The Crossroads Betwixt Life and Death

Chapter 26; Sleep - A Universal Cure All (Vlad's P.Ø.V)

The morning passed uneventfully as I sat in my office reading through file after file after file. My secretary ventured in several times but not after I tossed my mug at the door. Perhaps it had been a little harsh of me to frighten the poor woman, but I was up to my elbows in paperwork and she kept bringing more in! No sooner had I completed one file, ten more would appear! And once again, for what seemed the hundredth time, the phone rang...again. I tossed aside my pen and the file I was reading as I reached for the receiver.

"What?!" I growled down the phone.

"M...Mr Masters?" a timid voice asked.

"Yes?"

"M...my name is Livia King, I'm just...calling from Gravesend High School about your enquiry..."

"Ah," I sighed. In the confusion and in my anger I'd forgot all about that. I'd called several private schools regarding Daniel's education, I'd looked for one that was as different as it was possible to get from Casper High in the hopes that he would focus on adjusting rather than reminiscing. But schools, as a rule tended to be very similar to others, and it was only the most expensive ones that different if only because of their supercilious attitudes.

"If this is a bad time I can..."

"No, it's fine," I told her, but I heard a quiet sigh; clearly the thought of further conversation with me didn't thrill her.

"Well...erm...considering the...err...special circumstances...Daniel Fenton...has been offered a place in the school. If you and Mr Fenton could come in for a meeting with Principal Davidson..."

"And how soon would the boy be able to start?" I asked her quickly.

"I'm only passing on the message, sir, but I assume if all goes well then he could start on the following Monday."

"Very well," I agreed.

"Erm...we had a cancellation meeting for tomorrow at 10 am, could you make it then?"

"Yes, fine."

"Okay, thank you, good bye," she said rather cheerfully just before I slammed the phone down. Just recently it was one thing after another; no sooner I'd be thinking about my ghost problems and then other, more mundane ones would arise, making me lose my focus for the original issue I'd been pondering in the first place. It was infuriating!

I flicked open my laptop and opened the school website. 'Gravesend High', it declared in bold, 'A spirited place to study'. The school wasn't as upscale as I would've chosen if given more time but this one would have to do for now. At such short notice and with the boy's less than impressive grades I'd been lucky to find a school at all, let alone one with such a good reputation as this one seemed to possess. Of course, I knew that Daniel had his reasons, however ridiculous for his declining grades, but they weren't to know that he fought ghosts all the time.

I took up my pen once more before I jumped in surprise and dropped it again. "AHHHHHH..." a loud scream came from outside and I sighed in annoyance; was I never to have a minutes' peace again? I strode quickly from the room and out of the building onto the street where I saw the Box Ghost and Klemper. They were flying quickly down the street hurling boxes and snow balls respectively at something clearly chasing them.

"You won't escape me now!" a deeply amused voice shouted and Skulker emerged from the far end of the street. I wondered when the ghosts would return to haunt this town; several days without any ghostly interference at all would obviously be too difficult for them.

As Skulker raced after them he glanced across at me and I glared back, daring him to attack; but he knew better than to do so. So he merely flew after his 'prey' without turning back to me. A crowd had gathered while others were attempting to flee the scene and I rolled my eyes at them; they lived in a ghost infested city and some still found the beings terrifying, you'd think they'd be used to it by now.

"Look, up there!" a person shouted to the crowd and pointed up at the sky. I too looked and saw a black dot fly closer and closer to the scene.

"It's Inviso-Bill!" a young boy shouted.

"No, you idiot! His name's Danny Phantom!" another corrected and I scoffed. But I had to look twice to see if it actually was Daniel; he'd spent so much time hidden away in my manor that I'd wondered if he'd thought he was being kept under house arrest.

Once Daniel drew nearer I heard people begin to discuss the recent disaster that he made the boy an orphan. Some claimed that the ghost boy had been present at the time of the accident, others even swore that he was to blame for their deaths which only angered me further.

