Summary: Danny loses everyone he loves when they are killed in a fire, leaving him to be taken in by his godfather, Vlad Masters. How will they survive each other and the vengeful demon that killed his family? It won't be easy, especially when everything isn't what it seems and Danny has no powers to help him deal with everything.

Heavy angst. Father-son. Gore. Some humor. Under revision.

Rating: Older Teen; angst and occasion gore. Not slash.

Disclaimer: If only, if only, the plot bunny sings.

Image: Darkness by mirmin

…

Welcome to a most haunting dream,

It tears, bites, and rips at me.

It takes all that I may ever be,

And leaves nothing but the ghost of me.

…

Chapter 1: Wicker Man

Happiness …

Her eyes seemed to flash, the light dancing across her features. Danny couldn't help but blush as his eyes met Sam's. With a nervous grin, he slowly inched a little closer to her on the bench and placed his quivering hand upon hers. Sam's blush only grew as she drew nearer to him as well.

Somehow, he had finally grasped it that spring under the falling blossoms …

The flower petals danced in the air as a breeze kissed the tree in which they sat beneath. Sam's hair blew in the wind in an enchanting way, and Danny slowly leaned forward, capturing her lips in his own. It tasted like forever… he was sure that this happiness he felt in his young heart would last forever.

But, as with all happiness, it could never last.

…

"Danny!" called Jack as he walked through the Fenton house like a towering gorilla, his orange jumpsuit seemingly clashing with the rest of the colors in the room. "Where did you go?"

Jazz looked up from her Physiology books and sighed, her hair falling over her shoulders. Danny was out late again chasing ghosts. Of course, she would never tell her ghost-hunting-happy-parents that. The redhead tapped her fingernails on the table for a moment in thought. She needed a lie, yet that was going against her morals. The girl bit her lip … she could just omit parts.

"He's with Sam and Tucker. Probably studying," Jazz stated with a smile. She loved her occasional bouts of slightly sinister behavior, but she'd keep that to herself. She was trying to shape herself into a prime example of a good citizen and a proper peer.

"Well, that's nice," Maddie said as she entered the kitchen carrying a machine that looked oddly like Jazz's hairdryer. A vein nearly burst in the teenager's forehead as she tried to hold her tongue. She just got that one! The girl took a deep breath trying to find her calm place … She'd just get a new one.

"Studying will have to wait," Jack bellowed, pointing his finger to the sky with a proclamation. "We have ghost hunting to do."

"Jack, can't it wait?" complained Maddie with a soft frown. She knew that Danny was failing science, and he could really use the study time. How was he supposed to carry on the family business if he didn't excel in the necessities?

"No!" cried Jack as he ran into the next room ready to grab his son … if his son was in the next room, that is. It didn't take him long to finally realize he had no idea where his son was so he peered meekly back into the kitchen. "Um, Maddie where's the Fenton Phone?"

"Where it always is," Maddie smiled at her husband and was about to turn away, but Jack was still standing there with a look plastered on his face. The woman giggled and pointed in the general direction.

"On the wall dear," cooed Maddie as she readied herself to head down to the lab. She really did love that man, but she could drool over him later. She had just found an uncharted section of the ghost zone and really couldn't wait to check it out.

Jazz just rolled her eyes as she watched her parents peck each other before wandering in opposite directions, leaving the room silent once more. What her mother saw in dad she'd never know. She could only hope that the saying wasn't true when she started seriously dating: Every girl marries her father.

Physiology was a bit too painful sometimes.

…

That kiss ... it was wonderful and Danny really didn't want to pull away, but he had to breathe sometime. So he finally pulled away. The two teenagers laughed slightly and were about to kiss once more when a scream interrupted their youthful romance, thrusting them back into reality.

"Danny! Help!"

Danny and Sam were apart so fast that the word 'light speed' seemed slow and just in time too. There was the cracking noise through bushes and Tucker was suddenly jumping over the back of bench the two teens had been sitting on. Their friend quivered there for a moment, sitting between them with his glasses hanging off one ear. He looked panic-stricken.

The half ghost's eye twitched and he used his pointer finger to lure Tucker towards him. The geek leaned in, Danny growling into the other teenager's ear, "Tucker ... I was in the middle of something important."

