Lyrics by Adele - Set Fire to the Rain

Pain. Suffering. Longing. It just made things harder to understand.

Why did he care? Why did it matter? Would it be easier if he was simply a monster?

~Cuz there's a side to you

that I never knew

never knew

All the things you'd say

They were never true

never true

All the games you'd play

you would always win

always win~

She took the steps slowly, crouching as she entered the basement. The constant zaps and thuds made her think something had short circuited. If that were the case, both Danny and Vlad could be in trouble. When she got to the bottom of the basement, ready to hide behind the largest object in the room, she froze.

Vlad had taken off his jacket, sporting a gray vest over a button down shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he fastened the screws around a metal contraption. The machine was shaped like a sphere with blue bolts of electricity running through the center. And in the middle of everything was Danny, his hands and feet bound to the machine.

Sam couldn't find the strength to react. Danny's head lay limp against his chest, passed out.

"Samantha?" Vlad asked and suddenly the man was staring at her. "What are you doing here?"

"What..." Her eyes were still on Danny. "What's..."

"Don't be afraid, Samantha. It's not what you think." Vlad walked toward her with a suspiciously friendly smile, hands out and palms up in a welcoming manner. "This must be hard to hear, but Danny isn't who you think he is."

Sam backed up, trying her hardest to process what was going on. What was this? What was this?

Sam took a step backwards, and accidentally stepped on something. The object rolled under her foot, and Sam lost her balance, falling on her back against the tile floor.

"Are you alright?" Vlad asked, his footsteps hasty. She fought through the rush of pain and sat up.

"Don't," Sam reached for the closest object on the floor and pointed it at Vlad, "come any closer."

Sam saw the look of absolute shock, then recognition come across the man's face. Only then did she realize what she was holding up to him. The object was heavy, metal, and aimed to kill. A gun. Vlad had a gun in the lab.

"Samantha, please think clearly. That's a weapon you're holding."

"What's going on? Why is Danny tied up? What is that machine, and why do you have a gun?" She did her best to keep the weapon pointed at Vlad. The gun was heavy and the danger behind it only scared her more.

"I guess there's no use hiding it." Vlad sighed. "And he tried so hard to keep the truth from you. Danny didn't want you to call him a monster."

"The only monster here is you!"

"You misunderstand. I have to restrain Danny. Don't you wonder how this boy could always be fighting others? Why he passes out for several hours at a time? There's a lot more to this story than you think." He went over to the sink, washing off the blood. Sam followed his movements with the gun. "Did Danny ever tell you how his father died?" He turned and faced her, casually drying off his hands on a nearby rag.

She had a hard time finding her voice. "He said he was killed during an experiment."

"Ah, so you are informed. Did Danny fail to mention what that experiment did to him?"

Sam was silent as Vlad turned off the faucet, throwing the rag on the counter. "He was never the same after that. His father was killed, but Danny found that his DNA was merely altered. Our genes are truly marvolous things." He waved his finger at her. "Have you studied that in school yet?"

"I took biology freshman year. It wasn't my best subject."

"Then allow me to explain." He took a seat on a crate across from her, hunched over like he was ready to get in an engrossed conversation. "There are four letters in a DNA segment that make up our genes. ATGC is the code for DNA. A and T pair up, as do G and C. You see, its always the same pattern repeating over and over again," He lifted his index finger to make small circles in the air, "but one wrong pairing could mean the difference between a working organ, and holes ripping through your intenstine walls." He sat up straight, smiling down at Sam. "Amazing how something as simple as a misplaced letter could mean life or death. And that's exactly what Danny discovered. The bridge between life and death, encoded in his DNA. He could take a glimpse into another world, one invisible to the rest of us." Vlad's cold dark eyes met hers. "Samantha, are you familiar with the ghost zone?"

The silent girl shook her head. Even with all the supernatural reading she'd done, the questions she had asked herself, she didn't know anything about a ghost zone.

