A/N: Yeah, I know, finally, right? Well, I've been either on vacation, sick, or had friends over since I last updated, so there's my excuse.
Anywayz, here's chapters three and four, put together due to the sheer lack of willpower needed for me to update twice in a week. Here.
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"Ma'am!" Vlad Masters cried out as he rushed over to the front desk's nurse. "Please, I must see my nephew!"
"Name?" she asked cautiously, not wanting a repeat of what had happened half an hour ago. The police were still checking the scene to rule out attempted homicide.
"His name is Daniel Fenton. I'm his uncle, Vlad Masters. I just got a phone call that he—cut himself."
"He's in stable condition, but no one's allowed to see him, sir." The nurse had been told that Vlad Masters would most likely come to check in on Danny. She knew his face from the papers and knew he was who he said he was, but that didn't change protocol.
"I understand, ma'am, but was anyone in there before he… did that?"
"You, and his girlfriend."
Warning bells went off in Vlad's head. "Girlfriend?" Either Danny had forgotten to tell him something or….
"Yes, she looked horrible. Could barely speak from crying. Had black hair and blue eyes, Hispanic. Wore a lot of pink…?" The nurse let the sentence form into a slight question when she saw the rage on Vlad's face.
"Paulina," Vlad hissed. "I should've known…."
"S—Sir?"
Vlad shook his head once. "Ma'am, I'm actually a detective myself." He pulled out his badge to show her. Detective, in charge of an agency, same thing, right? "May I please see my nephew's room?"
"…Sure. Down the hall, fifth door on the right."
"Thank you, ma'am." He ran off.
"…You're welcome…?"
4)!\9
Vlad looked around the room, seeing the blood patterns and the knife. They were the only things out of place in the sterile environment.
Lancer glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Sir?" Vlad's gaze moved over to him. Lancer could see his eyes were watering slightly. "Sir, this is a crime scene, you're going to have to—"
"I'm Vlad Masters, Danny's uncle," he said quickly, flashing his badge again. "I have reason to believe this wasn't a suicide attempt."
Lancer's eyebrow raised further. "Really? What reason?"
"Sir, Danny's mental health has been under control since I adopted him, aside from one small problem he had when he was six. Since then, he has been in the best of health, and a simple move would not be enough to send him back to this state of mind." As well as the fact that a sadistic maniac has followed him here due to my stupid slip, he added angrily to himself.
"What was it, then?"
"It was a—"
"Sir?" Tudker called, standing up with the knife in gloved hands.
"Yes, Foley?"
"It's the same knife, or close to it."
"As what?" Vlad asked quickly, blinking. If that knife really is… then we're in more trouble than I thought….
Lancer looked up at him again, studying him. He knew the man was Danny's uncle, but that didn't mean he fully trusted him. "We're investigating the possible homicide of a Jane Doe. The knife found at the scene is a duplicate of this one."
Vlad's eyes widened. Worse than even I thought…! "Did… did Danny… recognize it?"
One of Lancer's eyebrows raised. "Yes. When he went to pick it up, though, he fell unconscious."
"So, he's piecing it together and she's getting mad…." Vlad whispered.
"What?"
Vlad nearly jumped, looking back up at Lancer. "Sir, Danny knows whose knives those are."
Lancer's face turned grim, his mouth now a thin line. "Really? So, we again have a situation where he's caught in the middle of a case?"
"Yes, but this time, the suspect isn't going to take her—or his—time in killing him."
4)!\9
"So, you've woken up, eh?" the doctor asked as he walked into Danny's room. Danny himself had been confused as to why he was tied down to a bed. His mind had first thought of the worst until Demo had managed to—slowly—calm him down. He nodded weakly. "Lost a lot of blood, y'know."
"Wha?" Danny moaned through the oxygen mask covering his face. His thoughts were muggy and his words slurred.
"Well, I'm here to make sure ya don't try it again." The doctor nodded matter-of-factly and sat down on a chair blocking the door.
Triwa? Danny thought fuzzily to Demogorgon.
They think you tried to suicide. Your scars were cut open again.
Wa? Oowuddooat?
Three guesses, and the first two don't count. Paulina
DenVadnos.
Yes, but no one else does. They think you're the one who murdered the Jane Doe. Paulina left her calling card.
Daniv.
Yeah. But Lancer's starting to think it was an attempted homicide, thanks to Vlad.
Anaovers?
They're beginning to think the same. But Paulina's getting haughty. She'll try something again. Soon
Ino. Illfinkasumin.
Hopefully.
Yeh.
4)!\9
"Sir!" Sam said, running up to Lancer. "What happened?"
"Either he attempted suicide, or it was a very well-planned homicide attempt," he replied. An eyebrow was raised at her franticness. "Didn't you wire the room?"
"Yes, but I—I left it on! I'll go see what the recorder picked up!" She ran back out and into the other room, rewinding the tape. She heard the door open and close again, signaling Vlad's exit. There were a few minutes of silence before she heard sobbing from just outside. Soon, the sobs disappeared into running footsteps. The door opened and closed again, with a slight pause and rustling between the two.
