The Dp fangurl: Glad I'm not alone.

CHiKa RoXy: Lol. I love freaking people out.

Midnight: Lol no he's not dead there would be no story w/out him.

Jeanette9a: Thanks for the review.

Dphantom23: You and a bunch of other people were freaked out by that…stalk away friend stalk away(as long as it means you put up reviews J)

Blackjay48: Sorry I procrastinated…Again

Chapter Nine

Something was talking to him, or someone, he tried to open his eyes but found them extremely heavy for some odd reason. He instead tried to focus on the sounds that he heard to see if they made sense. It sounded like 'dad'. Wouldn't that be nice if someone actually called him that….no it wasn't dad but more like 'Vlad'. Yes Vlad, that was what the person was saying. Vlad? Oh yes that was his own name. But who was talking to him? Reality then decided to return and Vlad found his eyes opening with a snap. He was lying on a cot, his hands in chains that were attached to the wall next to the bed. Daniel was on the other side of the small cell on a similar bunk in an identical situation but he was sitting on his bunk.

The teen's face lit up when he saw that the older hybrid was conscious, but it was soon replaced with a look of indifference. He really didn't want Vlad to see that he cared, after all it WAS Vlad that he was troubled about. Why should he be worried anyways.

However Plasmius caught the concerned glance that Daniel had shot towards him and would've allowed himself a smile if it weren't for the fact that his whole body was sore. "What happened after I collapsed?"

"I'm not really sure. One minute we were in that throne room and the next we were in here. Oh she left a message for you."

Vlad tried to sit up but his scarred body protested against his efforts and he thumped back against the straw filled mattress. "Let's hear it then."

"It was really weird, after she shackled you up, she told me 'When he wakes tell him that the guardian will visit soon.' Do you know what she was talking about?"

The vampire/ghost sighed wearily "Yes and no Daniel. She said that I've met him once already but I cannot for the life of me figure out just who or what she's talking about. It is however, possible that she is trying to fill my head with nonsense." Vlad rather doubted his last statement but it was important to count every possibility. He felt his eyes starting to close again but forced them to remain open awhile longer. "Daniel can you reach me?"

Danny was confused by Vlad's question but got up and walked towards Vlad anyways; he was only able to go about a foot, with approximately three more feet to go. "No. But maybe if you came towards me we could somehow be able to?"

Vlad felt like laughing. "Come towards him? When I feel like going back into a coma?" Vlad did nevertheless try. He rolled over onto his right side and unwillingly let out a small groan, effectively earning himself a concerned look from Daniel. He pushed himself up on his arms, making the chains clink, but his muscles gave out causing him to fall back onto his cot. "I'm afraid I'm not able to Daniel." He turned so that he was on his back again and let himself drift off to sleep.

His green eyes on Vlad's sleeping form, Danny pondered what he could do to free himself and Plasmius from their current situation. He tried to go intangible through his ropes but not to his surprise they shocked him "What is it with people and shocking constrainments?" He was glad that the older hybrid was asleep for this because he could almost see Vlad leering at his stupidity. There appeared to be no lock on the devices, so he couldn't try picking it. Not that he had anything to pick it with anyways. He then attempted to cut through them with his ecto-blast but found to his pain that they made the charge backfire. He rubbed his stinging hand and then tried to follow Vlad's earlier example by lying back on his cot and then proceeded to wait for sleep to come.

He is in a dark tunnel, and would be lost but he is following a trail of puddles. Out of curiosity he kneels down and dips two fingers into the liquid. When he brings them up they are covered with a dark red and sticky substance. He licks it off of his fingers and revels at the sweet taste of it. He recognizes the source of it-it's Daniel's. Concern flickers over his face and he looks in the direction that the path of blood leads to and then heads off in that direction.

He soon reaches the end of the bloody track and looks up and sees his little badger huddled in a corner, blood dripping down his neck. Although the boy is hunched and scared looking there is no doubt that he is readying himself for a fight. Vlad is confused and he reaches out his dark gloved hand towards the teen that flinches at his touch but to his credit stays where he is. Encouraged by this he extends his hand closer and finally touches Daniel's cheek. He starts to tell Daniel that everything will be okay but the words that come out are different than his intent. "Got you." He licks his lips, his hand digging into the boy's cheek, effectively bringing the boy to his knees and preventing his escape. Then he bends down and slowly sinks his fangs in the flesh that made up Daniel's neck, making sure that the teen feels every second of it and then proceeds to drain the body of it's precious blood. He tosses the corpse aside and lets out a yell that is filled with both anguish and exaltation.

Red eyes shot open as the dream ended and he heard a whisper by his ear.

"That's twice."

It was the voice of the blonde, fast as a cat Vlad punched where the soft voice came from but only managed to punch the wall. He let out a curse and couldn't help but to "Thank Butter-biscuits" that he had been half asleep for if he had been fully awake he was sure that he would've broke at least two or three fingers.

