Chapter 15: Maggots and Meaty Bits
Danny found himself in the bathtub that night, nestled in a collection of bath towels. Growling as the morning sunlight reflected in his eyes, the teen lazily fought against wakefulness, but it was to no avail. The teenager struggled against the tub's slippery sides for a moment before getting out. Only once he had escaped the tub did he rub his aching neck and sit on the edge of the tub, trying to remember why he was here in the first place.
He was given a bitter reminder.
"Oh, now I remember Danny," he said to himself sarcastically. "You were being an idiot and ended up spending your first night in a castle inside a bathtub because you're an over-emotional crybaby. You have a room the size of Alaska and decided to give that up for this: tacky green tiling."
Danny stopped talking to himself at that and sighed. There was no point in staying in here.
Standing up, reaching for the door handle, the teen couldn't help but bark in surprise when a pile of towels greeted him. He must have surprised whoever was holding them because suddenly he was covered in said towels.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know Mr. Masters had visitors," said the intruder as she pulled the towels off of the youth's head and helped him to his feet. Danny nearly backpedaled as he stared at the maid before him. She was a young woman probably in her twenties with a warm face and light brown long hair, but it was her eyes that caught him. They were wide and bright like she wanted to take in everything with her stare, but most notable was that they were the same color as Jazz's eyes. An ocean green that he thought he would never see again.
For a moment, he just wanted to hug this stranger and pretend ... pretend she was his sister.
"So, what's your name?" said the young woman, interrupting Danny's thoughts. "Are you and your parents visiting for a few days or is the Master having a last-minute party he hasn't yet bothered to tell the help about? Given the sight of the kitchen this morning, I would be guessing the latter."
Danny went flush at the mention of the kitchen and he couldn't look her in the eye. Nonetheless, he already liked her. She even spoke like Jazz if a little less eloquently. He didn't really want to tell her why he really was here, that he was Vlad's godson and now the young Master. The very thought of being called that sickened him to the point of revulsion. The teen instead smiled and replied, "I'm Dann-iel? I mean Danny, and I'm totally just here temporarily. Nothing special about me."
It was a stupid lie, but he really wanted the maid to treat him like a normal person. Not like a billionaire's son.
"Daniel?" came a cool voice from outside the bathroom, the word setting him on edge. It was as if the devil himself was right outside or maybe Dracula's cousin. "What did I tell you about lying?"
"Oh, hello Mr. Masters," squeaked the maid as she hugged her towels closer, eyes widening, "I didn't know you were home. Your limo wasn't outside so no one has repaired breakfast yet. I'll … just … put these towels away and go tell the chef you're in with guests."
Danny's eyes widened as he watched the girl put the towels away, about to leave him alone with Vlad. He ... he couldn't talk about the fire. Not now. Maybe not ever. Besides himself, the teen dug his bare feet into the flooring ready to run for his life. In one, two, and –
"Before you go, Kristy," said Vlad as he suddenly put a hand on the teen's shoulder, squeezing tight as if warning. "I want to formally introduce my adopted son, the young Master of the house: Daniel."
Vlad couldn't help but feel Danny flinch slightly under his hold, and apparently, Kristy was just as surprised because she nearly let all the towels tumble out of the cupboard, her voice forming a surprised expression.
"Oh my. Is that why you have been absent the last few weeks? Well, it's nice to meet you, Daniel. I'm Kristy Reed, one of the house's maids," she said with a slight bow of her head. Danny couldn't help but note that her playful spark seemed to disappear in Vlad's presence and now his as well. She now looked a little less like Jazz and that made him sick inside.
"Thank you, Kristy. We'll be down in a few minutes. Please have a light breakfast ready for the two of us," said Vlad as he tightened his grip on his godson's shoulder to keep him from worming away.
"Certainly, Mr. Masters. And may I ask, is the young Master allergic to anything, or would he like something in particular?" asked the maid in a professional and slightly nervous tone as she wiped imaginary dust from her hands onto her knee-length skirt. Anyone could see she was scared of Vlad, but the benefits were too good. She had even risked the ghost rumors to work in the castle.
Danny wanted to die right there on that very spot, feeling locked out of the rest of the world with his new title alone, but if only to irritate Vlad, the teenager opened his mouth ready to ask for Sugar Bombs and Oreos. As if reading his thoughts, Vlad instantly cut him off, stating, "I don't believe he's allergic to anything, and Daniel needs something healthy given his poor health as of late."
Then, just as the girl nodded and looked ready to turn away, Vlad added, "Oh and before a rumor is started down in the kitchen about me having a bastard son and finally accepting responsibility, I'd like you to tell everyone that Danny is my godson and I have adopted him. There was an," Danny closed his eyes not wanting to hear the truth, "accident that occurred and now his new home is here with me. Please tell the help to be kind yet firm with him regarding any house rules."