"Will you be my friend?" Klemper loudly asked the boy.

"Err...sure..."

"Really?" the ghost asked.

"No!" the boy shouted and soon the ghost was frozen in sparkling ice.

"You cannot defeat me! For I am the Box Ghost, I..." the Box Ghost was also quickly frozen.

"...Yeah, yeah," Daniel muttered with a sigh.

"Ghost child..." Skulker smiled.

"I have a name, y'know," the boy said but Skulker ignored him.

"My trophies don't get an input," the ghost hunter smirked and charged at the boy but before he got far, a small missile like blast hit the ground below him and knocked his jet powered suit off range.

"Prepare to get your butts kicked, ghosts!" a female voice called out.

"Oh, boy," Daniel muttered to himself just before the girl - Valerie, flew over the roofs of the buildings still using the red suit I had given her. She quickly attacked Skulker again and blasted off the jet pack completely and he flew away in an uncontrollable pattern into the clouds. She then turned to Daniel.

"Hey...err...this isn't what it looks like," Daniel said quickly.

"Looks to me like you're all doing what ghosts do best; terrorising my town!" the girl yelled.

"Yeah, see, that's what I meant, I'm not actually...whoa!" he just about reacted quickly enough to avoid another attack, "Will you listen to me!"

"I don't listen to ghosts! Especially one's like you!"

"I know, I know..."

"Yeah, exactly, I...wait...what...you're agreeing with me?"

"Well, I...hey, watch out! Pointy cardboard, six o' clock!" Daniel pointed quickly in the direction of the girl.

"What're you...owwww..." the girl yelped as the box hit her her head from behind. She turned back to see the now- unfrozen Box Ghost hovering with an evil grin...or an attempt at one.

"Did he just...throw a...box at me?" she questioned.

"...he does that," Daniel nodded. As the mayor I probably should have been hiding by now, but the fact of the matter was this fight was highly entertaining, and I clearly wasn't the only one who thought so; there were still dozens of people hiding behind building corners to watch and laugh.

"You should be trembling with fear, for I, the Box Ghost, have succeeded in sneak attacking the ghost boy and the human female. And now, with the aid of some ferocious bubble wrap, I will...ahhhhh!" he screamed as Daniel's small ecto-blast knocked him off his feet and he flew away, disgruntled.

"I'm really not in the mood, can we just wrap this up?" he sighed, "...Oh man, was that a bad pun or what?" he - I believe the term is - 'face palmed.'

"Why won't anyone be my friend?!" Klemper called out as he broke free of the ice and flew away.

"Man...I'm so outta here," I heard Daniel sigh.

"Hey, you're not going anywhere except back where you came from, spook."

"Y'know, ghosts were human at some point so I am where I came from right now," he replied.

"Not in my book!"

"Whatever...later Va...I mean...err..." he said and flew into the sky, then vanished.

"Don't just 'whatever' me and then disappear, ghost punk! Get back here!" she screamed and flew off after where she believed he'd gone. But now, with the 'show' over, the crowd dissipated and I too, returned to my office.

(Danny's P.Ø.V)

Man, was that the most ridiculous fight I'd ever had or what?! Skulker, the Box Ghost, Klemper, and then Valerie...what gives?! And to top it all off I had an audience...including Vlad! Klemper hardly ever left the Zone and what the heck was Skulker doing hunting him anyway? He'd really got weird taste in 'trophies'; the dude was totally psycho...but then, weren't all ghosts totally psycho?

I sighed as I flew invisibly through the park as I watched people laughing and talking and just living their lives. I'd been flying round the town all morning, I'd been getting really tired of just sitting in bed all day, or sitting by the window or lying down somewhere in the house, or...well, y'get the idea. Vlad had left the house for work which had left me alone...alone and bored.

