Sam wasn't surprised to find the front door unlocked. After all, she and Tucker hadn't bothered locking it earlier. Tucker opened the door, and they stormed in, quickly shutting the door after them. The silence in the house was unnerving.

"Do you think Plasmius went into the Ghost Zone yet?"

"I don't know; let's find out."

They ran to the lab, stopping at the top of the stairs. Everything was wrong. The portal was wide open, and Johnny's bike was hovering just inside it.

"Alex? Danny?" Sam said, leading the way downstairs. She stopped, looking, until she saw Ember's guitar on the ground. She walked past it, going to the portal and leading the bike in before shutting the portal. "Danny?" she tried again, leaning the bike against the wall. Tucker went to examine a rather large table near the side wall. Something had been knocked across it, breaking several beakers and other pieces of equipment. He leaned over the table, peering into the space behind it. There was at least three feet of space behind it.

Just enough space to accompany a fourteen year old boy.

"Alex!" Tucker cried out, diving down to pick Alex up halfway and take him to the middle of the room. Sam went pale when she saw him, and ran to get an icepack from the kitchen. She wrapped the cold package in a towel before rushing back downstairs to place it on the spy's forehead.

"Tucker, if he's like this, and Danny and Vlad aren't here…"

"Yeah, I know."

"It's the book. It was real then." Sam said, looking down at Alex and patting his cheek. "Alex, wake up!"

The spy groaned, wrinkling his eyebrows. Sam called his name again, urgently, patting his cheek again to wake him. With a gasp, brown eyes opened, and Alex shot into a sitting position.

"Danny!" he yelled, looking wildly around the room. He saw the two teens on either side of him, and his face fell. "Tucker, Sam! I'm so sorry! We weren't prepared at all. Vlad's book did some Harry Potter rubbish; it dragged Danny into it, and now he's stuck there!" Alex whispered, burying his face in his hands. "I've never seen anything like it, and that's saying something, coming from me."

"There was no way that you could have known that it would do that, Alex." Tucker finally said, looking away. "At least we know where he is, and you're safe."

"Vlad said Danny had a few days to last in the book before he … you know. But he also said that it's really rough in there; we need to find him as soon as possible. He's making it out to be some bloody challenge for me or something, the bastard."

"Well, we don't have a moment to waste then!" Sam announced, getting to her feet and pulling the guys up with her. "Let's go!" she said, picking up the guitar and putting it on. Alex ran over to the bike, hopping on.

"This should help, if it can still fly."

"You're going to fly it out of the house?"

"Sure. We'll need speed where we're going, and I know the Specter Speeder won't fit through the front door."

The first thing Danny felt was the cold. He was freezing. Somehow, he had fallen, and he quickly pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his arms to try and gain some warmth. Looking down at himself, he realized that he was still in his ghost form. He knew that he'd have an easier time managing the cold as Phantom, so why was he so cold?

Something was wrong. He pulled some hair into his line of vision, sighing as he saw the white strands. This discovery brought only a little relief, and the ghost hybrid needed to know more, have more things confirmed. He knew that the book had dragged him into its pages; that was weird enough! Now it was almost like he was in another place entirely, nowhere near Amity Park. He was standing in the middle of a cobbled street, lined with buildings on either side. Cars dotted the sides of the streets, all in styles from the nineteen twenties at least.

"Great, this is just great. I died and got sent back to the age without computers!"

He took off, walking down the street and over to the sidewalk. He'd see a few people every now and again, and began to grow aware of just how strange he must have looked. Everyone else was dressed in normal clothes, nothing too bright of flashy, and he was in a black and white jumpsuit. The snow white hair didn't help either.

"Yassen made it sound like this would be some really terrible place," he mussed, walking down a side street. There was only one other person on the street, a woman in a green dress and tan sandals. Her hair was long and brown. Danny averted his eyes to avoid the woman speaking to him; he had had enough with the snide comments already. He was passing by her, why he didn't cross to the other sidewalk was a mystery, when she stopped him by placing a kind hand on his shoulder.

