Aaaaaand I'm back! Also, italics are flashbacks. :)
"Do it, Vlad. I'm begging you!" Danny fell to his knees, tears threatening to spill.
Vlad sighed internally, and groaned. He was tired of Daniel doing this to him, tearing his emotions apart. He couldn't do it, no matter how much pain the boy was in.
"I'm so sorry Daniel," Vlad said gently. "I just can't do that. Your loss is yours to bear. I wanted to erase my memories of my losses, but what then? If you fall, who will catch you?"
Danny seemed to think, and a tear escaped an eye. He then looked up at Vlad hopefully. "You will." It was not a question. It was a statement that held no room for lies. It was simply the truth, and Vlad could not deny it.
•~•~•~•
I took the man by his hand, and he led me back to the hospital. I didn't want to go, but with the hope of answers, I couldn't just keep running.
I held myself back from asking my questions, and bit my tongue, afraid that if I pestered him too much that he might not answer any questions at all.
We left the small alleyway, and onto the sidewalk. The people there previously had left, probably to their homes.
Home, I thought. I would like a home. Somewhere to stay, to share with a friend when they need it. To live with a loved one. Home seemed to be a wonderful thing, one which I did not have but so desperately wanted.
We then passed the place where I knocked over the trash cans. There was no garbage to be found, though. Someone must have picked it up. Taken care of my mess. I wondered if that was what the man in front of me was doing now. Cleaning up the mess I was.
We then reached the hospital, and I could not keep the dread from showing on my face. I did not want to go back. Didn't want to go back to four white walls and beeping machines.
I tugged on the man's hand.
"Can't we go someplace else?" My voice wavering, and I didn't even try to hide my uneasiness.
He saw this, and made a concerned frown at me. After a moment, he sighed and spoke, "Would you rather go to my place?"
It was my turn to frown. His place? I barely knew the guy.
The man must had seen my distress and quickly amended, "I have a spare guest room. And before this," he waved a hand in my direction. "We... Knew each other. Quite well, actually."
I pondered on the options. Go back to the hospital or back to a place of a man I apparently knew? It took less than a second to think about it. I thought the answer was obvious.
"I think I'll just stay at the hospital," I said, a bit defeated that I had to stay here. I wasn't about to take my chances with some guy who was obviously trying to help me, and though the idea of sleeping in a place other than the hospital suited me, disturbing images of what could happen if I went with him scared me. At least here there were people to witness.
Vlad nodded, and looked like he already knew I would say that. "Alright, then. Hospital it is."
Nodding to the security, going up the elevator, and walking to my previous room, the man practically dragged me to my bed.
"Who am I," started the questions as I sat back on my bed. The white walls were unnerving, and a chill crept down my spine as I looked on to the machines. A nurse had come and asked if I needed to be strapped down like some kind of mental freak, but the man said no. She wanted to connect the wires back on to my body as well, but it was a good thing he told her that I was fine as I was. I silently thanked him.
The man walked to the window from which I escaped and closed it, locking it in place. The cold breeze that had been blowing through before had abruptly stopped. Though, through the panes, I could still see the glimpse of snow.
With the door locked by the man and the window as well, there was no where to run. In the back of my head I wondered if I had made the right decision.
The man didn't say anything, and only drew out the silence. After a few awkward moments, he took a deep, loud breath. "The questions will wait. You look like you need rest."
Rest? I just slept. How long was I out, anyways? I planned to ask him the first chance I got.
The man turned around and began to head out, but I quickly said, "If you won't answer all of my questions now, will you at least tell me your name? My name?"
The words seemed to stop him in his tracks. He turned to look at me. A frown creased his forehead, and the despair written all over his face was clear.
"You... You used to call me 'Vlad,'" he said quietly. "And your name is Daniel. That's... All you need to know for now."
'Vlad' promptly left, took out the room key, shoved it into the keyhole and threw the door open, almost angrily. He spared me a concerned glance, shut the door, and locked it.
•~•~•~•
"Why are you doing this to me, Daniel?" Vlad muttered under his breath. He was creating the very thing that would make Daniel's loss and pain go away.
Would it work? Or would it backfire? Vlad thought as he mixed in the right chemicals. He was practically giving Daniel amnesia, and only on certain memories.
Vlad was into how the brain worked before the lab accident, when Plasmius was created. Into all matters of the brain, though to create this very mixture, he would be lying if he told you there wasn't any... Ghost powers involved. He could do this, right? For Daniel's sake.
