Chapter 3

He heard a knocking sound. Danny refused to open his eyes, knowing all too well how sore and tired he still would be if he got up.

Knock, knock, knock

"Danny, you're going to be late for school." He heard his sister call. However, he did not hear any footsteps which told him she was hovering. He turned over on his bed, letting a small gasp escape him. He then realized just how beat he was, literally.

Hearing this, Jazz opened the door slightly, "Danny?" She asked, not able to keep the concern out of her voice. As she saw him wince as he moved, she walked straight into his room. "Why are you still wearing your clothes? And what is that!" She exclaimed, seeing there was a large dark welt forming on his shoulder extending down onto his upper arm. As she looked closer he had several scratches and cuts, dark circles under his eyes, and one of the cuts was

"You're still bleeding!" Jazz said, a little louder than necessary. She quickly left the room and returned before Danny could even sit up, which caused a strike of pain to pulsate from his shoulder.

"Jazz, calm down. I'm fine." Danny said, trying to convince himself as much as his sister. She returned with a first-aid kit. He hadn't have time to tell her that he had a rather heavily-used first aid kit under his bed for use before she opened the one she had and rested the needed supplies on Danny's bed.

Everything was moving so fast and Danny was in a mild haze from still waking up. He snapped his half-closed eyes open when he felt a sting emanate from a cut on his wrist he knew he had gotten from Kitty. "You could be a little gentler, you know." He said through gritted teeth, looking straight up into Jazz's face.

"And you could be a lot more careful. Now talk." She continued to patch him up so to speak, cleaning out cuts with disinfectant and inspecting the deep purple welt on his shoulder.

Danny's first thought was to think of an excuse. He got up from his bed and rummaged through his drawers, looking for something to change into for the day and using it to stall so he could think of a lie. As far as he knew, Jazz knew nothing about how he was half ghost, or how he fought evil beings that would escape into their world, or about the accident that caused it all to happen. At this last thought he cringed, remembering still how it felt like each of his cells exploded one by one, the next causing more pain than the last.

Seeing him tense, Jazz pressed on more urgently.

"Talk." She said, putting her hands on her hip and staring straight into his eyes as he turned to face her. She couldn't help but frown slightly at what she saw. His typical sky blue orbs seemed to have dulled, like clouds covering a sky itself.

"I was out with Tucker yesterday." He started, still unsure about the direction his lie would take. "And uh…we were racing on our scooters down in the park. I..I didn't see a rock that had been in my path and I fell." He finished, pleadingly looking into his big sister's eyes, trying to will his sister to believe him. He didn't like keeping things from her, but it really was for her own good.

She took a moment to contemplate; she really could see just how much he wanted it to be the truth.

"Be more careful next time." She chided in a motherly tone. She left without saying another word. She knew if she had stayed she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from him, that she did in fact know that his lie was not the truth. And that more than anything, she wished he would be honest with her. Not just because she liked knowing what was always going on, but because she felt like she could really help him.

The door shut softly behind her. Danny was stunned but quickly recovered. He closed his half open mouth that was ready to explain more or tell his sister off for wanting to psychoanalyze him, but she had accepted it. There was a peculiar sensation that rose in his stomach. It felt like the first time he had turned intangible, like when you're a young child and you're caught with your pants down. Why didn't she offer some unsolicited advice about scootering? Or scold him for being so clumsy? He didn't have time to think about it further. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his backpack, every muscle in his body aching as he did so. He knew he was already late so he skipped breakfast and decided he would fly to school, it being quicker and hopefully less painful as walking or riding his bike.

…

He got to school and first period was almost completely over. He snuck into the back of his English class and sat down at the nearest open seat, trying to repress a sigh at how good it felt to sit down and stop moving. Mr. Lancer looked back from writing on the board only for a moment. Danny knew he that that look meant he would be having an unpleasant one-to-one chat after class. He looked over and saw both Sam and Tucker looking at him. He couldn't tell if their gazes were more curious or worried. Danny just mouthed, "Later."

As soon as he had gotten his yellow spiral notebook and pen out, the bell rang. He didn't even bother to get up and join the scurry that every school bell brought with it.

"Dude, oversleep?" Tucker asked, appearing in front of the halfa with his books already out away in his bag. Sam was eying him. Her gaze was definitely more concerned than curious. She saw the cut on his wrist and the minor scratches that seemed to cover his arms entirely.

"No, well yeah, but that's not the only thing that kept me. Last night I saw K—"

"Mr. Fenton, please come up here." Mr. Lancer beckoned to his desk at the front of the class.

"We'll talk with you after, okay?" Sam said. Her and Tucker promptly left, not wanting to get "the talk" from Mr. Lancer.

Danny slowly got up with his bag and walked up to where Mr. Lancer was sitting at his desk.

"Mr. Fenton, may I ask, for the fifth time this week, why you are again late?" The balding man asked sounding quite annoyed.

"I..uh." Danny started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Complete sentences will do." Mr. Lancer added.

"Well, I overslept." Danny stated, wanting to keep things as short and simple as possible.

The elder of the two took a moment to keep his glare on his student. "Detention, Mr. Fenton. Afterschool, today." He said as he pulled out the all too familiar red pad from his top drawer.

"No! I can't..I." He stopped abruptly remembering that having a trip planned for the ghost zone after school wouldn't be an acceptable excuse to miss detention. He wasn't sure what would be.

"No? Can't? You can Mr. Fenton, and you will be in detention today. I will see you at 3pm. Sharp." He added, knowing Danny's tendency for lateness. He handed over the detention slip that doubled as the boy's hall pass, seeing that the next bell had already tolled.

