Chapter 1

Something came to an end

It was not supposed to be like that.

This one single sentence was all Vlad Masters could think of, his mind unable to put together any other words. Nothing was making sense anymore, nothing that this terryfying feeling of wrongness and red hot blood seeping through his fingers.

It was not supposed to end like that.

He wanted it somehow, but not... like that. It wasn't supposed to be that messy or gruesome. Death should be graceful and elegant, an simply act of going away and never coming back.

But somehow, for whatever stupid reason, it just was.

Vlad Masters wasn't the best man and he knew that perfectly well. He was obssesive and his obsession was wrapped around a woman, who was married by his best friend. And that was the moment when Vlad decided he and Jack wont be friends anymore.

He loved her so much, and hated him even more, emotions were burning in his veins day after day, without stopping for even a single moment for the next twenty years, growing bigger and deeper instead of passing. To the point of planning Jack's demise, because if he was out of the picture, then Maddie certainly will set her eyes somewhere else. It made perfect sense, in his mind. Even if it was dark and twisted, it still made perfect sense.

Jack would die quickly, maybe making fool of himself before his demise, maybe not and then, after the farewells, Vlad would make his move and gain a family he always wanted to have.

He tried. It was twenty anniversary, it would be so perfect and meaningful to end it there and it was so easy... up to the point when Danny decided that he didn't like this plan at all. Somehow, the boy managed to beat Vlad at his game, maybe because of luck and maybe because he was just rusty.

But that gave Vlad one more reason to observe Fentons family, to try again. Because for the first time in these twenty years, Vlad wasn't alone in what he had become.

Today was supposed to be just poking around. Maybe making a little bit of fun of naive, young Daniel, who hadn't a grasp yet about what's live really was about, maybe some insults here and there directed at Jack. He always had problem with sarcasm, that man.

They all met up in the airport. Fentons were getting home after small randevouz with other paranormal specialists, he just closed up another succesful transaction and one of his companies suddenly became way bigger. Vlad let Jack talk him into visiting amity Park for a few hours, maybe spending the night before heading back to Wiscounsin, making a mental list of things he wanted to point out to Daniel, because the way kid was overreacting was just amusing.

It was a nice, lazy day, with sun set high on the cloudless sky, a day to relax and rest before trying to do anything serious.

Because of that, Vlads mind needed a moment to connect the little red dot, slowly creeping around the place with anything dangerous. And it was all that took to hell break loose.

Suddenly, terrified screams filled the air. They almost didn't sound human, but the people weren't acting like humans either. More like bunch of wild, terrified animals, imprisoned in a cage together with deadly predators, running in every direction, bumping at each other and falling, creating even the more noise and making distant sound of shots almost impossible to hear.

He didn't know who pulled the trigger, or why he did so. All Vlad knew was the fact he was in the middle of this mess, kneeling on the hard groud with one sentence ringing in his mind and with blood seeping through his fingers, all his efforts to keep pressure to the wound futile.

Maddie was here too, kneeling maybe a foot or two away from him, murmuring her own mantra in raspy breaths, her face reddened and wet with tears, eyes filled with utter terror and pain.

Vlad wasn't sure if he was really hearing her in all the noise around them, or maybe it was just his brain filling the void with words that were supposed to be there.

"Jack, Jack, oh God, Jack...!"

Jack, of curse, wasn't listening, as always. He was just lying there, with bloody bubbles seeping from his mouth at the end of long, angry-red smear on the airport floor, leading straigh to their hiding place. If somebody wanted to find it, that's it. Lots of bloodied foodprints criss-crossed the smear, there was even a few smudges here and there.

How they even end up here? They were far from stairs as far as the memory went, but now they were hiding under the stairs. At least people were not trippling over them, while trying to run away. At least there was a chance...

Vlad looked down.

His sleeves were covered in blood up to the elbows. White material of his shirt hadn't decency to hide anything. His jacket - how did it even end down there? - was under his hands, completely soaked. He simply didn't remember any of it. A few images, some noise, more like he was scrolling through power-point presentation than actually being there. Here.

