Here's the second chapter for y'all. I really need to work on the next chapter of FH, I'll probably do that while I still have some time. I don't have class today but I need to clock in at least two hours of math each day of the week. I missed my twelve hour mark last week by an hour and a half. So, I'm pretty upset about that.
I'm going to shoot for Monday updates but we'll see as the story progresses how long that lasts. Hopefully I can keep up with it. The fourth chapter is started and I really just need to edit the third… So maybe?
Anyway, I know some people are really looking forward to this chapter so I won't hold it from you any longer. Enjoy!
Summary: Samantha Manson, or Sam, has many things to deal with; her parent's disappointment, she knows all of the police force by name and face (and not because she wants to), moving to a new city, her grandmother's slowly dying, her Necromancy is getting stronger, she has no instructor to teach her, and she's not exactly the most popular girl in school. As she learns about this new city, she learns of its mysterious secrets and as to why so many haunts happen there. While trying to find out how to help this city, she finding that she slowly crushing on a kind of cute geeky boy whose parents hunt supernatural things. AU. She eyed the yellow tape, daring it to keep her from the school grounds. After a moment, she decided to ignore the forbidding warning of the black DO NOT CROSS letters.
Disclaimer: I do not hold any legal rights to Danny Phantom or to any of the characters you are going to read about. This story, however, is my own original idea, with a nod to Meg Cabbot's Mediator series and Kelly Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy for inspiring me somewhat.
Chapter 2
Confidential
"Tell your friend a lie. If he keeps it secret, then tell him the truth." Ancient Proverb.
Everyone has their secrets. Sometimes, one cannot help but keep them from even their dearest and closest of friends. No matter how much one wants to tell their friend, it could often change said friend's point of view on their world, their very life, completely.
Tucker James Foley was such a person who held such a large secret and it was on days like this, the remaining ones of the hot summer before school started up again, that he debated whether or not to tell his childhood friend the only thing he kept to from him.
He sat at the local park, feet dipped into the not-so-cool water of the pond shrouded by the trees, mind in the clouds. He was oblivious to the young children splashing droplets of water onto his khaki cargo shorts and dark skinned legs. He had been out there most of the day. His skin, beneath the dark color, was starting pinken.
Finally, he sat up, startling several mothers who had thought him to simply been sleeping as their kids played. One even scoffed at him.
He brushed any grass he might have had off his arms, shorts, and head. He grabbed his backpack off the ground and tossed it over his shoulder, carrying it by one strap. He cursed quietly, realizing his cell phone was in one of the pockets and dug it out as he walked.
He pressed the '3' and then the call button. Tucker thanked God, or whatever high deity above, for the man who thought up the idea for speed dial. The phone connected with the satellite for a moment before it started to ring.
"Hey." a person said on the other line.
"I'm on my way over. What's for dinner?" he asked.
"Whatever Jazz is making."
"Cool. Be there in a few."
"'Kay. Bye."
"See you."
To anyone who had heard the conversation would think it strange that two very close friends could say so little after not having seeing one another in over month. However these two had very little need for words.
Stupid summer camp, Tucker thought grudgingly. Most of my summer was wasted. I don't see why I'd need to know how to tie different knots. I'm going to be a freaking rocket scientist… or a software designer. For the government, of course. Hopefully FBI or CIA. Yeah, that'd be awesome.
His eye caught sight of the ridiculously large house that had been built while he was away. He remembered seeing two people, a man and woman, discussing things with the manager of the local construction company before he left. He had caught some of the conversation. It had been over the countertops.
Tucker scrunched his nose. He didn't care what his countertops looked like, so long as he had a nice wife who could cook delicious meals in their kitchen in his own large house.
The sizeable house was a few blocks from the downtown, a small section of old buildings clustered closely together. It looked kind of like something a person would see in some of those really popular chick flicks. (Not that he's ever seen any of those . In a month.)
