Hi guys! Before I start talking, I have BAD news and GOOD news.

Bad - From now on I'm only updating once per week. Unless suddenly I start writing three chapters per week (which is extremely unlikely) I will stick to this. I have too little time to write 2,000 words every day. So the same applies for Changing Their Fate.

Good - This chapter is longer than the last few :)

Okay so I started this last night but couldn't be bothered finishing it, but I made myself do it today. The first 600 words were hardest. And then I kept going and then it got easier :) I had to look back on a few things because i couldn't remember what had happened in the last chapter, and I couldn't be bothered getting out my chapter plan. I basically know what happens with this chapter and the next one... but after that I'm stuck. Okay, so I'm 11 chapters through. It is not yet halfway. I don't know how long this story will be. It depends on how long it takes me to get into things. If it is going to be longer than 100,000 words I'll probably split it into two. But anyway, I proudly present to you chapter 11 of this story!

Vortex of Deception

Chapter Eleven

Once he had left his bedroom he decided that it was a waste of energy for him to remain invisible. The only problem was that the Veronica Bot was standing guard outside his bedroom door. He would have to move into a different section of the house before he could drop the invisibility. He would also have to be completely silent – there was no doubt that Vlad had programmed these robots with extremely keen hearing abilities.

He removed his shoes but held them in his hand – it would be suspicious if they just appeared in the hallway – as he began to creep away. His eyes remained fixed on the figure of the robot. She turned her head, a look of concentration upon her human-resembling face. Danny ceased movement as her eyes scanned the surrounding corridor, hoping with all his might that she wouldn't be able to sense him.

He almost sighed as she turned back to her earlier position, staring straight ahead of her at the wall opposite to his bedroom. Instead of making a noise, Danny continued to creep around the corner. Even when he was out of her sight he continued to walk – there was the possibility that she or someone else would round the corner at any time – until he was a reasonable distance from the robot. He once again considered the possibility of returning to visibility.

He would be able to hear anyone that was possibly approaching him at least ten metres away and would have plenty of time to return to being undetectable. And if someone spotted Danny before he was able to turn himself invisible he could always just knock them out with a ghost ray. It may be a violent solution but it would work better than other ideas Danny had had.

Now, where shall I go?

If there were any more secret rooms like the first, they would likely be located somewhere on the bottom floor or possibly beneath. After all, Danny didn't know if there was a basement in this mansion or if there was an entire storey that was underground. It wouldn't surprise him. Not at all. Not much would surprise him about this house anymore.

He had thought about calling the police earlier; after all, it would be the easy solution to this complicated problem. Yet he had no proof that anything suspicious was occurring in this household. The secret rooms were just that – secret. The police wouldn't be able to find them and even if they did, Vlad would have evacuated everyone and everything by that time.

Besides, there were no phones in this house.

That in itself made Danny quite suspicious. He hadn't noticed it at first until Vlad had mentioned it earlier that morning. He had absently nodded and hadn't absorbed the information until only a few hours earlier when he had first considered the idea of calling the police.

He could also run away from the house but many more complications arose from that idea. He had no idea where he was being housed – the mansion was surrounded by clusters of trees – and had no idea what sort of security was in use. Vlad obviously had some way of preventing his escape. And even if he did manage to break free, where would he go? He had no memories or recollections of his past, so if he left he could walk right into the arms of the enemy. All in all it wasn't the best idea.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Danny to freeze in fright before he remembered his plan. He hastily turned himself invisible as he pressed his body against the wall – they might walk through him otherwise, though he didn't particularly like that sensation he didn't want that to happen because they might feel a strange presence and be alarmed – as a young girl entered into his sight. She was about eight years old and was dressed in brown rags. Her mousy brown hair had obviously been neglected as it stuck out in clumps beneath her brown hat.

Once she was out of sight Danny released the breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding. He was curious as to why there was a young girl wandering around the mansion of a rich man while wearing rags. It looked as though she suffered from poverty but that couldn't possibly be true; his father wouldn't make his employees or fellow residents of his house suffer like that. He just wouldn't. Would he?

Danny had a crazy urge to follow the young girl, to find out who she was and what she did but he knew he couldn't allow himself to get distracted. He would be able to find out more about these people at later times. It didn't matter if Vlad was home or not; it wouldn't be too suspicious if he was just wandering around and occasionally stopping to talk to the people he encountered. It would be much less suspicious than sneaking around looking for secret underground rooms.

