Sam had always felt exalted by the idea of death. That wasn't to say she preferred death over life, but rather she was fascinated with the mystery, the question that she knew one day she would eventually know the answer to. But when she looked into his eyes, those haunting green orbs that wrapped a chilling hand around her heart and squeezed, turning her blood into ice, making wave after wave of goosebumps wrack her, she understood that some things were better left unknown for a reason. They stood that way for a while. Him, boring into her soul with an unearthly intensity. Her, shell-shocked, unable to tear away from those foggy irises of his.

"Please," she begged. "Don't do this."

His hand around his mother's throat tightened defensively.

"You don't understand," he said, his voice unwavering. "I've been waiting for this my entire life."

He turned his eyes away from her's at last, and she felt the air suck back into her lungs. He set them on his mother's unconscious face.

"The only thing that kept me company all those cold, lonely nights was the image of my dear father and mother being destroyed by the same monster they created and threw away."

After she made the naive mistake of freeing him, he had evaporated through the ceiling almost immediately. She finally made her way up the cellar stairs and back into the living room, following the shrill sound of her mother's screams. Her parent's limp bodies lay unconscious at the doorway, piled on top of each other and still breathing, to her surprise and relief.

Danny had Jack pinned down underneath him, with his foot poised forcefully on top of his airway. The hand that wasn't wrapped around his mother's throat was pointing an ectogun at Jazz's crumpled body near the base of the stairs.

"Which first, Sam? Since all this is only possible thanks to you, i'll give you the honor of choosing."

Sam's throat kept closing of its own accord, causing her to swallow forcefully.

"So say you get your revenge. Then what kinds of thoughts are going to keep you company. The knowledge that you're exactly the kind of monster they thought you to be?"

"No, Sam," he said softly. "That I'm exactly the kind of monster they made me to be."

She saw his guard waver and took a careful step forward. Those magnetic green orbs poised on her again, making her regret her decision. She wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

"Don't get any closer or I might hurt you too," he stated, matter-of-factly.

"The fact that you even care tells me you're not half as bad as you think you are," she said, holding up her hands to ease his nerves, like she was approaching a frightened animal.

"That's where you're wrong," he mumbled wistfully. Danny pushed the heal of his boot harder onto Jack's throat, causing him to squirm, then stop as his face turned red, then beet purple.

Sam watched helplessly, clasping two hands over her mouth to keep herself together, feeling her eyes sting as tears welled and threatened to spill over.

"Remind me again how good I am," he said bitterly, kicking his father's body to the side. "I have four other ways to prove you wrong."

Sam's strength failed her. Her knees buckled and gave in. The sight of Jack's life leaving his body playing over and over in her mind. And it was all her fault. If she had just stay put like her parents always told her to, none of this would have happened. If she wasn't such a trusting fool, Jack would be still be okay.

The sound of a thump jeered her out of her thoughts. She looked up and noticed Maddie had been released, Danny nowhere insight. She scrambled over to Jack's body, turning him onto his back, pressing two fingers into his jugular, placing her ear on his chest.

Sam began to shake with laughter. Softly, at first, small chuckles that then became roars of genuine relief. He had a heartbeat, slight but still present.

"Thank you, Danny," she whispered once she returned to her senses, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Danny landed softly in an alley a few blocks away from his house.

"God damn it!" he exclaimed as he punched a dent in the brick wall next to him. He retracted his fist and then slammed it into the wall again, resting his forehead against the brick as he let his arm fall to his side. Even in his human form, ghostly tendrils of ectoplasm radiated off him.