Did I do this on purpose? Nope. Kind of just… spewed out of me.

21. Crime

Death is the sound of a heart stopping and feet running.

The branches smacked his face mercilessly as he rushed through the woods, trying his hardest not to turn back and see if anyone was coming. His face had blood on it, a stripe from his ear to his mouth. The breathing was ragged, his hand clutching the bloodied knife and trying to find a place to put it. He didn't know what had happened. The only thing he had seen was the sight of the female in a puddle of blood.

Danny's shoelace caught a stick, and he flew forward, face meeting the dirt. Pieces and bits of dirt and particles landed in his mouth, creating a disgusted reaction. He shook his head and spat out what he could, clamoring to his feet within seconds. He needed to get out of there now. No time to waste.

He grabbed the weapon in his hand and continued moving forward, his heart racing at an abnormal level. Endorphins kept pumping, even as he moved deeper into the woods. They didn't seem to give him a sense of security- actually, it felt as if they wanted to give him more of a feeling that he was being watched. That he was going to get caught if he stopped and tried to take a breath.

The whole thing had been a blur. He had no idea what had happened. All that he remembered was seeing the scene, collapsing to his knees and feeling his stomach rise into his chest. He had never seen a person he loved in her own blood before. He saw the knife next to her body. He looked down at his hands, which were covered in blood. His mouth was dry, ears only registering small sounds. The pounding of feet down the stairs told him his father must have heard the noises in the lab.

He didn't expect Jack to stand there and stare at Maddie for some two minutes before collapsing to his own knees. Tears leaked from his eyes, his hand going towards his wife's body. He shook his head. "Maddie…"

Danny finally managed to stumble to his feet and walk over to his mother's body. "Dad, I… I couldn't stop him…"

Jack's head whirled to Danny, and he merely stood there. His eyes bore through his son like nothing Danny had ever felt or seen before. The teenager backed up against the wall before his father finally pointed out the door and shook his head. "Go. Hurry up and go."

"Dad…"

"Go!" he practically shouted at the top of his lungs. "Danny, I don't want you getting caught here with her!" His eyes leaked large tears as he sank to the floor. "My god, I just… I can't…"

Danny looked down at the floor and felt sickness rising in his throat once more. Slowly, he walked over to the body and picked up the knife on the floor. He shook his head and gave a small noise in his throat. It sounded like a muffled goodbye, but no words came forth. His feet carried him to the upstairs area and began to make his way to the door. The phone rang when he was just about to leave, and he stood at the door for several moments. It rang, waiting for him.

The teenager slowly walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" he asked quietly.

"Danny?" a female voice asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Sam.

He swallowed. "I can't talk right now, Sam. I'm kind of busy."

"Busy? Danny, what happened?"

The receiver was back on the hook moments later. Danny was out the door less than seconds later, and he was running down the street with the bloodied knife in his hand. Not one person seemed to take notice in the boy running down the street with a knife in his hand. They didn't seem to notice the blood running down his hands. In fact, no one seemed to be looking in his direction as he ran.

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. They led him straight to the forest, where he now ran for his life.

All he could think was the repeated thoughts of 'Shit, shit, shit…'

That was when he fell, spat up the dirt, grabbed the knife, and ran again…

And fell once more.

Danny gasped as the knife cut his hand, tumbling out of his hands. He met dirt and stayed down for several moments before trying to clamor to his feet again. As he stood up, there was a groan from next to him in the darkness. He gasped and looked around frantically. A cough was heard, followed by a long sigh. "Who's that?" the voice asked.

The teen froze. He knew that voice anywhere.

"Come now. Don't be afraid to answer an old man."

Danny laughed bitterly. "Old? You're forty, Vlad! That's not really old!"

A quiet sigh. "Oh, it's you. You're on the run from that man too, aren't you?" He sounded weary, hurt. "Daniel, now is not the time to be arguing with me. I'm on your side."

"That's crap. You're trying to turn me in, trying to frame me for something I did wrong!" The teenager was on his hands and knees, sifting through the dirt for the knife. "What do you want from me? I know you're trying to get me to sympathize with you, but it's not going to work, Plasm-"

"Don't call me that."

Danny stopped and looked up. Vlad was still leaning against the tree, his face looking furious in the dark. The teenager matched his face and was ready to spit back a retort. His hand found the smooth edge of the blade, and he felt around for the handle as best as he could. He kept his voice carefully calm, words warily spoken. "What's wrong with you?"

The billionaire laughed bitterly. "I've been accused of a crime I didn't commit."

That stopped the boy dead in his tracks. "What?"

"You heard me. I've been framed. And now I'm wanted by the whole city. Didn't you hear about it on the news?"

Danny sounded stunned, frightened. "Who are they saying you murdered?"

Vlad snorted. "You wouldn't care anyways. No one of major importance, if that's what you are implying." He gave another sigh. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Mom was killed."

Silence. A twig snapped.

Danny was pretty sure Vlad's next words were going to either punch him in the gut or have some sort of fake remorse laced into the words.

Amazingly enough, it had neither. Vlad, in fact, sounded worried. "W-what do you mean by that?"

"Murdered, you fruit loop!" he yelled. "Killed, stabbed, gone to a better place! Mom's not here anymore! And I'm going to get framed for it because I was at the scene of the crime!" He was panting, exhausted suddenly. "I don't know what to do. I just…"

There was not a sound form the billionaire in hiding. Danny was surprised, to say the least. He was waiting for a backlash, anything. All he heard, though, was the ragged breathing coming from his archenemy. The teenager finally found the handle of the knife and picked it up from the dirt, eyes brimming with tears of pain from the cut moments before. He bit his cheek and held the weapon in his hand.

"Dead," Vlad whispered.

"Y-yeah."

The next words out of Vlad's mouth pretty much shocked Danny into reality.

"Who?"

"I dunno."

"When?"

"Today. Why?"

Vlad sounded angered suddenly. "So we can find the person who did this, you fool! Why else?!"

Danny froze. We can find the person? A team-up?

Was Vlad out of his mind...?!

Pffft. Plot bunnies can be so evil... seriously.