"Mayor Masters?"
Vlad looked up at the unexpected voice. Two teenagers hovered in the doorway of his office at City Hall. Well, one of them did. The girl who had spoken walked in boldly once she saw she had his attention. The dark skinned boy with her looked hesitant, but followed a few steps after, looking around the office with interest.
"I'm not in the habit of talking walk ins, Miss. . .?" Vlad said sternly. It had never happened before, but he found he didn't appreciate random children invading his work space.
"Manson. Sam Manson." She came to a stop in front of his desk and folded her arms, eyes narrowed arrogantly. Vlad groaned internally. This must be the daughter of the Manson's that had been so strongly protesting inviting Circus Gothica to perform in Amity Park. She didn't look like the daughter of two wealthy well to do's.
"Well, Ms. Manson, I'm afraid you and your friend will just have to make an appointment with my secretary. You can tell your parents that you were unable to meet with me." He stood, dismissal radiating from his expression. He was having enough trouble with teenagers already, he didn't need any more. To his surprise, the girl didn't back down. She glared up at him, her dark rimmed eyes making her look like a cat ready to pounce.
"I'm not here because of my parents, I think Circus Gothica is awesome." Ms. Manson said confidently, "I, that is we," she roughly pulled her friend to stand next to her, "just have some concerns about the company. We could just go straight to the media, but since you're sponsoring their presence in town, we thought it only fair we come to you first."
That sounded suspiciously like blackmail, Vlad thought with annoyance. He kept his face impassive and made an impatient gesture for her to continue.
"We went to Circus Gothica this morning to see if we could get a look behind the scenes," The boy spoke for the first time, " We saw some things that weren't right. Disturbing, even."
"And who are you?" Vlad turned to give the boy his attention.
"Tucker Foley." The boy's hands fidgeted nervously with a device in his hands, clearly uncomfortable.
"Well Mr. Foley, appalling and disturbing sights seem to be their specialty," Vlad said calmly, "that's the point, is it not?"
"Child abuse isn't!" Ms. Manson snapped.
Vlad clamped his mouth shut, blinking a few times in surprise. That was not what he'd been expecting. He slowly settled back into his chair.
"That's a very interesting, and serious, accusation Ms. Manson." He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. "What could you have possibly seen to lead you to the conclusion that Circus Gothica is guilty of abusing children? As far as I'm aware, you two are the only children who have ventured onto their grounds for other reasons than for a performance. Were you perhaps chastised for trespassing?"
"No!" She bristled at his condescending tone, but then she looked a little sheepish. "Well, we were caught by one of the performers. His name's Danny, and he's about our age." Vlad's face tightened. Of course it would be that particular ghost. He may have learned that Phantom was not the one in charge at Circus Gothica, but that didn't cool the burning hatred he felt for the specter. Especially after his little ice display. It had taken over an hour to free himself.
"I have already met the boy during my visit to Circus Gothica earlier this week." Mr. Foley's face twitched in a small smile at his words, but Vlad chose not to comment on it.
"Well, we have several good reasons to suspect he's not being taken care of," Ms. Manson said earnestly.
"You think the boy is being abused?" He tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his amusement. If only they knew they were so concerned about a ghost! Mr. Foley quickly took up the conversation again when he saw the look on his companion's face. She looked ready to spit fire.
"He offered to show us around, and we got talking."
"He didn't escort you from the premises?" That surprised Vlad, usually ghosts were extremely territorial. Mr. Foley shrugged and shook his head.
"No, he was super cool about it. He was actually kinda shy at first, but he opened up after a little bit."
Shy? Several instances of the boy's confident and arrogant behavior rose in his mind. Was this the same ghostly teenager he'd met? Ms. Manson had apparently calmed herself enough to speak again, and took up the story once more.
"Anyways, we were asking him about how he goes to school where he's traveling all the time. He basically said he hasn't ever gone to school." She folded her arms, silently daring him to tell her that that wasn't cause for concern.
"Perhaps his mother tutors him?" Vlad suggested, a little frustrated by the conversation. He really wanted to get home before he had to make an appearance at Circus Gothica's opening night performance. He didn't have time to argue with two teenagers about whether a ghost he hated was getting an education or not. The only reason he hadn't kicked them out of his office was that Ms. Manson was the daughter of his biggest critics. The quickest way to get rid of them was to just let them spout their concerns and assure them he'd look into it.
"I asked if he was homeschooled and he said no. And then there's his room!"
