Chapter Five: Yep, Vlad's That Kind of Rich Guy

Preppy rich douche-bags? Check. Horrible old people music? Check. Amity Park's egotistical mayor in the center of attention? Check.

"Walter!" Vlad called happily (Wes doubted that it was genuine happiness), "I've been waiting for you to arrive."

"Got here as quick as I could thanks to the limo you sent."

"Well," Vlad smirked, "money does have it's benefits."

Wes wanted to grab one of the spare steak-knives laying around and gouge out his eyeballs. This party was not off to a good start.

"Oh, and I see that Wesley's managed to make it here for once."

A bubble of rage flared up in Wes's stomach. He knew that he hated that name. He told him every time they met, but yet Vlad continued to use it like he owned Wes. And that very thought was completely disgusting to him. Wes Weston was not inferior to creepy Vlad Masters, not in the slightest. Sick of Vlad's little games, Wes snapped.

"Why do you insist on calling me by the one name I always have to remind you to refrain from using?" Wes spat, clenching his fists.

The billionaire noted Wes's outburst with a twisted satisfaction. Vlad curled his lip, "Nice to know that your bluntness hasn't changed since the last time we spoke."

"Good to know you still have the same brand of eyeliner," Wes fired back.

Suddenly, Wes was pulled back by his father, "Wes!" Walter intervened. "What has gotten into you? I'm very sorry Vlad, he's just in a mood."

"Or maybe... I just hate your job?" Wes suggested, shrugging.

"Wes, shut up. Apologize to Vlad, now," his Dad hissed.

"Which do I do? Shut up or apologize? Because if I have to choose, I opt to choose shut up."

"It's alright, Walter," Vlad said. "I'm plenty familiar with teenage attitude, trust me."

"But you don't have any kids," Wes remarked.

"That doesn't mean I don't have to put up with any," Vlad said, before walking off to talk to some local reporters. He was out of earshot (well, human earshot anyway) in a matter of seconds.

Wes turned back to his father, "So are we just going to ignore how creepy and possibly pervy that sounded or...?"

Walter sighed, clearly disappointed in his son, "I honestly don't know what to do you with you Wes. I thought you were going to behave yourself tonight."

"He started it..." Wes argued with the attitude of a five-year old. Walter was not having any of it.

"No," he said bitterly, "you antagonized him. Wes, let this ring clear in your mind: Vlad is somebody you do not want to mess with. If you're on his bad side, you're as good as dead."

"You realize you're making your own boss sound like a serial killer."

"Wes-"

"I don't want to hear anymore about Vlad. I'll just do my thing and avoid everyone here, and you can do your thing and be social or whatever the hell you do."

"Son please-"

"Starting... now. I'm going to go get some hopefully non-alcoholic punch." Wes left his flabbergasted father standing in the midst of the party alone as he hunted for something fun to do that didn't involve Vlad.

Wes broke off from the party pretty quickly. Instead, he decided to explore Vlad's new mansion (he'd only visited his old one in Wisconsin) and maybe steal or hide some of his things. Wes wasn't normally a kleptomaniac, but he honestly just wanted to piss Vlad off. After all, the man had money and could easily replace almost anything.

Wes's eyes lit up when he found Vlad's personal Packers memorabilia room. Jackpot! Practically everyone knew that Vlad had an unhealthy obsession with the Green Bay Packers, Wes had even heard that he tried to actually buy the team on multiple occasions. Wes surveyed the room with a hint of disgust, Vlad was too rich for his own good. He was pretty sure that most of the stuff here belonged in some kind of sports museum, not to some wannabe-politician billionaire in Illinois. Wes smirked to himself. What should he hide first?

Wes skirted across the room, briefly looking at all the Packers merchandise. He was about to grab a golden watch with the Packers colors on the face, when he accidentally tripped over a table corner and stumbled to the floor. Being a basketball player, stumbling to the ground wasn't that foreign to him, but with these steel floors... damn, it hurt. Wes tried pulling himself up by grabbing onto a metal football decoration jutting out of the wall. The only thing was, as soon as he tried pulling himself up, the football bent downwards and made a weird clicking noise. Still on the floor, Wes watched in fascination as a the wall moved apart, revealing a secret archway behind it. No fucking way. Vlad's mansion has a secret room... Dude, this is getting more and more like a horror movie. What if he is a homicidal vampire?

Wes finally got to his feet and moved towards the new secret opening. Even though it was dark, he could make out a stairwell leading downwards into the unknown. Years of watching horror movies told Wes that going forward was a bad idea... but damn it, he was curious! He had always known Vlad Masters was hiding something, how could he not be? Going down there might provide some answers. Besides, the party wouldn't end for another two hours. What was the harm in looking around a little?

