Chapter 5: Welcome to Wisconsin!
Danny and Sam fled with thier friends to thier house down the street. There they needed some time to calm down. Randy brought a bottle of Scotch. Danny drunk one. Sam refused, asking for water instead...
Both spend the rest of the day, the evening and the night in thier friend's house. Sleeping on the couch...
They talked about Amity Park again and about the disaster that changed thier lives. Even today the city not fully recovered. Many companies left after the disaster. And many people, too. Danny and Sam often thought about returning there. But honestly they never ever visited Amity Park again after they left. Some people there praised Danny as a hero, because he was the one who hold the hose to spray everyone with water when they were surrounded by the fire. But Danny never felt like a hero. When the movie was produced and filmed in 1986, the only reason he agreed to work with the producers was because they paid for the ticket to Los Angeles. That was his way out of Spittoon, Arkansas and to see Sam again after so many years.
When they decided to 'run away' together it was Sam's granny who took them to Las Vegas. After thier marriage both were already on the way back to Amity Park... But they stopped. They stopped when they saw the first street sign to Amity Park... They couldn't. So they turned around and end up in this town. East of Rockford, West of Chicago (where Jazz was working). Quiet, safe and normal. Jazz had been in Amity Park once. In 1992 she and her husband went there to the 10 th anniversary commemoration. The property where thier house once stood was still vacant. The neighbourhood that was once full of townhouses was a empty field now...
Danny and Sam also talked about Danny's call with the man in Wisconsin!
"...I am not so sure about this..." Danny said. "...but... this is neighter a coincidence nor... aww... no... it have to be a coincidence!"
"That a guy who claims to be a friend of your dead parents contacts you right when our house get's haunted by them? Is this a sighn?" Sam asked. "An omen, maybe?"
"Do you think my parent's haunt me because..." Danny stopped. No, that was a horrible thought he did not want to mention.
"Danny, I told you a thousand times: You are not fault!" Sam said. "I am sure your parents did not lock themself in, in thier lab just because of your fight. I know it sound's hard... but everything went so fast then..."
"I know... but that's not what I meaned. This man in Wisconsin... he asked me about... my condition. He knew about my blood-pressure-problems."
"Where?"
"I don't know! But according to what he said... there is an answer in my parent's work.. And he realy want's to meet us!" Danny said, telling Sam how he kind of begged to meet the whole family and that Danny promised to call back.
It was already 1 am. Both were not able to sleep. Not that thier friend's couch was unconfy. They were just too upset...
"Do you think, it is a sign from them to call this man back?"
"Yeah! But also because I would like to know more about this man, too. It would be impolite to not to call him back. After all the worked very hard to find you..."
"Yeah, you are right! I'll call him back immediately..." Danny said and lift up.
"Ehm... Danny... Maybe you should at least wait until morning. You wouldn't like it, too if someone calls you in the middle of the night and wakes you up." Sam suggested.
Danny aggreed to her and laid down next to her on the couch again. She was right. But both were still not able to sleep...
After a long, sleepless night and a short but poorly breakfast at thier friend's house, Danny and Sam returned home. They found the place like they left it. With a messy living-room, missing stuff and with a creepy silence inside. They talked about the TV and if it was responsible for the 'incident'...
"Shall we try it again?" Danny asked.
"You don't really think that this 15 years old piece of electronic-waste is a gate to the beyond?" Sam asked. But she already put the plug back into the socket to ensure that they could test it.
Both nooded to each other, while Danny took the remote controler from the ground. After taking a deep breath (and Sam's hand), Danny switched the TV on... it worked normally...
Both saw it... The TV was working normally and without flickering... And there was no 'screaming' or 'cold gusts'. So whatever it was it had nothing to do with the TV. But Danny switched it off anyway. Suddenly the TV made them nervous. Than he and Sam start to tidy up the mess and looked for the note with Vlad Master's phone-number, that was laying somewhere inbetween the mess. After an hour of searching, Danny finally found the note under the armchair and called Vlad. Latter was happy (Danny suggested it as happy, but in truth Vlad remained calm and objective) that the Fenton's decided to call him back. And not even five minutes later they arranged that the Fenton's show up for a visit. Vlad promised to arrange everything. He wanted them to show up as soon as possible. Telling them the exact route and how to find his house...
Danny and Sam had no clue what happened. Was it this charming way he convinced them, a trick maybe, or whatever... before midday they already sat in the car and were on the way to Wisconsin... Just to get out of thier 'haunted-house'...
