Downward Spiral by SupremeDramaOverlord

Chapter 18 - A Whole New World (Without the Magic Carpet)

"Keep your phone with you at all times."

"Ok, Jazz."

"Make you sure you're home before dark."

"Ok, Jazz."

"Be sure to-"

"Jazz!" Even as I rolled my eyes, I couldn't stop my lips from tugging into a smile. "I'm pretty sure I can handle a few days without you. I'm not helpless, you know."

Outside the sky was starless, the dull grey gradually fading away to signal the morning. My sister had loaded her luggage into her car, ready to leave before the sun came up. She wanted to make it to the airport with a little time to spare. But she was a little surprised when she found me awake before her. I wasn't known for being a morning person. Even though I told her nothing about my nightmares, I could see the suspicion in her intelligent eyes. She didn't need to know, Jazz worried enough about me as it was.

True to their word, mom and dad still hadn't come home, searching - no, hunting for a ghost that lived in their own home. I wondered if they'd be back before I left for school. As I looked down the quiet and empty road, I decided they wouldn't. Maybe they wouldn't even be back until later tonight.

The car door to the driver's seat was open but still Jazz hesitated from getting in. Eyebrows creased with worry, she glanced back to me.

She bit her lip, "Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I can always-"

"No." This trip was too important for her. For weeks she'd hardly talked about anything else. She was going to meet with a few of the professor's who'd be teaching the classes she signed up for and some friends she met online, they were going to be sharing a dorm for the first semester. "I don't need you here, Jazz. I can take care of myself. Besides, you're going back there in nearly two weeks anyway."

I had forced some bite into my tone, hoping I'd get my point across. But either she didn't notice or didn't care. The uncertainty stayed on her face. "Just be careful and please… please don't use your powers."

I remembered the promise I made last night and nodded, "Don't worry, I'm going to be fine. The ghosts haven't been showing as much remember? Even if one does come for a fight, I'm sure at least one of those ghost hunters can handle it."

She smiled a bit. I didn't like the idea of not using any of my powers for the next few days but it was worth it if it gave my sister some peace of mind. Besides, maybe I could finally have a break from everything and just take time to sit back and relax. Hopefully Sam and Tucker wouldn't be mad anymore and we could all hang out.

Jazz wrapped me in a warm hug before finally getting in her car. "Call me after school."

I made an over exaggerated sigh, "Whatever, worry wart."

"Call. Me. After. School."

"Ok, ok, fine." I stuck my tongue out and she laughed as she drove out of the drive and down the road. She stuck a hand out the window and waved until she was out of sight.

Before I headed inside, a glance down the street in the opposite direction made me do a double take. A couple of blocks away, my mom and dad were slowly pointing a weird handheld device and pointing it in different directions. It didn't take me long to figure out what the device was. A low, constant beeping emitted from the device, but when pointed in my direction, the beeping dramatically increased.

I slipped inside the house before they saw me. That might be a problem.

Even though I wasn't in my ghost form, that tracker would work. Several times the multiple trackers my parents owned would go off around me. The first time that happened, I nearly panicked. However, my parents just chalked it up as a fault with the system. I wasn't sure how long it would be until they realized it wasn't broken.

No big deal. I'd be fine as long as I kept a distance. I just needed to leave before they decided to come inside. I headed into the living room to grab my backpack so I could make a rush for school. But I stopped short.

I frowned. Yesterday I had dumped my backpack on the floor next to the coffee table. It wasn't there now. I was beginning to think that I misplaced it. But as an uncontrollable shiver vibrated up my body and my breath puffed out in a blue mist, I realized that wasn't the case. Somehow, I already knew who stood behind me.

Shoving down my fear, I held a scowl on my face before turning around.

Wearing his trademark smirk, Vlad held my backpack by the strap with a lazy hand. "Good morning, Daniel. Looking for something?"

I didn't respond as I tried to casually shift my feet in a loose position, ready to run if I needed too. Vlad was in his ghost form, his red eyes gleaming the way that suggested he knew something I didn't. I noticed that he blocked my only escape route. He knew it too.

Every instinct screamed at me to transform and took all my effort not to latched onto that icy core. There was just one thing holding me back. I tried to tell myself that Jazz would understand, that should want me to morph into my ghost half. With Vlad in his ghost form, standing just five feet away, I felt so vulnerable.

