A/N: This is a creepy, psychological thriller. Proceed at your own risk.

8-7

A nurse handed me this diary and told me to start writing down my thoughts. Said it would be therapeutic. It's really boring here, or I wouldn't have obliged. I don't really care for books you write in that aren't day planners, and I don't really know what to write now that I've had something that isn't a day planner shoved at my current abominable visage. I could start with that, perhaps? Not exactly a nice thing to write about, but I AM in the hospital, thanks to one JACK FENTON (I'll get to him later).

They're calling what I have 'Ecto-Acne'. It could have been boils or mumps or anything else less desecrating to my social image, but nah. Had to have acne in its name. I'm not going to be receiving any sympathy from my peers for this one, I bet. My hair is grey, which is totally sucks, and I've got big bulging spots all over my face. It was a pretty nice face, too. The sort of face Maddie might have accepted a date proposal from. What am I gonna do about that now? If I don't get rid of it soon, I'm gonna completely miss my chance!

Augh, Jack. I'm gonna thump him one when I get out of here.

—

10-7

I never wrote about the prototype ghost portal. I told Jack it wouldn't work, and it didn't, and no one is surprised! He didn't even have the correct calculations and he still pressed the activation button. What's Jack going to do without my guidance? He'll be hopeless without me there to direct his operations and stop him from doing things like blasting comrades in the face with ghost funk.

—

11-7

Sixth day in the hospital. Still bored, but the food doesn't taste too bad. They doctors think I could be contagious, so they're not letting me out any time soon.

—

13-7

Jack and Maddie sent me some chocolates and flowers. Attempted to flush the chocolates down the toilet because they're filled with honey and Jack should know by now that I hate honey, but no one but Maddie could have picked out such beautiful flowers. They're sitting on my bedside table now. They make this whole ordeal slightly more tolerable.
Maybe it's a sign? Maybe there's something between us already, and I just never noticed?

—

14-7

I've been getting really into the whole 'keeping a diary' thing. It's doing me more good than I initially thought it would. Entries are going to be scarce in the future, though; I've finally had my study materials transferred to my room.

—

18-7

I can not BELIEVE Jack made such a stupid mistake. I'm so angry with him I'm not even going to let him into my room when he visits.

—

20-7

Jack hasn't visited, and neither has Maddie. It must be protocol to turn away all visitors because they wouldn't have forgotten about me— I was the greatest asset to our team! I mean, after Maddie. Maddie was the most competent out of the three of us.

—

21-7

'Was'. Past tense. It's for the best that we split up, right? Jack shouldn't be allowed to return to the laboratory, and I have no desire to accompany him if he ever does.

—

24-7

Some treatments have been attempted. They all failed.

I really thought I was going to get out this week, too. It's upsetting me so much, I've been crying all evening I haven't had a good evening, so I've been listening to some past Packers games and sitting in what little memorabilia I've been able to bring from home. Honestly, it would be a lot more enjoyable if I had more than just some lame apathetic nurse to enjoy it with. Not that I miss Jack or anything, but I wish Maddie could visit.

—

25-7

Am I still considered contagious? That might be why. If I'm in quarantine for an entire month I'm going to be hella miserable.

—

27-7

Maybe I should forgive Jack.

—

29-7

Jack managed to get in as a substitute for one of the local games. Forgiveness retracted! I can't believe he did that while I'm here, bored and miserable because of HIS mistake!

—

31-7

The nurses actually strapped me to the bed today because I started yelling at them. I didn't even do anything physical! Was my involuntary spittle considered assault or something? I don't know, but I spent two hours like that until they decided I was calm enough to be released. I can't even remember what I was yelling about.

—

3-8

Why haven't they sent anything else?

—

4-8

I have to include history in this particular document. Great.

—

6-8

All work and no play makes Vlad a dull boy. Thank you Maria Edgeworth for your input.

—

7-8

Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored so bored man. Saturday nights are when I would go drinking with the troop.

—

8-8

Note to self: there's a nurse named Jennifer here who I really loathe. She's so rude and she never smiles.

—

15-8

I haven't written in here recently. They said they've determined me safe for release, but they can't get rid of the grey hair or acne. After being in here for a month*, I'm just glad to be out.

*turned out not to be the most miserable thing that could happen to me after being strapped to a bed.

—

17-8

Scratch that, I'm not glad. It's been two days, and everything has changed. The bullying has intensified. I get stared at wherever I go, as well as jeered at. I couldn't bring myself to be around Jack, and I don't want Maddie to see me looking as hideous as I do a second time.

—

18-8

They're not allowing me to attend my classes.

—

19-8

My arm fell INTO my table today. Everyone in the study hall kept on giving me sidelong glances and giggling and talking among themselves, and no one wanted to sit near me. With the exception of Jack, but I made every effort to avoid him. Ten minutes in, I realized I really didn't want to be there, and as I thought this, my elbow just fell straight through the table. It was a stupendous sight! But the moment I withdrew my arm, it was solid again. It couldn't pass through the table any more.

