Disclaimer: Regrettably, I do not own Danny Phantom.

Anathema's Abode

Chapter 2

Discoveries

Hidden on the rooftops above Sam, her observer's unnaturally coloured green eyes narrowed in ire, the only feature of his visage visible in the sparse moonlight. The Fright Knight's subordinates were in his haunt, where they had no right to be. It had previously been agreed that he would not impede the movements of Pariah's empire if they kept out his way, a pact that Pariah Dark had obviously forgotten. He usually turned a blind eye to insignificant trespasses into his small section of Amity Park, but never before had there been an such a blatant intrusion into his territory on Pariah's minion's part.

Witnessing girls' loyalty to one another had made a refreshing change to the typical grim outlook of the town, and its depressed, submissive citizens. Most civilians, unaware of the secret resistance battling their oppressors to regain control of Amity Park, had long since given up hope after generations of futile effort on their part.

He didn't care much for the ridiculous concept of honour, but taking on a single human girl five on one was ridiculous odds. He raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the scene below him, silently impressed. A single human girl seemed to be giving the Fright Knight's henchmen a fair amount of difficulty subduing her. Pariah's right hand man was apparently going to great lengths to secure the capture of ghost hunters. Was the ghost king actually being threatened by the existence of the brotherhood?

He shook his head, appalled by his own musings. The ghost king could not be felled by mere humans. It was most likely that Pariah Dark had something big planned for the total conquest of Amity Park, and needed to subdue the brotherhood once and for all before launching his final assault on the town.

-

"Get away from me," Sam growled, the barrel of her ecto blaster smoking. Although the ghost hunter's chances of survival were slim, she refused to go down without a fight.

She made no sound as the weapon was roughly torn from her grip, refusing to scream even as a pair of the ghosts slammed her against the alleyway wall, eliciting a sharp pain at the base of her skull. The ghost hunter grimaced. She was ready to bet that her skull had just been fractured.

"What do we have here?" He grabbed Sam roughly by the hair, exposing her features to the eerie glow of the moonlight. "A pretty human is such a rarity."

"I reckon she could give that Arabian wench a run for her money," his accomplice chuckled.

Sam's eyes narrowed, colour flooding to her cheeks in her outrage. Even moments before death, she refused to be regarded in such a fashion by monsters.

Summoning the last vestiges of her strength, she struck him hard in the chest, wincing as the backlash of her kick caused her to hit the wall in for the second time in minutes. Sam hissed sharply from the sudden explosion of pain as a second blow to the back of her already fractured skull made her vision swim.

"You little-" Their leader growled, thrusting his weapon to the ground as he brandished the razor edges of his bare fingers.

Suddenly, Sam was unbearably aware of her vulnerability, with the pale expanse of her neck bared to the spectre. It would be so simple for him to end her life. Just one single incision at her jugular and it would all be over. He was going to kill her, and she would be powerless to stop it.

It was then that Sam accepted her fate. She was going to die.

Was that the last opportunity she would ever be given to injure the spectres as they had hurt her people? She hadn't even managed to knock him down. Sam felt small, pathetic, insignificant.

It was aggravating that death would claim her before she had made a significant contribution to the brotherhood. The majority of her time in the syndicate had been spent training under Maddie. She, Valerie and Tucker had barely been on the field for a year, since her seventeenth birthday.

Because of how long it took to train apprentices, Maddie had to be careful to choose those with the greatest potential. Sam felt ashamed that Maddie had wasted valuable years of her life training her. At least she was a mistake that would be short lived.

But one thing was clear in her mind. If she died tonight, she sure as hell wasn't becoming one of them.

She hissed as the sharp edge of his claws raked across her already tender abdomen, slicing three parallel lacerations deep into her flesh. Sam blinked back tears as she tried to ignore the blinding pain searing from her stomach, or the gushing of hot blood from the incisions.

Sam averted her gaze, fighting the nausea from the sight of her own stomach being torn open. If she detached herself sufficiently from reality, she could pretend that none of this was actually happening, that the crippling pain wasn't real.

