Chapter One: Give me Strength to make me weak

Okay, I'm trying to write these as close together as possible, so here's chapter one! Remember, it's no longer in Danny's POV. Also, I'm gonna refer to Danny as 'Daniel' for the first few chapters. He doesn't use 'Danny' until he meets Sam later on. Thanks to: musiclover9419, dannyp3995, YouHitMyHeart101, Luiz4200, and Kagome51. I love you guys!! Now, to the story! –charge-!

Edit: PLEASE DO NOT READ THE FIRST UPDATE!! CHAPTER ONE WAS BEING STUPID SO I HAD TO REPLACE IT!! PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING UPDATE! THANK YOU! I'LL STOP SHOUTING! XD

"Filthy child! Get out here, now!" Vlad shouted from the dining room. It was a few hours ago that Daniel had his nervous breakdown. Ever since, he managed to leave him alone for a few hours, but his so-called 'break' was over.

Daniel slowly walked into the room, still in his rags and his hair uncombed. His bleak, baby blue orbs dully stared back at him. "Y-yes, M-master?" He whimpered, his fragile body shaking. Vlad grabbed him by the shoulder and trusted him towards the table. Daniel fell on the edge and quickly sat in the chair. Unsure of what he was to do, he looked up at Vlad with curious eyes. "What shall I acquire for you, Master, sir?" He asked in the most confident, loyal voice he could muster up.

Vlad slowly walked over to the counter, unsure of giving the child anything at this point. "Even though it's was your wrong to disobey me," Daniel winced at the memory of earlier. "I will give you dinner." He shoved the tray of food in front of Daniel and commanded, "Eat. Like you mean it."

Daniel gave the small bowl of rice, two links of sausages and a dry piece of bread a longing glance and suddenly shoved his hands and face into the food. He couldn't even bear to think about what a pathetic fool he looked like, chomping on the sausages and cupping the rice in his mouth. But how could he reject it? After all, he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, and that wasn't much.

"You disgust me," Vlad whispered, with a sickened glare on his face and a sneer pursed upon his lips. He took his hand and slapped the bowl of rice away from Daniel onto the floor. "Since you're so hungry, I'd figure you wouldn't mind a little… dirt, now would you?" He walked over to the other side, knelt over to Daniel's eye level and said, "Are you still hungry?"

Daniel nodded, sloppily wiping away the remaining rice from his face.

Suddenly, Vlad pulled him by the shirt collar and slammed the side of his face to the floor. "Now, if you're so hungry, I want you to eat it- all of it. Lick the floor, anything to show how… hungry you are." He demanded.

Daniel hesitated, feeling that he was being pushed into eating. He didn't want to appear as desperate as he really was. He looked into Vlad's cold, Sapphire eyes which burned into his and looked at the fallen food once again. He slowly pulled his arm from his side and scooped up some of the rice and stuffed it into his mouth, feeling the taste indulge his lips. "Eat, damn it!" Vlad roared, his face twisted in frustration. Daniel scurried over to the bowl and dug his face into the rice, rapidly licking the floor clean. Salty tears fell into the food and he continued gulping up tears as he kept eating.

Finally, Vlad pulled him to his feet and pushed Daniel roughly from the room. "You're pathetic, worthless, broken thing. I could give you anything and you'd eat it. No wonder your parents died; they probably wanted to get away from you-" But he was interrupted by Daniel, who finally lost it. "Why the hell do you treat me this way?!" He screamed, his face flustered red and tears falling from his eyes. Vlad stood surprised then hissed, "What did you say?"

"Why the hell do you treat me this way!? Why the hell am I nothing?? I'm worthless in your eyes but you're full of shit, yourself!! YOU JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT IT!!" He cried out, knowing he'd be beaten tonight.

Vlad shook his head and sighed. "Ah, Daniel, you just don't know when to quit, do you?"