…

It wasn't until lunch that Danny had gotten even a chance to speak, let alone sit down and finally talk with Tucker and Sam. They met up at their usual table with their trays in hand. Danny hadn't even bother to grab more than a slice of pizza and a small carton of milk. He had too many things on his mind to even think about eating, let alone having to lift his sore arms to do so.

"Hey." Sam greeted as her and Tucker sat down with their trays.

"Hey."

"What'd Mr. Lancer say?"

"Detention." Danny said grumpily, looking down.

"What about—"

"I know, the Ghost Zone. You're going to want to go even more after what I have to say."

"Oh right, you had started to tell us something in English? And does that have something to do with how awful you look?" Sam asked, eyebrows raised as she took a bite out of her peanut butter sandwich.

"Actually it does, thank you," Danny started, leaning in closer as not to be overheard, "Last night after I dropped you guys off, I ran into Kitty down at the Gas-N-Sip."

"Johnny?" Tucker muffled, his cheeks puffed out from the amount of food in his mouth.

"No, he wasn't there. But she said some weird stuff. She was looking for something, and I don't mean her favorite candy bar. She tore the store apart, which is where I got these." He said, motioning down to the scratches on his arms. She..," He hesitated, but the look in his friends eyes told him to go on. "She said it was my entire fault. That whatever she was looking for was in Amity because of me.." He stopped, looking back up from his untouched pizza.

Both Sam and Tucker put whatever they were eating back on their plates.

"What was she looking for?" Tucker asked.

"What does this all have to do with Kitty of all ghosts, and you?" Sam asked.

Both his friends were staring straight at him. As if he would have the answers. As if he wasn't just as lost as they were. It was all just too much. More and more ghosts were escaping, he was failing the majority of his classes, his parents were hunting him every chance they got. He slammed his fists down on the table out of frustration. The looks on his friends' face made him close his glowing green eyes and turn his face away from them as if closing his eyes wasn't enough to know imagine their worried faces.

"Danny, dude, calm down. We'll figure this out. We always do." Tucker tried to reassure his friend.

"Yeah Danny, it's probably nothing. Kitty probably lost her favorite lipstick, or Johnny's leather jacket. This isn't your fault."

"I think it is, and I don't even know what I've done. I can't keep this up, guys. The ghosts, there's too many." He said, shoulders slouched in defeat. He began to paw at his left shoulder where he knew an ugly bruise was beating under his shirt.

"Stop." Sam interrupted him. She didn't want this train of thought to continue, for all of their sakes. Danny was more than just Danny Phantom to her, but if they didn't have Danny Phantom to protect them, they would all be doomed. "Look, while you're in detention, Tucker and I will make a list of what our priorities should be. Making a list will lay it all out for us, you'll see." She sent a glare Tucker's way to stop him from pouting.

"That's not all." The ghost boy added quietly.

"What else is there?" Tucker asked, not wanting to have more ghostly "homework".

"I think Jazz knows something.." He trailed off, not wanting to admit it to himself.

Tucker dropped his loaded roast beef sandwich onto his plate again. Sam's mouth dropped open as well.

"Danny," Sam started slowly, "What do you mean 'Jazz knows something'?"

"About me. Not necessarily Danny Phantom but something along those lines.." Panic began to fill his empty chest, quickly eating away at him. He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, hoping to relieve the pressure and tension that covered his body. It was to no avail though. Looking up into the crowded cafeteria didn't help. He stood up. He had to get out. He didn't know where out was but he needed to be somewhere other than here.

"Danny, wait, where are you going?" His friends asked in unison, alarmed. They got up and followed him, although Danny left so fast, they could hardly see where he went. They saw him ahead of them, opening the front doors of Casper High.

"Wait!" They called to him. As soon as they got outside they looked around, wanting, needing to see where their friend had gone to. It was Tucker who spotted him, leaning against a tree, his chest heaving, like he was worried each breath he took wouldn't be allowed past his lungs.

"Danny?" Sam asked in a small voice, putting a hand on his shoulder. As soon as she did so he winced and gasped in pain. She didn't understand what was going on.

"Hey, dude, look at this new game I got on my PDA, it's a little bit about Doom, but instead of robots there are zombies. Check it out." His friend said, offering his PDA to his best friend, trying to get him to calm down.

Sam saw he was trying to distract him so she jumped in. "Hey yeah, look at that, that sort of looks like the park by your house, doesn't it Danny?" She asked pointing onto the little screen.

Danny nodded, beginning to breathe at a slower rate. "I..I'm sorry…I didn't mean..to flinch." Sam knew this was pointed towards her, seeing as he nearly jumped out of his skin when she touched him.

"It's okay. Just breathe. It's my fault; I didn't know it would make things worse." She said, making sure not to touch him as much as she wanted to consoler her best friend with her soothing touch.

"Its..it's not that. Sam." He lifted his white and red shirt sleeve to reveal his darkened and injured shoulder. He was still trying to breathe right, his heart pounding in his ears. He was unsure if it was himself gasping or his friends at the sight of his shoulder.

It was the latter.

"Danny! Why didn't you say how bad it was?!" Sam scolded him, although worry quickly replaced her anger.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying not to think about it." He said as his breathing returned to normal as he slowly slid down the side of the tree so he could get into a more comfortable position.

"We're bringing you home." Tucker said, with the air of finality.

"I can't miss any more school. I can't miss detention." Danny sighed.

"This, is worth it." Sam said. Both her and Tucker held out a hand at the same time to Danny, to help him up. He couldn't help but smile when he looked up at them.

"Alright. Let's go home." Danny said, happy for once to lose a battle.

To Be Continued

*All the times in the past when I've written, I've had a specific outline, almost chapter by chapter. But now, I'm going one-hundred percent with the "flow" as they say. Hope you are enjoying this so far, there is plenty more to come. It would literally mean the world to me if you'd leave a comment. About anything in fact, but preferably about the story. Ha. Until next time.