Because I'm awesome I decided to post the next three chapters at once, just you guys didn't have to deal with horrible cliff hangers. Yes, bathe in my brilliance. Oh look, I am as humble as Vlad! ;)
Seriously though, I hope I did this justice. Hopefully you will enjoy.
Sam PoV
I tapped my feet impatiently, waiting outside Danny's front door with Tucker.
"Maybe he woke up late?" He shrugged, clicking some more buttons on his PDA.
I sighed, hoisting my back pack higher and looking at my watch. If he took any longer we'd be late for school.
"If your so impatient why don't you just go drag him out yourself." Tucker suggested, not looking up from the screen.
"I would, but ever since Danny came home, his parents have put up psychotic alarms to keep out ghosts and humans. Danny warned us, remember?"
"Those are still up?" he looked at me, confused. "But Danny got home, like, two weeks ago."
Before I had the chance to reply I heard the muffled sound of heavy footsteps bounding down stairs, jumping and landing on the ground floor from within the house.
"Guys, I'm so sorry! I slept in." Danny burst through the door, panting.
"About time! Sam was about to leave with out you." Tucker jerked a thumb in my direction.
I punched him in the arm and he quickly returned to his PDA, muttering things about abuse. I ignored him as we headed down the sidewalk, making our way toward eight hours of prison.
"Good news." Tucker spoke up, still staring at the screen as he walked.
We looked at him expectantly.
"School's out in 28 days."
"Tucker, that's an entire month." Danny said in a flat voice.
"Yep. We'll be juniors in one month! Whoo!" He punched the air.
"Don't you think your getting a little excited just a tad bit early. Don't forget, we still have finals." I gave him a look, bringing down his high.
"Way to kill the optimism Sam." He grumbled sullenly.
I smiled.
"It's what I'm here for."
Danny yawned, stretching his arms high.
"Long night?" I asked sympathetically.
"You have no idea." he replied, a hint of that secretive smile flitting across his face again.
"I thought ghosts were attacking less." Tucker glanced back at Danny.
"They are, but that doesn't mean they don't still attack during the night. This one pounded me into the wall so many times I lost count." I got the impression that he was enjoying a private joke, but didn't ask. I've long since learned that Danny's jokes are morbid and gross.
He yawned again, rubbing his eyes. Tucker pressed a few more buttons on his PDA, lost in his techno-geek world. I led them through the streets, passing the time by pretending the dirty grays and brick reds of the city were vibrant and exotic colors. But a Nasty Burger cup rolled across the street and I sighed, feeling my illusion fade.
It wasn't long before we came upon the school grounds. Fellow classmates were ambling around like zombies, clustering around the front doors with tired eyes. We made our way into the school, pushing past people and fighting our way to our separate lockers. I waved bye to Danny and Tucker as I headed off to my own metal box, stuffed full of bats and spiders. The lock didn't actually work, so I banged on it a few times until it popped open. I never had to worry about kids looting my locker because everyone was too scared of what I'd do to them if they tried it.
I was pulling my stuff out for first period when I saw Jazz walk by. I stilled, looking at her with surprise. Her eyes were red and puffy with dark bags under them, like she'd been crying all night. She walked forward in a daze, almost like she was lost. She didn't see me as she walked by, plowing through crowds of students instead of politely saying excuse me like she usually does.
I made a mental note to ask Danny about it next period, wondering why he didn't mention it sooner. The bell started ringing, alerting me to the start of class. I hastily threw the rest of my books in my locker and slammed it shut, running off to Civics.
After more time than I care to count, the bell finally rang again, signaling the end of my lonely first period. Civics is usually long and boring, not to mention easy. It doesn't hold too much excitement for me. I got out of there as soon as I could, hoping to beat the cattle heard that usually stampeded through the hallways.
I hadn't forgotten about Jazz. In fact, I'd spent most of class writing a four worded letter to Danny and then doodling on it for the best part of the lecture. I think I had some pretty cool doodles on there, if I do say so myself.
I pushed through the halls, having already got my books for second period. I met up with Danny and Tucker like usual, once again mentally thanking what ever higher power placed Danny next to Tucker today. It had been so lonely, those two weeks without him. Especially the second week, knowing where he was and unable to do anything about it. Who knows what Danny had to put up with during those two weeks of staying with the fruitloop.
One thing's for sure though, Danny certainly is...different.
"Sam? Hello?"
A hand waved in front of my face, two ice blue eyes capturing me. He gave me his crooked grin, my favorite one, as I came to, pulling myself out of my thoughts.