He could already spot the neon sign, reading: "FENTON WORKS, Professional Ghost Hunters, Catchers, and Gatherers." He could also spot the sort-of look-out tower, the Emergency Ops Center, perched precariously atop the old building. It was a menacing place to a stranger from out of town – not that they ever really had any visitors.
He opened the front door, knowing full well that he was always welcome inside. It was his home away from home. The smell of steaks wafted to his nose, making his mouth water.
"Knock, knock." he called.
"Danny's in his room." a female voice replied from the kitchen.
"Thanks , Jazz."
He waved as he passed by to the red-haired young woman cooking on their gas stove. She waved back, watching his retreat up to her brother's room upstairs.
"Hey, Danny." Tucker said, walking into his best friend's room.
A grunt came from the boy at the desk. He was building another model of some spaceship. Tucker didn't even guess what one. Several were already hanging from the ceiling.
"Sorry that it took me so long to get here."
"Yeah, you said that you got back at two. What happened?"
"I got caught up in some serious thinking."
Danny turned around, blinking curious blue eyes at his friend.
"Serious thinking? Tuck, you only seriously think about one thing: technology. Well, and girls sometimes but not as often as you think about your 'babies.' So, what were you thinking about? The new iPod that was released last week or something?"
"Hey, Danny, we can tell each other anything, right?" Tucker asked. Danny looked at his quite confused.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you see…"
"Dinner's ready." Jazz called through the door.
"I'll tell you after we eat." he promised.
"Sounds good to me." Danny smiled.
The two boys raced, quite childishly, down the stairs to the kitchen table. Danny and Jazz said a quick prayer, before all three of them dug into the delicious feast the redhead had prepared.
"I hear that family that had that big house built is going to move in tomorrow." Jazz said, daintily taking a bite of the green beans. "You guys want to go and help me be the welcome committee with mom?"
"Will dad be there?" Danny asked timidly. He saw his sister flinch.
"Sadly."
"Then we'll go separately. Have fun."
"Danny…" she pleaded.
"Fine." came the grumbled reply.
"I also hear they have a daughter in your class."
Tucker perked up at this.
"Daughter?" he asked. "Is she hot?"
Jazz and Danny both frowned.
"I've never seen her." she told him.
"She's probably some sort of mutant that can't be in the sunlight, or, oo!, she… she could be an alien that they adopted."
"You're not allowed to watch any more sci-fi movies for a while." Danny told him. He turned to his sister. "Hey, Jazz, did you tell mom and dad that dinner was ready?"
"I did." she sighed. "They're too wrapped up in the ghost portal thing. Again. You'd think that they'd have learned from their mistake two years ago. Ghosts don't exist. It's a sick obsession. Danny, thank goodness you aren't like them. Wanting to be an astronaut is perfectly healthy for a boy your age. So is dating girls. Tucker, you're a pervert, stop it."
She slapped her hands at his rather vulgar gestures. Danny chuckled. The three of them had a really close bond. Tucker was like a brother to them, seeing as how they both grew up with him.
He looked at the door that lead down to their basement. It was an ordinary door, nothing particularly special about it. A small sign, of printing paper and red crayon, read: "FENTON LAB:KEEP OUT." That was normal. Today, like the other days of the past week, caution tape hung all over it, warning anyone with its DO NOT CROSS in bold, black letters against the sharp yellow.
Danny had borrowed what was left. He wanted to hang it on his door. His mom had looked slightly worried. His dad had agreed to it, so long as he and his mother both knew if there was girl over. (That was a joke, really, because what girl in her right mind would ever be interested in him? But it had caused him to blush nevertheless.) Jazz had gotten all psychotherapist on them and assured both parents that her brother simply wanted privacy, something which was a rare occurrence in this house.
He jumped when the door was slammed open by his father.
"Looks great, Jazzy." the man said, plopping down in his usual chair and immediately piling food on.
"Thank you for making dinner, Jazz honey." their mother said, pecking her daughter on the top of her head. "It looks good."
