Set Alight

Chapter 13

For a moment, everything was quiet. Danny turned away, looking guilty and sad, and Sam's eyes filled with tears. Everyone else turned uncomfortable and suddenly depressed. Jack, shocked, was the first one to speak.

"Where did you hear that name?" he demands, standing.

"You," I defend. "You and Ashton were talking about her."

"You were there?!"

"I'm a ghost. Being unseen is a trick of the trade," I explain slowly. "And I'm sorry for bringing it up, but I was just curious. You don't have to tell me." Please tell me.

"No, no," Danny mutters absently before swallowing and turning around, his voice gaining stability. "She was our daughter. She was a year or so younger than JT. Her name was Jasmine Madeline, but we called her Jem."

He falls silent, and I wait a minute before asking, "What happened to her?"

"She was taken. I got home and the house was trashed. There was a figure in the corner of our portal room and he had her and I tried to stop him-" He took a deep breath. "But he got away. Probably a ghostly enemy."

The story wasn't very long. But I could tell he wasn't going to go into any more detail. "How long ago?" I ask softly.

"Almost sixteen years." He gets a distant look in his eyes, and Sam sets her hand on his. "I've been searching for her-we all have-but we haven't found even a trace of her. Her ectoplasmic signal is nonexistent and she's just... gone."

"And you thought I was her?"

He sighs, rubbing his head. "For a minute. A halfa girl, around sixteen, black hair, only a dad. But your ectoplasm doesn't match Jem's and she had a streak through her hair anyway. I was so sure, but your DNA doesn't match. We are back at square one."

"And I'm fifteen anyway," I mutter.

"You are?" Jack asks. "But you're in Lindsey's grade and she's sixteen."

"I skipped a grade." I wave it away absentmindedly. "And my dad's one hundred percent human. Did you look at his ectoplasmic signature? The one who took Jem?"

"We tried; there was nothing there."

I think for a minute. "Does the Ghost Zone have any objects you could use?"

"There was the Infi-Map, but that was stolen the day before she was kidnapped. I didn't hear about it until a couple days later. There was also a Boooomerang, but again, her signal was gone."

"What was her core?"

"Too soon to tell."

"Any ghost who's really good at finding anyone?"

"Skulker, the best hunter in the Ghost Zone, was also unable to find her. There are no others that I know of. Oh, I wished Desiree would find her but even she was at a loss."

"How about-" Before I can continue, there's a rapid knocking at the dining room door before it's thrown open.

"Phantom!" shouts the white clad ghost. He's wearing a white tuxedo and a white hat that hides his face until just above his emerald green eyes. Which are now narrowed in fury.

"Nice fedora," I say without thinking.

Ashton grins but Danny silences us both with a look.

"What is it, Walker?"

"There are a number of risk ghosts that have started a rebellion. They're rampaging through and ripping ghosts apart right and left!"

"How many?"