I needed something to do, or I'd just start remembering everything, and I'd be living it as well, so I'd have to see and feel it everything all over again. So I'd decided that after whole day of circling the city I'd get so tired that I'd just fall asleep and not even have any energy left to dream anymore...But I had a long way to go; it was barely midday. And then of course my ghost sense had gone off and without thinking I'd gone looking for the ghosts responsible...I hadn't been expecting an audience that big, even Vlad had been there.

Maybe it was too soon to start fighting ghosts again, the voices in my head, i.e my family, had said 'go for it', but I wasn't so sure. I wondered...again...if I should tell someone about them...maybe Vlad...or maybe not...he'd think I was nuts. I thought I was nuts! I definitely wasn't gonna tell my 'therapist', I mean, she was a nice person...but she was a therapist for crying out loud.

"'Course you can tell Vladdie!" my dad's voice said in my head, but I put my hands over my ears to try and block it out.

"Danny, Vlad could help you, y'know," Jazz said...clearly the hands over the ears thing wasn't working at all. It was really weird, I liked hearing their voices but at the same time I knew I shouldn't be...both hearing them and liking hearing them. Sometimes it...kinda scared me. So I tried focusing on something else...maybe then I wouldn't hear them anymore. I tried thinking hard about the poem that Vlad had found, I tried remembering the words...it was the last few words that really stuck with me.

'...thus be lost evermore…'

What kind of creepy ending to a poem was that? And what the heck did it mean? Did it mean death? Or just literally lost? Was it a metaphor? Was it mean for Vlad and me, or just Vlad, or just me? Or was it...

"Argh!" I yelled; all this was giving me brain ache! How was I supposed to translate a stupid poem when I didn't even like poetry? And I sure as heck couldn't understand it either!

After a while I started floating through the narrow alleyways that somehow managed to stay dark even in the daytime. I used them a lot more than I probably should, but since I was half ghost...half dead...there wasn't much trouble I could find in them that could hurt me...unless it was a ghost of course. I made my way through the dirtiest most nastiest backstreets on the city limits and eventually I was staring down at Amity Park.

On the one side was green woodland with straight roads leading to the next towns, and Amity itself on the other. The busy city centre and the houses leading out into the backstreets which eventually disappeared into nothing. A typical, ordinary, everyday town...except for the ghost thing. It was hard to believe that so much had happened to me in a place that looked so...dull...from up here. A happy, but weird childhood, an awkward half finished teenage life, getting ghost powers, fighting ghosts, making (half) mortal enemies..and then, of course...being orphaned...and taken in my by former arch-enemy. What a life I'd had so far...after all the shit that had happened lately though all I wanted right now was some peace and quiet. But I doubted I'd get it, not with Clockwork and the Observants still up to...whatever it was they were still up to.

My life was doomed to be one big, weird, awkward mess! I know most teenagers say that...but since I was half dead I think I had a right to say it more than most kids my age.

It was really easy to lose track of time; time didn't tend to matter to me much anymore, and trying to measure it seemed even more pointless. I was soaked to my ectoplasmic bones when I finally came down from the clouds -literally. And without really thinking I headed back to the manor - home - I guess. Before I went inside I phased the rainwater off me and floated though the door and into the sitting room. Whereas my parent's sitting room had been messy and jumbled, Vlad's was ordered and neat. There were tons of book just sitting on shelves, and I decided that since I had nothing better to do, that just flicking through one or two couldn't hurt. I quickly pulled out the first ones I saw and took a seat at the table.

As I stared down at the monochrome words things started to go blurry, I shook my head and stared to read again. After another minute I felt my eyelids start to close so I shook my head again. But no, I was fighting a loosing battle...wasn't this what I'd wanted? Sleep? Right...sleep was good...sleep was...

.

.

.

I must have fallen asleep. I didn't remember dreaming. The next thing I knew was the quiet sounds of someone walking past me. "Hmmm..." I muttered. Stupid sensitive ghost hearing, I was trying to sleep!

"Sorry, kid, didn't mean to wake you," a woman said and I frowned. What woman was there in the manor...oh right...that woman.

