So, I had a wedding to go to this past weekend and, although I had this written, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time to edit. We're all good again.

By the way, remember that collection of oneshots I had you vote on a while ago (last month, if I remember correctly)? Well, expect it up when this fic is done. Updates with that will be sporadic at best. Mostly because I have to think about when I'm going to start posting the second book for this. We'll see, I suppose.

Camp NaNoWriMo for April is almost over. I wonder if my cabin mates will continue to attend out nightly chats…

3 May 2013 edit: I fixed an error that was pointed out by itsbeenasecret. Thank you, by the way.

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.

Do Not Cross

Chapter 15

Help

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing, and face us with the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey

"A fake-out make-out?" Tucker said, laughing as they walked to school. He nearly toppled over several times. Danny had the courtesy to catch him before he fell, but Sam was not feeling as kind.

"Just let him hit his head." she said, scuffing the ground with her boot. She pulled her coat closer to her body and shuddered. "Is it just me or is it getting colder out?"

"Well, it is fall. You know when the leaves fall off trees?" Tucker plucked a leaf off the ground and tossed it in the air. They watched as it swirled downward before sliding to a stop on the cement.

"I don't like the fall. It's cold and dreary and it means that Halloween is coming."

"What's wrong with Halloween?" Danny asked. "I thought that being a Goth and everything that you'd like it."

"Oh, as any teen, I love getting dressed up like and idiot and getting free candy." she said. "But as a Necromancer, I loathe it."

"Why?"

"He hasn't known about this stuff as long as we have, Sam." Tucker said. How could she forget that? He knew that it felt like the three of them had always been friends, but that didn't mean that they were all knowledgeable on the old fairy tales he, Sam, and other children like them had been told. "He doesn't know about what could happen on Halloween."

"What could happen?" Danny asked curiously.

"Legend has it," Sam began.

"Legend always has to do with something or other in this world, doesn't it?" The dark-haired teen looked at his friends, blinking his blue eyes. When he saw Sam's annoyance, he winced. "Continue."

"Legend has it, that on a Halloween, if a Necromancer, a Soothsayer, an Alchemist, a Witch, and an ancestor are gathered in one place, then the Dark One will be freed."

"That's it? 'The Dark One will be freed'? Not a very ominous legend."

"I shortened it."

"By a lot." Tucker said. "What she forgot to mention was that it involves a blood ritual and the container holding the Dark One."

"So, who is this Dark One?" Danny asked. "He doesn't sound very scary."

"No one knows." Sam said, brushing her hair behind her ears. "He could be anybody."

"The most popular myth is that he's a fallen hero. He fought valiantly to save his friends and his loved ones, but when they died, he just gave up all hope and destroyed everything he could.

"Another popular version is that he was Reaper who witnessed a violent murder of a young woman at the hands of his own father. At the sight of her body in the blood, he was driven insane. He killed his father and all of his followers.

"In all versions, there is one consistent ending, whoever the Dark One is, he gets sealed in a metal container and sent to hell. A power ghost guards him and he won't allow anyone near the container."

"But it's just a stupid story." Sam said. "No ghost is that powerful to hold onto an ancient evil thus entire time."

"What if he's already released?" Danny asked.

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked, scrunching his brow. What was Danny getting at?

"That ghost from this morning. What if Plasmius is the Dark One?"

"Great," Sam muttered. "Not only do we have to worry about Katherine being alive and well, but now we have to worry about an ancient evil? I really had hoped to get a normal life when I moved to Amity."

"We'll talk to Lancer about it after class." Danny said.

"He'll going to be hard on us. We haven't had any training sessions in a while."

All three of them groaned. The probably weren't going to be getting any breaks.

"It's probably for the best." Danny sighed. "We've been slacking."

"…You call fighting and fleeing from ghosts slacking?" Sam asked.

"Wait, when did you two fight ghosts?" Tucker asked.

"Last night… early this morning."

"So, before the fake-out, make-out."

