WoM- Uurg… I really, REALLY hate my brothers right now… 'grumbles darkly' We've been fighting all day… Anywho, sorry I couldn't get the thanks to up on SoS yesterday. My computer was threatening to crash every time I tried to bring up a second window, and since I was running out of time I figured you guys would rather have a chapter with no Thanks to then no chapter at all.
Sam: (To Danny) Danny open up!
Danny: Okay, open up... when I was five, I REALLY wanted a puppy, but my parents said-!
Poisonous
I groaned slightly when a jolt woke me up, my head pounding painfully and my eyes burning from the light that it took me a good five minutes to realize was coming form passing cars.
Blinking, I waited for my vision to clear and frowned at the back of Mr. Marchez's head when I saw him sitting in front of me, finally figuring out that I was in the backseat of his beat-up BMW, which he wouldn't give up not matter how much Liz begged and pleaded him to 'Just let it die already!'
"What do you mean no?" Mr. Marchez snarled into the phone he was holding against his ear, "The kid could be dying, you arrogant ass! And you want me to take him back to his dorm and pretend nothing happened? He needs to get to the damn hospital!"
I heard the soft sounds of a voice on the other line, not really able to make out any words they were saying before Mr. Marchez growled angrily, his grip on the phone getting tighter.
"Fine! But if Dan dies it's over your head, Masters, not mine!"
And without another word to the man he was talking to, Mr. Marchez hung up his cell phone and threw it into the passenger seat, cursing softly and running a hand through his hair as he waited anxiously at a red light.
"Mr. Marchez?" I called out in a bleary tone. My teacher turned around, his scowl softening.
"Hey, kid," He said, "How are you holding up?"
"Been better," I answered honestly. I'd been worse too, though. This time around it wasn't even as bad as Skulker's, which made me wonder if it was lethal like Skulker's had been.
'Then again, it did come from Plasmius,' I reminded myself dryly. Plasmius had too many plans for me to want me dead…
Yet.
"I don't know what kind of poison you've got in ya, so I can't help ya get it out on my own," Mr. Marchez admitted with a sigh. "And I can't bring you into a hospital without Vlad's permission, which he won't give."
'Big surprise there…' I thought dryly.
"Don't worry, kid, I'll get you some help," Mr. Marchez promised, "Vlad won't let me bring you to the hospital, but if we pretend I just found you on the ground or something-"
"NO!" Mr. Marchez gave me a strange look when I yelled out, trying to get up and only making it a little ways before I fell back down. "I'm fine, really Mr. Marchez,"
"You're not fine kid," Mr. Marchez snapped, glaring at me to tell me he wasn't gonna put up with such a stupid pass at getting out of seeing the doctor. "And you're not gonna be fine until you get to a hospital. What's the big deal, anyways? I thought your pal Tucker was the hospital phobic, not you."
"Huh?" I said, staring blankly at the art teacher.
"Ain't Tucker the one scared of hospitals?" Mr. Marchez asked with a sigh. Under his breath, he added, "And is it too much to ask a kid to put down a video game controller and pick up a book nowadays?"
"I'm not scared," I said defensively, (Couldn't say anything about the second one, though, and Mr. Marchez knew it.) "It's just that they can't help me anyways."
"Why not?" Mr. Marchez asked, giving me a piercing look.
'Because I'm a ghost hybrid who's been filled up with a spectral-based poison by my ghost hunter friend who doesn't know I'm only half ghost and wants to kill my ghost half, and if I go to the hospital I may be exposed and Vlad would probably kill anyone who knew before it got to the public,'
"It's complicated, okay?" I sighed, closing my eyes. I wanted to tell Mr. Marchez, but the less people knew the better. Especially when it came to me being friends with Valerie, since it was hard for me to explain that even to myself.
"So?" Mr. Marchez scowled at me, "I not an idiot, kid. I think I can handle it." I didn't say anything to that, and Mr. Marchez sighed heavily.
"Fine," He said, "If you don't want to go to the hospital, where should I take you for some help?"
"Jazz," I answered without hesitation. "Jazz would now how to help me."