"What was that all about?" Danny asked curious, once again trying to pull of the eyebrow trick and once again slaughtering it.

Plasmius considered ignoring him but decided to answer "Just turning over during my sleep, Daniel and I somehow managed to punch the wall."

Danny of course didn't believe him; he had felt enough of Vlad's punches to know that the wall had just suffered a moderate, yet powerful, one. In fact he was surprised that the wall didn't have cracks in it from where Plasmius had punched. If walls could cry he was sure that this one would be bawling its head off. No something had either spooked or surprised Vlad-most likely the latter one, and it irritated him to no end that the older hybrid was keeping it from him.

"Daniel?"

The young hybrid looked up hoping that Vlad was going to give him the reason for beating the wall but he was disappointed.

"Either you can cock your eyebrow or you can't, and you obviously can't. Please refrain from doing it because you look like you have something distasteful in your mouth when you try."

He would've punched Plasmius if he could but instead he settled for scowling at the man who was now studiously ignoring him.

He could've ignored Daniel for a little while longer, and would've enjoyed it immensely, but he had other problems to worry about, such as the guardian. What it was, or perhaps maybe who it was still remained fairly a mystery to him. The blonde-or more properly Sekhmet/Empusa/Camozotz's Mistress had told him that it had visited him twice now and that was after he had had his…dream. The prospects of what this might mean, or more probable HAD to mean, made him greatly concerned. Vlad looked over to where the teen was studying his shackles, trying in vain to break or damage them. Vlad made up his mind and he moved his body into a sitting position and tried his best to ignore his body's requests to lie back down. He had not as of yet recovered completely from the agony inflicted on him by that blasted woman.

Hearing a small hiss from Plasmius, the white haired hybrid glanced up from where he had once again been scrutinizing the manacles on his wrist. A faint expression of curiosity appeared on his face and stayed there as he watched Vlad slowly make his way to his feet. The older hybrid's face appeared drawn but determined as he unhurriedly walked towards Danny. He halted when he reached the end of his chains.

Catching Vlad's meaningful gaze Danny got up from his cot and quickly, as if to prove a point, walked until his chains pulled him up short.

No matter how hard the two hybrids tried they could not touch each other and finally, who knows how long they were at it, they gave up, Danny sitting on the ground with a "Humph" and Vlad returned to his cot and at long last let his body rest.

Vlad's aching body felt like rejoicing as he allowed it to relax, yet while his body was having a respite his mind worked furiously. Because he and Daniel were separated it meant that Vlad could get no blood. Because he could receive no blood it meant that either his body would weaken and eventually die or he would…he would… He swallowed thickly thinking about his dreams. He bit his lip thoughtfully, he was pretty darn certain now of who and what the guardian was. Yet how exactly did the Vampirblut play into this? He was still a little baffled by that but not enough to worry about it-at least at the moment right now he was far too occupied with the other knowledge that he had just gained from trying to cross over to the teen.

"Vlad?" came Danny's voice that unknowingly cut through Vlad's speeding thoughts.

"What is it this time Daniel?"

Danny struggled for a minute trying to find the right words but eventually said "If you can't reach me, then you can't get blood and if you can't get blood will you.." here the teen's mind pictured
Vlad how he had looked when Danny and his family had first found him-sick and weary. "Get sick again?" The boy's suspicions never even turned to the fact that Vlad might turn into the monster that had molested him before.

"It is a possibility."

Unnerved by Vlad's answer, Danny turned back to face his chains "If I can't reach him to give him blood then I certainly can't reach him to help him while he's sick" This thought buoyed his determination to get the stupid manacles off and he started to rub the edge of one cuff on the other cuff's edge, causing Vlad to look over for a minute but he then ignored Danny again. He couldn't help but notice the irony of it all. Him? Looking after Vlad? Impossible! And yet it WAS happening and even the vise-versa was true. After what seemed to be a good while the teen paused his work to look at it. Nothing. Frustrated the young hybrid slammed his hands against the stone wall, but only succeeded in bruising his wrists.

Out of curiosity Plasmius peeked over at his young counterpart to see what the rasping noise was but he then turned to his own thoughts after seeing what it was. His reflections took him to everything from finding the necklace that started it all to his current predicament. His stomach growled but luckily it was at the same time that Daniel decided to beat the wall for no apparent reason. If he wasn't a vampire as well as a half/ghost he wouldn't have needed food of any sort in ghost form but as it was he needed blood. The man closed his eyes against his stomach's urgings and only opened them when they calmed down. Once again he contemplated life so far and his musings brought him to the guardian once again. It was no wonder that the other vampires had had no hope of ever defeating it, for it changed every time. He wondered vaguely if the other ones who had tried had also brought along a "snack" –most likely. He pinched his nose and would have sighed out loud if it weren't for Daniel so close by, as this one very unpleasant and disturbing thought came to the fore of his mind "How am I supposed to defeat myself?"

I know still very short but it's longer than my last chapter! I hope you enjoyed it

Thoughts? Questions? Twinkies?