Hi everyone! I wanted to get this out since the last chapter was more of an introduction that what the real story is like. I hope ya'll like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom

This Chapter was Beta(ed) by Cordria.

Thank you, Cordria!

Chapter 2

The Moonless Night

Danny Fenton was in his room trying to sleep but, as always,he was having the worst insomnia. He hated that he was expected to sleep at night when he felt the most awake. It was as though his condition made him nocturnal, kind of like a rat. He would much rather sleep during the day but of course, his parents wouldn't let him waste his day sleeping. Didn't they get that he wouldn't be wasting the day because the night was still considered part of that particular day? It didn't matter anywaysbecause he always wound up falling asleep around sixin the morning and didn't wake up till well into the afternoon. He usually woke up around the same time his sister Jazz got home from school and then his mom would start teaching his lessons by the light of a few flickering candles, while his sister did her homework. He'd eat his breakfast or lunch depending on what he felt like; it all tasted the same anyway, and by "tasted the same" he meant tasteless.

After he finished his lessons he'd quickly finish his homework, go right back upstairs to his room, turn his radio on and read a book. Oddly enough, he could see perfectly, the less light there was the easier for him to see. He had figured out a long time ago that his XP wasn't what it should be. Most people with it could function almost normally, they just couldn't go out into direct sunlight. They could even go to school. Danny couldn't handle the simplest of light, he would never be able to go to school and he was almost certain that other people with XP could not see in the dark. Not only could Danny see great in the dark but apparently if the room was pitch black and he didn't have sunglasses covering his eyes, his eyes would appear to glow.

Danny had asked his parents why he was so different and the standard answer he received from his mom was always, "Because you're so special, Danny." That worked for a few years… then when Danny was older and that didn't work anymore his mother gave in and explained.

It happened before she even knew she was pregnant.

"One day," she had started, "while working in the lab on some ectoplasmic chemical, I can't really remember what it was supposed to do, just that it wasn't very stable…" She had sat down on his bed next to where he had been, her face illuminated by the flickering candle he had burning for her benefit.

"Your father had come bounding into the lab at top speed yelling about zombie hotdogs or something; well he startled me so bad I spilled the chemical all down the front of my shirt. I didn't think it had done any harm, most ectoplasmic materials don't react with humans.

"But then when you came along and we learned that you weren't fitting with the normal symptoms , we started running our own tests on your blood. We learned that the chemical had affected you, and we figured it was the extra sensitivity that you shouldn't be experiencing, but we really figured it out when we noticed your eyes glowing in the dark (that had shocked me so bad, the first time I noticed, that I nearly dropped you) the only way that could be possible is by ghostly means."

She had gone on to explain some of the research and tests they had performed. Every single test had always come out the same…there was no cure. Even if they did find a cure for the ectoplasm contamination he would still have XP, but he would at least be able to live somewhat normally.

He was doomed to live in forever darkness and what he really hated was that he didn't even know what he was missing out on. The only connection he had to the outside world was his family and it felt as though he never really saw anyone in his family anymore. If his mom wasn't teaching him she was down in the basement researching his condition or working on the stupid portal that would supposedly lead to a world of ghosts. Yeah right.

Danny had read so many books on ghosts, both fiction and nonfiction, and nothing was ever consistent enough to even come close to believable. It was all a bunch of stupidity. His parents had been working on the stupid portal for about eight years now and obviously if it hasn't worked yet it wasn't going to. He knew he was a bit pessimistic, but he was just being realistic. "Life sucks and then you die"- he heard that phrase somewhere and it stuck. It was all but the biography of his life.

His parents haveasked him if he's depressed and every time he gives them the "are you stupid" look. Although honestly? They probably couldn't see his look with his sunglasses almost always on. But still, what do they expect? He's been trapped inside since before he can remember, the only way he even knows what outside looks like is by pictures around the house and in books. He can't even see it on a computer or TV because the light irritates him-which is not normal even in the worst cases. The only reason the doctors can figure why he's like that is because of the chemicals his mom worked with while still pregnant with him. His life sucks.

Simply put: Yes he was depressed. Very, very depressed.

They tried to put him on antidepressants once. It didn't work out at all. Turns out he's allergic to not one but three of the ingredients in the 'little happy pills'. Go figure.

So then they tried therapy.

It started off simple enough…

About three months ago his mom had called him down to meet someone. He had no idea what was going on because besides doctors he had never met anyone. Well besides his aunt, who really shouldn't count considering she only stayed fiveminutes before claiming claustrophobia from such a closed off house and that she needed to get back to the good old outdoors where she lives. So Danny went down to see who could possibly be in their house and he saw a young lady with red hair and a red dress.

"Danny, I'd like you to meet Penelope Spectra," Maddie told him with a smile looking at him expectantly, but when he didn't do anything she started indicating for him to say something, subtly of course.