"Room?" Vlad didn't have to feign interest for this one. Had they seen the ghost's lair? Well, as close to a lair as a ghost could get in the human world.
"He sleeps in one of the train cars. It was freezing in there, I could actually see his breath. He doesn't even have a bed! All that was in there was his clothes, and this hammock thing he said he sleeps in."
None of this was surprising to Vlad. Ghosts didn't need to sleep, so why would one have a bed? It was perhaps a little strange that there were no personal effects. It was possible the train car wasn't the slime's real lair, but a ruse to throw off his guests. Yes, that was it. No ghost would let human strangers into its hole.
"That is very unusual, Ms. Manson." She seemed slightly appeased by his admission, and continued dramatically.
"I know, but there's more." Vlad fought to keep a pleasant expression on his face.
"Oh?"
"You said you met him yesterday. Didn't you notice how skinny he was?" Vlad could honestly say he hadn't. Ms. Manson looked a little deflated when he didn't respond, but she continued anyways. "At first I just thought he was wiry, but he's not. I asked if I could see where the cast eats and he said they don't have anything like that. He said he just sneaks out into town if he gets hungry. He actually said he has to sneak out if he wants food!" Her voice quivered with indignation.
"Ms. Manson, I'm glad you came to me," Vlad said smoothly, an idea forming in his mind, "but I must confess that your accusations do not come as a surprise to me." Tucker and Sam exchanged surprised looks.
"What?" They asked in unison.
"I invited Circus Gothica here because I suspected that what went on behind the scenes might not be entirely legal," Vlad said truthfully, "I wanted to investigate myself, and ensure the rumors are not true."
"So if they are, you get to be the one who exposes the corruption?" Ms. Manson said cynically, her violet eyes narrowed. Vlad smiled broadly.
"You're a sharp girl, Ms. Manson. However, it's very conspicuous when the mayor comes around asking questions. I wonder if you and Mr. Foley might consider joining my team." The two exchanged troubled looks, an uncomfortable silence falling.
"You want us to spy on Circus Gothica?" The boy asked slowly, his green eyes narrowed.
"Spying is such a negative term Mr. Foley. You both enjoyed Danny Phantom's company, did you not?"
"Well, yeah." Tucker interjected. Vlad stood, his hand flicking dismissively.
"Then continue your acquaintance. Continue to watch for any evidence. We can't publicly accuse Circus Gothica without enough proof to warrant an investigation." Vlad didn't try to hide his irritation when Ms. Manson snorted.
"Do you find something funny, Ms. Manson?" She threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Hello? Irony! My parents hate Circus Gothica and now the mayor wants me to go spend time there. I'm sure you can imagine how that conversation is going to go." Vlad smirked slightly, unable to deny that the idea amused him. Those self-righteous fools deserved to be undermined, even if just a little. They had no idea the true danger Circus Gothica posed.
"Speaking of your parents, I would advise silence on the true purpose of your continued presence at Circus Gothica." Vlad said seriously. "The more attention Circus Gothica receives, the more cautious they will be." Ms. Manson scowled.
"What am I supposed to tell them? They hate Circus Gothica, they won't like me going there outside of performances." Vlad considered telling her to figure it out herself, but he sighed and actually thought about it.
"That was before the two of you became members of the mayor's youth council," He announced.
"You have a youth council?" Tucker asked, his eyebrows shooting towards his hairline.
"I do now." Vlad smirked, "Have your parents contact me if there's any trouble." He handed Sam a business card with his information printed neatly on it. "Perhaps I'll see you both at the performance tonight. After all, as the newest members of my youth council, attendance at any performance is highly encouraged. Courtesy of the Mayor, of course." Sam struggled to hide her delight, and Tucker groaned. Sam quickly schooled her expression to become serious once again. Standing, she pointed a finger at Vlad.
"I don't like your reasons Mayor Masters, and we don't need your money, but we'll help you if it means we can make sure nothing is wrong. We just want to make sure Danny is okay."
"Believe me, Ms. Manson, I'm very invested in the boy's welfare." Vlad said coldly, anger for the creature bubbling in his chest. If he had his way, these two interfering teenagers wouldn't see the ghost boy again. He was due for an unfortunate accident. The two teenagers glanced at each other, obviously unsettled by the sudden bitterness in his voice.
"Come on, Sam," Tucker muttered, seeing his friend was about to question Vlad further. Sam shut her mouth with a snap, and without another word, the two left.