A/N: I made a few small changes to the previous chapter in case you wanna check that out. Anyway, sorry for taking so long in up-dating! Whole bunch of stuff going through my head with all the one-shots and song-fics and new stories and...I'ma just stop talking. On with the chapter!

Chapter Fourteen

"Is anybody listening?
Can you hear me when I call?
Shooting signals in the air
I need somebody's help
I can't make it on my own
So I'm giving up myself
Is anybody listening?..."

Next day. Morning. Thursday.

Danny climbed down the stairs to get to the living room. He yawned. He hadn't gotten much sleep and had found himself waking up in a old sweat that morning again. This time, however, it was a little stranger than before. He almost felt as if someone was-

"Daniel," Vlad greeted, breaking through Danny's thoughts as he descended down the stairs. Danny blinked and looked at the man.

"Oh, 'morning Vlad," he greeted right back.

"Good, morning," Vlad replied. "Daniel, I have a rather appealing surprise for you."

Danny stopped at the bottom step and looked at Vlad. Surprise? "Huh?"

"Come with me," Vlad said, leading him away into a door that as situated between the two staircases of the castle. The doors opened by themselves as they entered. This was the way to his study, where his lab was then able to be gotten to. Danny said nothing, merely tightened his grip on the strap of his backpack and followed Vlad. Was he taking him to his lab? If so, why would that be? Sensing the boy's current confusion, Vlad looked over his shoulder as they entered his study. "I took to heart what you told me about your powers, Daniel," Vlad said.

Danny looked up and Vlad went to the mantel where the fake fire place was. He reached up, pulled the gold-colored football down, and the fireplace lifted, revealing the staircase that led down into the lab. "You don't say," Danny murmured.

Vlad grinned as they descended the steps into his lab. "Indeed I do," he responded. "I've been doing a lot of inventing lately and finally have just the right thing for you."

Danny watched as Vlad led him still to another door at one side of his lab. Everything was just as clean as the last time he'd been there. But the new door, however, was different. Danny could swear that hadn't been there before.

"I've recently stumbled about a hidden chamber in the castle. It was long before you arrived, however, and only until now did I discover that it may be just what I needed to build something for you," Vlad said. He opened the door to the new room Danny had obviously missed, and inside all he could see was white. The floor, the walls, everything. Even the ceiling. Not to mention the place took on a lot of space. It looked almost as big as the living room, very spacious. Vlad walked in, Danny followed suit.

"What's so special about this place?" he asked. "There's nothing here."

"Wait right there, Daniel," Vlad said. He exited the room and closed the door. Danny looked behind him as he heard the door close. His eyes widened. Vlad didn't trap him there, did he? He rushed to the door, tried to open it. Locked. He tried to intangible, no use.

"Calm down, Daniel, you're not being imprisoned," Vlad's voice sounded.

"Where are you?" Danny questioned. Vlad's voice seemed to be coming from everywhere. Danny couldn't pin-point it at all.

"Turn around," Vlad's voice sounded again. Danny scanned all around, but didn't see him still. He was furious now. Where The heck was he and why was he running Danny in circles?

"Vlad!" Danny shouted, eyes glowing green with fury. "Stop hiding! Show yourself!"

Vlad's laughter filled the room. "Maybe I can give you something else to set your eyes on," he said. "Give me a number 1-10, Daniel."

Danny groaned. "I don't care! Where are you?" he shouted angrily. Everywhere he looked was plain wall except for...

There was one area that was white as well, but it was different, almost looking like glass. Then he knew. He sighed and walked towards it. He stood about a yard in front of that area and crossed his arms, tapped his foot. "More observant than I gave you credit for," Vlad sneered. Soon, it was as if the glass had become cleared and a rectangle-shaped area in the middle of the wall.

"Stop playing around," Danny told him. "What's all this supposed to accomplish?"

"Look at the wall over there," Vlad said, pointing to the wall to Danny's left. Danny turned. "What about it?" he asked.

"Look closely to where the two walls connect and you will see," Vlad said. Danny rolled his eyes and reluctantly walked over to the corner of the room. Once he there, he saw a button. It was hardly noticeable since it was white just like the walls and everything else, but now that he paid close attention, he could see it. "Press it," Vlad said. Danny did so, pressing the button. He almost jumped when a type of compartment opened on the wall next to the button and what looked like a dial with the numbers 1-10 labeled around in a half-circle.

"What's...this?" Danny said.

"This, Daniel, is a training room. You choose the level of difficulty, and the machines create life-like holograms. Everything you shoot at is solid, however, robots that are being made and fixed over and over again as you train," Vlad said. "If you would rather someone to be outside and watching you, then the controls are in here. But if you wish to train alone, then there you have the basic controls."

"Wow," Danny mumbled.

"Daniel, I only have your best interests in mind," Vlad said. "I see not why you remain almost hostile against me." Danny's face dropped and he took a deep breath.

"It's...complicated," he said.

"It's quite alright," Vlad said. "You can tell me when you're ready. But for now, you should be getting to school. You'll be late."

Danny almost screamed with frustration. The door opened automatically for him and he ran out. "Bye, Vlad!" he shouted quickly as he made his way out the lab and the whole building. He'd been so caught up in everything he didn't notice the time that was going by! But, to his surprise, he made it to school just in time! Just as he had entered, the school bell rang and he ran off to class, not bothering to put away his books or anything. He, for one, did not want to be late. Even if he did hate that place!

E/N: Since I ran out of lyrics to jot down, then I'm just going to start writing with random lyrics from random songs and probably random quotes from some of my poems. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! This will lead onto a scene in my head

--Airamé Phantom