Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: To "mermermeow" thanks for your recent review, but just so you know I'm not planning to include any romance in this re-posted version of "Haunted" as a way to prove to those jerks who kept giving me a hard time about it that the story itself is still good even without it. If I hadn't done that, it probably would have ruined the whole thing for me to the point of deleting everything I have that has anything to do with it for good since it felt tainted by their toxic attitude. I was really upset about the whole thing since it had nothing to do with the reason some friends ditched me at a bad time...

I might write something more adult again in the future, but for now, just working on salvaging this fanfic is enough for me. It's too soon for anything else. But at least I've started updating and redoing a bunch of character artwork too. So yeah, I'm just taking things one step at a time. Also, at least the story traffic is working again so I know more or less how many people are reading this to keep me motivated.

Chapter 4: Entrapment

Danielle's POV

I felt...uncomfortably warm, that's the first thing I noticed when the drugs started to finally wear off a little and I slowly regained awareness of my surroundings again. I was being carried by someone. We were...moving, no, running. Why? What were we running from...?

There were raised voices too and lots of shouting, but it all sounded so distant and muffled, like I was underwater, and I could only make out a few words at a time. They were shouting things like "ghost," "get everyone out of here," and it sounded like my parents were fighting something. And lastly there was the sound of cruel laughter. Then silence fell over me like a soft blanket as I slipped under the drug's influence again.

And that's all I remember.

Everything after that was a dizzying blur of slipping in and out of consciousness until finally, after what seemed like days, I heard my mom's voice and slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't open them all the way since I felt incredibly woozy, but I managed to ask hoarsely, "Mom...? Is that you? Where-where am I...?"

"Shh, it's alright, your safe now honey. Try not to talk too much yet. You've...been through a lot. Vlad told us everything," she began grimly.

Thankfully, before those words could really sink into my groggy brain, mom explained as she gently stroked my hair back, "Oh Dani, we never meant to make you feel like you couldn't trust us to the point where you refused to ask for help even when your life was in danger. Vlad told us how you were attacked by ghosts the night before the reunion and asked him not to tell us because you were afraid we'd punish you or wouldn't listen in the first place, assuming you were just making up excuses to leave early. I'm so sorry. Vlad's right, we've...we've been putting too much pressure on you so it's our fault you got hurt so badly."

Sighing, she continued, "As for what happened at the reunion itself, from what we were told, you were dancing with Vlad on the other side of the ballroom when you had another meltdown so he tried to take you somewhere quiet to talk about it. But then, just when he finally managed to calm you down, those ghosts launched a surprise attack, knocked you unconscious, and almost kidnapped you."

Mom sounded a bit choked up and wordlessly pulled me into a hug as my eyes drifted over to dad who grinned at me and added excitedly, "You should have seen your mother in action, those ectoplasmic scumbags didn't know what hit them!"

After mom shot him a hard glare, he continued a bit more sheepishly, "Anyway, we're lucky V-man was there to help us out. He saved your life Dani. It was his quick thinking that gave us time to get everyone out and chase those punks off."

Saved me? Yeah right! He didn't save me, he caused all this! I'm never trusting that lying asshole again! I thought viciously, scanning the room for that crazed fruitloop, wondering what sort of stunt Vlad pulled to make himself look good in front of them while I was down for the count.

"Where is he?" I asked them, but I didn't realize until too late that my question came out as a low snarl before I could hide my true feelings of resentment towards that creep.

Noticing my aggravated tone, mom chided, "Now Dani, I understand you're upset that Vlad broke his promise to keep the first attack a secret from us, but this is serious. You could have been killed! These past few months have been difficult for all of us, especially after the accident, which is why we think you need some time away from home. So your father and I had a long discussion with Vlad about this and agreed this is the best place for you right now because if anyone will understand what you've been through, it's him."

"What?! You can't! You can't leave me here with-!" I panicked, bolting upright in bed, but even that small amount of movement made me sway dizzily and I gripped my head, closing my eyes to stop everything from spinning. Damn it, looks like those stupid drugs are still in my system. But I have to hurry and...change their minds!

Worried, dad reached over to steady me with one of his large reassuring hands and said, "Whoa there little lady, it's not a good idea to move so fast!"

Grimacing I shook my head, looked up at him, and protested, "Please, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the random ghost problem I had, but I just...want to go home and forget any of this ever happened. Don't just decide things like that without asking me how I feel. That's what...got us into this mess!"