Sam punched him arm, making it tingle and go numb.

"Um, ow!" he said. "Geeze, you don't have to hit so hard. Man, I feel sorry for any ghosts who faced you in the past."

"Ghosts I faced in the past didn't have a ghost portal to get to me. Which makes me wonder what those two ghosts wanted last night. They seemed to be working together."

"Yeah," Danny said, "I noticed that too. Do you think they wanted something?"

"That one in the armor was obviously sent to capture us for the other one." she said. "Plasmius was his name right? Maybe we should question the Box Ghost the next time he shows up."

"As if he would have any answers." Tucker snorted. "He probably couldn't work his way out of a cardboard box!"

"Stop making fun of him. He's probably the only way we can get any answers."

"So, how do we find him?"

"We don't." Danny said. "We let him find us. Ghosts like Sam's glow, so we just wait until he comes. A moth to a flame."

.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.

Mr. Lancer did not show up for school that day. In fact, he hadn't even called in to let anyone know that he would be absent.

As Amity Park was a small town and rumors flourished in such an environment, various theories popped up throughout the day.

Some people claimed he was kidnapped by aliens, others said he was taken in for questioning by a secret government department, and still a group strongly believed that he had been taken by a group of ghosts.

Tucker believed the latter. It was the most probable, after all. Several ghosts knew that their teacher was mentoring them, and that he was the reason they were getting stronger.

Honestly, Tucker had never imagined being able to do what he could under his mother's tutelage. He had far surpassed anything she could do years ago. She had to find books to teach him, specially ordered from some of her friends.

He shook his head and went back to what he was supposed to be doing, keeping a look out for the Box Ghost.

It didn't take long for him to come show up in Amity Park. In fact, he reared his head later that evening. He was easily taken down and captured.

"You cannot contain me in your cylindrical container for long." he cried from inside the Fenton Thermos.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Tucker muttered. "So… how does this questioning thing work?"

"Good cop, bad cop." Sam said, cracking her knuckles and other finger joints. Both boys winced at the sounds. Sam scooped the thermos from Danny's hands and shook it. "Okay, listen up, we have a couple of questions. You be good and I don't shake this thing. You be bad and, well, you'll be chucking up ectoplasm for a week."

"You can't make me talk." the Box Ghost said.

Sam rattled the thermos. Danny took it from her, rolling his eyes. Tucker watched the whole thing, recording it all on his phone. He was glad he downloaded that app earlier. He checked the time. He still had an hour until curfew. He hoped this wouldn't take forever. He was hungry for his mother's pot roast.

It had taken both his parents by surprise when he said he would be staying later at school for some tutoring. And they had been pretty irked, too. They had sent various forms of messages to Mr. Lancer, begging him to let their son leave earlier from the "school activities." The teacher had persuaded them that what Tucker was doing would be helping many people. Thankfully, they bought it. He hoped they never learned the truth about what he was doing.

He hadn't told them that he had met a Necromancer or that Danny was a Soothsayer and Valerie was a witch and she didn't know it. His mother, a born Alchemist, would demand to meet Sam and test Danny's abilities. He didn't know what she'd try on Val.

His father was a human and not completely ignorant to their world. He had accidentally stumbled upon Tucker and his mother a long time ago, back when Tucker was still being trained by his mother in Alchemy. He had been rather anxious about this revelation and for some time afterwards, Tucker thought they would be getting a divorce. Eventually, the man came around and grew interested in a few things about their lives.

His mother hadn't told his father everything, like the war between the Necromancers and the Reapers than was still going on, and how Alchemists were a part of it, no matter how much they tried to escape it. He didn't know their history, just that it was long and there was a lot of persecutions and murders. It was better that way and safer. Who knew what would happen if anyone found out that a civilian knew about this stuff?

He shook his head, trying not to think about it. It could end up being bad.

