:~:~:~:~:~:~:
Conciliation
Paulina held the shirt up. She pursed her lips and placed it back on the rack.
She rummaged through the clothes, getting slightly annoyed. So far she had found nothing suitable for her date with Danny tonight and she had to get home asap. She had already promised her dad a meeting with Danny before they went off on their walk.
She was thinking something spring colored. Cute but comfortable. Paulina huffed as she surfed through the bundles of clothes. There were plenty of cute clothes but nothing seemed...right.
Paulina glanced up at the store's entrance for a brief second and then did a double take. Sam, who had been casually strolling by, had frozen mid-step and caught sight of the Latina.
Paulina froze, too.
She had imagined meeting up with Sam and Tucker, imagined making a good impression.
Imagined working hard to get on their good sides.
However, she had not anticipated a coincidental run in with Samantha Manson. Her current boyfriend's best friend.
Paulina figured she would have plenty of time to think of something to get on the Goth's good graces, but now?
She wasn't ready. She had nothing to say her former enemy.
What could she say? They hated each other for all of freshman year and half of sophomore year. After that, she avoided Sam altogether.
She bit her lip as Sam's gaze darkened. The girl actually looked really good today. Her shoulder length hair had grown and hung loosely below her shoulders.
Dark leather jeans, which Paulina would've killedfor, hugged her gorgeous legs, a thin chain hung from her belt loops. She wore a loose shirt that showed her midriff and exposed one of her shoulders. The white skull in the center of the chain only served to enhance her dark beauty. Her lips were nice, healthy pink, and she wore a hint of eyeliner, bringing out the stunning amethyst color of her eyes. Besides that, she wore no make up, revealing more of her natural beauty.
The girl had rockin' style, which Paulina had long since envied.
Not for the first time, she wondered why Sam and Danny weren't a couple.
The Goth sauntered into the store. She stepped beside Paulina and casually sifted through the clothes.
"Paulina." She greeted curtly.
"Sam," Paulina greeted in return. She winced, unable to disguise the slight nervousness in her voice. She cleared her throat and managed to pull on a calm demeanor. "What brings you to the mall?"
"Isn't it obvious," she replied, sarcastically. "I live to shop."
Paulina sighed and pushed aside a yellow shirt.
"We need to talk." Sam stated, simply.
"Yes, we do." Paulina replied.
Sam turned so that she was directly facing Paulina. Both of her hands fell on her hips, her expression hard and menacing.
The Latina crossed her hand over her chest, trying to appear as unyielding as possible.
"Paulina, Danny's got some serious shit going on in his life, and I don't want him getting distracted for no reason. I don't know what you think you're doing. Maybe you made a bet with someone, maybe you're just bored, maybe you just enjoy toying with his emotions, but," she paused and waved her hands, "whatever this is, it needs to stop."
Paulina's lips curled and she flashed Sam a cold glare. "Look," She hissed. "You obviously don't think I'm capable of real feelings, but I am. Did you ever think that maybe I actually have feelings for him."
Paulina clenched her teeth, her eyes fluttering closed.
She took a few seconds to remind herself that this girl was a close friend of Danny's. A close friend of someone she truly cared about.
Someone who most likely knew all his secrets and meant only to protect him.
In other words, she needed to control her temper.
She took a calming breath and opened her eyes. "Sam, you may not believe this, but I actually like Danny." She swallowed and continued. "I don't know how he did it. Maybe it was his charm, his naivety, his sweet personality, bravery" she smiled to herself, a memory of Danny's innocent eyes coming to mind. "His quirkiness," she added and silently cursed herself for blushing.
"Will you get to the point?" Sam snapped.
Paulina grit her teeth. "The point is Danny really, really..." She paused. "He stole my heart." She shook her head. "And I know I've been hard on you guys—" she paused. "Actually, I've treated you guys like shit. I recognize that now. But he somehow still manages to forgive me, and in the short time we've been together, I've figured out that he's...hiding things. And I know you're just looking out for him, and I know you hate me, but I just want to..." Paulina shrugged, suddenly hesitant, "you know, put everything that's happened behind us, so we can...try to get along."
Sam didn't reply for a long moment, and Paulina squirmed under the girl's scrutiny.
"You and Danny have a date tomorrow, right?" Sam finally spoke.
Paulina nodded. "Yeah, I'm looking for an outfit."
Sam squinted her eyes and gave Paulina a once over. She turned and pulled out a loose pink shirt. "Then we better get started. You don't wanna get there without something decent to wear."
