Chapter 22
Over there! Vlad caught sight of Danny just around the corner of a building. Danny wouldn't have time to get very far before Vlad rounded the corner. However, when he did run around the corner, Vlad found no one in sight. He searched everywhere he could think for Danny to hide, but he found nothing, not even a hint of the man's presence. Vlad dropped to his knees, feeling a tight pain in his chest. Danny had vanished.
The only clue to the time he had was that the sun already set by the time Vlad started back to his dorm. Everything was silent as he walked; the air colder than he thought it should be. Someone bumped into him along the way, but he felt nothing. He was numb, his senses deadened. Danny was gone. The thought played on repeat through his mind.
The door to his room creaked as Vlad slowly opened it, peeking inside to see if Jack was there or not. Jack sat on their couch. His head was tilted back, and his mouth opened wide as he snored. Vlad crept into the room and as quietly as possible closed the door behind him.
"Where have you been?" Jack demanded, his snoring stopping abruptly.
Halfway between the door and his bed, Vlad froze. Don't ask, he pleaded Jack. Don't bring him up. Don't want to think about it. "Out," he answered at last, continuing to his bed.
"Where's Danny?"
Vlad's breath hitched in his throat. Don't think about it. Don't think about him. He peeled of his shirt and threw it into the laundry basket near their desk. He stared at the basket. He's not going to do laundry anymore. The room is going to be a dump soon.
"Jeremy stopped by," Jack continued when Vlad remained silent. "He said Danny promised to do his laundry, but Danny never stopped by to pick it up. And now you return without him. Where's Danny?"
"He's gone!" roared Vlad, spinning around to pin Jack with a glare. "He's gone and not coming back so just shut up."
Jack blinked a few times in a clear expression of confusion. "Gone? What do you mean gone? Gone where?"
"Just - Just shut up! Don't talk about him." Vlad turned his back on Jack as he climbed into bed and threw the covers over his head. He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to let this hurt him.
Jack stood. Vlad could hear him walking over the squeaky floorboards to his bed. The mattress dipped as Jack sat down and placed a hand on Vlad's shaking shoulder. "I never realized it was that serious between the two of you," Jack said, his voice calm, kind, soothing. Vlad hated it. "I know you two were close. I mean you had sex-"
"We made love," snapped Vlad crossly. "I do not have sex. I am not a hormonally driven teenager who goes around having casual sex with just anyone."
"I know." Jack sighed. "You loved him, didn't you?"
Vlad bit down on his tongue, tears stinging at his eyes. Of course, Jack would see through me, he thought bitterly, wishing for once Jack would just be the oblivious oaf that he usually was. "Please just leave me alone, Jack."
Jack leaned down so close that Vlad could almost feel his breath through the blanket. "Whatever happened between you, I know he'll come back to you." Jack squeezed his friend's shoulder before climbing off the bed.
Vlad wrapped the blanket tightly around himself. Danny was gone. Danny wasn't coming back. Vlad finally opened his heart up enough to confess his love, and Danny shattered his heart by running away. Do not cry, he ordered himself, scrubbing away the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. You will not let him hurt you like this. He started to drift off to sleep as tears rolled down his cheeks to dampen his pillow.
"I'm worried about him."
Vlad overheard Jack telling Maddie one day months later. He stood outside the class room they used for their experiments and inventions for their work in paranormal studies. He stepped out for a while to get the tools that Jack forgot to bring with them to work on the Proto Portal. Leaning against the wall, he listened to what his two friends were talking about.
"He's burying his feelings," Jack continued, and Vlad could hear that annoying concern in the man's voice. "It's like he's trying to convince himself that Danny never existed so that he doesn't have to deal with that pain."
"Jack, you can't force him to deal with it," Maddie said in that calm, understanding tone that Vlad always loved about her. "This is his way of dealing with it. The pain right now may be too much for him to handle. Just give him some time."
"I still can't believe he ran away," Jack said, and he sighed. "They were so happy. I really thought they would stay together."
