Wasn't going to upload in November due to NaNoWriMo... but I'm too sick to remember that. Sorry it's short.

The Lost One
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

Part Seven: Danny

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"Who are you?" my body whispers again, still unable to understand what I'm saying.

I tug at the silvery chains bound to my wrists and shake my head, trying to come up with a new way to answer the feathery presence's question. I would rather have it leave me alone; I'm really regretting letting it know that I exist. I could have curled up into a little ball and waited for the night to come again rather than speak up. I am me.

My eyes roll without my direction, but there is a hint of fear in the action. The presence – it thinks its name is Danny – doesn't like that I am here and it really doesn't like that it has sent its friends away. "That's not much of an answer."

I shrug, unable to tell it that I don't have any better of an answer to give. My fingers tap softly against the chains – one, two, four, five, three, two, one, four – and I wait for another question, I know that Danny has a million of them. I can feel them, behind the feathers. I wish he would ask them so that I could vanish again.

"Why are you in my head?"

It's my head, I answer back stubbornly, brushing past the feathery barrier and taking back control of my hand to prove my point. Reaching down, I pluck a few blades of grass from the park and twirl them between my fingers. I can feel Danny's confusion and fear for a moment before I retreat back into the safety of the corner of my mind, pull my legs up against my chest, and hug them tightly against me. Rocking a little in my self-created prison, I wait.

My teeth grind a little, then my mouth moves. "Why are you so scared?"

That makes me stop rocking and sit up. Of course I'm scared: this world is something new that I've never seen before. There is nothing safe or secure and the blackness is always hiding around the corner. The thought of the blackness and what it has done to me makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. This whole situation is because of the blackness.

"What is the blackness?" Danny's presence touches against mine almost gently, but I yank backwards and curl up a little tighter.

I didn't tell you about that! I snap at it, terror sparking at the thought of it knowing things about me I hadn't ever said. Stay out of my thoughts.

I saw it… This time the feathery presence doesn't bother to move my mouth, it just speaks with that strange not-quite-real voice. The fear and the wariness are still there, but I can also feel a tiny bit of concern beyond the feathers. Who are you?

I scream in frustration and fear, clenching my fingers in my hair, feeling the comforting cool weight of the chains at my wrists brushing against my face. I've had enough of this other presence in my mind. I want him to go away and leave me alone now. I am me! Go away!

It brushes up against me again and I lash out at it, pushing fiercely when it comes too close. What happened to you? Danny asks, startled by something.

Shut up! I scream at it, closing my eyes tightly and pressing my hands over my ears, wondering and fearing what it might have seen. Did it see my prison? Did it see the Before? I know that there is the Before, but I don't know what happened during it. Could it have seen something? Leave me alone, just go away, I want to be alone…

"Phantom," my mouth breaths and I shudder, wrapping my arms closer to myself.

Leave me alone, please, leave me alone. I just want to be alone, please. The feathers brush against me for a second before retreating. Curled up in a corner of my mind, I block out the world, leaving only room in my mind for the pattern. One, two, four, five, three, two, one, four…

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