(Chapter Updated 02/24/2018): Ok, so there's this one amazing father and son fanfiction that I adore written by "deadlydaisy8o8" called "Running To The Enemy's Arms" (though it was sadly left unfinished but at least they summarized what was going to happen at the end of the story) and I remember how the first time I read through it I realized that I revealed certain things about Vlad way too soon or without that much of his usual silver tongued manipulation. I also forgot the simple fact that Vlad is filthy-stinking-rich so I think he was being too upfront about his personal life to the orphanage director in the early chapters of this story. Despite my previous re-edit, there are some typos I missed a few things I want to remedy if I can. Plus, once again I am suffering writers block with the sequel "Ravenheart" which is mostly due to a major life-changing event that took place recently so since I can't bring myself to write anything new with that half at least I guess another re-edit session is in order. Because frankly I'm not sure how people are reacting to the continuation even though I literally resumed the new story exactly where I left off here in this one. However, a close friend of mine is currently reading THIS story and he's been helping to point out anything out of place so I can fix it. I just hope I don't miss anything again and uh, I might have to ask him to re-read these first few chapters where I'm 'fixing' Vlad's persona…
~Prologue~
How It All Began
"Pardon me, but who is that young man sitting over there?" Vlad asked the director of this small sad excuse for an orphanage who was showing him around with an upturned brow, nodding in the boy's direction. "I don't recall seeing him before. I was under the impression that I had already met ALL of the orphans in your care. So either I neglected to notice him -which I find highly unlikely given how much he stands out from the other children- or we were never 'properly' introduced."
Following Vlad's gaze towards the lone teenager sitting in the farthest corner of the room, the director nervously brushed off his accusatory stare and replied, "I-I'm terribly sorry Mr. Masters. I was positive that I made sure everyone was present and accounted for at the assembly earlier. He must've slipped out without my knowledge. That's Owen Ravenwood. Though I must say, I'm actually surprised that Owen went out of his way to avoid the assembly by hiding out all the way out here. That's so unlike him. He's usually much more well-behaved than that even considering his complicated past that makes him overly wary of others, including children his own age. The poor lad..."
Vlad raised an eyebrow, "How so? Surely there must be more to it than that. If I have offended him in some way-"
Glancing over at Owen briefly then back to Vlad, in order to reassure the man that this was not the case he hastily motioned Vlad closer and blurted out in a low voice. "I'm not supposed to say anything about this, least of all to such an esteemed guest as yourself but, the truth of the matter is that Owen's parents tried to kill him. They nearly succeeded too. Perhaps that's the reason why he decided to isolate himself and get as far from the assembly as humanly possible. With all due respect Mr. Masters, if I were to hazard a guess why he skipped out it's likely not actually you he's trying to avoid, but rather the attention you draw to yourself that largely involves the social media. He...Owen hasn't exactly had the best experience with people of that sort. Especially after being dragged out into the public eye by something as horrible as what his parents tried to do which obviously wasn't his fault. The reporters think it was an attempt to commit a family suicide because they killed themselves shortly before the police arrived at their house and found Owen barely conscious on the floor covered in blood since one of his parents, they're not sure which one stabbed him with a kitchen knife; one that came from the very same set they then used to kill themselves."
Vlad's eyes widened as he stared at Owen in total disbelief that someone so outwardly calm could have endured such hardships at his age and muttered, "That's barbaric." Even by my standards.
The director nodded and sighed heavily, crossing his arms as he looked over at Owen again. Then, as if the story couldn't have gotten any stranger, it did and only further piqued the billionaire's curiosity. "As if the experience itself wasn't traumatic enough, shortly after he was discharged from the hospital, the reporters began hounding the poor boy relentlessly; asking for more details about the supposed 'ghosts' Owen claims forced them to do it because he was screaming about when he first regained consciousness after his surgery. It eventually got so bad that Owen couldn't focus in school anymore or go anywhere without reporters popping up to degrade him for believing in such supernatural nonsense. His previous orphanage contacted me when they decided it would be better to transfer him out of state to a smaller orphanage like this one that would draw less attention. That's how he ended up here at Mistveil. Owen's been with us a little over two years now. And we've tried everything we can think of to help Owen get over his fears of being attacked at random by another 'evil spirit' and convince him that these imaginary ghosts were never to blame for that tragedy. Academically Owen has excelled thanks to his online classes but frankly no matter what we do to reassure him he still doesn't feel 'safe,' even here, and Owen keeps everyone at arms length despite showing a remarkable empathy for others when he thinks no one is looking. To be honest, we're not sure what to do with him anymore. We can't put him in a foster home because none of the people we've tried pairing him with end up keeping him long and the last several adoption attempts have fallen through at the last minute for seemingly unexplained reasons. I just can't see why though. Owen may be a quiet and reserved young man because of what happened, but he's also a very bright, well-behaved boy with a good head on his shoulders, excellent grades, and a big heart. He just has trouble connecting to others and seems to have resigned himself to the role of a social outcast for the rest of his life instead of facing the truth about what his parents tried to do to him. He can't go on living as though the dead walk the earth and are out to get him, but that's the coping mechanism Owen came up with to explain away their irrational actions."