Daniel's eyes widened. He bolted out of the room at light speed, his bare feet becoming warmer as he reached outside. He ran around the fountain and into the woods, feeling Vlad's presence behind him. "Daniel, I will catch you dead or alive! And when I do, there sure as hell won't be an alive part to it!" Daniel ran even faster, dodging trees and branches that got in his way. He jumped rocks, fallen wood, even fell once, but he kept going.

"Where am I even going?" he whispered to himself. He ran so fast, so hard that he could feel the blood rapidly pumping in his legs and the feeling in his feet becoming numb.

"DANIEL!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Daniel never looked back. If feared that if he did, he'd lose his concentration and be captured. He ducked behind a tree and tried to keep as quiet as possible. He heard Vlad slowly walking towards the area, his eyes scanning the trees. "Oh, Danny…" He winced at his nickname being called but said nothing. "I promise that if you come out, then I won't beat you until you die… I'll just half kill you instead!" He chuckled lightly, knowing where Daniel was hiding.

He was about to run off once again when Vlad grabbed him by the neck. "Gotcha." He whispered, brushing his lips against Daniel's ear. He was about to scream, when he covered his mouth with his hand. "Now Daniel, you don't want to cause a… scene, do you?" He said, dragging him along. Daniel tried kicking and screaming, but he was caught. He fell limp and closed his eyes.

Vlad dragged him all the way through the kitchen to an empty room. He tossed Daniel onto the floor and slammed the door shut. "Now, you little bitch, this room is sound proof so no one will suspect a thing. And there's no way you can escape from me, so don't even try it." He took out a pocketknife and walked towards him. Daniel scooted back, breathing heavily and shouting, "What are you gonna do to me??" Vlad pulled out a blade first, then….

A cigarette lighter.

Daniel's eyes grew twice their normal size. It wasn't the blade, it was the lighter. A few years ago, he was in a foster home where his foster parents used to burn him with lighters, matches, irons, anything hot they could think of. From then on, Daniel was always afraid of any kind of fire. He couldn't even open the oven door without panicking from the heat.

"No…. please…. Don't do this…" He pleaded, pressing his body against the wall. Vlad stretched his arm out, the tiny fire blazing dangerously.

"I'm gonna count to three…"

"No…."

"One…"

"Master…. You can't do this…! You can't!"

"Two…."

"I'm begging you!"

"Three."

Vlad switched the blaze at him and swiped Daniel in the chest. He cried out in pain, the fire burning his chest.

"Had enough?"

"Master! STOP!!" He yelled. He couldn't handle it any further. He wanted the pain to stop. Vlad smirked and grabbed the switch. He turned it off and said, "Very well, I'll beat some sense into you!" He picked Daniel up and slammed him into the concrete wall. He punched him hard in the stomach, causing Daniel to jolt forward. He let out a pained cry and let his head fall. "For running away," He punched Daniel hard in the face, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. He thought he could take it, so he did.

"For disobeying me," Vlad turned him around and slit him in the back with his blade. He was carving something into his skin. Daniel contained a muffled cry as the words etched into his skin and soul. The words read: Whether or not I murder you, you belong to me- forever.

"And for showing yourself, you get the worst beating I can think of." He twisted his arm back so hard, there was a cracking noise followed by it. Daniel screamed again, feeling pretty sure that his arm was broken. He knew he wouldn't be able to do anything with it for a long time.

"Think that hurt? Well, this is gonna hurt like hell!" Vlad punched him in the chest, this time putting more pressure into it. Suddenly, blood spewed everywhere, even on him. Daniel was basically choking on his own blood. "It hurts…" He whimpered, shaking and coughing up more dark blood. Vlad finally released him. Daniel crumpled onto the floor, the blood ceasing to a stop. He kicked him in the stomach, causing Daniel to curl up into a ball. He kicked him a few more times, in the face, back and the chest and closed the door shut.

