Hello! Welcome to Season 4, Episode 6: Parasite
Trigger warning: Character death, suicide attempt, depression.
Danny zoomed past a building as he dodged missiles shot by the self-proclaimed ghost hunter, Skulker. Unfortunately for Danny, it seemed that Skulker intended to keep his word and would continue hunting Danny, no matter the fact that he saved the world. While Danny had the feeling that Skulker would keep his word, he thought that he would at least have a little break from the ghost hunter, or that he would at least go a little easy on him since they last ended things with respect for one another - or so Danny thought.
"C'mon, Skulker, I thought we were even! You know me saving the world, and you helping me convince the ghosts to help out?" Danny said as he shot an ecto ray at Skulker. "Those were good times, right?!"
Skulker narrowly missed the blast and took a second to balance himself. "I told you that you were a much valuable prize now, welp!" Skulker outstretched his arm and closed one eye to shoot a net at Danny, which Danny avoided by turning intangible through a building and flying away.
'Yeah, I was afraid you meant that." Danny mumbled.
"Danny, where are you?" Tucker's voice peeked through the Fenton phones Danny was wearing.
"I'm making my way to the park. Are you and Sam ready with the trap?" Danny asked as he dared to look behind him to make sure that Skulker was still following. He dodged as Skulker shot another ray at him.
"Yep, we're ready for ya," Tucker responded.
"This would be much easier if you'd stay still!" Skulker barked, charging up a rocket to launch. Danny turned around to shoot an ice beam at the rocket, effectively stopping the attack on that side of his armor.
"What, and go easy on the Ghost Zone's self-proclaimed greatest hunter? How would that be fair to you?" Danny gave Skulker a smug smile, which made Skulker narrow his eyes at the cocky teenager and grunt out of frustration, "Unless you aren't!" Danny flew off towards the park with Skulker following close behind him.
"Okay guys, I just passed the entrance!" Danny shouted into his Fenton phones.
Tucker nodded at Danny's claim. "Uh, Sam, are you sure that this is going to work?" he asked as he stood on a tree branch, holding one end of the Fenton Net.
Sam stood on another tree branch on a tree across from Tucker's, holding the other end of the net. "Oh, come on Tucker, what are you afraid of?" Sam asked, mischievously.
"Uh..." Tucker squeaked as he looked down to see the distance he had from the ground. He was never one to be afraid of heights; he had flown with Danny countless times. But now that he stood on this very tall tree and agreed to jump off without Danny, he gulped. "Face planting."
"We'll be fine! Plus, what's a few scrapes?" Sam asked as she looked to where Danny should be coming from.
"Oh yeah, a few scrapes, broken bones, concussions…nothing big!" Tucker crouched down on his branch, bracing himself for the potential pain. He grimaced as he saw Danny approaching them.
"Ready?!" Sam shouted at Tucker.
"No!"
"Well, get ready! One…"
Tucker closed his eyes and gripped the net tightly. When Sam had first told him of the plan, he agreed since she seemed so confident in it. Now that they were here, he blanched at her eagerness.
"Two…"
"This is your worst plan to date!" Tucker yelled.
Danny flew past the trees that Tucker and Sam stood on, with Skulker following right behind.
"Three!" Sam yelled as she jumped off. Tucker whimpered and jumped with Sam. While Sam yelled like she was going into battle, Tucker screamed out of pure terror. Due to the suddenness, Skulker was caught completely off guard, so he didn't have time to prep a sword to slice at the net or turn intangible. With the speed that Skulker was going, he pulled Tucker and Sam forward with him. The second the net wrapped around him, he wasn't able to fly off as it was ghost-proof; his suit also malfunctioned. Skulker and Tucker seemed to share the same sentiment as they screamed in horror, while Sam screamed from excitement and adrenaline.
Danny turned around a tree and flew towards Sam and Tucker to get them before they made a crash landing. Once he had a grasp on his friends, he pulled them up, leaving Skulker to face-plant into the ground.
"Now that's not fair!" Skulker yelled as he made a deep trench in the park from the impact.
Danny landed on the ground softly, releasing his grasp on Sam and Tucker. As soon as Tucker felt Danny's hand off of him, he collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
"Come on Tucker, it wasn't that bad!" Sam claimed in between laughs.
"We could've died!" Tucker shouted.
"You should have more faith in me, Tuck," Danny said as he uncapped the Fenton Thermos that he grabbed out of Sam's backpack. "I wasn't going to let you two crash and burn with Skulker."
"I'm claiming that as pure luck!" Tucker retorted, still trying to calm his racing heart. Sam and Danny looked at each other and laughed even more at Tucker's expense. Tucker narrowed his eyes at the couple. "Yeah, ha ha ha, laugh it up! You two owe me now!"