I considered the possibility it was a hallucination, but I don't think it was.

—

20-8

I tried it again. I thought really hard about wanting to put my hand through my bedroom floor, and, well. I actually fell through the floor and into the apartment below, where several women and a few men were scantily clad. I was promptly chased out by their screaming and hollering, but the results were worth being labelled a creep.

—

24-8

Upon second thought, the results were NOT worth being labelled a creep. My reputation is at an all new low.

—

25-8

I'm back in the hospital. My ecto-acne flared up again, and I can barely speak now. I think my experiments may have triggered it. I did feel unusually fatigued after falling through the floor, now that I think about it.

—

26-8

[There's a crude drawing of Maddie on this page, surrounded by hearts.]

—

27-8

I melted a plastic cup today. Unsure if it was worth the resulting fatigue. Having difficulty focusing now.

—

28-8

The nurses said I was unconscious for three hours. Won't be trying the cup trick again any time soon.

—

31-8

I have a headache directly behind my eyes.

—

1-9

What if I have some sort of radiation poisoning? I asked the nurses to call a doctor in, but they told me I was to remain in bed and wait until our annual appointment.

This hospital is a disgrace.

—

4-9

Still alive. I've been fasting like crazy for bi-weekly blood tests.

[There's a scribble of his ideal house beneath this text.]

—

6-9

My doctor and I FINALLY met for a discussion. I've been told I'm going to be here a long time for observation, that I won't be leaving the hospital for what will possibly be years. It's not even my choice due to the unique nature of what I've been infected with. They're worried it could eventually come to infect others and turn into an epidemic, or something of that nature, if they don't nip it in the bud now. I'm not as put-off by the idea as I used to be, but years in the hospital? I was at the top of my class! I was moderately popular, with the girl of my dreams as a lab partner! We were going to make our names renowned together! I'm never going to get any of that back!
And it's all Jack Fenton's fault! He's taken everything from me, and he still had the audacity to try to talk to me during my brief release.
I loathe that man.

—

8-9

Attempted the cup trick out of boredom. It exploded this time.
The nurses thought it was some sort of aggressive outburst, so I nearly ended up strapped to the bed again.

I really hate that 'again' there. Do they think me less than human just because I'm ill? God knows why they took up this job, if so.

—

9-9

Accidentally dismantled part of my bed while trying to slide my hand through it. Ended up strapped to a different bed in a different room for the evening.

—

10-9

One of the nurses snuck me cafeteria food as I hadn't eaten since yesterday.
'Julia'. She's no Maddie, and she's old enough to be my mother, but I like her.

—

11-9

Julia and I spoke at length about football. I'm going have this woman adopt me as her son at this rate.

—

15-9

Every time those nurses come in here they complain about having to wear 'oppressive infection control gear'. Even when I ask them to be quiet about it, I still overhear them muttering about how much they hate having to gear up outside the room. It's not even that much to ask that they just deal with it. They're not the ones infected with this stupid ecto-acne thing!

—

22-9

Things I seem able to do:

Turn intangible.
Levitate.
Melt things. Not sure what to call that one.
My senses seem enhanced, too, now that I've tapped into this unusual powers I have.

I'm exhausted, so I'm going to have to wait a week before I attempt these feats again.

—

2-1

I got caught up in the progression of what I'm now referring to as my 'abilities' and forgot to update this thing. The new year has passed, and I'm still in the hospital. I spent Christmas alone, though Jack and Maddie invited me over for Christmas Eve. I didn't go, primarily because I couldn't. Besides, Jack would have been there, and I don't want to be near that lumbering oaf of a man.
The nurses gave me celebratory egg nog and offered to call my family for me. That was an awkward conversation to have.
The egg nog wasn't bad. Only thing I enjoyed about the day, actually. The fireworks weren't too bad either, I suppose; I watched them from my window.
As for my abilities, it turns out I have a whole other form! It's stupendous! Red eyes, turquoise skin, and it has these amazing teeth with fangs. I'm going to need to make a suit to wear while in that form as it looks somewhat ridiculous in a hospital gown.

—

3-1

I managed to use my intangibility to take some chips from a nearby vending machine.

—

4-1

This is amazing. So long as I'm careful, I can get anything I want. I just have to make sure to lock my bathroom and turn on the light each time I go out so the nurses don't suspect my absence.

—

6-1

I regrettably managed to shoot some pink light into the toilet while practicing. It was disgusting, even while flushed. I had to clean the floor with one of my towels and take a shower after.

—

7-1

I blasted a hole in the wall by accident and I'm going to have to pretend I did it with a chair leg to cover for it. I can hear footsteps, so I likely won't be updating for a while.

