Disclaimer: I am not Butch Hartman. I do not own Danny Phantom. Enjoy the chapter!
Beautiful. Magnificent. Stunning. Ravishing. Divine. Enchanting. Exquisite. Bewitching. Alluring.
Vlad could go down the line one by one and none of them could even come close to the breathtaking creature right before him. Hair as black as the Wisconsin night sky, porcelain skin as white as fresh fallen snow, and gorgeous lips as red as the blood of his fallen enemies.
His human enemies, that is.
'Snow.' He thought as he gazed at her figure. 'My beautiful Snow.'
From the moment his eyes connected to her wide doe like ones, he felt his very essence merge with hers. There was no possible way he could describe it, it was like they had become one. In that moment and for the rest of his moments to come, she was his everything.
'Soulmate.' Skulker had told him once. 'All ghosts have a soulmate.'
When Skulker had described it to him, Vlad immediately laughed him off. Instantly falling madly and passionately in love with someone you just met sounded like something out of a ridiculous Disney movie. There was no way Vlad believed he could ever be weak enough to fall for something as preposterous as that.
How wrong he was.
This beauty, this perfect being who's features look like they were carved by angels, was Vlad's very soul. His feelings for Maddie before was nothing compared to how he felt for Snow now. She was love of his life and the reason why he breathed. He was an empty shell before she came along with her beautiful smile that lit his world up. She would be his and his alone, he would share her with no one. She would be his wife, bear his heirs, and rule along side him when he conquered this world and the next.
And luckily for Vlad, the Baxters had made that all too easy to attain. The plan was already set into place. All he had to do was set it back a week and his beautiful Snow would be his for the keeping.
.
Friday. December 23rd, 2004. University of Wisconsin Hospital. 11:55 p.m.
.
"Mr. Masters? Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?"
The doctor's statement brought the attention of the three people in their own private waiting room. Vlad Masters stood up, along with Maddie and Jack in anticipation of the doctor's words. They had arrived hours ago and Vlad had demanded Snow be tested extremely throughly by only the best of the best as to ensure her health. He felt rage and guilt course through him at the knowledge that it was his fault Snow was currently laying in a hospital bed. The sight of Snow unconscious, as if dead, on the base of his staircase is a sight that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Vlad forgot about lifting his orders to him in regards of Snow and that of her brother, an order he gave him just a few hours ago before they arrived at the castle. Vlad also forgot to be specific in telling him what 'making sure the children are out the way while he got Maddie into his bed' implied. It certainly wasn't this!
Luckily he stopped the attack on the boy and stopped Madeline from flying straight back to Minnesota in a fright so Dani could see her primary doctors, which was probably his plan all along.
Or perhaps it was to kill her and stop Vlad from gaining his lifelong dream, having a family? Either way, Vlad was going to torture him so badly that he wouldn't even be able to look at a picture of Snow without feeling pain.
"Yes?" Jack anxiously asked, drawing Vlad away from his vengeful thoughts, his face creased in worry. "How's my daughter doing?"
"Your daughter is fine." The Doctor replied, flipping through her file. "She has some bruising but that will heal over time."
"No head trauma?" Maddie asked, the worry evident in her tone. "No internal bleeding?"
"No." The doctor reassured and Vlad let out a breath he didn't know he took. "Other than some very minor bruising and a few small cuts she's fine. In fact," He added with a soft smile. "She'll be alright to bring home now if you would like-"
RING! RING!
"I'm sorry." Maddie apologetically told them while grabbing her phone. "I need to take this."
As Vlad watch Maddie walk a way off, he felt his heart race in excitement. This was it.
"-that's not possible!….She's seventeen but she'll be…By five!? On Christmas Eve!? That's tomorrow! You said until New Year's Eve, we planned until New Year's Eve!"
Vlad inwardly grinned. He had made an unexpected move and the queen was now scrambling to overcome it.
"You've been calling for two days!?…Well I wasn't there obviously! Why didn't you call my cell phone sooner!?…Misplaced the number!? Listen you're the idiots that came up with that stupid rule a month ago that an applicant has to be eighteen by September or legally declared an adult by then to be considered for your school and now you're telling me the deadline for applicants is tomorrow instead of New Year's Eve!?…Well I would enter her next year if you accepted transfer students!"
He saw Jack glance at him in confusion when Maddie kicked a trash can in her fury. He shrugged back at him, as if to tell him he was just as confused as Jack was by Maddie's behavior. After all these years, Vlad knew how to play the part of an innocent man perfectly and frankly Jack was just too easy to fool.
"Don't you threaten me with a waiting list ten miles long of applicants!…There's just no way I can get her declared an adult by then…Did she just-did she just hang up on me!?"
Vlad watched Maddie angrily redialed the number. The same conversation took place, this time Maddie screaming in frustration at them and smashing a hole in the wall in her anger.
"Maddie what's wrong?" Jack asked in a worried tone, cautiously walking up to her. "Did something happen?"
Vlad watched as Maddie signed and was forced to tell her husband the truth about everything she and the Baxters had been plotting for over a month now. Jack was absolutely fuming when Maddie finished. Vlad hadn't seen him this angry since senior year in college, when some twisted individual took advantage of Harriet, Maddie's dorm mate.
"And when were you planning on telling me about this?"
"Jack I didn't want to tell you because-"
"She's my daughter and you were going to marry her off without my consent?"
"I knew you would have never agreed to it."
"OF COURSE I WOULD HAVE NEVER AGREED TO IT!"
Vlad was pretty sure the Ghost Zone could hear Jack's explosion. His voice echoed throughout the walls of the waiting room. Thank the stars only them and the doctor currently occupied it.