It all ended up slow, way slower than when it started, dragging on and on. Like it was going to stay like it forever a moment enchanted in amber.

But the crowds finally dissapeared, evacuated away. Their place was taken by blues and blacks ad whites, when the police and everybody else finally showed up to do their jobs.

For some people it was too late, thought. The black plastic bags were unmercifully zipped shut and waited for transportation, to hospital, probably. they had to take them somewhere, until somebody from family will show up to identify the body.

They put Jack in the bag too. Somebody was holding Maddie, while she was desperately trying to reach her husband, still not believing at all that he wasn't here anymore.

To tell the truth, the idea of Jack not being here was surreal to Vlad too. Somebody was talking to him, and Vlad was answering the questions, words seeping though his teeth with out any difficulty, his voice steady as always.

Funny thing, he didn't remember what they were asking for or even what he was telling them, his mind completely blank, all of his senses concentrating on blood drying on his hands, sticky, uncomfortable and cold.

xxx

Sometimes people are afraid to pick up the phone. They feel the bad news coming before actually hearing them and ignoring the sharp, electronic rings was sort of wishing whatever the bad thing was to never happen.

Jazz knew it was ridiculous.

If somebody was calling you with bad news, then whatever it was has already happened and no way to turn back time existed. Trying to jinx the phone, praying for it to shut the hell up, so the news would never reach you was just a futile act of refusing to accept the reality.

So why she was now standing in front of the phone, staring at it and counting the rings, grimacing at every single one?

Jazz shook her head then picked up the phone in one smooth move, accepting the connection.

It was Vlad Masters and he was speaking death. His voice sounded almost the same as always, soft and soothing with a slight edge to it and characteristic accent, but at the same time, something was lacking. Like the words he spoke were hollow, echoing in Jazz ears in odd, disconnecting manner.

She blinks once, then twice, listening to the man on the other side of the line. Jazz knows, that she's supposed to cry, but her eyes stays dry and her voice doesn't shake at all, when she answer his question. She just feel numb, sort of like at the dentist, after he puts sedative in her gums. Jazz mind seems to be just like inside of her mouth; still there, but at the same time unattached.

"I understand," Jazz says, when he finished explaining. "I'm going to pack the bags. It won't be that long drive..."

"You're not driving," Vlad cut in sharply.

"I'm a good driver!" Jazz argued, welcoming the irritation, because it meant she was still capable of feeling something.

"I'm not saying you're not," he definitely wasn't in the mood to argue. "I'm just saying that right now it's a bad idea."

"I'm not going to cause an accident-" Jazz started. He cut in once again, not even letting her finish the sentence.

"Accidents happens. Besides, I think your brother would need you more than the wheel, miss Fenton."

Jazz grunts in agreement. He's right, of course. Danny would need her. She wasn't even sure how to tell him, no mention how she could stop him if he would went ballistic.

"I have already send a car for you," Vlad continues as she fight with herself, listening to his words absently. "The driver would be yours as long as it would be needed, miss Fenton. The hotel rooms are also booked."

"Thank you," Jazz mumbled.

Besides packing the bags, there's not much for her to do. She didn't want to speak to Danny just yet.

She didn't feel ready and, partially, she was afraid of how would he react. She hated to be scared of her younger brother, but she knew he wasn't good with negative emotions. Not that he was lashing out at everyone around him. The fist was just so common answer among the ghosts that he sometimes forget how to react the other way.

She didn't want her brother beating somebody - or something - up just because he was hurting. And now wasn't the time to talk to him about that.

Jazz sighed and headed to the basement.

If she couldn't talk her brother out of misplaced violence, then she could at least warn his victims-to-be.

Luckily, Danny is not downstairs. The place, as always, is rather messy, greenish goo here and there, tools lying loose all over the floor and working tables, trash bin full, with small avalanche of papers escaping it into a small pile.

Jazz heads straight towards the portal, stopping only to open the iris that closes the gateway to the other world.

It looks bizarre, shining green and whirling without a sound. She carefully step forward and grasp on the metal edge of the gateway, because she really don't want to trip and end up floating on the other side. All she needs to do is to stuck her head through the portal.

