Chapter Three: Painful Memories

Well, I recently finished chapter two, so here's chapter three! (Insert reviewers names later) This chapter doesn't reveal Daniel's most painful memory *the one where Mr. Chapelton rapes him when he's four* the one where his parents died in the fire when he was a baby. The other one *including a few more* will be in later chapters. The one when Sam comes in *not until chapter 5* will be the first memory. Read, review and enjoy! (A/N: remember when Daniel believes that his parents are gone? Well, you're gonna be in for a big surprise later on. However, whenever I finish the story (probably next year XD) someone's gonna die *no, Danny's not gonna die in this story, but a main character will* and it won't be one of those cheesy little endings where everyone is happy. No, someone's gonna be miserable *besides Vlad, of course* and the main characters like: Danny, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Jazz, Jack and someone else… *will be revealed later*)

Daniel woke up the next morning, his feet already feeling sore from the long walk home. He would have accepted the ride home from Jack, but he knew Vlad would beat him for revealing himself again.

He slowly sat up, feeling a sharp pain in his back. He pulled his shirt over his head and fingered his back the best he could. Of course, the pain was from the carving Vlad engraved him with when he revealed himself a few days ago and ran off. He knew it was a message, but he had no idea what the message was. He stood up, made his way towards the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He turned his back to the mirror and read it backwards. It said: 'Whether or not I murder you, you belong to me- forever.' Daniel sighed, fresh tears he forced not to fall from his face. He solemnly walked back to his bedroom.

"Why is he doing this?" He whispered. He glanced at the bag of butterscotch the kind salesclerk gave him yesterday and took out five more. He unwrapped and ate one but saved the other four for later. He slowly sucked on the candy, feeling calm and serene when he heard Vlad call for him.

Daniel walked into the pantry, seeing Vlad sitting at the window. "Yes, Master?" He asked, hiding the candy under his tongue. Vlad turned to him then suddenly asked, "Do I smell candy? Preferably… butterscotch??" His face twisted into a disgusted smirk. Daniel backed away, afraid that Vlad would find out where he got the butterscotch from, leading to how he found the candy shop, the meeting with Jack and-

It was too much to think about.

Vlad stood from his chair and slowly walked towards Daniel. The further he walked, the more Daniel backed away. He finally fell into the wall and slid to the floor. "Please…" He whispered, hugging his knees to his chest. Vlad knelt down and lean closer to Daniel's face. He took a deep breath, and then demanded, "Where the hell did you get it from?" Daniel closed his eyes. "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET IT FROM!?!" He screamed. Daniel opened one eye and whimpered, "The candy shop."

Vlad grabbed him by the collar. "And how did you find the candy shop, dare I ask?" Daniel remained silent for a moment before he screamed again, "Answer me, goddamn it!" Daniel let out a shaky breath and whispered, "I ran into Jack while I was in town yesterday. He accidentally ran into me and I dropped the fruit everywhere. He helped me pick it up and led me through town. We ran errands together for a few hours until he took me to his favorite place: the candy shop. The clerk there was kind enough to give me a free pound of butterscotch and told me that if I eat five of them each day, then once the bag was half empty, I would finally receive what I need and desire." He explained, closing his eyes tightly to await the painful impact. But what shocked him was that Vlad didn't beat him. He sat him down on the chair, grabbed his cheeks tightly in his hand and hissed, "Get rid of it. And I will find the rest of it, too." He slapped Daniel so hard across the face that the now diminished candy fell from his lips onto the floor.

Vlad tossed him aside and returned to his chair in front of the window. "Remain seated Daniel, for I have something to tell you." Daniel sat perfectly still on the sofa, realizing that he was wearing the same clothes that he wore to the market yesterday. His hair was a little messy, but not like before. His once pale, dry skin had a somewhat rejuvenated tone to it.