"Hi," he said, looking the lady up and down, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Danny, Miss Spectra has come here to talk with you. She helps children who need someone to talk to," his mom told him gently, like he was going to break. Which actually, now that he thinks about it, was pretty close to the truth, but at the time he didn't see it that way.

"What do you mean 'helps children'? And I'm not a child, " he insolently replied.

"Danny," Maddie began only to be interrupted by the red dress lady.

"Maddie don't worry I'll take care of everything you go on ahead and work while Danny and I have a chit chat,"Miss Spectra said with a little shooing motion. Maddie looked for a moment as though she would argue, but never having dealt with something like this before she reluctantly left the room, giving her son some privacy.

'Chit chat'? Who does this lady think she is? Danny thought as his mom left the room and went down into the lab, leaving him alone with what's-her-name …'specter?'…he couldn't remember.

"So, Danny," she said in a too sweet voice, gracefully sitting down on the couch and crossing her long legs, "I hear you're allergic to just about everything, can't even go outside. That must be hard."

"I guess," Danny replied, not even stepping any farther into the room.

"It must be terrible not having any friend to even talk to," She continued with a strange smile on her face.

"Um," Danny said, actually taking a step back.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" sheasked him, leaning into the arm of the couch and resting her chin in her palm.

"Uh," was his reply, unsure of what to really say.

"Oh come now, Danny, you must be dying to share your feelings with someone. Those feelings, all locked up inside." She has to be insane. Danny didn't know what to say, and her emphasizing was just freaking him out. It was like she wanted to rub it in or something. She was actually anything but helpful.

While caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice Spectin-what's-her-face get up and cross the room to be right in front of him. That is, until she touched his shoulder. He jumped back so fast he fell over onto his butt and started scrambling back. Something about that touch left him feeling terrified inside. And to make matters worse his panic attack triggered an asthma attack.

Quickly Danny started backing away from Freaky-Spectal, putting himself right into a corner, literally. His inhaler was still up in his room and no spare in this room. He couldn't call out for help, and he could see the darkness getting steadily darker around his vision. He didn't want to think of what would happen if he blacked out now. The lady was just standing over him smiling and that was making everything worse, just proving she wasn't really there to help him but probably to hurt him. Seeing her face get closer and closer was not helping his situation, he tried to use the walls to push himself up. That didn't work out either and he just plopped right back down to the ground.

The lady was reaching a hand forward, his breathing so erratic he was getting almost no air at all, when he heard the front door open and in walked Jazz.

He should have felt relieved but if anything he felt more terror. What if the lady went to hurt Jazz next? So he pulled together all the strength he had left in his weak body and kicked out at the lady, hitting her right in the knee. Then he blacked out.

He later learned that after he kicked her, she had cried out and Jazz had comerunning in the room to see what was going on. Of course, her first concern was for her brother and she ran to get a spare inhaler and an epi-pen in case the first was useless. After getting him breathing again, she went to go get their parents, but when their mom had asked where Miss Spectra was, Jazz confusedly asked, "Who's Miss. Spectra?"

Their mom had answered, "The nice counselor who came to speak to Danny. What happened?"

Jazz had claimed that when she came in the room, Danny was the only one in there and no Spectra was in sight. She did say that she heard a female cry out in pain but after seeing her brother down for the count she forgot all about that. Of course when their dad heard the story he automatically cried out, "GHOST!"

His mom spent the rest of the night explaining how Spectra couldn't possibly be a ghost.

After that fiasco Danny had fought with his parents to never get another person like Spectra again. They had reluctantly agreed with his request, figuring that they would try harder to speak to him themselves. As a result Danny's social interactions were just about nonexistent, and he was planning on changing that.

It was a few weeks after the red lady when Danny really started thinking about everything. He knew that there was more out there but he didn't really know what to expect. All he knew of the outside world was secondhand. He knew what he read in books and what his family told him. He also knew a few things from his radio. Other than that he had to just wonder. He was tired of wondering.

He had been doing his own research for the past few months, looking through his parent's notes and trying to figure out their logic for some things. He knew they were only trying to keep him alive but there was one inconsistency that he couldn't stop thinking about, and it was probably the true reason for his insomnia tonight.

There was no moon tonight.

His parents had figured that since he wasallergic to the sun and considering his terrible reactions to anything brighter than a candle, he'd probably have even worse reactions to the moon. It didn't matter if it was full or almost gone he would still react badly because of the reflected rays of the sun.

So Danny had done his own research and figured out if there was no moon then he couldn't have a reaction to any reflected rays, but could still have a reaction to his normal allergies. He could prepare himself for that though. He had tried talking to his parents about this suggestion but, of course,they said they weren't willing to risk it. Who knew how his body would react? They didn't just mean the sun, or lack-there-of, but considered that his body had never been exposed to anything outside such as pollen, he would be more at risk to have a severe asthma attack or even go into anaphylactic shock.

