One: the body did not like me having multiple dried Thai chili peppers last night. Lesson learned. (As in only have one or two at a time.)
Two: I know the reveal should have been more explosive, but that's coming for later honestly. This is more of a mellow chapter as well; my brain said to keep it gentle so the next one (or two) give the biggest bang for the buck.
Three: I'm tired, man. I'm so tired. Like mentally and emotionally. If anyone is doing amazing right now, let me know your tricks. Or review? Both is nice. Please.
Thanks for the reviews and faves and alerts, everyone. Really. The support means more than you know. =)
7. Mile
...could you walk in my shoes...?
It should not have been so hard.
He lay in his room on the bed, eyes closed and the lights out. Someone could have passed his room and thought him asleep, but he really could not tonight.
It felt wrong to.
The night felt like a blur when dinner finally came around. It was a 'pick from the fridge' sort of night, even with their "guest", and Danny was so thankful for that. He could not stand to be in the same room as anyone right now; his nerves were on edge; his mind was overloaded with what he could dimly assume was exhaustion. He was still rather sluggish from the last few days, not to mention the entire event in the weapons vault with his mom.
The whole thing felt surreal.
Not to mention the crazy old bastard that was sleeping in the makeshift guestroom; he probably was not sleeping though, either.
It was Friday; the torture and entire incident in Colorado had taken place on Monday. In that timeframe, he had been through… two fights. Two encounters with his parents as Phantom. A few days of school, a mental health day, ectoplasmic burn wounds that had leaked into his human half, and now the revelation that his mother knew his secret and had been curious about Vlad and what his deal was.
Someone, some god or ghost must have been laughing at him right then, he knew they had to be.
Spilling the beans about Vlad was not right; even if he had managed to tell Maddie what the hell was going on, she probably would not have believed him for an instant. It was almost something that needed to be seen to be believed, much less by both his mother and his father. The whole story was not something that could just be spilled in two or three minutes. He needed time, he needed to figure out the perfect moment to expose Vlad for who he truly was.
The only question was when could that even happen?
Danny lay one arm over his eyes, the stairs muffled and creaking as someone climbed them to go up to bed or- maybe to even check on him. He opened one eye and reached down to grab his phone, looking at the home screen. Zero new messages from Sam or Tucker, or even Jazz in another room- somehow, this did not surprise him. He set the phone back down and yawned with his eye closing again.
As far as he was aware, his mother was going to try and talk to Vlad that night- the only real question was how it was going to go. Maddie was a capable woman; she could handle herself. He had seen that firsthand when they had first gone to Colorado way back when Plasmius had experimented on the ghost animals. Yet he could not help but worry as he remained laying down.
He should have been more worried about things.
Again, though- emotional exhaustion was the bane of his existence. He was so tired; he wanted nothing to do with Vlad, nothing to do with the current situation of his mother telling him she knew.
Frankly, all he wanted was sleep. Nothing more, nothing less.
And yet…
Jack had gone upstairs that night to bed, and Jazz had also made her way to her bedroom for the evening. It left Maddie alone with her thoughts- and headache- on the couch, one light on next to her. It haunted her; her conversation with Danny in the weapons vault, in hindsight, might not have been the best idea. Even with the jabs and light talk they had made with each other, she still felt something welling up. Maybe it was Danny's disappointment at himself or her own disappointment that she had gone in for the reveal too quickly.
Her question about Vlad had gone unanswered as well... well, not entirely unanswered. She should have expected as much when she had asked Danny what Vlad's relationship was to Plasmius.
The uncomfortable silence spoke volumes, truthfully. She should have guessed as much, though. He sort of just shifted on the floor, moving back to lay against the wall and shook his head.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Neither would Dad."
It should have stung, but she knew he was right. She probably would not have believed him for an instant, even with his track record of what had happened when they both were stuck in Colorado some time back. It was too surreal; it could not be true.
...is what she would have said a year back. A year and a half ago, she would have called her son crazy.
Yet, as she sat on the couch with thoughts racing through her head, her child in his bedroom and her old college classmate in the apartment with them, she considered these words. Danny knew what he was capable of; Maddie merely had an inkling. That inkling told her he was capable of more than he let on, and he would not hesitate to flex such prowess should the need arise. The flirting with her during the college reunion, the disdain for Jack whenever they were alone- Maddie was not sure why she never saw it before.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Maddie closed her eyes, her own voice steady even with nerves. "Make it a dime."
The sound of someone sitting in the chair across the way from her got her to gently exhale and open her eyes; Vlad was there, wearing that scarlet robe and holding a glass of some sort of alcohol. He leaned back in the chair, tilting his head. "You should know that I could do that; I am made of money."
"If I wasn't so suspicious of what's going on, I'd laugh."
The air between them was thick. Maddie adjusted her position on the couch, pulling her legs up under her and to the side. Vlad sipped his drink.
"We saw the Specter Speeder trajectory, Vlad. It said it went to Colorado, and we saw Danny's friends leave with it... and come back with Danny." She gazed at Vlad, keeping herself steady. "Which means he was there. And the only place I know of in Colorado where he could have gone to is your cabin where we crash-landed last year."
Vlad lowered his glass from his lips, raising an eyebrow.