He walked to the end of the corridor – in the opposite direction to the little girl – and made his way to the twisting staircase that went to every floor. Well, every floor that was visible to the eye. It would be easier for Danny to transform into a ghost, turn intangible and fly down as far as he could to see if there was a secret underground floor. Unfortunately that wasn't an option that he could choose. It would be much quicker if he somehow turned off the ghost detectors that he knew would be in the house somewhere.

I have my first mission. But I want to snoop around first. When next I see Vlad I'll ask him about the ghost detectors. If he wants to know why it is that I am interested I will lie and tell him that I am afraid of a ghost attack. He'll laugh and tell me that together we can beat any ghost, but I'll remain anxious. Then he'll reassure me with words such as 'Do not worry, son; there are many ghost detectors located around the house. No ghost could go undetected in our house here.' Danny grinned triumphantly as he pictured the conversation he would have with the conspicuous man known as his father.

He descended to the bottom floor via the winding stairs apprehensively. If someone could hear his shoes tapping against the polished marble staircase he wouldn't be able to hide from them. They would be suspicious when they noticed that he was unaccompanied and would wonder where the Veronica Bot could possibly be. They would notify Vlad of his disobedience after escorting him back to his bedroom. And if they asked him what he thought he was doing, how would he answer?

I got bored. I was looking for something to do. The Veronica Bot was lying unconscious outside my bedroom door, and I couldn't wake her so I just left her be. She's a robot; she'll recover easily.

Danny cringed as his feet echoed upon the iron floor. Back up… iron? It was unusual to have an iron floor that echoed as such. There was a section of grating nearby – perhaps he was in some sort of industrial section of the mansion. It was strange, though. He was certain that other rich people's mansions didn't look a thing like this. And it also proved that his theory was correct; the floor that he had thought earlier was the bottom floor was in fact not. And even now he wasn't completely at the bottom.

Danny cried out as he felt a hand come down on his shoulder and spun around in shock. It was an elderly man – he possessed heavily wrinkled skin and fuzzy patches of gray hair – wearing a helmet and a hazmat suit. Despite his obvious old age he seemed to be faring extremely well. He had a very strong grip upon Danny's shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing, young man?"

As he had earlier predicted, Danny had been escorted back to his bedroom. He hadn't even bothered to make an excuse to the old man – instead he had just shrugged nonchalantly. The Veronica Bot had decided that Danny could not be trusted to be left alone in his bedroom once she had discovered his escape. She stood watch in his bedroom for only ten minutes until she was replaced with a middle aged man.

The man had pulled a seat up and pushed it against Danny's bedroom door before sitting upon it. He always kept a watchful eye on Danny and hadn't yet spoken. He had only been in the room for a few minutes, though, so it wasn't as though he was unfriendly. After all, Danny hadn't offered up any conversation either. He had just sat down on his bed, looking out through a small window. It only revealed green leaves and patches of blue sky. It was a boring place.

"What's the time?"

Danny didn't possess a watch and was too lazy to turn around to look at the clock that sat upon the wall near his door. Instead he continued to look out of the window while he waited for the man to answer his question.

"Only three o'clock."

Danny opened his eyes as he drew in a deep breath. He knew that he had just been having a nightmare; a nightmare that he would never like to relive. He wouldn't be able to relive it either – he couldn't remember any details but one. And that one detail was that this dream somehow involved the girl named Sam. And the other girl, the one with the orange hair.

Danny rolled over to look at the clock. He widened his eyes in astonishment – he had been sleeping for over eleven hours. It was only five in the morning. He had fallen asleep the earlier evening at around about five thirty due to lack of ways to entertain himself. He hadn't been able to start a conversation with the strange man but instead had spent an hour watching television. After that had come to bore him, he had returned to sitting on his bed and staring out the window.

Danny's eyes flicked to the chair that was no longer pressed against the door. The man was no longer there. In fact, the man was no longer in Danny's bedroom. Danny couldn't sense his presence anywhere, but knew that there would be someone standing outside his bedroom. They must have assumed that after he'd been asleep for a few hours, he wouldn't sneak out. Either that, or Vlad had returned and had commanded the man to disappear.

Danny stretched his aching limbs as he saw that there was a piece of paper attached to the door. And on the piece of paper was the scribble of his father's hand. He approached the paper cautiously – it was doubtful that it bore good news – before ripping it from the door. His eyes scanned the words that were written on the paper before he made a decision.

"I'm going to ask him about the portal."

