As sunlight hit my eyes, I groaned. After the disaster of a party last night, Dad had seemed distracted and all but told me to go to bed. He stated he had to focus to write his press statement about me, but I sensed something else was off. However, I didn't question him. I stumbled downstairs, and stopped short to see Finley holding my sister.
"Where's Dad?" I stifled a yawn. The nursemaids would be here soon to help with mom, and I wanted to get in some football practice. Even if Waukesha Private only had a track team, maybe Dad and I could find a team for me to independently play on.
"Master said you were to read that." Finley nodded to the table, and i glanced at the rolled up paper on the table. Going over, my eyes widened as I read:
Son,
Business has, unfortunately called me away for an unknown time. I will likely not have cell range within this time, but I will be home as soon as this business venture is over. Should you truly need me, Finley knows who to contact. I will make things right in the family, dear boy.
I promise to return as soon as I can.
Father
I crumpled up the letter, my vision going red. He… he couldn't do this to me! To us! To run and disappear when Mom was so ill. Abandoned… surely this was some cruel joke. I turned, brushing past Finley and bounding up the stairs, throwing open my father's door. The blood red and black decor faded as I searched for my father. Not finding him, I slammed the door and rushed to my mother's room, and for a moment, it seemed as though my feet didn't touch the floor. I burst into her room, shying away as I saw her struggling to breathe, still and pale.
"NO! Dad, you can't!" My voice echoed as I rushed room to room, finally leaping the bannister and sliding down the stairs. As my feet hit the landing, I frantically tore the house apart as I searched. Finally, I sat amid dozens and dozens of down feathers, from pillows I had burst when I began to realize he had truly left.
Days faded to the next. Dad was nowhere to be found, and mom only got worse. I now knew why mom had been desperate to find Vlad- I had taken over the role of "mom" to Emilie, and was trying so hard to teach her the alphabet.
I had tired of seeing Finley sorrowfully shake his head each morning when I wordlessly asked if Vlad had returned. By day, my mother grew sicker, and my time was spent stretched between a toddler and my mother. What bit of free time I did have was spent going over some old school books, trying to prepare for my final year of high school come fall. I had never been the best student, and now without geeks to bully into doing my work, I worried I would be horribly behind. After all, my junior year had been a month and a half from over when Mom brought us here. Vlad had told me he'd gotten an exemption forwarded to my old principal, excusing me from the remaining term for the family crisis I was definitely going through.
Time passed more slowly now, as I tried to not think of where my father had gone off to, and why he thought it would "fix things". Then, the day I dreaded came.
And I called the coroner.
I wish I could say what it felt like to feel the hospice nurse shake me, and her to tell me my mother was gone. I wish I could say that I took it like a man, and didn't scream and beg whatever god exists to return her to me. But I cannot.
After a few hours of falling apart, I made a phone call that I had never wanted to make.
Thankfully, my girl picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?"
"Paulie? It's-"
"Dash! Oh, boy do I have a bone to pick with you. You haven't called in weeks! Do you know how mad-"
"Mom died." The words felt like cotton, and I swallowed but it only made it worse. There was a gasp on the other end of the line, and then she spoke softly, the tenderness in her voice startling me. Paulina was known for many things, but softness wasn't one of them.
"Oh, Dash. I'm so sorry. When's the funeral? Do you want me up there now?"
I shook and lost my ability to stand, sliding down the wall. "Y...Yeah. My father… he's off on some business trip. I can't reach him. Please, Paulie. Please. The service… I don't know, I haven't even thought of that. I don't…"
"Okay. We'll figure it out together, then. On my way now, and while I'm driving I'll call the team and Coach. You aren't alone, Dash. I've got you."
As the sun set, there was a knock on the door, and I sighed. Taking Emilie in my arms, I somehow opened the door, only to fumble and drop my sister as my best friend and girlfriend stood on the step. Paulina launched herself at me, kissing me as Kwan snorted. I pulled away, wrinkling my nose at the taste of strawberry now on my lips. Gesturing in, I paused as I saw three others on the steps, and I rose my brows.