I couldn't break my promise. Yes, I lied everyday to my parents' faces and yeah, I haven't been completely honest with my sister or my friends but… breaking a promise felt like I'd be crossing a line in the sand. If I broke my word it felt like I'd be stepping over that imaginary line and never being able to take back that step. Jazz knew I had been keeping things to myself but she trusted me. I couldn't break that trust. But if Vlad tried to do something to me…

His head tilted, and a single brow lifted, "Nothing to say?"

"Get out."

He tsked, shaking his head with disapproval at the words I had so viciously growled. "I haven't seen you in over a month and this is how you greet me? Really, Daniel, you simply must do something about that temper of yours. One would think you're not happy to see me."

"I'm not. Get out."

He only smiled wider.

That was the moment when the pieces slid into place. "You did it. You hired those ghost hunters and placed that bounty on my head."

Vlad carelessly tossed my backpack to the floor, "Has anyone ever told you that you are extraordinarily smart for a C student?"

"You're just mad 'cause I hit you with your own truck."

His lips twisted and I felt a small victory at having pushed one of his buttons, "Ah, there's that teen wit again. What a pleasure."

I risked a glance behind Vlad, to the hallway beyond. If I could distract him, maybe I could get past him and make a run for it. As if reading my thoughts, Vlad shifted his position to better block the exit.

I growled, "Why are you here?"

"I've come to take you home of course," his smirk was back in full force but this one was devoid of any amusement. "You had your fun, but now it's time for you to come home, son."

While I fought it, I couldn't control the power that flared in my eyes.

"Do not call me that." Though I snarled, though I focused on my burning rage, I could feel it. The fear. Despite trying to feel nothing but anger, I felt my panic growing deep inside me. "I'm not your son and I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"Oh yes you are," He took a single step toward me and in unison, I took a single step back, "Because after today you will have nowhere else to go."

I didn't know what he meant by that and I wasn't sure I wanted to. From the way his eyes bore intently into mine, I knew it meant nothing good. "What do you mean-"

There was no warning when the attack came from behind, the sharp bite of metal prongs digging into my back. My body lurched and spasmed as a rod of lightning shot through every bone in my body. I choked on a scream as I fell to my knees. A freezing sensation vibrated within me. Blinking away the spots dancing in my eyes, I turned my head in time to see Vlad's duplicate waltz over to the original, handing over what looked like a taser before dissolving into nothing.

A curse lingered on my tongue, but before I could use it, I realized something. I stared down at the glowing white gloves covering my hands. I was in my ghost form.

Vlad had forced me into my ghost form.

My chest tightened. The promise I had made to Jazz was broken. It hurt to move but I managed to lift my head up. If looks could kill, Vlad would have died a hundred times over. He held my gaze.

"What did you do to me?" My voice was shakier than I wanted it to be. When I tried to stand, I fell right back to my knees with a pained grunt. The room was spinning and my head was throbbing.

"This past month has been a rather busy time for me. It's no easy task, setting up a million dollar bounty, hiring a handful of ghost hunters, and creating this wonderful invention," he waved his horrible taser in a fluid movement. "I spent long hours inventing this. Inventing something to keep you in your human form is simple enough, but it is quite a challenge to make the opposite." He paused for a moment, to let the words sink in.

"You are stuck like this, Daniel. No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to transform back into your human counterpart. Not until forty-eight hours have passed. But let's face facts, you won't make it that long."

"What are you talking about?" I spat with venom.

Vlad plucked an invisible speck off his shoulder before answering coolly, "In case you have failed to notice, you live in a town that is currently filled to the brim with ghost hunters. You are trapped in your ghost form and it is open season on your head. You won't last a day."

I snarled viciously. He didn't blink.

"Even if you leave town and wait for the effects to wear off, I'll just zap you again, and again, and again," Vlad's words matched his expression, completely devoid of any emotion. "However long it takes to get the point through your thick skull."

I snarled, my eyes burning with power. I bit out my words, "What. Point."

Leisurely, Vlad strode across the room, closing the distance between us. With a flourish, he knelt down on one knee and gripping my chin with his hand, he forced me to look at him. We were face to face, barely three inches apart. I was too sore to resist. Pouring my eyes with every ounce of hatred I could muster, I glared at those menacing red eyes. When he again spoke, his voice was as grim as his words.

