A/N: Well, how has everyone's week been? And how has your Friday been? All I can emphasize is TGIF because I'm so glad that Friday's here! And that means an update. Hope you can feel the wave as it begins to surge! Let's hang on tight! Here is Chapter 49. Enjoy!
TrueHeart—Chapter 49—Off Track
Sam groaned. She could swear that her head was split wide open! She reached for her forehead, slowly opening her amethyst eyes just as she winced in pain again. She gasped when her blurry vision finally cleared and she saw that she was in some kind of purple energy bubble just big enough to encase her; and it was moving. How she did she get here of all places? She immediately pulled herself up onto her knees and began to pound upon her energy cell; but then, just as quickly, she stopped after she peered through it and saw Danny!
He was in another similar bubble not too far from her and though that orb was also moving, he was not. She could not see any obvious wounds on him—well, except for his small head wound. She then jolted at her next thought. Hadn't she just seen Valerie's ugly black missiles just moments before they should have obliterated him? Then how could he be here seemingly with hardly a scratch? She cringed; well, except for that 'still being unconscious' part.
She searched her mind for what had happened. But all she had was a blur of a memory…of some kind of purplish-red dome. She shook her head. She must have been confusing her memory with the real existence of the purple bubbles in which she and her boyfriend currently were.
She glanced over to Danny again, still searching for any other signs of injury. Not that she really cared at this point to wonder why he had no other injuries. She was just more relieved now that at least he was alive!... Maybe those missiles weren't that powerful after all. Maybe he was just unconscious because they had just been little missiles that had impacted him—at least, that's what she hoped! Still, she frowned in confusion, analyzing the details of her clearing memory…Those missiles hadn't looked that 'little'. They had been huge and had looked wicked and deadly.
Even though she was still perplexed about that, she was more relieved and thankful that at least Danny hadn't been killed. She sighed with that thought. But then, she was hit with a more demanding thought: they certainly weren't out of danger yet! She immediately switched gears with that realization while trying to ignore her headache and get more focused. She began to examine her surroundings.
Passing green, black and purple blurs were very apparent as their orbs continue to move. She looked more diligently at the area beyond their bubbles. There were various pink and purple rectangular forms also whizzing by. And from how they were glowing, those could only be ghostly doors that dotted the green, black and purple atmosphere. She gasped. That would definitely mean that they were in the Ghost Zone!
She looked back to where Danny was and through her violet veil she could see that his sphere was attached to a thick purple energy cord. Her eyes followed the ray upward, searching for its source. And she gasped again. The cord was attached to Spectra! The girl glanced over to another energy ray that emanated from the evil ghost's other hand. It led to her bubble, and Sam instantly knew that she and her boyfriend were now prisoners.
She glanced up at the ghost again. She narrowed her eyes, searching her mind when seeing the female ghost sparked another thought. Then she jolted. She was now certain Spectra had been that shadow ghost who had overshadowed her! And now everything made sense! It had to be her! Of course Spectra would have wanted Danny and her to break up so that the shadow ghost could absorb all their misery from it!
She squelched the panic that suddenly tried to seize her. But then she frowned, trying to shove it away…She sighed, slightly relieved when she succeeded. At least that got rid of her headache! But she also knew she had to keep a level head. She looked over to Danny again. He was still not moving. She had better think of something soon before Spectra could reach her destination and certainly not have anything good in store for either she or her boyfriend.
The girl sat down within the natural curve of her passenger globe and closed her eyes. Before, it was accidental, triggered by the heat of the moment. But now, she had to see. This was the only way now. And she had to pull it off! She concentrated, determined to reach her target: her boyfriend's unconscious mind.
At first, she could feel nothing, but she wouldn't give up. She forced herself to focus all her attention on Danny. Suddenly, she felt a slightly painful pressure in her mind, a feeling that she now recognized as her telepathic power doing its thing. And just as sudden, she felt dizzy, as if she would be sucked right into that endless abyss, forever lost in its desolation. But a moment later, the blackness in her mind began to ebb and she could see random thoughts….Danny's random thoughts!
She wondered if…She opened her eyes slightly, making certain that she remained fixated on her task. She looked over to her boyfriend and saw that he was stirring! Encouraged by this attempt, she concentrated harder, ignoring the sting of the mental effort. But then, unexpectedly, her cell phone rang and she lost their connection.