"Danny what we are doing?" Sam asked after an half an hour when they passed the 'Welcome to Wisconsin' sign.
Danny looked around. They were in Beloit, Wisconsin now. According to Vlad they had to follow the Interstate 90 till Stoughton than change to Highway 51 and follow it. Vlad said that his house is near Lake Waubesa and Lake Kegonsa, south of Madison and that they won't be able to miss it. In Janesville, they made a break and stopped. Danny was driving, but now they changed and Sam would drive for the rest of the ride. Danny used the break to look on a big map that was standing on the resting place. It was map of the Interstate and Highway network of Wisconsin and he tried to find Lake Waubesa...
"Excuse me, ma'am!" Danny said and turned to a woman standing right behind him at her own car. "Are you familiar with this area?"
"Yes!" the woman answered. Her car had a licence-plate from Wisconsin. So it was obvious that she was from here and knew the area.
"We are on the way to a man who lives near Lake Waubesa!" Danny explained pointing on the map. "Can you show me on this map?"
The helpful woman showed him the lake on the map and explained him the best route. But she became curious...
"Hmm... you are not from here, aren't you?"
"Illinois!" Danny answered, while he unfold the paper with his notes. "A friend of my late parents invited us. He kind of begged us..."
The woman looked on Danny's notes... but she only saw the name on the top of it and was shocked...
"You... you're going to visit Vlad Masters?" she asked shocked.
"Yes! Do you know him?" Danny asked surprised. The woman did not answer. Her face became pale. She looked on Danny with big eyes and looked on him like he was an alien. She walked backwards back to her car, opened the door and took something from the passenger seat. It was a tissue. She used it to dry her face that was suddenly full of sweat. Now Danny was a bit worried. "Ma'am, are you allright?"
"Vlad Masters!" she said. Danny could hear that her voice became a bit disgusted. "Good luck! You'll need it!"
Danny saw the woman entering her car and rushed to get away. She raced backwards out of her parking space and forcing the driver of a SUV to break violently, before she raced away with squeaking tires... Danny looked after the car and was surprised. Why the woman was so upset?
"Danny, what did you say to that woman?" Sam asked when she approached him. "She made a face like you insulted her?"
"I said nothing!" Danny said. "I swear..."
Both decided to forget it. A few minutes later they continued thier journey. Danny watched carefully to follow the description Vlad gave to him... they were driving for two hours now...
"Hmm... according to his route description we'll arrive soon. It has to be close..." Danny said and looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere. There were some pastures around them with cows all over. Over the hill they mentioned a big, grey building. But the next bigger town was miles away. "...where is it?"
"Danny, are you sure that we are right?" Sam asked a bit annoyed and drove slower. They were alone now on the street. In the radio, they start to warn for thunderstorm's in the evening. And they were far away from any settlement...
"Aww... Vlad told me to go this way... oh, look there is the green transformer house..." Danny said and pointed on the small green-painted building next to the road. "...he said right after the house, we have to turn left and we arrive..."
Sam already turned on the blinker. "I hope so... because slowly I feel like this is... AGHHHH..."
Both were surprised by the sudden appearance of a big bright yellow gate on the street. Sam had to break hardly to avoid a crash. The car was surrounded by dirt and both could smell the stech of burning tires threw the open windows. The 'gate' was shining in the sun. Both mentioned a big 'M' on it.
"Boah... that was close..." Danny murmured. Suddenly his heartbeat was much faster and he could feel his blood-pressure increasing. Which was actually good.
"Danny, are you really sure that you have the right notes? I don't think that..." Sam ranted, but she was not able to finish. Suddenly a shutter right next to the car opened and a camera plopped out.
Both shrieked when a camera, mounted on a long mechanical arm, moved out of the cavity behind the shutter and went threw the open window into the car. The camera moved from left to right, to film both Danny and Sam. Surprised and totally overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of the camera, the couple was not able to say something. But suddenly they heared a voice...
"Who are you? What do you want?" a male voice asked.
"Ehm... Sorry. I think we are wrong..." Danny said abashed.
The camera suddenly moved back to Danny and went closer to his face. "This voice... Daniel, is that you?"
"Mister... ehm... Vlad?!" Danny said.
"Gosh... you really look like your father... but luckily you got enough from your mother, too. Come in..." Vlad said over the speaker and the camera was moved back. Just a second later the big 'golden' gate opened.