"O-oh. Well, I will tell the rest of the staff," choked Kristy before she offered a sad smile to Danny. "And you have my deepest sympathies, young Master. I'll go get that breakfast start for you."
And with that, Danny's only witness left, leaving him alone with Vlad. There was an awkward minute of silence before the older halfa stated, "So, shall we finish the conversation we were having last night now or after breakfast?"
Danny immediately felt his throat tighten up and he couldn't say a thing. Vlad apparently took that as a yes and led the horror-stricken teenager down the hall and into a private study. Countless books with gold titling winked and mocked the teenager from the walls as he was all but forced to take a seat in front of a huge mahogany desk. The billionaire wasted no time taking a seat behind the desk, making it obvious who was the boss of this conversation.
Normally, this show of power would then lead to a verbal fight followed by a physical one, but Danny knew he couldn't put up much of a physical fight and he needed that weakness to remain secret as long as possible.
Masters, looking the other halfling over with calculating gaze if only to unnerve his younger counterpart, finally spoke, "You told me something rather disturbing last night Daniel. It bothered me greatly that you have been keeping secrets from me. I deserve the truth. Now, I know that there has been some distrust between us, but I feel like the last few weeks alone should show my sincerity. Now please, tell me what happened on the night of the fire."
Vlad's voice was calm and almost patient, but Danny could hear the demand there. Beside himself, tongue feeling swollen, the teenager looked at the floor and started twiddling his thumbs. He then started to count by three in his head to try and block out his emotions. He had to remain calm and keep his composure. He needed to be –
"Daniel, pay attention," came Vlad's voice as it cut through the teenager's thoughts like a knife through butter. "Please don't block me out now. I need to know what happened."
Danny shrugged his shoulders and started counting again:3 … 6 … 9 … 12.
"Look at me, Daniel. You have to tell me everything," cut in Vlad's voice, a slight irritation in his tone.
15 … 18 … 21 … 24 ... 27 … 29…
"Daniel," said Vlad, his voice rising as he stood up, eyes glowed a threatening red. "This is not a game. You will speak with me about this."
And that was all it took to ruin the teenager's composure as his fighting spirit rose to the surface, never wanting to back down from a fight. Without even a second thought, the teenager rose to his feet and slammed his hands on the desk, scattering papers to the floor as he shouted, "It's my problem, not yours! Why can't you just leave it alone?!"
Then, before the elder half-ghost could get a word in edgewise, Danny was storming out of the room leaving Vlad with a shocked expression.
…
"What?!" said Smith as he suddenly dug his inhuman nails into the wooden desk. "You said that Danny has been dreaming of him? Did he say anything else?"
Smith slowly dug his clawed fingers out of the desk and turned to look at the small golden box in front of him. As if acknowledging his stare, a chorus of whispers echoed forward as if begging to be freed.
Sighing, Smith fell back into a leather chair, glaring at the dark ceiling for a moment. Now wasn't this a precarious situation? Things could go very wrong, very quickly.
Leaning forward in his chair, Smith lifted the lid of the box and allowed a little orb out. The thing floated forward, its light giving Smith an unearthly glow as the man spoke to it, "One more thing, my little hoplite. Do you see the child's arm? Has the mark changed? Has it raised above the skin?"
The orb floated lazily back and forth like a dandelion seed caught on a breeze. Obviously, it was thinking before it finally whispered a reply.
"You didn't see the scar, huh?" answer the infiltrator coolly. "Oh well, we'll find out sooner or later. Now, it's back to the box for you."
The orb, its whispers sounding like a plea, squeaked as Smith reopened the golden lid. And, almost as if the box was intaking a breath, the small orb was sucked back in.
Smith, sighing as he listened to a few more panicked whispers escape the box, stood up and put on a black jacket. His fingers then ran over his face, a goatee forming where he touched. There was no longer a need to pretend to be the limo driver, so Smith found himself sporting a new look: a house butler. This way he could wander the house without suspicion. He worked best when unnoticed after all.
…
It was probably a miracle that Danny even found his own room after that fight. In all honesty, he didn't really care where he went as long as it was away from the jerk. Not that he completely blamed Vlad when he knew he should have kept his mouth shut. He knew it was a moment of weakness on his part. Vlad might have been his arch-nemesis, but the older halfa was starting to become so much more than that. It had almost felt right to confess his grievances to the other.
But it was wrong! They might have a weird ceasefire, but ...
He just needed to get out of this house. Knowing Vlad, he would probably have a ghost stalk him the moment he tried to leave and finally bring him back to the study again.
