Chapter 9

When Emily woke up, she was in complete darkness. She tried to use her senses to analyze the situation. She felt something cold and hard under her back...her back. So she was lying down, then. Her chest ached and burned. All of a sudden, the terrifying events came back to her. She remembered the ghost who had promised her that if she followed him, Danny would be saved and she would get her healing powers back...the alleyway...and most terrifying of all, the dagger. Her stomach sank. Surely she was too late to save Danny. Surely her one true love was dead by now.

"Danny..." she whispered, pressing a hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry..." Then there was a rustling, and then a voice.

"Emily! Oh my god, are you okay?" It was Sam.

"Sam?" Emily croaked hoarsely, slightly relieved that her normal voice still worked. A minute later, light shone into Emily's face. She squinted, and could just make out Sam's worried face.

"Oh my god, Em, I was sooo worried. You've been unconscious for nearly two days!"

"Two...days?" Emily croaked, trying to make sense of the situation. Sam nodded. Then another thought struck her.

"Sam...where are we?"

"Well, we're in the Ghost Zone...somewhere. I'm not exactly sure where. When I found you on the ground bleeding, I didn't stop to think about where we were going. I just sort of picked you up and ran. It wasn't easy carrying you and the flashlight. Good thing you're not very heavy." Emily suddenly realized the source of the light shining on her face came from a flashlight in Sam's hand.

"Wait." Emily said suddenly. "You found me? In the Ghost Zone? Sam! I told you not to come looking for me! I can take care of myself!"

"Well, you weren't doing a very good job of taking care of yourself when I found you on the ground with a dagger sticking out of your chest!" Sam argued. Emily shrugged.

"True. Anyway, Sam, how are we going to get out of this? And what did you do with the dagger?" Emily asked.

"I have no clue. And I threw it somewhere over there." Sam gestured vaguely with the flashlight. Emily spied the dagger lying a few feet away, crusted over with blood-her blood.

"Sam...We have to keep the dagger. It might be our only clue." Emily then proceeded to tell Sam the whole story of the ghost, from the moment he had appeared in Danny's room to the moment he had thrust the dagger in her chest. When she was done, Sam shook her head in amazement.

"Wow, Em." was all she could say. Then another thought crossed Emily's mind, one that had fled to the back of her mind when Sam had found her.

"Sam." she said, pushing herself into a sitting position, and wincing at the pain in her chest. "What happened to Danny? Is he still alive? Please, Sam, tell me the truth. I need to know." Sam's purple eyes betrayed surprise. Apparently she hadn't been expecting that question.

"Emily...Danny's OK, as far as I know. He was still in a coma when I left. I don't know if anything's changed." Emily's muscles relaxed a bit with the wave of relief that swept over her.

"OK. I'm glad about that. Now, let's get out of here." Sam helped Emily up, and together they started off towards what could only be described as an uncertain future.

"'From, Emily'" Danny finished Emily's note, gasping for breath. Ever since he had woken up, he had been short of breath, but that seemed to be the only effect the strange blast had had on him.

"Sam and Tucker probably went after Emily." he realized suddenly. Well, I'm not going to be the one left out of this heroic rescue, he thought. So, changing into ghost form, he flew straight through the wall, still wheezing all the way.

A/N: Kinda short, but again, practically nobody's reviewing! Thank you to enigmatic penguin for being the ONLY one to review last chapter. Now, I expect you all to review, or else Emily will go after you with her ghost crutches! brandishes ghost crutches angrily