I leaned heavily on dad's arm, struggling to keep it together since the whole room seemed like it was lurching from side to side as if we were on a boat or something. Even with my eyes closed I felt awfully woozy, but I had to stay conscious at least long enough to convince them the whole ghost-thing was a one-time fluke and they're wrong because I'll be much safer at home, not here, and especially not around a psychopath like Vlad Masters. I mean we have our own ghost shield! My parents weren't serious about leaving me in the care of some rich guy they haven't seen in twenty years that I barely heard about a few days ago who happens to secretly be half-ghost too. They wouldn't dare!

Why the hell would they even agree to this instead of just dealing with the ghost problem themselves? They're professional ghost hunters right? Putting us in mortal danger kinda comes with the territory of being born as a Fenton! Besides, if they could let Jason stay at a friends house until this supposed 'ghost problem' smoothed over, why couldn't I do the same thing?

Anything would be better than staying with the asshole who drugged me!

Before they could say anything else to make me feel even worse, the man of the hour himself finally appeared. And when he saw me awake, Vlad smiled that damn Cheshire-cat smile, and beamed, "Ah Danielle! I'm so glad you're finally awake. How are you feeling, my dear?"

Glaring at him as hard as I could manage, I hissed, "Go away Vlad. I don't want to talk to you you lying piece of-"

"Danielle, you know how I feel about swearing..." mom warned, sighing and looking over at Vlad sympathetically. "I'm sorry, she's still a little disoriented and upset about our decision. Don't take it too personally."

"It's quite alright. On that note, I've already called for a private doctor to come take a look at her. They'll be here any minute. That said, I feel I do owe her an explanation as well, so if it's alright with you, would you mind giving us a moment?" Vlad asked politely, acting all worried and innocent like the good old uncy-Vlad they thought he was...

But I knew better.

Looking unsurely between the two of us, my dad eventually nodded and smiled brightly, "Sure thing V-man!"

Now, normally I'm not the clingy type, but when my dad turned to leave I wouldn't let go of him. I had no intention being left alone with Vlad now, or ever again. Unfortunately for me, I was still too weak, so he never even noticed. As for mom, she thanked Vlad again for 'saving me' on their way out, and they just...left me with him. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach when they left me with the last person on earth I wanted to see, and the most dangerous ghost I've ever faced.

And we both knew there was nothing I could do about it.

In the end, I only had one card left to play against Vlad.

To be completely honest, I was terrified of what might happen if I had no choice but to actually go through with it just to thwart his plans for me, but not even my parents could ignore me if I told them that. So before Vlad could so much as think of walking towards me, I backed away from him as much as humanly possible and told him viciously, "If you come one step closer I swear I'll scream. Then I'll tell them all about who you really are and what you did to me!"

Vlad raised an eyebrow at me, he crossed his arms and smirked, "Oh really? That's your brilliant plan Danielle? Come now, you're a smart girl. You do realize that if you expose me, you expose yourself, don't you?"

For dramatic effect, he made a few sparks fly from his hand and chuckled, "Besides, what makes you think you can transform yet, hmm? For one thing, you don't know how much time has passed since I staged the whole ghost attack at the reunion, and for another I could have just as easily lied to you about expected the duration of the drugs effects. I may have even given you another dose while you slept to keep you from doing just that and escaping. True, I'll admit it is a more or less untested drug since I was in a hurry to subdue you and your powers would have burned off a regular tranquilizer too quickly or perhaps not have even effected you at all, but so far the results have exceeded my expectations."

Just to prove to Vlad I was dead-serious with my threat, no pun intended, with some effort I managed to form the transformation ring by some miracle and it slowly started to split apart at my waist as usual. But I let it fade because the effort was making my stomach hurt and even if I could transform all the way, I didn't want to risk wasting my energy in case I couldn't do it again in front of my parents. My bold display had the desired effect though when it wiped the smug smile off his face and a look of astonishment flitted across his face instead.

Giving him a dirty look, I bluffed, "Guess again cheese-head. Looks like I do have enough power to transform. More importantly, I know my parents well enough to realize they wouldn't be this worried over me getting attacked by a couple of stupid ghost birds. Now a big, scary, vampire ghost with a flair for drama though...well that's a different story. My parents can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I know they'll love me no matter what. And if that's what it takes to stop you, then fine. Either way, they aren't going to be happy when they find out you lied to them, hired ghosts to attack my dad before the reunion even started, then drugged their kid on top of all that before attacking a room full of former college classmates."

"You're making an awful lot of assumptions here, my dear," Vlad responded casually, hands resting behind his back as he countered. "How do you know I showed myself to anyone as Plasmius? For all you know, I managed to get Skulker back just in time to make the threat to your life and kidnapping seem real or brought in yet another underling of mine in to play the part. Trust me, I have many at my disposal."

