Chapter 1
I had lived with my mother for most of my life. My father left when I was really young. Mom made due though. We had a lot of fun. We lived right on a rift between the ghost zone and the mortal world in Seattle. My mother was enamored with ghosts. She wanted to try and find out how she could help them. Before my father left he helped her create a ghost portal. Though while it was created it had never been turned on. I was snooping around trying to figure out how to get it working while mom was working on it from the outside. She accidentally turned it on while I was inside and I ended up with ghost powers. She helped me work on developing my powers while giving me tools to capture any stray ghosts that escaped from the ghost zone. I would use nets to capture them and then bring them back to the lab and allow Mom to talk with them staying near in case they tried to escape. Once Mom had ascertained why they had come to our world we sent them on their way back to the ghost zone. Mom always invited them back as long as they didn't cause any problems. With Mom's help my powers advanced quickly. She had a machine that could rank a ghosts power and found that I was one of the highest ranked ghosts.
I had everything. Perfect grades, perfect boyfriend, perfect home, great mother, wonderful family, my life was set. Then it was all ripped out from underneath me. She was leaving for a ghost hunters convention and I couldn't go with her because I had finals that week. She got into an accident on the way home. A semi couldn't get stopped fast enough and careened into her. She was rushed to the nearest hospital and immediately emitted into surgery. They worked for an hour to try to bring her back but there was too much damage. She was gone. I was a mess. I threw myself into my finals and then kept to myself for an entire week. My aunt handled all of the paperwork and finances dealing with Mom's death. In the end I ended up on a private jet with all of my worldly possessions headed to Wisconsin. My life was now uncertain. I don't even remember what my father was like and now I was being sent to live with him. I vowed to make this as hard as possible for him until he proved that he actually cared and regretted leaving Mom and I.
The plane landed at the airport and I was led out to a limo. The driver carefully packed all of my things into the limo (my furniture was being sent for) and I got to ride shot gun. I will admit I did feel a little spoiled with how much money he obviously had. Also it suited my want to be left alone getting a private ride. I relaxed into the seat as we took off toward my father's home.
"I'm Stan Mr. Masters' personal valet. I didn't know Mr. Masters had a daughter. What did you say your name was?" the driver asked.
"I'm Letti, honestly I didn't know he was my father. I don't really know what to expect," I said.
"He's a really nice guy. I mean sure he has some bad days but then everyone does. What I mean is even when he's having a bad day he's still nice to those that deserve it. As long as you're not the one that made him angry you're fine. I have only been on the receiving end of his temper once. That's all it took," he said.
"That bad huh?" I asked.
"It came as more of a surprise than anything. I mean he went from being completely nice to verbally shredding me to pieces for having him ten minutes late for a meeting," he said.
"That's a little harsh," I said.
"Well, I'm sure he wanted to do a lot more, but he didn't. I've learned from that and haven't had him late since. He even apologized the next day saying he shouldn't have been so hard on me. Humans make mistakes he said. It's a part of life," he said.
"I just wish I could have stayed home," I said looking out the window.
"Just think of it like making a new home," he said trying to cheer me up.
"I don't want a new home. I was just fine where I was. Some stupid trucker ruined everything and now I'm stuck living with someone I don't even know. I just wish Mom was here," I said curling in on myself trying to hold back my tears.
"I'm sorry. I was only trying to help," he said before falling silent.
I didn't respond and the rest of the ride passed in silence. We pulled up to a set of golden gates and I had to admit I was slightly impressed until I saw the size of the house. If he had all of this then how come Mom and I were tight on things back home. The only extra money we had came from what little funding we got from ghost conventions and skimpy government funding. I was let out at the door and was greeted by a man I assumed to be my father.
"Hello Violetta, welcome to your new home," he said holding his arms wide open.
"I go by Letti and I was just fine with my old home," I said stiffly.
"Yes, well, I'm afraid that with the work I'm doing I couldn't possibly move there and you were left to your closest relative. That being me I made sure to provide you with appropriate transportation. If you just give me a chance you'll see that I only want the best for you," he said.
"Look I don't even know you. The only thing I do know is that Mom claims you're my father. Tell you what you stay away from me until I come to you and we just might get along," I said.
"Now you listen here young lady. I am your father whether you like it or not. I will give you two hours to unpack your things before I expect you in the dinning room for lunch. After lunch I will take you on a tour of the house. If you do not comply with my orders you will be sorry," he said.
"Oh I'm shaking," I said mockingly.
"That's strike one. You have one hour now," he said.
"That's not fair. There's no way I can unpack everything in an hour," I said.
"You should have thought of that before you mouthed off. Shannon will show you to your room and then to the dinning room," he said before turning to go inside.
I followed Shannon gritting my teeth the entire way. Somewhere during the conversation between my father and I my things had been brought up. I quickly started on getting my clothes put away. Then I started on getting the few things that I liked to leave laying out. While I knew there was no way to finish my unpacking since I had brought just about everything in the house before I left I wanted to get most of it done. I went through many more boxes and put a few more things away. I got to a box of Mom's journals and started putting them away when I found one that had my name on the cover. I hadn't known she kept anything about me. I sat on my bed and started reading through it.