Unless …
His powers had worked on the bridge. Maybe he could leave. Maybe he could just ... fly away,
Closing in eyes, Danny let go of a deep breath and then flopped onto his bed. He stared at the canopy, his thoughts drowning him before he asked himself aloud, "But where would I go? Mom and dad are gone. Jazz is ... dead. Sam was dust, and Tucker might be a hallucination."
Covering his eyes with his hand, Danny took a few more breaths before he regained his resolve and jumped to his feet. He then opened his room's balcony doors, the wind immediately bursting into the room with the taste of an impending storm. He took in the taste, the hunger for flight hitting him.
He could do this. His powers were back. Flight was his.
Eyes turning hungrily to the clouding sky, the teen straightened his spine and cried out, "I'm going ghost!"
But there was no flash of light.
No shifting rings.
No black jumpsuit.
No ghost powers.
Danny, now staring at his pale hands as if they had betrayed him, angrily grabbed the railing on the balcony, gritting his teeth in anger and sorrow as he tried to hold back tears of frustration. What was going on? He was sure his powers were returning.
Then again, a voice that sound far too much like Clock Work in his head, perhaps it was for the best. Maybe his body and soul knew what his mind did not. He could not risk becoming Dan Phantom. Maybe his body had decided to remove the temptation altogether with the help of the trauma from the fire. Truly gone were his ghost powers.
"It's just not right," gritted out Danny as he stomped back into his room, kicking a nearby dresser which unfortunately led him to several minutes of swearing as he hobbled around on one foot.
A few minutes later, after having finally calmed down, Danny found himself on his bed again, dwelling on his powers. Maybe this had nothing to do with Dan Phantom. It made more sense that his powers were related to his injuries. It would explain why he could use them when truly in danger.
Swallowing, hating himself for even thinking it, Danny whispered to himself, "Maybe I should ask Vlad if he has problems with his powers, especially when injured."
Danny immediately abolished the idea, his mind scolding him. He nearly jumped out of his skin though when there was suddenly a knock on the door.
Sitting up in surprise, stomach sinking as he prayed it wasn't Vlad asking to finish their conversation from last night. Instead, there was another knock, someone that wasn't Vlad stating, "Young sir? Will you be coming to brunch? Mr. Masters wants to make sure you're not hungry, because dinner will be a ways off."
"I think I'd rather starve than risk being trapped in a conversation with him," grumbled Danny to himself as he slumped back onto his bed.
"What was that young sir?" asked the voice, presumably a butler from the other side of the door.
"I said no thank you," shouted back the teenager as he threw a pillow over his head dramatically, his stomach giving a disapproving growl as he listened to the butler leave. Truthfully, he was sure that his stomach had already started digesting itself. He probably would have already starved to death if not for the cheese sandwich that he had last night before the Skulker incident.
Then, as if on cue, his stomach gave a might roar causing the teen to cringe. Oh yeah, this day was going to last forever.
…
A few hours later, Danny was still in his room. He was so bored (apparently a television wasn't a required item for his bedroom) that he had placed his study chair in the middle room, spinning it around until he felt like puking. Luckily, his stomach was empty or he just might have.
Finally coming to a halt, the teenager stared absent-mindedly at the door in the far corner of his room. It wasn't a closet because he had already dug through that because he was not going to wear pandas all day. So, getting up and walking like a drunken fool to the door, Danny opened the door with practiced paranoia before he whistled in surprise.
"Wow, a master bathroom … with two sinks, a shower and a Jacuzzi tub. At least I don't have to fight Jazz in the morn-," Danny's words died in his throat, along with his excitement over the situation as he whispered a soft, "Oh yeah, I forgot."
Danny silently placed a hand over his mouth and felt an almost sobbing-like breath pull in. He had kept it together all day and now the sight of a bathroom was going to make him have another fit. Feeling his throat tighten, Danny shook his head. No, it wasn't the bathroom itself that bothered him. He missed Jazz. He missed her so much that he sometimes forgot she was never coming back.
Closing his eyes, memories of her bubbling to the surface, he nearly slipped on the bathroom tiles when there was a quick knock on the door.
"Daniel. No, I mean young master? Will you be coming to dinner?" came a feminine voice. Was that Kristy from this morning?
Danny rolled his eyes figuring that Vlad had sent her. The billionaire must have noticed that Danny had liked her immediately. Regardless, he wouldn't go to dinner if the pope himself had cooked it. It was probably poisoned with truth serum anyway, knowing Vlad.
"No thank you. I'm not hungry," answered Danny before he whispered to himself, "As if I could eat anything with his ugly face across the table."
Danny quickly heard a small giggle come from outside the door as if she had heard the comment. Nonetheless, the playful maid whispered a polite goodbye and was quickly gone. Unfortunately, it wasn't ten minutes later when Kristy was knocking on the door again, murmuring, "Um Danny - I mean young Master Daniel, Mr. Masters said that that wasn't a good enough answer."
