In the darkness, the truth will prevail.

Darkness
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

Chapter 4: Truths

The dark pressed on her as she ran over the things the ghost had said. The first and foremost was its claim of her imminent death. She buried her face in her hands. Can I believe that? And what could I do about it even if I did?

After a few heartbeats, she pushed the thought into the corner of her mind. There really wasn't anything she could do to escape the room she was in at he moment. Something needed to change before she'd have even a change as escape. Then there was that other thought…

The ghost considered itself to be only half ghost. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cold wall, wincing when the tender spot on her head tapped against an outcrop of stone. If it's only half ghost, it's half something else. She tapped her fingers against her knee. But what?

her fingers stopped tapping. Her mind flew back over their conversation. 'We'll be dead.' 'I'll die.' 'Sacrifice.' Eyes opened wide as her thoughts solidified. "It thinks it's still alive," she hissed.

Ghost Hunting Rule 3: The most dangerous ghosts are the ones who haven't accepted their deaths.

If it doesn't believe it died, then logically it would assume it wasn't a 'real' ghost. Maddie smiled slightly as the thoughts congealed in her mind. Believing it was trapped in some odd half-ghost, half-alive state would allow the ghost to accept its ghostly attributes and would still let it think it was 'alive.'

She gazed at the corner where the ghost hid in the shadows, its actions slowly coming into better focus. It wants to be human… and accepted. That's why it always attempts to play the hero by fighting off those other ghosts. Rubbing the back of her neck, she sighed. That's probably why it has such complex emotions. It still thinks it really possess them.

And yet… She bit her lip as she stared off into the darkness. I've never heard of a ghost with such realistic emotions. It should be well aware of the 'fakeness' of its emotions. This one… it doesn't seem aware that its emotions are false.

Could it really be… She shook her head sharply, shaking the thought out of her mind. No. There is no such thing as a half-human, half-ghost.

Chains rattled in the darkness as the ghost shifted in its sleep. Maddie closed her eyes, troubled. Ghosts don't sleep, a traitorous corner of her mind whispered. Ghosts don't eat.

There is NO such THING, she snapped at herself.

If you were going to run into something strange and paranormal, you're in the right town.

She tramped down on her thoughts, forcing her head into calm silence. Ten breaths in. Ten breaths out. Water dripped around her, echoing oddly in her quiet mind. Logic, Maddie. And logic needs information. Fortunately, I have a ghost that seems to enjoy talking.

Her gaze drifted back to the dark corner where the ghost slept. "Ghost?" she whispered, unsure. There was no response. She pushed herself to her feet and carefully felt her way around the room, one hand grazing lightly along the stone wall.

Kneeling down beside the ghost, she reached out and felt for the ghost's shoulder. The jumpsuit was stiff with dirt and grime, ripped and torn. Her fingers drifted up its arm, running lightly over the cold skin. She stopped, startled at the firm feeling of its skin. Every other ghost she'd run into had a misty quality to them. This one seemed almost stable.

How… Her forehead furrowed. It thinks it's alive. To pull off that belief, of course it would need to be more solid than normal. But how? Her fingers brushed over the ghost's cheek, startled by the chill, her brain forcing this new strangeness into the existing laws and theories about ghosts. It would need a highly efficient storage of active ectoplasm. An overactive stabilizing system that is creating a rigid crystalline structure out of the plasma. Possible, but highly energy inefficient.

She reached for its shoulder, but stopped short. If that's true, than its possible the ghost wouldn't be able to collect ambient energy as efficiently as necessary. She blinked into the darkness in the direction of the ghost. It would… starve… Feeling the weight of some kind of understanding curl through her mind, she gave the ghost a small shake. "Ghost."

The neon eyes flickered open. For a second it stared in her direction, confusion easy to read in its expressive, unfocused gaze. Then it blinked, focusing on her. "What?"

"I need you to talk to me, answer some questions."

She was less than a foot away from the specter's face. The chill its presence gave off sent goose bumps up her arm. "On one condition," the ghost answered, yawning, "you stop calling me 'ghost.' My name is Phantom."

"Alright." Maddie backed away, sitting down a few feet away. "Tell me more about you."

The green eyes trained on her, laughter lighting them up before the weight of exhaustion darkened them again. "My entire life's story? That could take awhile."

Maddie smiled vaguely. You don't have a life, ghost. "You say you're only half-ghost. How did that happen?" She tried to keep her tone light and happy.