She had yet to succeed.

-

Slender white eyebrows lowered to frame luminescent green eyes, expressing his disgust at the scene before him.

It was a pity that such a spirited human girl would fall victim to the Fright Knight's minions so early in her young life. Someone like her would certainly prove a thorn in the empire's side later in her life. She would have been an amusing subject for him to keep his eye on.

He shook his head as a ridiculous idea crossed his mind. Perhaps he should scare away her attackers. His mere presence would be sufficient to shock her assailants into abandoning their assault.

After all, he was the enigmatic Phantom, an urban legend even most paranormal beings believed to be nothing more than propaganda on the ghost king's part. Most of his kin would not understand why a ghost who was said to be the Fright Knight's equal in greatness would choose solitude over glory at Pariah Dark's side.

He growled, annoyed at his own empathy towards the girl. He wanted nothing to do with Pariah's senseless war. Was it too much to ask that he was kept out of it? If he were to defend the ghost hunter, his actions could be interpreted by Pariah as an act of rebellion. If not for his strength, and his habit of keeping out of the empire's way, the ghost king would have long since commanded the Fright Knight to return to slay him.

His last engagement with the midian had ended in a bloody draw five years ago. Although a short time for one who lived forever, but he wasn't about to reveal his true age to empire. If his kin were made aware of his unusual ...condition, it seemed unlikely that he would live past sunrise, even though his abilities advanced faster than any other ghosts that he had ever encountered. Except perhaps Pariah. But he had no intention of ever facing the ghost king in battle, especially when he was rumoured to make use of magical artifacts to magnify his powers.

He would bide his time, and merely observe how the scene before him played out. If he was lucky, it could turn out that the girl wouldn't require his help after all.

Although...

He supposed his intervention could be seen as an effort to defend his territory, that rescuing the girl had nothing to do with his assault. Besides, the Fright Knight was more than clear on the matter that Phantom wanted as little to do with the war as possible, that he was on no one's side but his own. His standing with Pariah's empire were unlikely to turn ugly over the small matter of a human girl. Perhaps it was time that he stopped tolerating the Pariah's obvious disregard for their pact, despite the fact that he had long since declared neutrality in the war.

Still, he would rather not make his presence known. He had survived the detection of the brotherhood so far, a situation that he was not eager to rectify. He had no incentive to save the girl. It was sheer foolishness to rescue a ghost hunter who would betray him at the first opportunity she was given.

He owed nothing to either sides, and they owed nothing to him. There was no reason for him to act on this ridiculous whim.

-

"Have you had enough?" The ghost taunted gleefully, cupping Sam's chin in order to force her to view the sight of her own blood caked on his hands.

"You're disgusting," she spat, determination renewing.

Her perpetrator scowled, raising a hand to wipe the flecks of spit coupled with blood off his face.

"Fiery, isn't she?" Another chuckled darkly, toying with his weapon for emphasis.

"Too fiery," their leader scowled. "At any rate, I have my doubts about bringing her to the Fright Knight. One as young as she is will hardly be informed of the brotherhood's plans."

"Our master will not be pleased." The Fright Knight's subordinate pursed his lips into a grim line. "We have failed to extract information from the rebels for nearly a month."

Sam glared at her attackers, pretending not to notice the steady stream of warm blood trickling down the side of her leg from the wound, unsure if she should feel insulted, or relieved by the fact that the spectres were so convinced that she would share no affiliation with Maddie just because of her youth.

"Goodbye, little human," the ghost hissed, with a grin on his features that Sam could not classify as anything other than perverse.

Lavender eyes squeezed shut with dread as she whispered an apology to the brotherhood for her failures, waiting for the blow that never came.

'What the-'

Sam started as she heard her captor's unexpected scream of anguish. The ghost hunter winced as she was roughly thrown to the ground, as the spectre abruptly relinquished his iron grip around her throat.

Looking up, the ghost hunter was astonished to notice a tall, dark clad figure with shocking white hair standing over her, seemingly defending her prone form.

