Chapter 2

So . . . my little experiment failed. This is my first time writing something without a buffer, and I was hoping to inspire myself to write a chapter every week but . . . I severely underestimated life.

On the bright side, I really am not going to give up on this. It's just going to take longer between updates.

Also, before anyone asks, the idea behind this chapter is that, in the show, Jack and Maddie managed to put an Op Center, a lab, a ghost portal, and torture chamber in their house. I think it's safe to say they're experts at renovating houses as well as hunting ghosts.

Hope you're all well!

Vlad exited the hospital with Jack and Maddie at his side.

He wondered how long they would metaphorically be on his side.

It was not a mistake when Vlad had first started hanging out with the only two ectoology majors in the entire campus. He had lost most of his family (or at least the only family that mattered) long before he got to college. The chance that ghosts existed and had a world of their own was tantalizing to a man in his position. And when he had gotten to know Jack and Maddie, they had proven to be pleasant characters (or at least Maddie had).

But they had quickly assured Vlad that ghosts were likely not sentient beings. Their most recent experiments showed that the substance known as ectoplasm just preserved an imprint of brain patterns. They hadn't yet found any blob of goo that could string together words, much less retain memories. Maddie hypothesized that the intelligent, humanoid ghosts of haunted legends were either extremely rare or completely made up.

That's what worried Vlad the most. If this ectoplasm really was overtaking him, if they couldn't extract it, what would he become? Would he slowly lose his humanity and his sentience to become a hungering mass of glowing power? Or would he become the exception, an intelligent ghost unlike anything they had heard of? He didn't know which one was more likely. He didn't know which one he feared more.

(But honestly, he did. He was just reluctant to say he'd rather retain his coherence, even if he'd be more of a threat.)

To some extent, it was lucky that Vlad was his father's sole heir. If he hadn't inherited his father's entire modest fortune, his mother certainly wouldn't have given him enough money to rent his own place. But Vlad was a sensible young man. He hadn't spent his sudden bit of wealth on an extravagant place, though he had, thankfully, invested in someplace private. Vlad had never been fond of much company. That was his mother's craving.

The guest house was on a tiny corner of a large property on the edge of town, far enough that Jack and Maddie had been able to sneak in and make some . . . modifications. Vlad looked for them as he entered, but the small cottage looked as humble and bare as he had left it all those months ago.

"Come on, V-Man," Jack said enthusiastically as he pushed past Vlad to lead the way. "Wait 'til you see what we did to the basement!"

"But . . . there isn't a basement." Vlad frowned, trailing behind.

Jack took him to a closet, practically tearing the door open. Inside, the various items Vlad had once organized within lay about in chaos. Vlad turned to look back at Maddie. She was beaming, so there had to be more to see than the mess.

"Careful, Jack," Maddie warned the bumbling oaf. "We already had to fix the door twice. Now show him the entrance."

With some effort, Jack squeezed into the tiny closet. There was a beeping and clicking sound, like buttons being pressed. "The password is 'open sesame'!" A more pneumatic hiss filled the air, and Jack continued further into the miniscule closet. Vlad poked his head in, seeing the passage that had now opened. It would have led into pure darkness if Jack's bright orange shirt wasn't reflecting light like a beacon.

(And if Vlad hadn't suspected that he was gaining some ability to see in the dark.)

"What exactly did you add?" Vlad asked with some trepidation.

"Well, we had to be honest with ourselves," Maddie began to explain. "We've already established this needs to be done in private. And we need at least a level 2 clean room to be safe. So we built a new room underground!"

"We got some good stuff from the university too!" Jack's loud voice echoed back. He seemed to be headed down, although his bright colors were almost lost to the darkness. "They were just throwing the old stuff out!"

Vlad knew he was already paler than he should be, but he was certain he was growing even paler by the second. "What part of 'this is a rental, please keep things temporary' did you not understand?" he asked faintly.

"We'd never be able to research this in a reasonable amount of time with a temporary, makeshift lab," Maddie said. "Now we'll be fully equipped to solve your problem! Come and see!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the passageway. Vlad's heart skipped a beat at the touch. The other thing in his chest sang happily too. Vlad pulled his hand away, choosing to follow at distance.

They went down a flight of steps. A light turned on at the bottom. Vlad almost didn't want to see what they had made beneath his home. The couple that owned the property were nice enough. They had said he could do what he wanted with the décor. But what would they say to an underground lab?!

Taking a deep breath, Vlad stepped into the light.

It was, indeed, a lab. A fully stocked, pristine lab, and a large one at that. A workbench spanned the length, full of glassware and microscopes and some ancient looking equipment. A third of the room was partitioned off by thick glass walls; the containment area they had decided on. And in the back, enclosed in its own glass container, was—

Vlad's breath hitched in his throat.

