Chapter Text
Part I: Greenest Flame
It was a cool Wednesday afternoon in Amity Park. Autumn had treated the town nicely with temperatures mostly in the sixties or low seventies. Brown, orange, and yellow leaves littered the ground and crunched under the feet of people walking the streets and sidewalks. Schools had already let out their students, most of them going home or choosing to hang out with their friends after long, grueling hours of learning subjects no one cared about. Sam Manson, however, had other things on her mind. She had decided to walk to her local drug store to pick up a few things she needed. Well, need wasn't the right word. She was seventeen at this time in her life, and at this point, she wanted to take her alternative style to a new level. Her hair was already naturally black, thank god, and her eyes were a peculiar mix of purples that she accentuated with black eyeliner. She had been rocking with this dark type of vibe for years and already had the wardrobe, but there were a few things she felt like she was missing. Unfortunately, she had to be eighteen for that. Fortunately, she wasn't one to follow rules. If she wanted it, she would have to do it herself.
While walking to the drug store, she took in the crisp Fall air. The sun was beginning to set already, thanks to daylight savings, draping the town in a shade of twilight. It was almost as if Amity Park were like every other town, but it wasn't. For three years, this town has been known for the ghosts that haunted it. Ghost attacks were common, expected even. The only thing keeping this town from complete chaos was Phantom, the ghost kid who tried his hardest to protect everyone. No one knew where he came from or what his story was, but depending on the opinion, he was either a villain or a hero. Sam preferred the word vigilante, but in the best possible way. Out of all the ghost hunters and government agents in Amity Park, Phantom seemed to be the only one who had things under control.
The drug store finally came into view, and Sam entered without hesitation. She only needed a few things. Sewing needles; various sizes, disinfectant, and saline wound wash. When she got to checkout, the cashier was an older lady who looked fed up with her job. After placing the items in a plastic bag, the lady eyed Sam.
"Please tell me you're not about to do what I think you're gonna do," she said as Sam tapped her debit card to pay.
"I just have a lot of different hobbies," she replied, earning an eyeroll as the lady handed her the bag.
"You got Q-tips for the aftercare?" She asked, already knowing Sam was up to no good.
"I have a whole box," Sam said as she slipped her wallet into her back pocket while she took the bag.
"I wish you the best."
"Me too." She left the store with a giddy feeling in her stomach, feeling nervous but excited. She had already gotten the jewelry she desired on a trip to the mall that happened last weekend and had it hidden in her room. She had to keep it under covers, though, knowing her cheery, go-lucky parents would absolutely kill her if they found out. It shouldn't be too hard; she was good at being sneaky.
As she walked down the sidewalk, she heard the revving of a motorcycle. She didn't think much of it until the revving calmed down and the guy who was driving it slowed down next to her. He wasn't wearing a helmet, showing off his long blonde hair and green eyes. He was dressed like he was the bad boy in an eighties movie with a trench coat and black boots for emphasis, and couldn't be more than a couple of years older than her.
"Hey, need a lift?" He asked, following slowly along the sidewalk as she walked. She looked at his freckled face closer and stopped as she cocked her head to the side.
"Haven't I seen you around before?"
"I visit here from time to time."
"No, I've seen Phantom fighting you. You're a ghost, aren't you?" She questioned, not realizing ghosts could look so close to humans. At least the white hair and glowing eyes on Phantom gave him away, but this guy could have easily passed as a college student.
"Does that matter? I still have a heart. And you are making it beat faster," he told her, a smirk on his face as if he just recited Shakespeare to her. She rolled her eyes at his lame pick-up line. He was just like all the other guys at school who would shoot their shot with her just to try to get something they wanted out of it. She guessed being a ghost wasn't an exception.
"Not interested," she responded, about to leave, when a screeching voice came out of nowhere.
"Johnny!" Another ghost came flying toward them, this time a girl with green hair and red eyes. Sam had to admit her outfit was pretty cool. She sported a red leather mini skirt with a jacket to match that she wore over a black tank top.
"What do you want, Kitty?" Johnny asked in an unamusing tone. Kitty landed in front of Johnny but immediately turned to Sam once she noticed her standing there.
"What are you doing talking to my boyfriend?" Sam blinked at the sudden pivot.
"I'm just trying to get home," she said.
"And what? You're trying to take him with you?" Kitty accused, getting an exasperated look from Sam.
"I don't want your grimey man, okay? Can I go now?"
"Grimey?" Johnny questioned from behind them.