"You have two choices, Daniel. The first and wisest is for you to finally come to your senses and come home with me as the son you were always meant to be. Or, you can be a fool and stay here and be hunted down like a wild animal."

With my hands supporting my weight, I tried to tug my chin out from his grasp. "You're a monster."

His eyes grew cold and the hand holding my chin tightened. I had struck a nerve. Good.

He practically growled, fangs gleaming, "Better to be a monster than a naive fool. You have no one to blame but yourself. Since you refuse to live with me, I will simply have to see to it that you can't live anywhere else."

"It'll never work."

"We'll soon see."

The soft click of the front door opening and loud, repeated beeping cut through the air like a knife. As footsteps padded over the threshold, Vlad released me and gave me a smirk.

"Have fun with the other monsters."

In the blink of an eye, Vlad was gone.

"Jack, honey," I heard my mom sigh, "I told you, that thing is broken. All it did was lead us right back to-"

Nothing but the frantic beeping of a machine could be heard as my parents froze in the doorway. They stared at me and I stared right back. Slowly, very slowly, mom's hand lowered to the gun holstered at her side.

I held up a hand, "Wait-"

Shots fired relentlessly. Instinctively, I went intangible and rolled behind the couch for cover. The couch jolted from the force of the bullets.

I was too panicked, I couldn't focus. My body flickered in and out of tangibility.

"Don't let the ghost kid get away!" My dad's voice boomed over the sound of ecto-bullets.

The sky. I needed to get in the sky. I could get away if I flew into the sky.

Letting myself go weightless, I jumped and reached for the ceiling.

Pain tore into my shoulder and I fell to the ground with a scream. The moment I collided with the ground, I fell through the floor into the room below.

The impact was hard, the tile cold. My mouth went dry when I realized where I was. Chemicals overpowered the air, the only light was from the ominous glow of countless inventions, and I saw it. The table.

Everything seemed to be drowned out. The running footsteps from the floor above me, my current emergency, the cold, burning sensation eating away at my shoulder. Only this room, that table, existed. The table was empty, but there were stains all over it. I could see the ghost, withering in pain, the bulging eyes… The tickling sensation of hysteria prickled up my spine.

I jumped when loud banging forced me into reality. Up the stairs, my parents yelled furiously from behind the door to the lab. The pounding noise told me they couldn't get through. I already knew why.

So, he hadn't left. He had just been invisible, watching the chaos he created unfold. With ease, Vlad held one hand against the door. His pupiless red eyes pierced the darkness of the room.

This silent message was clear. There was only one thing separating me from the ghost hunters in the other room. It wasn't the door.

"This can end now, Daniel."

I held my head a little higher and glared. Vlad's face was stoic, devoid of any emotion. We locked gazes, daring the other to look away first. This time, he understood my silent message.

There was no smirk this time as he blinked out of existence. I didn't have time to wonder if he teleported somewhere else or if he was watching invisibly as the door burst out on its hinges.

Bullets flew in every direction. I ducked under a work table as pandemonium was unleashed. The noise was deafening. Beakers shattered, metal broke into hundreds of pieces. They weren't even aiming anymore.

"Stop!" My voice was drowned out by the crashes around me, "Please! Listen!"

A microscope shattered, computers exploded, and three yards in front of me, the control panel to the portal was hit.

Sparks flew from the generator as a red light flashed and an alarm blared. The heavy metal doors of the portal slid open. Unearthly hues of green bathed the room, drowning out the red.

But something was wrong. The light, the colors, the swirls…. It was all flickering. In and out of existence. One moment, it was a window to another world, the next it was a metallic dead end tunnel.

The portal was unstable, it was breaking. What if it exploded? Mom and dad were too close. Much, much too close.

The shots had stopped in response to the portal's malfunction and I took the opportunity.

"Quick, get out!" I stood up, turning towards them with my back to the portal, "You have to-"

The breath was knocked out of me as two blasts from both of their ecto guns collided with my gut. They had a clear shot and took it. The double impact sent me flailing backwards…

Right into the portal.

And then Vlad was there. He was rushing towards me, a hand reaching out for me. He was screaming my name, as if he cared.

A whirlpool of ghostly light swallowed me whole.

And Vlad, my parents, the lab, it all disappeared.

