Life of a Teenage Halfa
Chapter 1: School's Out!
'BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP...'
"Argh..." I muttered as I threw out my arm in search of the clock. The annoying, rhythmic beeping sound that blared out like a fog horn was the first thing that greeted me every morning and it got old fast. The strangeness of living in Vlad's house had started to wear off around the third I'd been woken up by the world's most unbreakable alarm clock. Honestly, it really was unbreakable; I'd thrown it around, kicked it around, punched it, I'd even blasted it with ice and ectoplasm once but it never broke; I think Vlad got it for me just to be funny.
I pushed my eyes open when my hand finally found the clock, I then switched off the stupid noise and glanced at the date on its little digital screen. It was 6:30 am on a regular Tuesday morning and, as usual I was expected to get myself up and be downstairs for breakfast at 7 am where Vlad was always sitting down and fully dressed for the day long before me. At first I'd tried to get up and surprise him by being the first one up, but I'd given up very quickly because Vlad was never, ever surprised...well...hardly ever surprised, and it was absolutely impossible to be awake before him.
With a tired sigh I started to sit up and I rubbed my eyes slowly; I'd never be a morning person like Vlad but it never got old waking up to see the most amazing bedroom ever. I really loved my room. At first I hadn't noticed just how cool it was, because when you've just lost your whole family the last thing you're gonna look at is your new room, but now I could appreciate it. It made the early mornings a little better too.
Because there was only me and Vlad in the house, and there was a bathroom to each bedroom there was never a mad rush every day but I still kind of missed the chaos and noise of that morning routine. When I'd told Vlad about it once he'd just looked at me like I was crazy but he hadn't made fun.
Every time I looked around the grandure of my room or my massive bathroom I felt like a spoilt rich kid...probably because I was a spoilt rich kid now; Vlad said that if I wanted something, no matter how crazy or random it was, all I had to do was ask and I'd get it. If he was in a really good mood sometimes he'd just see me and give me a load of money for no reason, which I more often than not, now gave to charity. The first few times I admit I had just gone out and bought a load of stuff I didn't need, which Vlad said was the point but now I didn't. What did I need except one of the few things money couldn't buy? It couldn't bring back the dead so what really was the point?
I think it irritated him when I gave the money away but when I said it made me feel happy to be helping people less fortunate he only frowned and said I'd grow out of it, and then I normally laughed and the conversation would be finished.
I shoved back the thick quilts under which I'd been very cosily cocooned, and as always the room was nice and warm; I wondered if Vlad ever had the heating off in this place, but then, he did prefer warmer temperatures 'cos of his heat-based ghost powers. It probably cost him a small fortune every year just on heating bills, but he never seemed to care. Still feeling more than half asleep, I stumbled into the bathroom and switched on the shower. I phased out of my pyjamas and set out a soft white towel, and by the time I was in the shower it had already warmed up too.
Maybe living with Vlad for a while had made me spoilt and soft, but hey, at least there was someone left who took care of me. Very good care, actually...although we did have one small problem and we kept clashing on it all the time lately; how he dealt with his business deals. I wanted him to be honest and legal, but everything he did was so totally not legal or moral, it was lucky he hadn't been arrested already. And I didn't want Vlad to go to jail. Not that he wouldn't be able to take care of himself in prison, but he was all I had now; what the heck would I do if he was gone? I needed Vlad.
But whenever I brought the subject up he just rolled his eyes and told me not to worry about it; after all, he'd made his first millions by over-shadowing stuck up, rich idiots to give him their companies, he'd say, and I wasn't very approving on that either, but what could I do?
Take this one example I'd been trying to make him rethink lately; he wanted to get the majority shares of BMW, just one day deciding that he wanted it. Now, instead of trying to buy the people out, Vlad told me he was gonna just over shadow them! It only didn't happen because I begged him not to. I think he was gonna go for it soon whether I carried on begging him to or not; when Vlad wanted something Vlad was going to have it, come hell or high water.