—

24-1

It took me some time to get my hands on this. I hid it in my mattress and burned the hole shut, so no one suspected it was there, but the bed got transferred elsewhere while my mental state was being reassessed. When I told them I was 'angry about what I was going through', they moved me to the bottom floor of the building, near the the psychiatric ward, to better keep an eye on me. For two weeks they forced me to attend group discussions via video chat, before finally deciding I had come to terms with my 'trauma' enough to return to my usual room.
Or, well, close to it. I'm in a different room now, and I have a roommate named Kevin. Kevin's in his mid-sixties. He enjoys watching the horse races and talking. He doesn't really talk about anything I'm interested in, however.
It's going to be difficult to use my abilities (which I have dubbed 'ghost abilities', seeing as they were endowed by the ghost portal, and seem to be powers associated with what we assume ghosts are) with a roommate around, but we have curtains. I'll just take one day every week to pull it across.

—

25-1

I just realized they only have Kevin in this room because Kevin's terminal. I didn't even consent to this! Don't they need my consent for it?

—

28-1

Kevin's gone.

—

1-2

It's taken them a while to get around to telling me I may be free to attend the occasional excursion for long-term patient by mid-year. I've been here for over half a year. It doesn't feel like that long. It feels like I've been blinking through the days. But I've been looking through the dates in this diary, and it really has been over half a year.
I haven't heard from Maddie and Jack since Christmas Eve.

—

3-2

I forgot my own birthday and I didn't even realize until now.
Did Jack and Maddie send me gifts? I was near the psych ward at the time. Perhaps they got thrown out.

—

4-2

Maybe they didn't send any at all. That's a possibility.

[A revised drawing of his ideal home. It's now a castle.]

—

5-2

I took some money from the nurse I most dislike. She's down two hundred dollars. I'm going to use this well-deserved theft to pay for some more football memorabilia; there's an important game coming up and I want to be well-dressed for it.

—

7-2

I was initially worried about how this illness would affect future job prospects, but with these abilities, I can have anything I want. I just need to turn invisible and rob a few deserving people. Not really what I envisioned doing in my youth, but I don't have much choice in the matter. I'm not going to live in poverty because of Jack's mistakes.

—

12-2

I thought I'd turn intangible and pay Maddie a visit. She's dating Jack. I almost blasted them into the floor right then and there.
But I've taken a deep breath and returned here, because there's no way they'll last.

—

13-2

Maddie admires successful men. I can become successful.

—

14-2

I could become a young CEO. Create my own company. Who gives a hoot about what I look like if I'm raking in millions?

—

The diary was a flimsy old thing, dog-eared and bound by peeling leather. Nothing like any other book Vlad owned; he always brought hardback copies of his books, or had one made specifically for himself if there wasn't a hardback version available for purchase, and the books he 'liberated' from the ghost realm (what was the point of their existence if only specters could enjoy their wisdom?) were typically sturdy in design. He turned the flimsy diary over in his hands a few times before the recognition set in, and was immediately surprised that it hadn't been thrown in the trash. The years following his hospitalization had been spent discarding the old to bring in the new, and why the diary ended up being the exception, he wasn't sure. That it randomly appeared at his desk was suspicious, however, so he was wary while handling it.

Once assured it was safe to read, he scanned it from cover to cover. Snorted a little at the naivety in his entries, before becoming progressively angrier as he read each line concerning Jack Fenton; he hadn't seen that hapless fool for what was going on twenty years now. Last he'd heard, he and Maddie had been engaged. He'd ceased concerning himself with them after that, his plan to woo Maddie with his wealth having failed.

He flipped to the middle of the book, examining the picture he had drawn of Maddie surrounded by hearts. 'Madeline Walker + Vlad Master's' was written in the corner. The juvenility of it made him roll his eyes, before he lowered the diary to his desk and pulled out a chair.

To continue writing out his life story didn't seem like a bad idea. It would give him something to do in the quiet of the evenings. He wouldn't do it in his old diary, however; it was too decrepit for what he suspected would be very lengthy entries, and he liked his belongings to have at least a little visual appeal. He would store it away for now, keep it as reference for when he started a biography.

As he pulled out a drawer to slide it inside, he spotted a photo he had some years ago thrown into the drawer out of frustration at receiving an invitation to Jack and Maddie's engagement party. An engagement party he hadn't attended, of course. He picked it up and examined it; it was a photo of a vastly younger Maddie, Jack, and himself, all smiling at the camera, the best of pals. It made his throat clench to see how close Jack was to Maddie in comparison to himself, who had to lean in towards them in order to remain in the photo. His fingers constricted around the frame, near shattering the glass — before he forced himself to calm down and set the frame on his desk, where he proceeded to dissect it and remove the photo.

Perhaps it was finally time to put his plans to test Jack into motion.