Tonight, he was willing to risk it all. He was sick of being trapped inside; he wanted, more than anything, to just go outside for a few minutes. To really see the world and not just imagine it with pictures, he needed this. All week he had been checking the newspaper to see when the moon would be gone and tonight was the night. He just had to get out.

Danny softly got out of bed, throwing on a pair of synthetic material made to look like jeans and a synthetic nylon, black long-sleeved shirt (healways wore black, and not for a fashion statement but because anylighter color would reflect the light on him and hurt) threw on a black sweatshirt (also the fake itchy crap) and his tennis shoes. He grabbed his emergency inhaler, putting it in his big sweatshirt pocket so it would be easy to grab, then grabbed an epi-pen and stuck it in his pocket (he wanted to go out, but even he wasn't stupid enough to not be prepared for anything).

Putting his sunglasses on and throwing his hood up over his head (better safe than sorry), he quietly made his way downstairs. Grabbing his mom's keys off the counter, so he could get back in, he disabled the alarm and walked out the front door.

At first he was confused. He knew he wasn't outside because there was no way this could be outside. It was so dark even he couldn't see anything. Lifting his sunglasses up, he peaked out from under them and that's when he noticed the second door.

Of course, that's why every time his family came in there was never any light, how did he miss that? He should have figured that one out years ago, but he just never gave it much thought.

After opening up the second door he went to put a foot out but hesitated. He didn't even realize he had his eyes closed and his heart was racing. He was scared. Taking a quick puff from his inhaler he stepped outside for the first time, and then slowly cracked one eye open and then the other. It was amazing.

To his left and right there was dark green grass, there was so much of it. Every single house had some. What surprised him the most was that it wasn't flat like tile flooring; it was coming out at him. As he walked closer,he could just make out individual pieces all coming together to make the one green lawn. Not willing to get too much closer,he began looking around more. After studying a tree, the sidewalk, a car, a motorcycle, and a few other things here and there (always staying clear of the street lights), he turned back to go home before it got to be too late, only to realize he had no clue which way home was. And to make matters worse, he forgot to bring a watch and it wasn't like he had a cell phone to check the time. Having no idea of the time, he started to worry about what would happen if the sun started to come up.

Right as he started panicking, turning every which way he tried to figure out what looked familiar to him, but he just couldn't remember. Taking another puff from his inhaler he picked a direction and started walking. He knew what his house looked like, and it definitely stood out, so he should be able to spot it easily enough, right? Well, not if you're going in the wrong direction. After another ten minutes or so of walking he started realizing that he really was in trouble, there were no buildings around where he lived.

The sign in front of the building announced that it was called Casper High, the school his sister attended. Looking around, there was no one in sight, or at least that's what he thought until he saw a dark figure in the parking lot of the school.

Forgetting all about his dilemma, he walked a bit nearer to the figure just making out that it was a girl, around his age, with black hair. She hadn't noticed him yet, completely absorbed with writing in a notebook. Walking even closer he could make out that the girl had a pretty face. Now only ten feet away, he could see the most amazing violet eyes. He couldn't stop staring. She was the first real girl his age he'd ever seen that wasn't his sister or a picture.

The girl, sensing someone there, suddenly looked up at Danny with a small gasp.

Danny, not knowing what to do, took a step back but still couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

The girl, having no problem voicing her opinion, said in a very sarcastic voice, "Can I help you?"

Ignoring the sarcasm, Danny quickly replied, "Yes."

The girl just stared at him as though he sprouted a second head.

"What's with the sunglasses?" she blurted out.

"Um…" Danny couldn't believe he was so tongue-tied. This is his chance to speak to a real girl and he was completely blowing it.

"Okay…" she said studying him more closely. "Nice clothes. I'm a Gothtoo."

"Uh…" Say you're not Goth,Danny mentally scolded, but then another part was saying, Yeah claim your Goth that gives you something in common and you'll become friends. "Yeah."

"Yeah? Moody silent type, huh?" sheasked with a raise of one eyebrow. Danny wondered if he could do that too and vowed to try it when he got home. When he got home!

His dangerous situation making itself known,he was quick to blurt out the question most on his mind. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Huh?" she asked, a little taken aback, she got over it quickly and pulled a spiderlike phone from her pocket and checked the time. "5:43." She told him slipping it back into his pocket.

"Um… you don't happen to know what time the sun comes up…do you?" heasked, feeling like snakes were twisting in his stomach.

"Usually around six-ish give or take a few. Usually I'm not up at this time, wow you just went even paler than you were before. Are you alright?"

"No." Danny gasped out. He knew he shouldn't have left or at least done some Hansel and Gretel thing leaving a trail of breadcrumbs (or something without wheat). Now he was stuck outside, not anywhere near his sunless home and he had, at best, twentyminutes till he died of too much sun exposure. He began hyperventilating. Not caring about the girl any longer, he plopped onto the ground and hugged his knees to his chest as he began to cry.

Next chapter will be in Sam's POV. I hope ya'll like it so far.

Please review and let me know what ya'll think.

~Mia