What's this? Another short chapter? Yes, that is correct. A short chapter. Again. Why? We're VERY close to the end. There won't be much left for me to do with DNC except work on the one-shot collection thingy a little bit and organize the sequel… which I won't start working on until November.
Ugh, I'm tired. And I've had normal sleep hours too. Maybe real life is finally catching up to me.
Anyway, this chapter is hard to describe in any proper terms. I think all of last chapter and most of this chapter were written in one day for April's Camp NaNoWriMo session. By the way, guys, if you want to join, you still have time~! Seriously, you can get a lot done and the Phandom group I work with is great help and very encouraging.
If you need that caffeine boost to get your butt in gear to finish something, sign up for Camp! It's great for that, and we won't let you fail. We actually beat people over the head with boards.
It's free, it's all online, and everyone is super helpful. So, why not take a chance and see if you like it? We can always use more people in our cabin.
…Okay, done with camp talk. Now, onto the chapter!
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 21
Imprecation
"Harry — you're a great wizard, you know."
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery and — oh Harry — be careful!" J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Sam openly gaped at the woman in front of her. She was aware of Danny and Tucker's yelling and Katherine's shouts. It was all too much. She didn't know how to properly react.
Katherine Magnusson had been with them the entire time. She had followed them, fed them food, helped take care of her family, kidnapped and threatened to kill Jazz, and protected them from ghosts.
She stared at the three who were arguing quite loudly.
Jazz stood off to the side, looking back and forth between them — wondering what she should be doing, no doubt. The redhead was completely out of her element here.
"Quiet!"
She winced at the sound of Clockwork's voice. She had nearly forgotten that he was there. He was not happy.
"Now, shall we discuss things properly?" he said, looking back and forth between the woman and the teens. "Good. You three will need the help of Katherine and she will need you. All of your petty disputes can be put off until later."
"But —" Danny started to say.
"Put off until later. There are more important things we need to talk about. Katherine, have you found George?"
The woman stiffened.
"He is dead." she said. "But you knew that he would be when you sent me off to find him, didn't you?"
"I did."
She did not appear to be happy.
"Who's George?" Sam said, speaking up for the first time since the revelation.
"None of your concern at the moment." Clockwork said. "Just remember to ask about him in the future. There are many things about yourself, and your family, that you do not know."
"While this is all nice and dandy," Katherine said, "I still want to know about the ampulla."
"As I said, it's not here."
"Then where is it?"
"Come and gone."
"Who took it?" Tucker said.
"You will learn their identity soon enough." Clockwork said. "For now, just know that it is in safe hands. The person who took it is only trying to help someone they love very much."
"What are we supposed to do?" Danny said, "Wait around for them to contact us?"
"That is exactly what I want you to do."
Valerie ducked into an old phone booth, that no doubt needed to be cleaned. She quickly punched in the number to her contacts, pleading for someone to pick up. She didn't have long to wait.
"Do you have what we need?" a voice on the other end said.
"I have the ampulla." she said, feeling its presence in her pocket. It weighed heavily there.
"What about the sword?"
"I'll explain what happened when I'm given the rendezvous point."
"You don't get the rendezvous point until you have both the ampulla and the sword."
Valerie grit her teeth. What was she supposed to tell them? That she forgot about it? That the ghost distracted her? That the enemy had it?
They would probably tell her to make them give it to her, make them surrender it or something. What else was she supposed to do?
"Look," she said, "the others have the sword. I can't get it without help. I'll need backup if you want me to get it."
There was a long pause on the other end. She thought the line had gone dead when the person answered.
"Alright." they said. "Contact us when you have a time and a date established with them."
The person hung up and the line died. Valerie stood there for several seconds, listening to the dial tone. She hung up the plastic phone and exited the booth.
She would call one of the three tomorrow when she had time to think about what she wanted to say. She decided to make a script with possible questions and answers that she would need. It helped that she knew the people she would be dealing with.
She just hoped they wouldn't recognize her voice.
.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.
When Valerie got home, she dumped her bag by the front door, listening for signs that her father was still home. She sighed in relief when there was nothing.
Thankful, she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She grabbed the orange juice carton, ready to drink the liquid from the container.
"And where were you all day?"
She yelped and dropped the open carton on the floor. She had been caught.
"Well?" he father said, frowning from his seat at the table.
"Er…" she said. "Hi, daddy."
"Don't 'hi, daddy' me, young lady. Do you know how much trouble you're in?"
"A lot?"
She ducked her head. He rarely got angry with her. Should could count on one hand all of the times and she still would have a few fingers to spare.
"Don't get smart. When the school called this morning asking if you weren't going to be in and I said that you were, but you never showed up… I was worried sick, Valerie."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry is not going to cut it. After everything that had happened to you, I thought you knew better. You were doing so good, acting more grownup. I was proud of you. I don't think I was ever more proud of you than I have been in a long time. But then… then you ditch school like a… like a…"
"Like a teenager?" she said, meeting his eyes.
He sighed, looking away.
"You're grounded until further notice, no 'and's, 'if's, 'or's, or 'but's. Got it?" he said. She nodded. "Good. Now, clean up the mess. And… and do your homework. I want to see that it's completed when I get home in the morning."
"Alright, daddy."
She wiped up the mess as quickly as she could, listening to him get ready to leave. He shouted a farewell to her, which she returned, and closed the door behind him. When the door clicked shut, she sighed and leaned on the mop.
"Well," she said, "fuck."
XD Great chapter ending, if I do say so myself.
Funny thing, in my notes the trio + Katherine were supposed to get the ampulla, while Val was supposed to get the sword. Whoopsie.
So, Val's conversation with her dad was one my parents had with my sister a few years ago. True story.
Yeah, so join Camp or… I'll send Slender Man after someone. She knows who she is. (BTW, he still has my coffee mug. I'm kind of mad about that.)