Tucker turned his attention back to his friends and their questioning of the Box Ghost. This was one of the few times he was happy that the Fentons created more than one thermos. The one they had at the moment was the backup one. He wondered what happened to the original. Jack and Maddie probably had it stored away somewhere, trying to figure out why it suddenly started working.

"What can you tell us about a ghost named Plasmius?" Danny asked.

The Box Ghost was silent for a moment. Sam was about to grab it from her friend's grasp when he spoke.

"There is no ghost named Plasmius." he said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "Of course there is. We were attacked by him, so don't go telling us there is no ghost named Plasmius."

"He's not a ghost!"

"What do you mean?"

"Plasmius is not a ghost. He's a Soothsayer."

Jazz peeked out into the hallway, listening for anyone coming up the stairs. She could hear her parents and Mr. Masters talking down in the lab. Their voices were greatly muffled and she couldn't hear any specifics, but she could discern who was would be out with Sam and Tucker for some time.

She looked around nervously as she dug out an old shoebox from underneath her bed. It was the one place in the house where she could hide something completely secret to the rest of the family.

Moments ago, she had locked her bedroom door, closed the shades, and turned on some New Age meditative music that she had bought earlier that year with her allowance. She had originally planned to start meditating to help with the stress of her parents but she had gotten sidetracked somewhere along the way.

She felt guilty about taking the object hidden in her shoebox. It belonged to the Mansons after all and she doubted that any of them would notice one missing book. Besides, she thought it might help her to understand what her brother was going through.

After reading a bit of that book earlier that morning, she started to think that Danny might actually be planning on joining whatever cult Sam was involved with.

She took the book out and carefully laid it on her desk. It was a leather-bound thing that was no doubt oiled a long time ago.

Cautiously, Jazz opened the book and gently lifted the pages with a pair of tweezers she had nabbed from her parent's lab when she got back from school. It was an agonizingly slow process but she had learned to be extremely patient over the years.

She wasn't quite sure at the contents of this book but it was smaller than the one she had looked at when she was with Danny and his friends. The cover was a thick leather, undoubtedly greased to keep it looking good. The title page was written in a neat calligraphy. The ink was a dark brown, no doubt the result of its age. The interesting thing about this page was the title itself.

Reapers: A Guide to Who They are and How to Kill Them

It was a rather morbid sounding title, but upon scanning the rest of the book, she found the title to be rather fitting. The diagrams on the pages could only be described as disturbing. Especially the one that went along with getting an eye out of a Reaper — who looked perfectly human — using thumbs. She shuddered as she flipped back to the beginning, where most of the history was.

She frowned when she realized several pages had been torn out. Did those pages contain something of vital importance? A major hint as to who these Reapers were?

"Reaper" undoubtedly came from the mythical figure associated with death, the Grim Reaper. And even that creature was inspired by the Greek god of death, Thanatos. Did they have anything in common? Perhaps.

Jazz bit her lip. She tried to remember some of her parents' theories on ghosts and how Thanatos fit into them. She hadn't read one the specifically named him in the past couple of years, but surely she could recall something.

Shaking her head, she realized that she would have to go and read them later in the evening. She would have to ask her mother for them, seeing as how it had been over a year or two.

She went back to reading the book in front of her. She blinked, realizing there were notes written in the margins. She recognized the handwriting. Sam's. Had she been reading it or had she already done so? What if she noticed that it went missing?

"Shit." Jazz said, immediately slapping her hands over her mouth. She never swore! She looked around. No one had heard the not-so-innocent slip. If Danny had, he would tease her for years.

Sighing in relief, she went back to the book, reading Sam's notes as she went along. Most of the text was monotonous and needed some deciphering, not unlike Danny's chicken scratch. The words tended to run together and was sloppy. It was almost as if the writer was afraid they were going to be caught at any moment. Sam's side notes were humorous and added some interesting detail that wasn't even written in the book.

Nothing particularly interesting popped up until the last section.

"The best way to assure oneself and others that a Reaper is completely disposed of is to remove the head from the body using a blade forged by an Alchemist. Such a powerful blade can only be made for one Necromancer, although others of the same may wield it in times of danger.