The halfa rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to scream something he would regret. Kristy would get fired if she were to relate the message he had in mind. Really, he just wanted to be left alone. He'd survive a day without food.
Danny's stomach roared its own opinion on the matter.
"Traitor," whispered the youth as he placed a hand on his belly. "Just calm down. I'll sneak something later tonight. You'll get your cheese and mayonnaise."
"Master Daniel?" asked the young woman again.
"Fine," growled Danny, his irritation obvious, "Tell him I'm allergic to idiots. No offense to you though Kristy."
The maid barked a short laugh, her tone even carrying a smile even through the door, "None taken, but Mr. Masters that if you didn't come down of your own accord, he'd come up and get you."
The teen rolled his eyes but still replied, "Okay. You can still relate that message."
Kristy chuckled softly, whispering something about teenagers before she replied louder, "Of course, Master Daniel. I will do that for you."
Only once he was sure she was gone did the teenager mumble to himself, "Jerk. Why can't he just leave me alone for a day. He plays dirty. Threatening me with food."
Danny's glare then returned to the bathroom before him, a smirk pulling at his lips. It had been a while since his last real bath and his godfather was kind of a prude. Last night was a perfect example of Vlad's respect towards restrooms.
Smiling to himself, Danny grabbed a clean set of clothes and headed to the bathroom while stating, "Fine. If he wants to play dirty, I'll play clean."
The halfa laughed the whole way to the bathtub. It really was a nice bathroom. He was still surprised that his whole room wasn't green.
...
Meanwhile, at that very same moment, Vlad growled in his throat as he marched up to his godson's room. He glared at the door for a moment as if the hinges would melt off due to his gaze alone. When that didn't happen, the man angrily knocked with more strength than needed.
"Daniel, open the door! Your behavior is unacceptable and childish. Did you want to make me angry? Well, then congratulations, I'm mad now. I wanted to speak about last night calmly, but that's not what you want, is it?!" shouted the older male as he stood there in the hall, waiting for some witty banter to come his way.
When no reply was offered, the billionaire quickly phased through the door. He glared across the room as if assessing the situation, expecting at least a shouting match if not a full-out battle with Danny Phantom. He still found it odd that Danny Phantom hadn't made an appearance yet … not that he blamed the boy. He had only had his powers for a few months. It could be hard to transform when severely depressed or sick. That didn't mean he was going to be easy on the teen. The boy was a selfish brat, and he was keeping secrets. Secrets that Vlad needed to know about because he wasn't leaving a possible enemy as a guessing game.
Hearing the shower, Vlad irritably walked over to the bathroom door, his tone dark, "Daniel, you cannot hide in bathrooms forever. We need to talk."
There was a slipping sound almost immediately in the room, the younger halfa shouting back, "Why are you in my room?! Get out!"
"It's my house," groused the older man. "And we will talk. We can do it in a civilized manner or we can have a battle first. Either way, you will talk to me."
Danny, hair dripping wet, suddenly pulled open the door, peaking out just enough so the other halfa would catch the hint that Danny wasn't decent and leave him alone. "Just leave me alone, you arrogant jerk. I'm taking a shower."
Then, before Vlad could even open his mouth, the teenager slammed the door, leaving the man a bit flabbergasted.
Lip twitching, a tone only used by Plasmius floated through the door, "Fine, boy, you don't have to tell me. You apparently don't have to eat either. Starve for all I care but clean out that filthy mouth of yours with some soap while you're in there."
And with that, Danny listened to Vlad leave, slamming Danny's door behind him.
…
Joed's decaying form slowly crawled through the shrubbery towards the city lights, little pieces of flesh and curdling blood being left behind in the roots and gravel. His flesh was decaying at an abnormal rate and he needed to find a sacrifice soon.
Yellowing nails dug deep into the earth almost desperately, hungrily, trying to pull him forward, closer to the nearest lights and nearest life. Finally, when the dirt gave way to woodchips and pavement, the fire demon chuckled and looked at where he had ended up, " Ah, yes-s, a hospital. A place to die-e … it should have all the i-ingredients I need. In f-fact, they will be easy to find-d."
The demon, forcing himself to his feet, stumbled towards the back door like the dead thing he was.
A young doctor with a tired gaze stood outside smoking a cigarette, staring at the moths that batted against a nearby lamplight. He heard the stumbling and the shuffling of feet and stalled, cigarette just hanging in his mouth. In fact, said cigarette actually fell out of his mouth when Joed's form stumbled into the hospital's light. He looked like a mix between a man that had just dug himself out of his own shallow grave and a ghoul. There seemed to be dirt and blood everywhere. The poor doctor almost didn't know what to think as he ran over to Joed and acted as any good doctor would.