"Of course it looks good," Jazz said, "the stove is the one place you haven't tried to mess around with yet."
"Ha ha! That'll be our next project!" their father declared. Jazz groaned. To Tucker he said, "We're working on the ghost portal again. It's going to be great! Imagine, we'll be able to see in to the ghost world."
"Sounds great, Mr. Fenton." Tucker said slowly, quite unsure of the man's sanity at this given time. For the most part he ignored their eccentric ways, but it was times like this that he really worried; mostly for himself, partially for Danny and Jazz. But mostly himself.
For the rest of the meal, all the two adults talked about was their ghost portal that was being constructed just below them. For some reason, it made Danny uneasy to know that something that led to another dimension was right in his very basement.
"You staying the night?" his mother asked his friend as she collected the dishes. "Danny, you're washing these tonight."
"Can't. Mom wants me home tonight." Tucker said, handing her his plate and utensils. "Just got back from summer camp, so she's kind of expecting me to at least spend one night at home before I stay the night anywhere else."
"Well, just be safe when walking home."
The two boys headed back upstairs to Danny's room after they cleaned the food from their plates. Tucker collapsed onto his friend's bed. The other went back to his desk chair, where he quickly checked over his model.
"So, you were going to tell me something?" Danny pointed out.
"Huh? Oh…" Tucker gulped, not really wanting to tell his best friend the one thing he'd hidden for years quite yet. "I think you're sister's hot."
Danny choked on the saliva he'd been swallowing.
"What?" he coughed.
"I think your sister's hot."
In truth, he thought she was cute. So, it wasn't a total lie that he did find her attractive in some fashion. Just not like that.
"I heard you the first time." Danny mumbled. "You didn't need to repeat yourself. And that's gross."
This was the closest they'd ever been to the big house. It was even more massive than they had originally thought. The walk-in path that made its way leisurely up to it; small bushes lined the way to the door.
Both boys looked curiously around them. The lawn was a plush green that was quite deep in color. The imported trees reached high to the blue expanse above.
Cautiously, Danny rang the doorbell. They could hear it chime inside and the sound of heels clacking loudly on the hard floor.
A woman, dressed in the fashion of a 1950's housewife opened the door with a fake, cheesy smile. She blinked down at them.
"Hello, boys." she said cheerily. "Can I help you?"
"Uh, hi." Danny said. "I'm Daniel Fenton and this is Tucker Foley. We just wanted to say 'hi' and welcome you to Amity Park."
"It's awfully nice to meet you, Mrs… er, ah…" Tucker said, not sure what her surname was.
"Manson. Pamela Manson." she chirped.
"Mrs. Manson."
"Oh, please, call me Pamela. Mrs. Manson is my mother-in-law. Come inside. Jeremy and I were just having out afternoon tea. I'm sure our Sammy-kins will be down in a few minutes." She lead them to a furnished parlor where a handsome man sat, setting down a tray of finger sandwiches. "Jeremy, we have guests. This is Daniel Fenton and Tucker Foley. Boys, this is my husband Jeremy. Oh, Jem dear, is Sammy-kins done with her little project?"
The man visibly flinched at the mention of his daughter. Obviously, something was not right, although Pamela seemed oblivious to it. Tucker guessed that it was the practice of the elitist woman.
"She might take a few moments more." he said. "But perhaps it would be for the best if she finished unpacking her things. She does need to prepare for school registration in a few days."
Pamela frowned. To the boys, she said, "Our Sammy can be impulsive sometimes but she's a good girl with good morals. She will be a freshman this year."
"Oh, cool." Tucker said. "She might be in some of the same classes as us."
"Unless she's going to ERHS." Danny told him.
"Ah, good ol' Emily Rose High School."
"Alas, all of their classes were full." Pamela sighed. "Is Casper High a good school?"
"My sister goes there and she likes it." the dark-haired boy shrugged.
"Oh, how wonderful." Jeremy said. "I have a younger twin brother. We were quite close as children. Are you and your sister close, Daniel?"
