A/N: You've waited long enough! Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!

Alice followed Danny back inside the house. Her thoughts were spinning so much, she felt she would throw up. First, she finds out there's a whole lab in her basement. Second, she finds out her grandparents were ghost-hunters. Third, there's a portal leading into the Ghost Zone in the lab. Last, she finds out her dad, the one person she'd thought wouldn't understand anything about her dreams, turned out to be the ghost expert. Then there was that weird bazooka thing and this thermos thing. Just how crazy was her family anyway?

She closed the door behind her and found Danny talking with Sam, now both sitting on the couch. She couldn't make out what they were saying, they were talking to quietly, but she knew it had something to do with all this madness. "I'm right here, you know," she said.

"We know," Danny answered, not taking his eyes off Sam. Sam sighed, almost unnoticeably, then turned towards Alice. "We hoped it wouldn't come to this," Danny continued, looking at Alice now. "But there's a lot we need to tell you. Starting with that." Danny pointed at the Fenton Thermos.

"Oh, please do," Alice said, sitting on the couch opposite them.

"It's called a Fenton Thermos. It captures ghosts," Sam said, glancing at Danny. They'd agreed upon his decision to teach Alice as much as he knew about ghosts, but not tell her about his powers. "All the other gadgets and equipment downstairs is also used to capture ghosts. They range from simple net-guns, to-"

"Things like the Fenton Bazooka," Danny finished, pointing on the large weapon leaning against the couch-arm. Alice glanced at the weapon.

"And why did the ghosts just now come?" Alice asked.

"Because of a truce," Danny said. "A truce was made between the ghosts and a half-ghost kid."

"This truce enabled the ghosts to be allowed free passage into the real world should they be given the chance. That's why Danny didn't want you to open the portal," Sam said.

Alice nodded slowly, taking in all the information. "How do you know all this?"

"Because my parents were ghost-hunters, we already went through that," Danny said.

"How can you be only half-ghost?"

"It's easy," Danny said. "Either you somehow are involved in an accident consisting of a way for ectoplasmic energy to get into your system, or you're born with it." Alice blinked, suddenly taken aback by his last statement. 'Born with it'? Could that be what's happening with her? She'd been taking note of everything that happened in her dreams and in real life. How she'd suddenly gotten to Andrew fast enough before he could tattle-tell on her the other day, how it had felt so cold in the lab that she could see her breath right before the ghost showed up. It made almost no sense, yet was at the same time the clearest explanation she could get at.

"Alice?" Sam asked. Alice looked at her, then quickly turned to her dad.

"Did you know the ghost-kid? What was his name? He was half-ghost right? Was he only half-dead then? Then that meant he was half alive. How is that possible? What kind of powers did he have? What happened to him? Is he-"

"Hold on a minute!" Danny exclaimed. "One question at a time. I don't have all the answers." Alice stood.

"Can I call Grandma and Grandpa? They should know! How long did you say they were into ghosts?"

"They're retired ghost-hunters, Alice," Danny said. "They may not expect this, let alone from you. I don't want to get them all worked up. They never had a chance to capture the ghost kid, you know. They'd be disappointed you saw him or something while they're not even here to try to capture him again."

"Listen to your dad, Al," Sam said. "I'm pretty sure after all these years that made perfect sense."

"I rehearsed," Danny mocked. Sam shook her head.

Alice sighed, thinking. "Okay, first question, when was the last time you guys saw the ghost-kid?"

"It was about ten years ago, the last time a ghost got through while the truce held," Danny said.

"It was the Box Ghost, right?" Sam asked. Danny nodded.

"How many ghosts do you guys know of?"

"More than I can recall all at once," Danny said.

Alice slumped in her seat, crossing her arms, thinking. "Did Grandma and Grandpa ever fight the ghost kid?"

"Yeah," Danny said.

"How many close ones did he have before they finally retired?" Sam asked rhetorically. Danny answered still.

"I really can't remember." Sam laughed and shook her head. Danny didn't get the joke. He shrugged it off.

"Did they keep files?" Alice asked. "Of the ghosts? The different powers, abilities?"

"I don't know," Danny said. "They should, but I wouldn't know where."

"Okay," Alice said. "I have more questions, but I think they'll have to wait." She looked at the clock. 10:15 AM. "I really gotta go," she said, standing.

"Where?" Sam and Danny chorused.

"More importantly, why?" Danny asked. He really hoped Vlad didn't have anything to do with it. And if he did, he would have no way to know. Maybe he should keep an eye on her, just in case.

"Bye, guys!" Alice called, ignoring their questions and going out the door. Danny frowned. And then again, maybe the best way for her to learn would be by herself, no distractions because of knowing he was watching over her shoulder.

