#my ectober

From what could be gathered, he had died horrifically at the hands of an unknown ghost, and he died alone. Slowly in a dirty ditch during a harsh stormy night, just outside of Elmerton, only discovered by a passing motorcyclist. He was already dead when he was found. 

Sam was never clued in to the extent of his injuries, but the funeral had been closed casket. When she requested to see him, one more time, she was quietly told that it was best that she did not. Leaving the last vision of him a touching one, where he told her he loved her and kissed her good night. 

She replaced the scene over and over again in her mind as she stared at the window. The last place she saw him. The way he’d lean on her windowsill, as if his weightless ghost half needed the support. His dorky smile, the freckles that were slowly fading as summer was ending. Eyes that always stared so lovingly at her, as they were that night as he had confessed to her once more his desire to get married to her after college. Something she always confessed back. 

Sam could think of nothing better than to be married to her absolute best friend, despite them only being an official couple for a month. Six years of a crush, four years of light flirting, fake out make outs, of them being shy and unsure. Such a slow progression had lead to the official spark, and now she couldn’t, she wouldn’t, imagine a life without him. They talked about that future together. Going to the same college right there in Amity Park with Tucker. Potential wedding plans. How they wanted to go follow Dumpty Humpty on tour. Their playful arguments over getting a cat or a dog. The amount of children they’d have, and their names. Moving in together. How Danny was going to finally manage to get her parents to like him. How much his parents loved and accepted her into the family already. That dream vacation to London they planned to take once in college. Truly having a life together as their young love blossomed into a long, happy life together. All of those plans and memories that were supposed to be made were shattered into millions of what ifs. 

Warm tears were wiped away by shaking hands. She rolled over to face her wall, forcing herself to sit up. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t keep doing this. Get up. Sam had to get up. Maybe get something to eat. Attempt homework. Watch a movie. Her hair stuck up, and it felt greasy. A nice hot bath would likely make her feel tons better. As she rolled her shoulders, she felt them pop. She needed to get up.

She slowly leaned forward, feeling her feet hit the floor as they wobbly supported her weight. The goth purposefully ignored the blank spaces on the wall, dust exposing where picture frames were once hung up. She dragged herself to the bathroom, standing in the doorway. Her hand was so heavy. Too heavy. The palm of her hand slapped the wall and slowly slid to try and flip on a light. It burned the second it flickered on, and she couldn’t help but just stare at the bathroom.

What was she doing? Sam couldn’t figure it out. The bathroom felt foggy despite no water. A bath sounded less and less appealing. Her knees buckled. She turned the light off, and she began to slump back to her bed.

Sam froze with a soft, surprised gasp as she unintentionally locked eyes with something at her window. Something that had not been there before, masked by shadows and her curtain but she saw what she needed to see. Dark red eyes were staring intently at her with a blank expression plastered on light blue skin. Familiar whitehair, a familiar white and black jumpsuit. His entire form was painted in a light glowing green with buckets worth of a dark brownish-red. Ectoplasm and blood. While those eyes seemed to be from him, Sam wasn’t sure. He looked familiar, and she knew who he was. But at the same time, she had no clue who. 

The form finally had some kind of expression. He flashed a toothy smile, letting sharp fangs shine in the faint light of her nightstand lamp. His eyes even seemed to sparkle too, but it was far from the warmth that she had experienced before. This one was...almost haunting. It was trying to be charming, but failing miserably. She shivered, but yet she still found herself stepping forward.

“Danny?” she whispered. The form immediately jerked back a foot. “No, Danny,” she breathed as she began to quickly walk to him. With every step she took to him, he moved backwards a step. “DANNY!” 

Sam got to the window, immediately slamming the doors open, but by then, the form was gone. Cold wind nipped harshly at her skin as she scanned the skies for him. Any sign of a black and white figure zooming as she had witnessed many times before, flying gracefully and with the faint sound of cheerful laughing.

