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"Jack! A ghost!"
"Is it the ghost boy?"
"The wretched puddle of ectoplasm itself!"
Suddenly, my parents were on me. The Fenton Fetcher, their newest invention, was flying right at my face, with only moments until impact. Well, their aim is improving. I quickly dodged to the left and smiled. This momentary distraction avoided, I turned to face Skulker.
"Ghost child, you may have been able to avoid their trap, but can you avoid this?" He began charging a new laser attached to his tech-suit. I chuckled dryly.
"Like everything else you've thrown at me. Why don't you go hunt stamps or something? You'd be better at it!" Right before the blast fired from his beam, I was flying sideways, pain coursing through my body. I quickly glanced to see what had wrapped itself around my body, to find none other than the Fenton Fetcher. Oh, that kind of makes sense. With a name like "Fenton Fetcher", of course it's going to be coming back...
My parents cheered. "We caught the ghost, we caught the ghost!" Mom sang, and Dad smirked absentmindedly as usual.
"I, Jack Fenton, caught the ghost boy!" As I landed at their feet, they smiled at each other, planning how they were planning on tearing me apart. Whatever they planned, I knew it was going to be insanely painful. I needed to get out now. I struggled a bit, but the trap had closed itself around my torso, clasping my arms to my body.
"You like the trap, ghost boy?" Mom smirked. "We got the idea when our son came home talking about venus fly traps." Idiot! Why did I decide to tell them about that?
"In other words, you can't escape!" Dad said, rummaging through the pockets of his jumpsuit, no doubt looking for either a weapon or some fudge to celebrate. I turned my head back to Mom, knowing she was going to be the one that I could reason with the most.
"Don't you get it? I protect this town and everyone in it. Including you!" She smirked, and I could tell that behind the hood and goggles of her jumpsuit, she was raising an eyebrow with the same skepticism.
"Sure, ghost. We'll let you go. As soon as the Fenton Peeler is through with you!" Mom pointed the weapon at my face, and I struggled as much as I could. I couldn't move or use any of my powers. My eyes wide with apprehension and fear, I gazed down the barrel of the gun, waiting for everything to go dark.
But it didn't. Suddenly Mom and Dad were trapped in a giant net. Behind them, a young woman's voice yelled "Sorry guys, I was trying to get the other ghost!" It was my sister, Jazz, saving me. She ran over, feigning an attempt to get them free, but "accidentally" hitting the button to release me instead. Instead of surveying the turn of events that would not doubt hilariously unfold, I flew off in the other direction at top speed. I couldn't risk being there any more, it was too close a call.
I found a perch atop one of the apartment buildings around the park. I watched the world go by around me. I don't know what I can do. I was literally less than a second away from...whatever that is. Death? Can ghosts die? I'm still not entirely sure. All I knew is that I had to do something. Instead of flying home, I flew to Sam's house.
Sam is one of my best friends in the world. She was one of the first (and still is one of the only) people in the world that knows my secret, and I wouldn't have it any other way. She's got her quirks, between her ultra-recyclo-vegetarianism and her love of all things dark and creepy. But then again, who am I to talk? The half-ghost freak-turned-hero in the eyes of the public.
I quietly knocked on her window to let her know I was there. A few seconds later, purple curtains brushed aside to reveal purple eyes and black hair. The girl's lips formed a smile as she nodded that it was okay to come in, but quickly changed into a frown when she noticed my distraught condition.
"You said it was only going to be a routine thing. It was just Skulker, right?"
"It was supposed to be. But my parents showed up and I was stupid with one of their inventions. If Jazz hadn't shown up..."
"Danny, you can't go on like this!" She looked away, some emotion hiding behind her eyes. Was it fear?
"Sam, I know. I think I'm going to...I've got to...leave for a while. I need to give them time to accept me." She turned back, her eyes growing wider.
"But Danny, where will you go? Who will protect the town? Who will I..." She trailed off. I looked away.
"I don't know. The Ghost Zone maybe. Maybe I can learn a bit more, things that can help me when I get back. I will come back, I promise." I looked her in the eyes. I suddenly became aware that our faces were moving closer together. I gently caressed her cheek with my hand, hoping that my cold ghostly skin would not bother her. I was less than two inches away from her now, knowing that if my heart was beating, it would be racing.
"Sam, your mom said you were...Oh. Let me leave you two alone." Tucker appeared in the doorway. Taking one last fleeting look at Sam, who was looking at me, I motioned him in and had him shut the door behind him. Just in case, I turned human again. Can't risk Sam's parents finding out.
"Wait, you're leaving? Dude, what are you thinking?" I shrugged.
"Tuck, I can't go on like this. My parents almost killed me today. I can't tell them, and I can't spend the rest of my life pretending to be normal." I've come too far for this. The town expects...no, it needs a hero. But that's not even it. I need it. I can't just sit on the sidelines.
"At least let us come with you!" He argued, his voice wavering just a bit. This was unusual for the boy who usually only cried over his PDAs.
" I need to do this alone. If anyone else goes missing with me...besides, I need you and Sam on the sidelines. Somebody has to keep the town safe." Plus, my parents and Jazz are going to need support too. ...Jazz! I frowned, remembering the fourth, and newest, member of Team Phantom. The girl who saved my life. My sister. Would she hate me for leaving?
Since Tucker came in, Sam had been eerily silent. Maybe trying to keep her composure. I turned to her, while making sure to address both of them. "While I'm gone, I need you guys to stay strong." Sam looked at me, her purple eyes glimmering with a hint of tears. For something that was so sad, it took my breath away. I didn't want to leave her. I didn't want to leave anyone, really. But especially Sam.
