The Crossroads Betwixt Life and Death

Chapter 11: Paradiso Esotico (Vlad's P.Ø.V)

Daniel was up to something. I knew it, I was sure of it; I had enough experience dealing with his little plots to know that there was something going on inside his head, something that he did not want me to know. But what could he possibly be planning?

Perhaps I had been very wrong about his state of mind and he really didn't want, subconsciously or not, any help at all. Perhaps he planned to attack me again. If he did this pose no threat to me, he was far too young and untrained to harm me yet, but still…

He had been trying to ask me about my family for the past few minutes, and after getting over the initial shock I had ingeniously decided to ignore his questions…which only increased his curiosity. I wondered what had brought this on, what in the world was Daniel thinking? I knew everything there was to know about his family, and he knew nothing about mine, and that was the way I allowed things to be. They could not be any different.

"Hey, Vlad…" he began again but once more I flew faster than him to avoid the subject, usually his obstinacy was amusing…now it was bordering on maddening.

The subject of my family was not safe territory for anyone, and if it had been anyone else asking these questions there would have been sever consequences, but soon I hoped that Daniel would get the message and leave it be. I hoped.

After flying away from France I had led the boy across the English Channel and we had flown beside boats and ships, then aside the White Cliffs of Dover and over the rolling green hills. There was little danger of being seen on such a misty afternoon as England seemed to be enjoying today so I had left him flying quite low over the fields…Until he had suddenly decided that now, of all times, was the opportune moment for a Q and A session on my family.

"Would you stop doing that?" Daniel shouted indignantly and within seconds he was flying beside me again.

"Doing what, dear boy?" I asked innocently.

I refrained from chuckling slightly when he growled at me, "You know damn well what, now what's so bad that you won't even answer one question?"

"Would you like me to answer that question, or a different one?" I replied but this only served to fuel his anger. I suppose, for some reason he was not in the mood for a game of wits and I was left with 2 choices; I could continue to annoy the boy and push him away, or risk whatever he was planning and give him an answer. "Why the sudden interest?" I asked sincerely.

"Just curious," he shrugged and looked away from me, clearly this was a lie; he refused to meet my eyes or even look at me now. Hmm, this was interesting.

(Danny's P.Ø.V)

Vlad was really starting to annoy me now, he wouldn't tell me anything, he wouldn't answer a single question and when I asked he just flew away from me. Talk about annoying!

I figured that if I could get him to tell me about his family and what his life was like then maybe I could get a better picture of whether he was truly evil or not. I needed to know, and there was no one else to ask, Vlad didn't let anyone close to him so there was no one else who could tell me anything about him, not with my parents…Anyway, the point was if he didn't crack soon I was gonna scream.

Maybe I wasn't going about it the right way, maybe I should have tried to trick the information out of him somehow…but I had thought about this for ages and I had come up blank. Vlad could always see through my plans no matter how much effort I put into them, and now I seemed like the simple approach wasn't working either.

…Did I really need to know though? I had never, ever, ever seen Vlad act anything like how he was acting today…maybe that showed what he was really like. But with all the effort he was putting in to avoid my questions I couldn't help it that I was becoming more curious. It was his fault really, he should have picked a different way of ignoring me, and he always thought things through, so why not now?

Unless he was doing this because he knew how much it was annoying me, he wanted me to become so curious that it would irritate me even more when he didn't answer, and he really wanted me to go mad!

Or he was doing this because he really didn't want to talk about his family and it was making him act less Vlad-like and more on instinct. If this was the case then maybe I should stop asking…unless that was what he wanted all along, to make me pity him so I'd shut up and stop pestering him!

Or he…actually that one was really clever!

But boy did my brain hurt from all this stuff! Maybe I should just quit while I was ahead, if Vlad didn't want me to know something the odds were against me before I'd even started, and I knew from experience that he would never…wait…that was that another good plan of his…I sighed…I would never be able to beat Vlad at anything!

I sighed and instead of Vlad flying on ahead, I did and I dove down through the clouds to fly over the hills again. Huh! What had I been thinking? I should have known that he'd never tell me anything, if things were the other way round I probably wouldn't answer me either. But what could I do now? If I didn't have something to focus on I really would go mad, and insanity was not a career choice I wanted to explore right now…or ever if I could help it.

Was it really so important to know about his family life though? If I was going on our past history then I would say with confidence that Vlad was evil, case closed, but I wasn't so sure now. Maybe he really did have reasons for being the way he was and I just never thought about 'em before.

…But how could I let go of everything he had ever done to me?

I suppose it was partly my fault…I mean maybe I could have tried to working things out before now.

But lately Vlad had proven that he did have a heart and it was confusing me.