"Fenturd? What the hell are you doing here, with your little geeky friends?" The bite to my voice made Fenton flinch, and he rubbed his neck awkwardly, shuffling a shoe.
"Uhh..Your dad is kinda, my dad's best friend. When P...Paulina and Kwan didn't know your address, they came to me. My dad made this big show a while ago, about some big dinner you apparently went to. He went on and on about how lucky you were to be Vlad's kid… everyone in Amity knows by now, I think. Sam's here because she navigates better than me, and Tuck… well, he has no life."
"HEY! Hurtful, Dude."
"Is it a lie? No? Alright then." The blue eyed boy chuckled and then paused, looking up at me. "Sorry about your mom, Dash. That's rough."
I stepped back to let them in, and as we walked, I shoved my hands in my pockets. What could I even say? What could be said? Finley stopped me by the dining room and Kwan grabbed the man as Finley put his hand on my shoulder. Seeing the butler against the wall would have made me laugh back in Amity, but for some reason I just wanted to protect him, and I shook my head at my best friend. "He's the butler. Let him go. What is it, Finley?"
The butler seemed a bit miffed at his uniform being mussed, and he straightened his jacket with an impatient sigh. "Young Master, I was sent by Chef Charr to announce dinner is ready, but I will have to inform him to whip another dish up. I was unaware you had company, Sir." He paused, and then ducked his head, speaking quieter. "Sir, I must also extend my sincerest apologies for your loss. I have been with Mister Masters for many years, and indeed I have never seen him look upon someone as I have your mother. They were a true match. Forgive me for perhaps acting out of turn, but I did send for your father this morning. I'm unsure how long it will take for him to get here, as I didn't betray the nature of my inquiry, but-"
"Dude. English." Kwan grumbled and I shook my head, trying to ignore the anger stirring in my chest that Vlad had been contacted.
"He IS speaking English." I shot Kwan a dirty glare. "He's saying he didn't tell my father why he was needed, just that dad needed to get his ass back pronto." My shoulders slumped and I kicked the wall half heartedly. "He should've never left."
The awkward silence surrounding my comment was stifling, and I jerked my hand out to my guests. "Finley, figure out rooms for Kwan, Paulina, Danny and the others... dinner too. I need to be alone."
The butler nodded, then looked perplexed. "Others, Sir?"
"Yeah, others! They're right... hey! Where are Danny and the dweebs?!"
I stared at where the trio had been only mere moments ago, and handed Emilie off to Finley. "I'll find them. In this maze, there's only so far they can go before they get lost. Hell, it's been months and I still get lost."
My search took longer than I expected, and finally on my fourth hallway I turned into, I saw the door open to my father's private study. Voices of Fenturd's friends drew me in, and I crept closer.
"Danny, you really think he went after the Reality Gauntlet? Vlad's stupid but not that stupid."
The confusion of Tech-Nerd mentioning the gauntlet Vlad had shown me weeks prior was masked by a raw fury of the insult he casually threw Dad's way. In what world did they think they could actually criticize him? They didn't know anything about him! I threw the door open, ready to confront them, and froze in shock.
They were nowhere to be found.
My eyes swept the room, and then I paused. I had only been in here a few times, but something about the fireplace seemed… off. Out of balance. I moved towards it, suppressing a shriek of fright as I placed my hand on some relic for balance as I looked into the chimney chute and the fireplace moved.
What. the. FUCK?!
Cautiously, I poked my head into the opening the fireplace left, and I squinted at the dim green light at the end of whatever hallway Dad had hidden. Biting my lip, I hesitated for a second before realizing now I wanted answers, and treaded down the stairs. The closer I got to the bottom, the more quietly I treaded. Finally, voices began floating up to me as i hit the final few steps. I peered in through a crack in the false door and my jaw dropped.
"Can't you bypass his security systems?" Danny Phantom said.
I was so shocked I fell out into the floor, sprawling for the two humans and one ghost to see.
