Velya: *pokes Fang* Oops. *looks up* Oh, uh, hi? Sorry people, Fang is still unconsious. I got a bit overenthusiastic. Turns out that if you tie someone upside down in a tree they eventually pass out. But look! A peace offering! Don't kill us!
Jazz
I just stand here, with my hand on the button that released my little brother into the arms of his worst enemy. You're in shock; a small corner of my brain observes, but I can't move. The shudders that start at the base of my neck won't let me. The floor isn't stable, I would fall over. The normally dim lab is still lit by the harsh fluorescent lights that my parents turned on so that they could see clearly to experiment on Danny. A silverish mist forms over the spilt ectoplasm as the energy begins to separate from the matter.
Father is still slumped against the wall where Vlad threw him. The shadow of concern leads me over to where he lay. Shock makes everything seem muffled and not-there the same analytical corner of my mind observed again. I am very careful not to step in any of the ectoplasm that has dripped onto the floor of the lab, while at the same time I studiously ignore it. I bend over and take my father's pulse, the small bit of paper in my fist crinkling further as I do so. It's there, slow perhaps but steady.
As soon as I confirm that Vlad hadn't killed my father a sharp pressure starts to build just below my heart. Vague panic sets in. If I lose it down here I won't be in any shape to help anyone. Turning quickly I walk slowly and calmly out of the lab, not even turning to look at the sound of glass shattering as my mother kicks a table in the sudden struggle to get out of her bonds.
When did they become mother and father instead of Mom and Dad? The moment they decided to tear Danny apart that cynical little voice replied. The heavily dented and bloodied door is the last obstacle on my way out of the lab. My hands clench harder around the note my parents left while blood drips down my fists from my split knuckles. The tremors get worse the farther up the stairs I go.
The utter normality of the living room is surreal, untouched by the horror that resides in the lab. The pressure continues to build, a confused swirl of panic, rage, and denial. I'm not quite sure how I made it across the living room, but the phone is in my hand. After two years of ghost fighting and assorted situations that involved calling Sam and Tucker in the middle of the night I have their phone numbers practically memorized. I'm faintly surprised that I hit the numbers in the right order on the first try considering how badly the rest of me is shaking.
The phone only rings twice before Sam picks up on the other end. "Hello?"
"They got him Sam, they got him and they…" My voice comes out faint and wondering, breaking on the last word.
"Who got him? WHAT HAPPENED Jazz!" Somehow the steel and focused rage in her tone breaks through to me. Whatever happens now I don't have to be alone for this.
"Our parents caught him, I don't know how, but they did, and they…" My throat closes; I'm unable to even mention what happened. Shocked and enraged silence from the other end, I don't need to say what happened, what I can't say says enough.
"I'll grab Tucker and get over there. There had better be a good explanation for this." The last words were spoken in a low growl that sent shivers down my spine and somehow reminded me of Vlad's murderous expression as he came down the stairs. The dial tone indicates that she had hung up. I don't know what will happen when she gets here, what we'll do now that Vlad has Danny. What will Amity Park do without him? What will Tuck, Sam, and I do without him? At this point I'm not even sure if he's alive. I didn't know that humans were capable of making the sound that emerges from my throat. It sounds as if some tortured animal were trying to scream and roar at the same time.
Fang: *groans* Ow, I'm going to get her for that. Sorry people for the wait, between real life and a psychotic muse I had trouble writing, but you know what would make the process easier? Reveiws! Lots and lots of Reveiws! Or not, it's your choice, but they make me and my insane splinter personalities happy.