I guess it was like normal people having a sudden urge to buy a pair of new shoes or something; rich people like Vlad went out and got companies instead. Didn't he have enough already? Apparently, he wanted this company because he was bored and taking over someone else's was fun. Fun! When things like this happened it got me worried. Don't get me wrong, I really did care about Vlad like a really close uncle...maybe, even a second father...but he had some issues he really needed to work on. He was way too greedy, he had anger issues - he could still really scare me sometimes when he was in a bad mood, and he thought everyone else was worth far less than he was.
...But I guess 20 years alone would account for all his faults, so I tried not to give the guy a hard time about it, really I did. He could have his damn mood swings, and I didn't mind being scared out of my wits sometimes..it was the illegal stuff I wanted him to stop.
With a sigh I finished in the shower and I got dressed in my, now, usual black jeans, a white undershirt and a black button down shirt with I left undone, and of course, not forgetting my black converse. I then floated down through the floor and into the sitting room where I saw Vlad sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
"Good morning, Daniel," he said cheerily before I'd even set foot on the ground.
"Yeah, yeah," I yawned and waved a hand slightly. How he could be so alert and cheery this early every morning was still a mystery to me; maybe it was a weird ghost power that I didn't have yet. I could really do with a power like that.
"How many times have I told you..."
"Yeah, I know. I know, manners this, manners that, blah blah blah," I rolled my eyes at his flash of annoyance as I walked into the kitchen. "Lighten up, V-man, it's only seven in the morning," I called from the kitchen as I poured myself some cereal; the easiest breakfast known to mankind or ghost-kind.
"And another thing, about that ridiculous nickname..." he started after a minute suddenly sounding irritated rather than chipper. This I what I meant about mood swings.
"Jeez, you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or something?" I asked him with a frown. He was usually more up for witty banter than this even when I felt like I was asleep on my feet. "Seriously, Vlad," I said when I came back into the sitting room, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he answered after I'd sat to his right at the table.
"Is it about this company thing?" I braced myself for an explosion. I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to ask him about this first thing in a morning, but I bet it was what got him so worked up. See, I think he'd got himself into this into this mind set where he wasn't having fun unless he was breaking any laws, like stealing someone's multimillion dollar company from them, and if he wasn't having fun then he'd go stir crazy like anyone else. "You're not...planning anything...are you?" I asked slowly.
"Daniel, I've told you; you don't need to worry yourself about..."
"I can't help it, I don't want you to do something stupid and get caught!" I said quickly before he'd finished speaking.
"That would be impossible."
"Maybe, but please just don't to anything," I pleaded, not for the first time, praying he'd listen, "It's not like you need any more money so you could buy it if you really wanted, but I..."
"It's not about the money," Vlad rolled his eyes, "It's about entertainment."
"...Then find something else," I said, "I know you'll just get mad at me or whatever, but I don't care, it's not right."
"It's owned by idiots who've never done a day's work in their lives," Vlad said bitterly.
"Well, maybe..." I stopped in confusion, "But...it's still not right...just...please promise me you won't do anything...illegal..."
Vlad sighed and set down his paper on the shiny surface of the dark, wooden table, "Very well," he said without looking at me, and I knew I'd just made him very, very angry. I didn't like angry Vlad, I liked nice Vlad and fun Vlad much better.
"Thanks," I sighed in relief and started to eat my now, soggy cereal in silence. I'd been worrying about Vlad and his illegal tendencies for weeks now and I swear I was gonna go grey in human form, never mind having pure white half half the time. I could relax now because Vlad may have fun breaking the law, but at least when he promised something he kept his word.
"Sometimes I wonder just who is the authority figure in this house," I heard him say, and I relaxed even more. If he was being sarcastic then I wasn't in for a fight from angry Vlad any time soon.
"I don't," I replied, "Just so you know, it's me."
"Oh really?"
"Really," I nodded. There was a time when I wouldn't trust Vlad's word so far as I could throw it, but now I trusted him more than I trusted anyone else or anything else in my whole life and he so knew that.
"I'm so glad to hear that," Vlad said, "Perhaps you wouldn't mind going to do my work for me then."