Just as she reached for it, the energy bubble she was within suddenly stopped and then disappeared just before the teen became engulfed in a large purple energy beam that was now shaped like a hand. Spectra had projected that beam from her own hand and it was now pinning Sam's arms at her sides. It held the girl tightly and Sam ignored the annoying electrical-like hum her bonds made.
All the while, the girl didn't lose her grip on the cell phone. She could not, however, have known that this was the second time it had rung. She had been unconscious the first time when Jazz had tried to reach her but had gotten Sam's answering message instead.
As the phone rang, Sam reflexively struggled against the firm hold of Spectra's ray, trying to answer it. Her movements made the humming of the purple energy beam resonate in different pitches. She just knew it had to be either Tucker or Jazz!
Spectra laughed as she reeled the girl in towards her like a fish on a hook, tightening her energy grip as she did.
Still, Sam managed to push the connecting button on the phone as she grunted against the constricting force around her. She hoped the sudden higher, whiny pitch the beam made with her struggle to bring the phone to her mouth wouldn't drown out her call. And she knew she had a fifty-fifty chance that her hunch on who it could be was right. Finally, the girl was just barely successful in curling her elbow upward and thus pulling the phone to her mouth. She took in a deep breath, before pushing outward with both of her upper arms and the force of her lungs at the same time. She hoped that her effort would be enough so that she would be able to call out to the person who was on the other end of the phone line.
"Tuc—" she began before grunting against her bonds when they re-tightened. Sam tried to counter them again, but an instant later, Spectra's energy grasp constricted with more spite. Sam screamed in pain at the force even as she still reflexively tried to resist the shadow ghost's assault. Nevertheless, her efforts couldn't prevent her bonds from not only pinning her arms to her sides again, but they also started to squeeze the air out of her lungs. Sam felt her head spin at the sudden loss in oxygen with the blow. She went limp, struggling this time to breathe as she felt herself being pulled even closer to Spectra. Still, the girl managed to tighten her grip on her cell phone. And, unfortunately, all she could hear was her own wheezing and that annoying electrical-sounding hum. So, she couldn't hear Tucker's frantic answer to her partial yell…
As soon as Sam was within an arm's length of Spectra, the shadow ghost dissolved her energy beam around the weakened girl; and Sam, now panting, remained floating in place. This was the girl's chance. Determined to keep resisting, Sam once more struggled to bring the cell phone up high enough to yell into it.
But before she could, Spectra growled, angry at herself for underestimating the puny human. She shot out another energy beam that quickly snatched the cell phone from out of the girl's hand and sent a riveting energy pulse through it. The tiny electronic device fizzled and shook before exploding at the onslaught. The shadow ghost next charged up her energy and recaptured the girl within her large purple ectoplasmic hand and brought Sam up to her so that they were now face-to-face.
Smiling wickedly at the tightly bound and gasping girl, Spectra hissed, "Sorry you woke too soon! You should wish you hadn't. Now that I have you, I plan to put on a show for your little boyfriend! And after that, I'm sure he will do whatever I say to keep me from hurting you more! And I'll be able to keep him in my power for all eternity—or until he perishes. Whichever comes first makes no difference to me, though I hope the time in between is not only very long, but, more importantly, very painful just the same!"
Sam growled in defiance, making a more concerted effort to pull against the shadow ghost's force. But her sharp mind told her that she needed to make Spectra believe she had succeeded in making her break up with Danny. And she had to make the evil ghost believe she and Danny no longer cared for each other!
Even though she couldn't budge and was still gasping for air, she nevertheless managed to convey a brazen response, "I don't think… he'll care one way or another, Spectra!... And neither…do I! In case you don't know,…. he's not my boyfriend…anymore…We've already broken up, and…. seeing me again is…. the last thing on Danny's mind…And that…goes double for me…as far as seeing him again! So, you're not gonna win, you witch!"
"Funny. Your boyfriend said the same thing about knowing about my plans. But funnier still. I think I already have won. And I think you're bluffing…" She paused a moment at a sudden memory. This girl was tough, and it was very well possible that she would have gotten over her break-up. But then again, it would also be very possible that the girl was putting on a good ruse herself, since Bertrand's machine had detected such a high level of energy between the two silly teens.
