Chapter 6: Family secrets
Danny almost spit out his tea. And the cup slipped out of his hand. Sam remained silent while she stared with wide open eyes on thier host. Latter looked on them unimpressed and waited for more respond.
"Ehm... excuse me..." Danny had no clue how to react. Should he freak out? Or should he just be confused. He was both.
"Don't tell me that you did not know it?!" Vlad asked with an raised eyebrow.
Sam just listened with wide open eyes. She was too confused.
"Mist... ehm, Vlad... sorry? It's just... you tell me that my parents were ghostbusters?" Danny asked still in disbelief.
"Ghostbusters was a movie, Daniel! And believe me that your father would had loved it. No, your parents... were actually working in ghost hunting..."
"No no no no... Sorry Mis... Vlad! That's impossible. Sure my parents were... eccentric and kind of... no! No, I don't believe it. My parents were developing... electric-devices! High-tech gadgets! I can't believe that it has to do with ghosts... SAM! Say something, please!"
Sam was still too confused. But she was also a little bit curious. As a goth, she was always interested in the occult. Today as an adult mother of four, she had a more objective opinion on everything. "That sounds very... unbelivable... Sorry, but you have to explain it!"
Vlad leaned forward and placed his cup on the table. Still unimpressed and calm. Suddenly Vlad's calmness scared the both Fenton's.
"Okay... I'll tell you the full story..." Vlad said.
When Vlad met Danny's parent's for the first time, all three were studiying in Madison at the Wisconsin-State University. At some point, Vlad did not exactly remember when, Danny's father Jack came up with a theory of of a 'ghost-world', also reffered as 'ghost-zone'. A world that is coexisting along with the world they are living in. Like 'two sides of the same coin' everything what happens in one world, affects the other...
"You mean the beyond?!" Danny asked in disbelief.
"Not exactly but your parents were really convinced to find a way there. It was not about ghosts like, dead-people's souls... More ghosts with the meaning of... demons. Greatures that cause... fear... It is a too long and too complicated story to tell now. So we worked on... well... we worked on some kind of gate to this ghost-zone." Vlad explained. His voice became more gloomy. "Have you ever mentioned... some kind of 'gate' or 'portal' in your parent's lab?"
"Oh... well, I was only allowed to enter it when they were both with me. And my sister, too. There were shelves full with stuff. I remember... a big metal-door. Round and with a red-warning-light on the top. But I am not sure if it was a 'portal' to another dimension!" Danny said, trying to remember his parent's 'lab' down in thier basement. Suddenly he remembered the 'portal' on thier living-room wall again. "Were they... succesfull?"
"Not in College!" Vlad said, shaking his head. "I want to be honest to you, Daniel! We were working on a prototype together. We were once very close. And I admit that I had a crush on your mom. Who knows, you could be my son if she hadn't choced your father."
Danny was not more shocked than before. Today he learned things about his parents he never expected.
"...the prototype failed. And it... there was some kind of short circuit and it got a electric shock." Vlad told pointing with his finger on his face. "I was struck in the face and had to be hospitalized for a while. I had a huge fight with your father because I blamed him. When time passed, I learned to forgive him. But we lost contact to each other. Your parent's start thier business and I started my."
Danny looked around again. "Your business seems to be very sucessful. But you said that my parents contacted you before thier death?"
"Your father asked for a meeting! I... don't know how to explain it without scaring you...?"
"Vlad... I saw my dead parents in a green glowing hole over my TV. I saw a glowing boy floating in my house. And my blood pressure is so low that a little shock would just be helpful. Something is going on and we try to figure out what!" Danny begged. "Please, who ever you are, or whatever you know about my parents... Please, just tell us! There is nothing that can shock me more, than I already am!"
"Okay... Next to the letter, he send me some of his notes. I can show you if you want. That were personal notes from his research and... about you and your sister..."
"What?" now Danny realized that it was a lie when he said he can't be shocked more.
"I did not understand at first. And I thought that you died in the fire, too so I was not worried. But... he was afraid that his work and the 'radiation' from the lab might affected you or your sister. And there were notes about an 'accident'."