The Ghost Zone looks even more strange than the portal itself. The green is everywhere, dark and light, every single shade. The violet frames of doors looks completely out of place, catching the eye immediately, making it impossible to focus on the greenish void around them.

Jazz sighs. she probably looks strange too, but a head sticking out, full of colors and alive.

"Hey, guys!" she calls into the empty space. Jazz knew perfectly well, that rules of her own world doesn't apply here at all. The fact that she couldn't see anyone doesn't mean that she was talking to herself. Everybody who wanted to hear, was listening. She just hoped that she would be understood. "Look... something bad happened on this side, and I think Dan... Phantom will take it rather badly. So if you guys could give him a break for a few days... That would be nice. Yeah."

It's actually quite strange, if you think about it for a moment. Not even a year ago Jazz didn't believe in ghost. Even in the tiniest word about supernatural, to tell the truth. It seemed to be so irrational, so childish and stupid.

Then, her little brother managed to stuck somewhere in between, not really a ghost, but not a normal human being either. It took her embarrassing amount of time to actually understand that something was going on. But then, ghosts were invading Amity Park on almost daily basis, quite often trashing basement in the house where the portal was, so there wasn't much space for being skeptic anymore. Jazz still spend a lot of time trying to hold onto her normalcy.

And here she was now, sticking her head into another dimension, talking into greenish void and hoping that ghosts were actually having some decent bones. In a manner of speaking, at least.

Jazz sighed and took a few steps back, taking her time before closing the iris upon the portal once again. She felt numb. Mentally, not physically. Her body was completely fine, but it was hard to even think. Like somebody poured a lot of sedatives on her brain, turning it into wobbly piece of yello, barely able to keep the motor functions up. Or like she just pulled out series of all-nighters and walked out of exam session.

All Jazz wanted to do right now was to crawl towards her bedroom, curl under the sheets and sleep till the whole nightmare ends, but there were still things she had to do.

Like talk to Danny. Jazz really was afraid to even open her mouth, no mention to actually inform him what was going on. With all that half-ghost deal he already had his hands full with unpleasant events. And here she was, about to make things even worse. Maybe she should pack the bags first? But then, he would definitely start to snooping around and asking questions, and telling him like that seemed to be even a worse idea.

Jazz wished, she could turn the time, just to spare him. Jazz wished for a lot of things to not happen, but she wasn't the one with superpowers.

It turns out as bad as Jazz afraid it would be.

First she just knocked at his doors, with quiet 'Danny' on her mouth. Too quiet, it seemed, since there was no answer of any kind.

Jazz knocked again, this time trying to call her brother a little bit louder, but it was surprisingly hard to get anything out of her throat.

Again, no answer.

Jazz sighed and knocked for a third time and then grabbed the doorknob. Talking to the doors wasn't the best thing in the world and she still needed to pack the bags. And she had no idea when Vlads driver would arrive. Jazz felt uncomfortable about making the man waiting for eternity, so she was somewhat on the clock.

It wasn't all that surprising that Danny was unable to hear her. He was sitting in front of the computer screen, headphones covering his ears, his back turned to the doors. Even now, he was oblivious to her presence.

She walked slowly towards him, trying to get somewhere he could see her before actually starting to talk. That would be a bad idea. After so much fights with different ghosts Danny wasn't very good with people suddenly talking to him, no mention unexpected touch. Dash got a black eye to prove it.

Jazz was next to the window on the left when Danny finally managed to spot her. He turned towards her and blinked, surprise painted all over his face, then moved the headphones slightly, letting them slip down the line of his neck and stop on the shoulders.

"Something happened?" was the first thing he asked. Perfectly normal, since Jazz never was all that eager to walk into her teenage brother room without some reason to do so. Teenagers needed their space and invading rooms wasn't the best idea, at least not in her books.

Jazz wanted to tell him that indeed something had happened, but the words got stuck in her throat. She probably looked like a fish out of water, moving her lips slightly, with no sound coming out.

"Jazz?" he asked again, his facial expression now closed in worried furrow.

