Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.
Note (05/18/2017): BE WARNED! This chapter includes a flashback and it's pretty graphic. Feel free to skip that part if you want. Also, apology in advance for the cliffhanger! Writing that flashback got too intense even for me!
(Chapter Updated 03/01/2018)
~Chapter 3~
A Stab In The Dark
Decided to get the stereotypical exploration-urge out of his system after enjoying some amazing deep-dish pizza, Owen started wandering down the halls, trying commit as much of it as he could to memory. After all, Vlad never declared what the ground-rules would be during his visit but snooping around without permission was probably on the list of DO NOT'S. But since Owen was supposed to be a rebellious teenager at his age, he felt like he had to take the time to act like one at least occasionally. Besides, it might be a good idea to scope out possible escape routes for later.
"I will stick to the no-touching-his-stuff rule though since there's no way I could EVER afford to replace anything if I broke it by accident. Neither could the director," Owen commented aloud with a slight frown before a mischievous smile found it's way to his lips. "Hmm, when I first came inside we came up stairs to the second floor and then went down the hall to the left where most of the guest rooms are. Which means the rooms on the right are probably used for other things. I wonder what though? Considering how much money Mr. Mas- I mean Vlad has they could have anything in them. Only one way to find out I guess!"
Peeking into one of the unlocked rooms, Owen found the entertainment center with real leather seats lining both sides of the room with a red carpeted pathway in between, surround sound speakers built into the walls, and red satin curtains covering the white movie screen canvas taking up the entire front of the room. It was like stepping into a large home theater, which it pretty much was. This would definitely be a cool place to hang out and watch old classic war movies later on during his visit.
Jotting down his first major find in the notebook he had tucked away in the front pocket of his hoodie, Owen continued exploring until a familiar chill made him slow to a halt. Swallowing hard, Owen slowly turned around and started heading back to his room, his heart already beginning to quicken. Don't panic, it's probably just Vlad or one of his minions keeping an eye on me. I can take a hint. Go back to your room and stay there. Got it. Though I would prefer it if either one or the other came out of the shadows to tell me that to my face instead. Because, this feeling of being watched is-!
Hearing the undeniable sound of glass shattering Owen beelined it to his room, not daring to look over his shoulder to glance behind him. He still had the cell phone Mr. Masters gave him but, was it programmed with Vlad's number in case of an emergency? Scrolling through the numbers as fast as he could with his trembling fingers after snatching it from the oak dresser beside the bed, it looked like they were all just for local food services.
Resisting the urge to toss the phone at the nearest wall he stood there for a solid minute, frozen in place. Owen was in full blown panic now. And he couldn't stop himself from screaming when an unanticipated hand reached out from behind him and firmly grabbed his shoulder. This was what he got for not obeying the unspoken rules too.
Reacting fast than he could think Owen whirled around, his free hand clenched in a fist to defend himself while the other held the cellphone in a death-grip. But of course it was soon effortlessly caught mid-strike by none other than Vlad himself. With droplets of sweat trickling down his brow as he panted, Owen stared right back into the cold blue eyes of the older man standing in front of him, whose expression was unreadable at the moment. And the utter panic in his eyes troubled Vlad if only because he wasn't sure yet if it was guilt or fear flashing in the boy's red eyes.
His heart was hammering painfully in his chest and it seemed like an eternity before Vlad finally released his fist. Yet his next words were anything but reassuring. "My god boy, you look like you've seen a ghost," Vlad stated in a calm but stern tone. "What do you think you are doing, staying up at this hour and wandering around my castle unsupervised?"
Still trying to catch his breath Owen swallowed hard and responded, "G-Glass…"
"Alright, what about glass?" Vlad pressed, making sure to keep his tone calm since he didn't know yet if there was any reason to be angry with the boy or not.
"I heard, something…break. Something...glass…I went to go see what broke when…" Owen gasped, holding his hands on his knees for support. "…when…I felt a chill and thought-"
"Oh that? It was just me," Vlad laughed as he waved his hand dismissively, making light of Owen's still-panicked expression. "I was sorting through some papers and knocked over my coffee mug. My office is just down that hall you see so there's no need to fret. I assure you, my security is top notch and I have other defenses besides my ghost minions to ward off intruders and thieves. Or spies…" he added darkly.