It was the worst day of his life, when news came to Vlad of the deaths. Apparently, Daniel's friends and family had died in a burger joint, called the Nasty Burger, official hangout to teens everywhere. Until that fateful day.
Daniel had come a mess, eyes that had cried for hours, and the look of horror that was wrong to see on such a young face. He was mentally and physically tired, but Vlad was there for him. They had mourned the deaths together, though while Danny had honored all that died, Vlad only wept for his mother, and just a little for Jasmine, Daniel's sister. It was such a shame for her death, being accepted by so many colleges with so much potential.
Of course, Vlad was selfish and wanted Daniel to be the one there for him- so they could be there for each other. Vlad had secretly hoped they would bond enough for him to call Daniel, 'son' and have him be okay with it. To teach him all he knew of the powers of being a ghost.
But the young adolescent didn't want such a future. He wanted to forget. Wanted to forget he lost his family. His friends. He wanted Vlad to tell him he never knew his family, once he no longer remembered. He didn't want such pain, and Vlad understood. He wished he could forget sometimes, too, but that was for the weak who could not handle the loss. Vlad needed to be strong for Daniel. But could he handle all of the weight from his decisions, the choice of whether or not give Daniel such a cure of his past? Could he bear the burden being the only one to mourn his mother and sister, with the sad twang of sadness when he thought of how Daniel was before?
Vlad could not take it any longer. He pushed away all thoughts, all feelings and just went off of one thing.
"For Daniel."
The next morning brought lovely sunshine and cool weather. Although the ground was covered in snow from the night before, the snow flurries had stopped this morning. The sun was taking its time to melt the ice, water slowly dropping into drains.
At 8:00 AM exactly, the nurse had come by to give me my breakfast, your practical hospital food. Some peaches, a bagel and milk was sufficient enough for me, though I would have expected a little more for people trying to recover. I wasn't even hungry, just anxious for the man to come back. Vlad, was it? Must be short for Vladimir. I wondered if he was Russian.
Anyways, what kind of name was Daniel? I didn't want to be called that, of all things. At least Danny, and when I'm older people might call me Dan. Daniel seemed too old of a name, or something that came from a story of castles, queens and kings.
Leaving the food on a counter next to the bed, I got up and began pacing the room. My headache had gone away with sleep, thankfully. When would Vlad come back? The name rolled off my tongue. I needed the man.
I varied between pacing the room, to picking at my food, or to looking out the window, pondering.
The questions tore at me, and I could barely keep myself together. My doubt with who I was, and the fear of finding out was all too much. I wanted to run away again, but had a feeling Vlad would find me.
Then I realized I was still in the hospital gown. I shook my head. I needed real clothes. A t-shirt and jeans, preferably. Maybe when Vlad comes he could get me some.
It took Vlad two hours until he finally showed his face. He certainly took his time.
As the door opened, I brightened, my face full of hope. For a split second I thought it was the nurse, but when a man in a tailored suit walked in, silver hair pulled back in a ponytail, I couldn't wait to hear some answers. Some truth, or at least what I hoped would be the truth, in my messed-up life.
I immediately started to bombard him with all of my life's mysteries.
"Who am I, really? Who are you? How did I know you before? Why am I here? What happened to me? How long was I out? Was there an accident? Where-"
But the man, Vlad, put his hand up, stopping me. "Please, Daniel, patience. One question at a time."
I crossed my arms in a pout, and sat down on my bed, Vlad taking a recliner in the corner of the room.
"You are who I told you, Daniel. You... Don't need to know your last name."
At this, I started to protest that the answer wasn't sufficient, but he cut me off, and began to talk like I had never interrupted.
"I am just who I said I was, Vlad. My last name is Masters, but that isn't important right now. I used to be one of your parents' best friends, until..."
Vlad faltered for a moment, and turned to look out the window. Sadness was etched in his features and I wondered what had happened between my parents and Vlad.
"Speaking of my parents," I said. "Where are they? Aren't they supposed get me, or something?" But inside, I just knew they weren't here. They would have been by my bedside when I woke, or at least this morning.
Vlad seemed to be thinking hard, his face scrunched up. Probably recalling a bad memory and finding a way to tell me.
"Your parents... You..." He coughed into his hand loudly, and looked away from me. "You never knew them."
Whew! I just finished a 27 page report... Ugh.
Moral of the story: DO NOT procrastinate a giant project until the day before. It is horrible.
*Passes out from relief and mental exhaustion*