QS: Larten has taken Danny out of the area where Danny bit Ember, I think I forgot to mention that last time...anyway, Danny has been told that he is a vampire. How will he react?

A/N: Hey folks! Sorry for the wait, I had my last week of school just pass, so I've been busy. Updates slower than usual unless plot bunny's attack, explanation at the bottom! For now, hit it, Clocky!

CW: WE DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS!

VFR: someone's angry...read on, folks!

Chapter 21:

Danny stared with wide eyes for a moment at the stoic vampire, trying to comprehend everything at once. A vampire? Him? So what, now he was half-ghost, half-human, and a vampire? He knew he was bad at math, but he did know that wasn't supposed to be possible (so bad at math, he didn't even realize this problem wasn't even in that jurisdiction). He whipped his head around to see the screaming Skulker trying to revive Ember from her coma-like state. No, it wasn't possible! He couldn't have done this, this wasn't him. He took a step away from it all; the blood, the ectoplasm, the ghosts, the vampire; and did the only thing one could do faced with crazy left and right.

He laughed.

He doubled over, clutching his stomach as he tried to hold in the stitches in his side. He never saw the raised eyebrows aimed at him from all those conscious around him. Probably wouldn't have cared that the one thought running simultaneously through Larten and Skulker's minds was "Is he insane?...Probably."

"Ok!" Phantom yelled through fits of laughter, wiping a tear from his blue eye. "I get it, Master, I'm Sorry!" he raised himself to his full height, a huge smile on his visage as he paraded around the small clearing he and the other ghosts had made with their crash. He spread his arms out to the side as if he were giving himself up for open fire. "Lydia? Sarah? This is one of your games, right? I learned my lesson, I won't misbehave!"

The humor in his eyes was slowly being overwhelmed with panic as nothing happened. Nothing moved except himself and the silent heads watching him. Not even a wind blew through the area to stir the surrounding foliage.

"Come on, guys! Jokes over!" he ran to a tree, pulling at a low-hanging branch until it broke off and he threw it away. He expected it to go through another tree, or give some other hint that this wasn't a real world.

It would have made sense, the girls with him under Freakshow's service had played a trick like this once before. Lydia used her tattoos to make whatever he touched feel real, Sarah made the tattoos and surroundings look real. But there was always a glitch. It would make sense.

If the tree trunk hadn't splintered when it hit a tree.

All humor left the boy as reality hit him with the force of a freight train. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees. His torn up jeans scraped against the dirty leaves as he tried to hold himself together. He was aching all over, the bandage around his waist throbbed with his rapidly beating heart and his head pounded with realization.

"This can't be real," Danny moaned, clutching his black hair. "There's no way this is real."

A thin hand placed itself on the boy's shoulders, causing ice eyes to rise to dark browns. The scared face showed an odd mix of emotions that the young halfa couldn't place, but he was oddly comforted by it. Those dark eyes spoke of long years alone, lost, unsure of where he belonged in this vast world; something that Danny could understand completely.

"Come with me, Phantom." Crepsley said, stretching out a hand for the boy to grasp as he got up.

Danny eyed the hand, but had lost the suspicion in his gaze some time ago. If this man, this vampire, had wanted to kill him, he would have. He accepted the hand and pulled him up to his feet.

"It's Danny. Call me Danny."

A smile flickered over Larten's stoic features, but he said nothing as he led the boy into the forest to start their journey.

As master, and assistant.

(Line break!)

Violet eyes scanned over paper after paper, searching for the umpteenth time for anything the owner ight have missed over the past two years.

The pages were that of a case file of a murder case: Date missing, evidence of demise, time of death, the whole nine yards. But those purple eyes weren't interested in facts proving the kill, she wanted more. So much more. She wanted evidence of life. That the smiling picture paper clipped to the file belonged to someone still breathing. Somewhere, that boy was alive, and Sam Manson would find him.

"Samantha?" a sultry voice asked at the doorway to the study where the Goth had stationed herself. She stiffened, a reaction of times long past combined with being interrupted.

"What do you want, Vlad?" she asked, and thought he words could have been interpreted as menacing, the tone and tiredness lacing it spoke the words as though simple question it was. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Dinner is ready if you cared to-"

"five more minutes." She looked up from the stack of papers scattered around her. "I'm so close, Vlad, I can feel it. Look," She jumped up from her seat, waving the man to a bookcase filled with dark, leather bound tomes as well as copies of a police files. She pulled out a brown book and opened it to a marked page. "See this? Frederich Isak Showenhower." She covered the latter half of the last name and folded the page to reveal a new name.

"It makes out Freakshow. I'm so close," She trailed off, knowing that the dark blue eeys following her had gained an interested glint.

Sam had moved into the billionaire's home the summer after Danny's disappearance, telling her parents that she wanted to learn as much as she could from the business tycoon. In reality, the two had been working together to gather information on the supposed murder, feeling deep down that it wasn't true.

But the evidence didn't look good. Sam and Tucker had seen him leave with the insane circus master, but eh a week later, Danny's body had been found in a ditch and created a murder case. The case went cold two weeks later, coffin six feet under, people mourned and forgot. But not Sam, and certainly not Vlad. They shared the belief that the boy was alive. And they would prove it.

"Where may I be of help?"

If it was the last thing they did.

A/N: I really adore every review, it's like a little burst of happiness! Hehe, so…give me some more? Tell me what you think of my little peek into Sam and Vlad? Or Danny's reaction, was it realistic? Gah! I must know!

So about the updates, yeah, I got a job recently (yaay!) so updates slow. Plus less computer time over the summer, so we shall see. Updates only with my dad again… -.-'

Oh! And look at the cover picture! It was done by dear Sholay, so thank her!

Reviews:
Thanks to: GracyPhantom, Dawnhallj, daisuke Kazamatsuri, Chopsuzi, The Dp Fangurl, Seantriana, lion799, cocoa85715, Riqis Inna Sunja, Book Phan44, Dreams2Paper11, jeanette9a

Dani Lover: perfect timing, wouldn't you say? If you get this message…I hope you do. Thank you so much, for your compliment and review! Any questions, please ask.

Elise: thank you so much!

You all are so awesome, please send in more reviews? I love them!