are you?" she shouted at the ceiling. "Tucker, Tucker …" she dialed another number.
The phone rang twice, then the boy picked up. "Hello?"
"Tucker, it's Sam," she said hurriedly. "Remember that ghost boy I was looking for on your computer?" She launched into the tale of her adventure. "He's just been taken by Walker and his goons!" she finished. "And just when I thought we might actually have a chance of working with the ghosts against Pariah!"
"Wow, that blows," Tucker said after a moment of stunned silence. "Did you try to call Danny?"
"Yeah, and he's not picking up," Sam answered, frustrated. "I know he'd help out, but I can't reach him!"
"Sounds like it might be too late anyway," Tucker said doubtfully. "I mean, if Walker's already gone …"
"I know," Sam sighed, kicking her bed. "Argh! This is making me nuts," she groaned.
"Maybe you should call Danny's house and ask to speak to Danny?" Tucker suggested.
"Oh, geez, why didn't I think of that?" Sam groaned, smacking herself on the head.
"'Cause you're flipping out," Tucker answered.
"Do you know the meaning of 'rhetorical question', Tucker?"
"Nope!" The teen chuckled. "Give him a call and call me back, okay?"
"Will do," Sam answered, hanging up. She dialed Danny's home phone number.
The phone rang three times, and then a young, feminine voice Sam recognized momentarily as Jazz's picked up the line. "Hello? Dad, no, I got it! Hello?"
"Jazz?" Sam asked. "It's Sam Manson."
"Oh, Danny's friend!" Jazz said cheerfully. "Good! We were just wondering where he disappeared to. He was supposed to get home half an hour ago."
Sam felt her stomach drop into her shoes. "He's not home?" she asked.
There was a confused pause. "He's not with you?" Jazz asked.
Oh boy. "No, he's not," Sam answered flatly. "I needed to talk to him. Uh, can you have him call me when he gets home?" she requested. What is he doing out after curfew? If he gets himself arrested, I swear … And this time, Danny couldn't use the excuse of helping his family out. They clearly had no idea where he was. Was he lying all this time?
Jazz made a frightened sound. "Uh … er, what did you need to talk to him about?" she asked.
Sam grimaced. "I … er …" Danny said Jazz was really smart. I guess I might as well try explaining to her? "Listen, don't take this the wrong way, but I think I've found a ghost that can help us out – and he's just been taken away by Walker's goons. I was hoping I could get some help saving him, but I guess it's probably too late now, so never mind!" Sam aborted.
But Jazz was intensely interested. "What?" she hissed. "Describe this ghost!"
"Er – he's, uh, got white hair, green eyes—"
The sound Jazz made was indescribable, somewhere between exasperated and horrified. "Augh! S-Sam, sorry, I've got to run. I'll relay the message to Danny, I promise—" Click.
Sam stared at the phone in her hands and wished desperately that she could fly too, and go to the Fenton's to find out what had just happened.
&
Tucker could offer nothing but his sympathy and accompanying worry about Danny's apparent disappearance. Sam hung up depressed and confused before trying to lay down to go to sleep.
Where could Danny have gone? Why wouldn't he be at home? I know he wants to be friends with me, but I don't really know anything about him. I've never been to his house and I hardly know anything about his parent's inventions, even though I'm friends with their son. He won't even let me into his house! What kind of secrets is he keeping?
And the ghost kid … Phantom … what can I do about this? Nothing. Nothing at all, unless I tell the Fentons about him. They have all the stuff. But we're not equipped to break a ghost out of ghost jail. We don't even know where ghost jail is! Or maybe the Fentons do. Even if they do, that would be totally blowing our cover for someone who we don't even know is an ally … I guess there's really nothing to do. Darn it!
But why did Danny's sister react like that to the news about Phantom? She seemed more worried about that than about Danny.
Something is going on with the Fentons, and it revolves around Danny. I am so going to grill him about this in the morning!