Tucker raised an eyebrow, looked between his two blushing friends, and slowly grinned. The two of them thought he didn't know about their relationship. Please, not only was it a high school rumor, but he helped monitor both of their emails. How could he not know?

"What were you in the middle of?" asked the computer nerd as he grinned and straightened his glasses, completely forgetting he had been chased here. "Were you trying to finally get a smooch from Sam?"

Danny twitched, an embarrassed squeak escaping him. How did Tucker know? "N-no! Why would I be doing that to h-her. She's like a sister ... No, not a sister! More like a friend that I would…"

Tucker rolled his eyes. Ah, the confession was always the hard part, but he'd mock Danny about that another day. He had bigger fish to fry… a fish with plasma guns to be exact.

"Um … Danny," entered Sam's voice, her blush disappearing as her gaze drew upward. And here she thought this situation couldn't get any worse.

"I'd hate to interrupt you and Tucker's bromance moment, but … RUN!" cried Sam as she jumped off the bench, barely dodging one of Skulker's nets as her body disappeared behind a tree. Yet, it seemed the hunter had already calibrated that move and the net slammed full force into the tree, knocking off dozens of white petals and splintering the bark.

It didn't take long for the girl to pop her head out of her hiding place and growl at the spirit jetpacking toward them. How dare he harm that helpless tree! Somehow, she resisted the urge to throw her spiky shoe at the hunter's head. This was just getting stupid! Every time Danny and she had some alone time they were interrupted! She just wanted to kiss her boyfriend ... uh, she meant boy who is a friend.

Danny, having jumped off the bench, sat up and saw that his new favorite bench had been shot to smithereens. The teenager rubbed his hand down his face in irritation before he bared his teeth at the perpetrator of his sanctuary. Skulker. Crazy, obsessed, Skulker. Wonderful.

In a flash of white light, he was the infamous Danny Phantom, falling petals scattering away from as he created a slight breeze with his transformation. Quickly, he pointed an enraged finger up at the spirit, unknowingly making a hero pose.

"Hey, you weren't invited to this shindig. No one likes a party crasher unless they are actually crashing! Eat plasmablasts!" hissed Danny as he threw a plasma blast, hitting Skulker straight in the chest. The sound of bending metal could be heard throughout the park as the ghost was slammed into the ground below, throwing clumps of dirt everywhere as he slid to a halt. The teenager stared stupidly for a moment … he wasn't even aiming. It was just blind rage.

The hunting ghost lay in his hole in the earth for a moment, gathering his composure, until he was able to rebuke, "Irritating whelp, I wasn't ready."

Skulker then pulled himself out of the dirt, dented armor and all. He dusted himself off as if he had all the time in the world before jumping into the air, jet pack wheezing. The hunter couldn't help but smile, even though he had already taken a hit. Danny Phantom was his favorite prey to hunt, and he seemed to be in an aggressive mood today. Mating season did that he supposed. Yet, just because the halfa was his favorite prey didn't mean Skulker was going to go easy on him.

The huntsman turned his jetpacks on to full speed and before the teenager could even blink, Skulker made a full onslaught attack towards the phantom boy. "Time to die prey!"

Before the ghost could even land a punch, divine intervention presented itself: in the form of a ringing cellphone. In fact, the entire scene froze as if someone had just hit the pause button. The hunter grumbled before pulling out a cell phone; the three humans all simultaneously doing the same thing, checking to see if it was their phone.

"Is that me?" Danny stammered as he fumbled to de-ghost his pants in order to get his cell phone.

"I think it's my planner!" chirped Tucker excitedly as he jumped from his hiding place behind a tree. He had just got it yesterday and was dying to use it.

"It might be my new camera phone," stated the girl in a rather drawl voice. She really didn't want the stupid thing in the first place. Her parents had insisted and she swore there was a tracking device in it.

"Hello?" The group echoed in a chorus as they all answered their phones at the same time.

"Not me," Sam answered as she slammed her camera phone shut and stuffed it into her pocket as quickly as she possibly could. If anyone saw that expensive thing they'd know she was born into money. The last thing she needed was Dash hitting on her. She cringed at the thought and resisted the urge to throw up in her throat.

"Ah man!" whined Tucker as he stared at his screen. He really needed to get some more friends so that he'd have plenty of calls, but that could wait until later.

