There was a lot of things Vlad Masters did that he was not supposed to do. Trying to murder your best friend from college. Trying to marry said best friend's wife. Trying to clone said wife's son. And that was only naming the first three that popped into Danny's head.
Yet, out of all the things that the billionaire was not supposed to do, this was the one that rarely ever crossed Danny's mind.
Death.
Vladimir Masters was not supposed to die. And even if he did, it was supposed to be during a massive ghost invasion or a during one of his world domination schemes, not by a heart attack of all things. That was too common, too simple, too human.
Danny rolled over onto his back. He knew that the suit would wrinkle, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His family was supposed to leave soon for the funeral. There was no point in trying to avoid the event. Besides, despite all that had happened between them, it was the least Danny could do for the man.
When his family received the news of Vlad's death, there was an odd mix of emotions that had filled their living room. While Danny expected his father to have the loud, dramatic reaction that was always expected of his character, he was surprised to see the man quietly excuse himself from the room.
His mom had remained quiet after she had read the letter, almost frozen. After a minute, she excused herself from the room as well, eyes obviously wet. He couldn't really blame her, despite all the man had done to make her uncomfortable, they had been close friends in college. Jazz was shocked, mostly. She busied herself immediately, tidying the already clean living room, pausing at times only to shake her head in bewilderment and then continue.
Danny had continued to sit on the sofa long after Jazz finished cleaning. He felt empty inside as if it was impossible for him to feel anything. It was only after several hours that his emotions organized themselves enough for him to identify them.
The was a very, very short moment of relief. No longer would Vlad harass his family and make his life miserable. After that was an unexpected wave of sadness that came from the loss of the man. And that sadness was quickly replaced with loneliness. For the first time since the accident, he was truly alone in the world. There were no other half-ghosts, no one else that would truly understand what he felt like. Yes, there was Dani, but she wasn't a true halfa. She never knew what it felt like to lose half of her humanity or how hard it was to adapt. For her, being half ghost was all she had ever known.
No matter how many times Vlad had tried to make his life a nightmare, he was always a reassurance that he wasn't alone. And in some strange way, Danny believed that the man did care. He didn't leave him to die in the ghost zone after the Pariah Dark incident. That had to count for something, right? Deep down, he knew Vlad wouldn't kill him (although it was hard to remember that whenever they fought). Vlad wouldn't destroy him because that would mean being alone again in the world. Just like Danny was now.
No creature, ghost or human, is ever meant to be alone. Even the most solitary ghosts had at least one friend. Having a familiar enemy was better than having no one. From the moment he and Vlad had met, it was certain that they would have many more encounters. But here he was: utterly alone. Not a ghost, and not a human, just a hybrid—the only hybrid.