"I thought she was studying to be a psychologist, not a Doctor," Mr. Marchez snorted, raising an eyebrow at me skeptically.
"She can help," I told him firmly. A little reluctantly, I added, "She's… ah… ell, she's helped me with stuff like this before." Mr. Marchez's eyes narrowed at me.
"Are you telling me," He asked me, his tone as close to angry as I'd ever heard it, "That you make a habit out of getting yourself poisoned?"
"Not on purpose…" I muttered, shifting around and wincing when black spots blurred my vision. After they faded, I turned back to Mr. Marchez, "Anyways, she'll know what to do, Mr. Marchez, trust me." Mr. Marchez studied me for a minute before sighing heavily.
"I'm taking you back to Casper first," he said firmly, "Jazz won't get in trouble with a flawless record like hers, but you're gonna get stopped trying to get on Wendy grounds after hours looking like this."
"Fine," I sighed, closing my eyes to rest.
"Try and stay awake," Mr. Marchez ordered, before adding under his breath, "Still can't believe that narcissus of a businessman wasn't even a little concerned… and he calls himself Dan's guardian… Hmph!"
It was only as we pulled up to the school and Mr. Marchez helped me out of the car that I started to wonder why Vlad wasn't making a bigger deal about this. I mean, yeah he provided Valerie with the poison so he probably knew how dangerous it was to me, but he was working hard to keep up the image of a 'doting surrogate father,' and denying a kid the right to go to the hospital didn't exactly strike me at doting…
'Unless he wanted to get me somewhere alone and defenseless.' I realized, a knot twisting in my stomach. It wouldn't be the first time Vlad pulled something like that, after all, even though I had no idea why he'd try something it now, when Thanksgiving break started at the end of the week and he'd be able to get me alone in his castle.
'But I won't be alone,' I reminded myself as Mr. Marchez opened his classroom door, swearing softly to himself and fumbling with the keys. 'Liz and Sam are gonna be there, too. Not to mention Jazz…'
Sam. I paled when I thought of my roommate, alone up in the room where Vlad thought I'd be in now that I was sick…
"Mr. Marchez," I said, closing my eyes and breathing deep, cringing as my lungs started to burn. That didn't happen last time… "Can you call Sam for me and tell him to come down here?"
"Why?" Mr. Marchez asked, sounding confused as he helped me over to something I laid down on. I was too out of it to see what it was, but then a bed of nails would've been heaven to me as bad as I felt right now…
"I don't want him to be alone," I told my art teacher, my breathing getting more even as the world faded more and more. He didn't need to know the real reason, to know that Sam's life could be in danger now because of me. "Please?"
"Fine, fine," Mr. Marchez sighed, "What's your sister's number? I don't have it on file… Danny? Danny, can you hear me…? Danny!"
"Sam knows," I answered, my voice slurring, "Sam can call her…" That was the last thing I managed to say before I fell asleep again, knowing there was nothing else I could do for my friend.
"She was at it again, huh? Now it makes sence…"
"Huh?"
"Never mind,"
'When did Jazz get here?' I wondered blearily as I started to wake up. 'How long have I been out?' Then, out of nowhere, I added, 'And why the heck do my roommate and girlfriend sound alike?'
"Same poison, but a different potency…" I heard Jazz mutter to herself, her voice louder then the others since she was basically right by my ear, poking at the nasty gash Valerie had given me. "probably only meant to knock him out or something instead of killing him…"
'Oh, well that's nice to know…' I thought dryly, groaning as I opened my eyes. I blinked again as the bright light blinded me, and I could only barely make out a blurry red blob over me.
"Jazz?" I called out, wanting to make sure my sister was really there.
"Hang on, Danny," Jazz said soothingly, squeezing my arm to reassure me it was her, "I just need to get the poison out, it won't take long." My vision cleared enough for me to see Jazz turning to talk to someone I couldn't see, "Can you two clear the room for a while? I'm gonna need some space,"
"But I-!"
"Let's go, kid," Mr. Marchez cut Sam off, I heard them leave the room, closing the door behind them and sighed.