"S'okay..." I said, and I guess it was my fault since I'd apparently fallen asleep in the sitting room rather than my bedroom. I sat up and tried to stretch the out the knot in my back from having slept in a chair. I looked across to see the doc walking into the kitchen slowly.

How long had I been out of it? If the doc was back from work...then...what time had I got back again? Right...like I said...time...not really important. "So...err...how was...err...uh...work?" I asked slowly after I'd got up and walked after the doc. It was a normal enough question but not one I'd ever had to ask the 'friend' of my no-longer-arch-enemy before. I felt kind of weird in asking it, as well. I mean things were anything but sunshine and rainbows in my life as it was without adding more awkwardness to it...but how else could I act around this woman? I didn't know her!

She looked back at me as she flicked on the kettle with a strange look, I'd bet it was confusion. "It was...tolerable..." she said with a raised eyebrow and I had to blink to make sure it was the doc in front of me and not Vlad. Did these people practice that look in a mirror or something, 'cos I swear by Skulker's green frog head that it was exactly the same look! Creepy or what?!

"...Right, good...erm...then...yeah..." I nodded and since I couldn't think of anything else to say I turned round and left. I went up to my room where I found that I was still tired...flying all day'll do that to ya...and it was what I'd meant to do in the first place. I closed the door behind me and flopped down onto my bed. I really loved this bed. It was like a big, fluffy marshmallow, or a cloud, or some thing like that. It probably cost a small fortune like everything else in this place knowing Vlad...but I was too tired to really care.

I forced my eyes open for a second to look at the clock...5:55pm...hmm...not late really...but Iwas soooo tired. I phased my shoes off and pulled the quilt over my face to block out the afternoon light from the windows. I could've just closed the curtains, those things were so thick they were like black-out curtains...but that meant I'd have to get up. I really didn't want to do that. So I didn't.

"Hmmm," I sighed as I pulled the covers closer. I hoped I wouldn't dream again...dreams weren't good anymore. They probably wouldn't ever be good again...

...My eyes closed again...they wouldn't stay open...

I heard Tucker's voice again...and my mom...and my dad...Jazz...Sam...maybe I was just imaging them...it wasn't real...everything was dark...

...Everything was dark...

(Vlad's P.Ø.V)

I returned home to find Evelyn alone in the sitting room at the table, mindlessly eating from a bowl of strawberries, grapes and apple slices whilst flicking through a book.

"He went upstairs, I went looking for him earlier t'see if he was hungry but he's asleep in his room," she said before I'd even opened my mouth, "I didn't have the heart to wake him up."

"I have to take him to a school meeting tomorrow," I told her after a minute of silence.

"Then I think you'd better wake him up and tell him, don't you?"

"I do, indeed," I replied. There was just no possible way to predict the boy's reaction to the news once I woke him though.

"I really shouldn't stay here long, it's bad enough the kid's life's so messed up, ne doesn't need me here making things more awkward for him..." she began in what displayed all the signs of an emotional outburst.

"If you recall, Evelyn, both were my ideas," I cut her off. I was not best suited for emotional outbursts that could be avoided. "And under the circumstances both were entirely logical ones."

"Maybe, but things looked a bit quieter today, it'll probably be okay tomorrow, I swear I'll get out of your way..."

"You and I both know that the the members of the press don't give up after a mere 48 hours," I said sternly.

"But I..."

"No, it's fine," I sighed, she was being unreasonable. It made more see for me to keep he there where Clockwork wouldn't be able to play is mind games. Unfortunately the downside of that plan was that should anything happen here she would be right in the middle of it. But she was caught up in this just by her association with me...the more I thought about the issue the more irritated I became. And the last thing I wanted to do after getting home was argue, especially when the situation was as...unusual as it was at the moment.

"Well...then at least let me help with...something," she said.

"You are a guest, not a servant," I told her. The woman was like Daniel; they were both exasperating to converse with. "You don't need to do anything."