"Erm...I don't think so...unless you want your companies to go bust," I shook my head. But I did have to admit that since I'd started living with Vlad he wouldn't accept anything but the best from my grades, and since he knew about my ghost powers I didn't really have an excuse to do badly. It turned out that I was pretty smart when I had time to study, and much to my own surprise, and Vlad's delight, I was actually beginning to understand business. It didn't mean that I could take charge of several multimillion dollar companies and run a town without failing epically at both yet. Vlad was pretty good at multitasking...especially when he used duplicates.
"I can't say as I do," he frowned.
"Then I'll just stick with school, Mr. authority figure, sir," I said quickly when I swallowed my food.
"Good," Vlad nodded and checked his good watch. He usually left around half an hour before me and then someone from his company would drive around to the manor to take me to school. I'd said it wasn't necessary, since I could just fly there, but Vlad had insisted. If I flew it wouldn't take half as long as it would to drive because my school was in the next town, but Vlad really hadn't listened. The lady who drove me didn't seem to mind either, in fact she said Vlad paid her a lot of extra money just to drive me to and from school every day.
Her name was Lisa and she was a single mom of three who'd been abandoned by her husband four years ago, and she'd come to work for Vlad. Now, because Vlad only settled for the best I knew she had to be super smart and I hadn't been wrong; she had a business degree and apparently she was one of the best secretaries on Vlad's payroll. So why he let her waste time driving me around was a mystery I couldn't answer.
"So what're you doing at work today?" I asked after a minute.
"Why, still concerned?"
"No," I exclaimed quickly but he just chuckled at my indignant expression.
"Relax, Daniel, honestly," he shook his head, "It's not at all illegal in any way; I have a meeting in city hall first thing, and then I have to go into town to oversee a shipment due in for Axion Labs, and there's a new proposal for the equipment as well...See what I mean about entertainment?" he added shrewdly.
"Yeah..." I sighed, "Wait, no, that wasn't what I meant!" I corrected myself but he only smiled again. I was gonna seriously get whiplash from his mood swings one of these days.
"Someone actually tried to buy the company from me," Vlad told me and I blinked. If they'd tried that then they really didn't know Vlad at all; once he had something he'd never get rid of it for anything in the world. It was a domination game type thing...or that's what Jazz would say it was. Vlad always had to be the best, and he wouldn't settle for anything less.
"What'd you do? Scare 'em off?" I guessed.
"In a way," he shrugged, "Just not as a ghost, as I'm sure you expected; it's very easy to scare people without being a ghost."
"Maybe for you. Why would they want it anyway? Doesn't it just deal with ghost stuff?"
"It's a very profitable business, or it is now that I own it, and it doesn't just deal with obscure science any longer, you know that,"
"I guess, but that that's what people know it as," I said.
"That's the point, Daniel, remember, they won't look at it twice if they think its a waste of time. The people in the business world, however know better; it's a mere store front for the public," Vlad said.
He had once said that when I got very, very good at business he'd let me look over his companies and actually see what they do, rather than just tell me what he thought was relevant, and I was actually looking forward to it. When he wasn't doing illegal things he was a good businessman, everyone in my business class knew it, even my teacher. That was why I didn't understand why he had to use underhanded tactics when he was perfectly capable of running highly successful businesses without them.
I knew he had three major companies; Vladco which focused mainly on making anti-ectoplasm weapons, DALV Industries which was a lot more general and dealt with things from 'obscure science stuff' to normal things like cars and aeroplanes and my favourite, the space shuttle project. And then of course there was Axion Labs which was mainly more science stuff...now he wanted the shares in BMW as well. Why the heck did he want that anyway? Hopefully it was just a phase he was going through, like that really bad mood he'd been in for a week after we survived the fight in the Observants Lair; that had been one seriously bad mood.