&
But Danny wasn't in school the next day.
Sam spent the entire day waiting for him to make an appearance. She sat with Tucker at lunch, but Danny didn't show up. She watched for him in sixth period, but Danny never came. She waited at her locker for half an hour after school, but Danny never appeared.
"Where is he?" Sam demanded as she walked home with Tucker. "This is insane! First the Phantom, then Danny!"
"What? Phantom?" Tucker wanted to know.
"It's what I dubbed the ghost boy," Sam answered irritably. "I'll bet Danny got himself arrested last night! The idiot," she growled.
Tucker shrugged. "Maybe we should go over to Danny's house and see if we can find out what happened to him," he suggested.
"Yeah. Let's do that," Sam answered, her voice low and dangerous. "And when we see him, I'm going to get this big, stupid secret thing out of him if I have to shake him all night!"
"Woah, woah! Remind me not to get on your bad side," Tucker joked, raising his hands defensively. "I'm sure he's just sick."
"He still hasn't called me back," Sam hissed. "He would have called if he was just sick."
"Maybe he was sleeping all day."
"Stop trying to rationalize for him and just let me be angry!" Sam snapped.
"Okay, okay …"
When they reached the nondescript house that was Danny's home, Sam pressed the doorbell so hard the plastic creaked under her finger. It took a moment, but Jazz was the one that came to the door, her hair frazzled and her features showing stress. "Sam? Tucker? This is a really bad time," she said nervously.
"Look, I – we – want to speak to Danny," Sam shot back, bristling. "He wasn't in school today, and—"
"Sam, I'm sorry," Jazz said, looking back into the house for a moment before peeking back out the door. "Not now. Danny … Danny can't speak to anyone right now."
"He's hiding from me, isn't he?" Sam roared. "I'm just worried about him, and I just want to find out—"
Her phone rang.
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all stared at Sam's backpack as the lonely notes of an old 80's band floated through the air, and Sam ripped open her backpack to answer the cell. "What?"
"Samantha Manson! Is that any tone to take with your mother?" screeched Mrs. Manson's voice.
Sam sighed. "Oh, it's you … what do you want, Mother?"
"Come home right away!" Her mother sounded both angry and stressed. "Mr. Walker is here to see you."
For the second time in only 24 hours, Sam felt her stomach drop to the floor. She swallowed. "Why would Walker want to see me?"
"I don't know! Just come home!" Her mother hung up.
Sam stared at her phone before clicking it shut.
"Uh …" she looked at Jazz and Tucker.
"Walker wants to see you?" Tucker asked. "That … can't be good."
"No, it can't," Sam sighed. "I guess I have to go, though."
"Hang on a moment," Jazz said suddenly, and the door slammed shut.
Sam and Tucker blinked in unison.
A minute later the door opened again, and Jazz pressed a tube of lipstick into Sam's hand. "Here. It's a easily concealed ecto-weapon, in case Walker tries to arrest you or something. If he does, press this." Jazz produced a small buzzer and handed it to Sam. "It'll send out a distress signal and I promise someone will come help you out."
"Uh … all this trouble over me? If I get arrested, you guys will just be blowing your—"
"Not so loud!" Jazz hissed. "Just take them and let us figure out the rest, okay? Good luck!" She disappeared back inside the house and shut the door behind her.
"Want me to walk you home?" Tucker offered.
Sam shook her head. "Nah. I'm going to have to handle this myself." She trudged down the street, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears with every step.
&
"Well hello, Samantha." Walker's voice was deep and somehow more intimidating than it had been the night before. "I believe we met last night."
Sam drew in a deep breath through her teeth and let it out. Her parents were glaring at her from over Walker's shoulder, but they weren't nearly as worrying as the warden ghost himself. "Yeah, I guess," she said slowly. "Actually, we met at one of those galas a few years ago, but …"
"Right, right," Walker agreed, his hands clasped behind his back.