"Sir is everything alright?" The doctor hesitantly asked, walking over to them, clearly taken aback by Jack's outburst. He had no idea what was going on as Maddie spoke to Jack softly to not be overheard. But Vlad's hearing was enhanced by his ghost powers, so he could catch everything.
"I'm sorry doctor. Everything's fine. You can leave now." Jack apologized, then waited until the doctor left the waiting room to turn his sharp brown eyes back towards his wife. "Maddie, Dash is a teenage boy and I see the way he looks at Dani. Him married to her spells trouble. Dating alright but not married."
"Dash would never-"
"Alone? Married? At college?" Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Maddie who are you trying to fool?"
"Well we don't have any options!" Maddie said, the irritation dripping from her tone. "The college doesn't accept transfer students and her birthday isn't until well after the orientation day. It's Dani's dream college, she's been talking about getting accepted since she was a little girl. Besides Jack, as unfair as it is, you and I both know that for this particular school it's not just about talent but who you know and whether or not they like you. With Dash's wealth and political background, no one would dare question the validity of the marriage and I know Dani will be accepted without hesitation."
Jack signed and his face seemed to age ten years in doing so. He then turned beseechingly to him and walked towards to where he was standing.
Just the move Vlad expected him to.
"Vladdy, I know we haven't seen each other in a while and I hate to ask you this but-" Jack explained to him the situation and asked of him a favor.
The King was clearing out of his safety zone. Perfect.
"I'm sorry Jack." Vlad said to him, playing the role of a caring friend who's hands were tied perfectly. "One of my workers came to me with the same problem weeks ago. It's a privately owned college. I tried to urge them, quite generously, to change that ridiculous rule but they wouldn't budge. I then tried to buy them out but they just wouldn't sell. The man in question ended up having to marry his daughter off to his best friend as a solution."
He could see a light flicker in Jack's eyes. The King had foolishly moved another step.
"His best friend?"
"Yes his best friend." Vlad replied as he dangled the bait in front of Jack. "It was a perfect match, he told me. His daughter's birthday was in October so she would really only be married for less than a year before it's annulled."
"Well then that settles it!" Jack happily exclaimed, slapping Vlad hard on the back in his excitement. "Dani can marry you V-Man!"
Jack took the bait. The King was in position. Check.
"What?" Maddie had heard Jack's statement and stomped over towards them.
"Well that is if you agree to it V-Man?" Jack asked him. "Assuming you're not with anyone right now?"
"Anything for you, old chum." Vlad agreed, excitement coursing through his veins on how close he was to attaining Snow but being very careful not to show it. "I'm free as a bird."
"Absolutely not!" Maddie firmly said, her hands on her hips. "I refuse to marry my daughter off to someone twice her age!"
The queen blocked his move. He had to wait for the King to come into position again.
"Think about it Maddie." Jack urged her, placing his large hands on her shoulders. "We need to get Dani hitched tomorrow right?"
"Yes but-"
"Well then Vladdy's the best man for the job! He's the richest man in the world so no one would dare question the validity of the marriage!"
"Yes but Jack-"
"Not to mention we've known him since college!"
"But Jack Dash-"
"Will not be marrying Dani." Jack firmly told her, his tone clearing saying his decision was final. "I refuse to have a hormonal teenage boy marry my daughter. Besides he would never make it here on time, you told me Susan took him to visit his cousins in Australia and she didn't leave you any number because she wanted to have her family time alone with them."
"Yes but-"
"Maddie that's a twenty hour flight at least! Even if you managed to get into contact with them there's no way they'll make it here on time!"
There was no way Maddie would ever be able to make contact with them again. Ever. Not that Vlad would release that tidbit of information just yet.
"It would never work Jack." Maddie told Jack, letting out a long sign and shaking her head. "I already got the marriage license for Minnesota which has to be done a week prior to the event, blood tests have to be done, documents have to be filled out and processed, I already filed for her name change-"
"Name change?" Jack said, his eyebrow raised in question. "You filed for her name change?"
"Yes the whole nine yards." Maddie told him, crossing her arms together. "I don't want anything getting in her way of her being accepted into that school and that means her last name would change to that of her husband."
The queen kept saving the king but it was clear she was running out of pieces and spaces to do so. Knowing that, Vlad made his final move.
"Maddie these things are extremely easy to do." Vlad reassured her, acting as nonchalant about the whole matter as possible. "I can have the marriage license application filled out and here before sunrise, there are no blood tests required in Wisconsin, the documents can be easily produced, and it's just a simple matter of changing her name to 'Masters' instead of 'Baxter'." After a moment of thought, he added. "We can even fly to New York and hand it in personally, if that would be best."
"And Maddie we don't have a choice." Jack said. "Vladdy's the only guy for the job. He's the only man I trust. We have less than seventeen hours to get this thing done with and I'd like to get it finished as soon as possible so we can send her application in already."
Maddie was silent for a long time at Jack's words and he could see the defeat in her violet eyes that once upon a time had his heart racing.
"Fine then." She finally gritted out, clearly unhappy about the arrangements but seeing no way out of them. "Do you think you can get the marriage done and fly us to New York before noon Vlad?"
The queen had been taken. The King foolishly damned himself. Checkmate.
"Of course Madeline! When Dani awakens and if she agrees to my proposal, we can be married within the hour." Vlad smoothly replied, taking out his cell phone as to make all the arrangements. "After we're wed, I'll have my private jet ready to charter us to New York. We'll be there in two hours time."
And Snow would agree. Vlad had ways of ensuring she'd have no other choice.
Author's Note: Vlad's so bad isn't he? Hope you enjoyed the chess reference, it was my first time doing it. I don't play much chess at all, so forgive me if I got it all wrong. Reviews please!