"One such blade is the Spiritus exterminatore. It was forged by Ariel MacMillan and was a gift to his Necromancer upon her birth. This Necromancer was called Katherine Magnusson…"

Jazz gaped at the text. That was the same name that she had decoded the night before. What was going on?

Valerie found herself growing to hate the hospital. She had been brought back for a quick checkup. The nurses were nice enough but the place was too sterile. It smelled of bleach and death. It was a horrible place.

Ever since her mother's death when she was young, she disliked anything that reminded her of… that. She did her best to repress all of those thoughts. She had been successful for years and now…

Now it was all she could think about.

She shuddered as she stepped through the electronic doors — which she swore crackled with electricity when she entered. The cool air conditioning greeted her. She wondered why it was still on. Shouldn't they set the furnace to kick on soon?

She followed slightly behind her father as they signed in and waited in the sitting area. It was a bit of a wait — if half of an hour could be called a bit — before she was called by a nurse.

Valerie followed the nurse to a secluded room where she was told that the doctor would be there soon. The wait was just as, if not longer than, before. She spent most of her time reading and rereading the posters on the wall.

When the doctor did arrive, the checkup on her health was quick. Was she eating well? Yes. Did she feel any pain anywhere? No. Was she positive? Quite. Could she breathe properly? Yes. Did she have any trouble concentrating in school? No more than usual. When did she last have her menses? She'd rather not acknowledge the answer to that question…

He checked her blood pressure, her joints, and took a sample of her blood. If she waited, he could get the results back to her soon. She waited and her blood returned normal. There was a bit more iron in her blood than there should be, which resulted in a new diet for a short time. He asked for her to do a walk-in sometime next week just to check her progress.

All in all, a fairly normal checkup. Valerie was surprised that he didn't suggest that she stay a while longer to recuperate from the past couple of instances. The nurses and doctors had wanted her stay initially, but she had nearly had a fit when they suggested it, saying that she would recover better at home and amongst her peers. Thus far, she had proven that right and she wanted to keep it that way.

After her visit, she and her father drove home for a few brief moments before her father had to dash off to work. He was running a little late due to the appointment. And so, Valerie found herself quite alone that night.

Looking around the apartment, she decided that it was in need of a good cleaning. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work. She vacuumed the living room and the bedroom, she swept the kitchen and the bathroom, she cleaned the tabletops and the bathtub, she wiped down the fridge with soap and water, she mopped, and she dusted. Two hours later, she was exhausted but her home was clean and she was happy.

Unfortunately, the trash still needed to be taken out. Upon this revelation, she groaned in dismay. Taking out the garbage meant lugging it all the way down the stairs and out into the alleyway on the side of the building, seeing as the building didn't have a shoot for the garbage.

She glared at it for five more minutes before deciding to actually take care of it, making sure she had her key in her pocket first. There wasn't a lot to lug down but the bags were still pretty hefty. She teeter-taughtered down the stairs and out the front door.

She found the garbage bin easily by it's rancid stench. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, tossing the bag over her shoulder and into the bin, where it thump-ed when it hit her neighbors' garbage bags and miscellany.

Turning around, she wiped her hands on her jeans. They made slapping sounds as she did so.

"Miss Gray?"

She jumped, automatically going into a defensive stance that she had mastered years ago in case she needed to defend herself.

There were two men looking at her. They did not have a threatening pose but instead fell into a military stance. She relaxed a smidge but kept herself on guard.

"Who's asking?" she said, looking them up and down. They wore white suits and did not look dissimilar to the president's body guards that she had seen in movies and on TV.

"We are Agents L and K." one of them said as they flashed their badges for her to see. "The Department of Supernatural Affairs and Spectral Beings sent us. We've come to talk to you."

"…The department of what? I've never even heard of that."

"That's because it is an international government secret." said the other man. "What can you tell us about the day of the attack?"