"I was three..." Danny suddenly remembered. He once asked his parents why he and Jazz were not allowed to enter the lab alone. "My... mother told me that I went down alone and that I got a electric-shock... I don't remember anything. But she said I accidentally turned on something and got a shock. She said that she heared me screaming and found me in the lab. And I remember that they regulary checked my and Jazz' vitals. Blood-pressure, pulse and all that... But with 'radiation' you don't talk about radioactivity?"
"No! Not radioactivity! Ectoplasm-radiation!" Vlad told. It didn't sound better and Danny showed it with his expression. "Sounds not better, I know. But you don't experienced some... How I explain it... weird things happening with your body?"
"Ehm... Puberty?!"
"Not that!"
"Ehm... Nightmares?" Danny had no clue. He really did not remember the accident in the lab when he was three years old. Or the meeting with Vlad a year later. "Sorry but... this is all just... Do you want to tell me that my parents might me responsible for my health-issues?"
"I honestly don't know. But your father was really a trouble magnet. So I won't be surprised if you or your sister got hurt..." Vlad told.
Danny had enough, smashed his cup on the table and stand up to walk up and down.
"I need some air!"
"Let's go outside!" Vlad said, pointing on a big door to the rear terrace.
Vlad opened the door. Outside the sun was shinining threw the thin clouds. But in the distance they could see dark clouds approaching. Propably the thunderstorm they heared about in radio. It was a spacious terrace with a stair down to the garden. After walking up and down a little bit, Danny felt better. Sam was still curious.
"Are you living here all alone?" she asked.
"Yes!" he answered. "Well there are Ivan and the other staff. But it's pretty lonely without my wife!"
"Oh, you are married?"
"I was!" Vlad told. His voice became sad. "I lost her 10 years ago!"
"Oh, I am so sorry!"
"I am okay. Rebecca was such a lovely person. You would have liked her. But now... let's talk about happier things..."
"Would you allow me one more question?" Sam interfered. "You said that you were in Bosnia, Afghanistan and all that places... What exactly is your business?"
Vlad turned to face her, looking on her with this self-confident look on his face. Sam felt slightly awkward. "I am retired! But I used to be the CEO of my own technology-company. I used to work with the US-military. Primarly on post-war recovery... And I owe some other companies. All in all I earn quite well..."
"Oh, yeah, I see it..." Sam murmured while she looked around again. Only the terrace of this guy had more space than thier whole house.
"How are you and Danny?" Vlad asked. "I have the feeling that something bothers you two. And I don't mean your haunted house... Danny's condition, right?"
Sam nooded. "Yeah... Danny... the kids... our house... the car... the bank..."
"You haven't told him yet, right?"
"What?" Sam was shocked. Does he know that she is... "Where...? I mean... How...?"
"It's the way how you hold your stomach. This expression on your face! My wife had the same when she got pregnant!" Vlad told. Sam was just shocked and lowered her head.
"I... I had no chance to tell him by now. When I wanted to tell him there was this 'incident' in our house and... and..." Sam stuttered.
It was true: She is pregnant! Again! Her first pregnancy was a surprise! The second child was planned, so that thier oldest son got a younger sister. Two years later, what a surprise... Sam got pregnant again. Thier second daughter was born. And thier youngest son, another year later was also a surprise. But she loved all of them very deeply. She would never ever dare to turn back time to make anything different. And now she was pregnant again. For the fifth time. No clue boy or girl! She was not afraid of the pregnancy. But she was afraid because thier current situation was not easy. And now this 'foreigner' knew the truth before she was able to tell Danny...
"Ehm... Vlad... please. Don't tell Danny! I will..."
"Don't worry! Your secret is safe."
"What are you two talking about?" Danny asked a few seconds later when he returned.
"Oh... your lovely wife just told me about your four adorable kids..." Vlad replied. "Would you like to eat? It's already dinner-time and you have to be hungry..."
They went back inside. Vlad led them threw a corridor with many pictures. Mainly pictures of Vlad, in front of many famous sights worldwide. Vlad told a little bit how or why he travelled there and that his late wife was a passionate photographer. Back in the entrace hall, they passed the big stair and they finally saw a picture of Vlad's wife. At least parts of her...
"...and this is my wife. Rebecca!" Vlad said, pointing on the big oil-painting of thier wedding photo. They could only see the white wedding-dress. The woman's face was covered by a curtain, that somehow detached, hiding her face. "Oh... That need's to get fixed. But let's eat first... I hope you like vegetarian..."
