Chapter 02
Danny groaned as he rolled onto his back. His body felt stiff, and his head ached. The chirping of birds only increased the pain in his head. Sitting up slowly, he cringed at the stabbing pain in his lower back. His shoulders drooped, and he sighed, wanting to go back to sleep yet knowing he wouldn't be able to. When he cracked his eyes open, he squinted at the bright light shining down on him. What met his sight once his vision cleared sent waves of worry rushing over him. He sat on a patch of grass in a courtyard of sorts set among the buildings. People walked past him in a hurry, and the place buzzed with their chattering. But what had worried Danny was how the people looked. The women had big hair, and the men had mullets. And their clothes! Danny pinched himself to make sure the fashion nightmares he saw were real.
"It's like I've fallen into the eighties," Danny murmured slowly to himself.
After a moment of staring at the people, Danny shook the thought from his mind. He took a deep breath and began to assess the situation. I have no clue where I am or how I got here, he thought. The last thing I remember is going to Vlad's castle to see what he was plotting. He had some sort of device that he didn't want me to touch. I dropped it. There was a flash of light and that horrible feeling. Danny shuddered as he recalled the stretching and shrinking sensation he experienced before blacking out. On the bright side, that thing didn't kill me, Danny thought dryly as he stood and dusted off his pants.
Before he could continue thinking about his situation, Danny's stomach growled and ached with hunger. Food would have to come first, he decided. He reached into his pockets, but they were empty. With a groan, Danny remembered that he left his wallet on top of his dresser. While he grumbled about his misfortune, someone bumped his arm.
"Look at what he's wearing," whisper the girl to her friend.
"I know," the other girl said as they both looked over Danny. "Total loser." They giggled and continued walking through the courtyard.
I should be used to that by now, thought Danny, feeling a bit hurt at being called a loser.
"Let's go grab a bite to eat," said another passing person.
The mention of eating made Danny forget about the girls' comments. He followed after the group of boys. His feet led the way, and he was far too hungry at the moment to object, even if he couldn't afford anything. They passed by more buildings until they reached a street. The group of boys crossed the street, but Danny stopped. His gaze had landed on a sign near the last building he had passed.
I'm at the University of Wisconsin? Danny thought in shock after he read the name on the sign. This makes no sense. Danny put his hands on his head and pulled at his hair. The action gained him a few looks from the college students. However, Danny was too busy freaking out and trying to figure out what had happened to really care about what the students thought of him. Vlad's device thing sent me to the University of Wisconsin. Why would he want to go there, or well, come here? And why does everyone here dress like they're in the eighties? But all of his thoughts came to a stop when he spotted someone walking by him. It was a woman with frizzy brown hair and violet eyes. Danny thought he recognized her, but he couldn't place where he might have seen her.
"Hey, Maddie, that guy is checking you out," whispered the other woman walking with Maddie. "He's kind of cute, even if he dresses oddly."
"Harriet, you're not trying to set me up again, are you?" Maddie asked as she gave her friend a stern look. "You know I'm in a relationship already. And it's a good, happy relationship."
"I don't know how you can date that moron," Harriet said with a sigh. "He thinks ghosts actually exist! How he's not confined to a mental institution I'll never know."
"Jack is not insane!" snapped Maddie, offended by her friend's comment. "And I happen to be working with him on his research in the paranormal studies. Do you think I'm insane as well?"
"I think the fact that you're dating Jack Fenton answers that well enough," muttered Harriet. "I still think you would be better off with Vlad. Even if he's into the whole ghost thing, he at least seems more normal than Jack."
"Harriet," Maddie shook her head, "as hard as it may be for you to believe, I like Jack. Vlad's nice and all, but I just don't like him in that way. And you can't say a word about our relationship to Vlad. I don't want him to feel like a third wheel when we're all hanging out."
"Yeah, yeah." Harriet gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "You've already told me that a million times."
That's… my mom! Danny thought in alarm. He now remembered how his mother looked in the college photo he saw long ago in Vlad's castle and that one time he went into the past thanks to Clockwork's help. He couldn't believe he hadn't recognized her sooner. But what is my mom doing here? And why does she look so young? As the questions swirled in his mind, Danny followed after the two women. He hoped that he might learn more about his situation. Because he was trailing behind at a distance, since he didn't want to look suspicious, Danny lost sight of Maddie when she entered a building. Harriet disappeared in the crowd of students, but Danny didn't really care about following her. He hurried to the entrance of the building, but when he went inside, he still saw no sight of Maddie. Wandering the hallway, Danny peeked through the small windows on the doors, but Maddie wasn't in any of the rooms he checked.
