I stared at the back corner, focusing on the little hitch where Sam's chain was connected. I was trying not to think of anything in particular. I didn't want to think of captivity, or my family members, or pain of any sort. I just wanted to think about nothing. And while I had been accused of being empty-headed for nearly my entire life, I just couldn't quite achieve emptiness. I kept picturing a headstone with Jazz's name on it; Tucker's face bruised beyond belief; and the betrayal on Sam's face when she had yelled at me. Those three images were playing on an endless loop inside my fucking head and every time I thought I had managed to free myself, there they were, haunting me again.

The temperature in the cell began to lower considerably and a blue wisp darted out from between my lips. I rose to my feet, slow and trembling. I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten or drank anything. I couldn't even fight whatever would be popping up in the cell, not without hurting Sam. I glanced at her quickly. She was ignoring me, as she always was, sitting on her side of the cell with her knees drawn up to her chest. Ever since she had screamed at me for all of my wrong doings, I had been getting the silent treatment. I couldn't even blame her. I let my gaze wander from Sam, searching for the ghost that I had sensed. I prayed it wasn't Skulker or someone like him, sent to beat the shit out of me knowing that I couldn't fight back.

When the ghost materialized, I couldn't place her. I had never seen her before. She was dressed like a modern girl, meaning that she had died recently. If I were in any other place, then I might have felt sorry for her; I would have started on working to get her to cross over. But she was in Vlad's mansion; she was one of his lackeys. And she was standing next to Sam; a girl that I couldn't protect, because I couldn't go to her side or I couldn't use my powers.

"Look out!" I blurted.

Sam's head shot up and the ghost girl took a long step back, looking around like she was worried something was coming after her. Sam looked at me and then to where I was staring. I waited for her to scream at the sight of the ghost, hoping that she would run to me so that I could at least try to protect her physically. But Sam didn't scream, she … relaxed?

What?

"Hi, Maheen," Sam said, voice soft.

Sam knew her?

"Come here," I ordered Sam. I could worry about figuring this out later. Right now, Sam needed to get away from the ghost. "She's one of Vlad's ghosts."

"She's nicer than you," Sam snapped, at the same time the ghost girl shook her head at me.

"I brought food," the ghost girl said, and then she had my full attention. She had a large bottle of water and an assortment of fruit in her hands. She offered Sam an orange and Sam snatched it.

"Don't," I said, just as Sam was digging her fingernail into the peel of the orange.

"What?" Sam asked. "It's an orange."

"We don't know her," I insisted. "It could be poisoned. She's Vlad's ghost!"

"I'm not!" the ghost girl shrieked at me with an intensity I didn't understand. "I may be stuck here with Vlad but I am not his ghost."

"That doesn't mean we can trust you! Sam, please, come over here. Don't eat that."

"I'm not going anywhere. I think you've proven that I really can't trust you. Also, I need to eat."

"Poison!" I shouted at her, thinking maybe volume could make her understand what I was saying. "Vlad could be poisoning us via her!"

"Why would Vlad poison me?" Sam asked, focusing on peeling her orange rather than me.

"Because he's fucked up! Why else would he lock you in the basement?"

Sam looked up, only to glare at me. "You said it yourself: Vlad needs me to keep you under control. There's no point in poisoning me. If you feel like starving to death, fine. Starve to death. But I am going to eat."

I watched her break off a slice of orange and put it in her mouth. She stared at me defiantly the entire time that she chewed, only looking away when she bit into her second piece. I watched her, fuming over the fact that I couldn't go over to her side where the ghost girl was lingering. Sam finished off the orange, a little triumphantly in my opinion, and reached for the water bottle. She noticed that I was still staring as she twisted the cap off the bottle. Instead of lifting it to her lips, she grabbed the banana from Maheen's hands and threw it at me. I caught the yellow fruit.

"Just eat it," Sam growled.

I inspected it and found no signs that someone had fooled with it. I unpeeled it and it looked like a regular banana. Finally, I took a bite. I chewed slowly, trying to recall if it tasted differently than any of the bland bananas I'd had in the past. It tasted the same as all the rest – if it was poisoned, I didn't notice. But fuck me if it wasn't the best banana I'd ever had.

(-.-)

I was on my side, staring at the wall, when I heard the noise: an awkward, slow, screech. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I didn't know what that sound was. I sat up, immediately looking to Sam, seeing if she was finally losing it and doing something insane. H eyes were slowly opening from sleep and not paranoia like I thought.

Turning so that I was facing the cell door, my stomach clenched. Vlad was standing in the open cell door. Vlad's presence always meant something bad, but, to me, the open door just meant that it was going to turn into something fucked up.

Standing, I demanded, "What do you want, Vlad? Come to face a fair fight?"

Vlad barely spared me a glance, as he snapped, "Please, Daniel, do not kid yourself. A fight between you and I would not be fair. You are not on my level."

No one was on his level of pomp-assery.

"Unchain me and we'll test that theory," I taunted him. I knew that he wouldn't, because despite the fact that I had been in the cell – starving and dehydrated – for a long time now, Vlad couldn't deny that I had gotten strong – in the past year, especially. He couldn't afford to be confident in his ability to beat me anymore.