"Hello," answered Skulker in a confused sort of way as if having his cell phone ring was extremely strange. The ghost frowned as an annoying voice echoed in his ear, "No, this is Skulker. How did you get this number? What? Ok! You don't have to yell … just a minute."

Skulker stared at Danny for a moment as if trying to decide if the teenager was trustworthy enough to return his mobile device. Then, despite his distrust, the ghost thrust the phone into Danny's chest hoping it would leave a bruise, "It's for you."

The teenager gasped for breath as he pulled the object out of his gut. He then stared at the device wearily. Who was on the phone? Was it Plasmius? No, that vampire wanna-be would want to brag in person. Swallowing, Danny put the phone to his ear and whispered, "Hello?"

"Danny! Is that you?" Danny jumped in shock as Jack's voice screamed over the receiver. His dad sounded excited. Had he been chewing on coffee beans again?

"Dad? How did you get this number?" Danny questioned as he turned away from the ghost who was now floating over his shoulder, trying to overhear the conversation. The teenager hissed at the ghost and tried to have his conversation in peace. There was nothing more irritating than a snoopy ghost.

"That's not important! Get over to the Fenton Ghost Portal ASAP! You're going to flip when you see what we found," Jack cowed in a happy tone. Danny was now positive that his father was jumping up and down right now, and the mental image disturbed him. Why couldn't he have normal, boring parents?

The teenager sighed at the pending parental drama and grumpily hung up, handing the phone back to the hunter.

Skulker, taking the phone, put it away and started cracking his knuckles. "Ready to restart our battle, whelp?"

"Sorry, Skulker. We'll have to do this another time," Danny stated as he started to float away. He really wanted to punch something after his ruined date, but anything involving the Ghost Portal and his dad worried him.

The hunter lost his excited grin and was about to demand his epic battle, but one sour glare from the boy killed the mood.

"Fine, ghost child. Another time. I wanted to finish cooking that casserole anyway," Skulker growled, turning on his jet pack and flying away, a stream of smoke following after.

There was always tomorrow… there was always tomorrow.

Sam, watching the ghost fly away, asked sarcastically, "I don't know what's more disturbing: you letting Skulker go or the fact that Skulker knows how to cook a casserole."

…

The three teenagers stopped dead in their tracts as they stared up at the Fenton house. There was just something eerie about it. All the lights, even the Fenton sign, were dead ... except for an odd green glow that was obviously coming from the basement.

"Um … Danny?" finally asked Sam. "Are you sure we want to go in? We can just say Tucker choked on a chicken bone again and go hang out at my house."

"Hey," defending the meat-eater. "That happened one time and the EMT dislodged it before we even got to the ambulance."

Danny just rolled his eyes and opened the front door, trying not to twitch as a haunting miasma actually rolled out the front door. He might have been worried if his ghost breath had activated, but it hadn't yet.

"It's probably nothing," said Danny simply, mostly to calm the feeling of dread that was forming in his gut. "Dad probably just blew the breaker or something. Let's go in."

The three teens had barely made it into the front door, the feeling of dread spreading, before a voice echoed from the gloom, making all three of them jump.

"Oh good, you made it home, Danny. Dad was going to send a search party if you didn't show up soon," said Jazz, standing on the steps leading down to the basement. She had on one of mom's jumpsuits, her whole form outlined in a green glow from below. Something was down in the basement.

Coughing into his hand, trying to ignore the goosebumps forming on his arms, Danny asked, "What's going on? Why do you have one of mom's jumpsuits on? And why is the house so ... horror movie-esk?"

Jazz frowned, shrugging, "Mom told me to put it on ... something came out of the Ghost Zone, and it's taking all of the house's energy to keep the portal open. You should come downstairs Danny ... its ... odd."

"I doubt anything that comes from the Ghost Zone isn't odd," joked Tucker behind Jazz's back, the teenager's all following after the older girl. Danny felt his stomach sink further, his ghost breath causing a chill to run down his spine.

…

Odd was an understatement.

Where the ghost portal usually dwelled hovered a huge orb of soft green light, which folded in on itself in a technical dance of fireless-flames. It was like looking into a miniature sun … minus the going blind part. There was also a soft humming which could be heard and felt throughout the room as smaller ghostly orbs circled the enchanting ball of light. It almost looked like something was in the middle of the whole thing, but Danny couldn't quite make it out. Not that it mattered. This thing had to be dangerous and it needed to be shoved back into the Ghost Zone. Now.