Ghosts hmm? Interesting. I wonder if there IS any truth to his claims? Only one way to find out, Vlad smirked inwardly when that small but important detail caught his attention. Keeping his outward appearance casual and business like, Vlad asked confidently, "Mind if I have a word him? My next appointment is coming up soon but I'd at least like to make an attempt to greet him like I did with the other children so that no one can say otherwise. It'd be a shame to let him waste this rare opportunity to speak privately with the one and only Vlad Masters."
Thinking about it for a minute more about whether that was really a good idea or not, the elderly director finally nodded. "Alright, I suppose I don't see any harm in that. The reporters we let in have long since left so it should be safe for both of you to talk for a few minutes without attracting any unwanted attention. In the meantime I'd like to make sure no one else decided to play hooky along with him. I'll meet you in my office once you're done Mr. Masters. It's the third door on the left just down the hall. If you get lost just call my cell phone, or Owen can show you the way himself." Once he was sure Vlad was all set after he nodded curtly to the man, the director promptly left the main lobby and made his way down the hall in search of any other stragglers...
As Vlad mentioned earlier the other orphans who lived here were otherwise occupied at the moment. All except for this one, which is what caught his eye in the first place as soon as they entered the room, having expected the building to be empty aside from the other staff who weren't keeping an eye on the rest of them. Unlike Owen, the other teens and young children were all busy goofing off at the local arcade and probably thoroughly enjoying themselves. He reserved the whole place out specifically for today to keep the otherwise unruly youths busy so that the tour of the orphanage would go more smoothly...
Not to mention more quietly.
Once the excited youths were done boring him with their endless prattling and pointless questions and mercifully left for the arcade, Vlad was genuinely surprised to see that one of them had stayed behind. In fact, the said teen was currently sitting alone in the lobby reading a book instead of playing one of those hand-held gaming contraptions. And honestly, what sort of teenager would willingly choose reading a book over playing mindless videogames in this day and age…? It struck even Vlad as quite odd for a boy his age. Especially one that did not look like the intellectual type since he wore a very stereotypical 'punk' outfit.
Taking a closer look at Owen's overall appearance, Vlad personally found it even more surprising that no one had mistaken him for the now nearly-world-famous Danny Phantom. Much like the other half-ghost-hybrid in question Owen's hair was almost completely white except for the untidy mess of dark black hair that began just above his ears that fell to the base of his neck. His eyes were naturally blood red too -which was unusual for a human- and from a distance, Owen's eyes appeared like they were brown to at first until Vlad got a closer look at them despite his currently down-turned gaze scanning the pages before him. And it didn't escape Vlad's notice when the boy visibly tensed at his approach despite Owen's best efforts to suppress it and pretend he hadn't noticed him.
Another thing the two unusual teens shared in common was that Owen was in all likelihood only about fifteen years old. Their choice of attire was similarly...boyish too, although the latter was clearly taking at least a little better care of his wardrobe so it wasn't in tatters like Danny's jeans and sneakers. Simple though it was.
Owen was wearing a very typical teenage-appropriate outfit that consisted of little more than a pair of slightly faded dark gray jeans, a reddish-black hoodie with white lining on the inside of the hood and matching pull strings, and a set of simple black lace-less nike's. If the director hadn't told him otherwise, Vlad could have easily mistaken Owen for just another rebellious teenager instead of a somewhat level-headed young man with more than just cute girls and videogames on his mind at first glance.
However, something told him there really was more to the story and he was set on validating the ghostly encounter the boy insisted actually took place. Vlad was many things but even he could not condone attacking a helpless human boy who by all accounts had done nothing to deserve the hostility and brutality of this ghost attack if that is indeed what it was. He couldn't turn a blind eye to such a violent and dangerous ghost anyway so Vlad was more then willing to take it out, if only because might cause a problem for HIM later...