Entry 1: It turns out that the ghost gene needed to be activated. I accidentally turned on the portal with her inside. Apparently that's all it took to activate her powers. She's a flier. The spectral tail gives it away. I will need to help her get used to her powers so that she's not discovered. I also need to talk to Vlad. He'll know what to do. She's the first of her kind. I just hope there are no side affects.
Entry 2: She's managed to gain control of the basics. No more slipping into the floor or randomly turning invisible. She's also discovered that she can blast an ectoplasmic beam from her hands and eyes. Vlad has said that we should put her through some tests to estimate her progress. I think he's right.
Entry 3: Progress is coming along nicely. She is advancing quickly. According to the ghosts that Vlad sent over her powers have increased quickly. She is already learned to make a nearly indestructible ectoplasmic net. She can make a duplicate of herself but only one so far.
Entry 4: Her powers are growing too fast. At only eight she's already a level 5 rank. I'm afraid her core will devour her body. She's so young and thanks to her powers it will all end too quickly. I need to talk to Vlad about this and hear his opinion.
Entry 5: Vlad said she won't have more than 3 or 4 years at the rate her core is growing. He said he'll send over some machines to help get a better analysis of the status of her body. The results will tell me how long she'll have. I'm not sure if its actually her powers are really going to kill her or if her ghost side is just going to take over.
Entry 6: Vlad was right. Her core is increasing too quickly. At the rate it's going it'll rip her body apart in little more than 3 to 4 years. I had hoped that this wouldn't happen. I wonder if I can find a way to stabilize her so that this won't happen. Perhaps I can do some trial tests. I'll need some blood samples while she's in ghost mode.
Entry 7: Most of my efforts have proved futile. I found a few things that might stabilize her but there are severe side effects. There is one thing that I tried that might work but it's only short term. It'll only last maybe an extra few months. I'll keep trying though maybe different combinations might bring better results.
Entry 8: I found something that might save her but her ghost side could take over. At this point as long as she doesn't die I'd do anything. I'll see if I can't tweak the serum a bit before I try it.
Entry 9: I think I finally found it. I'm going to give it to her tonight while she's asleep. I will need to keep monitoring her. It'll have to be closer than normal. I just hope she doesn't suspect anything.
Entry 10: It's a success. She's survived longer than we estimated. The only side effect I've noticed is that she's become a little moody. Though that could just be the fact that she's a teenager.
Entry 11: She's fifteen now. Her emotions are still a little exaggerated and her eyes glow when she gets angry but other than that everything seems to have settled in nicely. Her core while still growing isn't a danger from what I've seen. I've just ranked her again. She is ranked level 50. We have yet to see another ghost that is ranked that high.
Entry 12: Her core has leveled out now. I will share my findings at the ghost convention this weekend. Hopefully Vlad will be there. My only regret is that I can't bring her with me to show off my progress. Though I know that it is for the best that I leave her at home so that no one is tempted to capture her and dissect her. She has done amazingly well in all of the tests that Vlad has set up for her. Now we need to let her have a little bit of a life.
Entry 13: I need to send her away. While my findings were enlightening everyone, it only served to make them want to hunt her down. I need to send her to Vlad and then send all our things over before joining them. I can't believe the close minded idiots that are part of the conventions these days. I just hope that she never finds this. She'll never understand.
I didn't know what to think. It didn't even sound like she was talking about her daughter. I was just some test subject. Was I really never anything more than that?
"Letti, I am sorry to disturb you but Mr. Masters is expecting you for lunch. We had best hurry or we'll be late," Sharron said from the doorway.
"I'm not hungry," I said quietly.
"Even if you don't eat you at least must sit at the table," Sharron said.
"Can I bring this with me?" I asked looking at her with pleading eyes.
"I'm sure he won't mind," she said with a soft smile.
I got up and followed her through the hallways to the dinning room. The table was huge and I wasn't really sure where I was expected to sit. Sharron seemed to understand and led me over to the seat on his right.
"How much did you get unpacked?" he asked after I was seated.
"The basics. I had started on the books when I ran across some of Mom's journals. I found this one," I said laying it down between us before saying, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you?"
"I didn't know she was keeping a journal on you. That's adorable. What is it a compilation of all your firsts as a child?" he asked seemingly innocent.
"You know perfectly well what it is. She talked to you often about me. Apparently the both of you have been testing me for years. I don't know what sick twisted game you two have been playing with my life but it ends now! The only reason I'm here is because you fathered me! I don't want anything to do with you! I just want to finish high school, go to college, land a good job, and get the hell away from you and your manipulations! I won't play anymore of your games! I am my own person and I plan to stay that way!" I yelled before taking a breath, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to go back to my room as I have lost my appetite for the evening."