GROWING UP Chapter 1
Danny always realized that his family was different. He was constantly teased at school for having parents that believed in ghosts. His sister was the talk of the town with how smart she was and how much potential she had. While he could over look the Christmas chaos, the thanksgiving terrors, and the everyday excursions, he couldn't shake the awful feeling of being ignored and pushed to the side. His parents were amazing people who just had too much on their hands. Their funding came from small corporations that believed that ghosts where the next big thing, and they were constantly under the pressure of building new inventions to find and contain the spectral beings. His sister on the other hand, was always independent. She could easily take care of herself and went above and beyond what Danny could do. The small boy couldn't even make food for himself. He'd often go a long time without food because his sister often forgot to take care of him, and his parents where in their lab all the time. Thankfully, Danny did not have to suffer through this life style for long.
A knocking came from the large wooden door. An unfamiliar voice announced himself as Vlad from college. Jazz was away with friends and Danny's parents where holed up in their lab. After a while of staring at the door, debating if it was safe to open, the young boy walked towards it. Before opening it and letting the odd voice come in, he asked a quick question. "Are you able to cook?"
The voice took a long time to answer, but eventually it said, "Yes, I guess I can cook a bit." Satisfied with the answer, Danny unlocked the door and opened it to meet a very tall, very lean, grey haired man.
"Why, hello there." The man smiled warmly down at the child. "Who might you be?"
"I'm Danny. I'm four years old and I'm Maddie and Jack's son. Their second child." Danny said in a matter of fact way. He's had to introduce himself to many strange men who came and went constantly. Usually, they'd leave it at that, ruffle his hair slightly, and go to the lab to talk to his parents. This man however, did not do that.
"Second child? Where's the oldest then?" The tall man walked inside the house and closed the heavy door behind him. He looked around the room and couldn't help but notice how disastrous it looked. Everything was askew. It had been at least a few months since anything was cleaned, and oddest yet, was the lack of life that was in it. It was not well used, there were no toys, no magazines or books, no signs that anyone actually used that room.
"Jazz is out playing with her friends." Danny's stomach growled loudly. He put his chubby little hand on his abdomen and looked back at the man. "Will you make me food?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude on your parent's job. I'm sure they'd like to eat dinner with you soon anyway."
"No, they haven't come out of the lab for a few days." Danny continued to look up at the man. "If you won't cook for me, at least get the cereal down please. I'm not tall enough to reach it, even when standing on a chair."
The grey haired man stared down at the little boy as a frown crossed his face. Upon closer examination, the boy was very reserved, horribly skinny, and didn't look all that healthy. He let out slight sigh and walked back into the kitchen. The man searched the fridge and the cupboards for something edible. He found a box of mac-n-cheese. After a few minutes to talking and getting to know the small boy who watched everything he did from the safety of the dining table, the food was finally ready. Masters filled a bowl with the yellow food and placed the piping hot product in front of the boy. He grabbed a glass and filled it with milk for the boy and put it on the table as well.
"Thank you sir." Danny said before digging in. It'd been a long time since his last meal, so he was quick to devour it and said nothing while eating. Only when he was on his second bowl did he pick up his conversation with the large stranger. "Why are you here sir?"
"You can call me Vlad if you want. I'll call you Daniel if you don't mind." Vlad smiled at the boy. "I actually came here for a few days to see how your parents were doing. They don't call or write often. I was their best friend in college and I watched them get married and bought this house years ago."
"If you're here for them, why are you talking to me?"
"They seem to be a bit busy. Besides, I might as well meet the rest of the family that they started." Vlad grabbed a paper towel from by the sink and dampened it. He cleaned the cheese sticking to the boy's face and washed the dishes and table after the mess the boy left behind. "You're a very interesting young man, Daniel."
Just then, Maddie rushed into the kitchen suddenly and was halfway out of the room before she stopped and looked at the odd man in her kitchen.
"Ah Madeline, it's been so long since I've seen you." The tall man took a step towards the woman and reached for her hand to bestow upon it a friendly kiss. Instead, he was flung out of the room and found himself on his back in the dusty front room.
"Who are you and why are you in here?"
"Mama, he's Vlad from college. He was one of your best friends." Danny said from his seat at the table.
"Danny, why are you home? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
"I've been on summer break for two weeks now mama." Danny replied. He hopped down to the floor and walked over to Vlad. The man had picked himself up by that time and the little boy was simply dusting some of the dust bunnies off of the man's nice slacks.
The woman took a long look at the muscular man standing in her living room before it finally dawned on her that it was indeed one of her best friends from college. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I've been working nonstop for a few days and didn't recognize you at first. My how you've changed."
"You've seemed to remain the same, even after a marriage, two kids, and seven years."
"Maddie! Where's that ecto filtrator?" Jack yelled from down in the lab. Maddie quickly looked around and grabbed the first filter she could see before sprinting down to the lab. Vlad followed briskly after her, leaving Danny all alone yet again.
Vlad didn't resurface from the lab until eight at night, when Danny was tucking himself into bed. Jazz had called and said she'd be staying at a friend's house that night, even though both kids knew that their parents weren't going to notice her absence.
The tall man who was no longer much of a stranger entered the boy's room. "Would you like someone to read to you before bed?" He asked, exhausted from the work he'd just done for Maddie and Jack. He sat down on the edge of the boy's bed and looked around for a book to read.
"Why would someone read a book before bed?" Danny asked quizzically. Never before had someone read to him at bed time. The notion just seemed ridiculous.
"Well, maybe a quick story of some sort to send you off to dream land tonight?" Vlad offered. He quickly saw that the only books in the boy's room were ghost hunting documentaries and school workbooks.
"I guess." Danny said once he realized that the man on his bed wanted to talk to him a bit before they both went to bed after an odd day.
"Do you have something you want to hear about?"
"Maybe something from your college days." Danny suggested. He decided back when he was waiting on the food to cook that he wanted to know more about the man who wanted to actually talk to him.
Masters mulled over the idea for a bit before coming up with the best memory to talk about. "I know one you will absolutely love!" He exclaimed. Before starting his fascinating tale, he made sure the boy was tucked in well and was plenty warm with lots of blankets. He turned off the lights and started his moonlight tale of the lab accident.
"Back when your parents and I were in college, we working in a club that was meant to find ghosts. We had worked on a ghost portal that we were sure would work. I was examining it when your dad decided to test it out. For a few seconds, it looked like it had actually worked, but then the room got dark on the portal backfired. Before I could even react, a ghost had shown up out of nowhere and pushed me down to the floor. Jack had fallen over and protected Maddie from the malfunction. A bright light filled the room and a shot of energy came from the machine and nearly avoided the four of us. Before I could thank the ghost who'd saved me, he had flown out of the window and vanished forever."
Danny stared bright eyed at the older man who had just told his story. "Wow. What did the ghost look like? Was he scary and green?"
"No, actually he looked a lot like a human. He had bright green eyes, a black and white suit on, and messy white hair. He was skinny, but strong." Vlad gave out a yawn and stretched as he continued talking. "I don't know where he came from, who he was, or where he went. All I know, is that I owe my life to that boy." Vlad went on to talk about how the lab accident had shown that Maddie and Jack where ment for each other and how the two dated all through out college.
By the end of the story, the two boys were curled up on the bed sleeping soundly. Vlad had fallen asleep after a day of travel, surprises, and a long talk with two old friends and new one.