"Sorry about that." I waved the moment away with an apologetic laugh. "To Lancers?"
I held my arms out, offering them as victims first.
"Jeez Sam, you're so generous." Danny rolled his eyes, adjusting his books in his arms and leading the way down the hall.
"You know how I love giving to the needy." I teased.
"Hey, if you're making fun of my grades again-"
The bell rang loudly, echoing through the hall. We all bolted the last ten feet, clamoring through the door just in time. Lancer gave us all dirty looks, but didn't say anything, turning to the board and immediately getting to work. We ambled to the back of the classroom a usual and dropped our selves heavily in the three desks clustered together, slowing our breathing.
Reluctantly, I pulled out my notebook and text book, turning to what ever the lesson for today was. But, seeing as I was in no mood for English, it was all for show. I pulled out the note from my pocket and handed it to Tucker who sat between us. As usual, Tucker nosily opened the letter, rose an eye brow at the doodles and wrote in his comments. Then he passed it to Danny.
Danny looked confused, but not at the doodles. He frowned at the paper, writing in his reply and then passing it to Tucker who passed it to me.
What's up with Jazz?
What's up with all the doodles?
I didn't see Jazz this morning. She was gone when I got up. Is she upset? Yeah, and what's up with the doodles?
I penciled in my response and passed it to Tucker, who commented as usual before handing it to Danny who wrote his response and then handed it back to Tucker who handed it to me. It's all a very confusing process, but basically it's just Tucker sticking his pencil into other people's conversation.
The doodles are a result of prolonged boredom in first period. Jazz was a wreck when I saw her in the halls. She looked like she had been crying all night.
I thought you liked Civics?
I came in around midnight, but I didn't hear anything. Did she look sick?
Yes Tucker, I like Civics, but today was boring. No, she just looked really upset.
What's Lancer saying up there?
I don't know why she'd be so upset. Nothings happened.
Tucker, butt out. Maybe you should talk to her.
That was rude Sam. Maybe Jazz is upset cause you're so rude.
I'll give it a try when I get home.
That's probably a good idea. And Tucker-shut up.
The rest of class was spent passing pointless notes, just something to kill the time. Unfortunately, it turned into a paper piece war, where Tucker and Danny folded little slivers of paper into tightly packed shapes and chucked it at each other, occasionally hitting me. I'd often respond with a full paper wad to the head, making sure Lancer's back was turned.
This is mostly what we've done in class ever since Danny came home. I remember sitting here without him, only Tucker's equally melancholy demeanor keeping me company. It had been easy to pay attention in class then. Lancer's droning had proved a decent distraction from my nightmares of Danny's fate. I'd been terrified that he'd been killed in the ghost zone, or that he was trapped some where with no way home. Turns out I'd kinda been right on the latter, he just wasn't as trapped as I thought he was.
I frowned, feeling my anger start up again. I'll never understand why he felt the need to help that fruitloop more than us. We were falling apart with out him-I was falling apart with out him. Vlad didn't deserve Danny's kindness. I wouldn't be surprised if that jerk went back on his promise not to attack Mr. Fenton. Then Danny would feel horrible and guilty, even though he would have nothing to feel guilty about. It would be all Vlad's fault.
I grit my teeth, gripping my pencil. Everything is always Vlad's fault. It's Vlad's fault that Danny is so exhausted and hurt from ghost fights. It's Vlad's fault that Danny is constantly put on edge, always looking out for his families safety. It's Vlad's fault Danny was gone those two week, and I was so alone. And it's all Vlad's fault that Danny is different now. That manipulative jerk did something to my best friend, I know he did.
Danny hides it well, what ever it was that happened to him. I think he doesn't want us to worry, but I always worry about him. The one thing I can't figure out is that...well...even though he's different, he's happy. But not in the I-just-won-a-million-dollars happy, it's more...dreamy, like he's floating on a cloud that none of us know about.
Like I said, he hides it well. I know Tucker hasn't noticed a thing, but if he paid close enough attention he'd see the glazed look Danny gets during class sometimes, or even when we're hanging out. Or the bounce he has in his step after those long hours of studying. He studies much more now that he's back from Vlad's and there are less ghost attacks, hours at a time even.
I suppose there's nothing bad happening to him, at least none that I can see. He's still Danny, of course, just a little different. There really isn't anything I can do about it either. Besides, Danny's back and he's not going to leave us for Vlad anymore, so why get worked up about it? He's happy, we're happy, and everything is just fine.
"Ms. Manson!" Lancer's harsh bark cut through my brain.