Alice ran down the block, hoping not to be any later than she already was. If this were a regular day, she would have taken her time since she thought it was some prank Andrew planned. but since it was getting a little strange, she decided not to waste time or else that ghost would come back. What was his name? She couldn't recall her dad saying it at all. Maybe it was just some one-time ghost that wouldn't show again. Well, she hoped so anyway. For some reason coming face-to-face with that thing didn't seem like the movies on TV. This was reality. Her reality anyway.

Only about ten minutes later, she came upon the park, out of breath and panting. That was the last time she ran full-force down ten blocks. She leaned forward on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She scanned around with her eyes. The park was empty, an eerie silence befalling it. She wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, and stood up straight, hip slightly to one side, hands in her pockets. The wind had picked up without her realizing it, sending locks of hair flying around her with every breeze. This only sent chills racing up and down her spine.

This was almost like in the horror movies when the person, or main characters, stumbled upon some empty place. They call out and don't receive an answer, then take the place for completely vacant. Then, when they least expect it, something attacks them from behind. Why? Because their senses weren't on high alert. They were too self-convincingly sure that they're alone. The point is, you're never alone.

Then Alice picked up a sound. Her ears seemed to perk, but she paid it no mind. It was a soft, rustling sound, like when you step on grass that's dry. They were soft foot-steps, and she'd heard the sound. It was coming from behind her. Another breeze started to blow, a little more wild this time, making the temperature seemed to drop quickly so she could see her breath. But her movements cut through it as if everything were standing still.

She turned quickly on one heel, spreading her legs out 'til they were at shoulder width and bent at the knees just a little bit to keep balance. She leaned forward for even greater balance. Her senses were flaring, her heart thumping quickly to provide enough energy flow through her body. Her arms went up into battle stance. Her hair settled around her only one split-second after she'd done this. Then she froze.

Before her was a simple middle-aged man. He could cause no danger, it seemed. He had grey-white hair held into a pony-tail. He looked simple-minded, almost care-free. He wore a black suit, and stood in a way someone expecting and completely convinced he would receive a great award would: confident, and calm.

Alice's muscles relaxed, her shoulders slumped, her heart stopped pounding so loudly in her chest, and her hands fell to her sides and she stood up straight again. She blinked. "Uh..." she mumbled. The man extended a hand towards her. She looked at it, then back up at the man.

"Alice, correct?" he said, smiling thinly, almost mysteriously. Alice took a second to process all the information she'd just received. So far, she was stuck at him asking if he'd said the correct name. She found herself taking his hand, giving it one shake and nodding.

"Yes," she said, taking back her hand. "Who are you? Have we met?" She tilted her head to one side in confusion. That's what she wanted him to think, anyway. She was really trying to focus her hearing to make sure this guy was the only other person there.

"My name is Vlad Masters," the man said. "I understand your brother told you to come here?"

"Andrew? Yeah, he did," Alice said, finally realizing this guy was alone here. The wind seemed to die down suddenly, an occasional breath of air escaping from the atmosphere every now and then. "I'm starting to doubt his reasons. Why are you here? And why did you talk to my brother, when?"

"My, you're quite the curious child," Vlad said, chuckling quietly. Alice growled, teeth clenching, fists tightening.

"I'm thirteen," she said. "Not a child. I'm an psychologically an adult. Well, pre-adult, but you get the point. I can do anything you can, old man."

"You don't seem to have gotten many genes from your father," Vlad said, circling Alice, as if searching for weak spots. "You seem more like Jazmine, and Samantha."

Alice stumbled swiftly out of Vlad's circle and went back into a slight battle stance. She didn't have a very good feeling about this guy. "How do you know so much about my family? More importantly, mom, dad, and Jazz?"

"I'm an old friend," Vlad said. "I knew your grandparents. You're Grandmother was especially my greatest friend. Your grandparents and I went to college together."

Alice looked at him. Did he really know her family so well as to be able to say all this as if it were the most simple thing in the world? Not even she knew so much about her grandparents. They've been a big blank in her mind since childhood. "And why are you here?" she asked then.

"The 'curse' as your brother so colorfully put it," Vlad said. "They are called, actually, ghost powers."

Alice scowled. There was that whole 'curse' thing again. "What about it?"

"You have them," Vlad said simply. Alice froze again, her face completely blank, and the color fading from her complexion. "But they have not yet completely unfurled within you. They are still lying dormant, though some powers have already become active. Don't you feel the change? Haven't you noticed the symptoms?"

Memory blank; head aches; dreams; sudden flashes; the ability to perceive things she'd never even heard of like the Ghost Zone, and the name for other beings: ghosts. Of course she'd noticed. She had just never really paid attention to them that much. "Yes," she replied, quietly. "So what?"

"Your parents have not explained anything to you?"

"Not much. Only that my grandparents used to hunt ghosts, had a lab, invented their own gear. That's about it," she said. Vlad sneered. Then his plan would work wonderfully. He walked over to the girl and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Come," he said. "Walk with me and I shall explain to you any questions you may have on the matter."

E/N: I think I'm leading into the plot now.

--Airamé Phantom