"Uh, I guess. I mean, we fight sometimes but that's considered normal. At least, she says it's normal."
The doorbell rang, signaling Pamela to answer the call of whoever was at their steps.
"Oh, I better go see who it is." she said, practically hopping off the couch she had perched herself upon. "You boys feel free to sample the sandwiches."
She scuttled off in a prim fashion, leaving the three of them to sit awkwardly for a few moments. She came back shortly with Jack and Maddie Fenton, Jazz trailing at the end looking rather embarrassed. Pamela strained her smile, obviously at dislike of the strange, large man chatting her ear off.
"Hey, there, Danny-boy!" Jack called to his son.
Danny sunk into the couch, neck and ears flushing. Tucker gnawed at his lip to bite back the laughter that was rapidly bubbling up.
"Jeremy, this is Jack and Madeline Fenton, Daniel's parents. And this is their daughter, Jazmine." Pamela forced out.
"Mom? Dad?" called a feminine voice from down the hall.
"In here, Sammy."
The girl poked her head in, causing Pamela to blanch and nearly faint.
"Sammy-kins!" she cried in a shrill voice that hurt everyone's ears. "What on earth did you do to your pretty hair?"
The girl blinked startling violet eyes. Her dark hair was chopped short in a fashionable way that framed her heart-shaped face. Her clothes were all the same hue, black, and form fitting.
Tucker's eyes bulged when he looked at her. She seemed to radiate a light, unusual as it was. It was eerie in more ways than one. However, he had seen this light only once before. One word raced through his mind.
Necro!
In a few seconds, his brain slowed down and he realized that his mouth was dangling open wide enough for a bird to perch in. He quickly snapped it shut, clenching his jaw.
Necros were rare, especially after the last hunt. This one was lucky to be alive, just like he was. Her light was a beacon that practically shouted who and what she was.
Thank God there are no Reapers here. he thought.
She caught his eye, obviously seeing his own light that he himself radiated that was only noticeable to the eyes of Necros, Reapers, and Ghosts. The two nodded very slightly in the other's direction before continuing with normality.
"You said I could start with a clean slate in this town, so I'm starting with a clean slate." she said.
"But… but… but… you're hair? Sammy… Sam… Sammy-kins… Why?" Pamela gaped trying to form a coherent and proper sentence.
"It's perfectly normal for an adolescent to rebel against their parents at some point in puberty." Jazz stated. "Psychologists see it as a healthy way to vent frustration from their changing bodies and the altering points of view on various subjects. She's being a normal teenager, nothing to fully worry about until she wants some body piercing and tattoos."
Pamela grew wide-eyed and her husband fainted, landing on the ground with a rather dainty 'thump.'
"Didn't take it too well did they?" a crackly, elderly voice from behind 'Sammy' noted. An old woman on a small motor scooter wheeled around the girl and chuckled. "Oh, I knew it! Ten bucks, Sam. Hey, I think we should get you some of those temps and magnetics and see how they really flip."
"Bubeleh… I really don't think that's necessary. Besides, anything else might put them into a coma."
"And that would be a bad thing how?"
"…Don't tempt me."
The old woman smirked. As much as she loved her granddaughter, she knew she couldn't handle the teenage girl. She was young and full of too much pent up energy.
"Mom, you might want to close your mouth, it's kind of unlady-like. I also think someone should lay dad down somewhere… or get some smelling salts. I don't think it's healthy for him to be laying on the floor." the girl instructed dutifully. She turned to the Fentons and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Sam."
"Hello, down there, Sam." Jack said. "You're kind of scrawny. Don't your parents feed you enough?"
"Jack, hush." Maddie shushed. "I'm sorry about him, dear. I'm Maddie Fenton. This is Jack, my husband. Jazz is my daughter. Over there is my son, Danny, and his friend Tucker. Both Danny and Tucker will be freshmen this year at Casper High."
"Cool." Sam said. "Maybe we'll have some classes together."
