Danny was floating on his back, idly playing the stolen guitar. Alex, who had been reclining awkwardly on the bike, that was traveling forward silently, looked over to the halfa was a look of pleasant surprise.
"I didn't know you could play," he muttered. Danny shrugged, continuing on with the song. Alex chuckled. "I Will Not Bow. Good choice."
Danny smiled, closing his eyes and continuing to play, quietly singing the words. His music and voice were the only sounds in their corner of the ghost zone, and he preferred it that way. If another ghost were to come by he'd probably snap the paper-thin shell of composure he had wrapped himself in.
As the song ended, Danny opened his eyes, looking a little lost. "I can't." he finally said. Alex stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "I can't play the guitar. I knew that song, but I can't play the guitar!"
"Well, whatever. Maybe the guitar has some power in it or something."
"I guess. I'm so keeping this guitar now. Oh, we're almost there."
They were at least a hundred feet from the portal, and they chose to keep that distance by hiding behind a small floating boulder.
"Nothing to do now but wait, I guess." Alex said, sitting up on the bike.
Vlad was sitting calmly on a park bench when Sam and Tucker found him. They doubled back before they were spotted, Sam holding a finger to her lips to remind Tucker to keep quiet. She pulled him behind a bush and began to whisper urgently.
"Here's the plan: We'll walk past him, talking about how Danny left us to go into the Ghost Zone, without making it look to obvious. If we look like we're mad or something, it may work." Sam said, holding her hands tightly together with worry. Tucker nodded.
"But what should we say about Alex?"
"If it gets to that, we'll say he's with Jack. Oh, we could be on our way to go see him! The Nasty Burger is in this direction anyway."
"Sounds good to me, but how about I lead? You look too worried."
Sam glared at him, and then sighed, dropping her gaze. Tucker looked past her, checking on Vlad. The older halfa was staring straight at the bush they were hiding behind.
"Sam, I think he knows we're here!" Tucker hissed. Sam snapped her head around, violet eyes widening as she saw the man.
"How can he see us?"
"He doesn't see you," a voice whispered into her ear, making her jump. "But I do."
Both teens froze, knowing that it was over. The Vlad on the bench was nothing more than a copy. Vlad had duplicated himself so that he could search the entire park quickly. The real Vlad had probably been following them from the beginning, when they first stepped into the park.
"So, Daniel isn't with you, is he?" the halfa continued, keeping himself invisible. He chuckled darkly. "Well, that's too bad; I have a gift for him."
"He's in the Ghost Zone!" Sam exclaimed, throwing herself into the plan she had created. It was true, Danny was in the Ghost Zone, but would Vlad believe it? He had heard their entire conversation, so he could just brush it off as a lie. Tucker backed up Sam's claim, adding that Danny had left them without saying goodbye.
"He just ran away! We can't go after him because the Specter Speeder is damaged, so we were going to find Alex instead."
Vlad silently went over his options. He could go to Daniel, if he was where his friends said he was, or he could kill them and then go get Daniel. He didn't want to kill these children, as pestering as they were. Two dead teenagers in the park wouldn't sit well either, but there was no way to pin it on him. He could blame their deaths on Daniel, saying that Phantom did it.
Their murders, as tempting as it was, would just be a waste of time.
"The two of you are very lucky," he said, vanishing in an invisible swirl of power. Sam and Tucker raised their eyebrows.
"Mr. Masters…?" Sam tried, poking her hand out in the open air to see if he was still there. Tucker shook his head, pointing at the bench. The Vlad copy was gone. So far, their plan had worked. Tucker sighed, leaning against a rock.
"Man, I though we'd have to catch him in a thermos and throw it into the Ghost Zone to get him there. That was close."
"Yeah, too close. Come on, let's get out of here." Sam said, stumbling out of the bush. She pulled some stray leaves out of her dark hair as she waited for Tucker. "We'll go back to Fenton works in a few minutes."
"Are we going to keep tabs on the Zone?" Tucker offered, leading the way back to the house. Sam nodded.