Paulina's heart fluttered. "Really?"
Sam paused then smile. "Really."
:~:~:~:~:~:~:
Paulina laughed. "So, what were you really doing at the mall?" The Latina inquired.
"Actually, I really was just shopping. I needed some boots and I'm running a little low on mascara."
"Hm," Paulina nodded. "I never would've pegged you as a makeup kind of girl. Or a mall kind of girl, for that matter."
Sam shrugged. "And I never pegged you as an actual human. Looks can be deceiving, you know."
"Believe me," Paulina muttered. "I know."
"You know, for a long time, I've clung to this idea that you're a bitchy, shallow witch with no heart."
'Not far from the truth,' Paulina thought to herself.
The two girls were walking down the road, both having walked to the mall, although Paulina regretted her decision already.
She thought walking to places would keep her in good health, but her feet were killing her. Now it was dark and there was a risk of running into some thug. In which case, she'd have to beat his/her ass and waste more energy in doing so.
But at least she had some company, and her home was only a few blocks away.
Paulina had already agreed to give Sam a ride home.
"Hey," Sam stopped walking. Her head tilted to the side. She seemed to be straining her hearing, ears searching for a sound.
Paulina stopped, too, befuddled by the other teen's actions. Sam peered at Paulina. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Paulina queried, struggling to listen for any sounds.
And she heard it: the faint boom coming from east of their location.
"That." Sam confirmed.
"It..." Paulina paused, hearing another, louder boom. "It sounds like it's getting closer."
"I think it is." Sam glanced in the same direction.
They both caught sight of a bright green flash of light coming from behind a nearby store.
Paulina blinked at Sam whose eyes never left the flashes of light.
"Duck!" Sam shouted.
Before the Latina could react, the goth shoved her hard, knocking her to the ground while simultaneously jumping out of the way.
A bright green blast slammed into the pavement, charring the spot they had previously been standing on.
"Whoa, good reflexes." Paulina breathed.
"It's Phantom!" Sam pointed out.
Sure enough, the girls found themselves gazing up at the sky at an aerial battle between what she inferred to be Phantom and a ghostly female.
The battle seemed intense and dangerously close to them.
The two flying entities raised their hands and fired powerful blasts at each other. The power between the two opponents must've been precisely equal because the two beams met right at the center, growing brighter and brighter.
The power surge must've been too much because a sort of explosion erupted, sending the fighters falling away from each other.
Sam and Paulina gasped.
"Danny?" Sam's voice shook.
Phantom turned mid air and was clearly struggling to stay afloat, though he clearly wasn't in the best of health. He must've been hit hard because he would fly then drop suddenly before catching air again.
"Danny!" Paulina shouted.
At the sound of his name, the hybrid looked up.
His direction of flight changed as he angled towards the two girls. In a few seconds, he was close enough to the ground for Paulina to get a closer look at his face.
His eyes were shut, and he was falling.
Paulina sprinted into a run.
The hybrid hit the ground with such intensity that he bounced a few times and rolled before finally laying face up on the ground.
Paulina dropped down beside him.
"Dios mio, Danny!" Paulina released a shaky breath.
"Paulina," Danny mumbled. He peered up at her groggily. "I heard you call me."
"Danny," Paulina swallowed, struggling to control her frantic emotions. "Danny. Try not to move."
The moment the words flew out of her mouth, Danny spasmed violently. He rolled on his side and coughed uncontrollably before abruptly stopping. He went limp.
Paulina's concern intensified as she rolled him onto his back.
"I fell. I heard your voice." He grunted out.
His face was whiter than paper. His hair was soaked, and his face was moist. Sweat was pouring out of his skin.
Paulina briefly checked him for any injuries, but what she found shook her to the bone.
He released another spasm. His arm shot out, his fist collided with her knee. She winced but remained still as she passed her hand across his cheek. A thin layer of crimson-like dust coated the left side of his face.
"Paulina! Danny!" Sam shouted out from behind them. "Ohmigod, Danny! Are you okay?"
"There's four of you now?" Danny's head rolled to look at Sam.
Sam grimaced. "This isn't good. We need to get him off the streets."
"I know," Paulina muttered. "Help me lift him. My house is close by. If we hurry, we can make it without anyone seeing."
Sam nodded and moved around the boy. She grabbed his legs and Paulina his arms.
"We need to hurry," Paulina grunted.