"What are you doing in my territory?" The stranger snarled, as blinding green ectoplasmic energy began charging at his fingertips. "Has Pariah forgotten the terms of our truce?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The Fright Knight's lieutenant sneered, nursing his injured side. "You are in no position to question my authority."

The newcomer's eyes flared vivid green as emerald flames erupted around them, illuminating the alleyway. "Even your master would think twice before crossing me, an example I suggest you follow. Take your leave now, and you will not be harmed."

"We have you outnumbered five to one," the skeletal ghost hissed. "It is you who should be wary, traitor."

The white haired ghost's lips pursed into a grim line. "You will come to regret that decision."

Sam shielded her eyes as the youthful ghost disappeared in a flash of blinding white light, reappearing abruptly in front of one of Sam's assailants as he lunged towards the spectre, crushing its skull under his grip as they slammed into the ground.

The remaining ghosts shifted uncomfortably, unsettled by the sickening crunch that seemed to reverberate in the back street. The traitor stood amongst his victim's rapidly disintegrating remains, his entire silhouette seemingly engulfed by ghastly spectral energy.

The ghost hunter's eyes widened, her mind reeling in light of the new revelation as she observed the gory feud unfolding before her. It had been previously unknown to the brotherhood that the ghosts suffered disputes among themselves.

The skeletal ghost hadn't even had time to react. Whichever clan the newcomer belonged to, the ghost hunter was prepared to bet that they would pose a severe threat to Pariah's empire, if even a dozen of the white haired ghost's kin were half as strong as he was.

Her assailants, as though suddenly coming to their senses, raised their weapons and began to retaliate, but it was plain to Sam that they were severely outmatched. It seemed impossible that a supernatural being this powerful had evaded the detection of the brotherhood for so long. With the abilities that he had displayed, Sam was willing to bet that the ghost before her, despite the youthful appearance he had chosen to adopt, was at least half a millennium old.

Sam paused, overwhelming sadness enveloping her as she realised that the brotherhood would never receive the information that she had to offer. There was no way that she was going to make it out of this alleyway alive.

Was she to be saved by this newcomer, only to become victim to an even grimmer fate at his hands? Her breath quickened, as she eyed her ecto blaster, abandoned in the far corner of the alleyway. If it turned out that her savior intended to kill her himself, she refused to go down without a fight.

Sam struggled to rise, cursing the crippling pain in her abdomen inhibiting any sudden movements on her part. Her vision swam from blood loss, as desperation overtook her. All the training in the world would not have prepared her to defend herself, especially in her current weakened state, from a spectre who seemed to be the Fright Knight's equal in power.

It seemed strange that a half a dozen powerful ghosts would defer so strongly to the single being before them. The ghost hunter cursed the darkness that surrounded them as she endeavoured to memorise the youthful ghost's features.

"Mercy." Her assailants begged, prostrating themselves on the ground before the newcomer. "We were merely after the girl. We were under no intention of trespassing."

"It was agreed that everything in this area I owned." The spectre's striking green eyes narrowed, the only feature of his countenance visible in the darkness. "That includes the humans, and other mortal livestock in the area. You had no right to hunt what is mine."

Indignation struck Sam as she opened her mouth to argue, appalled by the arrogance of the ghosts, that in their eyes, humans were perceived to be no more than animals. However, as she struggled to raise her head to retort the statement, a single look from her savior willed her to let the comment slide. Perhaps it was best that she did not draw any more attention to herself. It was strange, the placating comfort exuded from those unnatural green eyes, even though his was the face of the enemy.

"But the Fright Knight has never informed us-"

"The failure on your liege's part to inform you of our truce is none of my concern." Her savior interrupted coldly, the beginnings of an ecto blast forming as the eerie green energy danced at his fingertips.

Sam attempted to sit up, hoping to observe more of the powerful ghost's abilities. If he intended to let her live, she was determined to relay every last scrap of information to Maddie.