"What about...laundry...or cleaning, or cooking, I could help with..."

"I don't require a maid, or a cook, I have plenty of both set to arrive tomorrow afternoon on schedule..." I said. Which reminded me, was it such a good idea to have them here under the current circumstances? I looked at Evelyn again and she seemed ready to retaliate before I spoke again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must wake Daniel," I left before giving her a chance to say another word.

Sure enough, I found Daniel deeply asleep, his quilt covering him and with the curtains still drawn. I walked quietly across to the bed and sat on the edge, and still he didn't wake. I reached over and shook his shoulder

"Daniel, wake up," I ordered him, and sure enough there was a quiet moan of disapproval from the child.

"Huh...wha's 's'at..." he blinked, "...Vlad...is it morning?"

"No," I answered, "It is a quarter past six in the afternoon."

"Oh...then...go away...please..." he pulled the covers over his head again and I sighed. The clearly wasn't going to be easy. I angered and confused him further by taking back the quilts from his face. "What gives? Can't I sleep anymore?"

"By all means you can sleep, after you let me speak," I said. It didn't escape my notice that he showed clear signs of exhaustion; the fatigue, his eyes,his attitude..

"Can't it wait till morning?" he yawned.

"No, I'm afraid it cannot," I shook my head simply.

"Oh..." he rubbed his eyes and sat up uneasily against the headboard, "Fine...okay...I'll bite...what is it?"

"Our agreement with social services, you remember, part of which entailed you attending school and as such, " I spoke quickly so as to avoid any interruptions, "One has been found, and we are both required to attentnd a meeting with them tomorrow morning. If all goes well, you start Monday morning, after which you are required to speak to speak with doctor Goodfellow again; once per week is the absolute minimum, you understand."

"Oh..." he repeated, "...Right... I didn't think..."

"What?"

"Huh? Oh...nothing, I guess...so...err...tomorrow morning...so...what time tomorrow morning?"

"10 o'clock," I told him.

"Uh-huh...well...'night, then," he yawned and tried to sleep once more. However when I showed no signs or sounds of leaving he sighed and looked up at me. "Forget somethin''?" he asked me. And still, I continued to ignore his atrocious elocution, it would need to be corrected at a later date, but because there were things more important than merely his poor pronunciation at the moment I did nothing save roll my eyes at the child.

Aware that I was still sitting stationary, I walked across the room and closed the curtains mechanically. I didn't need to ask what he'd been doing to make him so tired, he exhibited every sign of exhaustion. I was well familiar with the effects having been so before in my youth from over-practising my own powers; clearly Daniel had done the same. Knowing him he'd exhausted himself by flying all day after his ghost fight earlier today..or worse, he'd gone looking for more fights. It was a foolish notion; with our lives at risk here, how could he be stupid enough to purposely get this exhausted, hence - unable to defend himself!

"Daniel, I know it's difficult for you, but please put some thought into your actions..." I began.

"What?" he shouted and sat bolt upright. Ah, good, I now had his attention.

"If we were to be attacked now you would be useless, both to me and to yourself...no..." I stopped him when he made to speak, "I know you better than you think, you've clearly exhausted yourself for no good reason by taxing your powers all day. It belies the fact that you do in fact have a mind under that adolescent façade," - despite the fact that you are the child of Jack Fenton - I left unsaid as I continued, "And it more importantly, puts us both in a dangerous position."

"I didn't, I..." he began, clearly trying to lie his way out of this.

"Please, don't insult me, child, I'm more than twice your age, and I have far more experience with lying than you ever will, so don't attempt it here," I said coldly. Gone was the rather gentle intention I'd entered the room with, it was replaced by anger at his stupidity. What if the Observants had attacked him while he was like this, he probably wouldn't have the energy to morph let alone make a decent retaliation?!

"...Okay..." he muttered, "Yeah...I did...I was flying all day, even before the fight...an' I didn't think about that..."

