Drowning In Power (Book 2 of Danny Phantom Trilogy)

Witch-Ghost Relations

Danny sighed softly as he stared down at his cell phone that he held in his hands. He hadn't gotten a single call or text from Kagome in days. Despite living right across the street from each other, he hadn't seen her in person since she'd kissed him on the cheek in her room. Was she avoiding him? She couldn't have been. They'd talked on the phone the next day. He'd already left her two voicemails and a few texts. He couldn't call her again. He didn't want to seem like a creepy stalker or something. But still... It was pretty strange for Kagome to just fall off the face of the planet like that. Something had to be up with her. Finally coming to a decision, Danny got off his bed before leaving his room.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Danny walked across the street towards Kagome's house. He firmly knocked three times on the front door before slipping his hands into his front pockets. While he wanted answers to the ten million questions on his mind, Danny felt a nagging concern for Kagome's well-being. What if another ghost had attacked her, but she hadn't called him again? Suddenly feeling another bout of urgency, Danny raised his hand to knock again. He didn't get the chance though.

"Hello?" Kagome asked as she pulled the front door open. Danny nearly breathed a sigh of relief. She was alright. While he shot her a smile, Kagome looked sort of... nervous. She glanced behind her once before turning back to him with her lower lip between her teeth. "Danny, now's not a very good time."

"What's wrong? I hadn't heard from you in a while so I thought that-" Danny started to explain, but Kagome cut him off.

"I'm fine. I promise. It's just that my grandmother is visiting for a little while and I don't think you should be around here right now," Kagome said in a soft voice.

Did she sound scared? Had her grandmother done something to her? "Are you sure you're okay? You don't seem-" Danny started with a frown on his face.

"Danny, I promise I'm fine, but my grandmother isn't-" Kagome cut him off again.

"Kagome!"

Danny watched Kagome's eyes widen almost comically just before she slammed the door shut in his face. Danny blinked twice in shock. What just happened? Frowning deeply, Danny was about to let himself in with the help of his ghost powers, but the sight of the door opening again stopped him. "Honestly, Kagome. You mustn't be so rude to guests," Danny heard a new voice say. The one who had opened the door was a short, elderly woman with medium-length, greying hair and a soft smile. "Hello there, young man. I'm going to take a guess and say that you're Danny."

"Uh... Yes. That's me," Danny replied. Kagome had been acting so strangely. She couldn't really have been worried about this old woman! She looked so small and sweet.

"Wonderful! Come in, come in!" the woman said before practically yanking Danny into the house by the front of his tee. For a small thing, she was pretty strong. "I've only heard a little bit about you, Danny. But from what I've gathered, you must be pretty close to my granddaughter."

"I...uh... We're just good friends, ma'am," Danny replied. How do you respond to that!?

"You're so polite, but you can call me Nakoda. I don't have much place for formalities in my life," Nakoda said with a laugh. Danny could only nod dumbly. Kagome was standing next to her grandmother looking completely terrified and embarrassed. It seemed that only Nakoda was excited about this exchange.

"Grandma, Danny can't really stay. He's meeting with some friends. He just dropped by to ask me if I wanted to go, but I can't," Kagome said and attempted to direct Nakoda away from him. What? Danny raised a brow at Kagome. She really must not want him around if she's making up lies like this.