Spectra narrowed her eyes in suspicion, studying the girl's face. But she could find no hint of deception in Sam's expression. Spectra mentally growled in frustration over that fact. Now, she hoped that the girl was bluffing. She wanted those pheromones! And if these two silly teens weren't in misery over their break-up, then she wouldn't be getting those pheromones she craved: namely, Danny's.
But she also wasn't about to let the girl in on any of her doubts….Suddenly, she thought about what Danny said about her not winning. He didn't specifically mention about breaking up with Sam! Now she had the girl! She insisted once more, "I still think you're bluffing. At least I don't think that Danny's gotten over your break-up that quickly." She paused only briefly before adding, "Besides, I don't think you—and your other pesky friend—would've come to his defense back in the Real World and attack me if you still didn't care for him. I can still get more of what I want from breaking up you two silly teens…." Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and a dark smile captured her face. "Or I can break you both—permanently. So, I'm sure that it's not quite the complete end for you two—yet."
She suddenly chuckled. But her laugh was both flip and insidious. "Besides, no matter what happens, it'll be fun for me. I so do love all that wonderful agony humans are so easily persuaded to wallow in—once they are given the right…circumstances." She paused at her next thought and sneered through gritted teeth, "And I also want to know just how you were able to resist my overshadowing you, little girl!"
Sam tried to control her surprise at the news. So, Spectra knew that she had been able to thwart the ghost's control over her!
But Spectra had noticed the tiny reaction of the goth girl and laughed, "So, you do know all about that, huh?! Then, this will be even more interesting!" The shadow ghost ended that comment by thrusting a powerful pulse within her energy clutches surrounding the girl.
Sam immediately screamed as her body absorbed the painful energy. Try as she might, however, Sam could not fight the sudden spinning of the atmosphere, as the greens, purples and blacks whirled before her dazed eyes until the colors finally melded into a senseless blackness.
Spectra laughed at how easy it had been to disable the girl, and immediately encased the listless teen within another energy bubble.
And Spectra then started back to her lair with her two captives.
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Jazz frantically tried to think of what to do once she returned to her home. Her effort to reach Danny, Sam or Tucker through their cell phones had failed. She couldn't even get in touch with her parents because they were still in the Ghost Zone and must be out of range. And now, those two ghost animals she had helped had tricked her and left her all alone without a clue on how to get to her brother or friends!
Her mind was suddenly alive, searching for possible ways to help. Hey! Maybe she could use the Boo-merang to find Danny! But then she groaned when she remembered her parents' note—THEY had it—and the Specter Speeder!...Then, maybe, she could use her booster rocket and the Fenton portal to search for them in the Ghost Zone. But then she groaned again. She had no idea, of course, where to begin to look for any ghost or the other members of Team Phantom. Besides, she had never gone into the Ghost Zone without her brother or friends and without a map. MAP!
She quickly ran to her brother's room. She frantically searched through her brother's things, hoping to find the map that she, Sam and Tucker had used during the Poisoned Ghost War. But she couldn't find it! Maybe Danny had gotten smarter and put it in a good hiding place after all. But in reality, she didn't know that Danny had gotten rid of it all together, now that he had that special Ghost Zone GPS system programmed into his cell phone. Besides, the map that her brother used to have was incomplete, and the new GPS system—and his own internal one-had made it unnecessary to complete it.
Now totally discouraged now that her options seemed to come to a dead end, Jazz plopped down hard on the nearby chair. She sighed in defeat, and trying to fight back her frustrated tears, stared out the window.
But a glimmer of hope somehow still managed to peek out from the corner of her moist eyes. Her brother and friends were very resourceful; and they were sometimes unreachable when they were ghost-hunting. They would get back to her whenever they could. She frowned again in worry. But, she had to cling to that hope. That's all she could really do at this point. Hope…and pray…..
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The Red Huntress penetrated the Ghost Zone on her hover-board, all the while ever mindful that Tucker was in tandem with her on her board. She checked on the two ghost animals at their side. She was amazed on how easy it was for them to keep abreast with the two teens as they all soared toward Spectra's lair.
As they flew onward, Sarah and Derek divulged everything that they knew on what had happened in the past several weeks to all the teens with whom they had come in contact. They also reiterated all their worries over Danny and now their new worry over Sam.