I jolted in my seat, suddenly remembering I was in the middle of class. Everyone was staring at me, including Danny and Tucker. I could see the confusion on Danny's face like a beacon.
"We called your name, like, five times." Tucker said quietly.
"If you'd be so kind as to join us for class, I think you'd be interested to know we're going to have a test on Monday over that materials we've covered today. Hopefully you've taken the appropriate notes." his severe eye turned to Danny and Tucker. "All three of you."
Luckily, the bell rang before we could wince in our teenage way of saying "Actually, we've goofed off all of class and have no idea what you're talking about." Everyone scrambled to get their books together, shoving them into bags or jumping up with them clutched tightly in their arms. Lancer watched the escape with an apathetic eye, coming to rest his gaze on Danny.
"Mr. Fenton, a word."
Danny grimaced, forcing his feet to march up to the desk. Me and Tucker moved slowly, hanging back to hear what Lancer was gonna say.
"Mr. Fenton, I understand that you've undergone a traumatic experience recently but that does not excuse goofing off in my classroom." He rose his voice and looked back to me and Tucker, "I suppose this goes for you two as well." He looked back to Danny. "While I'm impressed with your speed in finishing the make up work, I must remind you that we still have a month of school left. I'd appreciate it if you would take my lectures seriously."
"Yes Sir." Danny mumbled, blushing in shame.
Lancer nodded his head to the door and we all scrambled out as fast as we could.
"Dude, that's harsh." Tucker slapped Danny on the back sympathetically.
"Yeah, but I guess he's got a point. I should pay more attention." Danny shrugged.
"But you already spend hours studying by yourself. I think Lancer should lighten up." I threw in.
Danny was quiet, staring at the floor purposefully. I thought nothing of it as I turned down the hall and went off to my locker.
"See you guys at lunch!" I called over my shoulder, pushing passed students and fighting my way to my locker.
I heard Dash's loud "Hey Fenton!" from far behind me and sighed. Looks like Dash has finally ended his break from bullying Danny. When Danny had first returned, he hadn't even pushed him into a locker. We'd all agreed that Dash wasn't as retarded as he looked and that maybe he was giving Danny a well deserved break after the whole kidnapping thing. Unfortunately it seems like Dash's empathy has worn out and it's back to hiding inside soda machines and mysteriously vanishing for Danny.
I banged on my locker a few times, hastily throwing my english books in and pulling out my math stuff. The bell was sure to ring in a few minutes and I didn't want to be late for the quiz in Mr. Coleman's class.
The bell's shrill call echoed through the hallways just as I sat in my desk, surrounded by other gloomy looking kids whose names I didn't know. Mr. Coleman set out the quiz without a word and after a heavy sigh, I got started.
I was decent at math, not as bad as Danny, but not as good as Tucker. I finished the quiz in average time, drawing more doodles in my notebook as I waited for everyone else to finish. Danny and Tucker were in Health now, a class they both enjoyed despite the boring course work. It was basically Gym class with text books and pencils instead of dodge balls. It was a class that Danny and Tucker could pass and one that Dash couldn't, which was always a source of entertainment for the two vindictive teens.
A kid on my left was nervously chewing his finger nails off, littering the desk with the hard slices. The girl behind him was making disgusted faces, resembling something close to a gapping fish. Two guys across the room were laughing at her, discretely taking pictures with their phone. Ah, high school. Such a fine example of the domino effect.
My patience was nearing it's end by the time the bell rang. Mr. Coleman decided we had enough time to teach a new lesson when everyone was finished with the quiz. He tried to teach quadratics in twenty minutes and successfully turned every brain that actually paid attention into mush.
I moved as quickly as I could in the over crowded hallways, racing against my PR and hoping to beat Danny and Tucker to the lunch room. I couldn't compete with ghost powers though, and spied Danny casually leaning against the door to the cafeteria, a smug grin on his face that reminded me too much of Vlad. I pushed my shudder away, refusing to expand on that thought, instead going up to Danny with a smile and waiting for Tucker.
"I'm impressed. That was twelve seconds faster than last time." Danny grinned.
"Yeah? Well lets see you beat me without cheating. I'd kick your butt."
"I know. That's why I cheat." He replied, looking over to Tucker as the techno geek came panting up.
That comment bothered me more than I let on. It sounded like something Vlad would do, and the fact that I had just related Danny to Vlad twice in the past thirty seconds did not sit well with me.
"Sam? You coming?" Danny looked at me, his half smile wiping away all my uncomfortable feelings.
