"I'm so sorry I've done this to you," the girl whispered, seeming to tear up now.
A moment of silent despair was shared between the two.
"…How long had it been?" Danny questioned quietly, breaking the silence.
"Sorry?" she replied, sniffing up the tears.
"I mean, how long were you infected? You know a lot about how this works, so it must've been… a long time…"
"Oh… well… it must have been months. Maybe longer," she answered. "It's not like I'm trapped inside my own body while the demon does the work or anything. At least, not all the time,"
Danny gulped.
"In fact, for the most part, you'll still be yourself. Thus is why you are still speaking to me now. You know, as yourself," she continued.
Oh, yeah. I am, Danny thought. He was under the impression that this process would be gradual, and that - over time - his body would simply surrender to the demon.
"So when does the demon take over, then?" he asked.
"All I can say is, whenever you feel a craving for blood, that's him. Banging on your soul's door. My advice? Don't let him inside. You've got to suppress the temptation, and lock that door. Otherwise, you're gonna be doing some things you'll regret," she said sternly, and matter-of-factly. "It will be hard, and it may hurt you. But you have to remind yourself that the more he drinks, the stronger he gets, and the better he'll be at winning against you. Don't do what I did. I let my guard down. Now look where we are."
Danny nodded with a determined expression. "I understand."
"Good," the girl replied, and stood up. "You want water or food or something? You've been sleeping for a while."
"Uh, yeah, sure. How long've I been out?"
"About… 3 days?"
Danny sat up startlingly.
"3 DAYS?!" he hollered.
"Calm down!" the girl asserted.
"MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO KILL ME DEAD!"
"Oh, stop over-exaggerating!"
"I AM NOT EXAGGERATING!"
"Shhh! Thin walls!" the girl whispered loudly.
"You couldn't even call them?!" Danny argued, seeming to disregard the comment.
"I don't even know your name, how could I?!"
"I don't know yours!"
"It's Alice!"
"Mine's Danny!"
Alice stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Danny ran his fingers back through his ruffled, jet black hair and laid back onto the bed, exhausted from his rapidly building worries. He put both hands over his face.
How can I possibly keep both this AND my ghost powers secret? What if the demon gets too strong and I drain mom and dad? And Jazz? Or Tucker? Or even… Sam?
His heart dropped at the thought.
...What if I vamp-out at school and people see my eyes and fangs? People will think I'm a total freak! Just like if they find out I'm Danny Phantom… Wait… How will these vampire abilities work along with my ghost powers? …Am I human at all anymore?
Now he felt a cold hand over his heart. These are the questions that burned through Danny's mind as Alice opened the door, carrying his glass of water.
"Here ya go." she said, setting it on a bedside table.
"Thanks… So, is there any way to, uh… knock this thing out of me?" Danny asked with a nervous chuckle, attempting to physically conceal the darker, bitter thoughts that were squirming within.
"Well, it's like I said: Only if the demon gets his sights on another person and decides to transfer. Then you'll be your totally human self again,"
Danny raised a smug eyebrow. Alice misinterpreted.
"Oh, please. Don't let him overtake you just because you're in the hopes that he'll decide to do this. It's all chance. If you feel an urge, it'll only do one of two things: Kill someone, or possess them,"
She sat back down in the wooden chair and continued, "Besides, by the time he does decide to move on, you'll feel awful that you made someone else live as this… horrible creature. For who knows how long they'll have to. And you'll never know if he ever even moves on from that person, because they're just an innocent stranger you'll probably never see again,"
Alice was tearing up again now, her voice becoming hollow with sorrow.
"And not only that, but you'll keep having those nightmares… The looks on people's faces… Their screams and cries for the help they'll never receive… But it wasn't your fault! You had no control! You were frozen! Inside your own body, you were paralyzed! You would have helped if you could, but there was nothing you could do - only watch! And learn from your mistakes!"
Her voice was quivering now.
"And the red… That's all you'll ever remember, the crimson red… Everywhere, all the time. Some mornings you'll wake up with that salty, metallic taste on your tongue,"
Danny started to breathe heavily at the thought. His canine teeth began to ache.
No, no, no. My soul is sealed, you bastard.
"…And you'll be disgusted by it, and by what you are. You won't even remember why or what you did the night before, but it happened! Then eventually you'll realize, this wasn't the demon's doing - this was YOU! EVERYONE YOU KILLED, IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT! BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T POWERFUL ENOUGH! THIS WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED TO CHARLIE OR ANYBODY IF YOU COULD'VE JUST BEEN STRONG!"
She was rampaging. Alice suddenly stood up and flipped her chair over violently, just enough to crack the right bar of the backrest. She fell to her knees and flew her hands onto her face. The floodgates had officially been opened. Danny was horrified. Not only by the things she had so vividly depicted, but how to respond to the given situation.
He pulled back the covers, and softly placed his feet onto the blank carpet. He crept his way over to Alice, and lightly embraced his arms around her. They stayed this way for a while, until Alice reduced only to the occasional sniffle. Danny rocked her back and forth comfortingly.
"I forgive you," he breathed. "It's not your fault… You're forgiven."
"Just… promise me that you won't let him in, Danny. That you won't let him win." Alice whispered desperately in reply.
She could feel Danny's chin move up and down .
"Cross my heart…" he vowed, listening to each pulse of her heartbeat as if it were his favorite song. Hearing the stream of blood tumbling and rumbling throughout her veins - as if he were lying next to a raging river, and he was one with its nature.
"And hope to…" Danny could feel himself leaning into her. He felt limp, as if he was under anesthesia. He was in a trance. He was losing himself.
DANNY, SNAP OUT OF IT!
That was just background noise now.
Danny moved in closer. And closer. His lips were just meeting her fragile skin.
And out of nowhere, he felt a great force driven into his chest. Danny jumped and felt his teeth retract immediately. He also noticed a subtle tint of red gradually fading back into his normal colored vision. They were quiet. He knew what had happened. With a brief, guilty, sympathetic look at Alice, who was glaring at him now, both frightened and disgusted, he looked down.
It seemed that Alice had torn off the broken bar of the wooden chair, and stabbed it through his heart.
Oddly, after the silence, Danny's first reaction was to laugh. He couldn't help but allow himself a bitter laugh over the whole ordeal. Alice kept staring at him strangely, along with her "how-could-you" expression.
Once Danny was finished, he joyfully exhaled.
"Ahhh… Feared on earth and wanted in the Ghost Zone? You've lost, Ghost Kid... Lost."
Danny fell to the floor with a smile, which slowly faded.