The laughter died back out of its eyes. "It's not my favorite story." The chains on its ankles clattered as it moved.

"Please," she said quietly. She wasn't sure anymore how much the ghost could feel of her, but she tried to push the earnestness of her words into her voice. "I'm trying to understand you."

"Perhaps your mind would be better used in trying to figure out how to get out of here." The ghost's voice was soft. The 'I don't want to talk about it' clear by its tones.

Maddie crossed her legs, leaning forwards. Her elbows went on her knees and her hands propped up her chin. "I can't come up with a plan until I get more information about this place. I'm out of ideas for now."

The ghost sighed. "I don't have any more information."

Maddie nodded slowly. "Exactly, gho…Phantom. I'm just trying to understand. But if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

There was a long period of silence. It stretched to the point that Maddie thought the ghost wouldn't say anything. Then, "It was an accident."

Maddie stared at the two glowing eyes, but there was nothing more coming. "An accident?" she prompted.

"I snuck into a place I shouldn't." She could almost hear the shrug. "Something happened, I don't know what. Power surge, maybe. Everything went crazy. It electrocuted me. It… hurt. I thought I was going to die." Its voice drifted off into the quiet realms reserved for painful memories. Its glowing eyes closed.

"Imagine my surprise when I woke up." The eyes glanced up at her. "Of course, I wasn't really the same after that. I figured out I could do ghost-stuff. Walk through walls. Disappear. Fly." Its voice trembled.

Maddie stared at the ghost in amazement. It sounds so human… She curled her toes in her shoes, trying to push that thought out of her head. Ghosts are NOT human. The ghost was quiet, seemingly lost in its memories. Her eyes narrowed. Keep it talking, she thought, find out more information. "You family… do you ever talk to them?"

The eyes sparkled with a weird inner light. When he spoke, the words came out stuttered, like he was struggling with whether or not to say them. "All the time."

"You actually talk to them?" Her eyebrows wrinkled. How could a ghost talk to its parents? Why would its parents accept a ghost?

A beat of silence. "Of course."

"They don't care that you're a ghost?" she wondered.

"They don't know." The ghost shifted and its eyes drifted a little farther away as the ghost leaned back against the wall.

One of Maddie's elbows slipped off of its perch and she jerked before catching herself. "They don't know you're a ghost?" She stared at the ghost in amazement. That can't be…it's lying to me.

The eyes moved quickly from side to side as the ghost shook its head.

She laughed after a moment. "This would be because you're half human, right?"

The two eyes widened and held perfectly still. The raspy sound of its breathing cut off as the ghost froze. "How…" he choked.

Well, that confirms my theory on how it sees itself, anyway. "Logic," she murmured, trying her best to sound comforting. "How can you talk to them if they don't know you're a ghost… half ghost? You sure look like one."

The ghost's eyes relaxed slightly. "I can take my human form if I want to."

Is that possible? What is this ghost, some sort of shape-changer? "Can I see?"

"See?" the ghost snorted. "Did you notice the lack of lights?" It shook its head again. "And no, my human side is too weak. I would probably die I turned human right now." The ghost was silent for a long time. "I've been in here for a week," it finally continued, "I haven't eaten that entire time. The only thing keeping me going is that fact that I'm in ghost mode right now. I don't need as much food."

"But you still need some," Maddie whispered. Her eyes widened as she finally understood the ghost's situation. Even if it's not really half human, it believes it is. Ghosts are governed by their beliefs. This ghost is starving, scared, tired, lost, and dying.

The eyes nodded back at her, tiredly. The ghost whispered, its eyes vanishing, "I'm going to die here, all alone, and my parents will never know what happened to me. I've been in bad situations before, but this one is so hopeless. And I'm just so tired."

She was suddenly struck by the fact that the ghost before her… the perhaps half-human ghost before her… was crying. Could he be? Could he be more than 'just some ghost'? Maddie was silent. Could he really have emotions? A one-in-a-million chance? She wasn't even aware of the fact that the ghost had gone from an 'it' to a 'he' in her mind.

Slowly, Maddie stood up and moved over to where the ghost was sitting. The cold curled through her as she trailed her fingers along the wall. She hesitated a moment before sitting down and putting her arm around him. He shifted slightly so that his head was buried in her shoulder. The strange firmness of his icy body pressed against her did nothing to salve the chaos in her own mind.

She closed her eyes and sat with the ghost-boy for hours, listening to him cry, all the while trying to figure out exactly what this boy was.

To be continued...