"I'm sure there's a reason. Danny wouldn't just leave for no reason, would he?"
"Well, he did run away from home. He never explained why though."
How nice of my friends to talk about me behind my back, Vlad thought grumpily as he walked into the room. "I've got the tools. Now we can finish up work on the Proto Portal." He set the box of tools down on the table. "If we hope to finish this for testing Friday, we better work late tonight." Reaching into the box, he paused when he felt a hand on his own. He looked up and blinked at Maddie.
"There's no rush," Maddie told him with a smile. "We can push back the test date if we can't finish it before then."
"We already posted the fliers," Vlad said, smiling back at Maddie. His cheeks grew warm as he noticed she still held his hand. Maybe she does have feelings for me, he thought, even while part of his brain yelled at him for tossing away his feelings for Danny so easily. He's the one that left me, he snapped at that other part. "We should do everything we can to meet that date."
Maddie squeezed her hand around Vlad's hand. "I don't want you over working yourself."
Smiling, Vlad turned his hand and laced his fingers with Maddie's. "I'm not. I'm fine."
"There's the screwdriver I needed!" Jack shouted, reaching into the box. Maddie yanked her hand free as she backed away to allow Jack room to grab the tool.
Vlad glanced at Maddie, who smiled at him before she went to check some of the calculations. Maybe I should take the chance and ask her out, he thought, taking a pair of pliers from the box. Maybe I'll ask her out when we're testing the Proto Portal. Then it can be a sort of date and a celebratory kind of thing. He grinned at that thought as he started helping Jack with the project.
"Vlad, I know you're hurting," Jack whispered as they worked.
"I just said I was fine, didn't I?" Vlad asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"I don't believe you. You can't be fine. Danny disappeared, and now you're acting like some emotionless doll." Jack grabbed Vlad's hand to make him stop working for a moment. "You're throwing yourself into working on the Proto Portal. You've been concentrating on it for the past six months. Why haven't you bothered to search for Danny? He could be hurt or in trouble, and you're acting like you don't even care."
"Why should I care?" Vlad demanded in an even tone. He snapped his head up and pinned Jack with a glare. "He left me! He's the one who kept secrets. He's the one who decided to run away instead of speaking the truth. I have no reason to care what happens to him now." He could feel tears burn at the edges of his eyes. This was why he wanted to forget Danny: it brought up too much pain. He slammed down the pliers he was using. "I'm going for a walk." He left the room before either Jack or Maddie could say something to stop him. He needed to recollect himself, cool his head, bury his memories of Danny. Think of Maddie, he told his brain. You were in love with her long before Danny appeared in your life. That little voice in his head told him that was a lie.
"You made changes?" Vlad asked, trying to keep his voice calm, but anger was rising in him. He hadn't returned to the lab room since Jack kept pushing the topic of Danny.
In fact, Vlad crashed at Digory's room for the past week. He showed up at the man's door drunk the first night. Digory didn't ask questions, and Vlad was thankful for that. He didn't want to have to explain his odd behavior, and he was sure the other man already knew the reason anyway. The only time Digory gave away that he knew was when he commented, "I know we'll see him again." He said it that morning when Vlad announced he would be returning to his own room.
When he arrived at lab room 101, Vlad found that they completed the Proto Portal in his absence but with a few changes that they never bothered to discuss with him. If they wanted to make adjustments, they should have come to me and talked about it, he thought as he narrowed his eyes at Jack.
"Just a few," Jack replied with his gaze focused on the clipboard in his hand. "But don't worry, it'll still work just the same as before."
Vlad knew he could trust Jack, but the adjustments made him feel snubbed. They were all supposed to work on it together, not make changes and not tell one of the other members. He decided not to grace Jack with another comment. Turning his attention to Maddie, Vlad found her working on something with the Proto Portal. He walked over to her as he felt a flutter in his gut. Don't be nervous, he told himself, preparing himself for what he was about to do.
