Chapter 20
"I'm going over to my parents' house today," Danny told the twins as he parked the car in front of Casper High School.
"We know! We know!" Lex said in annoyance. "This is, like, the hundredth time you've said it. You might not be home when we get back from school. Blah, blah, blah. You can stop repeating yourself." He glanced out the window and caught sight of his friends hanging out on the front steps of the school. "Oh, there's Denise! I need to talk to her about a homework assignment." Lex climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him.
"Xan," Danny said, stopping the younger twin from getting out of the car as well. "If you ever feel the need to talk to someone about anything, you know you can come to me, right?"
"Of course, Dad," Xander replied, though he seemed confused by his father's persistent reminder. Ever since they visited Dash's mother over the weekend, Danny kept encouraging Xander to talk to him. "I need to get to class now. I'll see you later, Dad." Xander got out of the car as quickly as Lex had.
Danny watched Xander jog up to the entrance of the school and disappear inside just as the first bell rang. Sighing, he pulled the car away from the curb and headed to his parents' house. The drive was uneventful, and he reached the house in half an hour. As he approached the front door, his mother stepped out with her hands on her hips and an unhappy look on her face.
"Hi, Mom," Danny said as he reached her.
"Don't 'hi, Mom' me!" Maddie snapped. "I don't like this idea at all."
"Mom!" Danny exclaimed, following her into the house. "I have to do this."
"You should let your father and I help you. Dash doesn't know anything about fighting ghosts," Maddie said as she blocked the door to the laboratory.
"Dash isn't some incompetent, amateur ghost hunter!" Danny pushed past his mother. "He's helped me fight ghosts before. He knows exactly what he's getting himself into."
"It's different this time, Daniel! He plans to fight his father." Maddie followed her son into the laboratory where Jack already was, tinkering with his inventions.
"I know it won't be an easy fight." Danny paused briefly when he noticed Vlad lounging in one of the few chairs in the laboratory. "But Dash feels he needs to be the one to defeat his father. I'm going to support him on this in any way I can. If he can't handle his father, then I'll step in to help."
"Except that his father is trying to kill you." Vlad pointed out, watching Danny closely.
"What are you doing here, Vlad?" Danny demanded as he glared at the older half ghost.
"I invited him," Maddie said. "I thought it would be a good idea to have another person checking over the inventions to make sure everything works properly."
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that lover of yours to explode into little pieces." Vlad smirked at the younger half ghost.
"That's not the only reason though, is it?" Danny's eyes narrowed at his godfather, knowing there had to be some hidden reason for his presence.
"What are you talking about? Why else would he be here?" Maddie asked, faking confusion rather poorly.
"You planned to have him follow me!" Danny exclaimed as he pointed a finger of accusation at his mother. "You don't think I can take care of myself!"
"That's not true!"
"Your mother's just worried," Jack said, finally tearing his attention away from his invention. "And so am I. You've gotten into quite a few accidents recently. You're not focused. You chased after a ghost and ended up going to the hospital for a concussion and stitches. I think we have good reason to be worried about you."
"Fine, but I'm focused now. I don't need a bodyguard to protect me." Danny felt disappointed and a little hurt that his parents didn't think he could take care of himself.
"I just think it would be better to let Vlad go into the Ghost Zone to find out information," Maddie said. "He'll be able to travel through the Ghost Zone more easily. Mr. Baxter's ghost won't be on the lookout for him."
"Yeah, just leave it to me, Daniel." Vlad smirked as he rested a hand on his godson's head like he was a young child. Frowning, Danny watched Vlad enter the Ghost Zone through the Fenton Portal.
"Come check out our cool, new inventions," Jack said, waving his son over to where he had been working. He held up a silver board that looked similar to what Valerie had used to fly around on back in her ghost hunting days. "This is the Fenton Spectral Speed Board. We made some minor adjustments to Vlad's design. With this, Dash should be able to move freely through the Ghost Zone."
"But this is the really cool invention," Maddie said as she picked up what looked like a more advanced version of the Fenton Ghost Peeler. "We upgraded the Peeler," Maddie explained as though she had read her son's mind. "This is the Fenton Ghost Vaporizer. While the Peeler can take out a ghost after multiple hits, the Vaporize is capable of wiping out a ghost's existence with one hit. Its ray causes the ghost's structure to break down until it dissolves completely."
"Since you're part ghost, its ray will affect you too," Jack said in a serious tone.
"You're worrying too much about this," Danny said, beginning to feel a little frustrated. He had been fighting ghosts for over half his life. Why were his parents suddenly so worried about him? "Dash will go in there, fight and defeat his father, and come out with enough time to cook a delicious dinner for us." Danny sighed in exasperation when his parents didn't look convinced by his statement. "Fine, whatever," he grumbled as he sat in a chair Vlad had occupied when Danny had entered the laboratory. "Go ahead and worry yourselves to death. Completely ignore that I've been fighting ghosts since I was fourteen."
"We worry because we care about you and Dash," Maddie said as a concerned look entered her eyes. "We don't want to see something bad happen to either of you. And don't forget about the twins. What would happen to them if Dash and you were to die?"
"We're not going to die, Mom," Danny said, trying to ease his parents' worries. "We'll be extra careful while fighting Dash's dad."
"Wow! This is the first time you've ever invited me over to your house," Xander said as he followed Elden up the stairs.
"Well, yeah," Elden mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he led the other boy toward his room. "My father doesn't like it when I have friends over, but since he's out of town, I thought it would be okay."