I don't even know how he managed to survive, there wasn't a single mark left on the guy; you'd never know he'd been burned and scorched within an inch of his life worse than a piece of charcoal at an Australian barbecue night. Now, though, we never really talked about it which was probably a good thing; I don't think he'd been that badly beat up in a long, long, long time and I had really shook me up seeing him so weak even if it had only been for a while. I thought I healed fast, but healed so quickly it was like blink and you miss it!
When it was time for Vlad to leave he only gave me a small smile and then he was gone, much like his wounds, but he wasn't the type to hug and leave for work or whatever like my dad had done when he went out. It was all about reading little differences in Vlad's expression that'd I'd had to learn very quickly.
I spent the next half hour just slouching in front of the TV watching cartoons before my ride got here. The school actually gave out a lot of homework which I'd actually finished, since in this place I was determined to do well, and since Vlad's only real rule was that I had to, it was kind of important.
While I was in school my only real friends consisted of the same group of people; Cat, Jeanelle, Emma, Dag and Jon, because at least they didn't act like they had to walk on egg shells around me. I'd soon found out that in school I was one of, if not the richest kid there, and believe me, there was a lot of rich kids there, even though everyone acted like they all liked me I could hear the less than flattering things they said about me behind my back. So I didn't go to parties, I didn't really spend time with other people, and I could get away with things like that because they thought I was just another eccentric rich kid...and because of course my 'father' was Vlad Masters, and you did not mess with Vlad Masters. Or so I'd heard kids saying at school.
The funny thing was, I was still Danny Fenton, but to them Vlad was my 'dad'. I didn't want to change my name really, it was like a tribute to my family who I hadn't been able to save and to change it would be an insult. I think Vlad understood that in a way, but I also think it disappointed him a little; he never said that of course but he didn't have to...I wondered if I could be Danny Fenton-Masters or something.
I was so deep in thought that when there was a knock at the door I jumped up from my chair into a battle stance ready to attack, and then I laughed nervously when I realised it was only the door. I grabbed my bag and my phone, and ran to the foyer to open the door.
"Hey," I smiled at Lisa who was always, always in a good mood come rain or shine, early or late, it really didn't make any difference to her. I shoved my keys in my pocket after locking the door.
"You're happy today," she replied; she knew I hated early mornings.
"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged as we got into the car. The car, by the way, was the most expensive, and most amazing BMW I'd ever seen and it was the envy of the school parking lot. I'd come to the conclusion that Vlad had a thing for BMW's; he already had about five of them in the garage, plus this one which apparently he'd only bought for Lisa to drive me to school in, the rest of the time it was sat idle. As soon as I got my licence I was planning on changing that little fact.
Also, how crazy did you have to be, to buy a really expensive car just for someone to drive a kid to school in? It didn't make sense to me, but Vlad liked buying random things just to waste money; he said it was a way of passing the time.
"What's Vlad like as a boss?" I asked suddenly and I saw her surprised expression in the rear-view mirror.
"Why?" she asked me.
"Just curious," I shrugged.
"Well, erm..." Lisa started tentatively, "He's...erm, smart."
"That's it?" I scoffed, "I mean...does he listen to employees...or...do people just do what he says...or...does he make mistakes or..."
"No."
"No?" I repeated.
"No, he doesn't make mistakes; he's a very good man to work for because he knows what he's talking about when it comes to business," Lisa told me, "I mean...granted, he's not exactly the most understanding man in the world but I don't think I'll ever be out of a job because the company falls through."
"Oh," I nodded.
"And of course, no one gives him grief," she added with a smile.
"Yeah, I'd like to see 'em try," I laughed.
"Exactly, that's why his companies do so well. You can't afford to be nice if you're the boss; it's sad but it's true. Some people find that out the hard way though," she said and I was confused by the sudden harshness in her voice but I didn't question it.
There was silence in the car fora while then after a while she stared telling me about her youngest daughter and how proud she was of her. It was nice to hear some normal stories for once but it made me a bit sad because my mom could never tell me she was proud of me or of anyone else ever again; I hid my feelings very well, at least I think I did and time just seemed to fly when you were trying not to think about the dead.