"Yeah. I'm coming." I smiled back at him, hurrying to catch up.
We took our trays of mystery food outside to enjoy the sun. Tucker lapped up the pile of gunk on his tray like a dog, ignoring my words as I tried to tell him the food he was eating couldn't possibly be edible. Danny's look of disgust wasn't as pronounced as mine. He quietly munched on his salad, muttering things about vile lunch ladies.
No one bothered us and we were left alone to our time together. Before Danny disappeared, there would always be a ghost attack during lunch, but now all was quiet, something all of us appreciated. I tried not to think about how it was because of Vlad that we could have this lunch together.
"Did you guys hear about the arrest of those two robbers?" Tucker asked, having finally finished absorbing his meal.
"What two robbers?" Danny asked curiously, taking a sip of chocolate milk.
"Oh right, you haven't heard. Well these two guys have been jumping around the states for a while, robbing everything with a foundation and anyone with a pair of legs. They finally got themselves in the news a few weeks back after they passed some record for most money stolen or something like that. Anyways, they were last seen here in Illinois, but they finally caught them." Tucker looked over the news paper he had in his hands that wasn't there twenty seconds ago.
"Uh...where did you get that-"
"It says they were caught in a Wisconsin parking garage."
Danny spewed his milk everywhere, eyes going wide.
"Let me see that!" He grappled for the newspaper, eyes running over the fine black print rapidly the second it was in his grasp.
I watched as a grin broke out on his face, eyes alighting with mirth. He started cracking up laughing, dropping the newspaper to the ground. I picked it up, scanning the picture of two beat up, scruffy looking men in jail suits. They looked as though they hadn't taken a shower in a long while.
"What's so funny?" I asked as Danny got a hold of himself.
"I'm the one that beat them up and left them in that parking garage!" he bust out into laughter again at the sight of mine and Tucker's dumbfounded looks.
"What? How?" Tucker looked lost.
"Okay. Me and Vlad took a trip into the city right?" he smiled, launching into the story. I frowned a bit. Why does everything always come back to Vlad?
"We parked in that parking garage and-"
"You drove? Why didn't you guys just fly there?" Tucker interrupted.
"With the way that fruitloop drives we did fly." Danny grumbled, but his smile quickly returned and he shrugged. "I dunno know why we drove. Probably for appearances or something. Anyways, we parked in that parking garage and when we came back to go home those two guys tried to hold me for ransom."
"No way!" Tucker shouted, a grin coming onto his face as well.
"Why didn't you tell us about that?" I asked, surprised myself.
"I honestly forgot." Danny shrugged, "The uglier one held a knife to my face and the other demanded that Vlad hand over his wallet and the keys to his Volvo."
Tucker whistled lowly.
"Bet Vlad didn't like that."
"Damn straight he didn't. But I beat the crap out of them before Vlad could make a move. It was awesome. We left the two muggers moaning in the corner of the garage. I guess they didn't move fast enough and were caught by the police." Danny took the last bite of his salad, smiling at the memory.
"What did Vlad do?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Danny looked at me curiously.
"What did he do when you beat those two guys up?"
"Um, he just told me good job and we left." Danny watched me curiously, wondering if that was what I meant. "It was no big deal." He shrugged again.
"No big deal? He didn't check to see if you were alright?" I frowned, figuring he wouldn't.
"Why would he need to? I've handled worse than a couple muggers. He knows I can take care of myself." Danny looked confused, as though not understanding what I was asking.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess your right." I shrugged, hiding my true feelings. I didn't want to start a fight with Danny, especially not one about Vlad. If Danny couldn't see that Vlad obviously didn't care about him as much as he thinks he does, then that was his own choice. He'd see the truth one day, and when he did, I'd be there for him.
"So how many cars does Vlad have?" Tucker asked, that annoying gleam coming to his eyes that all males have when talking about cars.
I didn't pay much attention to the conversation. I didn't really care about how many cars Vlad owned. Probably half the rain forest's worth. The rest of my lunch was spent cloud watching. I almost didn't hear the bell ring, but Danny shook me from my thoughts just in time.
After dumping our trays and fetching our sketchbooks, we bid Tucker good bye and headed off to Art class, the only class we had together. Ms. Hue, the art teacher, was a very laid back and liberal person. Her class usually didn't start until about ten minutes after the bell, so we had plenty of time to stroll through the emptying halls.
"So," I started, feeling a little awkward, "How was Health?"