"Yeah, what do you mean by grimey?" Kitty asked, almost in a defensive tone as if her boyfriend wasn't just flirting with another girl. Sam resisted the urge to bang her head against the concrete sidewalk. All she was trying to do was get home, and now she was being confronted by two psycho ghosts when she was just minding her own business. There was a whooshing sound that came from above them before Phantom planted himself between Sam and the couple. His hair put snow to shame while his eyes were just green emeralds, and his black and white jumpsuit clung to his toned form. Sam had seen him fighting from a distance before, but this was the first time she had seen him this up close.
"You guys involve everyone in your relationship except a couple's counselor. Maybe you should try it," Phantom quipped before turning his head to glance at Sam. "You should probably get out of here."
"Already gone!" She exclaimed before scurrying down the sidewalk. She ran back to her house and shut the door behind her, pausing against the door as she cleared her head of the nonsense she had just endured. She gripped the plastic bag in her right hand and ran upstairs to her room to disinfect everything inside it.
About thirty minutes later, she was staring at herself in her bathroom mirror. She examined the navel piercing along with the ones in her ears before nodding in approval. Not bad for her first time. Now she just had to hide it from her parents, which should be easy as long as she kept her hair down and wore sweatshirts. Speaking of, she grabbed a hoodie before picking up her backpack and going outside on her stoop to start her homework. It was a nice night that she didn't intend on missing out on, and the porch light provided her with enough light to see her work. After some time had passed, the air around her got cold before someone entered her peripheral vision. She looked up to see Phantom floating in front of her, cross-legged.
"Hey, I've been looking for you," he started to say while Sam closed her notebook. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Yeah, I'm okay. It's not exactly my first cat fight. However, it is my first with ghosts," she told him, watching as his eyes stared into hers.
"Yeah, Kitty and Johnny are..." He trailed off as he tried to find the right word.
"Toxic? Dramatic? Should probably break up?" Sam suggested, getting him to laugh.
"All of the above."
"Well, it's nice of you to check up on me. Do you usually do that?" She wondered, considering that after a ghost attack, she never saw him hanging around.
"I try to, but a lot of people think I'm an enemy, so if they see me, they just scream and run away." He paused and sighed, using his knee to prop up an elbow so he could rest his chin in his hand. "I mean, I kind of get it because of what happened with the old mayor a few years ago, but he was being overshadowed by a ghost trying to make me look bad. I wouldn't attack anyone for no reason." Sam remembered when that all happened because it was all over the news. There was something about it that seemed fishy to her in the first place. It just seemed too convenient that the one time the ghost kid was 'attacking' a civilian was the one time cameras were on him for everyone to see. Sam placed her notebook to the side and crossed her arms over her lap.
"You don't have anyone to talk to, do you?" She asked, catching him off guard.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because we had a five-second interaction and now you're telling me your whole life story. Not that I mind. But it kind of tells me you're dying for social interaction," she concluded, watching as he blinked silently at her while he continued staring into her eyes.
"Other people I've tried to talk to either run away or they start fan-girling, not that I'm a celebrity or anything. I just don't know another way to put it. Sometimes I just want to talk to someone normal."
"And you think I'm normal?" Sam questioned, getting him to chuckle.
"Well, you haven't freaked out at all, is what I mean."
"Would a normal person with absolutely no experience pierce their belly button and ears with a sewing needle?" She asked as she moved her hair aside and slightly lifted her hoodie to show him the damage.
"Okay, but it looks sick, though," he commented with a lopsided grin.
"I know, right?" Sam exclaimed while laughing. "Maybe I do want to talk to you."
"Really?" He asked as he perked up.
"Yeah, really." She extended a hand out to him for him to shake, which he did. "Sam," she introduced herself as.
"Phantom," he responded before letting go.
"Yeah, I got that part," she joked. "I'll tell you what," she started to say as she packed her things away in her backpack, "you can come by any time and as long as I'm not busy, you can talk to me all you want."
"You mean it?"
"I just said it, so yeah," she confirmed with a chuckle. He smiled at her before a blue mist escaped from his mouth, making him groan as he started to float upward. "That means I have to go, but I'll see you around, right?"
"You know where to find me," she confirmed, getting a smile from him before he flew off. She stared into the black sky above her and tried to see any stars she could. It was in the silence of the night that her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. She just invited a supernatural being with ghost powers that she barely knew over to her house whenever he pleased. He may have been a hero and all, but she knew nothing else about him. She was all about giving people the benefit of the doubt, but most of the time, the payoff was 50-50. What side would it land on this time?
"What the hell did I just do?"