Out of the car window I could see that we were almost at the school, and within a few minutes I thanked Lisa and I walked quickly across into the reception. I pushed thoughts of my family and my friends from my mind when I found complete and utter chaos and confusion all crammed into the reception area of Gravesend High. All of the students were standing around and everyone was talking at the same time, and because of my sensitive hearing it sounded ten times louder than it actually was.
"Danny!" I heard a family voice call out and I turned around looking for the person speaking. I quickly found Dag Ellefsen, self confessed adrenaline junkie with Jon Berentsen.
"What's going on?" I asked them when they walked over to me.
"I heard someone tried to burn down the school!" Dag said with a grin.
"No, it was a flood, you moron, someone left all the taps running before people started arriving!" Jon corrected him.
"Maybe it was ghosts, let's not forget what Amity Park is like, and it's only a town away, maybe they got bored there and they decided to come here as well!" Dag suggested. "...And why would ghosts leave the taps running anyway?" he said after a minute and I snorted.
"Why don't we just find out, hmm?" I rolled my eyes and then I looked around for one of the teachers or at least someone who'd know something. Then, of course, and idea hit me and I almost banged my head against a wall for not thinking of it in the first place. I made an invisible duplicate and sent it through into the building where it soared the corridors in search of the problem.
The difficulty was that because the duplicate was getting further and further away from me I had to concentrate on it more and so I started to lose focus of what was going on around me and I bumped right into someone. "Whoops, sorry..." I started but I relaxed when I saw that it was only Cat, she wouldn't freak out and trip all over herself trying to say that it wasn't my fault.
"Hey, D," she grinned, "Always a pleasure."
"Yeah, funny," I nodded, "You know what's going on?"
"Nope, but I've heard some good stories," she said as I felt my duplicate retun.
"Me too," I said as I shivered for a second as the memories from the duplicate became my own. It turned out it really was a flood, but I don't think it had anything to do with ghosts.
"People are saying the schools gonna close, and I worked really hard on my math project too," she sighed dramatically.
"Whatever will you do?" Jon asked her with a smile.
"Alas," she cried, starling some of the people around us, Dag and Jon only laughed at her, and I rolled my eyes. "I'm forever cursed with bad luck!"
"Where's Em, anyway?" Dag asked. It was no secret he had a thing for her.
"I dunno," Cat frowned them suddenly stood up on her tip toes and screamed at the top of her lungs, "EMMA FAIRBROOK, COME ON DOWN!"
"Cat!" I growled and covered my ears, "Knock it off, will ya?!"
"Ah, man up, D," she grinned and pushed my shoulder away.
It was a wonder she was allowed in the school but when I found out her dad was a very rich man who worked in the car industry it really was no surprise. This school had a pretty much relaxed atmosphere for rich kids but it got results and when it mattered, like when it threw parties, we were all expected to attend and put on a good front...apparently. But I hadn't been here long enough to have to go to one yet though. It also had a strict discipline system so I didn't envy the people he'd fooled around.
"Could you make any more noise, Cat?" Emma asked sarcastically as he joined us.
"Want me to try?" Cat asked suddenly, and we all cried, 'No!' at the same time.
"Alright, settle down," we heard an authoritative and confident voice call out, "Listen up," the Principal said. "I'm afraid classes are canceled for today and possibly for the rest of the week."
When he said that of course it sent a flurry of suggestions and of happy faces throughout the room, "Quiet!" he continued, "I apologise for the abruptness but it seems that someone thought it would be a hilarious practical joke to flood the ground floor."
"Ha, told you!" Jon muttered.
"As such, we will find out who is responsible and if anyone does know who did it, you are expected to come forward," said the Principal and I scoffed. If anyone did actually know they were hardly going to tell, were they? "The library across the courtyard is still open for your use, so if you would like to stay, please do so," he finished and people started talking again.
"Whoever did it's a genius!" Jon laughed.
"Whoever did it, is in for it," I corrected. This wasn't a normal school so a few days suspension wasn't going to cut it, this would be one hell of a punishment, I was sure of it.