"I'm not answering any questions." she said with a growl. "Government or not, you just don't approach a girl in an alley."

"Miss Gray," said the first man, "we are not asking to talk to you. Your government demands it. If you want to keep the peace in this country, you will."

"And if I don't?"

"Your father might be short one job."

She opened her mouth to retort but immediately shut it. These guys could get her dad to lose his job? But…

No, she wouldn't think about that. They needed his job to keep them afloat, and they were barely keeping from going under as it was.

"Where are we going to talk?" she asked, crossing her arms and leaning to one side. "I'm not going with unless I'm in a comfortable setting."

They looked at each other, not sure how to respond no doubt.

"Er," the first man said, "Starbucks? There was one just around the corner."

Valerie nodded. She knew the one. She had never been to it. Spending money on frivolities wasn't in her budget.

"Lead the way." she said, gesturing for them to walk ahead of her.

They started in the direction of the Starbucks. She followed them at a distance, to give herself a chance to run off if she felt threatened. She noticed that they weren't the only ones from the Department of… whatever the hell it was. She really didn't care, in all honesty. But they had planned for her to run. It was obvious that they needed her for some reason.

But what?

They got to the Starbucks without any incident. She noticed how, instead of the regular employees in black uniforms, there were more people dressed in white. Were these guys with them too? Sheesh!

"Do you want something to… drink?" one of the agents asked.

"A grande mocha frappe without foam. Whipped cream, please." she said. She may not like these guys but she was raised with some manners, at least.

She waited for her order, which they paid for, along with two ice waters for them. She raised her brows at them but said nothing. They were probably on a strict diet so they couldn't have the delicious caffeinated beverage.

"So," she said, sitting down at one of the cushioned chairs, "you said that you wanted to talk. What about?"

"We have a proposal." said one of the agents. "You attend Casper High School correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you know Jasmine Fenton, aged seventeen, and Daniel Fenton, aged fifteen?"

"Uh-huh." she said slowly. "We have several classes together. I'm actually working with Danny and a few friends on a school project."

"Good." said the second agent. "This will make our job easier. We need you to go to the Fenton household and locate something for us. Seeing as you have clearance to a place we do not, no one should give you any trouble."

"And what do you want me to find for you?"

"The Fenton Ghost Portal. It is a device that allows a person to see into the ghost world."

Valerie looked from one to the other, then to the other agents watching the exchange. None of them showed any emotion. Seriously? How could they not crack a smile at the words "ghost portal?" They had to be joking. This had to be an extensive prank of some sort.

"No deal." she said. "Ghosts don't exist and neither do portals into the 'ghost world.' I'm not going to go to Danny's house to look for something that doesn't exist."

"Miss Gray," said the first agent, "I don't think you understand what we could do for you if you agree to work with us."

"I don't want anything you could offer me."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Not even giving your father his previous job position?"

They could do that?

If they could, it meant that she wouldn't need to work anymore. It meant that she could be a part of the popular crowd again. It meant that she would have money to spend. It meant that she wouldn't have to hang with Danny and Sam and Tucker anymore…

She bit her lip. She liked hanging out with them. They were nice and accepted her easily into their group. They opened their closed circle just for her. They wanted her to hang out with them. They wanted to be her friend and she theirs'.

And she and her father were making do. Sure life was hard, but she realized that they had one another and, as corny as it sounded, that was all that mattered. But she also knew that he wanted to go back to that position. If she had to opportunity to give it to him…

"You got a deal." she said.

Hopefully everything flowed in this chapter. I had some cut-and-paste parts that weren't originally there in the first writing but I wrote a couple of days ago when I thought I had lost everything to my computer almost dying on me again. (cue panic attack) But I fixed it. :D I'm awesome, I know.

I wanted to add more to this chapter when I originally wrote it, but upon editing there was just too much information to be revealed. So, this chapter and the next were originally one whole chapter. XP

I have a paper to take care of a couple of fics to work on. I'll try to have some fun. XD