"Sir, are you alright?! Are you injured? Is all this blood yours? Where are you bleeding from? Can you hear me?"
Joed, not wanting to disappoint the healer, slowly raised his gaze up to look at the doctor's face, into his stunning-blue eyes, his smile growing ever so inhuman as he whispered, "My … what pretty eyes you have."
The doctor, his eyes squinting in confusion, didn't even get to question the odd behavior when suddenly the monster lashed out with his dagger-like nails. He grabbed the doctor's head in his hands and immediately pressed his thumbs into the man's eye sockets. The doctor gave a howl and tried to thrash away. He even tugged at the wrists that were pulling out his eyeballs, but this was not the first time the demon had stolen a pair of eyes and he doubted it would be the last. Eyes always wore out so quickly for him.
It didn't take long for Joed to fish out his prizes: two stunning blue eyes. All the originator could do was kneel there and hold his face as blood pooled past his fingers, wailing over and over again about his eyes.
The demon stood there a moment, observing the show before he patted the poor fool on the head, stating, "Chin up, I'll at least give you the mercy of killing you before taking your face. I'd hate to ruin it with a struggle."
The doctor barely had time to cry out and try to stumble away, but the demon merely chuckled and tripped him. And, before he could further struggle, Joed was sitting on his chest and wrapping his hands around the man's neck, gleefully squishing his throat shut. The struggle might have lasted an hour or five minutes, claw marks up and down Joed's arms. That did stop the demon from shuddering in glee when the doctor finally went limp, like a doll that had been left behind for the monster to play with.
Sitting up straight to look at his work, the demon pushed the man's hair out of his bloodied face and gazed into those empty sockets, tisking as if he was scolding a child, " Now, don't look at me that way. We both knew smoking would kill you."
The demon then laughed to himself and picked up what was left of that dropped cigarette, playfully taking a few puffs. He then took a sharp thumbnail and started to peel off the man's face as if he were merely skinning a deer, sickening squelching noises echoing in the clearing. Only once the blood dripped from all sides of the dead man's head did the demon carefully peel off the peach mask as if he had done it a thousand times before, chuckling as he placed it over his own rotting one. The new flesh seemed to sizzle as it immediately clung to the demon's face, a perfect mask forming with not a sign of fraud … except for the eyes, but those would be changed soon.
Right now in fact.
Reaching a hand towards one of his own eyes, Joed's eyes, the demon chuckled to himself as he started to pull his old eye out, "Now let's see what I can get for my next meal. Veal sounds good."
...
Danny gasped in horror as the image of Joed dragging the young doctor's body into the bushes flashed before his eyes. The teenager struggled for breath as the water from the shower ran down his form. What had just happened? One minute he was taking a shower and then he was watching a murder.
Sitting up slowly, realizing now that he had collapsed on the shower floor, Danny hissed and quickly reached a hand towards the top of his head. Unsurprisingly, his fingers came back red. Great, he was bleeding.
Cursing his luck, wondering if his legs were too shaky to stand, Danny nearly slipped when Vlad's voice call out from the other side of the bathroom door, "Daniel, enough of these games. You have been in the shower since dinner. You're not missing supper as well. Now get out here."
The teenager sat there looking at the bathroom door in shock. He'd been in the shower that long. Well, at least he now knew how long the episode lasted. Shaking off the panic of having an episode at all, Danny wiped the water out of his eyes and hurriedly rinsed his hair to try and get all the blood out.
"Daniel, don't make me count to ten. I think it's unbecoming to both of us if I have to treat you like a toddler, but I will come in there if I have to wait a minute more," grumbled Vlad, before he added, "And don't think I won't come in there. It's not as if I've never seen your pale behind before. Like that birthmark you have on your –"
"Don't you dare say it!" cried Danny as he frantically tried to crawl out of the slippery shower and turn off the water. He shook silently as he searched the room for a towel. He'd been in that warm water for a long time and this cold air could not be good for him.
"And you call me a prude," drily replied Vlad as he listened to Danny stumble around in the bathroom. "Oh and by the way it's up to six."
"What? I thought you were giving me a minute and what happened to one through five?" cried Danny as he finished wiping himself off with the towel he had just found. He then frantically started looking for his clothes. Where were they? He could have sworn -
"You wasted them by talking. Eight," added Vlad, a sick type of satisfaction overcoming any irritation as he listened to the teenager trip in his panic to probably find his clothes. Too bad they were right here at his feet: the clean and dirty ones.
"I'm almost done! Don't you dare come in here! I can't find my clothes," yelled Danny as he frantically grabbed for a towel to throw around his waist.
"Nine and your clothes are right at my feet," said Vlad as he picked up the shirt, frowning at it. "You do know that dirty clothes generally go into a hamper and folded clothes go your closet, right?"