The ghost hunter froze as she became aware of the sudden blackness that surrounded her vision, despite the fact that she was certain that her eyes were open. She couldn't see. Sam fought a new wave of rising panic. Had she been blinded?

The ghost hunter gasped futilely as an upwelling of clotted blood abruptly obstructed her airway, rendering her unable to breathe properly as she coughed desperately to remove the blockage that was denying her of much needed oxygen. Perhaps her lungs had collapsed.

It disgusted Sam that she was too weak to end her own life right then. Never had she felt more pathetic in her entire life. Sam slumped, once again finding herself on the ground that she was getting far too acquainted with.

She did not know how long she just lay there, delirious as she listened to the comforting sounds of violence amidst her own strangled gasping. After the newcomer's display of power, Sam was certain that he had made quick work of her assailants. At least the bastards were finally getting what they deserved.

Sam flinched as the man crouched down to examine her, his lips pursed into a grim line as he observed her injuries. If he was going to kill her, she prayed that he would have the mercy to make it quick.

"Stop struggling. You've already lost enough blood." A voice soothed, the words barely registering in the back of Sam's mind.

She gasped as a chilling sensation gripped her throat, completely halting her depleted intake of breath. It was followed by a tingling warmth, as she allowed herself a convulsive, hacking cough. Sam felt slightly better, and she could sense the beginnings of her vision returning, her eyes blinded by the light. She drew rapid, greedy breaths, her body hungry for the vital air that it had been deprived of for so long. She was fast growing sick of the taste of blood in her mouth.

'So this is what it feels like to be dying.'

She started as strong arms embraced her. From the way that her head was spinning, Sam guessed that she had just been lifted from the ground, cradled in the stranger's grasp.

"Who are you?" She whispered, regarding her savior in awe through blurred vision, as unfathomable, joyful delirium began to overcome her.

The man, or at least she thought it was a man, obviously did not think her worthy to merit a reply, as he placed a frosty hand over her forehead, followed by icy fingertips over her jugular. The chill from the unexpected contact sent fervent shivers down Sam's spine, invoking a foreign, indescribable feeling within her.

If Sam had not been hallucinatory from the loss of blood, she would have been prompted to wonder why a ghost, the enemy, would bother checking her vital signs.

The ghost hunter reached upwards with her hands, longing to touch his face, fascinated by the brilliant waves of green light he seemed to be exuding. Sam was somehow always unable to reach him, even though she was certain that she was being cradled in his grasp.

'Is he an angel?'

Sam wondered idly as the observed the being before her, crowned with a bright green halo that surrounded his entire shimmering, translucent being, visible, yet invisible all at once. In her current aberrant state, he was the most beautiful thing Sam had ever seen in her entire life.

'An angel of death, more like.'

Sam chuckled as she felt his grip around her tighten. It seemed unnatural that she should find her own death so amusing, with a stranger's arms around her as he prepared to carry her to the afterlife.

Her head spun as Sam squinted to discern his visage, frustrated that half his features seemed to be consumed by a blinding white estrus. It seemed unfair that she would be denied one final look at the world without flawed vision before she departed from it forever.

"You're going to be fine," the stranger reassured gently, in soft, dulcet tones that Sam found akin to those used by a man caressing his lover.

Sam struggled to to form words with her mouth, her mind bombarded with a multitude of questions. She had so much that she wanted to ask him.

Then the darkness claimed her.

Author's Notes: Yes, Sam is hallucinating;) Not that Danny isn't amazing in his own right. This chapter used to be joined the previous chapter, but I split them up so that I could pretend that I have more chapters that I actually do.

Thanks go as usual to Sasia for beta work.

Many thanks to my wonderful reviewers: Sasia93, Elanor Pam, Sweeteen19, vanalivi, FreakLevel27, FunkyFish1991 and vladimir's disease. You guys are awesome!:D

Next, Sam wakes up in Danny's apartment, a scene that I had a lot of fun withXD

Please review if you enjoyed the installment!:D

Hugs and kisses,

Twisted Creampuff