"Maddie," Vlad said in a charming tone as he leaned toward her, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time."
"One second, Vlad," said Maddie distractedly as she pressed buttons on a keypad attached by a wire to the Proto Portal. She turned away from Vlad. "Jack, did you remember to fill the filtrator with ecto purifier?"
"On it, baby," Jack replied, blindly reaching out for the ecto purifier as he passed the shelf.
Why is she acting so differently today? Vlad wondered, watching out of the corner of his eye as Jack walked toward the filtrator. A week ago, she would have listened to me. He saw Jack pour the ecto purifier into the filtrator. He frowned as he noticed that look on Jack's face. Following Jack's gaze, he found Maddie returning that look. What? his mind screamed, rage flowing through him. Why are they making love eyes at each other? When did that happen? He glared as he watched the two "friends" walk toward a table with papers scattered on it.
Vlad turned his back on them, pushing down his rage. He didn't come to work on the project for a week and already Jack moved in on his crush! He gritted his teeth, trying to calm his anger. As he examined the Proto Portal, he said, "I'm telling you, Jack. It won't work."
"Bogus, V-man, it'll totally work!" Jack said with his usual enthusiasm when it came to anything involving ghosts. "This Proto Portal is guaranteed to bust open the wall to the ghost dimension."
Sometimes, he couldn't believe that Jack was the one to actually come up with this idea, though it had needed a little refining from Vlad and Maddie. Vlad shook his head, resisting the urge to snap at the other man. When this fails, Maddie will see how dumb Jack really is, he thought with a smirk to himself. He heard a rustle of papers, but he didn't bother to look over his shoulder at the other two. He leaned in closer to better examine the design of the Proto Portal. A frown came over him as his heart ached. Danny had wanted to know more about the Proto Portal. Forget about him!
"Jack, these calculations aren't right," said Maddie with concern in her voice.
Heh, I knew it, Vlad thought, smirking again. Jack's never been good with math.
"Bonzai!" shouted Jack, and it didn't click right away in Vlad's mind why he would say that.
The filtrator rumbled and clattered on the floor next to the table. Sparks shot from the Proto Portal. Vlad stared at it blankly, unable to piece together what was happening. Suddenly, a beam of ecto energy shot from the small opening, surprising all three of them.
"Argh, bogus!" Vlad shouted as the blast hit him directly in the face. He screamed at the pain shooting through his body, worse than anything he ever felt, except maybe the pain in his heart. Electric shock? a small voice in his mind questioned.
When the Proto Portal ran out of energy, the blast faded, and tiny sparks leapt along the blackened frame of the Proto Portal. Vlad swayed on his feet, ready to collapse. He hurt so much everywhere, and somehow it all felt wrong to him. Turning slowly, his head swimming, he faced Maddie and Jack. They gasped at the sight of him, and Maddie was horrified with her eyes wide and hands over her mouth.
That look on had her face felt like a crushing blow to him. What could make her look at him like that? Vlad covered his face. His fingers brushed over what felt like thousands of bumps covered in a film of oil and straining against his fingers ready to pop at any moment. Images flashed in his mind, those of the boy from his high school that no one wanted to speak to because of his horrible case of acne. What – I – How? With wide eyes, he stared at Maddie again. No! Can't be - NO!
Not giving either Maddie or Jack time to speak, Vlad ran from the room. Thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to work out the reason behind this reaction. How could this? he wondered angrily as he rushed down the hallway. He bumped into people as he tried to hide his condition from them by covering his face. Blast? Acne? How? His body trembling with fear. What if acne wasn't the only side effect? What if something worse happened to him? There had to be an explanation, a reason. Jack. The memory flicked through his mind like slide projector. That look that Jack and Maddie shared. It sent rage roaring through Vlad's entire being. Jack caused all of this. I'll kill him, he thought with a roar of anger, but it came out sounding like a cry of pain as he collapsed to the ground.