"Of course I do? Give them to me!"
"No can't do, little badger. Ten," ended Vlad, half surprised when a grumpy teenager opened the door instead of him having to phase through it. Daniel was soaking wet and was holding a towel around his waist. Vlad was sure the teen had actually been in there since lunch with the wave of mist that followed him out.
Danny glared at his godfather, holding the other's questioning gaze before his glare fell to his clean shirt, which Vlad was holding. Danny grabbed his shirt and groused, "Give me my shirt and get out. I'm not hungry."
Not that his stomach agreed, a loud growling sound echoing over the room. The teen flinched in embarrassment. He wasn't going to make it until nightfall, was he?
Vlad merely quirked an eyebrow, giving the young male a bemused gaze before adding, "Your stomach seems to disagree. Now quit pouting and get downstairs. Your doctor said eating healthy meals was a necessity to healing your body, and you don't want to insult the cook, do you? Ronaldo already thinks that you don't like his food since you haven't bothered to come and try any of it yet."
"I told you that I wasn't hungry," grumbled Danny as he stomped past the other halfa and into his walk-in closet, searching for some pants. He hoped that Vlad at least bought him some clothes that didn't scream: I'm a rich kid! Loath me!
The bachelor smiled as a cruel trick hit him, "Oh well. I guess that that perfectly primed steak and garlic potatoes will just have to go to waste. I'm sure Ronaldo won't hold a grudge forever or anything."
"Garlic potatoes?" repeated the teenager as he looked out from his closet, his stomach whining. Danny placed a hand on his belly. Well, it did sound good, but he still wasn't going!
"Oh yes, and perfectly seasoned sweet peas with lemon meringue pie for dessert," Vlad added with a wave of his hand as he walked towards the exit, "but since you're not hungry, I'll just enjoy it all by myself."
Danny froze on the spot, his mind chanting: food, real food. Part of his mind knew it was a trap, but before he could stop himself the boy found himself asking, "Um Vlad, is there going to be real homemade gravy as well?"
…
The teenager had no idea how his stomach had overcome his brain, but right now he really didn't care. The potatoes and gravy tasted like heaven. The only problem with the entire meal was that there were too many types of forks and the forks available weren't big enough because he couldn't stuff as much into his mouth as he wanted. Danny, for the third time, choked slightly on his food, putting his fork down for a moment to swallow and to scratch his injured arm. His injury had been bothering him ever since he got out of the shower. He must have hit it when he passed out or irritated the skin with the warm water.
"Daniel, please stop stuffing your mouth like that. You're going to choke," stated Vlad dryly as he watched the teenager start to stuff his face again. It was truly a horrifying spectacle to watch. It was as if he was watching a lion trying to devour an entire elephant on its own, slurping noises included. Vlad had actually put a butler on Danny's side of the room in case the teenager started choking. He was never going to let the teenager miss a meal again if this horrifying display was the after effect.
"I'm not -kuhhhk," Danny said with his mouth full of food, his sentence interrupted as he started to choke on a bun. Before the butler could react though, the teen grabbing a glass of juice and quickly washed it down.
Choking massacre avoided, the youth was about to continue stuffing his face when he stalled to look at his glass of juice. Had it always been that strange red color? It was almost too red.
Danny slowly put his fork down as he felt a sense of dread run down his spine as he remembered snippets of his vision from earlier. Suddenly, as if beckoned forward, there was a flash and he found himself walking down a hospital hall. Danny shook his head and found his plate in front of him again. He was starting to feel lightheaded and had lost all sense of hunger and want. In fact, he was starting to feel ill.
Was it a head injury? Was it the doctor getting to him? Shit, yes. The doctor, the smoker. It was still kind of fuzzy. W-what had happened? He remembered screaming and blue eyes and … and blood. So much blood. W-what had he forgotten?!
Vlad, losing interest in his soup, carefully watched his godson put down his fork and stare at his glass. Did he eat too quickly and make himself ill? Probably, the way he was going at it. The boy might have been powerful for his age, but no one said he was terribly bright.
Watching the youth, a part of him wondering if the teenager was going to pass out like an overstuffed cat, Vlad said, "I told you not to eat too quickly."
Danny nodded his head in agreement as he watched his potatoes slowly turn into maggots, his steak bits into chunky viscera, and his drink into a glass of curdling blood. Was he hallucinating, wasn't he?
Shaking his head, the teen looked again. The drink wasn't blood-colored and there weren't presently maggots and meaty bits on his plate. He had just eaten too fast and was imagining it all. That had to be it.
Regardless, Danny couldn't help but swallow as he tried to block out the images of blood and guts that kept appearing in his head. Beside himself, he quickly closed his eyes and tried to block out the need to hurl.