Sam glanced up at Tucker. Ever since their freshman year, he had grown too. Now supporting a short beard and muscles of his own, Sam admitted that her friend grew up handsome as he now stood as the tallest of the trio-the ex-trio. Two years ago they all got gym memberships and went together, to stay in better ghost hunting shape. Their new routine had become the gym before the Nasty Burger, now a reward for the exercise.

"...I should," Sam said quietly as she pressed her forehead to the cold window, staring as they passed FentonWorks. She'd never be Sam Fenton now. "I need to get out. Do things. Continue on, but I just." She felt hot tears beginning to form. She was glad she opted for no makeup.

"I know, Sam," Tucker said quietly. She felt his hand reach out and grab her shoulder to squeeze comfortingly. "Please come to the gym with us and eat. If you can't do it, I'll just take you home early. I'm just worried, and I know Paulina's been worried about you too."

"Yeah, she's been texting me," Sam sighed. She stared out at the street as the warmth of orange, red and yellow were decorating the streets as the headlights shined on it. It was still dark out, but she could see that leaves were everywhere, sticking to buildings and parked cars. Slight blurs of colored jackets as people prepared for the sweater weather, but the people out at this hour were sparse. Nobody really walked to school this time of year anymore, more people relied on the bus or somebody to drive them.

A flash of a figure caught her eye as they drove past. A familiar red jacket and purple backpack worn by a figure with snow white hair. A black jumpsuit, and piercing red eyes that she could only point out due to the glowing shine. They stared her down. She couldn't look away, swallowing nervously.

"Did you see that?" Sam questioned, glancing to Tucker. Tucker jerked his head around, curiously.

"See what?" he asked. Sam shook her head, leaning back in her seat.

"Nothing, just this kid that, uh...yeah."

Tucker could guess her thoughts, and he gave a small grimace as he looked forward. They sat in silence as he slowed down for a red light, bringing the car to a gentle stop. Sam heard Tucker cough and shift in his seat, sniffling a bit. She glanced over to him to see the faint reflection of a tear running down his cheek.

"...I miss him, Sam," he eventually whispered. Sam's words got caught in her throat, and she simply made a pitiful noise of acknowledgement. The light turned green, and Tucker continued one. "I miss him so much."

Sam's breath came out ragged for a moment as she tried to compose herself, stop herself from crying. There was nothing she wanted more than to tell Tucker to please just turn around and drop her off at home. She couldn't do today. How was she supposed to sit in English class when Danny wasn't going to be sitting behind her, idly playing with or braiding her hair? Where was she going to put her feet up during lunch when Danny's lap was now gone? Who was going to fly her home? The reality of none of this happening today, tomorrow, next week, next month, ever, continued hitting Sam like a battering ram.

"I wanna go home," Sam finally whimpered softly. Tucker's hand reached out for hers, and she took it, squeezing it. He held hers tightly.

"We'll get through it," he promised her. "Just gotta take it day by day."

"What if I can't?" she asked.

"Then you take it hour by hour," he replied.

A rush of guilt flooded her. She knew Tucker was just trying to be strong for her. He and Danny were best friends before Sam even entered the picture. This hurt him too. How selfish of her to constantly stay locked up in her room, mourning her boyfriend when her best friend was also mourning his childhood bestie.

"We can do it," she forced herself to say. She was very skeptical of this.

Tucker let go of her hand to grasp the steering wheel, flicking his turn signal on. He slowed, glancing to assure he was clear to turn into the Casper High parking lot. Sam stared out her window as Tucker turned, freezing as she saw the headlights briefly illuminate a figure. Only a brief glance, but she still caught the red and purple with white. Her heart froze, and she immediately shifted in her seat to turn to look through the back window, but there was nobody lit up in the taillights.

"Whatcha looking for?" Tucker questioned. Sam shook her head, sighing a bit as she settled back into her seat.

"I...I thought I saw a cat," she lied. Tucker frowned, but he didn't comment.