Sam was delighted. Danny was surpsied. Vlad just praised that living a vegetarian livestyle was so healthy and that it was the reason why he still had his youthful appearance. When they entered a huge, noble dinning-'hall', they saw that the table was already set and the dinner stood prepared on the table. The Fenton's were surprised. They did not hear someone working here or in the kitchen. Like the dinner appeared out of nowhere...
During the dinner, they continued talking about Danny, Danny's parents and thier 'ghost-hunting'. Both actually never catched a ghost, according to Vlad. But thier research seemed to be partly sucessful... Vlad offered Danny a wine, telling him that a glass of wine per day is good for the blood-pressure. He asked Sam, too... propably to act like he does not know about her little secret. She refused. Danny agreed to drink but only one glass...
"Where comes the name Vlad from?" Danny asked curiously. "Are you Russian?"
"No! I am American of British-Irish descent. Vladimir... is old-slavic and means 'of great power' or 'famous power'." Vlad told and smiled. "I am not a Russian-spy if you believe that..."
"No... no! Everything is fine!" Danny said. "This wine is good..."
"A present from a business-partner in Moldova!" Vlad told, presenting Danny the bottle. "From the biggest winery of the world in Milesti Mici! Very nice country... My wife opened an orphanage there... She was a great woman. We... were not praised with kids. We tried it but... well... "
"Vlad, I would like to know more about my parents. And about thier... research... you told that... you have notes...?"
"Oh, I understand... Wait here! I'll get the notes..." Vlad told and left them alone.
As soon as they were alone, Danny and Sam looked on each other with big eyes.
"Is it just me, or is this guy scary..." Danny said.
"He is!" Sam agreed before a loud thunder echoed outside. Both turned around to the window, which was right behind Vlad's chair. The storm outside seemed to approach faster. The sky was so dark that it looked like it was already night. "And this place is scary, too..."
A heavy wind-gust howled over the windows. The lights were weak and gave the room this dark atmosphere and a scary spooky feeling. Both agreed that they don't like this place. About Vlad, they were not so sure what to think about him. At the one side, he seemed to be helpful to them and on the other side, he seemed scary and obscure...
"After dinner we go home!" Danny said.
"Yeah... I don't like this place!" Sam said.
The scary sound when the wind blew outside was followed by a loud and scary squeaking... Danny and Sam both shrieked when Vlad came back with a folder.
"Sorry! The door is pretty old and needs to get oiled..." Vlad said. "...you two are so pale. Is everything allright?"
"Ehm... Your house a bit scaring us..." Danny confessed.
"Sorry, that's the storm... It is the cliche of the old scary castle on the hill..." Vlad told while he gave the holder to Danny. "This is what your father send to me. Two weeks before the fire..."
Danny took the folder. It was full of sketches, notes and photos. Photos from thier basement. And from the big, round device. And he found the letter. It was a long letter, written with a typewriter and signed with 'Jack Fenton'. And it was definetely his father's signature. Danny glanced threw the text. The wording seemed untypical for his father. It was a private letter but the wording was very 'objective'... Something about personal reasons, a 'breakthrough' and the urgent wish to see Vlad...
Danny looked over the notes. Most of it was advanced physics and far beyond his knowledge. And there were notes about him and his sister. Bloodpressure, pulse, mood... Danny remembered, yeah...
"Gosh... Am I poisioned?" Danny asked.
"According to your father's notes you are not!" Vlad said. "But I would not trust this notes."
"I went to several doctors over the past year. Noone figured out what is the reason for my blood-pressure problems." Danny said before another loud thunder let the windows vibrate. "Gosh... It's summer... why it has to rain..."
"Because the nature needs the water!" Vlad said, seemingly to try to cheer him up. "Daniel, I actually showed this stuff to some other scientists. Some of them think that, your father really might had a breakthrough. But now there is no chance to prove it, as your parents lab was totally destroyed among with all thier other files. And I honestly don't want to try it by myself or would hire someone to rebuild it. It's unstable... It could... tear apart the universe..."