"It was okay." He shrugged, totally relaxed. He turned to me with a grin. "The teacher had to spend over twenty minutes describing the basic functions of the brain to Dash though, providing me and Tucker with jokes for weeks."
I laughed, imagining Dash's screwed up face of concentration.
"What about your Math class?" he asked.
"Boring. Coleman tried to teach quadratics in twenty minutes and fried every brain in the class room."
"Qua-what?"
"You'll find out soon enough." I assured him with a pat on the shoulder, my tone indicating that he'd hate it.
Danny groaned as we approached the class room. Ms. Hue was sketching something out the window as all the students currently present talked in animated voices or listened to music. Danny and I snagged our favorite table by the window, the one with the most graffiti on it. Ms. Hue subtly encouraged students to write on the tables. She had mentioned to us one day that she enjoys reading vandalism.
Me and Danny went to the back of the room and pulled out our paints. A few days ago Ms. Hue started an acrylic landscaping project, telling each of us to paint a landscape that has meaning to us or one that we like. When working on projects, students have their own responsibility to get it finished by the deadline, so it was probable that Ms. Hue wouldn't actually do any teaching to day.
"Damn. My brown is all dried up." Danny frowned, peeling up the foil from his paint palette and sticking his bottom lip out in an adorable way.
"Mine's all good." I sent him a teasing smile and skipped back to the table with my canvas, giving the half completed painting a once over before getting my brushes.
Danny was mixing colors, getting a dark, shadowy shade of brown. Eventually, he met me at the table, brushes and a cup of water in hand. He laid down his own half completed canvas, smiling at it before getting started.
We worked in silence, the brush strokes moving colors around. I peered over at Danny's painting, seeing an open field with trees spontaneous placed here and there. The grass was emerald green and the sky and perfect blue. Pearl white clouds rested in the air, balancing with the green leaves of the many trees.
"Where'd you get that picture? A story book?" I teased him, nudging his shoulder.
"Nope." he smiled, fanning his brush over the grass, giving them sunny highlights.
He didn't elaborate more on the source of his picture, so I returned to my own painting of the Nevada desert, adding in a few more sandy rocks. The class went by quickly, as it always does for me. Too soon, Ms. Hue was calling for us to clean up our tables, warning that if we didn't screw the paint lids on tight she'd pour them down our pants. A few kids snickered, but we knew better than to take her lightly. You never mess with Ms. Hue and her paints.
The bell rang and we moved on to our next classes. I shared my science course with Paulina, Dash, and Kwan, so I don't like to think about the goings of of that particular class. The last class of the day, Economics, was something we (thankfully) had together. Mr. Sandlin, our teacher, was quite possibly the best economics teacher around. He believed in teaching the students what they needed to know and then he'd worry about the curriculum. Currently, we were working on how to balance a checkbook and manage money to raise your personal wealth, something my parents have never had to worry about. It was surprisingly easy, and with his ever constant streams of how great Elvis was and what an inspiration Rocky Balboa is to economists everywhere, the class was never boring.
But, I was always happy to hear the end of the bell ring. We rushed out of the class the moment it ended, dumping our books in our lockers and bolting for the door. Due to the massive crowds of teenagers we had to fight through, the process took much longer than necessary. Eventually, though, we got to taste sweet liberation.
"Freedom!" Tucker yelled as he burst out the doors. Danny quickly pulled him aside, saving him from being trampled by the rest of the students also celebrating freedom.
We didn't linger on the school grounds. That's something Jazz would do. As we walked farther and farther away from the school, the sound of a hundred buzzing teenagers floated away on the air. Soon, it was just me, Danny, and Tucker, walking home to the soundtrack of Amity Park.
"Another day, another dollar." Tucker sighed, placing his hands behind his head.
"Tucker. We don't get paid to go to school." Danny reminded him.
"Says you. I get my money in the form of Paulina's tight jeans." He gave a wolfish grin that I gagged at. Danny laughed lightly, but said nothing else.
"Oh come on Danny. You can't tell me you don't pop your-"
"Tucker!" I hissed.
"Uh...you can't tell me you don't think she's hot."
"Yeah, she's hot." He gave a bored shrug, obviously just agreeing with Tucker to agree with him.
"That's it?" Tucker imitated his shrug, looking incredulous. "Come on, she's smokin!"
"Can we please stop talking about this?" I grumbled, feeling my blood boil at the thought of that shallow witch. How any male could find her attractive I'll never know. She's so fake and narrow minded! I mean, how could anyone put up-
"You better watch out Tuck. Sam's looking ready to massacre your fantasy." Danny's voice broke my thought ranting, giving me a wary look.