"Do you remember the death of your parents?" He asked, not turning back to him. Daniel fiddled with his thumbs for a minute before he replied, "Yes, I do." His voice was soft and lost.

Vlad smiled and continued. "I want you to tell me everything you remember about that day."

Daniel froze for a second. Why was Vlad asking him about his parents' death? He could just tell him that he remembered nothing, but he knew Vlad knew he would be lying.

Reaching for the tiny bit of butterscotch he had to finish, Daniel sighed and finally began the memory.

"Well, I think I was only a month old…"

Flashback: about 14 years ago

"Danny…" A sweet, gentle voice cooed to the tiny baby. Madeline Fenton rocked her one-month-old baby boy, Danny in her arms. It was nighttime, when her husband was saying his goodnights to her other child, Jasmine.

Danny stared at her with his beautiful, baby blue eyes. He was a sight to cherish. His hair was the perfect ebony black ruffled like feathers on his head. His skin was a lustrous vanilla shade, glistening in the dimmed moonlight from outside. He had the cutest little face with tiny, unnoticeable freckles on his chubby little cheeks. But his eyes… his eyes were absolute perfection. They shined the most beautiful, serene baby blue that you'll never find anywhere else on the planet.

They were a cherished masterpiece.

Danny let out tiny cooed that practically echoed through the quiet room. He gave her a small smile that could make even the coldest and most vile of hearts melt in an instant. She calmly smiled back and stroked his small truffle of hair gently. She could almost see him now; walking off to his first day of school, finally winning and accomplishing things in his life, even graduate from high school with his best friends and sister by his side. She felt a tiny tear trickle down her cheek, and wiped it away quickly, making sure her baby boy wouldn't see her crying.

Apparently she wasn't fast enough. As soon as Danny saw his mother crying, his smile disappeared. His beautiful baby blue eyes became a shade darker and his once pleasant coos became sad whimpers. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm alright. There's nothing to cry about…" She whispered, kissing him on his forehead and poking his tiny nose. Danny's expression when from distressed to amused as he let out a giggle. Maddie smiled and laughed herself. "You are the most beautiful baby in the world." She felt his tiny hand wrap around her finger as he was gently caressed and carried off into a gentle sleep.

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

A couple of hours later, Maddie heard a high pitched screaming coming from Danny's nursery. He glanced over at her husband, who woke up as well. Suddenly, she smelled smoke in the air and saw a bright blaze coming from down the hall. Her Amethyst eyes widened in horror as she tossed the bedsheets from her body and ran down the hall. "Danny!" She cried out, seeing smoke coming from the crack of his door. She tried opened the door by jiggling the knob, but she remembered that she locked the door a few hours ago. She took a deep breath and pushed her body as hard as she could into the door. Fortunately, the bolts of the doors weren't that strong and the door tore down. She was about to run headfirst into the room, when her eyes spotted a fire that blazed through the nursery.

"Danny!!" Maddie cried again, covering her face to protect herself from inhaling the dangerous fumes. She ran her best to Danny's crib, fighting the smoke and flames.

Danny's high pitched screaming was once again heard, followed by a tiny harsh cough. She finally saw him, his face blackened by smoke and tears falling from his eyes. He violently wiggled around, screaming his little heart out for help. She grabbed him, covering his fragile body with her robe and ran from the room.

Suddenly, a piece of the door frame fell down, blocking the exit with burning wood. She screamed, accidentally tripping over the rug and falling to the floor. She could have run to the window, but it was locked tightly; she or her husband was never able to open it before.

"Maddie!" He cried from the other side of the door. The flames grew stronger. She was about blind to her husband standing there. "Hold on! I'll go get help!" He called out. Before he ran off, she shouted, "Take Danny with you!" Without a second thought, she pulled the no longer crying baby from her arms to him. If he weren't so strong, Danny would have fallen and died right there in the fire. He held Danny close to his chest and ran off, not knowing his wife would die within minutes of the fire.