"It's not that bad, Jazz," I told my sister, lifting my good arm to block the light. "I mean, no one even thinks this half ghost stuff is possible, why would a couple accidents from one of the clumsiest kids in school make anybody think any different?"
"Because these aren't just accidents, Danny!" Jazz hissed, glancing over that the door nervously. "Danny, Mr. Marchez knows this had something to do with you… well, Phantom you … and Valerie! If people keep seeing you getting involved in accidents with ghosts and start noticing-!"
"They won't, Jazz!" I sighed irritably, "I mean, Sam's been in my room and all she thinks is that I'm a ghost hunter or something!" There was a long pause after this, and I turned and saw Jazz giving me a weird look.
"Sam was in your room," She said, her tone even and strained. "GIRL Sam?"
"Yeah, so?" I said. When Jazz's lips thinned, I finally realized how that sounded to my sister, "NO! It wasn't like THAT, Jazz! Jeeze!" I made a face, horrified that my sister would even THINK I was low enough to take a girl to my room if she didn't know what and who I was. "I wasn't even there when she came! She said Sam let her in." Jazz looked confused for a second before she giggled slightly for some reason.
"Oh," She said, still giggling, "I get it… pretty clever…"
"Huh?" I said, raising an eyebrow at my sister.
"Nothing…" Jazz said, still giggling. "She was in there before you cleaned, too… guess that means she saw that pair of underwear you had lying on the floor…" I felt my face turn bright red at the reminder of that, Sam's boxer comment from earlier coming back to me.
'Kill me now…' I moaned in my head. 'Wait…'
"How did you know that?" I asked, frowning at my sister. I'd told her I had cleaned, yeah, but I never mentioned anything about when Sam had been in my room… My eyes narrowed when Jazz paled a little at the question.
"Uhh… Lucky guess?" Jazz answered with a sheepish grin. I raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.
'BLAM!' Jazz and I both jumped at the all too familiar noise, and our eyes went wide at the same time.
"Was that an ecto-gun?" I asked, alert. I tried to sit up, but a stabbing pain short through me and I cringed. Jazz put a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back into the table I was lying on.
"Stay here," She ordered me softly, "I'll be right back, okay?"
"Jazz-!" I started. But it was too late, Jazz was already heading to the door. I sighed as she left the room to head out into the hall, hating myself right then for how helpless I felt.
"Is everything alright?" I heard Jazz ask Sam and Mr. Marchez, "I thought I heard…" She trailed off into a loud, horrified gasp, followed by the last name I wanted to hear someone I care about say when I couldn't be there to keep them safe, "PLASMIUS?"
'He's here already?' I thought, a sick feeling in my stomach. I tried to get up again, but ended up falling back with a cry of pain. 'Damn it!' I thought, furious, 'Vlad's gonna attack them, and all I can do is sit here and listen!'
"What are you doing here, Plasmius?" I heard Jazz asked coldly, her tone suspicious as the softly whirling gears of a charging ecto-gun barely reached me.
'Who brought the ecto-gun, anyways?' I wondered, frowning. It couldn't have been Mr. Marchez, where would he get his hands on something like that? And Sam…
…Wait… Sam was my roommate… meaning he could get into my- aw, CRUD!
'Is a little privacy really too much to ask for?' I thought angrily. You didn't see me going through Sam's stuff, after all…
"Why do YOU think I'm here, Jasmine?" I heard Vlad ask my sister. I scowled, not liking his tone at all. Creep…
"It's too late," Jazz snapped back at him, "He's already recovering, and I'm not going to let you take him."
"You think you can stop me, my dear?" Plasmius asked smugly, making my fist clench tightly. I hated when he talked to me in that tone, like he thought whatever I was saying was so stupid, it was funny.
"Do we really need a repeat of Last Christmas, Plasmius?" Jazz Countered. I had to snicker at that when Vlad didn't reply right away.
'Nice,' I thought gleefully. I felt a twinge of pride for Jazz right then, knowing that she was the only person on earth who could scare Vlad with nothing but a pair of cooking thongs and a can of Cool Whip.