A flash of green—

A pain like no other, as if his very soul was being ripped out of him—

But it was stuck, so it kept being pulled, kept being hurt—

"Vlad?"

Vlad blinked, grounded by Maddie's voice. It was laden with concern. He looked at her, into her purple eyes.

"Are you all right?" she asked, though her tone suggested it wasn't the first time she had asked.

Vlad nodded, taking a breath. That was when he realized he hadn't been breathing for all those . . . minutes? No, that couldn't be right. He could hardly hold his breath for a single minute. That was why he had never been fond of swimming.

"I'm fine." His voice was strained, but not breathless. "Why did you bring that thing here?" he hissed. He reasoned it was only fair that he could hardly stand the sight of the thing that had robbed him of months of his life.

"We've been scanning it every day since the . . . the accident," Maddie said, worry still in her eyes. "The area inside the portal is still ectoplasmically active, nearly unstable if our calculations are right. We couldn't leave it in the school where it might go off again. But on the bright side, studying the specific ecto-energy of the portal can help us figure out what it's doing in your body."

"You mean it can turn on again at any moment?!" Vlad demanded. "You've destabilized reality!"

"No, Vladdie! It's contained within the portal! It's only a tiny hole in reality!" Jack offered.

"A tiny hole in reality is still a hole in reality!" Vlad argued. "And now that hole is here in my house!"

The world flashed red, and Vlad took a breath to calm himself down. His friends may have added a basement full of dangerous ectoplasmic equipment to his home, but they had done it to help. He was lucky they were there at all.

He spoke softer this time. "Just . . . Do you know what the government would do if they knew you had all this?"

Jack and Maddie didn't answer for a minute. They looked a bit shocked at his outburst. Just when Vlad began to worry that he had ruined everything, Maddie answered.

"I understand," she said. "But that's the risk we already agreed to take."

Vlad nodded, looking around the lab again. "I know. I appreciate it." The silence began to press in again. "I guess I should bring some toiletries into the containment area—"

"Toiletries?" Jack asked, confused. "You're in your house, Vladdie! You can finally sleep in your own bed!"

"But—"

Maddie shook her head. She was smiling again. "If nothing drastic has happened in the past few months, then you're fine for now. I thought it would be comforting for you to stay in your own bedroom for now, even if it is under quarantine." She nodded to the stairs. "How about you have some lunch while Jack and I set up for the first tests?"

Vlad didn't bite his lip. He had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. But he hoped Maddie could see the appreciation on his face. The thanks in his smile. And maybe, someday when this was all over, he'd let her see the love in his eyes.

Maddie watched Vlad head up the stairs. She frowned. She had seen a lot of emotions in his eyes since she had known him, not everything she could place. But that moment when he saw the portal . . .

She hoped the red glow was only a temporary side effect.

"Jack," she said when Vlad was out of sight. "Are there still some moving blankets around? A big cloth of some sort?"

"Yeah, I think we left some lyin' around. Why?"

"I think we should cover the portal when Vlad is down here."

"Good idea! I'll go grab one! The lab coats are in the closet, and I even got the HAZMAT suits you wanted!" Jack bounded up the stairs.

Shaking her head at his enthusiasm, Maddie opened the closet he had mentioned. Even before she clicked the light on, the bright orange mass caught her eye. She pulled it out, almost surprised by its massive size. Jack really had managed to get his hands on some HAZMAT, and in his size no less. But why he would choose 'danger zone orange' was beyond her. She glanced at the tag.

Oh, he had made it himself.

Maddie smiled, examining the stitching. It was very well done. She vaguely remembered him mentioning his love of needlework. She hadn't known he was this talented though. Now curious, she flipped on the light. An unintentional sigh of relief escaped her lips. Her suit wasn't orange, but a slightly less dramatic teal. Pushing the orange HAZMAT suit back into the closet with difficulty, she took out the smaller one. Was it even her size? It was smaller, but Jack didn't have her measurements. She took off her leg warmers and pulled the suit on. It fit quite nicely. In fact, it was just about perfectly conformed to her body. And it was surprisingly comfortable for HAZMAT.

"It fits!"

Maddie jumped, turning to find Jack back in the lab, already spreading the blanket over the portal's glass case. It was amazing how he managed to move so silently when he wanted to. Though that wasn't often.

"Yes, it fits. Thank you. It's very comfortable."

"You look real good in it too!"

Maddie felt herself blush. "Thanks."

"I'm already working on another set of HAZMAT suits," Jack continued. "I don't think the regular material is enough protection from ecto-energy. I want to add some of my momma's blood blossom leaves to the weave. The Fenton's have used them to ward off ghosts for generations!"