Joed slowly walked down the hall smiling with his stolen face as nurses and patients walked by stating, "Good evening, Troy"; "How are you?"; "Did you change your hair?" Joed merely smiled and nodded to them all, continuing on like a man on a mission until he stopped in his tracks, having found his prize: the delivery rooms.
Danny swayed in his seat when he was finally able to open his eyes, but quickly regained his composure when he saw his godfather's eyes staring silently at him. There was a cold silence and the staff kept throwing glances at him telling the teenager that he had missed something important. "Ah? What did you say?"
Vlad quirked an eyebrow and repeated his question, something simple to regain the teenager's trust before he started burrowing about the accident again, "Did you want to go shopping after my doctor's appointment tomorrow? I did get you a few things but I think you'd rather pick out clothes and other such articles on your own. Personally, I'm not up to date with teenagers trends. We also have to get you fitted for your school uniform."
Danny, having decided to try to drink away his fears with a safe glass of water, only ended up spitting it out at his godfather's latest news.
"A private school, but … but," he whined, his words cut short as he closed his eye, allowing another wave of nausea to overcome him.
The demon smiled as he walked over to the young woman with a swelling belly. She huffed hello and threw her head back as a contraction hit her hard. The demon continued to smile as he watched her suffering. What she was doing presently was one of the most powerful happenings in the universe. The ability to give life and bring a new soul into the world was a much greater strength than taking a soul out of the world. And that was the exact thing he needed.
"Sir," whispered the demon to the shaken-looking husband who was presently having his hand crushed by the soon-to-be mother. "Why don't you step outside for a moment and get some air. The birth itself won't be for a while."
The young father nodded his head, kissed his wife on the forehead, and exited the room without question.
The imposter doctor stood there long enough to make sure the husband was gone before he locked the door behind, the click echoing oddly in the room. The unsettling feeling increased when he closed the blinds. The mother-to-be looked up at him with scared eyes, her mouth morphing into an expression of horror as she watched him rip off the fleshy mask. Yet, just as she opened her mouth to scream out in terror, a decaying hand was slapped over her mouth muffling her cry of terror.
"Now, now. There will be none of that now because," he leaned in and whispered into her ear, his rank breath causing her to close her eyes, "there will be plenty of time for that later."
"What's wrong with a private school? You'll be picked on less and you will also get individual attention to catch up on your grades. You haven't even seen the school so please stop acting like the thought of it is killing you," interrupted the billionaire's voice, crashing into his vision of terror. "Well?"
The teen opened his eyes with a small gasp. What was going on? Was this happening right now or was it some sort of nightmare?
"Fine, whatever," finally said Danny dismissively as he managed to open his eyes.
Honestly, he hated the idea of private education, but he'd rather be at a private school right now then be here at this very moment. Shit ... another one was coming on.
Joed strapped the poor woman to the bed and then silenced her by taking his sharpened rails and … ripping out her tongue. A stream of warm blood ran over her teeth as she tried to scream. Joed merely smirked fondly and watched as her gurgled cries went unnoticed by the world outside. You could actually hear the staffs' footsteps mere yards away, but no one would interrupt and they both knew it. Screaming in a delivery room wasn't exactly uncommon.
The demon, unable to help himself, ran a hand lovingly over her swollen belly and whispered, "Thee mother given me life yet I'm to take it away."
The poor mother tried to cry out, as if knowing what he was going to do, but the demon merely took that as encouragement. He plunged his ghastly nails into her belly's flesh, parting the skin and sinking into the organs below as he searched for the womb.
Despite the mother's thrashing, despite her gurgled screams and the growing pool on the floor below, an infant's bawl soon rose in the air. The mother, barely twitching at this point, could only watch with dulling eyes as her child was ripped from her body. Joed merely grinned down at her, because he knew there was no worse fate for a mother than to have her child ripped from her arms. Cooing, the babe bawling in his grasp, the demon watched as the mother drew in her last breath, her white sheets stained red all around her. She never took her gaze off of her child even as her eyes lost their flicker of life and took on a waxy look.
Only once she was dead, only once he was sure she would be haunted by the fact that she hadn't even gotten to hold her child, did he look down at the baby and chuckle, "It's a girl. A beautiful, darling, female who will bring me life … once I've eaten hers."
The demon wasted no time, jaw popping as it extended in an inhuman way. He then dangled the child above his mouth and started to swallow her whole like a snake.
Only once the infant's bawls were muffled and gone and the swallowing noises had finished, did the demon stall to take in his work.
Blood was dripping all the way down his borrowed scrubs and his skin was already starting to lose its yellow tint. Even broken bones under the skin were snapping back into place as he watched, the popping and cracking noises filling the room. It was a beautiful sight as far as he was concerned.
