So, I'm back. I've gotten over my writer's block and everything. Thank you all for the reviews, faves, follows, and just reading this. I love you all and I hope you enjoy this little guy.
We heard the front door slam shut and a feminine cry of "I'm home!" Mom looked up from the lab station computer, where she was analyzing some of my blood, and glanced over at me.
"Danny, I think it's time for you to talk to your sister."
"Can't you do it?" I groaned. Mom only smirked and replied.
"I can be there, but it's important that you tell her. It'll help you come to terms with this whole situation."
"Ugh. Fine." Sliding off of the lab table, I started up the stairs. "But you're coming with me." Mom stood up, sighing.
"Of course."
Jazz was sitting on the couch, reading some books when we finally got upstairs. Her eyes shifted from the withering textbook in her hands to me.
"Hey, Danny. I haven't seen you in a bit. Where've you been?"
"Uhmmm…. I- I- uh. I've been… in the lab. I guess."
"You guess?" Her eyes narrowed with suspicion and her hands slowly shut the book.
"W-well. I-uhm. I'm- I eat ghosts." I heard my mother put a gloved hand up to her face and probably wince at my pathetic explanation.
"What?" Jazz's face twisted into a grimace of confusion and I opened my mouth to offer another ridiculous explanation, but Mom thankfully put me out of my misery.
"Jazz, honey. Danny isn't exactly… human. You remember that project you did in fifth grade, where you had to find old pictures of your family, but you never saw a picture of me pregnant with Danny?"
"What." It was more of a statement than a question, but it did describe Jazz's emotions perfectly, I think.
"I was never pregnant with Danny. He was grown in an artificial womb in a lab. We- your father and I were hired to make a human-ghost hybrid, known as a halfa. But after thirteen failures, our sponsors wanted a predator, rather than just a half ghost. The predator was designed to be a hunter, and have features that would allow it to crave and eat ghosts. But the fourteenth experiment, when he was taken out of the artificial womb, he was completely human, so our sponsors let us keep him. That's where we got Danny."
Jazz looked faint. Her face was pale and incredulous. "So- so you're telling me that my little brother is a ghost? Danny, a ghost?"
"He's your half brother, actually. We had to get the halfa genes from somewhere, and in college there was an accident with the proto portal, and our partner, Vlad Masters, got turned into a halfa. We used his and my genes to make Danny-"
"God, Mom thanks for that picture." I whispered.
"But we had a falling out. He went insane and tried to get me to leave your father and he burned down the lab where we worked. We only barely got Danny out. The GiW, our sponsors, figured that Vlad would rather raise Danny because he was alone and very wealthy. But Vlad rejected Danny because he was human, so your father and I took him in. We can keep him so long as he is human"
Jazz was completely silent, eyes wide, frozen to her seat.
"I was not emotionally prepared for this. I was just planning on having a nice day off, but no! Of course not! Why would it be?! Why are you just springing this on us now?!"
"Because, Danny was human. But his ghost genes are activating and he's a halfa now."
"So you're getting rid of him?!" Jazz jumped up, wrapping her arms around my neck protectively. "You're not getting your hands on him!"
"Jazz!" I choked out, tapping the arm that was crushing my windpipe. Suddenly, my body got tingly. You know, when you fall asleep in a position and your arm falls asleep and you can't even feel it when you wake up because it's been in that position for over 8 hours? It was like that.
I was unbalanced and fell to the floor, straight through Jazz's arms.
Feeling returned to by body and I hit the floor with a thud.
Their eyes shifted to me with surprise. "Danny!" They both yelled as they rushed over to my side. I sat up slowly, my eyes wide. "What was that?" I asked.
"You phased through Jazz." Mom replied simply. "And Jazz, I'm not going to give him up. He's my little boy and I would never let him go. We need to keep this a secret. No telling anyone outside of immediate family."
Jazz nodded before she turned to me. "Are you alright Danny?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for choking me, by the way."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine." I smiled up at her. She grinned back, helping me up. She shifted her eyes over to Mom.
"Anything other life changing things I should know?" Mom snickered at Jazz then looked over at me, an evil glint in her eyes. Frowning, I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Danny has the psychological aspects of a predator." And with that, she strode out the room, feeling very pleased with herself. She knew Jazz would be intrigued, and wouldn't leave it alone until she put me through an honest-to-god psychoanalysis session. Grimacing, I glanced over at Jazz, who had a ravenous look on her face.
She grabbed my hand and led me up to her room. "Jazz, no!"
"Danny, this is a psychological anomaly never before seen in humans. You can't say no."
"Jaaaaazzzzzz." I whined as she set me down on her bed and sat down in her spinny chair, snagging a pad of paper and a pen.
"So, Danny. Where would you like to start?"
"Maybe by leaving?"
"Not happening. Let's do some word association. Just tell me the first word you think of when I give you a word. Okay?"
"No."
"Let's start." She readied her pen over her paper. "Piano." She offered.
"Noise." She nodded, scribbling down my answer.
"Ghost?"
"Danny." She implored.
"Food."
"Hunting?"
"...fun?
"Sleep?
"Can we be done yet, Jazz?" She glanced down at her paper and sighed.
"Fine. But don't think I'm letting this go."
"Oh, of course not."