Chapter 8: READY
Danny was in the ensuite bathroom, cold water running in the marble sink, head under the faucet. The soft murmur of the water, and the cool swirling through his head was always nice. 'What the hell are you doing Fenton? Grrrr' Danny pulled his hair with both hands while straightening, water soaking his shirt and making a little puddle on the floor.
"Shut!". Danny hurriedly closed the faucet and took a fluffy green towel to dry himself. He grimaced when looking down and took another towel to dry the floor when he sensed a ghost entering the bedroom. In a fraction of a second he was phasing the bathroom door in his ghost form, ready to attack.
At mere three steps from the door stood a beautiful young brunette. Spectraly bright grey eyes met his green ones, before she bowed her head and greeted him.
"Good morning young master, here's the charger your Excellency requested" The brunette said, bringing attention to the white box in her hands.
"Oh, thanks" Danny said while letting two white rings form around his body. They moved in opposite directions taking his ghost form with them. "But call me Danny please"
"It'll be my pleasure, Danny" The brunette with the spotless maid uniform answered with a lovely smile. "There is anything else I could bring you, Danny?"
"No, it's ok. Oh!, wait. Who are you?" Danny asked before the ghost girl could leave the room.
"Sorry, how rude of me to obviate presentations. You can call me Clare, I'm the head maid of this castle" Clare chirped. She would never get bored of the title.
Danny approached Clare slowly and took her hands reassuringly. "It's Vlad forcing you to work for him, Clare?" Danny asked concerned.
"Master Masters? Of course not, young Danny. It's a privilege to work for him." Clare said solemnly.
"Yeah... There is no way I'm believing that" Danny replied.
"For Pariah! You are worse than the stable boys!" Clare laughed loudly, but regained her composure quickly. "Look, I know it must be hard to understand to someone your age and time, but it was always my dream to be the head maid of a castle. For generations my family served noble families. It was my destiny, as the oldest child, to succeed my mother, but I died before reaching my goal. I was killed before given the chance to prove my worth. Vlad was the only one who saw my potential, and took me in despite my big mouth. He let me live in the human world again and fulfill my dream, my destiny." Clare spoke with a detached tone, as if narrating someone else's story.
Danny wondered how long has been since the girl's death (since she was killed he corrected himself). Maybe in a few years, he would look back to this moment of his life and remember it as a funny anecdote.
"Sorry, It's just...I can't really picture Vlad helping people...what?, just for the sake of it? I'm not trying to offend you, but, I'd be wary of him, that's all" 'And God, didn't it sound a bit hypocritical right now?' Danny winced internally.
"No offence taken. But don't take me as an act of charity, Danny. I'm a big asset to Master Vlad. Now, of course the world is full of fools who couldn't see my true value, but you won't be one of those, right?" Clare face was in between a pout and a scowl, and she was just too adorable to not light a smile on Danny's face.
"You sure have a big mouth, don't you?" Danny said in a friendly tone.
"My master appreciates me being smart and sassy. It makes him remember of some kind of rodent he is fond of." Clare said proudly.
"Weir-do" Danny sing-songed.
"Oh, shut up, stable boy" Clare commanded with faked annoyance while thrusting the white box with the charger in Danny's hands.
"Hey!" Was Danny's no so brilliant comeback, while Clare left the room laughing.
Danny saw her leave with a smile in his face, which died the second he focused his attention in the box in his hands. That had felt good, had felt normal. If light banter with a ghost could be called normal. It was Danny's normal at least, and he wanted it back. However, for him to accomplished that, he had to sort things out at home first. Which brought him back to the box with the charger in his hands.
Danny pulled his cell phone off his trousers pocket, and flopped it unceremoniously on the bed. Then took off his shoes, and sit cross legged on the bed, beside his phone, box in both hands. He took a deep breath, unwrapped the charger and plugged it. His finger started hovering over the power button almost immediately. His connection to the real world, just a twitch from his finger away. The simple act of press a button had never felt so heavy before, and he had fired weapons. 'Does that make me a bad person?' He closed his eyes and pressed the button before his musings could take him too far on that road of thoughts.
The moment the phone was switched on, Danny's ear was assaulted by the sound of Jazz ringtone.
I almost finished the next chapter, so I should be posting it soon :)
I'm trying to give Danny a little breather, because what's coming in a few chapters is not pretty (poor Daniel :'().