He pulled into a free parking space, and Sam saw the small crowd of students trickling in. After he parked, the duo undid their seatbelts and gathered their things. The cold air hit Sam as she opened the door, and she shivered. She adjusted her jacket, zipping it up as she slipped her backpack on. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a unique anxiety filled her, a feeling of uneasiness.

She looked around, but spotted nothing out of the ordinary. Goosebumps still rose all over her arms, and she slipped her hands under her sleeves to rub at them. Sam just must be cold. It was nearly freezing outside.

"Sam, you coming?" Tucker called out to her, and she immediately turned to him. He had taken a few steps towards school, and she hurriedly caught up to him.

"Yeah, I'm just...kinda out of it," she confessed. Tucker wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her as they began to walk in step together.

"Hour by hour," he reminded her. Having Tucker nearby helped ease some of her anxiety, but there was still something amiss. Even as they entered the school, both sighing in relief as the school had an instant heat to combat the cold October air, Sam could still feel...something. Being watched.

She looked over her shoulder, trying to find anything. Nothing seemed to be there but the normal crowd of students. Her eyes scanned them, trying to spy one that was staring at her, but she couldn't find one. It only made her feel more uneasy, and she leaned more into Tucker as they stopped by their lockers.

Sam stared at the locker. She missed Danny opening her locker for her, with a flick of an intangible finger. Tucker's locker closed, and she felt him pat her back.

"I'll see you in third period," he told her, and she could only numbly nod, glancing after him only for a moment as he disappeared.

A deep sigh escaped her as a shiver went up her spine. Urgency forced her heart to race with anxiety, and she looked around for the cause. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing staring at her. Despite feeling somebody's eyes locking onto her with an intense gaze. Her fingers began to fumble with the lock combination, turning it. Ah, fuck. Missed it. Had to restart.

Nervous sweat began to collect on her forehead as she knew an intense gaze was turning into a staredown. She fumbled to turn the lock combination correctly. God damn it, she had to restart. Her fingers were beginning to shake as she tried to hurriedly do it again, a panic beginning to settle in as she rapidly turned the lock, hoping that approximation would get her locker open.

Sam could swear that she could hear the familiar sound of somebody breathing right next to her. Right into her ear, despite nothing touching her to indicate a person was there and standing so close. Even the warm breath was tickling her ear, and she wanted to cry. Tears of fright began to collect as she frantically tried a final time. It didn't work again, and her hand was visibly shaking hard.

"Hey, let me," a gentle voice said, and Sam let out a panicky gasp. She saw Paulina standing near her, but nowhere near where the breathing was. Paulina also stood about her height, nowhere able to spook her like that.

The girl looked concerned for her, and Sam surrendered her shaking hand to tuck into herself. She crossed her arms and shivered, feeling one of the beads of sweat drip down her forehead. Paulina opened her locker on the first time, standing off to the side.

"You okay?" Paulina questioned, cocking her head slightly. Sam shook her head no, but she didn't speak. She simply stepped forward, sliding her backpack off and beginning to exchange it out. "Sam, what's going on?" Sam's throat felt so dry, and despite the breath being gone, she still felt so watched.

"I-I-I dunno," she half-lied. She sniffled hard, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hand.

Sam just wanted the day to be over with, and she stared at her schoolbooks. She forced as many as she could into the backpack to prevent having to be back in at the locker again, but her spider backpack was fairly small. She'd have to carry most of them. But maybe if she just took all of her books home, her mom would let her get away with just being home all semester. Do all of her work there, and have Tucker or Paulina bring it to school.

"Are you leaving?" Paulina asked, glancing into her locker as Sam began to hurriedly take everything she could out. Sam shrugged, sniffling more. The feeling of being watched had died down a bit. Paulina being there, somebody she knew, just being around made her feel better, but paranoia was still at the back of her mind.

"I just wanna go home," Sam managed to croak out.

Paulina seemed to understand, at least somewhat anyway, and she opened her arms for her. Sam immediately accepted the hug, sniffling harder. Once Sam pulled away, Paulina reached into her purse to give her a travel pack of tissues. She accepted it and wiped her eyes before blowing her nose.