"Go!" Sam shouted and they both scurried off.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Paulina's house. The duo would've arrived sooner, but Danny's constant jerks slowed them down. They had to place Danny down so that Paulina could fish out her keys and opened the door.
"The bathroom is down the left." Paulina informed her. "Take him in there. I'll be back with some medical supplies."
Sam grabbed the boy's arms and dragged the unconscious teen down the hall.
Paulina remained as silent as possible as she passed by her grandmother who had fallen asleep in the living room with the television on.
No doubt, Stephanie was upstairs in her room.
Paulina struggled to remain silent. She wouldn't want her family discovering the human-ghost hybrid in one of their many bathrooms.
She found an emergency kit in a closet and rushed back to the bathroom.
Danny was sprawled across the ground with Sam sitting beside him.
"I don't understand," Sam announced, worriedly. He should've woken up by now. He should've healed."
"No." Paulina argued. "Look here." Sam obeyed and peered down to where Paulina was pointing. "See that red powder on his face?"
"Yeah," Sam replied.
"That is a combination of blood blossoms and some other chemicals, I think."
"Blood blossoms," Sam sucked in a breath. Fear flickered through her eyes. "Oh, shit. That's not good."
Paulina blinked. The goth seemed well aware of the danger the hybrid was in. She continued. "He must've breathed it in. It's in his system. We need to flush it out."
She pulled an amethyst necklace from her backpack and placed it on Danny's chest.
"What—what're you doing?" Sam inquired, clearly befuddled by the head cheerleader.
"It's a stone that encourages healing," Paulina explained.
"Here." She pulled out three white, miniature candles and tossed two of them at Sam who caught it easily. "Okay, we need to hurry. These have to make a triangle around Danny."
Sam obeyed without question.
Paulina wondered if it was because her best friend was in trouble and she had no other choice, or because she genuinely trusted that Paulina could help.
After lighting one of the candles, Paulina tossed her matches to Sam who quickly lit the other two.
Red electricity crackled around his skin, and he continued screaming.
Paulina grunted. The pain was so intense. She could see visibly see it radiating off his body in waves.
Sam gaped at the teenager, then glanced at Paulina.
The girl's amethyst eyes struck Paulina with a combination of emotions: horror, apprehension, fear, terror.
Paulina thrust her hand forward palm, extended towards Danny. "Deténgase!" She shouted.
Rings appeared at Danny's midsection, traveled up, and disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a very human. He looked terrible. His skin had lost all its remaining color, and the teenager, though he was finally unconscious, was panting. His breaths came in quick, unnatural spurts.
It was a sign that the poison was quickly consuming him, preparing to take his life.
"Coño, it's happening quicker than I thought." Paulina pulled out her little Spells journal and silently recited the spell.
She briefly muttered a quick prayer. "Universo, por favor, purifica a este niño. Limpie su cuerpo de las toxinas que lo envenenan."
She swiftly moved so that her hands hovered over Danny's abdomen—the place where a ghost's core resided. Her eyes fluttered shut and she willed energy to emerge from the pit of her stomach and travel to her hand.
A surge of power exploded from her palms and created a rippling effect within the triangle.
A sudden breeze blew the candles out.
"Holy shit," Sam breathed. "What the-"
She jumped in surprise when Danny's eyes snapped open. The sudden action was accompanied by a sharp, audible intake of breath. His back arched so that his body was slightly lifted off the floor. With a grunt of pain, he dropped to the ground, once again unconscious.
"He'll be okay." Paulina explained. "With the Spell, most ghosts would flush the toxins out of their systems within a few days. But, since he's a...unique case the blossoms should be completely out of his system sooner than that." She paused, adding, "I hope."
Sam remained silent for a moment, anxiously gazing over her friend.
After a while, she glanced at Paulina.
The silence stretched out a few moments.
Scrutinized her for a few moments until she managed to blurt out, "What the hell was that?"
"A spell."
"So-" Sam paused. "So you really are a witch?"
"Basically."
"Oh, the irony." Sam muttered.
Paulina's laugh was weak. "Yeah."
Paulina exhaled, running a hand through Danny's raven locks.
"Maybe we should probably move him someplace more comfortable," Sam pointed out.
"We should."
"We can take him upstairs to my room, but we'll have try being quiet about it to avoid my grandma and dad."
"Alright." Sam replied. "We should hurry."
A/N: I apologize profusely for the delay.
I've had some serious Writer's Block with this story.
I wasn't planning on posting this chapter for another few days, but I received a message from someone querying about when this would be updated, so I just went ahead and posted the chapter.
