Danny POV-
I made sure we all remained invisible and Sam's father gave me directions as we flew overhead—which would make it impossible for dogs to track us. Sam's mother worried that Jaque would turn the entire village upside down looking for us, but Sam's father assured her that we would not be found where we are going.
We arrived ten minutes later at a small, modest, house on the outskirts of the village—which would be at least an hour walk—two probably given her father's condition. The king was right, he would not anticipate our ability to make it all the way here without being spotted, which would give us time to rest before coming up with a plan.
Sam's dad knocked on the door.
"I hope we're not inconveniencing them too much at this hour," Sam's mom fretted.
"Estelle, darling, I think they will understand," Sam's father replied, with a small smile
"But, Richard, they have young children," she whined biting her lip.
"Estelle, they had young children eight years ago," the King smiled, knocking again.
Suddenly the door opened just a crack, enough for the person inside to peek out through the chain.
Whoever was inside gasped loudly when they got a look at us and then immediately closed the door to slide over the chain. When the door opened again, a short, dark-haired, balding man stood in the doorway. A brunette woman and two teenagers (a few years younger than us) were standing behind him.
"Come in, come in," the man uttered quickly, looking around anxiously.
He shut the door behind us, closed all of the curtains and turned down the lights before giving a hug to the king and queen.
"My king, my queen," he bowed slightly, "It warms my heart so to see you out of imprisonment. What has happened? Who are these children?" he asked the king.
"Uncle Armando, don't you recognize me?" Sam asked teasingly.
"Samantha?!" his eyes widened in astonishment, giving her a hug, "You are such a young lady now!"
"Haha, so I've been told," she replied though she kind of looked like she was struggling in his boa-constrictor-like grasp.
"Oh! I would love to hear of your escape! Oh but I'm sure you are exhausted! Let us get you settled, we can discuss this when there is more light in the sky," the man smiled at us, I'm not sure I've ever been so grateful so have a comfortable pace to sleep. I'm exhausted.
Sam was put in the room with the teenage girl and Tucker and I were put into the room with the teenage boy while Sam's parents were given the guest room.
Then, given that it was still 4:30 in the morning, everyone went to bed.
Except for me. Because, as luck would have it, I couldn't sleep. And I don't even have a ghost waking me up at all hours of the night.
So, while Tucker and Adrian (the boy's name) snored, I quietly slipped out into the living room. It was dark and I didn't bother to turn on the light so I just sat in one of the chairs. It was pretty comfortable but I still didn't feel like sleeping.
"Couldn't sleep?" I heard a voice behind me, at first I thought it was Sam but when I turned around, it was her mom.
"How'd you guess?" I joked tiredly.
She cracked a small smile before sitting down beside me.
"So you have been good friends with my daughter for a long time?" she asked.
"Yeah, Sam, me, and Tucker have been best friends since…well, actually since the first day she moved in," I grinned, "Tucker and I were kind of losers and Sam was the only person who would talk to us."
Her mom chuckled, "She has always been that way, even as a child."
We sat in an awkward silence in the dark for a few minutes.
"So, you're a ghost…or at least you have the abilities of a ghost," she stated bluntly.
"What? Um, no! Pfft, no! What?" I stuttered. I'm sure my eyes were bugging out of my head and I was twitching like a cat on caffeine. But damn! How did she know that?!
The queen arched an eyebrow at me in amusement.
"Ah I see, a secret. Don't worry, I will tell no one. I am quite familiar with ghosts myself. Growing up, my father worked in the ectoplasm mines—well, he owned the ectoplasm mine. He was quite influential, that's why I was encouraged to marry Richard. Luckily, for me, it worked out and I ended up falling in love with a wonderful man, but I always said that should I have a daughter, I would allow her to marry for love," she smiled and studied me with intrigue for a moment.
"Ectoplasm mines?" I asked, having never heard of it.
"Oh yes. The ectoplasm was discovered about seventy-five years ago—and it is why Jacque wants to take over and exploit this country," she explained.
"I don't understand. Why would anyone want to mine for ectoplasm?" I asked.
"Energy," she explained, "A better source than oil or coal."
That made sense actually, given how my parents were able to create the ecto-converter, but it must be a carefully guarded secret because I've never heard of another country using ectoplasm for energy. Lord knows what might happen to the Ghost Zone if that became well-known knowledge.
"Not many countries know about it," she answered my unspoken thought, "And you can imagine what damage would be done to Amour Ville and to the Ghost World if such information was to be released."
"You know about the Ghost Zone?" I questioned.
