Chapter Two: Monday, Edward's Lullaby.

At Casper High. (End of school. Bell rings.)

"Hey, Danny," Paulina started, walking over to him. "I'm throwing a graduation party Friday. And because I've only invited you and your friends to about three parties throughout of all of high school, I've decided to invite you guys. It's at the country club, at seven. Here's your invites." she said, handing invites to him, Tucker, and Sam.

"Wow, thanks." said Danny.

"Is this just so you can see Danny Phantom, like that time in freshman year?" asked Sam, taking her invite. She was suspicious, because she knew all the tricks Paulina would do just to see Phantom.

"No, it's for real." she assured them.

"And we can trust you how?" asked Tucker, for he knew the same thing as Sam did. He also took his invite.

"Please, I'm trying to be nice to you guys. Do you want the invites or not?" she asked, agitated that they weren't taking her seriously. Tucker and Sam looked at each other, silenced by her comeback, and nodded.

"We'll see you there." said Danny, smiling.

Outside
The three walked down the sidewalk at their normal speed, talking about the last week of school and graduation. When the time came, they parted ways. Danny walked inside his house, announced he was home, and looked at a present picture of Jazz. Her hair was now short, like Sam's, and in a tight bun with strands of hair framing her face. Her smiling face remained the same and a ring glimmered on her left ring finger. Not an engagement, but a ring to symbolize her love for her family and friends. Of course, she got many questions like, 'Who's the lucky boy?' and 'When is the big day?' She patiently told them that she's not getting married and explained her meaning of it.

"Seems like just yesterday when she stepped out, doesn't it?" asked Maddie, going to greet her son.

"Hi, mom." he said, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"I hope you don't walk out two months after graduating, like she did. How was school?"

"I got invited to a graduation party on Friday."

"Oh, that's nice dear. Are you going to hang out with Tucker and Sam later?" she asked, knowing her son's daily schedule after school.

"Nah, they're both busy. I'm staying home tonight."

"Oh, good. Now me and your father have some company for a change."

"Where is he, anyway? Usually he's in the kitchen or watching TV." inquired Danny.

"In the lab, working on some new invention to catch Danny Phantom. You'd think, four years and he'd give up on him by now." answered Maddie walking away from Danny. Missing her daughter Jazz, she picked up an old family photo and studied her children's smiling faces. Smiling to herself, she put the picture on a new surface, the fridge, whereas it used to lay on the family room table. She turned and went upstairs to finish the laundry. Danny walked to the lab to say 'hello' to his father. Jack, like Maddie said, was working on a new invention to try and catch Danny's alter ego: Danny Phantom. Danny eyed Jack and he chuckled at his father's multiple, and all futile, attempts to catch Amity's ghostly hero. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to his father to greet him with a slap on the back.

"Hey, dad!" he shouted hitting Jack's back.

"Augh!" Jack cried, the tool he was using flying out of his hand as he threw up his arms in surprise. " Oh, Danny, you scared me for a second. Heh, how was your day son?"

"Eh, same-old-same-old. What about yours?"

"I'm working on this thing-a-ma-jig to catch that ridiculous Danny Phantom." Jack Fenton said spitefully.

"Four years, dad. Four years! Don't you think that's enough? You're never going to catch him."

"Says you. Don't you remember last year when I was SO close to catching him?! But that filthy ghost got away. I want to catch him, and tear him apart molecule by molecule!" Jack's voice rose to an excited shout.

"I..uh…wasn't there! I was with Tucker and Sam that day." he muttered. He did remember that day, the day his parents almost discovered his secret.

The mood was set, fog was creeping on the ground, the sky, dark and gray. Danny was weak from the fight with his parents he SO hadn't wanted to be in. Using a Fenton Ghost Shocker, Jack hit Danny in the chest, almost forcing him to transform to stop the pain; but he yanked it off, just in time, and ran off into the smoky scene.