"Come on," Paulina told her. The girl dug through her purse until she produced a reusable canvas bag. Like many girls at the school, Paulina opted to just use her oversized purse as a bag, relying on the reusable canvas bag for if she had to lug home a bunch of books. Paulina shook the bag a bit, forcing it to unfold before holding it open for her.

"Thank you," Sam replied quietly.

She began to shove the rest of the books into the canvas bag as her friend patiently held it open for her. Paulina said nothing, simply watching as the goth also began to empty her locker of it's accessories. Pictures, her locker mirror, extra pencil bag, a spare set of clothes. Paulina soon had rested the bag on the floor due to the weight, and Sam folded her shirt to squeeze into the bag.

"Don't forget that," Paulina spoke up, nodding at the back of the locker. Sam stood up, peering into the locker, and she felt her heart race.

It was a tarot card, pressed flat against the back of the locker Sam had tarot cards, but she had never brought them to school before. Neither Danny nor Tucker ever messed with them either, so where…

Sam frowned, reaching into the locker to grab the tarot card. To her surprise, it was stuck. She had to use a nail at the sides to pry the beginning parts of it off, and she soon was able to pull it off. Sam flipped it over to see what made it stuck. It was a sticky green substance. Confused, she sniffed it, only to be hit with an oh-too-familiar scent. Ectoplasm.

She nervously glanced around, but saw nothing. But of course...should she really expect to see a stalker that could turn invisible.

"That's a tarot card, right?" Paulina asked, glancing curiously at it. "Are you missing one from your deck?" Sam shook her head no, and she turned around to see which card it was.

And it made her numb. The Hanged Man card.

Rationally, she knew it wasn't a sign that she was going to die. But that card...it represented sacrifice. It could be read as sacrificing so much, potentially everything, only to receive nothing in return. It always felt like a very bitter card to her whenever she read it. A card that meant you giving your all, only to get nothing in return, for nothing to go according to plan. For ultimately, failure to happen.

She bit her lower up, and she shoved it into her spider backpack. Sam forced a smile to Paulina as she shut her locker.

"Thank you. I'll return the bag as soon as possible," she replied. She slipped her bag onto her back, picking up the canvas bag. It felt heavy, and she knew walking home was going to be horrible.

Paulina shot her an understanding smile.

"Please come over later," she requested. "We'll make some food and hang, it'll be good. I know school's a bit much, but I don't want you to rot away in your room. Just you and me." That did sound a bit appealing...While Sam loved Tucker, most of her memories with Tucker also included…

Maybe a hangout with Paulina was just what she needed.

"I'll call you," she promised. Paulina beamed, and she gave her another half-hug before bidding her goodbye.

Sam shifted to carry the bag with both hands, heading towards the front doors of the school. The second she stepped outside, she breathed in the fall air. It was strangely comforting, but the cold air brought on another feeling. An overwhelming fear came back in a gut punch.

Her head shot from side to side, trying to spy anything in the darkness. Shadows seemed to morph into monsters, their constantly growing and looming forms fueled by her paranoid mind. The typical noises of fall, the wind rustling through the trees and leaves blowing across the ground were now masking any sounds of somebody stalking around. No cars passing, no distant headlights only cemented how completely alone she was right now. Tears began to sting her eyes, and she stood up straight.

She fought ghosts for years. She could manage a measly walk home. This wasn't even a new walk. Sam literally walked this route hundreds of times.

Sam went down the steps of the school, each footprint softly echoing in the now silent streets. It only added to her nerves, expecting a second set of footprints to suddenly appear. She looked straight ahead, only to stop dead in her tracks.

Across the street, on the other side just underneath a lamppost, stood an unmoving figure. Even at a distance, she could recognize a red jacket and white hair. His hand, a white gloved one, was resting on the strap of a familiar purple backpack. There was no more blood or ectoplasm covering his jumpsuit. He had cleaned up since last night.

Without any doubt in her mind, Sam knew, she just knew, that this figure was absolutely fixated on her. Her heart pounded, and she took a step to the side as she tried to back up. The figure's head subtly moved to follow her movements.