"Here, Pammy, allow me to help." Jack offered the Manson woman, hoisting up Jeremy's body. "Which way to the bedroom?"
Pamela started to protest but sighed instead, deciding that showing him the way would be better. At least she would be able to keep track of him. Maddie followed. She stopped at the stairs and turned to the second generation.
"You kids have fun." she cooed, waving as she continued the rest of the way.
"So…" Sam began. "What's there to do around here?"
"You two go show Sam around town," Jazz told the boys, "I'll go make sure dad doesn't destroy anything."
A crash from upstairs and an apology floated down to their ears. Jazz sighed and clomped up. It was going to be a long summer day.
.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.
As it turned out, Tucker was the person to go to if one wanted a tour of Amity Park. He knew historical facts about different buildings, the greatest hang outs, the lamest hang outs, the best places to get new technology for cheap and secret short cuts to any place in the town. He had this uncanny ability to talk on and on for several minutes without stopping for a breath about the local haunts and people.
"So, what do your guys' parents do?" Sam asked.
"My dad's an accountant and my mom does some cosmetic stuff for Mary Kay." Tucker said, hands stuffed in his shorts pocket and eyes watching his feet. "You know the company with all that pink? She does the parties and stuff."
"My parents are funded by the government to do some research." Danny said.
"Oh?" Sam inquired, eyebrow arched. "They must do something that the government think's important."
"It's pretty interesting." Tucker said, waggling his eyebrows goofily. Sam could already tell that he was the comic relief.
"What kind of stuff do they research?"
"Ghosts." Danny grumbled.
Sam stopped. Why the hell would anyone want to know more about the ectoplasmic beings which have the tendency to find her at two in the morning and beg for her help? They were infuriating nuisances, as far as she was concerned. Interrupting her social life, forcing her to keep a distance from her parents, keeping her in trouble with the police… She just didn't understand it!
"Ghosts?" she asked calmly, despite her brain working up questions at ninety miles an hour. "Have they ever found any?"
"No." Danny sighed, sounding thankful. "They are working on a portal which they think will allow them to see into the ghost's dimension. Jazz, my sister, thinks that they've finally lost it. I agree in more ways than one. My dad's never had it to begin with and my mom's just going along with it… I think. Either that, or she actually believes in ghosts."
"So… is it, like, a hobby that they picked up or just something they've always been interested in?"
"According to my dad, his whole family researches some sort of paranormal activity. It's more of a lifestyle than a hobby. My mom was interested in this stuff in college, that's where she met my dad and my godfather."
"It sounds a lot more interesting than when my parents met. They were introduced to each other by their parents. It was practically an arranged marriage."
"That does make it sound a lot more interesting. At least your parents didn't meet in the emergency room when they were five."
"Your parents have known each other since they were five?" Sam asked. "So, they, like, grew up together or something?"
"No, they just met at the hospital when they were five. And then they met each other in high school again. How they remember that far back, I have no idea."
"It sounds like one of those cheesy Hallmark movies my mom likes to watch."
Tucker shuddered. "Don't remind me."
"His mom watches them all of the time." Danny explained. "Whenever they want to punish him, they make him watch the sappiest, cheesiest one they can find."
"When my parents want to punish me they just make me spend time with them." Sam said, face wrinkling in disgust at the memories of her groundings.
"My mom just makes me help my dad with building something. He has the tendency to rant, mostly about his childhood. Trust me, I don't want to hear why he couldn't have a pony growing up anymore. It was amusing as a kid, but now it's worse than hearing about the time he accidentally created x-ray goggles… Don't ask how he pulled that off."
"And here is the place where we hear most of those rants!" Tucker announced, pointing up towards the sign as she stopped.
Sam looked up, squinting against the light of the sun and read, frowning.
"They're ghost hunters?"
"You're not freaked out are you?" Danny asked, worried that he might lose another possible friend.
"Why would I be freaked out? Ghosts don't really exist." Liar.