"Elden, we need to tell someone about your father. I can't keep hiding this from my family."
"Xan," Elden said with a sigh. He took his boyfriend's hand and pulled him closer. "In four years, I'll move out of here, and then I won't even have to worry about my father slipping up and doing that again. It was only once."
"No!" Xander shouted, tearing his arm from the other boy's hold as he stepped back. "I don't like you being here with him. I keep worrying that he'll do it again. Even if you say it was just that once, it happened and it could happen again."
Elden ignored his boyfriend's complaints and pulled him close again. Xander started to struggle out of his hold until he felt Elden place a gentle kiss against his lips. He sighed into the kiss, momentarily forgetting what he had been complaining about.
"Let's just enjoy the time we have alone right now," Elden whispered in Xander's ear as he guided his boyfriend farther into his bedroom.
Xander opened his mouth to complain again when they heard the front door slam shut and a man shout out Elden's name. The boy's body tensed as he turned wide gray eyes toward the open doorway as the creak of the stair floorboards filled the silent air. Shock wore off quickly, and Elden snapped into action, ushering his boyfriend toward the window.
"Elden-" Xander started to complain until the other boy slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Please just let it go for now, Xan," Elden begged as he opened the window and threw down a rope ladder for the other boy to climb down. "If my father finds you here, it will only make things worse."
Xander wanted to argue, but the footsteps right outside the door of Elden's room made him bite his tongue. He hesitated, staring at the open doorway before sighing and climbing out the window. Once he had reached the ground, Xander looked up to see Elden pull the ladder back up and shut the window. The boy moved away from the window without even looking back to his boyfriend.
"Xander?" The female's voice made the boy spin around to see the speaker. Xander blinked at the two girls standing only a few feet from the front door of Elden's house.
"What are you doing here?" Xander asked as he walked over to Sandra and Jessica.
"Jessica is Elden's cousin," Sandra replied, giving the boy a confused look. "Didn't you know that?" The boy only shook his head in response.
"Why don't we go somewhere and talk?" Jessica suggested, taking Sandra's hand and pulling her down the walkway.
"But didn't you want-"
"I can do that later," Jessica cut off the other girl. "I think there are some things I need to discuss with Xander." She paused and turned to see the boy wasn't following them. "Aren't you coming?"
Xander jerked before following the two girls down the street. When they came to a park, Jessica collapsed onto a bench, pulling Sandra down beside her. She wrapped an arm around the other girl's shoulders, causing Sandra to blush lightly.
"So what did you need to talk about?" Xander asked, wavering between sitting beside the girls and standing.
"First, sit down already," Jessica ordered, and Xander immediately flopped onto the bench. "I saw you climbing out of the window." She smirked at the boy.
"I, um, well," Xander mumbled, looking rather embarrassed for being caught. "Elden invited me over since his father was going to be out of town. But then his father came home so he made me climb out the window."
"I'm going to assume that you know about what his dad did to him," Jessica said with her gaze focused on the ground.
"Wait! You mean you know?" Xander's head snapped up, and he stared at her in shock.
"I found out last year," Jessica answered. She tightened her grip around her girlfriend's shoulders.
Sandra placed a hand on Jessica's knee and squeezed it gently in an encouraging manner. She wasn't sure what the other two were talking about, but she could sense the anger and frustrated rolling off the blonde girl.
"Our families don't really talk that much. My dad has hated his brother for years. But every year I bring a cake to Elden for his birthday since I know his father won't allow him to have a party or a few friends over to celebrate," Jessica explained. "Last year when I went, I knocked on the door, but no one answered the door. I knew they had to be home because his father's car was in the drive way and Elden rarely goes anywhere after school when he knows his father is expecting him to be home. So I took the key from the turtle hidden under the flowers near the doorstep and let myself in. When I neared the kitchen, I heard his father start yelling at him." Jessica paused, removing her arm from around Sandra's shoulders so that she could bury her face in her hands. "He said if Elden didn't start behaving, then he would do it to him again. I confronted Elden about it the next day and eventually I got him to tell me about the rape."
"I keep trying to get Elden to tell someone who can help him, but he won't," Xander said, frowning as he dropped his gaze to his hands. "He thinks his father won't do again. It was a 'one time thing.' But I can't stop thinking that his father will do it again. He did it once. What's stopping him from repeating it?"
"And he probably made you promise not to tell anyone," Jessica mumbled as she bit her thumbnail in thought. "But I didn't make a promise to keep it a secret. I could tell my parents about it. I'm sure they'll do something to help him. My dad said his brother went to jail a couple of times already. I was silent because I wanted believe it won't happen again. But…" She frowned, looking down the pathway. "His father got fired from another job recently. I don't think he's told his wife and Elden about it. My dad has seen him drinking like crazy at a bar. It's possible he'll repeat past wrongs again."
"We have to tell someone quickly then." Fear shone in Xander's eyes. "His dad sounded pissed when he came home." He met Jessica's gaze and frowned. "I-"
"Would have said something if it weren't for that promise," Jessica finished for him with a smirk. "You felt you couldn't say anything because it would be betraying the trust Elden has in you. He must have a lot of trust in you if he actually told you about his dad. I think he only told me because I'm family and pressured him into it." Jessica stood, taking Sandra's hands and dragging the other girl off the bench. "We'll walk you home before going back to my house to talk to my parents." She pulled Xander off the bench as well and locked arms with him and Sandra as they headed toward the boy's house.