Incredible Phantom

Chapter one:

Dani POV-

Since I left Amity Park and Danny a few months ago, after Danny and Valerie saved me from being me melted into a puddle of ectoplasmic goo, I had not stayed anywhere for a long period of time. Lately I had just been a nomad, floating from town to town. Because I had no money, and really no identity, I ate whatever food I could find and slept wherever I could find shelter, which didn't always get me in the best situations.

Take now for instance. Last night I spent the night in an abandoned warehouse in someplace called Metrocity that was mostly inhabited by rats, cockroaches, homeless people and gang members. They paid no attention to me and I managed to curl up in a tight corner and fall asleep. However, I really didn't get into trouble until the next day. I was caught stealing food, and then, to make matters worse, I was taken down to the police department and interrogated. The police could find no record of me, anywhere on earth or even a social security number, however, the only thing that they seemed to focus on was the fact that I wasn't in school.

"We will have to call your parents," a stern woman told me, eyeing me suspiciously.

"I don't have any," I muttered quietly. The woman let out a huff of annoyance, like I was a piece of gum that she couldn't get off of her large, black, police-issue shoes.

"There must be someone who takes care of you," she glared at me, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head in reply.

The woman pulled her eyebrows together, in, what almost looked like a look of concern, before quickly reverting back to her usual hard face.

"You will be placed in the foster system," she announced finally, I opened my mouth to argue, but one glare from her cold, black eyes, and I quickly shut my mouth again, "You will be staying with the Best family." For a second I thought that maybe I had softened her heart and she actually wanted me to be with the best foster family that they could offer, but I quickly realized that that was not necessarily the case, because, in fact, the last name of the family was Best.

She called over one of the other police officers. "Would you call Lucius and Honey and get them to come pick her up." The other officer nodded, walking away to call my new foster parents. The stern woman stepped away, and I sat in the large, very uncomfortable, chair, terrified. 'What if they don't like me? What if they are mean to me?' I thought, fidgeting in my seat. After my experiences with Vlad, I had a hard time trusting others, except for Danny, Valerie, Tucker, and Sam. What if this new family abused me like Vlad did. The other officer in the room, a younger, nicer looking woman who had been left to look after me, seemed to notice my fear.

"Are you nervous?" she asked. I nodded, looking at her.

"Don't worry," she soothed, "Honey and Lucius are great people, they are not able to have children so they have fostered a lot. I've always heard that they treat their foster children really well," she assured me.

"Have you met them?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, "They are really nice," she told me, smiling sweetly. This calmed me down a little, but still, so many worries flashed through my mind. I had never been to a real school before (other than that day I went to Danny's when I was still working for Vlad) I didn't have a great education, except for the brain of a fourteen year old boy, which, if you had seen his grades, did not exactly give me peace of mind. I also didn't have any friends except for Danny, and I had no idea how to really make friends. But most importantly, I had never been a part of a family before, what if they didn't like me or even want me?

About ten minutes later, the other woman barged open the door.

"Come on kid, get your things, your new foster parents are here," she demanded.

I nodded and scooped up my things, which weren't much, a small denim backpack which contained a water bottle, the pack of crackers that I was caught stealing, a small vile of the ecto-dejecto just in case I become unstable again, and a little stuffed dog that I had found a few months ago.

I followed the woman out of the interrogation room and into the lobby where my new foster parents were waiting. I saw them sitting on a bench, they were an African American couple, both were tall and thin. Finally, they turned when they saw us approach, they both smiled at me and I gave a tiny, hesitant, smile back. The woman handed me off the couple, the woman, I guess her name is Honey, put her hand on my shoulder and led me outside.

'Well,' I thought to myself, 'Here we go."