"Blood blossoms, hm? We'll have to test them out someday. But we need to focus on Vlad right now. The sooner we figure what's happening with him, the sooner we can stop it."

"Makes sense, Mads! Lemme put mine on!"

Maddie jumped out of the way as Jack made a beeline for the closet. It was a reflex she was only just beginning to get used to. She had realized very quickly that any friend of Jack's had to be on high alert at all times.

It didn't take him long to pull the HAZMAT suit on despite his girth. His was also skintight. The sight wasn't as awful as Maddie had expected though. Who knew bright orange HAZMAT could make someone look so good?

Blinking several times, Maddie looked away and went over to the workbench and began turning on the machines they would be using that day. Judging from the loud sounds of beakers and other supplies clattering together, Jack was assembling everything else they would need.

By the time they were done, Vlad was coming down the stairs again. Maddie watched him as he entered. His shoulders tensed slightly when he saw them in HAZMAT, but they relaxed when he noticed the portal was now out of sight.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Maddie answered. "Are you ready?"

He walked resolutely to the examination table. "Does it really matter what I want? This has to be done anyway."

"You're still human, Vlad," Maddie insisted. "We're willing to slow the pace if it makes you more comfortable."

Vlad looked at her, looking ready to argue, but stayed silent. He offered his arm to Jack, who was already holding several syringes.

The examination began.

Their purpose today was to investigate exactly how ecto-contaminated their friend was. They had determined ectoplasm was in his blood at the hospital, and Maddie was now wondering about his eyes, but they didn't know for sure if it was throughout his body. And wherever it was, they needed to know how it was affecting him. Who knew what ectoplasm could do to the heart? The brain? Only once they had samples could they begin testing ways to purify him.

It would be a long process. And sadly, it was lengthened by their less than stellar equipment.

"Jack, I can't get this NMR to work," Maddie complained, fiddling with the knobs more roughly as time passed.

"Oh, here, use this!"

Maddie reached behind her to grab what Jack was handing to her. She wasn't expecting to feel the smooth shape of a ceramic mug. She held it in front of her, frowning. It really was an old white mug. 'World's Greatest Mom' was printed in pink on one side.

"Jack, this is a mug."

"Yup!"

Maddie turned around to try to catch Jack's eye, but he was busy with his own work. Vlad shook his head, rolling his eyes. But there was a smile on his lips.

"That's Jack for you," he said.

"Jack," Maddie tried again. "How did you get the NMR to work last time?"

He looked up, nonplussed. "I used the mug. Just bang her right on top whenever the reading gets fuzzy! Here, let me show you!"

Vlad scoffed. "Delicate, scientific machinery doesn't just start working when you hit it."

Ignoring Vlad, or more probably not hearing Vlad's words at all, Jack took the mug from Maddie and slammed it down on the top of the machine. The screen sprang to life, lines as crisp as if it were new. Vlad gaped at it, open-mouthed.

"There ya go! You might have to keep hitting it every few minutes, but she works like a charm!"

Jack gave Maddie back the mug and went back to his own area of the workstation. Chuckling under her breath at the unlikely solution, she proceeded to exam the spectra the NMR spit out. She did have to hit it a few more times, but eventually she had the data for each sample. Jack was already done by then. They sat together at the table and cross-checked each other's work (or rather, Maddie doublechecked both of their work).

This wasn't looking good. This wasn't at all what they had expected.

This wasn't supposed to be possible. Maybe they had made some mistake. With all of their data. Why did it all concur? This didn't make sense!

"Well?"

Maddie stopped shuffling through the papers, looking up at Vlad. For the first time since she had met him, he looked so insecure.

"You've been redoing the calculations for the better part of an hour," Vlad continued. "How bad is it?"

His voice brought her back to reality, to rationality. She couldn't simply proclaim all of their data was wrong. Every single test corroborated the rest.

The ectoplasm wasn't just in Vlad. It was part of him. His organs had learned to function with it over the months he had spent in the hospital. His biology was no longer working normally. It was no longer working like a regular human's.

Maddie cleared her throat, but Jack spoke before she could.

"The ectoplasm is everywhere! It's at the levels we predicted for a fully corporeal ghost!"

Maddie winced at Jack's wording. She watched Vlad's reaction, but he was stoic. Unmoving. At last, a small sigh escaped his lips.

"I'll bring my bedding to the containment area."

"Vlad, don't—"

"Don't what, Maddie?" Vlad asked dispassionately. "We already agreed to the protocols, remember?" He stood from the examination table, looking her in the eye. "Just promise me you'll fix me."

Maddie nodded. "Of course we'll do our best! We won't give up."

"Yeah, V-Man! We're with you all the way!"

A small smile pulled at Vlad's lips. He looked at both of them, but his eyes lingered on Maddie when he said, "Thank you."