After hearing this, Danny closed the file and pushed it away. That was a horrible thought. But suddenly he saw another photo... Carefully Danny pulled the photo out between the notes and recognized his parents. It was one of the last photos. Danny guessed that it was maybe a year or two before they died. His mother and his father, standing in thier small yard behind the house. In the background he recognized the kitchen-window. It was the first picture of his parents, Danny saw for a long long time. They lost everything. Not even Jazz had a photo of them. A tear ran down his face.
"This photo... Oh, my gosh... I haven't seen a photo of parents for 22 years..." Danny wailed. It was really the first time, since the day of the fire, he saw his parents. Both looked happily into the camera... unaware of what would happen. In the background, Danny mentioned a grill. He turned it around to see his mother's handwriting on the backside: Jack and Maddie, July 4th 1981. "I.. I..."
"You can have it, if you want!" Vlad said.
"What, really?" Danny asked excited. "But..."
"I have two more prints of it, don't worry. You can have all of this! It technically belongs to you..."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Danny said. Now he realized that tears ran down his face. "I... I... said some terrible things to my parents when I left the house for the last time... and all these years... I... I..."
"Don't bother yourself with things you can't change anymore. Your parents really loved you. It is not your fault." Vlad told.
After another hour of talking Danny and Sam told Vlad that they want to drive home. Vlad tried to convince them to stay overnight. But the Fenton's refused. They told that they had to go home to tidy up the mess, the ghosts have left.
"Is there really no way to convince you to stay?" Vlad asked while he accompained Danny and Sam to the main-entrace. "The weather is really bad..."
"Sorry! But we should really go home now." Danny said when they opened the door. To thier surprise, thier car stood right in front the main-entrace.
"Oh... Our car! Where is this Ivan? I would like to... thank him." Sam asked.
"He is pretty shy... you have to excuse him!" Vlad said and accompained them to the car. It was very windy and it was going to rain very soon. "Have a good ride you two. Take care of yourself. And please show up again, some day. I would love to meet your kids, too. And whenever you need something, you can call me...!"
"Thank you, Vlad!" Danny said. "And thank you for this photo of my parents!"
"That's a matter of course! Take care..." Vlad said before they could hear Sam starting the car and she start to yell...
"Danny... come quick!" Sam yelled. Danny who was still standing outside in the rain turned to his wife who looked on him astonished. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"That's it! Nothing! The scratching from the motor is gone... Vlad, did Ivan did that?" she asked astonished.
"Oh, yeah... he said that your car made this terrible noise. He looked for it and he just had to adjust a screw in the motor. It was a matter of two minutes." Vlad told. Danny and Sam looked on each other and where surprised. A suppossed 900 Dollar repair was done in two minutes? But they were happy that the car sound normally. "Oh, but Ivan said you should replace the V-belt as soon as possible."
"Thank you, Vlad! For everything!" Danny said. "And greet Ivan from us, to thank him for the repair..."
They drove away... It was already dark. Heavy gusts let the minivan shake. The big gate opened automaticly and Sam turned right to follow the road back to the Interstate. Both very happy. Happy that the car was fixed for free. Happy that they avoid to get ripped off. Danny was happy that he has now a photo of his parents... They talked about Vlad. And about how friendly he was to them. They won't ask him for financial support, but he seemed trustful... but than suddenly a loud bang scared both of them...
They just left Vlad's property a minute ago and drove just a half mile. Maybe less. The car got slower and smoke came out of the engine compartment...
"What the hell was that?" Sam yelled and tried to start the motor again. But without success.
"Wait! I'll check it!" Danny said and took the umbrella to check the motor.
Sam pulled the lever for the engine cowling and Danny took a look inside. It start to rain terribly and the winds became stronger.
"OH, NO..." Danny yelled, when he saw the reason for thier stop.
"What's the matter?"
Danny walked around the car to show Sam the torn V-belt from the motor. "I am afraid, Ivan was right when he said that our V-belt has to be replaced..."
Sam ordered Danny to get back into the car harshly. The rain became stronger. Lightning start to bright up the sky. That was a crap: They were in the middle of nowhere, far away from home, had a broken car and there was a thunderstorm raging outside.
"And what do we do now?" Sam asked while she checked her mobile-phone. No service, of course.
"Back to Vlad's house?" Danny suggested.
"Back to Vlad's house!" Sam respond and so they took thier only umbrella to run threw the heavy rain back to the castle... they had no other choise...
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