Find that which you fear most and use it against your fears.

The Nightmare
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

Chapter 10 – Phantom Tears

He was curled up on the floor of the lab, tears trickling down his face. He was still a ghost, so they weren't normal tears. They left flowing trails of ectoplasm on his cheeks. Not that he really cared at the moment. He was stuck – trapped in his nightmare until he found a way out. He had lost all of his ghost powers, he had lost all of his energy. The only ghostly thing about him right now was his appearance. He looked like a pale human with glowing green eyes and white hair. A pale little teenager that barely had enough energy to move.

The creature that had taken over his life was coming to finish him off. Once he was out of the way, it would be able to take over his life permanently. Not just in this stupid nightmare, but in real life as well. He would cease to exist. He would die. And there was nothing he could do about it.

So he sat there and cried.

He had imagined his end any number of ways. Getting blasted by Valerie was one that played through his mind on a number of occasions. Getting sliced up by Skulker, doomed by any number of ghosts, destroyed by Plasmius, or even getting ripped painfully apart by his parents were all common nightmares. But those were all ways of dying that he had come to terms with – he had accepted. Dying quietly in his dreams was not one of them. No one would know that he was gone. No one would care.

The creature would just step into his shoes, into his life, and take over. Until it got bored. Then it would leave, and his family and friends would be thrown into chaos. They would suffer. And it would be all his fault.

He was one of the more powerful ghosts in the ghost zone, and getting more powerful as the days wore on. And yet, here he was, cowering in the shadow of a ghost that was so weak it couldn't even manifest itself without a host. It was depressing. It was humiliating. It was hard to believe.

There was a way to win. The creature had said so itself. He had to find the key to getting out of this dream. It had said that the key was something that he always had, but never thought about. Always carried with him, but never touched. Always had known, but never told anyone. It had to be something.

Or it might be nothing. It might have just said those things to torture him. To give him a moment's worth of hope before utterly destroying him.

It was rather academic since it was too late. He didn't look up when he heard its footsteps on the stairs. He didn't look up when the footsteps reached the ground and started towards him. He didn't look up when he could feel it standing over him. However, he couldn't quite suppress the flinch when a hand reached out to touch his shoulder.

He lifted his tear-stained face and stared into his mother's eyes. She was looking at him with such compassion. She made a snorting noise and reached for a handkerchief. She wiped his cheeks and gave him a quick smile. "So, ghost." She sat back onto her heels and watched him for a second. "What has got you so down?"

"My life is over," he mumbled after a minute. He put his head back down on his arms, trying to hide the fact that another tear had escaped his eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked. She settled down next to him.

"Why do you care?" He lifted his head, surprised at how painful and sharp his voice had come across. He didn't mean to try and scare her. He didn't want her to leave… not yet.

She stared at him for a moment. "I don't know," she finally murmured. "For some reason, something I can't explain, I care." She pushed his long, white hair out of his eyes and flashed him a quick smile. "I'm here to listen if you want to talk."

He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to put her into the position of knowing the truth. It was better if she didn't. She was just a dream anyway. But he found himself talking, spilling the story out. He told her that the creature upstairs wasn't her son – it was some ghost that had pulled them into a dream. That creature was going to kill him and take her son's place. Not just in this dream world, but in the real world as well. He told her about the key. That he could win if he figured it out.

He expected her to laugh, or to try and shoot him, or something. But she just stared at him and nodded. "He has been acting very strangely the past few months. That would explain it."

She couldn't accept it that fast, he wondered. He watched her for a moment. Her eyes sparkled slightly, down beneath the surface. She was playing with him – not really believing him but willing to go along with the story of awhile. She used to do that a lot when he had been little. He sighed, a small smile escaping his sour mood.

"So if this monster is trying to take over my son, why did he yank you into this dream and not my son?"

He stared off at the wall for a few moments. He was going to die in a few minutes anyway. She wasn't really his mother. It was just four words and he could die with his conscience a little cleaner. What did he have to lose?

"Because," he whispered, mustering up the courage to say the four words that would forever change his world. "I am your son."

She laughed softly, then looked over at him. He met her eyes for the first time in a while, and bit his lip. Another ectoplasmic tear trickled down his cheek. A smile grew inside of him. Even if she didn't believe him, he had told her. She knew. He rolled his eyes and stared up at the stairs, where the steady sound of approaching footsteps could be heard.

It was a very soft death knoll for a kid who would soon be a full ghost.

To be continued...

Watch it... only two chapters to go...

Wow... 900 hits and 4 more reviews. Thanks! Shadow Guardian of the Gate, lunerfox, purpledog100, and Purple Mystic - you guys are keeping me sane. Keep the reviews coming! I love them.

As for purpledog100's perfectly ligit question about why he doesn't try to leave the house, I finally figured out an answer! There is nobody in his 'dream world' except him and the creature (and, oddly, his mother... I wonder why?). He's already figured this out (check previous chapter) and knows it would be pointless to do so. The 'town' would be empty of everybody.

Slameless plug time: I started a new 'short chapters' story - it's called Darkness, and is pretty cool. At least, so say the TEN REVIEWS I got overnight. :-) (sigh) I love writing...

I never own Danny Phantom.

Enjoy.