Welcome to The Daydream. This is the sequel to The Nightmare... and it may not make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read that one first. Go read and review for me. It's pretty good. :-)

Also - if you read The Nightmare as I was uploading it, at the very end I promised a sequel where Maddie was taken over by the creature. Unfortunately... I can't get it to pan out right. This is what popped up instead. Enjoy.

The worst dreams do not come at night... but during the day.

The Daydream
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

Chapter One: Sticks

Danny was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the small object he had found in a box in the attic. It was very, very familiar. A small stick, black as night, except for strange, green swirling marks traveling up and down its sides.

Danny remembered it well. But this little stick shouldn't exist. It couldn't exist.

He shivered. The nightmare swirled up in his head, unbidden. His own eyes, staring back at him. The creature, informing him that it was going to take over the world using Danny's body and abilities. The creature, trying to destroy his mother.

Danny thunked his head down on the table. It had only been a nightmare. It wasn't real.

Was it?

He twirled the stick between his fingers like a baton. If it had just been a nightmare, then what was this stick? Why was it in the attic? Maybe he had seen it as a child, and it had merely resurfaced in his dream?

He bit his lip, staring off into space. This was making his head hurt. He shook his head. It was just a nightmare you had months ago, he chided himself. Stop stressing over it.

There was only one problem with his theory. This particular nightmare refused to go away. It was more realistic than any nightmare he had ever had before. It was more like a memory than anything else. And it was haunting him.

Maybe I should talk to Jazz… he hesitated when thumping footsteps rattled the house. Danny dropped the stick into his lap, fixing an innocent expression on his face before his father tramped through the door.

"Danny!" he bellowed, his face lighting up. "Have you seen the Ghost Gabber?"

Yes, Danny answered in his mind. I assume it's still fifteen feet below the foundation – right where I left it. Out loud he responded, "No, Dad. Haven't seen it all day."

"Aw…" Jack moaned. "I've searched the whole house."

"Why do you want it?" Danny wondered.

"Well," Jack's eyes brightened, "I made those cool, new modifications…" Danny's mind interrupted with a sarcastic, "I know. That's why it's under the house," but Jack continued unfazed, "and I wanted to bring it with us to show V-man."

Danny winced as he remembered. The Trip. "Do we have to go?"

"You know we've been planning it for months, Danny, ever since that incident with the ecto-acne. Besides, Vladdie has really been looking forward to us coming!"

"I know," Danny muttered. He's probably got a wonderful plan up his sleeve to steal Mom, get rid of you, and turn me into his perfect son.

"Keep an eye open for the Ghost Gabber while you pack, son." Jack continued on his way through the house, searching for his precious toy.

"I will," Danny whispered, and then his eyes lit up. He grinned. Maybe I will 'find' the Ghost Gabber just in time for Dad to show the 'cool new modifications' to Vlad. He snickered. I'll just make sure to keep it in my bag until we get there so he doesn't get the chance to show them to me.

Danny pushed away from the table, hesitating when the black and green stick hit the floor. He scowled. I forgot. He picked up the stick, staring at it.

Then he sighed. I'll think about it later. Danny left the kitchen to go and pack for the least exciting trip of the year, the stick in his hand.

Buried deep in the recesses of its host's mind, a creature older than time opened its eyes. It could once again feel the palonegro – the other half of itself. Slowly, ever so slowly, it stretched out a tendril of thought and tenderly caressed the mind of its host. This mind was human, it knew. It had only taken over the minds of ghosts before.

What could it do to a human? The creature felt the sparks firing in the host's brain. Carefully, it touched a spark, redirecting it. Its host suddenly dropped the pile of clothes that had been in its arms.

The creature grinned, pleased. This was not so different from a ghost. The creature spread its vague form through its host's brain, closing its eyes and starting to learn what sparks did what. It would take awhile, the creature knew. This brain was very complex. It needed to learn fast. There was an item that the host needed to pack.

Soon, the host would belong to it. Forever.

To be continued…

I still do not own Danny Phantom.

I humongous shout-out to my beta-readers... Nonasuki-chan for helping me out with the basic ideas of the story and being a complete inspiration, gatogirl1 for handing me metaphors and grammar checking, and a double-huge thank you to midnightpyro who actually beta read the first four chapters twice and wasted an entire night on it. :-)

For those of you reading Light, yes - this is the plot bunny that is holding me up from updating that. I PROMISE... I will update and finish Light soon. I needed to get this out of my system.

Let's see... anything else? Oh yeah. This is going to be the longest fanfic I have written. At least twenty chapters - probably more. I'm also trying something new and having this story be beta-read, so the updates might come a bit slower. I am trying to get far enough ahead that they have time to read them... (sigh)

I hope you enjoy reading. Please, for my sanity and the sake of my rabid goldfish, please review! I hang on your every word...

Cordria