Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note (10/13/2020): To "Dp-Marvel94" I'm glad you're enjoying Whisper's character so far! And fun fact, some of her powers are a nod to my main Danny Phantom OC Owen Ravenwood from my fanfic "The Grimoire" since he has the power to gain insight on strong feelings from someone's past, though his powers work a bit differently. I'm giving Whisper similar powers for a reason though so you'll see why eventually! Oh, and before I forget, I may have gotten a bit carried away with the uh extra 'hidden room' in Vlad's mayoral mansion so let me know if you guys think it's a bit much or just enough of a fun addition to the mansion that I can get away with it. Not sure if I remember any details about the layout of the mansion but the plan was never to stay there forever in the previous story so it's ironic I'm bringing it back but as Valerie's new home.

Update (10/15/2020): I'll eventually try to go back to the previous story to see if I messed up anything about the layout of this mansion's interior, but I need to fix a few details here in this chapter since I actually made my own map for Vlad's mayoral mansion for the inside so, yeah. I'll be sharing that over on my tumblr soon since those details were driving me nuts! I try to stay as accurate to the show as possible but I really don't want to have to watch a bunch of season 3 just to figure out the EXACT layout of most of the rooms.


Chapter 32: In A Manor Of Speaking...


Valerie's POV

The next day turned out to be a pretty busy one but in a good way. I captured two ghosts on the way to school and that afternoon not a single one made it past the shield so I left them alone for now. And at lunch, Tucker surprised me by stopping by to see me and he thanked me for telling Sam about Danny waking up from his coma and about offering to help them out. It was nice to see that Tucker finally seemed to be feeling like his old self again and he told me about his plan to sneak into the gym storage room today while Sam and I are cleaning so we could all talk as a group.

I teased Tucker about him probably wishing we were cleaning the girl's locker room instead which made him blush hard and I laughed. Boys, they just never change, do they? Still, it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted from both their shoulders which made it easier for us to talk, even though during lunch when Sam was mostly all business. But that's to be expected though since Sam is more concerned about dealing with the problem so it's safe for her to talk to Danny again.

One thing we all agreed on though is that we have to keep this on the down-low so Vlad won't find out what we're up to. I don't want to get in trouble by doing this behind Vlad's back, especially my dad, but even though Vlad changed a lot because of Danny we know he still has a bit of a mean streak to him as far as the rest of us are concerned. And considering how wrong I was about Danny in his ghost form, I don't know enough about Vlad's old rivalry with Danny to know for sure how bad of an apple he used to be. All I have is Sam and Tucker's word for it.

Speaking of which, when I asked them if they had any ideas about another place we could meet up outside of school, I brought up how we're moving to Vlad's old mayoral mansion. And while we were talking about whether to meet at one of our houses after school Sam reluctantly admitted that they broke in there once looking for Danny so she already had a blueprint of the place. She seemed to know a lot about it from even before Vlad moved in so I was curious to hear what else she knew about it that he hasn't told us about.

That's how I found out that apparently this mansion was originally built in the early 1800s by the first mayor of Amity Park, Edgar Crane, who was a rich aristocrat that lived there with his wife, daughter, and two sons. After that I asked, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a hidden room, would you? Besides the lab and Vlad's training room I mean, because he hinted at there being another one that isn't on either blueprint. We're going to be visiting the mansion after school today so I can pick a room so I'm just curious if either of you knows about it."

"Well, assuming Vlad isn't pulling your leg I'd check upstairs because if he kept anything intact from the original mansion I think it'd be somewhere up in the attic or the third floor since Vlad's more of the 'spooky underground secret lair' type and wouldn't have much use for a room that just anyone could stumble across," Sam commented while keeping her hands busy moving boxes on her side of the room.

Looking up from his PDA where he was doing some research to help out, Tucker added thoughtfully, "By the way, didn't you tell us he's going to be turning Vlad's lab into a secret ghost-proof bunker? That's pretty smart actually."

"Thanks," I smiled, moving to the other side of the room to help Sam for a bit now that she was actually letting me with some of the heavier boxes, "We actually came up with the idea when we started thinking about how the whole town got pulled into the Ghost Zone once and we were all stuck at Fenton Works for a bit since it was the only place with a ghost shield at the time. Dad told me he's even going to begin discussing plans with city hall to come up with some secure evacuation methods so we never get trapped in town like that again."

Sighing heavily, I added, "Sometimes I wonder why so many people still live here when the whole town is practically haunted and ghosts make it so dangerous outside sometimes. Personally I really hope dad finds some good recruits soon for that special anti-ghost task force at Axion Labs so they can help protect this town. I seriously don't know how Danny managed to do all this ghost hunting by himself for so long."