Daniel silently cried, his sobs caught in his throat. He continued to cough, blood flowing from his nose and lips. He could barely breathe, he was racked with so much pain. He shook violently, with every muscle, every bone, every vein in his body was broken. His eyes couldn't see straight he was so hurt.

"Release my soul… and kill me now." He whispered, his eyes slowly closing into a deep sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

A few hours later, Daniel slowly opened his eyes. He found himself in a large bedroom, lying in a large bed itself. "Where am I?" He mumbled. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his back kept him from moving any further. He let out a pained cry and fell back onto the bed, closing his eyes and sighing. It was strange that he was all bandaged up and taken care of, but the even creepier part was that he was in a bed…. All he had before was a blanket and a filthy pillow.

"I see you're awake, Daniel," A familiar voice hissed through the doorway. Daniel flinched when he saw Vlad walk into the room, afraid that any more pain he'd inflict on him would be worse than before, if that was even possible. "Please… don't hurt me…" He whispered, pulling the blankets over his body for protection. "I won't hurt you, child," He replied, studying him for a moment. He walked to the other side of him and placed his hand over his forehead. Daniel whined in response, the smallest touch of the man questioning his sense of protection and security.

"Relax, dear boy, I'm only checking your temperature." He said, removing his hand from his forehead. He walked away, eyeing him one last time. "Make sure you polish the wooden furniture when you heal." With that, he left.

Daniel pulled up the sheets, seeing bandages on his chest, legs, and feet. He pulled his sleeve down, eyeing the bandages on his arms and hands. "Why would he help me?" He thought, curious at why.

Suddenly, he heard a crash, followed by a scream. Daniel hopped out of the bed and ran to the direction of the noise, not even caring about the pain in his body. "Damn…" He whispered, shaking off the feeling. He ran into the living room, seeing Vlad standing in front of the window, holding his wrist. The window had a large hole followed by many cracks. "Shit!!" He cried out, his hand bleeding and pricked with blood.

Daniel slowly walked over to him, unsure of what was happening. "M-master? A-are you okay?" He stumbled, easing his body over to him.

"Boy! What the hell are you doing here??" Vlad shouted, throwing a piece of glass at him. Daniel yelped and narrowly avoided the attack. "I was just wondering… what happened…?"

Vlad sighed and said, "I was just… angry, that's all. Get back to bed, you're hurt," He simply brushed the glass from his hand, trying not to wince in pain.

Daniel stared at him for a moment. What the hell was he, bipolar? He wondered.

"I said go!" He cried out, throwing another piece of glass. This time, it was thicker than the last. It hit Daniel square in the eye, causing him to cry out in pain. He fell to his knees, cupping his now bleeding eye in his hands.

Vlad ran to his side and helped him up. "Get away from me!" Daniel cried, his tears mixing with blood. He ran from the room into the bathroom. He locked the door and quickly turned on the faucet, splashing water in his eye. The blood washed down the drain, his eye, strangely enough, carefully healing.

"What the-" he said in wonder. He turned off the faucet and left the bathroom.

About 20 minutes later, his injuries almost healed. Daniel sat in the room, confused and lost. He looked at his once damaged chest in the mirror, seeing only faint scratches and scars on his skin.

"What's happening to me?" He mumbled, looking at himself. He could barely recognize his face. All he saw was a broken boy with pale, fragile skin, a weak, scrawny exterior, black messy hair covering part of his eyes, sullen baby blue eyes. His shirt was ripped and dirty and his pants- or shorts, as he called it- were filled with holes. His feet, which have never worn shoes for as long as he could remember, were blackened with dirt.

"It's such a realization when you can't even look at yourself." Daniel hissed, curling his lips in disgust at his image. His physical being was enough to commit suicide.

"Damn. I'm a mess."

-Takes a deep breath- thank goodness I'm done!! I finished chapter one! W00t! does a little dance Hell yeah! Now I can do chapter two! Well, read and review! Oh, thanks to all who reviewed again! I love you all!! :D I'll update by…. Friday or Saturday.