"It's dad," she finally managed to force the words out, more creaking them than saying. Even her voice sounds like it belongs to other person.

"He came back early?" Danny blinked in confusion.

"No, Danny," Jazz shook her head, letting the weird numbness overcome her once again. "He's not."

"Then why... what are you saying, sis?"

"Dad died," she said in hollow voice. That was definitely not how she planned to give him the horrible news and completely not a way to handle situation of that sort. She knew a lot about handling difficult situation and caring for people, helping them. She read a lot and she always wanted to be a psychologist. But now she's just awkwardly hopeless, years of gaining knowledge absolutely useless.

"Is this some sort of a joke?" he asked, staring at her with disbelief in his eyes. Or maybe it is accusation? Because if it was a joke, it definitely would count as tasteless.

"I'm not joking. Danny..." Jazz whispered, lowering her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this like that but-"

"How?" Danny cut in.

"How he died?"

"How do you know he's..."

"I don't know how, or why..." Jazz shook her head. "Their friend called me and gave me the news. Mom is taking it really badly, so they decided to keep her in the hospital and familiar faces would help..."

"Their friend?" Danny repeated narrowing his eyes. There was also anger, ringing in his voice, anger and some other very nasty things.

Jazz pretended she was unable to hear that dark tones in her little brother voice.

"Let me guess," he continued. "It was Vlad Masters, right?"

"This has nothing to do with who he is-"

"Oh, it has everything to do with it!" Danny growled. "I bet this is some kind of a trap!"

"There is no trap!" Jazz groaned, numbness disappearing under the wave of sudden irritation. "I know you don't like that guy, I get it! But can you think about something else than looking for a menacing plans at every turn?"

"I bet he did it!" Danny just continued his rant.

"Danny, cut it off!" she wasn't sure if she felt like crying or hitting him in the face. She was thinking of doing both. "Think about mom, would you? She really need us both there, not you creeping after Masters because you don't like him!"

"But he-!"

"He what?" Jazz growled. "Was hitting on our mom during the Reunion? There things happens sometimes and they were - are - both adults! It wasn't the most moral thing to do, but you're going on and on how he's some sort of a psychotic murderer...!"

"Gee, maybe because he is?" Danny rolled his eyes.

"Would you please start taking this more seriously?"

It ended up in rather nasty fight. While Jazz had problems with forcing words out of her throat before, now it seemed like she was incapable to just shut the hell up. Babbling the frustration away could be therapeutic, but definitely not when you spat venom at your own brother, just after your father died in some sort of an accident. Blasted Vlad Masters didn't tell all that her much.

Danny seemed to have exactly the same problem, though he at least was able to set his anger in the direction of a person that wasn't here.

The arrival of the car was like blessing, because they could concentrate on something else than a fight. Like quickly gathering stuff they needed, because they spend the whole time screaming at each other instead of doing anything else.

It was a good thing her parents usually acted on a whim, deciding that the family is going on a trip suddenly and without any warning. Thanks to that Jazz had practice in packing up in haste and not forgetting some ridiculous little thing on her way.

She slowed down only when it came to packing mom things. Getting into parents bedroom and roam through closet that wasn't hers seemed to be a bit wrong, at least for Jazz. It was like she was breaking some sort of taboo, or something. Stupid, really, but she couldn't do anything about the way she felt about it.

Finally, everything was done, machines turned off and all.

The driver didn't seem to be angry at their lacking of at all. He patiently waited by the car for them, enjoying nice weather outside - and, by the way, how could it be so warm and sunny now, when dad was not coming back? Where all the rain suddenly wandered off? - and even helped with the bags.

Jazz and Danny spend the whole drive in uncomfortable silence, trying to not even look at each other. He was still boiling with anger, while Jazz looked at the world outside, feeling that something very important just came to an end. It was the most frightening thing she ever felt.

A/N: Hi there! This was the first of five parts of this story, hope you enjoyed it. I'm not native English speaker, so here and there my grammar can be on the off side - do not fear to PM me or point stuff in the reviews, it would definitely help me^^