Approaching Owen casually, Vlad put on a charming smile as he greeted the boy with a light touch on the shoulder and asked, "Why hello there young man. Doing a bit of light reading?"
Owen repressed a startled jerk before he slowly turned and stared up at Vlad, looking conflicted for a moment. Then, he sighed in exasperation as if having decided exactly how to respond to Vlad's greeting. After reluctantly closing his book and turning to look at him directly, his expression turned alarmingly grim. Having decided to forgo any semblance of politeness Owen pointedly shrugged out from under his grip as if Vlad were any other clueless adult instead of the richest man alive and stood up to face Vlad with all the confidence he could muster, glaring harshly.
Once their eyes met something seemed to have truly clicked in his mind and Owen said coldly. "I knew it was only a matter of time before someone else came. You're here to finish the job, aren't you."
"Pardon?" Vlad blinked, taken aback by the unexpected and ruthless response.
"You can drop the act now. I already know what you are. But if we're really going to do this, can we at least go outside? I don't want anyone else to get hurt this time if I'm the only one you're after." Without waiting for an answer, Owen walked past him and opened the back door then walked outside, followed by a very confused Vlad.
There was no way this random teenager could possibly know that he was half ghost. After all, Vlad had only just met him! And besides which the only other person Vlad knew that could sense his ghostly presence was Danny. But he was half-ghost too! Meanwhile this boy was a hundred percent human; Of that Vlad was certain...
Crossing his arms once they were both outside, Vlad looked at Owen quizzically and calmly asked him, "Alright. I give up. What's this all about?"
Owen rolled his eyes and shot him another glare. "Cut the crap, I know a ghost when I see one! You're not fooling anyone. I don't know why you decided to overshadow Vlad Masters of all people, but taking over the body of a multi-billionaire is anything but subtle. If you think I'm going to just sit back this time and let you get away with hijacking someone else's body and forcing them to do your dirty work like last time then you're dead wrong! I'm not going to let this happen again, not here. So I'm warning you now, leave Mr. Masters out of this. This is between you and me..."
"Son, I really don't know what on earth you're talking about," Vlad tried to assure the clearly disturbed boy and play it cool. "I understand what it's like being treated like an outcast because of...undesired circumstances and wanting to be taken seriously, but this is taking it a tad too far don't you think? We both know there is no such thing as ghosts. And even if there are you'll have to do more then a slanderous accusation as that to convince me otherwise. Now, why don't we go back inside and talk about this logically and start from the beginning, hmm? It's not too late to-!"
Suddenly grabbing Vlad's wrist with surprising strength, Owen yanked it up into the air and to Vlad's shock a familiar black ring formed around his finger-tips and slowly glided down his arm. Was this boy…forcing him to transform?! Alarmed by how quickly his transformation began to spread to the rest of his body, Vlad wrenched his arm free from Owen's grip and glared angrily at him. Meanwhile Owen simply stood across from him, looking eerily calm after confirming his suspicion though there was still a hint of fear in his eyes.
"The real 'you' might not believe that ghosts exist, Mr. Masters, but the one inside you proof enough that they do. Now come out and face me you coward! This time I'll be sure to give you a damn good reason to try and kill me! Because news flash, I have nothing left to lose anymore! You took everything from me! And the worse part is I keep asking myself why any of this happened when the truth is, since when does an evil ghost need a reason to do anything? I never did anything to you! Neither did they! This is for my parents you ghost freak!" Right after that Owen raised his fist, intend on punching Vlad's lights out along with the supposed ghost controlling him that was in actuality his own ghost-half...
This is bad, I can't be seen fist-fighting with some troubled teen out in the open like this. It'll just cause a scandal that neither of us want to deal with. I had better make him stop this nonsensical behavior before the director starts to wonder what's taking so long. Looks like I have no choice but to use the innocent-billionaire-possessed-by-ghost act and prove that he's at least half correct. Right on cue and well before Owen's fist could make contact with his beautifully sculpted face, Vlad created a duplicate and sent it flying out of his body whilst he himself merely crumpled to the ground with a dull thud in a 'dead' faint.
Of course Owen wasn't expecting the ghost to actually set his host free and unable to steady himself the boy fell face first to the ground along with the real Vlad. Before he could regain his balance again Owen suddenly felt a sharp tug on the back of his hoodie and pulled up high into the air, dangling helplessly above the ground in Vlad's monstrous grip looking like a cat being held by the scruff of their neck.
