Author's note: Okay, so hi, I'm the author. I'll be updating this fanfic about once a month because it's really hard for to write chapters in small time frames. I'm sorry if that seems like a really long time for each chapter but that's what works for me. Another thing i'd like to apologize for is this chapter, as I was writing it, it got a bit messy and didn't turn out as well as I wanted to but I think it's okay for now. There'll be more down below and there is swearing in this one so there's the warning
Disclaimer that I forgot last chapter: I don't own anything but plot. That's it.
A light breeze passed through the woods, playing with Vlad's hair as he stood there in mild shock. This idea that he had been given a second chance at rebooting his life, albeit still at his older age, was now truly setting in. What was he suppose to do, call up his former best friends, pretend that nothing had happened in the first place? Now that sounded absurd. The phone the Clockwork gave him didn't seem top of the line but it look the worst either. Vlad tried to turn on the phone from aimlessly pressing the buttons on the unfamiliar phone but it didn't want to turn on at all, leaving the number on the paper left to him completely useless. So instead, Vlad keeps the items in his hands as he didn't have pockets in his ghost 'uniform' of sorts though he couldn't help feel that something was off about him. He began to walk toward his home as he thought that would be a good place to start his new life considering he couldn't do anything else.
'If there is one thing I should do at least, that would be to clean this place up. Ugh, this is utterly filthy!' He thought, looking at the damage time has given to his home once again. Taking a few steps onto the porch, the first thing he notices is a small pile of letters mixed with dead leaves. Why on earth these aren't in a mailbox back in the small town, he doesn't know but being the curious scientist that he is, picks one up to read. The letter is listed with the address to the home but the return address, now that was the weird part. It was from Amity park, from where Danny and his family lived.
"Why? Why would they send me letters?" Vlad questioned into the air. He contemplates opening one up but decides to wait until he corrects the damage so there was somewhere more comfortable to read them. He sifts through leaves, picking up the white letters scattered with them and goes to walk through the door ….
WHOMP
"WHAT THE HELL!"
Vlad, forgetting the effect of the field that Clockwork, hadn't realized he had turned back into a human and ended up crashing into the door. The years had not been kind to the mansion and the door had become rotten as a result.
"Butter biscuits…" Vlad complained, leaving himself on the wood, slightly trying to get the idea that he was in his human form again into his head. How he didn't see it in the first place, he doesn't know but what he did know was that being human again was strange to say the least. Having been floating around in space for so long in his ghost form, it felt disconnected, almost like having a part of you go so numb it felt like it was missing entirely. The only odd part was just how was he able to walk around if he felt like that.
"Stupid Clockwork and his weird powers." he coughed out, still laying on the door trying to let the shock go away, which he thinks is what triggered the odd sensation in the first place. A few minutes pass before Vlad began to work his way to his feet, making sure to be careful so he could avoid falling a second time. It was a slow process due to awkward sensation of not being able to feel his limbs correctly but he was able to get to his feet. Vlad kept that position until he could feel part of his limbs again, taking in the status of the interior. There was dust everywhere, cobwebs had formed in a variety of locations and the wood, oh the beautiful wood that would gleam like there was no tomorrow; it looked old and thin, like if anyone would take a step, the floorboards would collapse from the weight.
"My god, what happened to you?" Vlad exclaimed into the musty air, with a tinge of sadness mixed in. Taking small steps, wary of the state of the floor; Vlad headed to the kitchen area where the light was better especially comparing it to the rest of the house. Thankfully, Vlad was able to make it with no damage other than the immense creaking of the floorboards.
"Oh dear. This is just absurd, how on earth is there more dust in here than in the main entrance," he complained, his steps more solid than before. Vlad sets down his small collection of items on the dusty island countertop before he started to search for a cloth or rag to clean up the area before he settled down.
A couple minutes later
"How. Who on earth went through my things and took everything. Why would they do that in the first place," Vlad said to himself, hand running through his hair in frustration
From his search for a cleaning item, he had learned that someone had decided to take all of his pans, his plates, his cutlery; absolutely nothing was left in his kitchen.
Vlad let out a sigh, "Looks like I have no choice."
He took off his jacket and dragged it across the island, using it as a makeshift duster. He cringed inward from the disgusting use of his expensive clothes but continued to clean the counter.
"Better to have a clean place to sit rather than inhale all this dust and risk getting a god-awful lung disease," he complained into the air. Now satisfied that the countertop was looking much, much cleaner, he could finally read those letters left in front of his door. Weirdly enough, they had the date they were sent on the outside so Vlad was able to put the small pile of letters in order. The first one was dated almost a year after he had begun to wander space so it seemed right to start there.
"Dear Vlad,
You are the most stubborn as well as stupid person I've ever met beside my husband. I'm writing this to you more as a therapeutic process rather than anything else since you disappeared and I highly doubt that you will ever read this. Now, our years in college were some of the greatest but that all changed with the accident. I'm sorry that you had to go through that so alone, but why didn't you come to us for help Vlad, we were your best friends. While Jack may have been excited over what happened to you as he is with everything ghost related, we would have been there for you. Please know that while I can't love you as you want me too, I will always love as my best friend.
Love,
Maddie."
The letter may have been short but it was enough for Vlad. A few tears had been drawn from the fact that despite the horrible things he'd done to Maddie and her family, she was still willing to forgive him. Wiping away the few shed tears, he continued with the rest of the letters, noticing that they were all similar to some effect. Each talked about how Maddie and Jack would've helped Vlad with his issue back in the day, as well as mentioning the adventures they'd taken in their youth. A few brought some laughs out of Vlad as he recalled the mishaps and with reaching the last letter, he noticed something different. From the handwriting to the actual envelope, it was clear that it was from someone different.
"I have no idea why I'm writing this to you but Mom said I need some form of closure with you after the shit you put us through. To be honest, I'm half certain that you died out in space, becoming an actual ghost like the jackass that you are. Just know that my mom can forgive you but I won't, you will always be the crazed old fruit loop that dragged my family through such shit just because you couldn't get your way and were too damn lonely. I'm glad you're gone and for the sake of everyone, if you even have a selfless bone in your body, stay gone.
Danny"
Vlad sets down the letter, letting the bitterness that he could feel resonating from the paper. 'Did he really hate me that much? I know I did some terrible things but had I really brought him that much pain?' he thought, gripping the table.
"I'm sorry Danny. I'm sorry for the things that I did…. I really was just a lonely old fruit loop."
While Danny may never hear that apology, just saying it outloud helped Vlad settle that shame that he felt. Making sure that everything on the countertop were somewhat organized, it was then that Vlad took the first step into his new life, wanting to fix the damage that he caused and hopefully, never letting those he cared for remember what he did.
A/N CONT. So, this is a slow burner, like this chapter is a prime example of that. It'll give me more room to work with plus allow me to keep the timeline in check. As for the romance part that someone asked about, it won't happen until later in the story as I want to focus more on the development that Vlad is going through. Now I tend to lean more for a Vlad/Danny kind of fic, I may play around with Vlad/Clockwork, it has me quite intrigued. Don't worry, I doubt there'll be any x-rated scene bc I am literal shit at that. Thank you for reading this so review if you can, I like the feedback so I know if I'm doing something wrong or not. See you next month!