"Hey, Danny had us too didn't he?" Sam frowned a bit defensively until we put down the box we were moving together and she admitted, "After Danny supposedly went missing, we broke into Vlad's house to confront him and make sure that he hadn't kidnapped Danny again. When we found out what was actually going on though we apologized to Danny and we were able to hold our own at least for a while to give him time to get better and deal with the whole Dan situation. But then the ghost activity suddenly increased again we couldn't keep up anymore and had to stop...

"Tucker even got hurt pretty bad once and sprained his wrist when we were dealing with Technus which is why we had no choice but to rely on you so much. Personally I still think Vlad instigated it to keep you and Mr. and Mrs. Fenton busy so you wouldn't have enough time to really look for Danny so trust me when I say Vlad's done a lot of underhanded stuff in the past and just because he's nicer to Danny now it doesn't mean the rest of us matter one bit to that creep. Not even you so be careful how much you trust him."

"Again? So, he's kidnapped Danny before?!" I asked seriously, "What's the deal between those two anyway? I know that somehow Danny's parents accidentally made them both half-ghost, but why is Vlad so obsessed with-"

"Hey, we can talk about all that later. For right now we need to stay on track," Tucker pointed out when we started to get off-topic, "The gym teacher is going to be back any minute to check on you so hold that thought for a second because I think I found something promising. It says here we can file to have the restraining order removed or at least move the expiration date to a sooner one. And if Vlad wants to extend it, I think he'll have to come back here to the state where it was issued. They can still reinforce it out of state though so he wasn't wrong about moving back home even while Danny was comatose being totally legal."

"Well that's just great like we need a reason for Vlad to come BACK here and ruin our lives even more," Sam groaned, taking a seat next to Tucker and leaning back, "I just really don't see any way around this apart from just waiting it out and hoping Vlad will forget to renew it. You said it yourself Tucker, if we get caught messing with any legal files or trying to let me sneak into a video chat with Danny, we're totally screwed. I knew this whole thing was a bad idea..."

Trying to smile encouragingly I said, "Don't give up just yet Sam, we're only just getting started and it's not like we're trying to figure this all out today. There's still time. But look on the bright side, now that he's awake if push comes to shove I'll just tell Danny what's going on myself. And if Vlad hasn't told him the truth already then Danny can tell him off and ask to have the restraining order removed. Danny might trust him now, but I'm sure that he doesn't want Vlad making it virtually impossible for you guys to ever talk again without giving him a say in it. That's just not who Danny is.

"And look, I know I overreacted before and that Danny really was pretty upset with you guys for not understanding the difficult position he's in or what Dan put us through, but like I keep telling you you're his best friends! So I'm sure Danny doesn't hold that argument before he left against either you. Things were already really stressful for him when you guys got into that fight so Danny losing control like that wasn't entirely your fault. It was just the tipping point of feelings that were already threatening to explode any second when he couldn't handle it anymore."

"That may be true, but I still feel like this whole restraining order thing is a slap to the face," Sam growled, clenching her fists, "I know Vlad's done a lot for Danny, but deep down he's also still a jerk and this was a low blow even for him. Is this his petty revenge for the hurtful things I said to Danny when he chose to trust Vlad despite the horrible things we know he's done to Danny? Sometimes I just can't help but wonder if Danny's still mad about what I said back then too and if it's possible that he's...letting Vlad do this to punish me."

Rolling his eyes and putting a supportive hand on her shoulder, Tucker snorted, "Come on Sam, you know as well as I do Danny would never do that no matter how mad or upset he is! Besides Val's right, we have to keep in mind that Danny just barely woke up from his coma so he might not even know about any of this yet. So maybe when he does find out about this we won't have to do anything because Danny will do the right thing and tell Vlad to back off. He's not going to let Vlad do anything he knows is wrong, especially not to one of his best friends."

Nodding in my direction Tucker continued, "Valerie also mentioned she has the address for Danny's new P.O. Box right? If it's too risky to do any hacking to change those files, maybe we can ask Valerie to send Danny a message from us since she's already planning on sending him something anyway. Think about it, since Vlad assumes we're still at each other's throats he won't suspect Valerie is helping us! So why don't we send him some kind of coded message in a letter with a hint to let him know that part of it is from us?"