Both, Danny and Sam were stunned by Vlad's 'house'. It was honestly not a house it was litteraly a castle... A big castle, surrounded by wide open country. That was the building they mentioned before but they did not expect that that was Vlad's 'house'. Sam was so stunned that she forgot to drive on...
Vlad's 'driveway' was another half mile long. Sam drove slowly and carefully. There was no reason for it but she was too stunned by the 'house' and the 'driveway' and the 'everything'. A minute or two later Sam stopped the minivan right in front of the main-entrace to the castle. Both first didn't dare to leave the car, but than they left it anyway to look around. They couldn't imagine that Vlad is living in this huge building...
"Danny, you could have mentioned that this guy is a rich prig!" Sam murmured.
"Sam, I had no clue!" Danny said and looked around again. Looking for other buildings. There were just the castle, some garages, and some annexes. "Maybe... he lives in that annex there."
"Oh, yeah... maybe..." Sam said and both already walked around the car to approach the annex. But suddenly the big main-entrace opened...
When they turned around again, both saw a man walking out threw the big portal...
"Daniel! Oh, I am so happy to see you!" the man said, lifting his arms and approaching them. "Oh, 34 years! 34 years, since I saw you the last time. Oh, you became big... Welcome to Wisconsin!"
Danny scrutinized the man. For a man who 'studied with his parents' he looked very young. Danny would guess that he is in the late 40s. And not in his parent's age. Long white hair, bound together in a ponytail and a matching goatee. However he had black eyebrows over his midnight-blue eyes that were heavily outlined in black. For Danny it looked like he is wearing eyeliner. He wore a black-suit and black polished patent leather shoes with a red bolotie and a matching handkerchief in his breast pocket. It was an expensive outfit, that was obvious. In contrast to him, Danny and Sam only wore casual clouthes and looked like they just came from a meeting with the riffraff...
"Mist... ehm... Vlad?!" Danny said with an awkward smile when Vlad arrived in front of him and shaked his hand.
"Oh, my gosh..." Vlad said calm, but definetely excited and happy. "You were such a little boy when I met you for the last time. You don't remember me, don't you?"
"Sorry!"
"Green Bay, July 1970!" Vlad said. "Aww... I have a photo inside... maybe you remember after you see it."
Vlad focused so much on Danny that Sam felt a bit left out. With a bright smile on his face Vlad finally turned to Danny's wife. Sam did not know why, but a cold shiver run down her back when Vlad looked on her. But he did not look into her face, he more focused on her stomach...
"And you have to be Samantha!"
"Sam!" she said, shaking his hand and smiling nervously. "Nice to meet you, Mister Masters!"
"Vlad!" he corrected her. "Mister Masters, sounds so formally.
"First we thought that we are wrong but... is this your house...?" Danny asked astonished and looked on the castle again.
Vlad's house... was big enough to be a big apartment-complex. Looking like a real castle with high stone-walls, stained-glass windows, castle towers and all that stuff. But it was not as old as a real castle. That was visible.
"Yes, it is!" Vlad said proudly. "This was once the home of the 'Wisconsin Dairy King'. He build it in the 50s. After his death, the state of Wisconsin kind of give away it. But now let's get inside. You had a long journey. My servants will take care of your luggage and your car..."
"Ehmm... Luggage?" Sam asked confused. Thier luggage consisted of Sam's purse and a bottle of water. They did not plan to stay overnight.
"You are alone? I thought you will bring your kids with you. I would have loved to meet them, too." Vlad said and led them to the door. "Come in! Ivan will take care of your car!"
"Oh, no need to..." Danny said.
"No, that makes no trouble! IVAN!" Vlad yelled. "Take care of the car of our guests!"
Vlad led Danny and Sam inside. Both did not look back until they could hear thier car starting and driving away speedily. When they looked after thier Toyota Van, both were not able to see the driver. They only saw the car disappearing behind the corner. It was propably going to the garages they saw earlier.
"Ehm... What will 'Ivan' do with our car?" Danny asked nervously.
"He just parks it. Don't worry! And now come in. Let's have a drink together before lunch..."
Vlad let them in and the first Danny and Sam saw was a kind of fan temple. The whole foyer was stuffed with fan-articles and pictures of the 'Green Bay Packers'. Both immediately realized that he was not only a Packer's-fan, he was a Packer's-fanatic! From carpets to the curtains, everything was in green and gold...
"Wow! So that's why you visited Green Bay, back then!" Danny said, looking on the many shirts, pictures and all the other stuff. "Gosh, is this...?"
"Oh, yeah... this is the football that was used in thier last Superbowl-win!" Vlad told when they stopped by a football in a showcase.