After that I tried to remember exactly when I heard it, but I know I did even in that drugged haze, so I looked up at him and said as much. "Nice try. I might not remember exactly what happened after we went into your lab, but I distinctly remember hearing your evil laughter before I blacked out again which sounded like some kind of dorky cartoon super-villain. So actually yeah, I do. I'm not stupid, I know you were-!"

Whatever else I was going to say was abruptly cut off when another wave of dizziness swept over me, probably the result of even trying to transform, and leaned my head back into the pillows and shut my eyes while waiting for it to pass. Only, it didn't. It got worse...and I felt nauseous.

"Danielle?" Vlad called, the mocking tone absent from his voice.

After that, I started wheezing when without warning a sharp pain stabbed my abdomen and I reflexively tried to curl in on myself, wrapping my arms around my stomach. As for the rest of me, it felt like someone had turned up the heat and every inch of my skin felt feverish. I had no idea what was happening to me, but I suppose deep down I knew trying to transform would be risky. But it was a risk I was willing to take to get the hell out of here before Vlad won and got exactly what he wanted.

That didn't mean I was going to make it easy for him. Not by a long shot. Too bad it looked like it wasn't going to be that easy for me either.

Vlad's POV

I couldn't help but admire Danielle's tenacity as she continued her futile struggle to escape the situation. But unfortunately for her, I was in my element and always had a back up plan. I did, however, find myself growing deeply concerned for her when Danielle suddenly had a violent allergenic reaction the sedative after forcing her transformation ring to appear if only briefly. And when she began to have difficulty breathing I abandoned all semblance of calm and approached her, brushing back Danielle's hair to check her temperature and sure enough her skin was blazing hot to the touch.

"You stupid girl..." I muttered irritably, checking her pulse too to find it was racing frantically like a hummingbird's. "Must you be so reckless?"

No response. Lovely, she must have fainted, I thought bitterly, taking a moment to list the rest of her symptoms...

She had an elevated heartbeat, fever, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, and her skin was covered in a cold sweat. I felt the slightest twinge of guilt being responsible for this because the only reason I resorted to using that drug on her is because my options were limited and her very existence as another half-ghost hybrid is something I never could have accounted for when I lured her family here. Then again, perhaps I miscalculated when I thought she had fully recovered from our previous battle. And it was entirely possible she still had internal injuries I neglected to notice weakening her immune system, but I wouldn't know for sure until I ran a full diagnosis.

Regardless, since I planned to overshadow the doctor anyway, it's a good thing I already had some idea of what went wrong with her and knew how to make things look even more serious than they were to further convince Jack and Maddie the stress they're causing with their neglectful parenting and all the non-stop ghost-hunting have been detrimental to their daughter's health, which in some ways was actually true. I didn't know the full story yet, but I've seen enough to guess as much. Things are not going well for Danielle at home and her unwavering loyalty to them is clearly undeserved...

I hated to see her in so much pain, but again, hopefully this would also reinforce their decision to keep Danielle far away from Fenton Works for the time being. I'm glad it didn't take much convincing to show them I am more than capable of taking care of Danielle's needs. She may not think so now, but once Danielle realizes how much better off she is with me she won't want to return. That's what I'm counting on.

Still, I underestimated Danielle's resolve because despite the uncertainty and fear she no doubt felt after I cut off all her escape routes, she was willing to expose herself to her parents just to stop me, 'the bad guy,' and escape from my clutches. Really though, there was no need for such theatrics. Especially since I'm ultimately doing this for her own good...

We're the only two of a kind, humans turned into these powerful, perfect creatures against our will. But if I could spare her from experiencing the same suffering and loneliness I did when Jack -and admittedly Maddie- abandoned me in my darkest hour, then that will be my saving grace. There's no doubt in my mind.

Either by fate, or province, we were MADE for each other. Sooner or later, Danielle will realize she needs me as much as I need her. And no one else, not her parents, her older brother, or her friends, will ever fully understand Danielle. They will never understand that we...will never be fully human again. That is the price we paid for our powers...

Eventually she'll see things my way and understand the depths of my love for her because Danielle is, as I said, everything I have ever wanted in a daughter. I have always wanted a child of my own, be it a son or a daughter. My greatest dream is to pass my legacy down to someone truly special to me. Or better yet, find someone worthy to rule at my side since we are far superior in every way.

Like me, Danielle never asked for this. Just as I never did, but I made the most of it. And she will too, in time, provided someone competent takes over raising her that can finally show Danielle what greatness she's capable of. As her new father, I'll show Danielle that we exist above them all and there is nothing we can't accomplish so long as we're together. Because that's where she belongs.