Tucker, having been on the receiving end of my angry rants, knew better than to keep yapping. He promptly shut up, turning a docile head to his trusting PDA for love. A PDA that was probably loaded with shots of Paulina but hey! Who am I to judge?
"So do any of you know what that test is over on Monday?" Danny asked.
"Lancer's test?"
"Yep."
"Not a clue."
"Hm. Bummer."
"Yep."
"You two don't seem very concerned." I rose an eye brow.
"It's Friday, we've got like, an entire weekend to prepare." Tucker said flippantly.
"Yeah, and I've already got a science test to worry about. At least I actually know whats on that test." Danny shouldered his backpack, looking both ways on the street before taking the lead across.
"Dude, are you gonna study again?" Tucker asked.
"I hung out with you guys yesterday." Danny glanced guiltily back at us. "I should spend some time studying today."
"But it's Friday. Can't you let up this once?" Tucker pleaded.
"Didn't we all go to the movies last Friday?" Danny asked, pointedly looking ahead.
"Yeah, but that was a whole seven days ago. Come on man. Movies, pizza, video games. My place." Tucker bounded up to his side, swinging an arm around his shoulder.
Danny looked uncomfortable, glancing away from Tucker's hopeful face and slipping out from under the arm around his shoulder.
"Why not tomorrow night? I just wanna get this last bit of studying in while I've still got school on the brain. Then we can party all weekend, okay?" Danny shot us a forced grin.
Fenton Works was rising up in the distance, the large hulking Op Center impossible to miss. Tucker sighed and gave a reluctant okay. Danny shrugged apologetically, but looking relieved.
"You sure you don't wanna hang out, Danny?" I asked one last time.
"Tomorrow, I promise." He gave me a half smile and I sighed as well, relenting to his request.
"Fine. But we're watching every Steven King movie I have." I warned, giving him a dark smirk that dared him to say otherwise.
"I don't think we'd be able to fit that many movies into our entire summer break." He joked.
"Probably."
We were almost to Fenton Works. Jazz hasn't passed us, like she usually does, but maybe she was staying after school to study or something.
"You still gonna talk to Jazz?" I asked Danny.
"Yeah, I think she's still at school though."
"What do you think she's upset about?" Tucker asked.
"I dunno. Could be anything." he shrugged. "Maybe she's finally snapped from Mom and Dads ghost obsession."
"If that was it she would have moved to Tebecuador by now."
"Tebecuador isn't a country, Tucker." I said flatly.
"...I knew that."
I rolled my eyes, sharing an exasperated glance with Danny. The steps to his front door were upon us, and Danny waved good bye.
"Guess this is my stop."
"See you tomorrow dude." Tucker waved.
"Don't hurt your brain with all that studying." I warned.
Danny stuck his tongue out at me in a brilliant display of maturity and waved good bye one last time as we parted ways. I watched him disappear behind his front door and turned back to Tucker, a sigh escaping my lung.
"Aw, miss him already Sam?" he teased.
"Shut up Tucker." I grumbled, blushing slightly.
"Well, not much to look forward to tonight." Tucker shrugged, adjusting the strap to his bag.
"Says you. I've got an in home theater and a bowling alley. I think my boredom problems are pretty much taken care of." I smirked.
"Bowling's fun." Tucker said not so subtly, looking at me pointedly.
"Yes, Tucker, you can come over and bowl. My Grandma needs a new ass to kick anyways."
"Hey..." He pouted, glaring.
I laughed at his dorky expression. We traveled our way down the sidewalk, our houses conveniently along the same path even though we were both going to my place. Tucker stopped in his house for a moment to drop off his bags and tell his Mom he was hanging at my place, and then we were off again.
"So what time do your parents get home?" he asked me.
"Their always haunting the halls of the house, too good for normal jobs like the rest of the world." I said grimly.
"Ah. Well at least they don't create mini-explosions in the basement and bring dinner to life like Danny's do."
"Sounds like more fun than tea and dress up time." I muttered.
Before Tucker could reply though, there came the low rumble of a car engine from close behind us. We glanced to the road and saw a familiar little red car pull up beside us. I was surprised to see Jazz sitting in the driver's seat, a stricken look on her face.
"I need to talk to you guys."
I looked at Tucker, his expression of worry matching mine. Jazz looked worse than when I saw her this morning. Her eye were more blood shot, and her face was deathly pale.
"Jazz, what's wrong?" I asked, coming closer to the passenger window.
She gritted her teeth, shaking her head madly and motion for us to get in the car.