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

Meanwhile, her husband was crying outside, screaming her name into the busy street filled with firefighters and crowds of bystanders. An ambulance came, taking away an unconscious little girl, and a mother, who belonged to Danny and who died before she could even say goodbye. They were trying to revive Danny, but it took them several minutes before he began crying again. A significant amount of smoke entered his lungs, causing him to possibly have future breathing problems. Other than that, he'd be okay. But the fact that he was going to believe that everyone in his family was gone…

That was an everlasting scar.

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"Wow… when I remembered that, I never realized I knew so much. I mean, I think I know what my mother looked like, but… I'm not entirely sure…" Daniel whispered, half to himself and half to Vlad. He closed his eyes, trying as hard as he possibly could to remember her face. A faded image came to mind, blurred by many colors.

"I can't see her…" He whispered, opening his eyes and sighed. Vlad smiled and walked towards him. He stood directly in front of Daniel, seeing his eyes shining dully with sadness. He patted him on the shoulder, causing Daniel to cringe a bit. "You'll see her soon, just you wait…" He chuckled darkly and left the room.

Daniel froze in fear. For a second, he thought of Vlad beating him tonight, almost killing him in the process like last time. Maybe this time-

He'd do it for real.

Daniel stood from his seat and shook while walking down to his room. He locked the door behind him. He crawled under his blanket and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

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

"Hello?" Daniel called out into the darkness. He walked through the empty room, his footsteps echoing through the air. Suddenly, he was blinding by a white light. Daniel shielded his eyes with his arm.

He finally gained the courage to glance up. His eyes widened in wonder as he found himself on a beach. The soft, white sand dancing through the air. He glanced down at himself, seeing an unfamiliar black and blue suit replacing his old clothes from before.

Then, he saw it.

A figure ventured off in the distance. It looked about a head taller than him. By what he could make out, the figure was a woman. Her brown hair flowed through the breeze behind her. Her white dress brushed against her bare ankles, showing off beautiful crystal diamond heels.

"Mom…?" He finally managed to whisper. She turned around, hearing his voice. She had the most beautiful Amethyst eyes and tanned vanilla skin. Her figure was absolutely perfect, her skin, curves… everything about her was flawless.

"Danny…" She whispered. She extended her arms to him, waiting for his embrace. Without a second thought, Daniel ran as fast as he could; the blood in his legs pumping harder than ever. Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell into the sand. He quickly stood up, spitting some sand from his mouth and wiping it away from his clothes.

Maddie chuckled a bit before helping him to his feet and brushing the excess sand from his face. "Oh, Danny," She whispered in his ear.

Daniel couldn't resist anymore. He jumped into her arms, feeling her wrapped around his body. He felt nothing but warmth and compassion as hot tears began to form in his eyes. "Don't hold it in, Danny, I'm here… just let yourself go…" She whispered, resting her arms around her son's body.

Daniel finally let the tears he held so long to fall down his face. He wanted everything to be okay. He wanted someone to understand how he felt about being a part of this world. He wanted-

He wanted someone there to hear him cry.

He needed someone there to wrap his arms around.

He had to have someone to give his heart to.

He needed love…

"Mom…" Daniel barely whispered, his voice almost inaudible. Maddie smiled as she silently listened to her son cry; the sound she wanted to hear to make sure everything was all right.

"I love you mom…."

"I love you too, Danny. I'll always be with you…"

Meanwhile, in reality, Daniel was still asleep peacefully. He continued whispering to his mother quietly, tears falling upon his pillow and a smile, for one of the few times, etched on his face.

"Mommy…" He whispered one last time, before he deeply fell asleep.

This is probably gonna be my shortest chapter because I had a block. But in the next chapter, Vlad is gonna train Danny in his new ghost powers. This is gonna be interesting next chapter. *evil smirk* Anyway, review! There's the button there! XD Sorry, this chapter wasn't really good. Anyway, can't wait!