Chapter Two

Danny's P.o.V

Pain. All that exists now is pain. Well, that and suffering.

I don't even remember what set Dad off this time. I think it was because I got a C on my math test, but that's an improvement considering the last test! He had taken one look at me after I came home and completely blew his top. He started screaming and stomping his foot on the ground, practically making the foundation for the house shake and quiver. I was half tempted to make a flying leap for the door, but he knew what I was thinking and stepped in between my escape route and me. From that moment on, I knew that I was totally screwed.

The first punch came flying quicker than I had expected and I went flying into the coffee table. We were surrounded by stunned silence for a moment before Dad started to laugh. It wasn't some nervous laughter; it was more like malicious laughter. He was glad he had hurt me. Fear ran rampant through me and I knew that he wasn't going to stop at just one punch. At least I could still brace myself for the beating that was for sure going to take place.

The beating lasted for all of ten minutes, but it was enough to leave me with some serious injuries, the ones that were worrying me the most were a few ribs that I was sure were broken and the left side of my face where Dad had shoved it one the burning hot stove top. But, as much as the injuries hurt, the part that hurt the most was the fact that my Dad had beaten me and actually enjoyed it! No, he didn't just enjoy it, he was completely ecstatic! The man who lived in this house wasn't my Dad anymore. He was a stranger. Someone I knew longer knew and was afraid to even be around. He was quickly climbing the crazy latter and, sooner or later, he was going to be even more of a fruit loop than Vlad. Dear God, even thinking about Dad being a fruit loop makes me sick. Or that could just be my concussion, whatever one it is.

Dad had left about an hour ago, most likely to the little bar that was just a few streets over. This would probably be my one chance of escape, though I highly doubt that he would even notice that I was gone. Hell, he doesn't even notice that I'm home until he sees me and gets the urge to beat the living crap out of me. He doesn't really bother hunting ghosts anymore either, so I guess that's a plus. I don't have to worry about him hunting me, leaving Val as the only ghost hunter in town. But it bothers me too, as no hunting means that he's getting drunk. The drunker he gets, the more violently he acts towards me. It's the complete opposite than what I'm used to. When Mom was alive and Dad got drunk, he was the biggest teddy bear. I remember when I was ten he had gotten drunk and the RV wasn't working, so we had to take Mom's old truck. It was a two door, four seater, so the person in front had to let out the person in the back. Mom had let Jazz out, but Dad hadn't let me out until I proved to him that I still loved him even though he had gotten drunk. Damn it! Where the hell did that Dad go? What happened to the man who used to give me the biggest of bear hugs and share his fudge with me when I had a nightmare! Damn it, WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO!

I cried and cried until I didn't have any more tears. Then I just lied there until I could get my thoughts back together. My chest throbbed with agony and I knew I had to get some serious medical help. I couldn't go the hospital; the ectoplasm in my blood would raise too much fuss. Tucker was on a family outing, so that ruled out his house. I wasn't going to go crawling to Vlad unless it was a complete life or death situation. Sam's house seems to be the best option at this point, but there was the risk of her parents seeing me. Even though they were nice to me at the funeral, I don't know for sure if they were just being nice to me for that day. Man, as much as I don't want to run into the Mansons, I really don't want to die like this. I was going to have to take the risk.

Deciding to go to Sam's house was one thing, actually getting there was a completely different experience. The moment I stood my legs gave away. At least one of my ankles had to be broken. I sucked up the pain and decided to keep going. I had been hurt worse in ghost fights, I could handle this. I had to get to Sam's. The only other option was to wait here for either my Dad or a ghost to finish me off, and I didn't like that idea. Wait, going ghost! I could travel much faster in my ghosts form that I ever could in my human form and my ghost half might actually numb some of the pain I was feeling.

That was much easier thought than done. The transformation went smoothly, but the flying part actually made my ribs hurt pretty badly. I almost went falling back to the ground, but managed to catch myself in time. This wasn't going to be as simple as I had originally thought, but I could still pull it off. I'd just have to take it slow and steady. I would make it to Sam's; I just would have to go about it in a different way than I would normally do.

The moment I got outside I felt relief. Flying had always made my fears and doubts go away, and this flight was no different. I had a little bit of hope that my Dad would snap out of this and go back to being the big, lovable, teddy bear that I had grown up with. I could see it happening with such clarity in my head that I actually believed that it would happen, but a traitorous part of my head was whispering that nothing would ever be the same. That, even if he snapped out of this, I would always be terrified of him because of what happened, because of all the times he hurt me. Things would never go back to the way they were because one of my parents was dead and the other had turned into a psycho.

Before I knew it, I was at Sam's house and I was close to passing out. I climbed up the steps before changing back. The pain came rushing back at me full force. I collapsed with a yelp and dragged myself the rest of the way to Sam's door. Black spots were everywhere now and everything was spinning. I knocked on the door just as I collapsed and darkness took over everything.

The last thing I heard before the world went quiet was screaming and Sam yelling my name.

Author's Note:

Sorry I haven't updated this sooner. My lap top deleted the original version of Chapter Two and I had to rewrite the entire thing. I honestly like this version better. I really hope you like this chapter and don't forget to leave a little review in the box below! Reviews get me excited, when I get excited music gets played, and when music is playing chapters get written!