Oh hell no. Panic overtook anything, and she immediately turned to run up the stairs and back into the school. With tears freely streaming down her cheeks, she dug around her pockets for her phone. She dialed her mom's number, and the second her mom answered, Sam began to openly cry.

"Mom, please," she begged. "I wanna go home. Can you come get me?"

Pamela was quiet for a moment, but thankfully, she seemed to sense Sam's desperation. Sam looked out the window. The figure had crossed the street and was staring at her. Now closer, she saw those red eyes continuing to stare at her. Not malicious. Not welcoming. Just...watching.

But she knew she was waiting for something. What exactly, she was entirely uncertain. Or even when it would happen. No indicators, but of course, Sam wasn't an idiot. She had a very strong suspicion of what was happening, but being right? She almost didn't know if she wanted to be right or wrong, or her feelings on the suspicion.

Her head softly rocked from side to side in tune with the music. Dumpty Humpty's lyrics spoke to her mournful soul in a way that made her heart ache. Danny was so insistent that one day, one day...he and Sam and Tucker would all follow their favorite band on tour. All over the world. The cost was absolutely no issue, as Sam had immediately eagerly agreed to the dream and insisted that she'd pay. It was always a matter of being allowed to take that much time away from home on their own, away from parents.

Which reminded her…

Sam tore her eyes away from the window towards her desk drawer, where the tickets for that summer goal were already laying. Waiting for the trio to graduate so that they can be used for Dumpty Humpty's first concert of the summer in California. Her lower lip trembled. Maybe they could just invite Paulina…

No. They couldn't go on that trip anymore. It was for the three of them. It was hers, Tucker and DANNY'S dream. But could she and Tucker really go without Danny? They'd be short the person in the middle seat of the airplane flight, an empty seat at the show. No half ghost best friend that could sneak them backstage to meet the band. No boyfriend to cuddle up with during the opening act performance. No best friend that Tucker was going to sneak beers with. Those memories...they weren't ever going to be made.

God, it wasn't fucking fair! Danny did everything to protect Amity Park, and for what? For them to hate him, hunt him, slander him, disrespect and openly admit that they wanted to see him dissected. He sacrificed everything, and now he was gone. Amity Park had no clue what the hell they were missing. She didn't want to be here anymore. Maybe she should reconsider that all girl's college her mother wanted her to go to in New York…

Anger flooded her, and Sam ripped her headphones off, letting them fall onto the bed. The music continued to go on, and she went to the desk. She flung the drawer open, grabbing the tickets. Three tickets to fly to California, three to the concert. She clutched them tightly in her fist, feeling hot tears pouring freely.

A small cauldron, filled with pens, pencils, a pair of scissors, just various desk items, was grabbed, and Sam gripped it tightly. The cauldron had been a gift from him. He had found the tiny thing at the flea market with Tucker, and he gave it to her joking that she could properly begin witchcraft now. She dumped its contents all over the desk. Pens and pencils went rolling, but Sam didn't care. She slammed it back onto the desk, and she began to rip up the tickets of a fury of tears and frustration. All of the pieces went into the cauldron.

Sam flung open all the desk drawers, leaving them open and even pulling some fully out to throw behind her until she found what she was looking for. A lighter, originally for the many candles that decorated her room. Her hands shook as she held it, and she reached into the cauldron to grab one of the shredded pieces, barely big enough to hold.

Flickering the lighter until it finally gave her some flame, she set fire to the piece. The fire immediately began to burn her fingers, the paper burning quickly. She dropped it into the cauldron, and she stared as it began to consume the other pieces of paper. She felt as if somebody stood right behind her. That watched feeling was strong, but honestly? She could barely bring herself to care about it. She focused on the white straight pieces began to crumble and turn black as flames turned it into ashes.