"This isn't about missing curfew last night, is it?" Sam asked. "I thought I still had five minutes and I was nearly to my house."
"No, it's not." Walker started pacing the room. "Ignorance is no excuse for disobeying the rules. But I'm willing to let it slide … if you'll answer some questions for me." He turned towards Sam, his pupil-less eyes boring straight into her.
Sam gulped. "What questions?"
Walker smiled thinly. "Tell me about the ghost kid."
"What makes you think I know anything about him?" Sam demanded, trying to keep her cool.
"Hmm, let's see. He was spotted in your presence in Amity Park two weeks ago. Since then he has been caught in the vicinity of your home twice, both times interacting with you." Walker narrowed his eyes, smiling thinly. "You're the only person of any significance he's been seen with. What's he told you?"
Sam decided to tell a half-truth. "Nothing you don't already know," she retorted. "Can't you get this information out of him? You did capture him last night, right?"
"You're right. I did." Walker's grin stretched wider. "Right in front of your house, incidentally. After he … mm … returned you to your room."
Sam heard her mother gasp.
"You were with him for exactly thirty-three minutes last night, fifteen of which are unaccounted for," Walker continued. "Words were surely exchanged. And I should tell you, Samantha … fraternizing with ghosts that roam free in the face of Pariah's reign is definitely against the rules."
"It's 'Sam'," Samantha found herself saying reflexively. She felt a bit of relief. So Phantom hadn't played the 'Benedict Arnold' card and said he wanted to get close to the humans to help Pariah – which was, she supposed, an entirely possible trick. But she didn't really believe it. "Fine, you want to know what he told me? He said he's against Pariah. That's all I know," she lied.
"Did that make you happy?" Walker asked.
Sam growled at him. "Who cares what I think? I'm only 14," she answered.
Walker smirked, pacing away from Sam. "That's true." He halted, raising a finger as if he'd just thought of something. "But interesting that a ghost of any kind would take interest in a human." He turned towards Sam again, overdramatic. "Why would he be interested in you, Samantha?"
That Sam could answer honestly. "I have no idea," she snorted. "But I'm not sorry he's not able to stalk me any more." Only I am! She wailed mentally.
"Heh." Walker smirked. "You're an interesting girl, Samantha. I have one more question for you." He paused. "What have you heard about an uprising against Pariah Dark?"
The question was so point-blank that Sam was caught speechless. Her gaze flickered to her parents, who both looked not only upset, but worried. "I … I really don't know what you're talking about," she said slowly. "I mean, I've heard a couple things about not liking Pariah, but—"
"Who from?" Walker demanded.
"You said only one more question! That's against the rules!" Sam protested.
Walker stared at her. "It is?" Then he hesitated and chuckled. "Very funny, Samantha. Answer the question."
Sam sighed. "I don't know. Different kids at school. I'm really not the social type, I couldn't tell you the names of half the kids in my classes," Sam answered truthfully.
Walker's eyes narrowed to thin green, glowing strips as he stared Sam down, waiting for her to make a slip. Sam tried not to fidget, glaring back.
"Fine." Walker suddenly let up. "I'm letting you off the hook regarding your curfew … for now. But when I find out you're lying—"
"If," Sam corrected.
"When I find out you're lying," Walker continued over her, "I'll come back and deal with you the way you're meant to be dealt with."
He walked out through the door itself, and Sam saw him flying off into the sky, followed by a contingent of goons. Sam let out a heavy, relieved breath.
"Samantha!" "Honey!" Her parents both suddenly ran up and embraced her. "What happened?" "Why didn't you tell us the ghost boy was bothering you again?"
"Human … contact … crushing … anti-social tendencies …" Sam strangled out.
She was safe … for now.
Tbc
Thanks again for reading! Based off the responses, I'll consider starting a companion piece from Danny's POV, but not until we're a little further along. ;
Thanks in advance for any and all reviews! You know we authors live for them.
