In the end, Vlad had not been wrong in his assumption that Danny's aim would be superb; the disturbed teen had pointed the gun at Vlad's shoulder intentionally and shot, not aiming to kill but rather to warn, to make it clear just who it was holding the gun and who it was backed against a wall. And while he had every intention of going through with what he had promised, it did, without a doubt, make his heart ache. Seeing Vlad in this state alone, weeping and begging for a chance, begging that he simply let him hold him, was enough to make that organ in his chest groan in despair, and so the fact that he would have to harm Vlad, now physically and emotionally, was more than he could handle. He struggled to keep tears from streaming down his own cheeks as he pulled the trigger and the gun whiplashed, causing his scrawny arm to jerk. Vlad shrieked as the bullet tunneled into his shoulder blade. Danny cringed involuntarily as he watched Vlad crash to the ground and writhe as he helplessly clutched his violated shoulder blade.
"Vlad," Danny said, almost begged, just as Vlad had. "Get into the closet. Please. Get into the closet, before I have to shoot you again."
Vlad, wriggling like an overturned beetle, somehow managed to speak, managed to moan, "N-no, D-Danny, y-you c-can't. I w-won't let y-you!"
"What are you going to do, Vlad?"
"D-Danny, s-shoot me, k-kill m-me, but I w-won't let y-you d-die!" Vlad cried, his face twisted in uncompromised pain.
"Well that's just damn selfish of you, isn't it!" Danny screamed, his whole demeanor changing, his face suddenly shaped by rage.
Vlad was shocked, to say the least. "Selfish…?" he said slowly, his voice cracking, staring at Danny in disbelief.
"Yes, selfish! If we lived in your ideal world, I would kill you before coming to my senses and you'd have the relief of death while I suffered here on Earth like an animal that gets only half run over on the highway! How dare you!"
Vlad's eyes only became wider, unbelieving. "Danny, I…"
Danny aimed the gun slightly to the left of Vlad's head and pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed the man's ear effortlessly, removing a peel of skin as it sailed into the carpeted stair that connected the kitchen and living room. Vlad shrieked, his hands shooting up and caressing his broken ear.
Danny smirked and realization seemed to come swiftly upon Vlad. It was becoming ever apparent to the bleeding man that Daniel had not only lost his family but had relinquished his sanity in the process. And with this came another realization—if Daniel had truly gone insane, then Vlad was playing roulette with his own life for Daniel's logic might be too skewed, altered to be reasoned with, as he was coming to see.
Who knows what will set him off, Vlad thought, who knows what he will respond to?
Another thought followed, How do I get out of this without killing both of us?
"D-Danny," he began timidly, choosing his wording with extreme care, "Danny, I d-did not m-mean it l-like that. I know you think y-you would be h-happier in death t-than as you are n-now. I k-know that's how it seems. I k-know you h-have no r-reason to b-believe otherwise. B-but Danny, Earth is w-where you b-belong. I…I don't k-know if you're r-religious, if you b-believe in God, b-but if you do, then y-you must know he meant for you to stay h-here. He meant for you to live. For us to live."
Danny made a sound of disgust. "What has God ever done for me? Taken my family and my friends and gave me these goddamn mother fucking ghost powers i hate them i hate him when im dead ill show him ill show him not to fuck with me i will i will i will—"
"Danny!" Vlad cried to silence the endless chanting of cult-like hatred for this god. "Danny, please!"
Danny shot him again, this time, cleanly skimming the other ear, causing Vlad to shriek in agony as the bullet removed a large portion of the lobe. Danny smirked again, now seemingly enjoying Vlad's pain, as if all it had taken to end his own internal hurting for Vlad was for the man to suggest that he should relieve him of life but suffer it himself.
Vlad lay there and wept, realizing that there was really not a thing he could do to save himself. He'd begged and begged, but it had done no good. What else could he do but lay there and let Danny take his life and then his own?
Without thinking it would, an answer came, swiftly, and Vlad found the courage to sit up.