She leaned on the armrest. "Jack discovered he had ectoplasmic burns on his body that haven't been healing either. One on his hand was most prominent, but it makes me wonder where other burns might be and why he's been hiding them. Not to mention why the medicine cabinet is being shifted through repeatedly for pain medication." Maddie tilted her head. "I would like to believe you had nothing to do with such a rapid change, but-"
"-you believe him being in Colorado has something to do with me." The bachelor set the glass on the table, steepling his fingers together. "It has something to do with my cabin, with all my power, something to do with me."
Maddie never flinched. All his power with money, fame... or something else? "And if I do?"
He merely watched her, falling silent. She knew he was weighing his options against her; she also knew that it was a blessing to be in the same room as him and not be sniped or such.
She inhaled, pushing up from her position on the armrest now. "If you had anything to do with Danny's wounds and whatever happened to him in Colorado, I will find you and make you regret it."
The threat was clear as day, and Vlad knew it. He knew what she was capable of; he knew she could go toe to toe with him as a human. As a ghost, though, she would be begging for her life. He took great solace in that right then. "Is that right, Madeline."
"It is." She should have felt threatened. She should have been scared, but this was her child they were talking about. Jack would protect Jazz with everything he had, and she would do the same with Danny. "And while I don't know what he's hiding or what you could have done to my son... or what you're hiding that Danny won't talk to me about..."
Vlad's steepled fingers seemed to collapse into two hands gripping each other; he forced himself not to let his eyes flicker, closing them.
"...when I figure it out, you won't be able to hide anywhere." Maddie's eyes hardened. "Not here. Not the Ghost Zone. Nowhere."
The billionaire could smile only just. "This is a dangerous path for you to walk down, my dear."
"I hunt ghosts, Vlad. I don't know of anything more dangerous than that."
The only light on in the house was the one in the living room, Vlad swirling what little drink he had remaining in his glass. It had been ten minutes since Maddie had gone upstairs, and he stared at the melted ice before closing his eyes. "You're very poor at hiding, Daniel."
"Only took you fifteen minutes," came the strained retort.
There was a flicker before Phantom appeared in the air above the couch, arms folded. He glared at the bachelor with the same gaze Maddie had given him only minutes before; Vlad never moved.
"I assume you're not here for a business meeting and more bullshit with my parents and me." It was not a question.
Vlad set the glass on the table calmly, looking up at the floating half-ghost and the lack of a burn mark on his face. "Hn. So, it only appears in your human guise," he mused, completely ignoring the accusation. "Interesting enough. I never would have assumed as much, but…"
Phantom inhaled sharply. Of course Vlad would not even bother listening to him; of course he would fixate on something so trivial right now that did not matter to the boy. He was a stupid asshole with stupid issues and petty bullshit, and he was afraid of it. He was terrified of what this man could do right now, and it pissed Phantom off more than anything.
Alternating between anger and fear seemed childish as well, deep down.
He was still just a scared and stupid kid. Wasn't he?
So Phantom just gritted his teeth and exhaled through his nose. "What. Do you want?"
"Loaded question."
"Don't play fucking games with me, Plasmius, You're not here for a bus- "
Vlad waved a hand at the growl, shaking his head. "Yes yes, I know. I'm not here for a business meeting, it's something to do with your parents, your mother thinks I'm at fault for all your burns and the trip to Colorado. You're absolutely terrified of me, but of course you need to put on your brave little hero guise to face me lest you absolutely lose yourself in front of me, and… hn. Have I missed anything else?"
The chill in the room could be felt by both; Phantom slowly lowered himself from floating in the air and landed on his two feet without a word. It was almost unbearable how much power the billionaire held over him right then, and Vlad was basking in it like the sick asshole he was. It did not have to be so bad and get this far, but when the man was working to make a clone out of him and stole him away for a sample of him mid-morph…
"Oh. Yes, my plan, my brilliant little scheme I've magically concocted in the last ninety-six hours of you ruining my greatest project." Vlad smiled; Phantom swore he saw fangs. "See, I would tell you my idea of what's about to happen here, but really. What's the fun in that?"
Phantom's eyes flashed. "You call sleeping in my house watching me squirm and my mom chew you out fun?"
The man adjusted his left sleeve absently. "I wouldn't call it fun, but that was the first word that came to mind. So yes. For now, it's fun."
It was frightening how calm he was now compared to fighting him in the skies. Phantom wished it were more physically based than verbal.
"Do yourself a favor, Daniel," he added, almost gently. "Remember what I said. I think it will come in quite good practice soon enough." He stood up from the chair, smiling once again as he walked to the guest room and out of sight.
Phantom stood there in the light of the one lamp lit, his form changing to one of a disheveled teenage boy with a burn on his face. He stared at the darkness, his mind echoing with one grim statement that he could not stop recalling.
"H͜͡ǫ̛w ̢͘҉f͘͠ar͘ ͢͝ẁ̡̧ill ̡͝ỳ͝où͘͟ g̸̸o w̧̛͠h́̕҉en y̸̛ou͘҉ ha̵̕͜ve̕ n̸͘o̴̴̕th̀iǹ̕g̸ to los̵è? ҉͘"