"Most girls in this town tend to stay away from me because my parents are professional ghost hunters. They think that I'll be weird too."
"Dude, you are weird." Tucker said, unlocking the door with the spare key that was hidden underneath the welcome mat. "I mean, how many guys that attend Casper High want to be an astronaut as compared to a football player."
"You want to be an astronaut?" Sam asked. She seemed to be learning quite a bit about Danny from Tucker, just as she was learning quite a bit about the talkative one.
Tucker was flirtatious and a bit of a loud mouth. He had the tendency to speak whatever came to mind. He also ate meat (something she detested, mostly due to being a Necromancer) and he that he had a strange infatuation with technology.
Danny was kind of quiet, but he was thoughtful and kind of sweet for a high school boy. He reminded her of Peter Parker from the Spider Man comics that her dad had collected as a teenager and passed down to her when he first saw that she had no interest in dresses, make-up and boys. He was awkward in his skin and he had a knack for building models.
She smiled as Danny held the door open for her, more so out of trained manners than of being chivalrous.
Sam found the house to be quaint. There was a lot of 60's furniture decorating the house but it looked sort of cool the way it was tastefully done. She guessed that Danny's mom had done it for his dad to remind him of their younger years.
"This is my home." Danny said nervously. Compared to her house, this place was miniscule. It wasn't lavishly decorated; all of their furniture had been bought at thrift stores; the carpet needed to be cleaned, quite badly; from here he could smell potatoes rotting. But it was home nonetheless.
"It's homey. I like it." Sam commented, looking around. A slight smile warmed her otherwise neutral features. "I kind of wish my parents would get something like this, but they've both been pampered to death and back since they were swaddled in their blankets. I'm sure they were fed with 100 karat gold spoons, too."
"What do you have against your parents?" Tucker asked. "They can get you what ever you want when ever you want."
"That's exactly the problem. I kind of wish I was normal sometimes."
The dark-skinned boy caught the look she sent. She just didn't want her parents to have an average paying job and to live in average housing. She wanted to be normal, to be human. She didn't want to be a Necro.
"Funny, I wish the same thing sometimes." Danny said, cocking his head to the side and crossing his arms over his chest as he collapsed into the couch. Yeah, that needed to be cleaned, too.
"So, where's this portal thing you mentioned?" Sam asked, looking around.
"The basement." Tucker said, taking a swig out of the water bottle he grabbed from the refrigerator.
"I hope that you'll recycle that." Sam scolded.
"We're not allowed in the basement." Danny told her. "My parents are so private about their work. They have a lot of competitors in the ghost hunting business. They don't like to announce what they're making until they're done with it."
"Dude, there's a ghost hunting business?" she heard Tucker ask.
Sam had already opened the basement door.
"This one, right? I kind of guessed. I mean, the caution tape and the sign didn't announce where their workroom was at all or anything." Sam stated, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Just down these stairs?"
Danny was about to tell her to stop but he saw no harm in looking at anything his parents were working on. Everything would be alright, so long as nothing would be broken. Plus, his parents didn't need to be so confidential about everything they did, especially when it came to their family.
He followed the dark-haired girl down into the unknown. Tucker trailed after, reluctantly but dutifully.
Author stuff: Emily Rose High School gets its name from The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is based on the true story of Anneliese Michel. My sister told me about it. It's actually a rather interesting story. Go look it up.
Usually, for those who don't know, I thank my reviewers and those to follow me, the story and other things but for this I decided to only really keep things short and simple. I will still thank everyone, just not by name. I will answer any questions that anyone has.
So, thank you to everyone who reviewed in the past, as well as my new folks who now follow me and this story. Also thanks to everyone for the favs.
A bit about Necromancy: Necromancy does come from nekrós (dead) and menteía (divination). Entomology is great. I like to randomly look up the root meanings of words sometimes… Ars Falcis (an internet site) is a great place for information if you would like to know more on Necromancy. It's my number one source. ;-) The creator is wonderful and quite helpful.