"Clearly not," I sighed.

"But there's no point tryin' to fight ghosts who can see the future, I don't get why you're try'n t'outsmart 'em anyway, it's not like we can," he replied and I sighed. Did he think I wasn't aware of that fact? It wasn't out of obstinacy that I was acting as I was, though certainly it was a small part. I had no wish to die, I had no wish to lose, I despised losing, and I certainly despised dying.

"Perhaps, or perhaps not," I replied.

"No 'perhaps' about it, Vlad, y'cant always win," he told me. How quaint, I was being given an important life lesson by an adolescent.

"This isn't a fight I intend to lose, and neither should you."

"I don't care," was his half-hearted reply.

"Hmm," I scoffed quietly and rolled my eyes in the dark. "Goodnight, Daniel," I said eventually and left him alone to sleep. I walked the hallway down to my own room and removed my jacket, tie, and my watch. The rest of my clothes soon followed and I took a long, blisteringly hot shower, leaving me ample to think, though whether this was a good or a bad thing was rather debatable.

Once again everything from the past week replayed in my mind, cursed as I was with a photographic memory this was certainly a bad thing. My own behaviour had altered so dramatically in such a short time it was almost schizophrenic, and I had to admit it was a shocking turn around. And not only in the respect that Daniel was no longer - as he so quaintly put it - my 'enemy', any longer. But also in that I had been acting rather...well, at least rather less egocentrically than I had in at least 20 years, and considerably more law-abiding in as much time.

It wasn'tmay intention to go, as they say, 'cold turkey'; illegality was who I was, it came as easy as breathing to me. Granted it hadn't always been so, but I was too set in my ways to change now, I was too old and stubborn. I was surprised that Daniel hadn't attempted to breech the subject with me again, he was a stickler for laws - both moral and legal, and in that respect we were, and always would be complete opposites.

I didn't brake the law for need, or desire, not anymore, at first it was to start my fortune, now it was to escape from 'ennui'; the boredom. I had everything man could ever want and yet it bored me half to death at times...and no, the irony of that statement did not escape my notice...but it was true.

I had been so convinced that I was destined to rule bigger, and greater things than merely Amity Park...when had that become less of an issue to me? Was it now suddenly of less importance than before? Nonsense. Preposterous. Ridiculous...or so I thought. Although focusing solely on attempting to stay a step ahead of murderous ghosts who could see the future was an awfully time consuming task which left little opportunity for hobbies. And I was concerned for Daniel's well-being...someone had to be since he evidently was not.

It would be impossible to reconcile a continued life of crime and a life with Daniel, no matter what the motivation behind said crime was. I found it difficult to think further on that particular issue...choosing one or the other wasn't impossible...sticking to it however was another matter entirely.

Returning to the sitting room 5 minutes later I found the large television providing the only light and sound in the dark, quiet room, illuminating the reclining figure of Evelyn on my couch. I took up residence beside her and together we stared mindlessly at the screen without speaking.

I found myself feeling a similar exhaustion to Daniel, the whole mess in which I was now trapped left me in a perpetual state of weariness; a cycle which would soon be impossible to break. It left me with a difficulty in sleeping, I was half awake in anticipation for sudden attacks while the rest of the night I was thinking. Thinking too much meant very little sleep, a difficulty I'd had since I was a child, and to which I could find no cure.

"You hungry?" Evelyn turned to me after a long, but by no means uncomfortable silence. She was standing and more or less shuffling toward the kitchen, meaning my answer would be irrelevant.

"Not particularly, no," I answered honestly.

"Oh, well, tough," she shrugged and walked quickly through into the kitchen, "What d'you have in? I'm not the world's best cook, but it's the least I can do since..."

"I told you, I don't require a cook," I repeated forcefully.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not one, isn't it?" she replied, and I knew further attempts at dissuasion would be meaningless and tiresome. I wasn't an expert on women, but I wondered if all the female species were like that.