There was immediately a little bit of regret. Tucker may had still wanted to go. And maybe it was best to go anyway. Danny would have wanted them to not put their lives and dreams on hold just because he was gone. But past that thin layer of regret was a sense of satisfaction of sorts that she couldn't describe. It was therapeutic to watch the pieces burn. She sniffled, wiping her nose using her nightgown sleeve.

She watched it burn until all of the pieces were just black soot staining the bottom of the cauldron. Slowly, steadily, the flames died as nothing more remained for them to burn. A trail of steady smoke replaced the flames, and Sam half-heartedly blew at the smoke. It flowed against her breath and into the wall her desk faced, reminding her of an ashy version of his ghost sense. Why did everything have to remind him of her?

Her hand waved at the smoke, trying to assure it wouldn't set off any smoke alarms before she grabbed a dirty shirt to use to help her safely pick up the hot cauldron. She took it to her attached bathroom to wash it out.

The water from the faucet caused more steam to rise as she rinsed out the cauldron. Clumps of wet black ash and soot were washed down the drain. Probably not the best for it, but Sam couldn't care less as she used her hand to lightly rub against the bottom to make sure it all came out. She squirted some hand soap into the cauldron, using her fingers to lazily wash it a bit. This was a gift from Danny, after all. She didn't want to see it get ruined because of her own stupid, rash actions.

Her lights flickered, and Sam glanced up curiously. The lights, all of them in the bathroom, flickered once more. And then the electricity went out.

Sam blinked as she touched around to turn the water off. The darkness around her lead to an immediate, eerily silence, and she was scared. The creaking of her house was unnerving. Of course, the house was old, having been in the family for a while. So the noises weren't unusual. But they still made it feel as if her house was haunted, especially with the watched feeling that only grew more and more.

Her eyes soon began to adjust to the new lack of light, and she could see the door to the bathroom, still open and into her room. Sam decided to abandon the cauldron for now in the bathroom's sink, and she put her hand on the wall. Using it as a guide, she went back into her room, and she stood in the doorway.

Her eyes squinted in the dark as she tried to remember the layout of her room. The window was absolutely no help. There was no moon, but the house rumbled as thunder echoed outside. That would explain the power outage. Shortly after the roar, a clap came, and lightning lit up her room for the briefest of moments. Enough for Sam to confidently make her way to her bed to grab her cell phone without tripping on laundry or scattered desk drawers. Her legs and hips met the bed, and she bent over to spread her arms around, patting down her covers for the electronic device. She soon found it, and she held it tightly. Sam unlocked it, and she called her grandmother. Faintly downstairs, she heard the phone ringing.

"Hey Grandma, are you alright?" she immediately asked when the ringtone stopped.

"Oh yes, yes dear. Just a little power outage from the storm," the comforting, familiar voice replied with a cheer that brought Sam ease. Sam felt her body relax, and she sighed.

"Alright, just making sure."

"I'm sure the power will be back on in a moment," her grandmother replied. "Don't fret about it, dear. Rosa and Frida left a little bit ago. When the power comes back on, I'm going to make some tea, you should come down and join me."

Tea did sound absolutely lovely on such a night. And with Grandma Ida? Nobody understood her better than Grandma Ida. Other than…

"I'd love to," Sam confessed.

"Just come on down whenever the power's back then, deary. Or even sooner, you shouldn't be tucked away so much. I miss you watching my shows with me."

Guilt hit Sam. She missed that too, and she nodded, despite knowing that her grandmother couldn't see her.

"I'll come down in a bit," she promised her. "I love you."

"Love you too, sweetie. Be careful."

Sam hung up. She put her phone into her pajamas pocket, and she felt around for her headphones. The music had, obviously, stopped playing, leaving her clueless as to where they had fallen. She patted around the covers once more. The thunder boomed outside again, and a clap of lightning followed. The room lit up once more, and Sam found herself unintentionally staring at a figure sitting cross legged in her bed. White haired, black suit, light blue skin. His eyes were closed.

She screamed, immediately backing up the best she could. Her foot stepped onto one of the abandoned drawers, causing her to fumble backwards. Her back hit another drawer, and she groaned in pain. She kept her eyes locked on red eyes that had snapped open upon hearing her scream. The eyes floated up a bit as the bed creaked.