Sam gasped as the sound of a moving chair was heard. Then a shuffling noise and footsteps again. The heart monitor beeped quietly as Danny slowly breathed in and out. Someone was moving something, then there was quiet. The heart monitor continued.
…Beep. …Beep.
Something was dripping onto the floor.
…Beep. Beep.
Something was moved again.
Beep. Beepbeep.
A slight pause.
Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep.
More dripping.
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!
Gloves were pulled off. Sam gasped as a hiss of "Sleep tight, my little puppy" was heard. There was another rustling, then the chair was pushed back again. The door was opened and closed. Sobs could be heard once more.
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!
Whistling was heard outside. The door opened and closed, again. There was a shriek, and metal clattered to the ground.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—
Sam shut off the recording, having marked it as substantial evidence proving that it was a homicide attempt.
But who would want to kill Danny?
4)!\9
"Manson," Vlad said, bringing the rushing girl to a stop. "How much do you know?"
Something about his voice, the darkness there, put her on edge. "A—About Danny's case?" She waited for his nod. "It was definitely a homicide attempt. I've got a voice that they're running now.
"Pull the voice."
She gaped at him. "What?" He couldn't be serious! There was no possible way he'd want—
"Don't run it. If you do, the next attempt on Danny will actually work."
"What? Next attempt? How would you—Wait, you know who—?"
"Sssh!" He glanced around suspiciously, pulling her to the side of the hallway. "No one can know who it was. If they do, she'll just attack again. You have to wait until she's—between victims."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"She jumps around from victim to victim. Until Danny's stable, we can't put him in that kind of danger!"
Sam was downright mad now. The man before her was so infuriating, thinking she couldn't handle what was going on! "Then what do you suggest we do?" she asked, challenging him.
He gave her a sad look that almost made her regret her previous thoughts. Almost. "Now?" he said, watching her nod. He looked off to the side, not daring to meet her eyes. "Absolutely nothing."
4)!\9
Dan, get up before the doc catches you again! Demo hissed. Dr. Lucky seemed convinced that Danny was a critical suicide threat, barely leaving the room for fear Danny would be dead the next minute.
Danny himself looked up from where he was trying to unscrew the vent. The doorknob was wiggling. "Kuso," he mumbled as he ran for his bed. He had just pulled his blanket up over his head when the door burst open.
False alarm, D. It's just Sam
Thaaaanks.
Anytime.
Sam Manson marched up to Danny's bed, ripping the blanket off. Danny gasped at the sudden cold while turning to face her and sitting up.
"What's your—"
"Who is it?"
The question threw him off-balance. "Wha—what?"
She slammed her hands onto the bed, unknowingly pinning him there. "I know you know who it was! Your uncle basically said you were friends with her!"
"I may know her, but there's no freakin' way I'm friends with that sadist!" Danny snarled.
Sam seemed taken aback. "So… so, you… know her?"
Danny sneered. "Didn't you just say I knew her?"
"Well, yes, but—"
"Trust me, I wish I didn't know her."
"Danny, who—?" What did she do?"
Danny's sneer faded as fast as it came. He pulled his knees up to his chin. "She dug up too much on me…. She knew how… how I was…. She tried to make it look like it was my fault…."
"What?" Sam was completely lost now. Who was "she", and why was Danny acting so…so vulnerable?
"She slit my wrists, to make it look like I was suicidal again."
"A—again?"
The sneer was back, his legs still up in a fetal position. "I had some problems when I first moved in with my uncle, okay?!"
Sam stared down at him, taking in how he had suddenly tensed up and turned away from her. "But, you and Vlad seem to—"
"Vlad's not my uncle!"
Sam blinked, shocked. "What?"
Danny flopped back down onto his bed, growling at the ceiling. "We only say that to… to keep people from finding out. M—My real uncle took me in right after my parents died. I had… some problems adjusting after the move. He didn't like it."
"He… what?"
"He felt I should be… grateful for the—for my new home. He threatened several times to… to send me away. He 'didn't want to deal with me'."
"Why? Why would he do that?"
"Because he hates me! …Hated, whatever. Vlad got me outta there as soon as he could once he found out. But, my uncle didn't like that. He didn't want me gone." Danny chuckled darkly, staggering Sam once more. She never knew he could be so… sinister. "For all his talk and attitude, all he wanted was someone to beat around. Me" He glared over at an empty corner, turning further from Sam's concerned glance. "Of course I had that problem! No one understood why I started acting like that. As far as anyone knew, I was still an orphan mourning his parents' and sisters' deaths."
"Danny," she stammered, trying to get him to look at her again, "Danny, I—I'm so—so sor—"
"Don't say it!" he yelled. "Kami, I hate it when people say that!"
"Danny—" she tried again, unable to see the tears streaking down Danny's face.
"Just LEAVE!"
She stared for a moment before nodding and moving to the door. She looked back for a second, watching as Danny mumbled "Shut up" several times. She turned and left as Danny huddled back under his blanket, tuning out Demo's attempts at calming him.
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A/N: See? When it was only chapter three, it was like three pages shorter! This is much better, and it leaves off with a semi-cliffy and angst. Yay! Well, not yay for Danny, but yay for me for finally getting this up! Bye, y'alls!