"Either enter or leave, but don't block the doorway," ordered someone behind Danny as he was looking into one of the rooms. Danny stepped aside so that the man could open the door. As he held the door open, the man glared at Danny, who cowered under the gaze. Not sure what else to do in that situation, Danny entered the room. The man pushed him out of the way before he walked down the aisle until he reached the row where his friends were. Danny scanned the room. After he didn't find Maddie, he started to leave when the teacher announced the start of class.
"Take your seats," said the teacher as his gaze landed on Danny. He waited until Danny took a seat in the back row before he introduced the topic of that day's lesson.
Danny glanced around at all the students with pencils in hand and ready to start writing down the equations. When the teacher turned to the chalkboard, he decided to make an attempt to sneak out of the classroom. Before he could even stand up, a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned around, surprised to find a man sitting beside him. He was sure no one had been there a moment ago.
"If you try to leave, you'll just draw his attention," whispered the man as he glanced at Danny. He looked familiar, but Danny couldn't recall anyone he knew who had slightly tousled black hair with the beginnings of a mullet and wore glasses that on any other person might have looked nerdy but they seemed to suit this man rather well. "I really doubt you want to be yelled at for two hours, though the class would be glad for the distraction from the actual lesson."
"Yeah, that wouldn't be fun," Danny said with a weak smile. "What class is this anyway?"
"Calculus," replied the man, and Danny groaned, hanging his head. "Not a fan of math I take it?"
"I've never done well in math," Danny explained. "Oh, I'm Danny." He held out his hand toward the man.
"Vlad Masters," he said and shook Danny's hand. His brow rose in a puzzled expression when he saw Danny's shocked look. "Is there something wrong?"
"N-No, nothing, sorry," stuttered Danny as he tore his gaze away. First I see a younger version of my mom. Now I meet a younger Vlad, Danny thought as fear crept up his spine and into the back of his mind. I couldn't have really gone back to the past… could I?
"You should probably be paying attention to the lesson," Vlad said, placing a pad of paper and a pencil on Danny's desk. He noticed earlier that Danny lacked any materials needed for class. "I'm the TA, so if you have any questions about something, you can ask me for help."
Danny glanced toward the front of the classroom and cringed. "I'm already lost," whispered Danny, though he wasn't sure why he would even care. He wasn't really in the class, after all. Leaning over, Vlad put an arm around the back of Danny's seat as he explained how to do the problems on the teacher wrote on the board. Danny felt awkward with Vlad so close. He couldn't lean back without feeling Vlad's arm pressed against his back, and he had to lean toward one side or else he would feel Vlad's breath washing over his face. How was he supposed to concentrate on calculus with his archenemy leaning so close to him?
"You do understand what I'm telling you, right?" asked Vlad after a period of time.
Danny jumped at the question and glanced at Vlad. "Er, kind of," he answered weakly. "Sorry. It's a bit hard to concentrate when you're so hungry." It wasn't a full lie, since Danny was hungry.
"Welcome to life as a college student," Vlad said, not surprised by Danny's statement. "Anyway, if you want to continue going over the problems, you should come by this class again. This class is every Tuesday and Thursday." He smirked when Danny sputtered in shock. "Did you think I thought you were enrolled in this class? We're already three weeks into the semester, and this is the first time you've ever shown up to this class."
Danny glanced around the room. "How can you tell with so many students in the class? Maybe I am enrolled in the class, and you just didn't recognize my face."
"Then why were you so eager to try sneaking out at the beginning of the class?" asked Vlad, continuing to smirk as the color drained from Danny's face. "I don't really care if you're not actually enrolled." He leaned back into his seat and took the notepad from Danny's desk. After tearing off the top sheet, he handed it to Danny to keep. "People audit classes all the time, so no one is going to kick you out. I'm surprised a freshman like you even has the time to audit a course though." He packed up his things and stood.
"Uh, well, I thought it might, um, be good to get a head start on calculus," Danny said, following Vlad. He still couldn't believe this was the same Vlad that he knew. This Vlad actually seemed nice. I guess it is possible that Vlad was nice before that incident, Danny thought as they walked out of the classroom.
"It's nice that you have a desire to improve upon your weak points," said Vlad. "Just be careful not to overload yourself with extra work." He gave Danny a quick pat on the shoulder before he walked down the hallway.
As he watched Vlad leave, Danny wondered what he should do now. He had wasted two hours with Vlad that he could have used to search for his mother. Or I could try to find my dad, thought Danny as he joined the throng of students heading for the exit of the building. I guess I really should be looking for a way back to my own time. Then again, I would like to see my dad. Leaving the building, Danny went to search for his father.