They moved closer, and Sam scrambled to back up, scooting on her behind. Oh, fucking duh! Her phone!

Her hand shot into her pocket, pulling the device out and turning the flashlight on. The figure blinked, flinching a bit at the sudden light behind shined on him. He now stood barely four feet in front of her. Or rather, he floated off the ground, his body hunched over in a poor posture. His eyes locked onto her, burning intensely and she knew that feeling was from him. It was a haunting look of possessiveness that lit up when he saw that she clearly recognized him. But those eyes lit up for all the wrong reasons, and Sam felt her heart going crazy for all the wrong reasons.

"Sam…" It was indeed, Danny's voice, only worse.

As they all grew older, Danny's voice had dropped to a mature deep tone. A voice that Sam loved listening to talk, that was pleasing to listen to when he'd sing softly along to the radio in her car. She always loved how warm he made her feel when that voice talked quietly to her, right in her ear when he hugged her from behind as they cuddled up together.

This voice did not have Phantom's ghostly echo to it, not the charm of Danny's. It was deeper than both, with a predatory gravel to it that made her shiver. The echo was intensified, and instead of anything soothing, it rattled her to her bones, and him calling her name made her want to cry. And she did begin to cry. This wasn't Danny.

Looking at him, he resembled her hero boyfriend. That white hair that she'd run her hands through, that white symbol she designed. But his skin was light blue, icy, and she knew even without touching him that he'd likely be as cold as true death. Those eyes were no longer warm with love and affection. They were the haunting stare of a stalker.

His head had tilted in concern the second she had burst into tears. Concerned, and he floated closer. Sam stiffened, but she didn't move. She was too frozen and afraid to do anything anymore. The goth resigned herself to sitting on the floor amongst her own carnage, letting tears flow freely.

"Sam...I missed you…"

That voice sent her into a quivering, frightened mess of nerves, and she let out a sob. This figure, it came closer, and she felt too nauseous to stop it. His hand reached out for her, and Sam did her best to shy away from it. But his gloved hand made contact, and she gave a violent shiver. He was so cold. Much colder than her Danny had ever been.

His fingers lightly stroked her cheek, causing goosebumps to rise all over her arms, and she couldn't stop shaking. The figured tried to flash her a comforting smile. But it only resulted in a terrifyingly wide exposure of not just fangs, but all of his teeth being sharp. Sam couldn't look at him anymore, and she turned off her light to leave them trapped in the dark.

"I love you." His voice was trying to obviously copy his previous self's, where it would drop into a sweet and soothing whisper towards her as he expressed his love. But that voice just made it sound like a threatening growl, and she only continued to cry. "Sammy…" God, him calling her that made her absolutely sick to her stomach. "Sammy please...don't cry…babe, what's wrong?"

Sam finally found the courage to jerk away from his touch, rubbing her cheeks roughly with the palms of her hands. Trying to wipe away the touch, and she stared at where she knew he was. His eyes were shining brightly at her, looking at her with a cold concern.

"Y-you're not Danny," she whispered. Her stomach was weighed down with fear. A lump in her throat made her forcibly swallow before she could continue. "You look similar, but you're not my Danny."

Those eyes turned into slits in the darkness, and she could practically feel the tonal shift of the room. The figure, this ghost...he immediately seemed angry. Thunder boomed in the distance, making her jump. The lightning that followed lit up his features only briefly, but she could make out his deep frown and the way his eye twitched slightly.

"Sam…" The figure had dropped any and all concern or care, any attempts to pretend that what she knew had to be a ghostly obsession was just simply love. It let out a low, breathy grumble, and she whimpered. "I came back for you."

That statement just made her break out into a high pitched wail, and her shoulders jerked as she cried harder. Sam wanted Danny back more than anything. But not in this form. Not like this. This wasn't Danny. This was...she wasn't even sure.