"Ghost Zone? Is that what you call it?" she chuckled, "Yes I know it, very well in fact. Because, as you can imagine, with all of these stores of ectoplasm, there is quite a bit of ghost activity in Amour Ville. Portals open all of the time, so yes, every once in a while the people of this city catch a glimpse of the 'Ghost Zone.'"
"Hmm," I nodded thoughtfully. For some reason, I thought that ghosts were really just an Amity Park problem because of my parent's portal. I mean, obviously I know that portals can open any place and time, but I never really considered that places around the world could have as much of a ghost problem as Amity Park.
"I worry that Jacque will begin to sell the ectoplasm to other countries soon which is why it is important that he be stopped," she told me and I nodded in agreement. I would be really bad if other countries found out another source of energy. Not only would Amour Ville and the Ghost Zone be destroyed but also probably many other parts of the world because they would be looking for more. Come to think of it, Amity Park probably has a ton of ectoplasm stores and it would likely be destroyed for mining too.
"Your abilities," she said suddenly, "I knew them to be of ghosts because I recognized the green glow of ectoplasm, am I correct?" she smiled at me.
I studied her. What's the point in hiding it if she already knows?
I sighed in surrender, "Yes, you are."
"Might I ask how it happened?" she wondered.
"My parents are ghost hunters," I explained and her eyes widened in surprise, "And last year, they built a man-made portal to the Ghost Zone. At first it didn't work, but Sam kind of convinced me to…investigate. So I went inside. It didn't take long to figure out that my parents had put the 'on' button on the inside of the portal. I accidentally pressed it and ghost DNA mixed with my DNA and made me half ghost."
"Ghost hunters?" she asked, "Why would anybody want to hunt ghosts?"
Seriously? That's the question she asks?
"They believe ghosts to be inherently evil," I shrugged.
"So I suppose that means your parents do not know of your abilities?" she guessed and I shook my head.
She frowned in deep thought.
"When you say that you are 'half ghost' does that extend to more than just your abilities?" she questioned.
I shrugged and transformed, the bright light illuminating the space for a brief second.
She wasn't at all confused, as I expected her to be. Instead she looked…excited.
"You are the one of the prophesy who defeated the Ghost King!" she exclaimed.
"H-how-how did you know that?" I blinked, taken aback.
"Frostbite once explained the prophesy to me," she replied.
"You know Frostbite?!" I exclaimed.
"As I said, Amour Ville is often visited by ghosts. I haven't seen Frostbite visit since I was a little girl but I remember the prophesy and the photos he showed me of the Great One who would save the Ghost World and become the new ghost king—though I never once imagined that the savior of the Ghost World would be a friend of my daughter," she explained.
"Wait a minute, what was that about me being the new ghost king?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at her.
"Oh right, you won't take the throne quite yet," she blushed, realizing she had said too much.
I transformed back into my human form, slumping into the chair, suddenly feeling very weighted down.
"I take it that you are unable to do that often in front of your own parents?" she guessed knowingly.
I scoffed, "In their own words, they want to 'rip me apart molecule by molecule,' of course, they don't actually know that it's me they want to destroy."
She shook her head, "That is awful. Why are they so set in their opinion that all ghosts are evil?"
"I don't know," I replied honestly.
"Do you think they are worried about you?" she wondered.
"I have no doubt," I said.
"It's unfortunate that I cannot provide you with a method of contacting them, Jacque outlawed all connections with the outside world in Amour Ville, he took all phones and computers," she explained.
"I'm sure Tucker will find a way to get a message out eventually," I told her.
"So he is the technological one, is he?"
"You could say that," I laughed at the understatement.
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"You know," she smiled, "It comes as no surprise to me that my daughter was involved in the creation of your abilities and that she has such connections to the ghost world here in Amour Ville. I do not believe in coincidences."
"Really?" I asked, intrigued.
"Absolutely. And you should know, that I do not take your sacrifices to help my family lightly and the fact that you and Tucker have been with my daughter the whole time also encourages my heart," she told me.
"Thank you," I replied honestly.
"You are most welcome," she smiled, "Now, the sun shall be rising in the next few hours. You should get some sleep to be prepared for battle in the morning."
"Okay. Goodnight, Your Highness," I said.
"Goodnight, Danny. Sleep well," she nodded at me before standing up to walk back down the hall to her bedroom.
I walked back to the room I was staying in. Tucker and Adrian were still sleeping when I curled up in the sleeping bag.
And this time, I had no trouble falling asleep.