Plasmius had teleported himself back to Fenton Works, appearing in the lab. He typed a code into a keypad, opening the Ghost Zone portal. As the door opened, he took out a small book, flipping it to a certain page. "Hmm, let's see… Oh!" he cleared his throat before speaking in a louder voice"
"Ancient evil, get thee hence only good can recompense
for the miss deeds that you have done evil spirit return from whence you've come."
As he finished speaking, black tendrils of smoke seeped from the pages of the book. Each had a pointed hand on the end, and they quivered with energy before slithering off into the Ghost Zone.
"So mote it be, Daniel."
Danny shivered as a wave of dread and hopelessness suddenly ran through him. Shaking, he turned to Alex.
"Hey, do you feel that? It's like something is coming this way."
"Is it a ghost or Vlad?" Alex said, looking around sharply. "Is it your ghost sense thing?"
Danny shook his head, looking around the boulder to the portal. He almost screamed with dread. "Alex! The Black Peacock! He's using it!" the halfa moaned, eyes wide with fear.
"Well, do something! Use the guitar!" Alex said, revving his bike and flying off to the portal to beat Vlad back.
"Wait!" Danny called, reaching a hand out too late. The hand fell back down to his side. "I can't fight! I can't do anything! I can't!" He cried, hiding behind the boulder.
Alex flew straight through the portal, hitting Plasmius and knocking him back to the far wall. Before the ghost could fight back, he zoomed back into the Ghost Zone. He yelled over to Danny. "Do something, Danny!"
Vlad snarled, flying to his feet. "Damn child!" he hissed, smiling a twisted smile as a scream of fear met his ears when he got back to the edge of the portal.
The black hands continued on, going straight for Danny. Alex saw this, and raced to the halfa, grabbing him and throwing him on the bike. Danny's eyes were wide and vacant, an effect from the book. Alex took the guitar from him, standing up on the seat of the bike to face the banishing curse. As he put the guitar strap on, he felt the instruments power flare up in him. He readied the guitar with one hand, and sent a shockwave of energy at the eerie tendrils.
The tendrils still kept coming.
Alex groaned, playing chord after chord as best as he could with a broken hand. The tendrils melted through each attack, until the longest tendril grabbed Danny by his ankle. Danny cried out, waking from his forced daze as he was dragged from the bike. With a cry, he blasted the black substance, trying in vain to get it off. The other smoky hands grabbed at him until it was impossible for him to get away. They dragged him away, back to the book, with a taunting, yet fast, speed. Alex flew after him, reaching out with one hand. Each time he tried to grab Danny; the halfa would be blocked by an arm of black smoke.
"Alex!" Danny yelled, struggling to free himself. "Alex, I can't get out!"
I don't want to die! Not like this!
They were close to the portal and the book. Plasmius egged the power on further, dragging Danny more quickly. Vlad held the book out, catching Danny by his foot.
"No! Stop this!" Alex cried out, clawing for the book now to shut it. Danny screamed a final time as he vanished.
Plasmius held the book away, grabbing Alex by his neck and dragging him out of the Ghost Zone. . "Little Alex Rider, how much will you fight for this?" he held up the small book. "Think. Daniel will live in this book for only a short amount of time, a few days at most. Even now, it's a terrifying experience for him, but he is alive. If you were to get him back before he dies… just think about that."
Alex struggled in the ghost's grip. He tried to speak, and managed to squeak out a few sounds. Plasmius laughed quietly, tossing him at the wall. Alex felt his head hit the metal wall roughly, and felt the flash of pain, then nothing more.
AN: Finally! I found my way out of the abyss known as writer's block! I hope everyone likes this chapter! For anyone who wants to know, the Spell Vlad says is from a spell-casting website that I found via Google. I'm sort of regretting using a book for the evil weapon thingy, but I'm going to take it as a challenge and see what I can do with it! ;D (In other words, I'm too lazy to go back and rewrite everything!)
"So Mote It Be." Which is another way of saying: "The Will Of God Be Done."
Please, no flames about Vlad using a book to get rid of Danny. They just mess up my focus when I'm writing a story.