Smiling wickedly as he watched the boy squirm which like his partially white hair reminded him so much of Daniel, Vlad mused, "You've impressed me, boy. I thought you looked like a clever one, but I wasn't expecting anything like this! Tell me, how DID you sense my presence? And more importantly, how did you manage to force me to reveal myself like that, hmm? You clearly have some sort of innate gift but the question is, how is that possible? You're not a ghost, and you're certainly not the ghost boy Danny Phantom, so what are you...?"
Struggling to get loose with all his might, Owen shouted angrily, "Let go of me!"
"Oh, I think not. You brought this upon yourself boy, lest we forget who tried to land the first punch," Narrowing his gaze, Vlad sighed, not really in the mood to fight, especially not some helpless human brat who had no idea who he was picking a fight with and then he admitted nonchalantly, "I hate to disappoint you, but I haven't the faintest clue who you are or your parents. Meeting you was not the purpose of my visit, although after hearing your sad story I'll admit that it got me curious. That, or you just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time my boy and would have been better off following the example of your peers and following the crowd. While I have no intention of killing you I can't have you revealing my secret to anyone either now can I? So, unfortunately that means it's time to say goodbye to your memories of this little encounter. Although I do commend your misguided little attempt to expose me. Not many humans outside of the profession of ghost hunting would dare to do so." After that Vlad planned to perform a routine possession and memory wipe, but that's not exactly what happened...
The moment Vlad dropped Owen and went intangible to possess him, the instant he was mere inches from entering his body a surge of excruciatingly painful red energy rippled throughout Vlad's body and it felt as though he'd flown face first into a solid brick wall! Thanks to the sheer force of it Vlad was blasted backwards and barely managed to turn intangible before colliding with the wall opposite of them. And after recovering from the pain and total shock of that sort of power coming from a human, Vlad's duplicate floated forward again and stared at the boy in disbelief, mirroring the reaction of his real counterpart. Forcing his transformation was one thing, but having such a strange power that was capable of hurting him? Now Vlad knew there truly was more to this teen then he could have possibly imagined.
Owen let out a painful grunt after crashing back onto the ground and looked up at Vlad Plasmius's double, his troubled gaze looking just confused. "Hold on, you didn't seriously forget that I can't be overshadowed did you? That can't be right. Then you're not one of 'them'…? You're not with the ghosts that murdered my parents?"
"As curious as I am about who you THOUGHT I was, I'm afraid we're out of time. Let's wrap this up, shall we? I am a very busy man you know," Vlad's duplicate retorted venomously, floating close enough to him to hover menacingly over Owen and the real one.
"Yes, let's." Glancing down at the real Vlad laying on the ground then back at his double, Owen took a deep breath and surprised him further by apologizing in a defeated and hollow tone. "I'm sorry for assuming you were with the same ghosts that killed my parents. You're just...really dark. Look, I don't know why you're possessing Vlad Masters but if you're not after me then fine, feel free to go back to whatever the heck you were doing. As long as you're not planning on hurting anyone, I don't care what you're up to. That's your unfinished business. I don't want anything to do with ghosts anymore. Then again, you're right, I brought this on myself. I don't know what I was thinking picking a fight with some random ghost like you instead of keeping my big mouth shut and ignoring YOUR kind like I usually do!" Clenching his fists, Owen growled, "It's always like this! Every time I think I'm over the whole I-can-see-dead-people thing and can act pretty normal even when I notice them nearby, another one with a murderous aura shows up that I can't ignore in good conscious. I...I just want you damn ghosts to leave me the hell alone! Even if it's only long enough to so that I can turn 18 or something and get away from all of this! Away from these stupid adults like Vlad Masters who doesn't have a CLUE that ghosts really DO exist and they can't protect themselves or the other kids from the dangerous ones that are attracted to me for some reason. Just like my parents, they have no idea what's really out there. But I never asked to be like this! To be able to sense you guys everywhere no matter how you disguise yourselves. And I know damn well I can't keep pretending ghosts like you are not there just to keep the psychologists happy for much longer anyway, it's driving me crazy! Seriously you might as well go ahead and kill me now because I'm done, I can't keep living like this! Always surrounded by death when I don't even know what I'm living for anymore…"
Rolling his eyes at his little speech, Vlad's duplicate crossed his arms said exasperatedly, "I already told you, I don't want-! "
"G-Ghost!" Turning around sharply they both saw the director staring at them with wide fearful eyes and then down at the real Vlad laying helplessly on the ground. "So it IS true, there are real ghosts here! Owen, I'm so sorry I didn't believe you! And y-you! G-get away from them you-you monster!"
At the same time both Vlad and Owen groaned, "Oh crap…"