Wes descended down the staircase, holding onto the wall in case something happened. When he finally made it to the bottom, automatic lights flickered on, letting Wes get his first glance of his surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of basement... but not an ordinary basement. This looked more like Dr. Frankenstein sort of shit. There were weird chambers bordering the walls, shiny lab-tables, and vials of red and green substances.

"Never pinned him for the mad scientist type," Wes muttered. "Maybe this is where he hides the bodies..."

Wes almost had a heart-attack when a voice answered him.

"Sweetums, are you back already? Your schedule states that the party lasts for two more hours."

Wes turned on his heels to come face to face with a hologram of Maddie Fenton, Danny's mother, renowned ghost hunter and researcher. What the actual fuck, Vlad?

"You're not Sweetums," she said robotically. "Security system 021300 activated. Low-level threat. Unregistered human, adolescence. Shutting down ghost systems, closing portal..."

Wes was once again surprised when there was a loud noise behind him. He turned to see an octagonal archway, glowing with a green haze start to close. Black and yellow doors slid together to secure the weird hole in the wall. Wes held his breath, This keeps getting weirder and weirder. When am I going to find something that actually makes sense?

"Wesley Weston, what the hell are you doing in my secret lab!" Oh fuck...

Vlad had entered the lab, and was wearing a look of complete rage. For a moment, Wes swore that he was just a giant Angry Face emoji, storming towards him. Wes's fear finally recovered itself, twisting in his stomach, gluing his feet to the oddly slick floor. Vlad faced Wes, pointedly waiting for an answer.

Wes's mouth was dry, "I got lost on the way to the bathroom?"

It came out more like a question than an answer, and it obviously didn't please Vlad. He was so dead. Just wait until his Dad found out...

Vlad scoffed, "Got lost? I'm no fool. Nobody finds this place unless they want to find it. You've been snooping around my house!"

"Snooping... exploring... same dif."

"You do not explore a millionaire's house!"

"But isn't that how Narnia started? If it wasn't for wandering around in that rich guy's house, they would've never found the Wardrobe."

Vlad face-palmed, "Have you actually read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe?"

"No," Wes admitted.

Vlad sighed, "Though you're irresponsible, you should be grateful that I'm here to kill you before any of the dangerous stuff in this lab will."

Wes snorted, "Dangerous stuff? The only dangerous thing I see here is your ego."

"That portal, the thing in the wall with the black and yellow doors, that's a hole to another dimension. A dimension full of dead and powerful things that will actually haunt (and maybe eat) your nightmares. I'm lucky I got here when I did so you didn't break anything."

"How did you even know I was here anyway? You were on the other side of the house. That also doesn't explain how you got here so quickly."

"It's my house, I have shortcuts!" Vlad snapped. "And the security system alerted me. Ever since that goth girl snuck in last April Fools Day and put God-damn condoms on everything, painted my cat, and replaced all my personal files with Ember McClain CDs, I've had the Maddiegram tell me whenever someone was in the lab," Vlad scowled.

Wes whistled, "Who did all of that? Because I think I owe them a thank you card."

"Nobody of importance," Vlad said. "Now stop standing in my fucking lab, and get the hell upstairs – where you will not mention this to your father. You hear me? One word, and I will make several lacerations to your tongue."

"But I don't even know what this place is! What do you need a lab for anyway? You're a little too rich, don't you think?"

"What this lab if for, you stupid boy, is killing insolent little ginger clowns who disobey my orders!"

"Alright... don't get your panties in a twist."

Later that night, after Wes's horrible encounter with Amity Park's mayor, he approached his Dad, hoping that he could maybe shed light on the topic. Even though Vlad warned him, he doubted that he could live up to his threats if he didn't know.

"Hey Dad," Wes said, "Can I ask you something?"

Walter raised an eyebrow, "If it's more girl advice, I think we've already established that that Star girl is way out of your league. You should only go for realistic relationships, son."

"No not that, and really? You're pretty fu- screwed up to have that little faith in your son. Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask you about something."

Wes told his tale of what he saw at Vlad's house, and by the end of it his Father was looking grim. Walter sighed, putting his hands in his hand before maintaining eye contact with Wes. "Son, in this town there are some things that you don't question. That's the first lesson you learn about being a successful money-maker. I don't want to hear anything about that ever again, got it?"

Wes knew that something was off, but he did as he father said. After all, Walter was never that serious.

I feel that Vlad's a little OOC, but probably because Wes and Vlad have a completely different relationship than Vlad and Danny.