"Dad," questioned Danny as he tried to still his shaking arms, his ghost breath activating again and again as he stood there. "How did you find this? It seems dangerous."

The closer he got to it, the more unsettling it became.

Jack looked at his boy with a shocked expression for a moment before he patted his boy on the shoulder. "Don't worry son. Ghost's are only dangerous if you don't have a Fenton bazooka ... and we have three."

Danny gave his father a dull look, rubbing his arms as his ghost breath continued to chill him. He just wanted to get this pending ghost attack over. Standing here waiting was unnerving. "Whatever you say, dad."

"Now, let's just get on the Fenton Gauntlets and contain this ecto-anomaly. Your mom is making pancakes for supper and you know how I feel about breakfast for supper?" joked the large man as he put on his gauntlets, patting his son on the shoulder once more before he walked up to the ball of light.

"Umm, dad. Maybe you shouldn't-" started Danny, but Jack was already reaching a hand out towards one of the small orbs that circled around the anomaly. Danny's heart nearly stopped as he watched the small ball of light pass through his father's hand like a tiny spirit. It was as if the gauntlets couldn't even touch it.

"Hmm, that's odd," said Jack, confused.

The confusion didn't last long though when suddenly the large orb in the middle seemed to throw out a wave of light, making every test tube in the room rattle. The inhabitants of the basement stared in awe as the green like started to dim, revealing that the huge orb was actually hollow and that there was something else inside.

"Well, that can't be good," said Maddie as she stepped up next to Jack, the two adults watching as the fading light finally revealed that there was a golden box inside the orb. It glimmered like molted gold, taunting the mortals to come nearer and claim it.

It was easy to say that no one could look away from the haunting object … not even Danny, and then there was a click. There was a lock on the golden box and the lid was slowly opening, a red light now filling the room. Everyone in the room stilled as the box opened, the stillness interrupted as a voice rang out.

"A mortal's hand has awakened me ... I'll bring you War and nothing more."

A twitch escaped Danny as if all his ghost powers had just tried to shy away from the voice. The boy's hands quickly became fists as dread settled in his stomach. Just what he needed: another boxed ghost.

Danny threw a quick glance around the room to see if he could go ghost. Everyone was still entranced, but before Danny could jump behind the nearby table, the box burst open completely ... spilling out flames as if it were a liquid from the sea as the golden box fell onto the floor. There was only enough time to capture a shocked breath when the remaining orbs all caught a-flame, exploding like magma-filled light bulbs.

The inhabitants of the room all screamed in surprise, everyone stumbling away from the spreading flames grasp. There wasn't even time for anyone to run to the stairs or get the fire extinguisher because the flames now seemed alive, rushing in front of everyone and blocking the stairs. It was as if the flames were alive and were entrapping its victims. Soon, the fire was everywhere and it obviously wanted a taste of human flesh.

"Run kids!" cried Maddie as she tried to get to a fire extinguisher on the wall or at least the weapons cabinet. There had to be something in here that she could protect her family with. There had to be, but … the redhead suddenly stopped. She felt her heart seize up as she watched the flames start to take a human shape, like a flaming skeleton trying to grow flesh.

Then, just like that, it flung a boney-flaming hand from its golden box prison and grabbed Jack by one of his ankles. The large man fell to the floor with a thud, cracking his jaw. Jack barely had time to blink before he was dragged towards the center of the flames. He only had enough time to give Maddie one last glance before he was pulled into the flames, his cry of agony echoing in the room.

Maddie stood there, in shock, a lone tear falling down her cheek. She was so distracted, she didn't even see the wave of fire sneak up behind her, throwing itself over her like a wave. She was dead before her charred corpse hit the ground, smoke pouring off her form. The only thing that wasn't charred was her wedding ring, its slightly blackened metal glinting in the firelight before the fiery figure in the middle of the chaos drug her in as well, seemingly consuming her and gaining more flaming flesh.

"Mom! Dad!" screamed Jazz, the girl shaking her head as she tried to back up.

Danny, his breath catching, couldn't believe what had just happened. This had to be a nightmare. It just had to be! He couldn't even will his feet to move, the shock too much. He didn't even see a wall of flames forming behind him, rising like a growing shadow.

Jazz did though.