"We know, we know," Danny said, calming down his laughter, "Once we put Skulker back in the Ghost Zone, we can head over to Dash's party."
Sam was still laughing as she reached for her phone in her pocket, which was ringing. "Hello?" she asked in between her chuckles. As she listened to the other person, her laughter died, and her smile started to fade. It seemed like the air in the park got colder as Sam's conversation continued. Tucker and Danny noticed the mood shift and looked up at Sam. They could see her eyes moving all around, trying to get a stable sight, even though she stood still.
"Sam?" Danny asked as he and Tucker shared a look of concern. She dropped her phone to her side as the person on the other end continued to talk.
"I have to go," Sam said quietly as she sprinted out of the park.
"Sam!" Danny and Tucker shouted.
Sam knew her legs were moving, but the feeling wasn't there for her. It was a total out-of-body experience. She ran with only one thought racing in her mind, "Get home."
When she saw her house, her legs moved faster. She quickly turned the door knob to open it, pushing her body into the action not caring that she left it open for anyone to come in. She ran up the stairs and focused on the door that sat at the end of the west side of her house. The door was cracked open, allowing the warm light that was in the room to escape into the dark hallway.
She lifted her hand but froze a few inches above the door knob. After all the running she did to come home, she now found herself afraid to open the door. Stupidly, she thought that if she didn't open the door, then she wouldn't be forced to face reality. Deep down, she knew that that didn't make sense, and cursed herself for hesitating.
Every second counted right now.
She shut her eyes as she prepped herself to open the door. Slowly, she placed her hand on the door knob and walked into the room.
Sam saw the family doctor talking to her parents in the corner, with her dad placing a comforting hand on her mother's shoulder. They both looked like the world had been flipped upside down and shared somber looks. Sam glazed her eyes at the bed in the room and saw her grandmother lying in it. She froze in place as she saw how small and weak her grandmother looked. It wasn't until her grandmother smiled lazily and held a weak hand to Sam that made her move towards her. When she got to the edge of the bed, Sam kneeled down and held her grandmother's hand.
"Hi Bubala," Sam's grandmother said weakly.
Sam let out a breath and held tighter on her grandmother's hand, "Hi grandma."
Sam's grandmother looked over to her parents and the doctor in the corner, "I hope they don't think they can send me to a nursing home," She joked.
Sam let out a chuckle that came more as a choked sob, "No, grandma. You're staying here. I'm never letting you go."
Her grandmother looked back at Sam and brought her other hand up to caress Sam's cheek, "You always had a strong-willed spirit, never lose that."
Sam leaned into her grandmother's hand, "I can't. It came from you."
"No, bubala, that is all you. It's something that I've always admired about you," She brought her hand back as she coughed violently. Once the coughing fit ended, she took a deep, staggered breath and persevered, "I'm so proud to call you my granddaughter. You've made me a better woman."
Sam blinked back her tears, trying to remain strong, but her voice betrayed her as it cracked, "You're the best grandmother. Ever. Thank you for always being there for me and loving me for who I am. Please stay with me..."
"I'll always be with you," Sam's grandmother brought her her hand from Sam's cheek temporarily to point at her heart, "I'll always be with you." She grunted a bit as she could feel her energy being drained. Knowing it was coming soon, she lightly squeezed Sam's hand to get her attention from the depressing setting.
"...and because I knew you…" Her grandmother sang shakily. Sam choked back the sob as she realized what her grandmother was asking of her: to give one last performance. She froze, afraid to continue. Her grandmother smiled at her and repeated, "...and because I knew you…"
Sam gulped, but continued for her, "because I knew you," she sang softly. Their singing grabbed her parents' and the doctor's attention. Sam could hear crying from her parents, but she tried her best to block it out and focused on her grandmother.
The two then sang the last few lines together slowly, "because I knew you, I have been changed." Sam closed her eyes and shook her head, refusing to say the last two words.
"Grandma,"
"Bubala," Sam's grandmother encouraged. Sam took a deep breath and said the last two words by herself. "For good." When Sam finished, she felt her grandmother's grasp loosen in her hands.
Sam held her hand a second longer, refusing to believe she was gone. It's not until the Doctor and a few nurses come around her that it finally hits her.
Her grandmother had passed.
"Sam," Jeremy calmly called out. Sam didn't respond as she felt the walls closing in on her. The only thing she could focus on was her breathing as it came out heavy and unevenly. Next, her vision became blurry as the scene in front of her moved around her slowly, but fast at the same time.
"Sam..." Jeremy moved closer to his daughter to place his hand on her shoulder, but before he could, she stood up abruptly and ran. "Sam!"
She doesn't stop. She runs out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house.
I feel awful for putting Sam through it... RIP Grandma Manson.
In case you were wondering, the song that Sam and her grandmother sang was "For Good," from Wicked.