"I don't want to go with you anywhere," Sam said, her voice shaking. The figure stared at her. Intense, unblinking. Absolutely fixated, and she found it hard to break away for even the slightest of moments. Too afraid to even properly wipe her eyes.

"I'm not going," it confessed. Ice cold hands grabbed her upper shoulders. Not angrily or posessively, but a very familiar touch. The way Danny used to do when she was crying, and he was about to hug her for comfort. The idea of this thing pulling her into his arms sent her into a paranoid thought process. If he did that, she just knew he would never let go of her.

"Please go," she begged. "Please, just leave me alone."

The hands tried to pull her to him. In for a hug, and Sam snapped from her frozen state. She jerked against him, fumbling out of his grip. Those eyes shined intensely at her. By now, her eyes had become accustomed to the low light of her room, and she could plainly see just how very unpleased this thing was. It kept her frozen, from getting up and just running downstairs to be with the safe company of her grandmother. But to her relief, he, at least, didn't try to grab for her again.

"I promised you that I would be with you forever," it breathed. "And I will be. I love you, Sam. We can still have a life together..."

She shook her head no. No. No, no, no.

"You're gone," she tried to reason with him. "We...I...please go."

"No."

Sam's mind raced as she tried to think of something. She had ghost gadgets all around her room, fuck, fuck, fuck. Where were they? She kept her eyes on the figure, but she remembered how her nightstand had the specter deflector. But she had a few weapons nearby…

She let her eyes briefly break the contact to glance around. Yes! She was close enough to a drawer, a drawer that she knew had a blaster in it. This thing wasn't ...going to be pleased about it. No doubt. But fear was growing and growing, and she had no clue what he was capable of. A reasonable idea of his powers, but this wasn't Danny...who knows what he'd do.

Her body slowly shuffled back a bit, and to her expected horror, he moved with her at the same pace. His hunched form stayed hovering near, unblinking eyes never moving from watching her. Sam kept locked eye to eye with him as she wiggled back until she felt the dresser against her back. She paused, and she did some mental math. How fast could she move? Could she move faster than him? Was it worth it? Did she have to...shoot...or would pulling a weapon scare him off? He was watching so closely...he'd notice any sudden movements.

"...Danny?" It was all she could think of to do. He did nothing but stare blankly at her. "Please back up a little."

The figure, to her surprise, respected the request. Slowly, it backed up a foot. That was enough. That was all she knew she was going to get.

In a flash, she turned to pull the drawer open and frantically searched by hand in the dark for the blaster. An angry rumble before her, and she could feel him come for her. Thankfully, thankfully...the blaster was right on top. Easy, and immediately accessible, and she pulled it out. There was no time to think, and she shot him right in the chest.

A loud howling hiss of pain, and the figure flew back. Sam scrambled to her feet, ignoring her foot hitting another discarded drawer in the dark. She kept her gun trained on him as she quickly made for her nightstand. She refused to turn her back to him as the ghost wisely kept his distance. Those eyes stared in anger at her, and her heart just could no longer settle down.

She reached her nightstand, and she opened the drawer, never breaking the staring contest. Her hand grasped the familiar cold metal of the specter deflector, and she stared at him. It took a minute to build up the courage, but she soon quickly set her blaster down and broke the look to pull the belt out. Anxiety told her that he had taken that opportunity and was coming for her. Her hands shook hard as she fumbled with it.

No sooner than she wrapped it around herself and click it on, she looked up to see Danny's face nearly to hers, less than a foot away. A scream caught in her throat as he gave a low, frustrated grumble, like a chatter. He slunked backwards, continuing to make the noise as he kept watching her. Her chest heaved as she let out another cry, more tears.

Sam shakily sat down on her bed, allowing more tears to flow. She cried silently for a few moments before she felt the bed dip as somebody else sat down. Through blurred vision, she saw the figure sitting next to her. He no longer looked angry, but concerned.

"Sammy…" His voice was still awful to her, and it did nothing to help her anxiety. "I'm sorry. I love you. I just want to be with you. I'll always be here."