"Fine, fine," I heard Vlad say with a gusty sigh, "I suppose I'll be on my way… for now." I frowned at that, not liking the sound of it at all. Vlad was definitely planning something if he gave up so easily, even if I had no idea what. And even though I knew he was up to something, I also knew he knew I knew, so that had to mean that he knew it'd be hard for me to find out.
'…I'll work that thought out once I'm better,' I promised myself, letting it go for now. Jazz apparently thought the same thing I did, though.
"Okay, that was too easy…" She sighed heavily.
"What was that about?" I heard Sam asked, "Who was he?" I cringed, having a pretty good idea my roommate was asking about my archenemy.
"Nothing," Jazz answered at once, "And no one. Just… Never mind, Sam, I've gotta get back and help Danny, okay?"
"But-!" Sam never finished his question, and Jazz re-entered the room, closing the door behind her. My thoughts must have shown on my face since my sister bit her lip before she approached me.
"It's probably nothing," She tried to tell me, running her hand through my hair, "I mean, he left, right?"
"You don't believe that any more then I do, Jazz," I said harshly, glaring at her. My sister's gaze dropped to the floor before she sighed.
"Look, there's nothing you can do right now except make sure you get better," Jazz told me firmly. "Worry about Vlad and all that other stuff after you're feeling kay, got it, Danny?"
"I can't help it, Jazz," I sighed in frustration, "Do you have any idea what it was like to sit here and listen to that, knowing that he could kill you guys in a second and you wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him?" Jazz frowned at that.
"I don't think you're giving us enough credit, Danny," She told me with a pointed look, "Just because you have the powers doesn't mean we can't look after ourselves, you know. I'm trained in just as many weapons as you are, little brother." I gave my sister a skeptical look at that, "…Well, almost as many, and you're not too too much better then me, considering you use them practically on a daily basis and I only use them when necessary!" I laughed a little at that before my smile faded away.
"But that's just it, Jazz," I said, "I'm the one with the powers. I mean, yeah you guys can fend them off, but not forever. Guns break, ammo runs out…"
"What about you?" Jazz asked with a glare, "You're not infallible, you know, and at this rate you're gonna get yourself killed!"
"I'm fine, Jazz," I sighed, "I know my limits… and it doesn't take more then a few nights rest for me to be back on my feet after I get hurt."
"Is that really what you think you are now, Danny?" Jazz asked softly, giving me a wide eyed look, "Some rechargeable weapon?" I knew I should deny it, if only to comfort Jazz, but still…
"I don't know," I sighed, glancing away. "But sometimes it feels like that…"
'How come I can't do anything that makes me happy anymore?' I wondered, 'I've lost my parents, my friends and family are always in danger… I'm not even supposed to let myself like a girl now, because of these stupid powers. Why can't things just go right for me every once in a while…?'
"Come on, Danny, you did fine," Sam said as he grinned down at me. I pressed myself further into my seat to hide from everyone who might be looking for me after I made such an idiot of myself.
"That's what I'm afraid of…" I shot back, running my hand through my hair.
Who knew what kinds of dark, evil tortures Jazz and Liz would put me through if they had complete control over me for five hours a day, four days a week? Sam didn't seem too worried about this, though, since he just laughed and shook his head.
It had been four days since the poison thing, and Mr. Marchez was still looking at me like he expected me to just randomly drop dead on him at any given second. Jazz wasn't much better now, calling me on my cell phone every half hour when I was out hunting and going paranoid if I didn't pick up on the second ring.
I was better physically, but mentally I was still a train wreck, mostly from waiting around for Vlad to make his next move, since I wasn't figuring it out on my own. It kinda frustrated me that I'd have to resort to that, but what other choice did I have?
"I just wish we'd seen the other auditions…" Sam commented casually, "It would've been better to know what you were up against first…" I blinked at that, confused until I remembered we were still at the try outs for the play.
'Maybe Sam's right about my attention span…' I thought dryly. Before I could say anything, though, my sister took center stage.