"You're not the same timid, shy boy I met all those years ago. Danny, you're a hero now. I can hear it in your voice. I don't...want you to leave. But I know why you have to do it." With that, she gave me a peck on the cheek. It set my blood on fire, sent the strength I needed coursing through my veins. With that, I stood up.
"Then, I guess this is...good bye for now?" I said, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand. Suddenly, my two best friends, who had previously been sitting next to me on either side of Sam's bed, tackled me in an embrace. We held the embrace for what felt simultaneously like forever and for far too brief a moment. The people that cared about me no matter what, that knew of all of my achievements, failures, hopes, and dreams, they were what kept me standing on the hardest day of my life.
I walked through my front door around dinner time and saw Mom and Dad in their usual sour "didn't catch the ghost" moods. Normally, this mood would lift by tomorrow, but I knew that leaving them would not help their mood. Jazz was sitting on the couch, reading a psychology book. The Psychology of Secrets and Why We Keep Them. A fitting title. She looked up as I entered the room.
"Are you okay?" She asked me.
"Physically, yes." I couldn't bring myself to full-out lie to her, especially since she knew the situation.
"Close call, huh?" I nodded, sitting next to her on the couch. I wasn't sure I could bring myself to tell her. All I could muster was a quick "thanks for earlier" before Mom and Dad entered the room.
"Danny, where have you been all day?" Mom asked.
"Your mother and I were worried sick. There was a ghost attack and we thought you might have been hurt!" Oh, the irony.
"I Went to Sam's house and hung out with Sam and Tucker. "
"Well, we're glad to see you home Sweetie. Too bad we don't have a bunch of ectoplasmic goo to show you! We had Inviso-Bill in our Fenton Fetcher until someone decided to try to help." My mom looked pointedly at Jazz, who shrugged non-apologetically and went back to her book.
"Don't worry, Maddie! Fentons are naturals at ghost hunting! Jazz will be great at it in no time!" Dad chuckled.
Later that evening, Jazz knocked on my door. I was in the middle of packing a small duffle-bag with all of the supplies I would need in order to spend a few months in the Ghost Zone. I put the bag behind my bed and let her in.
"Danny, today's incident is really bothering you, isn't it?"
"No, not at all. What gave you that idea?"
"The fact that you have a pile of Mom's and Dad's inventions piled on your bed, next to clothes and what's this? A family picture?" She looked at the wallet-sized family portrait taken a few months ago. Our parents stood behind us, with arms around us. We looked like a normal, happy family with no secrets. That's what I wanted to remember. "Danny...are you leaving?" I looked away.
"I'll be back, Jazz. I just realized today that Mom and Dad need more time to accept me. I already told Sam and Tucker." The next thing I knew, I was wrapped up in my sister's arms, being held close like a child. While I normally would have pushed away from my sister, I knew she was going to miss me. I told her my plans, and reminded her that the boomerang was still honed in on my signature if she needed anything. I told her that I needed her to work my parents into accepting me in the time I was gone. She stayed in my room all evening, watching me pack and giving me advice. At one point, Mom stopped by but didn't notice my packing. She said something about going out to look for me (the other me) and left as quickly as she entered.
Once the packing was done, I needed to write a note. After all, I couldn't just leave without explaining my absence to some extent.

Dear Mom and Dad,
To begin, I just wanted to say that I care about you both so much. That's why what I write next will be as hard for me as I'm sure it will be for you.
Recently, I have endangered everyone around me: you, Jazz, my friends. The explanation is rather difficult to swallow, since it goes against everything you've ever said. I will promise you this: I have never done anything bad. I have never intentionally hurt anyone. Everything I have done has been in love, for you, my family and friends, and this town we call home.
Through my actions, I have endangered myself as well. That never bothered me. I was helping. But things have happened, things that have put my life on the line. I can't risk that. None of you deserve the pain that comes with my life, or the loss of it. The burden of secrets, double-lives, fear.
I can't stay here. I know I am young, still in high school. But I promise you that I can handle myself. Through my experiences, I have gained strength that most people will never have. I've learned to take care of myself. If you could just hear about some of my adventures, you would be so proud. But now isn't the right time. Someday, maybe, it will be. Until then, please trust me.
I promise, I will come back. When I do, I will be even stronger. Maybe I'll actually be able to show you how strong. Maybe I'll be strong enough to help you.
Again, please know that I am doing this of my own free will. Everything I do, I have chosen to do by myself, with nobody encouraging or forcing me to do anything. Keep your eyes open, and maybe you'll figure out why. Look for the things that have disappeared with me. Make some connections. And don't worry, I'll keep in touch. Don't look for me though. If anything happened to you while you went out searching for me, I would never be able to forgive myself.
I'm sorry I couldn't tell you in person. But you wouldn't have understood. I've done the best I can on my own to tell you who I am. Please, don't think that I'm upset with you. If I could change one thing, it would be tonight. But because everyone's safety revolves around me not being here for a while, it is a choice that must be made.
I'll be back.
Forever your loving son,
Danny.

With a tear in my eye, I placed the note on the table. I walked down the stairs to the basement for what I knew would be the last time in a while. Jazz followed at my heels, wanting to see her brother off. As I stood at the portal to the ghost zone, I looked back at her. She faked a brave smile, and I returned it.
"Be strong, little brother."
"I will."
With that, I allowed myself to go ghost. As the rings of light traveled up and down my body, I took a last look at the lab. Dad's experiments thrown all over the place, Mom's in a slightly neater pile along one wall. All sorts of computers and gadgets that, had I given them the chance, would have analyzed every particle of my being before my parents figured out that I was their son. Even so, I never hated them. As long as I had even a drop of humanity in me, I never would. Everything they did, they did to protect me.
"And Jazz?"
"Yeah?"
"Tell them I love them." I stepped through the portal, and into my new life.