"Anyway, let's get outta here," Cat suggested, "Wanna get an early lunch?"
"Sure," we agreed and left the reception. I slung my bag across my shoulder again as we ran quickly across the entrance and out onto the street where I heard a lot of people following us.
We made directly for the café that the students used, it was called 'The Pod' and was like a more upscale version of the Nasty Burger and fortunately this was nothing like it so I didn't have to deal with any sort of bad memories...well not many. This was more of a five star restaurant for kids and it wasn't long before the place was overrun by students.
"So much for the library," Emma smirked as we stared at our menus. That was another thing this place had that the Nasty Burger hadn't; here you didn't have to get up to order, people came to you and brought it for you.
"I'm having a burger, I don't know about you guys," Cat announced without even looking.
"Why don't you try something different," Emma suggested to her with a frown.
"Nope, why change the habit of a lifetime," Cat shook her head and Emma sighed. This place was a little upscale for just eating burgers but if she wanted a burger then let her have a burger.
"At least we don't have to sit through math today," Jon said with relief.
"Hey, I worked damn hard on finishing that work, and I..." Cat scowled with indignation.
"Yeah, yeah, we know; doesn't mean it wouldn't be any less boring," Dag told her.
"Point," I said and pointed to him with my index finger.
"Thank you," he nodded.
"You probably didn't even start the work!" Cat shot back.
"One all," I said and Dag frowned.
"Because you finish your homework all the time," Dag smirked.
"Good one," I smiled.
"I have to now! My parents'll kill me if I flunk math, they want me working in business not testing my adrenaline levels."
"You working in business with that hair! Yeah right!" he laughed.
"Ouch," Emma said covering her mouth with her hand.
"What?" Dag said confused.
"Never insult a girl's hair," Emma told him sagely.
"You're dead," I told him trying to keep a straight face.
"Rest in peace," Jon said sadly and held his hands in prayer with his eyes momentarily closed.
"Hey! You're not gonna help me in this one, D?" Dag asked me and shook his head.
"Nope, Vlad says I should pick my battles, dude," I said and Jon nodded in agreement.
"Too true," Jon said and we laughed while he sat there with a frown, before he too started to snort and laugh after a few seconds.
"I wouldn't like to be whoever flooded the place when they get found out," I said, "That school's different than normal ones."
"Yeah, they'll be done for," Dag said without emotion, "Now what's everyone having?" he asked with far more interest and I rolled my eyes.
Someone came over to take our order within minutes and the food arrived quickly too; no slow service here, no eating with your hands either...unless you were Cat, of course. I had a baked potato with a salad; since moving in with Vlad I'd not had much of a chance to eat junk food because he hated the stuff so it was never really eaten in the manor except as maybe a one off once a month or something. And I'd actually found that a salad here and there wasn't a bad thing, I liked the healthy food Vlad gave me but it had taken a bit of getting used to at first, don't get me wrong.
After about an hour and a half when we'd finished eating and we got bored of just sitting in the café, we walked aimlessly through the town and through the shops. We went into one and Jon found a huge pink feather boa and he draped it over Cat's blue hair; she hadn't been impressed. In another shop we tried on a load of clothes and we dared Dag to try on a dress; he refused.
We then went to the park where we found a spot on the grass and dropped our bags before we collapsed beside them.
"I think this is the best idea we've had all morning, guys," Jon said happily.
"You said it," I agreed and stared up at the sky.
"...I see...a bat," Cat said pointing up into the clouds.
"You would say that," Emma grinned and looked up.
"Well, what'd you see then?" Cat asked her.
"...A bat..." she conceded after a second.
"Yeah, me too," I agreed.
"Me three," Dag said.
"Not me," Jon shook his head, "I see a cloud; you guys are all nuts."
"Ha hah, real funny," Dag lightly punched Jon on the arm.
'RING-RING-RING-RING...'
"Whoa!" I jumped a second later when my phone rang from my pocket.
"Man...don't do that..." Jon held his hand against his heart and sighed deeply.