Or maybe I was the one who disappeared.

Vlad's POV~

Time seemed to slow when Daniel fell through the portal and yet I couldn't move fast enough. One moment he was there, helplessly falling into the Ghost Zone, the next he was gone. And so was the portal.

I barely had time to raise my shield when the portal exploded. The force of the blast shoved me back, pushing against the shield made of energy. When the smoke and debris cleared, there was nothing left of the portal except an empty hole in the wall with sparks fizzing out of it.

I stood frozen, my hand still stretched out as my mind tried to understand the reality of what happened.

Daniel was trapped in the Ghost Zone...

Someone groaned and though the sound came from only a few yards behind me, it sounded so far away. Slowly, my outstretched hand curled into a fist. Fiery red energy encompassed both my fists as I turned around. I saw red.

The blast completely destroyed everything in the lab that wasn't hit with bullets. There wasn't a clean spot on the floor. But what held my attention was the crumpled, worthless heaps on the floor.

The blast had thrown Jack and Maddie against the farthest wall, sizable dents were evidence of that. Struggling to pick themselves off the floor, Jack felt around for a weapon while Maddie stared at me. Her wide eyes were filled with shock, fear lurking just underneath. She had good reason to be scared.

Her lips parted, "Vla-"

The ball of fiery energy hit her square in the chest, cutting of anything else she was about to say. Her scream of pain got Jack to his feet. Weaponless, the fat nitwit charged towards me. It was pathetic, really. Effortlessly, I moved to the side as he barreled past and sent a blast straight into his back. The force sent him into another wall, face-first.

I turned back to Maddie, my face twisted in disgust. Doubled over, she clutched her chest and met my deadly gaze. I felt a small pleasure when she flinched.

My voice was cold, "I never forgot what you did. Remember that."

Her face paled of color.

I teleported away, my rage never dimming. Make no mistake, they will pay for this. I'll kill them for what they've done to me and Daniel. But right now, finding Daniel was top priority. I needed to get him out of there. Daniel could hold his own well enough against any ghost, but I had to find him before he crossed paths with one of those… things. I didn't even want to entertain the thought.

I reappeared in the laboratory beneath my mansion in Wisconsin. It barely took more than a second to type in the pass-code that opened the doors to my portal. I dove into the Ghost Zone, not bothering to lock the portal behind me. Over the years I had built a terrifying reputation amongst the ghost population. No one was dumb enough to use my portal.

The moment I made it through the portal, I teleported to the spot where the Fenton portal use to be. I faltered.

"Daniel?"

Frantically, I looked in every direction for the younger halfa. I used every drop of my ghost sense to feel for the unique signature of his ghost core.

There was no trace of him.

"Daniel?!" It was the first time in years that I heard my voice crack.

I duplicated myself, sending copies in every direction.

"Daniel?! Daniel, answer me!"

This- This wasn't supposed to happen! None of this was supposed to happen! He was only supposed to get chased around by Jack and Maddie and the other ghost hunters, just until he got chased out of town. He was supposed to be with me, safe and sound by my side.

"Daniel? DANIEL?! Daniel, please!"

When my desperate calls remained unanswered and there was still no trace of him, no clue to where he had gone, there was an emotion I couldn't quite place. It was raw and gnawing in my gut. My heart rate accelerated and my breathing became shallow. My thoughts became frenzied and disorganized. It didn't take long to realize what it was.

Fear.

I forced myself to take a deep breath. Panic was not going to help me in the slightest. But I knew who would.

I called back my duplicates. I was going to need all my energy for the ghost I was about deal with.

Well, Vlad screwed that one up! Hope you guys liked this chapter and all the foreshadowing sprinkled in it! Shout out to FadedDiamondDust for spotting the Supernatural cameo in the last chapter.

FiveRivers: Thank you again for catching that typo and I'm glad you like the way I crafted the characterization!

SuckerForTheVillains: Ok, first off, I love the username. Thank you so much for the lovely review! It makes me happy to know that so many people are enjoying my story. I hope you liked this chapter!

Alviniju: Your ideas really intrigued me! I like the idea about the bounty being organized by the GIW and Jack and Maddie. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it for the plot in my story but its still a really good twist. You should really consider writing, you'd be good at it! Thanks for the review, it was really encouraging!