Hearing the two ghosts' story of all the events at school unfold, Tucker couldn't help but feel guilty once more about suspecting Sam of any wrongdoing. He should have trusted Sam more and should have remained loyal to her in spite of the evidence mounted against her. He should have known better. After all, he knew her as well as Danny. He had refused to listen to her defense at first; and had even rejected it. And he had ignored the nagging feeling that he had all along: that her unexplained behavior had been that—unexplained and totally unlike her.
He also felt ashamed on how he had lashed out at his friends during his own personal turmoil with Valerie. He had even just about told them to take a hike on more than one occasion. Or he had completely ignored them. He then startled at the next thought. Both of his friends had really been very supportive of him during all that time. Actually, they had been more supportive then they should have been, given that he hadn't given them an inch of an explanation of what he was going through until he had blown up on Sam a few hours ago. He should have trusted them. He realized now that they would have tried to help him if only he had let them. And they would have understood.
He bit his lip at that last thought. But, if he knew them as well as he thought he did, they would understand in the end and roll with it. He smiled weakly, and then set a sober thought in his mind. He would no longer hesitate to trust them in the future.
After Derek and Sarah finished talking about all the events concerning Danny and Sam, they finally got to the part where they were supposed to break up Tucker and Valerie as well. However, they then explained that it was not in Spectra's original plans to have done that before they had broken up Danny and Sam...
Tucker thought about all those crazy things that had happened between Valerie and him during the time when he thought Armen was hitting on Valerie, and Alice was hitting on him. Now that he knew that those teens had been overshadowed by Derek and Sarah, he sighed in relief. But then, he wondered why he did that. He had not felt in the least that Valerie would have cheated on him. She was not that type—and neither was he for that matter. Still, those happenings had led to their break-up in a very different way. But now, Tucker felt that he could bury those memories, though, again, he was kinda glad he had them now, even if he had to suffer with all that turmoil. If he hadn't, their relationship would not have had the chance to truly blossom. He certainly hoped that Valerie felt the same….
And indeed she did. Valerie's feelings were also going a million miles a minute while listening to Sarah and Derek's story. She had gotten Tucker, Danny and Sam all wrong. Now that she knew Danny's secret, she had had no idea how...brave…and amazing these three best friends were. Or that not only were they constantly fighting ghosts, but they also tried to live relatively quiet—even unpopular—lives at school. If the kids at Casper High only knew about these three, and how resourceful and ultra-cool they really were, Danny, Sam and Tucker would be the most popular kids ever in the history of the school.
But the dark-skinned girl stopped short of dwelling more on that thought. That was it. These three best friends could have had all the popularity they wanted, anytime, right for the taking. The thing was they didn't want that kind of popularity. They wanted to do what was right without the fanfare—only because it was right! Otherwise, why wouldn't they have already exploited that easily grabbed opportunity?
She suddenly felt ashamed once more about her own shallow desire to be the center of attention, to be popular; and how she was willing to hate and destroy ghosts, even Danny, all because she had lost that petty, worthless goal…And, of course, all because of her other bottled-up hurts, frustrations and hatred.
And now, she totally understood everything about the three. Why hadn't she seen it before? Tucker's frequent and unexplained absences. Danny and Sam's secretiveness. But then, she stopped chiding herself. Not that she really could have noticed it all. After all, she herself had been mega-busy with ghost hunting, school and her job at the Nasty Burger. Still, it did seem at the time that they had been avoiding her or had been indifferent to her, as if they were way into themselves and really were blasé about her.
She paused at her next thought. Except for Sam. Valerie had never mistaken the subtle and hostile vibes she had always gotten from her whenever the goth girl was near. At first, she had thought that that was just the girl's personality. After all, Sam was a goth, and had strong opinions. But now, Valerie understood. Sam hadn't trusted her—and with good cause. After all, Sam must have hated her for always wanting to waste her boyfriend. So, of course Sam would have been hostile toward her. And that meant that Sam was probably the most honest member of the three best friends when she was dealing with her. Yet, the girl also must have been incredibly loyal to her friends because Sam had never blown her off in front of her friends—for the sake of her friends—especially for Tucker's sake!
Valerie frowned in shame. Suddenly—oddly—she wanted to be friends with Sam now. If Sam was ever to be her friend, then Valerie just knew that Sam would be unquestionably loyal—and honest—with her.