Wiping his forehead nervously, he announced that he would be retreating to his room. Once there, he placed his books on his dresser, along with the invitation. He turned on his computer and checked his ghost files to see if all ghost were secure; they were. Nothing to do now. he thought to himself. He brought up his AIM system to see if Tucker had taken a break from trying to figure out Bill Gate's secret to get on the computer, and if Sam was taking a break from drawing her way into being the best artist she could be. His Buddy list read: DarkGirl, Cybernerd. "They're on." he told himself. Signing in as AstroSpecter, they began to chat.

AstroSpecter: Hey, guys. Taking a break from being 'busy'?

CyberNerd: No. I'm still researching Bill Gates.

DarkGirl: Good Luck with that, Tucker. I ran out of some colors so I just wanted to order them offline while still being able to talk to friends. You?

AstroSpecter: Bored. Nothing to do. Hey, whenever you guys are done with whatever, want to go explore the ghost zone?

CyberNerd: For the millionth time? I thought we covered it all.

AstroSpecter: We did. Maybe we can go for fun. Like sightseeing.

DarkGirl: Nothing to see when the whole place is green and purple.

AstroSpecter: Come on, guys. We're all going away next year to different places, and no time for ghost stuff. One last trip?

DarkGirl: That's right, we are. Danny's right, Tucker, it's our last chance to see the ghost zone, and although we have seen it A MILLION times, I'm up for it. I'll be over soon.

CyberNerd: Eh, why not. If it's the last time we'll see it besides during the summer, then sure.

Ghost Zone
With the three in the Specter Speeder as usual, Danny steered them through their normal route in the ghost zone, only traveling about three miles out from the Fenton Portal.

"Hey," Sam started, an idea occuring. "Let's go farther."

"What?" The two boys asked in unison.

"What do you mean?" asked Tucker.

"We've only ever gone, like, what? Three miles into this place, right?"

"Yeah, so?" responded Danny.

"So, let's go farther. Think about it, what lies beyond what we've explored already?" She asked with smile, wide eyes, and eyebrows pointed down. Moving Tucker out of the way, she placed herself next to Danny. "Now I'm excited!" she confessed. "Let's go."

"Sam, why would you want to risk getting lost in the Ghost Zone forever?" Danny questioned her. Pulling out a wide piece of paper from her backpack, she unrolled it to expose a map of the Ghost Zone, not yet touched with directions of where to go. She placed a dot towards the bottom to symbolize where they were.

"I didn't take map making classes last semester for nothing, you know." she told him. Smiling back at her, the Specter Speeder picked up speed, leading them farther into the Ghost Zone then they had ever traveled before. Tucker was now wide eyed and in awe at the change in colors. The green background faded into purple, while the purple doors switched to green.

"See, it's interesting!" she announced to them, meanwhile marking their every move on the map. Then, without warning, she plastered her ear against the window.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"Do you hear that piano? It's so beautiful!" she said dreamily.

"I don't hear anything." confessed Tucker, also putting his ear to the window.

"What?! But it's so loud and beautiful. It's, like, the only music here." she told them.

"I don't hear it either." said Danny, slightly worried.

"I can't believe you guys don't hear it." She said, sounding disappointed.

"Then why don't you take us there to show us." said Tucker, half joking. Sam took the controls from Danny and let her ears guide them to an old mansion; it looked like the Addams' Family home.

"Sam, where are we?" asked Danny, awed to see this mansion floating so far out into the Ghost Zone.

"A musical heaven." she answered. Stepping out of the speeder after she landed it, she approached the front porch and knocked on the door. She heard the music stop. At the door appeared a young man, around sixteen, with messy blonde bangs hanging in his face that are held up by a cowlick and widow's peak, and a long braid trailing down his back. He wore a fitted black vest with a white shirt underneath. Baggy sleeves caressed his arms; sections of it held by tight straps, leaving some sections more baggy than others. One strap each were underneath the shoulders and one at the elbow. He had normal fitting black pants and casual dress shoes. His eyes were golden like the sun, and his skin was pale.

Edward.

"Can I help you?" he asked her.

"Were you playing that beautiful music?" she asked-longing to hear it again.