"Just get in. I need to tell you something." her knuckles were gripping the steering wheels so hard they were a pearly white.
I glanced at Tucker again, but didn't hesitate to slid into the passenger seat. I've never seen Jazz like this, almost like she'd lost it. It had to be serious if it could cause such a dramatic reaction from her.
"Are we going to go get Danny?" Tucker asked as he pulled the door closed, looking at Jazz expectantly.
"No." she whispered, pressing hard on the gas and peeling away.
"Jazz, what's wrong?" I asked again, more urgency in my voice. She was driving past the speed limit, something I don't think she's ever done, even in her nightmares.
"It...It's Danny." she choked. "Somethings wrong with him."
I felt my blood go cold as my entire body stilled. Jazz's erratic driving didn't matter anymore. I stared at her broken expression, a bad feeling rising in my stomach.
"What's wrong with Danny?" Tucker panicked slightly, pulling head up between the passenger and driver seats.
Jazz just shook her head though, and pressed on the gas harder, her trembling lips mashed together. We were stuck with waiting as she flew down the road. I could feel my patience thinning, my worry for Danny bubbling over as Jazz's prolonged silence started scaring me.
Just as I was about to demand an explanation from her, I spied Danny's house rapidly approaching. The RV was gone.
"Where's Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" Tucker asked, noticing the lack of assault vehicle as well.
"They went back to some supply shop to return some weird machine or something." she replied in a strained voice, pulling into the empty space next to the brick house.
Without another word she cut the car off, jumping out and motioning for us to follow. I huffed angrily as she hurried us, still leaving us in the dark. I grabbed my spider backpack and followed her inside, Tucker close behind me. The moment Jazz pulled us inside Fenton Works my patience ran out.
"Jazz, what the heck is going on?" I yelled, dropping my bag to the floor and refusing to move another inch until she told us.
She looked between Tucker and I, twisting her hands nervously. I could see in her eyes she was about to explode and a second later she did.
"Danny's gone back to Vlad's!" she wailed, the words spilling out of her mouth.
"What?" Tucker gasped, his gapping mouth mirroring my own.
"What do you mean he's gone back to Vlad's?" I didn't understand. Danny was studying.
"I mean he's gone back to Vlad's!" She wailed again, pulling at her hair and walking to the couch. She fell into the cushions and buried her face in her hands.
"Why?" Tucker gapped, shaking his head.
Jazz sniffed loudly, her body trembling. Concern washed over me as Jazz broke down in front of us, looking so frail. I immediately sat on the couch next to her, placing a hand on her back.
"Jazz what's happened? Why is Danny at Vlad's again?" I said in a calm but urgent voice.
"He-he..." she shook her head, coughing a few times. "I think he's been going their ever since he came home, two weeks ago."
"That's insane. We totally would have noticed." Tucker was quick to disbelieve.
"Maybe you haven't noticed," she snapped, "But Danny's been disappearing for hours at a time ever since he came home."
"No he hasn't." I shook my head slowly, "He's been here. I would have noticed if he disappeared for hours on end."
"But he has! Haven't you noticed anything different about him? You guys don't hang out as much as you used to, and there are less ghost attacks! Where do you think he is now?" she asked in a hard voice, knowing our answer would be a lie.
"He...he told us he was studying."
"Danny came in after school today and told me he was leaving to hang out with you guys."
I couldn't believe this.
"But...he wouldn't lie to us." Tucker said, his voice sure.
She looked up at us with a mournful stare, taking a shaky breathe.
"I don't understand." I said in a stony voice, pushing all my hurt back. "Why would Danny lie to us?"
Jazz's voice caught in her throat. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, obviously trying to tell us something.
"Vlad...Vlad did something to him." she whispered.
Tucker swore next to me, pulling at his red barre. I felt my anger boil over instantly, my fists clenching. I hated that fruitloop.
"What did that monster do." I hissed through clenched teeth.
"He-" but Jazz didn't seem able to finish. She clenched her clasped hands, silently building strength. I forced my anger under control, retaining a hard glint in my eyes. Jazz finally took a deep breath, her voice coming out a little detached.
"Danny has been acting strange since the day he returned. Sam, I'm sure you've noticed." she glanced at me and I gave her a curt nod. Tucker looked lost.
"What do you mean?"
"He's...been kinda different." I wasn't sure how to explain it. "He'll get these dazed looks like he's in his own world, and sometimes he...he get his extra spring in his step."
Tucker was giving us a blank stare, obviously not understanding what the big deal was.
