Karen Manson is a normal girl…but everything changes on her fourteenth birthday. Contains OC's. Rated for cursing and violence later on. Read and review, constructive criticism is appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. I never have, I never will. Get over it.

Notes: This is supposed to take place sometime in the future, so some current shows now are old shows in this story, which is why Law and Order is on TV Land (that show is never going to end, is it?).

Chapter Six: Slump Girl

Later that night I tried to sleep, but I kept replaying the conversation with Mom in my head.

Your dad was a ghost, your dad was a ghost, your dad was a ghost…

I remembered all the ghost stories I had heard when I was little, with drowned women and blood-stained soldiers and wolves that remained invisible until they attacked. Were any of them true? Did ghosts really haunt old houses and seashores and forests and graveyards? I didn't know and I didn't care. The thought that there was ghostly blood—the blood of the ghosts in old tales—running through my veins, the thought that one day I could be the subject of one of those stories…what would that do to me?

Your dad was a ghost…

I was lying on the couch watching Law and Order on TV Land. I wasn't paying attention to the dialogue, just watching Jerry Orbach smash a guy against an old-fashioned car and putting handcuffs on him. When they cut to the interrogation room, I filled my head with dialogue about what the cop and bad guy could be saying.

Jerry Orbach:Don't be cute with me. I know that you're the one who stole my Beanie Babies!

Bad Guy:I don't know what you're talking about, officer! I didn't steal any Beanie Babies!

Jerry Orbach: Yeah, sure you didn't. Then how come I saw my Beanie Baby collection in your closet when we searched your house?

Bad Guy: The Beanies were a gift! I didn't know they were stolen!

Jerry Orbach: A gift. Really. From who?

Bad Guy: The ghost guy, Danny Phantom! He's still around! He's even got a kid out there somewhere!

Jerry Orbach: Well, you better hope that this 'Danny Phantom' has a Beanie Baby fetish. Otherwise, it's off to the big house for you, bub. Don't expect to—

Click.

I turned around and saw Mom looking down at me with the remote in her hand. Her expression was a mixture of annoyance and concern. Given the fact that her free hand was clutching her elbow, I would say more the latter than the former.

"I was watching that," I said halfheartedly.

"Were you?" Mom asked. "Then what was the episode about?"

"Uh…" I racked my brain for the answer. Had I even paid attention to the teaser? "Some guy was murdered, and now they're investigating it?"

"The show's about homicide detectives," Mom said. "That happens in every episode. And it was an old woman who was murdered, not a guy."

"Oh," I said flatly, "right."

Mom put the remote down and motioned me to move over. I reluctantly bent my legs to my chest so she could sit. She looked at me with a worried eye. "What's wrong with you?" she asked me. "You've been acting like a zombie all week, not talking or anything."

I didn't try to deny it. It had been a week since Mom had told me about Danny, and about me, and I had been walking around like a zombie since. I hadn't respond to any of Sharon and Mimi's calls or e-mails, and if and when I talked my sentences were less than monosyllabic. It had been an effort that day just to tell Mom about Law and Order.

"I...just...have a lot on my mind," I replied. "High school...life stuff..."

"Ah, let me guess," Mom said, nodding her head. "You're in shock because I told you about Danny's powers."

"He didn't have powers, Mom, he was a ghost," I snapped, "you said that yourself. 'Your dad was a ghost.' Those were your exact words."

Mom sighed and reached to put her hand on my knee. "Look, honey, I know that was a lot to take in—"

I flinched away and glared at her. "Gee, ya think? I'm part ghost, Mother, part GHOST. That's a bit to take in when you're fourteen."

Mom nodded the 'I-don't-understand-but-I'll-pretend-I-do' nod that parents tend to give their children. "I'll bet," she said softly. "It was a lot for Danny to take in too. But you know what?" She gave me a solid, unwavering look. "He got past the shock. He accepted his powers. And I know you will too."

I rolled my eyes. "And how do you even know I have powers?"

"When was the last time you ever saw your bus driver go through a door made of solid wood?" When I didn't reply, she simply replied, "That's what I thought."

I sighed and softened my gaze. "I'm sorry," I said to Mom, "it just came as a bit of a shock. I'll...try to..."

"I know you will," Mom said. We sat in silence for a minute. Out of the blue, Mom started to chuckle. "You know, when Danny first got his powers, he could not get a grip on them. About two weeks after he got them, he accidentally sank through the floor and fell straight into the girl's locker room."

For the first time all week, I let out a smile. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah." She was laughing good laughs now. "The first time he tried to fly, he fell off of a roof and only survived because he landed on a giant mattress that just happened to be there."

I imagined the sight of ghostly Danny—the one I had seen in the clippings in Mom's photo album—falling on his ass, and I started to laugh too. We laughed for at least five straight minutes, Mom at remembering her good times, me for imagining the good times. After we stopped, I sat up and shifted over on the couch to give Mom more room. She moved over and smiled.

We sat in comfortable silence for a minute. Finally, I asked the question that had been looming over my head like a big thundercloud. "So..." I asked hesitatingly, "...after Danny got control over his powers...what did he do with them?"

Mom raised her eyebrows at me. "Are you sure you want me to tell you?"

"Why? Is it bad?"

"Sometimes, but generally no."

"Then tell me."

She paused. "How much do you want me to tell you?"

I was suddenly confused. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want the whole story or the Spark Notes version?"

I felt more energized than I had in a long time, even before my zombie week. I gave her a big, toothy grin. "Don't leave out a single detail."

Mom sighed, a half-smile on her face. "OK," she said, "you asked for it. Wait here." She stood up and started to walk out of the living room.

"Hey!" I called out to her. "Where are you going?"

"To the kitchen," came her reply.

"What for?"

"To get water and make popcorn."

"Why?"

I heard the refrigerator door open and close, and Mom came back with four big bottles of water. She placed the water on the coffee table and let out a dangerous grin.

"Because you're in for a long night."

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I speak from my friend's Fan Fiction bomb shelter, which protects against bombs, flames, and cockroaches.

Finally, at long last, I've updated Ghost Daughter. I had a completely different idea for how this chapter was going to go; I was originally going to have the chapter end in Karen's first flying experience (since in the original chapter idea she had always felt a compulsion to fly), but I realized that there was no way to write a middle that could work between Karen in a slump and flying for the first time. After my epiphany came, I wrote this resulting chapter, and now here it is. The original was actually a lot longer than this, so I split it up into two separate chapters. I'm still not sure if it was a wise decision, but here it is anyway. I'll post the next part as soon as I feel I have enough reviews (NO double reviews, because I'll know!).

Well, that's all for today! Part two of my after-chapter commentary will be in the next chapter, so bye until then!

-goes back to hiding from Fan Fiction cockroaches-