I could tell Sam was still a bit unsure, but honestly, sending Danny a letter from them along with my package wasn't a bad idea at all so I winked and smirked, "You know what, I think that's a great idea. Besides, it's Vlad's own fault we had to get creative to try and find a way to fix things between you and Danny. Vlad will never see this coming since it's painfully obvious that you and I don't usually see eye to eye. So why would I try helping someone who usually hates my guts as much as his?"

At least, I hope not because it's also my neck and dad's job on the line if I screw up, I added silently to myself when Sam finally gave in and agreed to give this plan a whirl.


After dad picked me up from school once our latest cleaning session was done and the three of us came up with a plan to get a message to Danny from Sam and Tucker, we headed straight for Vlad's old mansion and I told him what I learned from Sam about its history. He seemed happy that Sam and I were finally starting to get along and offered to see if he could find out anything else about the building too from back before Vlad refurbished it when he became Amity Park's previous mayor. I told dad there was no rush and I was just excited to see the place because despite it once belonging to Vlad, the fact that we were moving into a mansion was pretty amazing...

I bet this place is even bigger than Paulina's, and that made me smirk. Maybe someday dad will let me have a party here since the place is so huge and I'm sure we'll be the talk of the town when they hear Vlad gave it to us as a reward for helping save Danny from that evil ghost. A party might even be a fun way for us to spend Halloween since we've learned that ghost activity seems to spike during that time of year for some reason, and the new security system should protect us and any trick or theaters. I'm sure Danny knows why ghosts love Halloween so once it gets closer to that time of year maybe I'll ask him.

"Alright, so you have your phone and a copy of the map with you, right? I'm going to see how the construction is going and make a few adjustments to the ghost shield, will you be ok on your own until then?" Dad asked and I told him I'd be fine.

I had to remind him that I pretty much have a built-in GPS in my battle suit so if all else fails I'm not about to get lost in here even without the map. After that, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and started to explore a bit. I could already tell when we drove up to the gate that this place was going to be huge, but holy cow. The entrance was pretty normal for the most part with rooms off to either side of at least four hallways total. And according to the map, the library was to the right of the front door and there was a dining area off to the left with a full kitchen with the lounge area in the room across from it.

Narrowing down my choices, I decided to head to the library first since that's where the entrance to Vlad's former lab was behind the fireplace. There were a few other rooms on the ground level, including the room I assume Vlad used as his public office to use during official visits while his personal study was upstairs next to the master bedroom which dad was having redone to combine the two into a single large room. It just went without saying that my dad deserved to get that room, but speaking for myself, I'm sure most of the other rooms are probably almost just as gigantic and I'm actually hoping to find a room upstairs too with easy access to the roof for when I go out on patrol to call my own...

As you can imagine the library was pretty boring right now since Vlad had taken all his books with him after moving so the shelves were totally bare. I doubt we had enough books to fill even ONE of these shelves so we're probably going to end up using them for display or extra storage space. I mean sure we might be living in a fancy mansion now, but dad and I don't like to waste space if we can help it which was also true even before being forced to live in that crappy apartment. The fireplace was pretty cool though, it was solid stone and big enough for a full-grown man to stand inside, which makes sense given that it leads down to Vlad's old secret lab.

I snickered when I remembered how dad tried to cover up what we were going to be using that room when we showed it to the movers so they could move some furniture down there for by saying he was going to turn it into a man cave. He wasn't wrong though, when we aren't using it as a bunker we could technically hang out down there since he's going to make sure it has everything we could ever need like food, water, restrooms, the works. Personally I'm just happy I'm going to have a bathroom all to myself again to do my hair without having to worry about time so dad could have a turn to shave his face in the morning. According to Vlad, almost all the bedrooms had their own bathroom attached so I could literally pick any of them.

Once I made it to the second floor where most of the guest rooms were, I stopped for a second when I remembered what Vlad and Sam both said about Danny staying here in one of those rooms before while he was recovering after he got shot in the shoulder with a new anti-ghost weapon by his parents. Part of me was curious to see if I could find any indication of which one Danny stayed in but, no, now wasn't the time for that. If I ever did find out which room Danny stayed in I seriously down whoever Vlad hired to clear out this place left any sign of Danny was there after they left since he was still considered a missing person at the time.

I felt my heart clench at the memory of hearing the news...

I still remember how utterly devastated Jazz was and how worried Tucker and Sam were too. But at the same time, they must've known at least some of the truth behind his disappearance, even then, they just couldn't tell the rest of us the truth for obvious reasons. And if word got out that Danny's parents had shot him point-blank while they thought he was possessed by a ghost-

Shaking my head I took a deep breath and told myself, "No, stop thinking about things like that just keep moving and pick a room already Valerie. Dad told me to pick one today if I can and I still haven't even checked the third floor."