Chuckling, glad to have his body back to functionality, the demon leaned down and whispered into the dead woman's ear, "May your souls travel together to the kingdom of Hades. Tell him I said hi if he's still down there."
Vlad watched in horror as Danny suddenly barked in agony, grabbing the sides of his head before he seemingly collapsed, his head slamming into the table before he fell to the floor. The billionaire sat there a moment in complete shock before he rushed to his feet and over to the unconscious body on the floor. The butler was already laying the teen flat on his back as if expecting a seizure by the time Vlad kneeling at the kid's side, patting his cheek and checking his head.
"Daniel? Little Badger? Can you hear me?" chocked Vlad as he felt a stir of panic rise in his stomach, the boy's flickering eyelids causing him more distress than reassurance. Was this one of his attacks? It didn't look like one. For one, Danny hadn't grabbed his arm which was always a precursor to one of those types of attacks.
The butler, Smith, already knew what was wrong. It was a mind possession. The demon needed to break his toys. The more insane the better, because once the mind was shattered, the soul was an easy thing to disperse of.
Not if he had anything to say about it though.
Rodger, acting as if he was leaning down to listen to his breathing, quickly whispered into the youth's ear. A small wisp of yellow smoke passed from his lips and crept into the teenager's ear. For a second it was as if nothing had happened, but then the teenager's eyes snapped open in reaction and his shaking all but faded.
You could basically see the relief fill the room as the teenager gave a confused look at all the people around him, asking, "W-what's going on? What am I doing on the floor?"
Vlad lean back and let go of the breath he was holding, a hand placed over his mouth as he collected himself. Only when the teenager started to sit up did he put out a hand, forcing the teen to lay back down as he stated, "You collapsed and hit your head on your way down. Someone, get the driver to pull the car around. We are going to the ER."
There was some quick shuffling from the butler at their side, the man likely going to get the driver. If he looked familiar at all, it completely passed over Vlad and Danny like a spell as the youth tried to sit back up again, immediately on guard. The demon had been at a hospital. He was not going to go to one.
"No," said Danny in a panic, his breathing become erratic as his fingers dug into Vlad's arm. "I … don't want … to go there. He … He'll kill me. I can't even fight him right now."
"You're not going to have to fight someone at the hospital. Calm down, little badger," said Vlad firmly even as the teen grabbed onto the older halfa's vest and pulled himself up, the teen's whole form shaking even as Vlad reached out to keep him steady. "We are going to get you to a doctor. It's going to be fine."
"No. No. You don't understand. I'm fine. I'm just tired. I want to go to bed," whimpered Danny as he felt his upcoming doom drawing closer and closer with each panicked breath.
"No, you're not. People who are fine do not fall unconscious on the floor," grumbled Vlad in the calmest tone he could muster before he turned to the staff. "Has the car been pulled up yet? I will carry Daniel if he's too shaky to walk."
"Not yet, the driver's been informed though," choked the maid that had been standing there with her hand over her mouth the whole time, her terror almost tangible.
"No!" cried Danny as tears started running down his cheeks, images of the dying mother's face flashing before his eyes. "Please don't. He's there! I can't go there. Please, I'm fine. I don't want to be in the same place as that monster. I can't fight right now! Please Vlad don't take me there. Please."
Danny was sobbing now as he collapsed into Vlad's grasp, nearly hysterical as the full weight of the vision hit him. He didn't want to go there. He could see the blood now. He could imagine nurses and doctors stepping in it, dragging it into every room, and staining the whole place. He couldn't go there.
Not knowing what else to do, Danny dug his nails into his godfather's vest and buried his head into it, "Please."
The staff could now see the indecision on Vlad's face as the man reluctantly started to pet his godson's head, his touch becoming more assured as he tried to calm the boy, "Daniel, you collapsed. Even if it was just low blood sugar or something ... it would be unwise not to take you."
Swallowing wetly, the older halfa's clam touch already helping to center him, Danny offered a muffled argument, "I was just light-headed from not eating and being in the hot shower all afternoon. Please, I'm sick of hospitals... I promise I'm fine. You can even have the doctor check me out tomorrow … but don't take me there tonight."
Smith, having finally run back into the room, now dressed as a driver, stalled as Vlad sighed and relented, "Fine, but you have to wear a statis band tonight. It will keep an eye on your vitals."
And with that, the older halfa picked up his godson and headed for the boy's rooms, his thoughts heavy as he wondered if he could ever really help Danny. There just seemed to be so many cracks and so many questions that the boy didn't want to answer.
XXX
This took forever to edit. I hate editing so much and I don't even edit it 6-8 times like I am supposed to. Judge me if you must but this sucker was originally over 10,000 words ... and I hate past me for it.
(Revisions September 2021)