Breakfast was an... interesting affair. I was just eating my pancakes when Mr. Fenton clapped me on the back, causing me to flinch and jolt forward.

"Good news, kids!" he crowed. "We're going to Wisconsin to see Vladdy!"

"Uh, Mr. Fenton, are you sure we're all going to Wisconsin...?" Sam seemed put-out, and I wrinkled my nose in distaste as I thought of returning to Wisconsin willingly.

"Of course!" Mr. Fenton really was excitable. "Danno's friends are practically Fentons!"

So that's how I ended up in a ghost-hunting vehicle going 90 miles over the speed limit, terrified out of my mind and digging claws into the seat of the "RV". Tucker's parents had amicably agreed to let their son go to Wisconsin, and Sam's parents were just glad to get her out of their hair (even if it was with the Fentons). And, of course, my parents were out of commission for things like this. So off to Wisconsin we went.

Shadow, too, was terrified. Of what Vlad might say, of what Vlad might do, of what Vlad might plan. Would he try to make it out that I was his charge? Would he physically keep me from leaving? Would he find some way to make time to come to Illinois and kidnap me?

All too soon, we were at Vlad's front door.

"Ah, Maddie," Vlad said warmly. "Welcome to my humble abode." Barf.

"Hey, Vladdy!" Boisterous as ever, Mr. Fenton didn't even seem to notice that Vlad hadn't said anything to him. "Thanks for inviting us here!"

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Jack," Vlad responded coolly. "And I see you've brought Daniel and his friends." His eyes rested on me for a moment longer than necessary, then did a sweep of the area. "Wherever is Jasmine?"

"Oh, Jazz is busy applying for jobs and colleges," Mrs. Fenton responded. Jazz had opted to stay home under the guise of needing to be ready for the next school year, but unfortunately us high schoolers couldn't use the same excuse. "This is Rose, one of Danny's new friends."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Rose," Vlad said with a slight smile, holding out his hand. Instead of taking it, I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Masters," I answered blithely. "Sorry if I don't shake your hand, but I don't really like having my hands touch other people. It's a sensory thing, I'm sure you know how it is."

"Indeed," Vlad said, taking his hand back and instead trying to charm Mrs. Fenton with a smile. "Come in, come in..."

"It is nice to see you again, dear child," Vlad said smugly, sitting in his stupid throne-like chair in his stupid sitting room. "How have you been since you ran away? I never thought to see you come back willingly."

"We've been perfectly fine," I responded, a smirk on my face. I ignored the twitch on his face at the 'we'. "It's almost like camping, except there's an old nutjob chasing you."

Vlad and I were playing chess; the old man had gotten me into the game and it was easy to hide our conversation. He moved one of his rooks and took one of my pawns, but I merely shrugged. I had never been good at the game anyway.

"I'm sorry to hear that, child," Vlad hummed, thinking over his next move. "Perhaps next time you'll stay here with me."

"Sorry to be a disappointment," I chuckled, allowing a lazy grin to appear on my face, "but I prefer to be by myself."

"Oh?" Vlad won the game in a single move, cornering my king. I shrugged in defeat and began to set the board up again. "Then I suppose you'll be leaving Daniel soon?"

"Unfortunately," and here I scowled as though in concentration (since Vlad was 'nice' enough to let me make the first move), "he and his friends seem to be quite attached to me. I tried leaving around the beginning of the summer, and I was practically weighed down with their silly human emotions."

"Then perhaps I will have to visit Amity Park to see you, dear child," the old halfa offered. He said it like a question but phrased it like a sentence.

"Perhaps you will," and that was the end of that conversation. We could be perfectly civil to each other when we wanted to, and Vlad played the part of calm old billionaire very well. I likely didn't play my part of excited teenager very well, but I was never excited anyway.

"Hey, Vlad." My voice came out as a whisper.

"Yes, dear child?"

"Why is it... that sometimes I just can't feel anything?"

The startled look Vlad gave me disappeared under a guise of calmness as he made a move on the chessboard. "Whatever do you mean, Rose?"

I shrugged, troubled. "Sometimes... I just can't feel anything. I'll be in a fight with another ghost, and then... I just won't be able to feel anything. Mercy, anger, compassion... it all disappears under a burning emptiness."

"I don't really have an explanation," Vlad said after a while. "But, you should see a real therapist. Perhaps you will find an answer there."

Vlad began to pack away the chessboard as I sat on the couch, eyes unfocused. When he was done, he stood up and held out a hand to me. I took it and let him pull me up. Wandering away, I paused as I reached the stairs. I looked back to the old nutjob, standing calmly in front of the couch.

"...Thank you, Vlad. For the advice."

As I began my trek towards my room, I heard his faint response.

"Anytime, young one."

:)