If I went with my gut instinct then even without him telling me anything, something inside me was saying that he could be trusted. People didn't just decide to look after you for no reason when you were alone. People didn't just ignore a bunch of questions like that unless they had something to hide…maybe he had like a bad childhood or something.

Jazz used to say that people were a product of their environment, I forget who she quoted but that's not the point. If Vlad had a bad life then it makes a bit o' sense that he'd be kinda warped as an adult. And he did say that he loved my mom…I do anything to have Sam back…so I guess now sort of I understood now…how, over the years his grief turned into hate, now I understood grief.

I wonder how he had coped on his own for so long…or maybe he hadn't and that was why he was the way he was.

"Tell me truthfully, Daniel, why did you ask me about my family?" I heard Vlad ask and I looked toward the source of his voice. He was flying next to me; I hadn't noticed…I guess that was what happened when you got lost in your thoughts.

But I couldn't tell him the truth, how could I tell him that I was trying to learn more about his personality without him getting all suspicious? "..I was just cu…"

"I said; truthfully, and you were always a bad lair," he replied with a smirk and I glared at him. I was so not a bad liar!

"Well…" my brain went into overdrive and I cursed myself for my stupidity, I should have known something like this would happen, "Well…I err…well, you know everything about my…I mean it's hardly fair that…"

"Life isn't fair," he said effectively cutting of my crummy attempt at lying. Okay…what now genius?

He sighed as I turned away from him and stared down at the grass, I could see the cows below us grazing and some stared back to look at me. "If you really want to know; my mother was a battle-ax and my father was a strict conservative for whom nothing was ever good enough, I saw grandparents only at every other Christmas and my estranged cousin, I believe is with husband number 6. Does that satisfy your curiosity?" he sounded a little ticked off with me.

"That's all?" I asked, if someone asked me to describe my family it could take ages, there was so much to talk about, my mom's kindness, my dad's bumbling eccentricities and my sister's intelligence the way we used to have fun in the holidays…the way we used to fight over the bathroom in a morning…the breakfast rush on school days…eating by candlelight in the power cuts at night…I could go on forever…and the best he could come up with was one negative, measly sentence. It was kinda sad.

"What else should I have said?" he snapped.

"I dunno," I shrugged, "No happy memories, fun birthdays, big holiday's, family nights in with a movie or something," I listed.

"Not in my family, no; holidays always had a purpose, and birthdays were pointless," he said and I got the feeling that he really wanted me to drop the subject, but now I was really curious. How could he speak like this about his own family? And how were birthdays pointless? They were an excuse to party and get presents!

"Are they still…alive?" I asked.

"I believe so," he nodded.

"You 'believe so,' what's that supposed to mean?" I frowned, "Don't you know?"

"I haven't spoken to them in years, but I believe I would have heard, from my solicitors at least, if they were dead, so I believe that they are alive, yes."

"Oh," I muttered.

"Perhaps it is news to you, Daniel, but not every person on the planet had the benefit of a perpetually happy childhood; you look back on yours and tell me what the first thing that comes to mind is."

"Well, we were always…happy…I miss them," I answered and tried not to cry again.

"Right; now I look back on mine, and the only think that comes to me is how fortunate I was to have had the opportunity to leave it, and I would do it again if I had to – there, is an end to it," he said and I sighed.

I got the feeling that I had hit a nerve, a really big nerve with a sign next to it that said 'DO NOT HIT!' Nice work, Fenton!

"…I…err…I'm sorry…" for some reason I felt like I had to apologise, like I had upset him with my questions and I felt really bad about it.

He only shook his head a little and we were both silent again, I hadn't really gained much information about his family but if it was that bad then I was probably better off not knowing, I really didn't think he wanted any pity…'cos I sure wouldn't.

I couldn't imagine having a strict dad, and what exactly did he mean when he said his mom was a 'battle-ax,' was she strict too? But I knew how it felt that nothing was ever good enough; I could rescue people from a burning building and then still go to school after it, I could save the town from a ghost attack and not be a jerk about wanting all the credit…but could I keep up the Fenton A's…or even my dad's average of a B-...NO!

Maybe I shouldn't ask Vlad about it again…no…I wouldn't…it wouldn't be fair, especially after all the nice things he'd done for me lately; I'd just be stabbing him in the back, and I knew I'd regret it later. So I stayed quiet about it, "So…err…why're we here? I mean it's nice an' all. But it's so…green and…hilly…"

"Very articulate," he replied but he didn't answer my question…maybe I'd gone too far and he was really mad at me…for some reason this really bugged me.

(Vlad's P.Ø.V)

Perhaps my quiet hostility was undeserved, after all, Daniel really didn't know what my childhood had been like, and it was clear that he was not going to explain the reasons for his curiosity to me any time soon.