"I'm not here to banter with you, child, as fun as that is." Vlad sneered. "I'm here for Samantha."

Sam? He couldn't fucking have her.

"M-me?" Sam whimpered, as Vlad swept toward her.

I took a step forward, trapped by the invisible boundary line. I couldn't go to her. I couldn't fucking help her. I was entirely helpless as Vlad loomed over her. I could only imagine how creepy he looked as he bent over her, telling her she shouldn't be scared. Sam didn't buy it, her beautiful face becoming more petrified. She screamed at him, trying to escape into the corner, and I wished that I could do something. I wished that I could help her escape; could somehow teleport her far away from all of the bullshit I had managed to get her tangled in.

My heart leapt into my throat when I saw Vlad pull something out of his pocket. I saw a flash of silver, and my mind automatically went KNIFE! I was paralyzed with the knowledge that he was going to stab her in front of me as he swung the knife upward – over her head, slicing at the place where her chain was connected to the wall. I watched her chain drop away from the wall with ease, and I was dumbstruck for an entirely different reason. It looked so fucking easy to just detach the chain from the wall, even though I knew that neither Sam nor I could do it. Fuck him for rubbing that in my face too.

Vlad yanked on the end of the chain, pulling Sam along the ground. "Don't get any heroic ideas while she's gone, Daniel. Any wrong move on your part will cause her pain and, eventually, it will kill her. Never forget that the two of you are connected."

How could I possibly forget that? It was always weighing on my mind – I couldn't do anything that could possibly help us, because it would kill her in the process. My heart ached because we weren't connected in the way I always wanted us to be.

He pulled on Sam's chain again, her foot flying upward, her skirt falling back toward her waist. I was sure Vlad got a look between her legs and I lurched forward before catching myself. I couldn't be Sam's defender. I wasn't anyone's defender.

Sam lurched onto her feet, her face one of pure terror. I wanted nothing more than to be able to save her. Vlad pulled her out of the cell and that scared me more than anything. Where was he taking her? What was he going to do with her? Vlad latched the cell door behind them and I stared at the place where they disappeared from view, caught in a state of horrified pondering. Each idea was more disgusting than the last. I knew he wasn't going to kill her, but that was a small consolation when I thought of what he wasn't willing to do in front of me; what he needed to take Sam to a separate room for.

I sunk down to my knees, trying to control my breathing so that I didn't use my powers in a fit. Sam was probably going through enough right now that I didn't need to add to it. I failed my sister; I failed my best friend; I failed the girl that I loved. I put my head in my hands, shaking as I tried to keep my composure. Instinct was screaming at me to transform, because I'd always been able to fix things when I was Phantom. When I was Phantom, I managed to make everything go right. Fenton was the fucked up one; Phantom was the hero. But there was no Phantom here.

The hero was dead.

I dug my nails into my cheeks and that was when I heard it. Footsteps. They were coming back! I was on my feet again in an instant. Vlad appeared first, a condescending smirk on his human face. Whatever he had wanted from Sam, he had gotten it. Sam slowly edged into sight; she was keeping to the very end of her chain, as far away from Vlad as she could get. I ran my eyes over the little pieces of her that I could see. She definitely looked roughed up – but what else could I have expected?

Then, she planted her feet. I watched the chain go taut as Vlad continued forward without her. Sam grabbed the taut chain in both hands, desperately pulling backward, as if she could get free from him. But I knew she wasn't strong enough to get away from him, no matter how much she might have wanted to. Vlad spun around the moment she resisted, and agony pierced through me as I once again realized: I could do absolutely nothing. He flew toward Sam, and they disappeared from view, just around the side of the cell. I took a step forward out of reflex, and that was when Sam screamed.

"Sam? Are you okay? Sam!" I shouted.

No response. Although I wanted to fly forward, I made myself shuffle backward, not wanting to risk crossing my boundary line. Vlad dragged Sam back into view; he was literally dragging her across the fucking ground by her chain. Sam's large eyes were unfocused, her breathing ragged. Vlad took no notice of this as he put Sam back on her side of the cell, away from me so that I couldn't care for her. He reattached her chain to the wall with the same ease, taking no notice of either of us.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" I raged at Vlad. I took a step toward Sam, and then I had to retreat. I wasn't entirely sure of my boundary, and I couldn't live with myself if I caused her more pain.

"Nothing," Vlad insisted. "I didn't do anything she didn't deserve."

That was a fucking load. She didn't deserve any of what she had been put through.

Vlad rolled his eyes, making even that small movement monumentally asshole-ish, and then he left. I didn't even watch him go – he didn't matter right now, Sam did. She was staring at her pale fingers, and they were covered in blood.

What the fuck had he done to her?

"It'll be okay, Sam," I tried to assure her, but she looked even more panicked than before. I fought to keep my voice under control; fought not to make this worse for her. "Just breathe. You're going to be okay."

Sam's eyes fluttered.

"Sam? Sam, don't you go to sleep on me! Sam? Sam, you need to stay awake. Come on, talk to me. Sam?!"

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

I'm moving back across the country for the summer this weekend! I'll be in a different time zone, but other than that, updates won't be impacted!

I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky!

~TLL~