With a cry, his older sister violently pushed him out of the way and to the floor away from the fires' grasp. This did not stop the flames, of course. They merely gained a new target. Jazz was only allowed to give her little brother a frightened look as her delicate frame was dragged into its molten grave by an unknown hand. Danny was frozen on the floor ... he couldn't even cry out her name.

This couldn't be happening!

The half-ghost's gaze was quickly pulled away from where his sister once stood and back to the golden box. A blackened song had started to play as if it was a malevolent music box. A Pandora's Box. It was spreading flames faster now, like a flood. Yet, that was the least of Danny's problems when a fire riddled hand suddenly sprang out of the box, grasping the sides as if a person was slowly pulling themselves out of a bathtub.

Soon there was a skull and upper shoulder free from the box, the form's nearly fleshless jaw spread wide and screaming out silently. Then, with a sickeningly slow pace, it pulled itself out of the box, its bones bending and contouring abnormally until it was finally able to squeeze out of the shoe-box sized container; its form falling to the floor in an exhausted manner as if it had just been born.

The flaming form didn't rest long before it was stumbling to its feet, a flaming foot finally standing proudly on the tiles. The flaming bone-like figure merely stood there a moment, looking at its hands before they became fists. Then, lolling its loose jaw, the figure threw its head back and released a roar as if in conquest.

Danny, still in shock, only reacted when Sam grabbed his shoulder. He could see the fear and pity in the girl's eyes. She, as well, had just seen his entire family die. Nonetheless, her voice creaked, "Danny, do something!"

Swallowing, his mind pushing back everything that had just happened as if it wasn't real, the boy yelled, "I'm going Ghost!"

"Time to take you out, you fire hazard," barked Danny as tears streamed down his cheeks in a feverous manner. This wasn't happening! This wasn't happening!

Not knowing what else to do, the half-ghost threw himself forward in an attack that would have devastated most of his enemies, but not this one. The flaming figure merely swiveled to the side grabbing Danny by his right arm with the speed and agility of a god. The flames immediately started to feast away at the ghost boy's flesh, a sickening burning smell filling the air.

The halfa quickly panicked because of the sudden rush of pain and tried to phase through the hold … but nothing happened. His arm merely shivered in a weak way like his powers were being drained. The teenager wasn't even allowed a moment of confusion as he screamed out in pain; the flaming beast had tightened his grip, causing the flames to bite deeper into the boy's flesh, into the muscle. The halfling continued to struggle despite the growing level of pain … he had to live. He just had too!

"Let go!" screamed Danny, trying to punch the figure with his free arm.

The figure did not release him though, it instead drew in close, seeming to drink in the ghostly glow of Danny's ghost form. Immediately, Danny Phantom felt his strength fading. Unable to fight the sapping of his powers, Danny's eyes rolled into the back of his head, the boy hanging there like a piece of meat from the flaming being's grasp.

The figure's forming black eyes seemed to glimmer at this, shark-like teeth taking on a boney smile as a blood-chilling chuckle formed in its throat, "Curious creature, aren't you? I suppose you will do."

Danny could barely acknowledge those words, his sight starting to dim as the pain in his arm increased, his ghost form flickering. He was going into shock. The cries of his friends seemed almost silent as he stared into the fire demon's eyes, those black, dead eyes. It was then that he realized: this was the end. He couldn't save anyone. Not even himself.

"Danny, help us!" echoed the final cry of his friends, Danny's head lulling to the side as the world went dark, swallowed up by smoke.

…

Meanwhile, outside, a ghostly eye with bat-like wings watched in the distanced as the Fenton house was encased by flames. It burned and crumbled like a wicker man. Sacrifices of flesh included.

Then, as if on summons, the fire trucks finally roared around the corner, tires squealing in distress, but they were too late. There didn't seem to be anything left to save. No one could do anything now but watch.

XXX

Paw07: Warning! This is an old story! This story was the one that started it all: my writing skills. Being that is the truth, there are character inconsistencies, spelling errors and just utter stupidity contained within. Now, being sentimental, I'm not going to just delete this so I decided to slowly revise this. Since some of the chapters are basically being rewritten, I decided to just delete the old chapters and republish the whole thing. I'm kind of sick of people trying to critique this old fic. Now, there are 30 chapters in total. Hopefully this won't take too long.

(Revision August 2019)