Glaring right back at Vlad, Owen straightened up and snapped indignantly, "I wasn't spying on you! I just wanted to look around for a bit since I couldn't sleep and I was curious about what you might have in the other rooms. Geez! And besides, it's not that late. See?" Checking his watch, Owen was about to point that out when he noticed the hands weren't moving anymore. Removing it, Owen held it up to his ear and sighed, "Oh great, the battery is dead. But I swear I've been glancing at it every few minutes but I didn't notice when it stopped ticking..."
Crossing his arms, Vlad frowned, "A likely story."
"It's true! Man, this sucks, " Owen muttered, looking dejected as he gently put the watch in his pocket and confessed sadly. "This was my dad's watch too. It's a handmade antique. They don't even make batteries for it anymore..."
His expression softening at the mention of the boy's father, since unlike Daniel's he didn't hate this man, Vlad held out his hand and asked. "Mind if I take a look? I'm rather good with tinkering myself."
Pulling the watch back out again, Owen reluctantly handed it over if only because he really hoped there was a way to get it working. Since he was afraid it couldn't be though, Owen smiled coldly and scoffed, "Sure, why not? It's as dead as my dad now anyway. It's not like I could fix it even if I wanted to. I don't know how to restore something like that, mom never taught me how. Still, even if it doesn't work I'll bet someone will buy it off me. Hmm, I wonder how much it'll go for online? It is one of a kind after all."
"Owen! This is no laughing matter!" Vlad scolded harshly, surprising himself and Owen too. "If it's so important to you, don't mock it or the memories in contains and pretend it doesn't bother you! That's not bravery in the face of personal hardship, its cowardice." Narrowing his gaze at the old but beautifully crafted time piece, Vlad all but hissed under his breath, "I can see exactly what's going on here. You're not fooling anyone young man."
"No, you can't. How can you?" Owen muttered, edging his way back and falling down to sit on the edge of his bed. Shaking his head, he frowned deeply, "Everyone says they understand how I feel but they don't. You have NO idea what I've been through, what I've seen, what I've...lost. So how can YOU possibly know anything since it's only been two days since we met? You're a good liar, Mr. Masters, but I know for a fact that you don't know the first thing when it comes to how I feel..."
With a heavy sigh of his own, Vlad took a seat next to him and while looking at the watch continued confidently, "Oh but that's where you're wrong. I know a great deal about you. Try as you might to hide the truth I've already figured you out, Owen. When your parents died you tried to numb the pain of your loss instead of being angry and lashing out at the world like everyone would have expected a teenager like you to do. You did this to protect yourself from those unspeakable horrors that are still haunting you, despite pretending otherwise. You've devoted all your time and effort to nothing but schoolwork and books rather than getting involved with others your age because let's face it, we both know that could go one of two ways. They'd accept you just long enough to realize that being around you could get them killed just like your parents. Or they'd reject you, label you a freak. Abandon you just when you need them the most."
Nervously, Owen suddenly reached out and touched Vlad's arm, forgetting his own troubles for a moment when he sensed an inkling of Vlad's rise to the surface of his heart when he spoke about rejection at the very end of his little speech. "Is that what happened to you, Vlad? After the near-death experience you had that made you half-ghost, your friends they actually-"
"Yes," Vlad nodded, his voice laced with venom. "The love of my life and my best friend, our friendship was tossed aside like garbage! They left me there to rot, abandoned and alone for years in that damn hospital! Didn't write, didn't call, didn't visit me even once! They simply forgot all about me, either that or Jack was too ashamed to admit how badly he screwed up and ruined my life! You're doing yourself a favor by not trusting anyone boy, THAT, I know from first hand experience. Betrayal."
Feeling his dark emotions flaring up like a large ominous storm-cloud over them, Owen gasped and tried to stop him from giving into those feelings by doing the only thing he could think to do. He hugged him tightly.
With as much strength as Owen could muster he held onto Vlad for dear life as the man threatened to transform in a fit of rage, his hand already close to crushing the watch. Owen noticed this but he as too afraid to say anything. In fact Owen was way too focused on preventing Vlad from turning full-ghost with the minimal knowledge he had about his own powers that could repel or force them into submission. Sadly, Vlad was too powerful for Owen to control and began transforming anyway, almost the opposite from before when Owen almost forced Vlad TO change. And soon the same dark ring as before appeared around Vlad's waist and split in two, one going up and the other down the length of his body.
