In the Dead of Night You Went Dark On Me

In A World So Cold and Empty I Could Lie Awake Just to Watch You Breathe

(A/N: This title is from Starset's song Dark On Me)

This was not the development she thought would come of their "talk" with Danny. She hadn't believed Dash or any of the others when they said they thought Danny was dead, but he was willing to put that aside to placate them. She knew Dash had previously suffered from insomnia and he most likely still did, so whatever he thought up in his sleep deprived states she usually would just hear him out and then explain all the reasons as to why he was wrong and could relax. She was not expecting for him to be right.

There were so many thoughts going through her head right now, and one of the main ones was forcing herself to remain calm, to not activate her suit, and to not pull out an ecto blaster from her backpack. So many alarms were running through her head. He knew she was the Red Huntress. He knew for who knows how long, and he just outed her to everyone else. Maybe they didn't pay attention to that part, maybe they were too focused on the rest of the dead kid's meltdown, but she was stuck on that.

She watched as Sam and Tucker went to their "friend" and hugged him. She knew that not every ghost was evil. That much was clearer than it had been when ghosts were first introduced into Amity Park, but they were still hostile. That was why their school was permanently under construction, why there were alarms in place all around their city, safe zones where ghosts can't get to. Ghosts were dangerous. They might not be evil, but they are still dangerous. They are like wild animals, you never know if they are going to turn on you, they will only do what they need to for their own survival. Or whatever you would call it for a dead being anyway.

She pulled her bag closer to her, and placed her hand on the handle of the ecto blaster. She didn't remove the weapon from the bag, just watching everything with keen eyes. Ecto blasters wouldn't kill a human, the worst you would get is the equivalent to a mild sunburn, but she didn't want any of her classmates to get in the crossfire of anything. Ghosts could hurt humans. Ghosts did hurt humans. She wasn't sure if "Danny" was going to turn on them. Hurt them.

It was silent. The crying had stopped. It was unnerving. She so badly wanted to don her suit and be prepared for a fight. She didn't, but she so very badly wanted to.

She didn't understand what he was. He was dead, obviously. He'd said as much. But... Was he possessing his human body? Was he a shape shifting ghost, able to alter his appearance? That would explain his still aging. He'd grown a bit since he was a freshman. It would be concerning if he didn't change. Maybe his ghostly abilities were to appear human. But he would still be a ghost wouldn't he? Why didn't he ever appear on her sensors? "You haven't been eating."

She hadn't realized she's spoken. All eyes snapped toward her. She cleared her throat. She was going to say something else. Anything else, but what? There was nothing she could say that would explain what she was thinking. The piercing blue eyes that held her gaze were terrifying. It felt as though he was seeing into her soul. Her fingers twitched again around the weapon. "I can't keep anything down. Any time I try, it comes right back up again."
She hadn't expected a response from him. She'd expected deflection. "Are you possessed? Possessing the body of Daniel Fenton?" Stop talking Valerie! He shook his head in the negative.

"No, Val. I'm not possessing my own body. I am still me. I'm not completely dead. You can pull out the blaster if it makes you feel better. I know how much you hate ghosts." How did he know? Oh right, because he'd been lying to her for who knows how long, and he's known her identity for an unknown amount of time as well. She pulled out the weapon and aimed it at him. She wouldn't shoot. Not with Sam and Tucker so close to him.

"So it is true then? You are the Red Huntress?" It was Paulina who spoke. She was standing somewhere to Valerie's right, but she didn't remove her gaze from the ghost in front of her. She gave a quick nod of affirmation, and allowed the nanobots in her suit to activate, only suiting up her arm. It quickly went away after she heard the gasps of her classmates and teacher.

Valerie couldn't decide what to do in this situation. There was a ghost in close proximity to two students of Casper High. She couldn't shoot it. The ghost appeared to be in a nonviolent mood, but she knew how quickly that could change. How quickly the atmosphere would shift. With the change of its attitude, the temperature could plummet ten degrees and things could start floating. With a change of temperature it could destroy all of them without a shred of remorse. This creature was a danger to society, to her ex-friends in the room. This creature deserved to die, completely. It deserved whatever it had coming to them for lying for so long. It was lying. There wasn't such a thing as not being completely dead. It was lying, it was impersonating a student of Casper High.

But...

It was also Danny Fenton. The boy who blabbered on for hours about space and the different constellations. The boy who was sweet, sensitive, kind. The boy who she'd fallen for, the boy she'd given her first kiss to. She always thought back on the memories of her relationship with him fondly. He was always so kind and thoughtful, making sure she was okay with whatever it was they were doing, always understanding when she had to cut their dates short, or bailed out entirely. Was she to believe that was entirely a lie? That he was dead, for who knows how long?

Her hands were shaking. Her hands never shook. She was in over her head. No one else in the room was doing anything. Danny didn't seem to be moving from his spot, and she was unsure what to do.

There was a black fog filtering in from the vents, and she noticed it before anyone else. The black also had traces of green and orange in it. "This one of your skills?"

Danny's eyes flitted across the room, looking at the room as the fog got denser and thicker. "No, not one of mine. Val, don your suit, now."

He sounded so commanding. She didn't want to listen to him, but she also knew she had to deal with whatever this was. Her ghost sensors showed three ghosts around them. Hopefully one was Phantom. Danny was fast, in a blur he was standing up, and pushing his friends behind him. He stared at the fog with a calculating look on his face, and Valerie reached out blindly for her friends, pulling them behind her. Dash, Kwan, Star, Paulina, Sam, Tucker, and Mr. Lancer were now standing in between the ghost and its hunter, watching in horror as the fog made its way around the room.

She heard everyone else begin to cough, and the only reason she was fine was because of her suit. The fog was extremely thick now, the only thing she could see was the fog. She activated her infrared goggles and saw everyone except for Danny. The only reason she knew he was still there was because of the glow of ectoplasm hovering around where his hands would be. He was the same temperature as the fog. She shivered.

The mask was suddenly not enough, the fog had found the cracks and crevices of her suit, making it impossible for her to breathe. She began choking on the blackened air, falling to her knees as her hands reached for her neck, trying to do something, anything to be able to breathe. The last thing she saw before blacking out was neon bright green eyes staring at her. The last thing she heard before everything got silent was a malicious laughter, and a voice yelling her name.