But if he was bored with green hills I knew of one place he would definitely like; my Mediterranean villa, isolated and exotic it was a beautiful retreat, more likely than not it was more probably to his tastes than mine. But too much money meant that sometimes you had to buy expensive things on impulse, if only to alleviate boredom.

Without warning I gripped his arm, ignored the indignant look he sent my way and I shot off at over 600 mph and steadily increasing as he got higher and higher.

I wasn't sure exactly how I knew where I was going, but I had been there often enough and for some places their location was imprinted in my mind which made them impossible to forget.

…

When I landed mere minutes later, I watched as Daniel fell to the ground and held his head as he transformed into his human half; the constant flying must be taking its toll on the boy. "You gotta stop doing that," he muttered.

I smirked; I was going to enjoy his reaction to this one, I just knew it. I flew towards the bedroom that was always kept clean for me and opened the wardrobe to reveal an array of neatly pressed clothes. I transformed back into my human half, picked out my usual black suit and changed quickly into it leaving the jacket off due to the heat. After brushing my hair and washing my face I left the rooms and walked back out to where I had left the boy.

He had moved and was now leaning against the wall and clearly he had not looked at his surroundings yet. This was one of the most expensive and modern villas built here, and it was mine…and it was an architectural marvel.

The side facing east was made of reinforced glass and the west side had balconies aplenty to watch the sunrise and set. It was open plan with the kitchen, a sitting area and plenty more space than was really necessary decorated in subtle crème and modern fittings. With an inviting, light colour scheme it wasn't what I would normally buy, but at the time it had seemed right. Perhaps it would be more use to Daniel than it would to me…oh; this was going to be extremely amusing, if nothing else it would take his mind off things for a while.

"Daniel, perhaps you should come and take a look," I smiled and walked over to the glass wall, my polished shoes clicking on the light wooden flooring. I clasped my hands behind my back after adjusting my cuff-links and I surveyed the clear blue sky and exotic surroundings. The sounds of exotic birds sounded and the colourful plants and palm trees were blown gently in the soft breeze.

"At what…huh?" I heard and I resisted the urge to look behind me, I heard uneven footsteps come towards me and then I saw him press his hands against the glass, "WHOAH!" he exclaimed open-mouthed and stared out at the scenery. Now I really had to put up a fight to stop from smiling. "Where are we?" he asked after a while, but he didn't take his eyes from the view.

I smiled, "Several miles off the coastline of Malta, near the south of the Italian mainland, the island is called Meraviglia and there are dozens of other villas in the area," I answered.

After another minute he pried his eyes from the glass and smirked, "So it's like a playground for people with too much money?"

"I suppose," I shrugged, in a way it really was; just as average people brought expensive computers and phones, people like me bought villas. Most people who owned property here were American or British tycoons such as myself. And of course it helped that I had shares in the real estate business, as obscure as it was at first I had found it a good investment. I turned away from the boy, showing nothing but absolute indifference to anything. "Do you like it?" I asked.

"Duh?" he muttered as I made my way over to the sofa, I sat down gracefully and rested one leg over the other as I lifted the TV remote in my hand. A news channel flickered to live with a young woman speaking flowing Italian, while my French was flawless my Italian could use some work, but I knew enough to understand what she was saying.

"Then consider it a birthday present," I said without looking towards the silent boy…until he exploded and I chuckled quietly.

"WHAT!"

"I hardly use it, and since you seem to like it so much…" I began to explain simply.

"Wait, what? You have a place like this and you 'hardly use it,' are you nuts?" he shouted again and I smirked, messing with the boy was too good an opportunity to pass up. He had to realise that by now.

I didn't answer his question, instead I replied coolly; "The view is not going to change from here," I tossed my gold watch towards him and prayed that he didn't miss it and drop it, it was expensive, and fortunately he caught it "Be back by 11 at the latest, don't draw attention to yourself, and don't leave the island," I ordered and turned my attention back to the television, "Oh, and don't lose that watch," I added. I turned back to him a minute later, "Are you still here?" I asked.

"Oh…err…right…" he muttered and transformed once again. As he leapt from the floor to leave he failed to turn himself intangible and hit the glass head on with a groan, "…heh heh…glass…" he looked at me and pointed at the glass and I raised an eyebrow.

"Then fly through it," I replied and looked away again.

"…yeah…" he muttered and did as I said.

The second I was alone I burst into hysterical laughter, his reaction was priceless, and of course being the responsible, considerate adult that I was…I would never allow him to forget it.

I thought it was only right that Daniel needed time to himself now, there was enough here to distract him from grief and if he wasn't back by 11 I doubted that I would have much of a hard time finding him.

But this was a step forwards, he had engaged in conversation with me and unlike in the past we had not been fighting or shouting…much.