"It wasn't my fault!" I growled before I looked at the screen. It was Vlad.
"Daniel," I heard Vlad say instantly.
"Hey, Vlad," I said and my friends went completely silent, not wanting to irritate Vlad at all.
"Why have a I got a voicemail message telling me that the school is closed?" he asked me and I stood and walked away from the noise across to a huge tree where I leaned against it.
"Erm...because your phone works?" I grinned, "...Because someone flooded the ground floor and we're not allowed in," I told him honestly after a second.
"...And what are you doing now?"
"Just...hanging around in the park, why?"
"Should I send Lisa to fetch you?"
"No, I can get back myself, remember? And it's only half 11," I said, "I'm fine."
"You could meet me at Axion Labs in half an hour if you wanted; my meeting here is thankfully finished."
"I really don't want to hang around a bunch of boring science stuff, Vlad," I said.
"It's concerning ghost equipment; it's hardly mainstream science, Daniel, you might find it interesting," he said and I could practically hear him raise his eyebrow at me. "And it might be good for you to start showing your face around my companies."
"I thought you didn't want me to yet," I frowned.
"Well I doubt you're doing anything productive, are you?"
"No, but that's not the point..." I said, still confused, "You're not supposed to do anything in a park...it just passes the time."
"If you don't want to..."
"No...I do, I guess, but I thought you said..."
"Are you coming or not?" he asked simply in a very Vlad-like way.
"Yes," I answered instantly and I heard him chuckle.
"Good," Vlad said before hanging up.
"Bye, Vlad," I said to myself sarcastically and out my phone back in my pocket as I walked back over to my friends.
"What was that about?" Dag asked me curiously. They, like everyone else were scared witless of Vlad and they never understood why I could speak to him like a normal person.
"Vlad wants me to meet him at one of his companies later, he says it'll be 'interesting' ," I said as I picked up my bag. "So I better get going," I added. As far as they knew I didn't have ghost powers and it'd take me a while to make it back to Amity Park when in reality it'd take me about ten minutes. "See you round," I waved and they waved back.
"Have fun," Cat said and I laughed before I made my way out of the park. I started to search for an alley way or a public toilets or something to hide behind while I went ghost and fortunately I found a dirty, isolated, cluttered alleyway away from the town centre.
I went invisible but before I started back for Amity, I went to the school just to see what was going on and I found the teachers going over the surveillance footage with beady eyes. Someone really was in for the punishment of a lifetime, and I bet they'd be forced to pay the cost of damages too, or at least their parents would. With a quiet chuckle, I left the building and headed for the main road. Since I wasn't too sure of what the route looked like from the air yet I didn't want to risk getting lost but because I was driven along this road every day I'd be alright. But this was another reason why Vlad needed to teach me teleportation, aside from the main one which was of course, that it was just cool. It'd save me time and effort but he just wouldn't show me yet; he said I wasn't powerful enough. Bummer. I was plenty powerful...maybe not as good as he was, but still.
As I flew about around the traffic I kept up the national speed limit with ease and after almost 10 minutes I could see that I was just about to enter Amity Park. I took out my phone and I called Vlad's cell.
"Hey, I'm almost there," I said when he answered the phone, and I stopped paying attention to where I was going. "Oh boy..." I breathed quickly and I shot right up at a 90 degree angle to avoid hitting a huge white truck.
"Daniel, what's wrong?" Vlad asked quickly and I didn't answer until I was flying straight again.
"Erm...heh heh...I almost flew into a truck," I said.
"The problem being?"
"I'm invisible, not intangible, Vlad," I told him and I sighed, "I can't be both for more than about a minute, y'know?"
"Right," he sighed, "Well you'll probably be there before me - something came up, wait for me in my office, someone will take you there if you tell them who you are."
"Roger that," I smiled as I swerved to the side of an RV and then around a smaller convertible in which sat a man and a woman.
"Did you hear something?" the woman in the convertible asked but the man shook his head and I laughed before I flew even faster and into the suburbs of good old Amity Park, in the direction of Axion Labs.