Honesty. And trust. Those had been the issues all along. Especially between her and Tucker. How odd. She now understood that as well. Tucker couldn't have been totally honest with her without betraying his friends—and without betraying her as well! And yet, he had been honest with her and had trusted her in everything else that didn't have to do with his friends' secret, with ghost hunting or with the Red Huntress. He had been sincere and that made her feel very warm inside.
That must have been a real challenge for him to walk on that fine line. She had not put him in an easy position with that. Yet, really, he had put himself in that position by asking her out in the first place. Why had he done that? Oh, yeah, he told her… Because he had felt sorry for her, and didn't want her to grow up to be bitter and full of hate. But, why would he have felt that way? He hadn't known anything of her past then. How could he have known any of that even being a possibility in the future? She made a mental note to ask him about that some day.
Her thoughts then drifted to a different kind of feeling: Danny. But, strangely, her feelings toward him held an entirely different perspective on her now. And suddenly, now that her hate was gone, her feelings were confusing, like they had been before she had first started dating Tucker. After all, Danny had once been special to her. But then, another thought pushed forward. And she sighed in relief as it shattered her uncertainty. She now knew that he was not the special one for her.
Even still, the fact that Danny had once been special to her was probably the reason why she wasn't upset anymore about finding out about his secret. She couldn't continue to be angry at him when he still had a small corner of her heart. He probably always would. Not that she expected anything of it anymore. She just now understood that she really was no different than most people who had given part of their heart away. They—and now she—would always remember that brief sweetness they had shared with someone special at a magical time in their lives, even if, in the end, they weren't ever meant to be. And, really, that was okay now. She knew that Danny had finally realized that he had his true love right by his side way longer than when she had ever come upon the scene.
Valerie laughed gently to only herself. She really had already guessed that ever since she caught Danny and Sam in their own 'scene': and that was when she caught them kissing when she had first became the Red Huntress and was going after Phantom and Cujo.
And now she had Tucker…Not that he was a consolation prize in the least…it was just that…that she was more than certain now that he was the special one for her after all…and their love was the real thing, too, since it had survived so much turmoil already…
Valerie's thoughts melted away just as Derek and Sarah finally finished with their story. And as the two couples flew onward in silence, everything that had happened and everything that they now needed to do now filled all of their minds.
Suddenly, Valerie saw from the corner of her eye that the ghost animals had slowed considerably down. She instantly matched their speed, and then followed them when they headed toward a large boulder on a nearby floating green ghost shelf.
Derek and Sarah landed right behind the boulder, making certain that they would be hidden from any eyes peeking out of the wicked sorceress' home. They patiently waited for Valerie and Tucker to join them.
Tucker jumped right off the hover-board and darted right up to the ghost animals, while Valerie followed him, uncertain why they had stopped.
As she came up to the trio, she got her answer.
Tucker was looking from around their hiding place and over to a small grey castle-like home perched on another shelf nearby. It, unlike a few other 'regular' ghostly lairs, didn't just display its front door to the casual observer in the Ghost Zone. Most ghosts liked the single door entrance to their lairs, but other ghosts found that irksome and confusing whenever they tried to quickly find their home. And Spectra was among those ghosts who did prefer an obvious lair over the covert ones that hid behind lone doors. But her little 'castle-in-the-sky' was much smaller than most similar buildings and had short, blunt-tip, flagless minarets on the four corners of the structure. And its lone lavender door looked very similar to all the other doors in the Ghost Zone.
"Okay, I can see we are very near Spectra's lair," Tucker said, pulling himself back behind the boulder and rechecking his PDA's coordinates. "Where do you think would be a good place to start?"
Derek and Sarah looked at each other before Derek hesitantly said, "We know of a small window in a hardly used room on the far eastern end of the lair." He motioned with his head and continued, "You can easily see it from here."
The foursome was so close to Spectra's abode, they had no difficulty finding that small aperture. And it could only be the one to which the enchanted wildcat had referred because it was the smallest window in that part of the lair.
But before they could comment, Derek added, "But, we have honestly not thought any more than that."
When she heard that, Valerie gasped, "You mean, you don't have a plan?"
The two animals shook and then dropped their heads, too ashamed to verbally admit that.
And when they saw the ghost couple's reaction, Valerie and Tucker reflexively looked at each other and groaned.