"Okay everyone, first off, I'd like to thank you for auditioning today for our play," She announced to the crowd, "It's my job to tell you who'd going to be who now, so please keep quiet until we're done." There was a slight pause before Jazz started up again, "Alright then, First off, for the part of Madame Giry, we have Valerie Grey…"
'Val's here, huh?' I thought, glancing over at the blushing ghost hunter. I was surprised Jazz let her in after the poison thing, but then she probably didn't have much of a choice. I didn't mind, since Val didn't technically know it was me she was trying to kill (As usual) so how could I be low enough to hold it against her?
"Did Valerie say anything to you about trying out?" Sam asked me, raising his eyebrow.
"No," I said honestly, shrugging, "Liz probably conned her into it, though…" She didn't know about the ghost hunter thing, after all…
"Makes sense…" Sam said, bemused,
For the rest of the list Sam and I sat quietly and waited to see if my name was going to be called off when finally…
"Okay, now for the three main characters!" I rolled my eyes when I saw Jazz grin, clearly enjoying the drama of the moment. "First off, for Raoul, we have Nate Dobson," I was a little surprised that Nate tried out, glancing over at the boy as he celebrated with his friends.
'I wonder why he tried out…?' I thought curiously as he walked over to Liz and said something I couldn't hear. Liz glared at him before smacking him across the back of the head with her clipboard. '…On second thought, I really don't wanna know…'
"And for Phantom," Jazz continued, smirking at me, "by unanimous vote, my little brother Danny," I felt my face burn as all the attention turned to me again.
"Kill me now…" I begged Sam. My roomie just laughed in response.
"And finally, For Christine we have Megan Tyranos!" Jazz finished. Megan? Who was Megan…?
"Wow Danny!" A familiar voice said as the girl who'd helped me after the Ember thing hugged me from behind, "How cool is it that we're in the play together!"
'Oh. THAT Megan…'
"Uhh…" I said, unsure of what to say. Megan didn't seem to mind though. Instead, she just grinned widely.
"Say…" She said innocently, "…don't Phantom and Christine have a big kissing scene near the end of the play?"
"…They do?" I said, looking over to Sam to see if he knew. I was surprised to see him glaring murder at Megan. Megan either didn't notice or care, though, since she just laughed.
"Yep!" She said happily, "We're probably gonna have to work on it to get it to look natural, though." I blushed slightly at that, deciding that now was a good time to tell Megan I already had a girlfriend.
But I never got the chance.
"Actually," Sam snapped, "Danny has more important things to do right now, Megan. You're gonna have to rescheduled," Before I could say anything, Sam was pushing me out the door, fury clear on this face, which didn't help my confusion at all.
'What the heck was that about…?'
WoM- 'giggling,' Well, I hope the extra dialogue at the end soothed some sore tempers. I gotta say, I'd love to see the look on Danny's face when it was going on. I just love it when our ghost boy gets confused!
PS: As far as the Murphy crack from last chaptergoes, som people didn't get that, so I'm pasting this;
MURPHY'S LAWS (Named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy)
- If anything can go wrong, it will
- If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong
- If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway
- If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop
- Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse
- If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something
- Nature always sides with the hidden flaw
-Mother nature is a bitch.
Thanks to;
chaotic pink chocobo, DarkDragonQueen, Me The Anon One, epobbp, KatieKumquat, RoseGirl from planet Pluto, fish n chips n vinegar, Anomaly25, YumiwithUlrichalways, EvilPrincessMelphis, midnightgoth9, memoirs of a faded memory, The Sole Survivor, Anime master Inu, Zuzanny, DiscordianSamba, Lunaqua, GhostAnn, Golden Lunar Eclipse, Moss Royal, SummersSixEcho, crazyvi, Gmasangel, KelcitaoOo, Samantha-Girl Scout, The Great Susinko, conan98002, Fade, Snea, Seeker Carter, Light Dragon SunsSong, divinedragon7, Petitio Principii, Spiffy McFloogan, xXcrazyidiotXx, animeobsessed3191, WhiteMoonDragon, Tazzel Quickbow, kpandron, Hakkyou Kuusou, Kyuugi, A reader, Lumias, FlamesofAnubis
Next update; March 15th
See you then!