Danny walked down the road. He had a very unique appearance. His right eye was a piercing green and his left was an icy blue. His right side of his hair was stark white and the other half was jet black. He wore the same shirt he used to wear when he was alive and in his human form, the only difference was the red logo was now his logo but black. He wore his usual blue jeans. His sneakers looked the same except instead of red, they were black and white and his old logo was printed on the side. He wore white fingerless gloves and he wore a large black leather jacket which he left open. His logo was printed on his chest, not unlike a school crest.

He looked at a local paper, the Burgess Gazette. Burgess. Haven't been in this town for a while, Danny mused to himself. He walked boldly down the street and scanned the population for anyone looking afraid. It didn't matter if anyone looked at him, they wouldn't see him. No one ever could. But Danny understood and tried not to let it get to him. He noticed a bunch of kids running after a small, geeky looking kid. Danny growled angrily to himself. Danny could feel the boy's fear. Lifting his left hand he channelled his ice powers and made the ground slippery. The group of bullies fell over and the geeky boy escaped. Danny had learned very early on that he could use his ice powers only on the side that took after his human half and his ghost ray only of the side that resembled his ghost half.

He'd been dead for four years. He could remember a lot of his life but not everything. Danny guessed that was because he had been half ghost. But after he died, no one could see him anymore. Not even his friends or family. The Man in the Moon had explained why. Most creatures like him, beings of magic needed to be believed in to be seen. Danny and Pitch were exceptions. Pitch Black, the Boogieman, needed to be feared to be seen but the king of nightmares didn't understand that. Danny was different. People needed to be ready to face fear to see him. The problem was no child ever was ready to face their fears, very few people were.

Danny walked calmly past the cussing bullies as they got to their feet, slipping on the ice Danny had made. Danny smirked at their annoyance, reminded of his own bully that he vaguely recalled. He couldn't remember the blonde, muscular guy's name but that didn't matter. He spotted a girl fidgeting nervously with her mobile and looking worried. She had long light brown hair, messily tucked behind her ears and wore jeans and a thick red jumper. Her brown eyes darted around her anxiously and glanced frequently at her phone. Danny watched her and sensed her terror. He joined her and placed a hand on her shoulder. This was the only way he could interact with her.

"Hey, what's your name?" Danny muttered.

"Diana," a girl's voice answered without the fearful girl opening her mouth.

"Why are you frightened?" Danny asked.

"A bully took my pocket money. I couldn't afford the bus and I'm late getting home. My mom is going to be furious!" Diana explained, again without opening her mouth.

"Why didn't you call her and explain? You're holding your cell right there," Danny inquired gently. Sometimes kids just needed a little nudge in the right direction.

"I forgot to charge it last night. It died while I was at school," Diana replied.

"Okay, don't worry. I'll be with you the whole time and I can help you, if you'd like. Lead the way to your house," Danny offered. The girl nodded without realising and a little smile came to her lips.

"It's gonna be alright. I just need to get home," Diana whispered to herself, moving her lips for the first time.

Within a few minutes Diana reached her front door and dug out her keys. She stepped inside and Danny turned himself intangible to follow her inside. Diana walked straight to the kitchen where they found her mother. Her mother had short dark brown hair and blue eyes. However in her hand was an empty glass bottle which had been filled with vodka. Her face burned red, either from the alcohol or anger, Danny guessed it was probably a bit of both. Danny felt Diana's fear double and Danny suddenly understood why. Her mother was an alcoholic and Danny was willing to guess that she was a violent, angry drunk too.

"Where have you been!? You were meant to be back here twenty minutes ago!" Diana's mother shouted angrily, a slight slur to her words. Diana stiffened and took a step back. Danny put his hand on her shoulder.

"Diana, it's alright. Just tell her what happened," Danny suggested.

"I can't. If I tell her that a bully took my pocket money and I need more money for the rest of the week, she'll be furious!" Diana retorted quickly, without moving her mouth. Her mother unaware of the exchange. Danny's special power was telepathy when he touched a child. He could ask questions and they subconsciously answered him if they accepted his help. He'd been told to go away before but usually the kid answered him.

"Well!" Diana's mother demanded. Diana bit her lip. Her fear was overwhelming.

"Lie then. Tell her that the bus didn't show at the stop and you walked home. Say your phone died and you couldn't call home," Danny offered, seeing the warning signs in her mother from his experience ghost fighting.

"I-I couldn't call. My ph-phone died. The… the bus didn't show," Diana stammered, shaking slightly from her fear. Her mother stood up and stumbled over. She stared into the girl's eyes and frowned angrily.

"Fine. Get me another bottle," she ordered. Diana nodded and avoided her mother's eye.

"Great job Diana. See everything is alright. Get her another bottle and excuse yourself to do homework. Lock your door and don't come out unless you have to," Danny muttered to Diana and released her shoulder. Diana nodded and gave her mother a tentative smile and walked carefully over to a cupboard and took out an unopened bottle of vodka and gave it to her mother.

"Mom, I-I have a lot of homework. Can I be excused?" Diana whispered. Her mother waved her daughter away and stumbled back to her chair and opened the bottle, throwing back her head as she took a swig.

So Diana is going to be a key character in this story. Let me know what you guys think of Danny.

Until the next chapter.