"He acts like a love struck school girl." Jazz said bluntly.
His eyes widened.
"Wait, he's got a girlfriend?"
I felt my heart sink, a little black wave of depression threatening to over whelm me. I felt like such an idiot. That's exactly what he's been acting like. But the thought of Danny having a girlfriend made me so upset and jealous that it kinda freaked me out. It had to be something else, right? Danny wouldn't go through the trouble of lying and deriving us just for a secret girlfriend.
But then Jazz shook her head and I felt relief wash over me.
"No, I...I don't think he has a girlfriend." Her voice implied that she knew something else, something so much worse. I felt my worry start back up again, my stomach grow heavy.
"Then what's going on?" I asked, afraid of the answer but needing to know. Jazz glanced at me and then back to the floor, talking to the carpet.
"Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. I had to go to the bathroom and I noticed that Danny wasn't in his room. I figured he was ghost fighting and didn't think too much of it, but on my way back to my room, he appeared in his room." her hands were clenched tightly, her voice hard.
"He didn't see me and he still doesn't know I saw him but...I heard him say...he said..." she started wringing her fingers together, her skin clammy. "Well he mentioned Vlad and that he was at his house. So I spied on him, wondering what he was doing at Vlad's mansion in the middle of the night."
I had the feeling that Danny had said something else along those lines, but I didn't push.
"He took off his shirt and he-" her voice cracked as tears glistened in her eyes. "He was covered in bruises and-and he had b-bite marks on his neck a-and hickey's all over his chest."
I felt my stomach squirm, the feeling of insects crawling on my skin. An icy chill ran down my spin at what Jazz was implying, the notion completely impossible. Tucker looked slightly sick, unable to take his eyes off Jazz's sobbing form.
"Guys," she turned her tear streamed face to us, "I think Vlad raped Danny."
The air disappeared from my chest, my lungs felt restricted. My empty stomach was crawling with maggots, nausea bubbling. I couldn't get a grasp on what Jazz was saying, the words were too impossible. There was no way Vlad was that crazy, and there was no way Danny would keep something like that from us. It had to be a mistake.
"Jazz, that's impossible." Tucker voiced my thoughts, clutching his head weakly and falling into the couch next to us. "He's been happier than I've ever seen him since he returned home. People aren't happy after they get raped. Besides we would have noticed if Danny had bite marks all over his neck."
"And he went back." I pitched in, my brain telling me that arguing against it would disprove her horrible words. "Why would he go back if Vlad...did that."
But she was shaking her head, her sorrowful expression doing nothing to quell the sick feeling in my stomach.
"He stole my moms foundation to cover the evidence. I saw it last night." She took a deep breathe, unable to speak above a whisper, "You can't use logic when it comes to the human brain. The things your mind can do when put under enough stress is incredible, especially the younger you are. You can develop entire, separate personalities just as a coping mechanism. If something so traumatic happened to Danny, it would be easy for his mind to twist that situation into something more bearable. I think he actually believes that Vlad loves him, and that's why he keeps going back. That's why he's been floating around on cloud nine, and that's why he's there now."
The sick feeling in my stomach only expanded, twisting inside of me like a sticky cesspool.
"Come on Jazz." I pleaded weakly. "You're...you're kidding, right?" It was my last hope.
But her expression shot down any chance of that. I stared numbly at the furniture in front of me, not really seeing it.
"Today after school," she continued, "Danny came home and told me he was going to be hanging out with you guys all night. He left out the front door, but I hid in the lab, and barely three minutes later he came down and floated into the portal. Do you remember him telling us that Vlad's portal is only ten minutes from ours?"
The question was pretty much rhetorical. Of course we remembered, which meant that there was no doubt that Danny was indeed going to Vlad's house.
"We can't let this keep happening. I won't let this keep happening, and I need your help." Jazz's said in a hard voice, stronger than before.
"Of course we're gonna help." Tucker stared at her incredulously. "We can't let that jerk mess with Danny's head like that, we have to stop him."
"It's not that simple." Jazz warned, sitting up straighter as a plan of action was finally being put into effort. "With the way Danny's thinking, and with how much Vlad has him wrapped around his finger, Danny will probably fight against us."
I didn't relish the idea of fighting against Danny on anything, but if it was for his own good I'd make an exception. As it was, I couldn't wait to tear that crazy fruitloop limb from limb. There was no way I was gonna leave Danny in the clutches of that scumbag. He's always been there for me, and I intend to return the favor in full.
"So," I asked, a fire in my eyes, "What's the plan?"