"My, little one, you look hungry. Would you like to come into my shop for a quick snack?" she asked, smiling down at him. Danny bit his lip, feeling a little bemused by the woman's smile. It was almost… no, it was creepy. He glanced at the shop she pointed to: a butcher shop.

"Danger!" the halfa's mind warned. "It's a butcher shop! She's a total stranger! And haven't you had enough trouble with seemingly nice women giving out food?"

Danny's stomach began to protest with a loud growl. His face flushed. Since when did a ghost have an appetite anyway? He decided he could risk it. Better to be sort of safe with a full stomach than safe with an empty one, right?

"Uh, thanks, Miss. Maybe some other time though?" Danny replied in a way that was too fast. Without waiting for any reply, he darted off the other side of the street, quickly leaving the woman behind. He stumbled out into an open courtyard, complete with a fountain gurgling clear water in the middle. Sighing, he walked over, leaning down to stare at his reflection, finally sitting down on the edge of the fountain to rest. Reaching down, he tapped the water, creating a ripple. Each little ripple was perfect in shape, calmly pushing the one before it out in the water, guiding it further and further. Danny smiled sadly, relaxing ever so slightly. Maybe this whole book thing wouldn't be so bad; maybe death wasn't as dark and gloomy as some made it out to be.

"It's peaceful, isn't it?" a voice breathed behind him. Danny jumped, breaking connection to any relaxing state he had been about to enter. The visitor leaned forward, showing their reflection to the boy through the water. "I always like to come out here on my break, I love the way the water runs out, the sound it makes as it hits the water at the bottom. Don't you?"

Danny made a face, quickly hiding it by looking away. What was this woman's problem anyway? Couldn't she just leave him be? A quick tap on the boy's shoulder gave him his answer. Biting his lip to keep back any frustrated comments, he turned to face her. The woman was holding out a small basket. When Danny did nothing, she shook the basket lightly.

"It's for you, silly, a small snack. Made fresh by me, please at least try it. I can't stand to see a growing boy go hungry." She smiled, lifting the fabric cloth from the top of the basket. Inside was a sandwich, piled high with meat, cheese, and some vegetables and mustard. It looked alright. Danny hesitantly reached forward, lightly taking the offered food in his hand before pulling it back to him to further inspect it without looking too obvious. Seeing nothing wrong, he took a bite, then another, and another. Soon, the entire sandwich was gone, leaving nothing but crumbs on his white gloves. The entire time he had been eating, the woman had been silent, only watching him with a small smile. He looked up to her, allowing a smile.

"Thanks Miss. That was probably the best sandwich I've ever had."

"Would you care for another?"

"Sure."

"Well, I'll have to make another back in my shop. I'd bring it back to you here, but my ankle, I think I twisted it on the way over here. Silly me, I should be more careful."

Danny knew a trick when he saw one. This woman was a complete fake. He would have told her off and been on his way, had it not been for a slight hiccup in his mind. Whatever was in charge of a ghost's mind, when it came to making decent choices, had left on a mini vacation. The halfa stood, extending his hand to help the woman up.

"I'd be more than happy to help you out!" he said, grinning. The woman smiled, taking the offered hand. As they began the small trip back, Danny seemed to be in some sort of self induced daze, and he never noticed the lack of any limp in the woman's step. Once back at the butcher shop, Danny opened the door for her, but she asked him to go in first.

"I need you to get some more meat in the back for me, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing!" Danny said. He was about to do just that, but he stopped. "Is there anything else that you need besides that?" he asked, not turning around. There was a moment of silence, and the barely audible sound of footsteps. The woman had something long and heavy raised like a bat in her hands. She smiled, swinging the club and hitting Danny at the base of his skull. Danny cried out, crumpling to the ground like a broken doll.

"Just some meat, sweet child." The woman said vacantly, lowering the weapon and tossing it away. She took a step towards the halfa, a crazed smile spreading across her face.

"Just that, and nothing more…"

AN: New chapter! :D If you can guess who the woman is, you get a cookie! She's not from Danny Phantom or Alex Rider.

Leave a review if you liked this chapter!