Vlad Masters drove to the hospital later that night in his mayoral limo, though he could have walked, for it was only a short distance from City Hall, but he was much too tired and bilious to do so. He sat inside the limo, wearing his usual sleek black suit and red bow tie, his hands folded neatly in his lap as he waited to arrive. He stared out the window without really looking at the other cars and people that passed. His stare was an absent, removed, because he was too preoccupied in thought to wonder what business the heavily pregnant woman and her husband or the group of rough looking teenaged—perhaps older—boys or the mother and father who walked closely and clung to the hands of their sons while their teenaged daughter who resonated "punk" lagged behind with her hands in her pockets, scowling, had on the streets. He could honestly say he'd never cared less about this backwater town than this night, because now it had become apparent how much they did not matter. And maybe they never had, but with this new development—the sole idea that Daniel had been harmed by Jack Fenton—he began to believe that he had such disregard for the town, enough so that he believed it would jeopardize all of his plans, that he should not even have become mayor.
Now, for the first time, he felt that he was unfit for the position, because he knew that his heart was not into it. Of course, he was not concerned that his heart was not into truly protecting and governing the town, because it shouldn't have been. But rather, he felt that his heart was no longer into his plan, his goal of conquest. He felt now, after having heard that Jack had almost killed Daniel, what belonged to him, he had gone back to his old ways. Becoming mayor of Amity Park had been completely and totally about focusing his energies toward achieving the bigger picture, rather than those small details that would tailor themselves in accordance with those plans. Those small details, finally extracting his revenge and killing Jack, stealing his beautiful and chaste wife, and finally bringing home that one thing he wanted so desperately—a half-ghost son. And now, driving to the hospital to visit Daniel, he felt he had completely forgotten the bigger picture, for now, it was these small details in his plan that he felt most adamantly should be achieved, as soon as possible, no matter if he'd decided he would let them achieve themselves with time and patience. And the fact that he was simply going to visit Daniel reassured that, because with this visit—and a few others, he supposed—he hoped that he would have all of those little details, those desires, achieved.
Yes, after he saw Daniel, he would finally have peacefully taken him as a son and a loyal servant, have gained Maddie's love and her hand in marriage, and would be christened with the ever-present knowledge that he had gotten his revenge and had killed Jack. And all it would take was a little coaxing on his part of Daniel, and this fate would be sealed, and he could move on to his original plans of domination of first Amity and then the rest of the world. For this was the perfect opportunity: Jack Fenton, his father, who supposedly cared for him, had just injured him to the point that people in the town who'd heard of the accident declared it "near death" and thought it was "a miracle that he'd managed to survive something like that", whether it was an accident or on purpose. A call he'd made to the hospital requesting to see Daniel: "He told his friends he didn't want them to worry about him and that they shouldn't visit him. His family came to see him the day of his initial surgery and has not returned since. He hasn't gotten hardly any mail or visitors, so I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you stopped by, Mayor Masters." His family had practically abandoned him in his time of need, leaving him in the hospital, alone, to endure treatment. His friends must have been more than happy to let him be, as they'd been well enough to see a movie. No one, none of his classmates, teachers, friends, or neighbors, had come to see him. All arguments he would use when persuading Daniel.
How weak this knowledge must make Daniel was a delicious thought, almost to the point of being orgasmic, because, in truth, it was all he needed in order to succeed. An idea or concept he could use that would push Daniel—gently, for he would coax, not force—into his servitude and tailor the rest of those small details. He would use this information from the call to convince Daniel that he was completely unwanted by everyone; his family did not love him, his friends did not want the burden of him, and everyone else simply didn't care about him. And when he used this knowledge against him, Vlad would couple it with the idea that he did care unlike the others, that he could provide love, could sit there beside him when he was sick, could give him the time of day when no one else could. And Daniel would be so weak already, so confused, so lost, that Vlad was almost completely certain he would give in and finally, after so long, become that son he'd always wanted. It was simple but sure, and he found himself already mentally visualizing how Daniel would kill his former father, Jack, to prove his loyalty.
"Father," Daniel would say, "what would you like me to do with him?"
Jack Fenton would be bound and gagged, siting stupidly on the floor beside Daniel, squirming to free himself and mumbling inaudibly.
"Tell him how you feel, Son," he would tell Daniel. "Tell him how you feel, and make him suffer the way you have for fifteen years."
"Yes, Father."
He could almost hear the screams. They were glorious.
They pulled up to the hospital and Vlad stepped out, smiling.