Vlad was alone in the kitchen. He had requested that the staff leave him and his son alone for a little bit. He had also mentioned that eavesdroppers would be prosecuted; possibly even executed. It depended on who it was that had been listening and for how long.

Danny took a seat near his father – he had to be close by to prevent eavesdropping – and told his stomach to settle down. He had made up a believable story and was about to confront his father about the secret room and the portal. He wasn't entirely sure what time Vlad had arrived back at the mansion but knew he had to take a gamble in that area.

"So Daniel," Vlad begun, obviously preparing a lecture for his son. Despite the fact that Danny was almost an adult, he was still treated as a child.

"Father," Danny was hesitant but made sure that his voice sounded strong and didn't waver. "Why is there a secret room with a portal in it? A portal that you yourself travelled through?"

"What?" Vlad was completely shocked that Danny knew of his secret lab.

"I saw you come out of the portal. And it was a secret room because the door was a panel in the wall that only an expert eye could spot." Danny knew that by confronting Vlad about the portal he was losing his chance to ask about the ghost detectors but didn't care. This was necessary. Things were moving way too slow.

"And how did you come about to be in this room?" Vlad was suspicious and cocked his right eyebrow enquiringly,

Danny pretended to be ashamed as he spoke the lie. "I… I was sneaking around. I wanted to find secret rooms." This was the part where he shrugged his shoulders. "And I did. Now you answer my questions… please, sir?'

He knew he sounded like an idiot but didn't care. He kept his eyes focused upon the man's face as Vlad considered the answer to his question. A small mischievous grin appeared upon his face, slightly worrying Danny. Why would his father be smiling at such news?
"You are clever," Vlad remarked. "You remind myself of me when I was at your age. Curious and incredibly intelligent. Come, come with me. I want to show you something."

They were standing in the secret lab that was no longer a secret. When they entered the room it had been empty – Vlad must have instructed the other robots to clear out somehow – and Vlad had gone straight to one of the computers. He pressed a few keys down on the keyboard before a notice popped up on the monitor. It read all doors now locked.

Vlad turned to Danny proudly. "This, my son, is my greatest discovery ever made. I would like to share it with you. It is a portal that leads you to other dimensions. I will instruct you on how to create one but unfortunately you will not be able to accomplish this feat. You see, I am the only one able to create such a portal within a three hundred mile radius." Vlad was gloating.

"I'd love to learn," Danny insisted eagerly.

"It's quite simple, in fact. All you need to know is the location that you wish to travel to. Oh, and the true name of the place, the true name that remains unknown to ninety percent of all humans. Luckily, I have discovered a few true names and have written them done in hope that one day you shall follow me in my footsteps." Vlad instructed Danny as he transformed into his ghost self. "You must be a ghost to complete this task, though."

Danny too changed into his ghost form in haste. He was eager to learn all that he could; he would be able to use this information to his advantage in the future. "What now?"

Vlad smiled as he noticed his son's enthusiastic behaviour. "You raise your arm and imagine bringing up a swirling portal. Then you speak the name of the world you wish to visit, followed by a series of nonsensical words that remain the same no matter what place you choose to travel to." Vlad raised his arm and closed his eyes. "Eir Havearght, eho eith alurf kronne e sotum."

A swirling red portal appeared in front of the two and Vlad gestured to it kindly. "Come, step into my realm." He invited his son.

Vlad walked into the swirling mass of light confidently. Danny hesitated for only a second before he too left his home dimension and entered another.

The first thing that he glimpsed of this world was a mass of ghosts all hovering in front of him and his father. Their odd shaped bodies were bent into bows as silence ensued.

"My loyal subjects," Vlad cried out to his audience. "The Prince has awoken! I present to you my son and heir to my thrown, Prince Daniel Plasmius!"

More shall be explained in the 13th chapter :) I feel so proud of myself. I finally finished the Vampire Armand, I am half way through Silence of the Lambs, I have watched the first few episodes of Death Note, I have watched the first 6 episodes of Holic, I have finished watching Armageddon and I am about to finish some of my many homework assignments. And I have written the next chapter of this :) And it was longer. Haha. Owww my stomach hurts. Anyway, I'll see you guys in a week. Please do review; it makes me oh so very happy. Ahhhhh stomach acheeeeeeeeeeeee. I finished the chapter off really quickly because I set myself an hour to write and that hour was up, so sorry! Anyway, bye bye!

REVIEW

Love from an aching achey stomach Kirstyyyyyyn!