"As you may guess, its where spirits live. A complete reflection of our own world. Danny is neither ghost nor human. Such a balance cant be maintained easily."

"What about the gun?"

"The weapon you are currently wielding is designed to target ecto-plasm, meaning only ghosts will be affected by the ammunition. Maddie and I will take these devices down to city hall so the government can handle any ghost related problems."

Sam's hand immediately fell to her side, and the gun made a soft thud against the tile flooring. Only when she caught sight of her hand did she realize it was shaking.

"Danny came to me for help," Vlad continued, squatting before the girl's bewildered face. "He couldn't control his ghost half. It was filled with rage and power, so with my help we take him to the lab and keep him restrained." Vlad walked slowly to the captive Danny, his hand unscrewing a bolt in the device securing the boy. The man stuck the piece in his pocket, turning to Sam before the goth could notice.

"And what about Maddie?" Sam asked. "Is she okay with you locking her son up?"

"Why, she's the one who suggested I do this. She said she couldn't stand to see Danny hurt, so she asked me to keep an eye on him." He walked back toward the confused girl, and Sam immediately forced herself to stand up. "I'm not the bad guy here, Samantha. Danny is dangerous. He knows this. In fact, he begged me to help him. He was especially afraid yesterday, saying he didn't want to hurt you again."

Sam pulled away from Vlad's grasp, spinning around to look him in the eye. "What are you talking about?"

Vlad guided her, so they faced the same direction. "Now, Samantha, surely you've put two and two together. No?" He placed a hand on her shoulder, extending his other to point at Danny. "Why not take a closer look?"

Sam glanced at the body and everything inside her turned cold. White hair, pale skin. It couldn't be true. It couldn't...

Vlad glanced down at the goth. "Tell me, Samantha, how did you get those bruises around your neck?"

Sam cupped her throat, backing away. "I have to go…"

Before she could run, the lights in the room began to flicker. The machine sparked and crackled until the electricity bolts holding Danny vanished. The boy fell onto the ground face first.

"Daniel!" Vlad called, running up the the fallen white haired boy. "Daniel, are you alright?"

Danny picked himself up so he was on all fours, his head down. Then he angled his face to look at Vlad.

"Daniel-"

He was cut off when Danny grabbed him by the throat and tossed him into the wall across the room. Vlad's body hit with a smack, limply falling to the ground.

"Vlad!" Sam yelled, and then those glowing green eyes were on her.

She was frozen by that gaze. Monster. Danny was a monster. Sam turned around and ran, out of the house and into the streets.

Hello, everyone. This is the author of the story here to say I've probably mind fucked a lot of you just now. The DNA explanation alone was a little in-depth. I didn't mean to make this a biology lesson, but its nice to know I learned more from one science class in college than I ever did from four years in high school.

Anyway, I wanted to state the DNA example I gave in the story was based off a case study article I read for biology. Yeah, that whole "holes ripping your intestine walls" thing Vlad was going on about is based off a true story.

Also, I apologize if this chapter is short. I kept debating whether I wanted an extremely long chapter or two shorter ones. I opted to split them to keep you guys on your toes. I'm cruel, I know :)

Back to the story. If you're still majorly confused, it's okay. I will be using the next few chapters to explain everything. There will even be a flashback chapter to clear any wrinkles you have between your eyebrows. No sweat. Just take this time making bets, coming up with predictions, and solving the riddles of this complicated storyline.

And don't worry. This isn't the end, so you'll have plenty more OMG moments like this. We still have tons of chapters where I get to laugh at your bewildered expressions before I finally put you out of your misery and reveal my secrets. And I had no intention of being a sadistic author, but apparently I enjoy torturing you guys with mind fucks way too much (pardon my French. I seem to be dropping the F-bomb a lot in this side note). Now don't forget to leave a comment. In case you forgot, the review box is right underneath this message (Ah, sarcasm). Love you guys.

CrystalShardz