After poking my head into a couple of the guest rooms on the second floor, I headed up one of the next flights of stairs then checked the map again. I was planning on avoiding the master bedroom since they're still working on renovating it, but I know one of the rooms next to it leads to Vlad's ghost training room. I had no reason to go there yet but I might as well find out where it is. Besides, it should be easy to figure out which one isn't Vlad's old private study which as I said is currently being converted into a home office that connects directly into the master bedroom...

As it turns out, the entrance to the training room was on the left hidden behind a fake wall where you had to know exactly where the door switch was to get inside. But being half-ghost I doubt Vlad had that problem and since he could just phase through the wall. That would explain why the door was so thick and heavy when you opened it manually, he must've done that so this wall wouldn't sound any different from the rest if you tapped in and began listening for something hollow. Satisfied, I closed the heavy door behind me and made my way to the third and final floor before you get to the roof which you could only access from outside. Well, not counting the lounge area up on the roof patio that was tucked away behind a raised section of the roof above the master bedroom in the front of the builting so that anyone looking at it from there would mistake it for a third chimney to keep away nosy neighbors.

The third floor was pretty much totally uncharted territory since Vlad only used these rooms for random things like storage or, I dunno, maybe a bunch of trophy rooms? It's harder to tell what they might have had in them before since they were entirely empty now, but when I reached the first room on the right at the top of the stairs I was surprised that this room looked a lot older than the rest. It was as spotless as the rest of the mansion though so someone must've come in and cleaned it recently, but it still had this...retro feel to it.

What excited me though is that directly in front of me I saw that it had a full bay window seat in the shape of half a hexagon. I've always wanted one of those so this room seemed very promising! It had three long cushions on top that were super soft and large enough to sleep comfortably on. The seat cushions even lifted up so you could store things inside or maybe hideout if you really wanted to since the right side and the left were long and wide enough for at least two people.

While testing out the seat by plopping down on it, when I looked up I noticed something looked a bit odd with part of the roof so I looked around and eventually found a button on the very edge of it inside the right-side bookshelf at eye-level, which was also built into the wall like most of the others we've found so far. When I pressed it, a sturdy wooden staircase lowered to reveal a very large rustic looking attic room with a skylight overhead and a door that led outside to a small balcony just above the rooftop patio.

Unlike the room below where I just was, this relatively small attic area looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Absolutely everything in there was caked with layers of dust. There were even a couple of random things still stored inside that looked totally ancient, like the large wooden chest I saw resting against the far wall that looked like something taken straight out of a movie about discovering hidden treasure. Then there was an ornate desk with a chair, a couple of candlesticks, and loose papers littered all over the top so something told me this used to be someone's haven from the rest of the mansion when they needed some peace and quiet.

Well, that settled it, this was totally the room for me because it had everything I was looking for and at least one thing I didn't. And when I climbed back down to check out the bathroom it was very spacious too but obviously a bit more modern than the rest of this room which still felt very Victorian. There was also a massive closet on the other side so I was totally sold. I was so excited I almost forgot where I was until I looked at the map to mark down where the final hidden room was...

As soon as I remembered that this is where Vlad used to live when he moved to Amity Park, it made me wonder why he never did anything with this room or if maybe this is where Danny stayed while he was here. Either way, I bet Danny would have loved this room since there were two great spots close by where you could just sit and look up at the stars on a clear night. And the best part is the bay window and balcony attached to the attic room both face out into the backyard so you don't have to look at the rest of Amity Park on the opposite side.

"Danny..." I whispered, walking up to the window, sitting down, and leaning my head against the cool glass as I sighed, "I really hope you're finally happy wherever you are. And maybe someday once you feel ready to visit us again I can show this amazing view. After all, Amity Park will always be your home and I wouldn't be here in more ways than one if you hadn't stepped in. I just hope this ritzy mansion can become the kind of home I can be proud of where my dad and I can make a fresh start just like I'm sure you are in Wisconsin."


P.S. I tried doing more research on restraining orders for this chapter but it's more complex than I thought so don't take what I write as gospel because I could be wrong because there's a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo. So if they can't find a way to fix the issue normally I'll have to figure something else out since Danny still doesn't know about that since he kinda has other things to worry about. That's why I'm banking on my little scheme with the secret message from Valerie will work. And lastly, we're going to be doing a time skip in the next chapter to speed things up so I'm just giving you a heads up!