Owen's vision began to blur and warp again as his senses were assaulted by another wave of Vlad's oppressive aura began slowly overpowering him but if he didn't do something, his dad's watch would get crushed beyond repair! Forget about going through the effort of getting a new out-of-production battery for it, his watch would be reduced to dust at this rate!
"Stop it! Vlad, please! Please don't break my dad's watch! You're right, it is important to me alright?! Happy now? Please, let got if it, don't destroy the last thing that he-!" Jerking when the violent memory of his parent's death flashed in front of his waking eyes Owen stopped mid-sentence and clenched his eyes shut. That didn't stop him from reliving the entire memory that horrible moonless night all over again though. It didn't stop him from remembering the last time he saw his father actually wearing that particular watch.
The first thing Owen remembered about that night was the sound of glass shattering, just like he heard tonight. Then there was the sound of the inhuman shrieks his parents made when they saw their first and final ghosts and were quickly overshadowed by them. After that, every single door and window in the house began slamming themselves shut, almost hard enough to break them right of their hinges. It was like a scene out of a horror movie only this was completely real.
With matching black auras curling off their newly possessed bodies, the two adults circled Owen, their eyes gleaming dangerously like wild animals on the prowl. They clearly had nothing but blood on their minds. And that blood would be spilt as soon as they knew Owen was completely trapped, unable to escape their grasp. The boy was done for and they were going to enjoy tearing him to bits. Owen knew it wasn't really them and he tried desperately to fight back without hurting his parents too much but nothing he tried worked. He didn't know anything about fighting ghosts, up until then he'd only been seeing them!
Therefore the two evil beings before Owen quickly overpowered him.
His dad, being the physically stronger of the two, once he closed in on his son the man pinned Owen to a wall and the first ghost attempted to choke the life out of him. Thankfully, Owen managed to kick him in the gut with enough force to knock his dad over the dinner table behind him. Still recovering from almost being strangled to death and gasping for air, coughing and sputtering, Owen nearly forgot about his mom who was overshadowed too.
Soundlessly sneaking up right beside him Owen suddenly felt an explosion of pain as the cruel steel of one of her favorite kitchen knives pierced his flesh. The steel itself was cold but the blade felt white hot as in sank deeper into his abdomen and he screamed.
A feral grin spread across her face when Owen sagged to the floor, losing precious blood and consciousness. Then in perfect sync both of his parents stood above Owen's crumpled form, grinning widely as the distant sound of sirens reached them and a peel of thunder shook the house. The following flash of lightning reflected off of the blade of a second kitchen knife the ghost inside his mother picked up and handed to her husband, which he gladly took from her with a matching cat-like grin.
Vomiting gushes of blood and trying to stem the flow pouring from his open wound, Owen tried to sit up, begging them feebly, "Please…don't hurt them! They didn't do anything to you! I don't…understand. Why are you attacking my family like this!?"
"Ah, but they did do something. Something unforgivable…" the spirit controlling his father leered. "Their sin is bringing about your very existence! You are a threat to our kind. You were meant to have perished long ago yet they had the nerve to bring your back. And now, they'll pay for that sin with their very lives!"
"Don't fight it 'sweetheart,'" the spirit inside his mother cooed, slowly licking Owen's blood off the knife she used to stab him, hissing gleefully as it burned the inside of her mouth as proof of what he truly was. Shivering in ecstasy as they caught a whiff of the utter terror gripping his heart, she spoke in the most evil yet strangely seductive tone as she urged him, "Yes, that's it. Allow the pain, sorrow, and darkness to consume you. Become one with the darkness and embrace your fate, become like us. Only purification through death will save you from oblivion this time. Surrender your soul to us...and maybe we will allow you to see them in the next life."
Turning to face one another as if to embrace, the two of them kissed, the spirit in Owen's father licking the excess blood from her cheek once their lips parted. After that, Owen's father turned to him once more, glancing at the watch on his wrist and showing it to him. "Forever remember this moment in time as their last, child. Remember how powerless you are. But most of all, remember that their death, is because of your sin."
In the time it took for Owen to draw his next uneven breath, another flash of lightning lit up the room and his parent's blood sprayed all over him when they violently stabbed each other in the heart repeatedly, laughing in murderously glee long after their hosts hearts stopped. If Owen had had the strength left to he would have screamed. Before Owen could do anything else though the darkness did overtake him then, just not the kind the spirits meant. Owen welcomed this moment of oblivion, although fate had other plans in store which meant that his moment of reprieve would not last long at all...