"Hmm... This looks like you want to owe the whole team." Sam suggested. She realized that this guy was most likely like her own parents. A snob who likes to pose with his fortune. "You have money, so why not buying it, too?"
"Because the Packer's are owned by the city of Green Bay and they won't sell them to me!" Vlad said, now angrier and frustrated. Suddenly his expression changed from mad, back to friendly. "Sorry! I don't want to bother you with my stuff. That only proves that you can't buy everything, no matter how much money you have. Let's go to the living-room and talk about the good old times..."
Danny and Sam left the green and golded foyer and entered a spacious living-room that looked much creepier than the rest of the house. Old, dark furniture. Old weapons were hanging on the walls. Dark curtains gave the room a dark atmosphere like a dungeon. But Sam liked it...
"This is nice!" Sam said when she and Danny sat down on the big dark-red leather couch. Vlad took a tablet with a silverware from a bar and put it on the coffee-table in front of them.
"A cup of tea?"
"Oh, thanks!" Danny said.
"Sooo... Daniel, how are you! I know it might be weird for you to see my after three decades. But you really don't seem to remember me."
"I have to admit... my father never mentioned you!" Danny confessed while he took a cup of tea from Vlad. "This is a very... impressive house!"
"Thank you! It was actually a bargain. There is a rumor that the ghost of the Dairy King is haunting this place. I actually never saw him... he he..." Suddenly Danny and Sam felt pretty scared. After thier house was haunted over the past days they had enough from ghosts! "...I am so glad that I found you. It was not easy! I would have thought that you returned to Amity Park!"
"Well... that was our plan at least!" Danny told wistful. "But at some point we realized... that we couldn't. We were young, bankrupt, had no friends and no families. We were... I don't know how to describe it... After the fire... Amity Park wasn't anymore! Sure the city is still where it was but... it is not the same. How did you find me?"
"That was a coincidence!" Vlad told, while he handed a cup to Sam, too and took one for himself. "I better start from the beginning... I knew your both your parent's from college. We worked on several projects together. After college we lost contact to each other... But I knew about you. I did not know that you survived. Not even when the movie came out. But luckily, when I once visited Amity Park, I met someone who told proudly that you were 'Andy Menton' from the movie. So I knew that you not only survived... you are also a hero!"
"Oh, please... I am not a hero. I just hold a fire-hose. I am not here to talk about the fire. On the phone... you said something that made me curious. About my parent's work..." Danny asked.
"What do you know about it? Sorry, that I ask but, actually I expected your father sharing his work with his kids. He was able to talk for hours and hours. Like a waterfall... Especially when it was about his work. So I am surprised that you have no clue what your parents did!"
"I only know that it had to do with advanced technology. Our whole basement, became some kind of 'high-tech-lab'. I was never allowed to enter it. My sister, too. Sometimes I thought that they do something prohibited down there. But whatever it was, my parents earned enough to pay the bills and we did not starve."
"I can tell you that they did nothing 'prohibited' down in your lab. But something that was actually pretty dangerous..." Vlad told.
"Dangerous?!" Now Danny became much more nervous.
"Two weeks before the fire, I got a letter from your father!" Vlad confessed, slowly stiring his tea. Danny had no clue how to interpret Vlad's view. Honestly Danny felt a bit intimidated. But he was also shocked. "Your father asked me to show up at your place!"
"Did you?"
"No! I planned to visit you at the weekend. But than I learned about the fire... I went to Amity Park and I saw the chaos. I was in Vietnam! In Bosnia, in Kosovo and in Afghanistan! But that was nothing compared to Amity Park. After a couple of days, I found your parents names on the death lists. The whole city was a battlefield. Good to see that you survived."
"Hmm..." Danny had no clue how to respond. "Miste... ehm... Vlad, one question? Did my parent's work had to do with... gosh, no it's ridiculous..."
"What? Daniel, you can tell me everything! It can't be that worse..."
"Well... I don't know how to explain it without sounding like a crazy lunatic but... My parents... they... haunt us...!"
Vlad remained silent and totally calm. It did not impress him in any way! "Haunt you?"
"Yeah, I know: That sound's crazy!" Danny apologized.
"No no... Honestly... Suddenly some things make sense now!" Vlad said. His voice did not sound surprised or upset. It sound like he expected Danny's statement.
"What do you mean with that?" Danny asked with big eyes.
"Well Daniel,... your parents were ghost-hunters!"
Please Review and keep well!