*AN: Trigger warning for verbal abuse :(
My schedule got a little messed up, but the plan is to post about once a week. I don't think I've ever had a fanfiction that came this far with this much plot planned, so I'm having a blast with this. Hope you enjoy it as well. As a reminder, the setting is Daniel entering Vlad's mysterious basement.
The basement was pitch black. Daniel was sure that if he were in his human form, his heart would be pounding in his chest. There was also a buzzing hum all around the room. It was low and pulsating, and it thrummed in Daniel's chest. He pressed a guiding hand against the wall, lowering to the floor so he could actually take steps as he progressed. His hand ran over a light switch, and he breathed a sigh at his good luck as he flipped it. The basement instantly lit up, forcing Daniel to cover his eyes at the sudden flash.
When Daniel lowered his arm, he gasped at what he saw. The room was lit by strips of electrical light instead of bulbs, all casting a faintly purple hue to the room. Lining the walls were thick white machines with pipes reaching into the ceiling, upright purple containers with clouded glass sections, and desks or tables with miscellaneous scientific equipment covering them. While Daniel's impression of the room definitely leaned towards 'mad scientist's lab', none of that was what shocked him the most.
At the very end of the room, across from where Daniel stood at the bottom of the stairs, was a swirling green vortex. It was framed by thick metal, impressive piping, and confusing monitors. The massive contraption was the source of the eerie thrumming that resonated around the room, and Daniel felt oddly drawn to it. Without much thought, he approached the vortex and reached a hand out in its direction. Amazing impulse control. When he touched it, it felt like a thin layer of slime. Then his hand passed through, and felt... nothing past that. Steeling himself, he held his breath and stuck his face in.
Daniel saw another world. It was as bright and curious as his own ghostly eyes, with a hue to match. Green as far as the eye could see, it was a mystical world. It practically screamed 'ghostly secrets here! Learn about your impossibly vague half life!' So, he did what any responsible young man would do and emerged himself completely into a new, unfamiliar, and dangerous other worldly realm alone.
Daniel was instantly hit with the realization that he just went in the out-of-bounds basement and possibly another dimension. His only prompting to do so was being told he couldn't. Yeah, he was shaping up to be a real genius. He knew he was supposed to be scared, but he was too confused by what he was seeing.
All around, chunks of rock ranging from the size of a fist to the size of a small country floated aimlessly. The swirling green void that filled in every expanse of empty space was disorienting and new. A part of him wondered what he'd been thinking. He was fourteen, had less than a day of memories, hardly any grasp on how to handle life as a human and much less a ghost, and he just floated into a completely new world, which was so bizarre that he couldn't be sure this wasn't a dream. He needed to get back, ask Vlad about this. But something stopped him.
One of the closer floating rocks looked as if it was inhabited. There were distant sounds of fighting that Daniel couldn't see that came from the rock. He silently promised himself he wouldn't get involved, he'd just take one look and leave for the mansion. Jam and butter, his curiosity was going to be the death of him. He floated slowly towards the sounds, hardly phased when he realized his legs were now a long whisp of smoke. He'd seen plenty of other crazy things that day... like the mansion with three great halls. When the source of the sound came into view, Daniel's plans of watching from the sidelines became his only options as fascination and fear held him in place.
It hard to process the scene before him, as it included a plus-sized blue ghost in overalls and someone that looked exactly like Daniel. It was well over ten feet away from him, and everything was covered in green haze, but that was enough to see that white unkempt hair, green eyes, and monochrome jumpsuit that Daniel had in his ghost form. But that was crazy; Vlad hadn't said anything about a twin or doppelganger, so this had to be either coincidence or him going crazy. He had to get back before Vlad noticed he--SLAM!
A ghost went flying into the rock next to Daniel--the blue one, not his strange double. "Bewaaaare..." it mumbled, not getting up instantly. Daniel floated away from it, biting his lip as he remembered his previous fear of being in this unknown area.
"Wow, he must have hit my head harder than I thought," Daniel was suddenly aware of his lookalike staring intently at him. "I think I'm seeing double."
Daniel wasn't even close to impressed by the quip, but he was wary of his lookalike, who still curiously floated nearer. Maybe it was the fact that he just beat up a different ghost or that nothing Daniel was seeing made sense, but Daniel was scared. He turned invisible on instinct, hoping the being before him would magically just forget he saw Daniel. Precious seconds passed, and Daniel watched his doppelganger's face morph into confusion and doubt. There was a pulsing in his stomach, like a heartbeat but heavy and throbbing. He bit his lip as the other him approached. He realized quickly that he could easily get out of this situation and did so. He morphed his legs into the ghostly tail he'd accidentally made earlier and flew away. His form melted into tangibility and visibility as he flew as fast as he could back to the portal.
He could hear his own voice faintly calling after him, but there was no way he could face that right now. The voice faded when he was in the familiar human world. Daniel landed and changed back to human mere seconds after crossing the portal again.
He landed with his hands and knees against linoleum, staring at nothing with panting breaths. He slowly sat, unbothered by the swirling green behind him. He just needed a moment to breathe. So much had just happened. His head must have still been messed up since he lost his memories, because that ghost couldn't have been him. There was so much he didn't know; for all he knew, ghosts could have wild white hair, glowing green eyes, and suspiciously monochrome jumpsuits all the time--if he only he had his memories. Daniel shook his head, closing his eyes. It could've been a completely normal thing that he just hadn't been prepared for. He didn't see anything in there that made sense, it was all just so weird.
Daniel sighed as he leaned against the rim of the portal. He just needed a moment to breathe... His thoughts morphed into images over time, melting into dreams as he drifted off...
~••~
Daniel was aware of a click and a creak a short distance away, and it was enough to pull him to vague consciousness. He had to reorient himself to realize why this was a cause for alarm, but he instinctively turned invisible. He was thankful he was a light sleeper. Vlad decended the stairs, sighing deeply as he looked about the room. Daniel held his breath when the others' eyes passed over him, and it seemed to be enough.
Then Daniel started sinking into the floor. He gasped and focused his attention on floating back up before going tangible again. That had been almost involuntary, but unfortunately the sound was enough for Vlad to fix his gaze on the source of the sound.
"Daniel?" Vlad stepped closer, approaching a nervous Daniel. He weighed the pros and cons of turning visible as quickly as he could, but panic won out and his body turned opaque.
"I can explain!" Danny scrambled to his feet, using the rim of the portal to stabilize himself.
"Daniel, I told you not to come down here!" Vlad's careful, calm, and proper demeanor dropped into condescending anger. It had changed in the blink of an eye. "Were you so impatient that you'd disobey the ONE thing I told you not to do!? By the ghost king, boy, it's been mere hours since I forbade it, yet here you are! Where did I go wrong with you?" A black ring flashed and he was a ghost, fangs clenched in a slight snarl.
"Vlad, I-"
"I don't want to hear your EXCUSES, Daniel!" His anger was a storm. The sound of his shouting was the rumble of thunder, and the way he slowly crept forward was the lightning precursing it. Daniel was tempted to slip into the portal if only to get away, but there was nowhere to go. He just had to sit there and take it. "How can I trust you if you keep this up? Do you understand how important this is?"
Daniel nodded, hugging himself tightly. He didn't like how close Vlad was. He was looming over the boy, staring with blank red eyes that peered into him. "I'm sorry, Sir." He meant it. "I'm so- I'm so sorry." When had he started crying? He clenched his eyelids shut in hopes that would be enough to banish the tears.
When silence ran a moment too long, he opened his eyes and looked up tentatively. Vlad was a human again, looking down on Daniel with a much softer expression. "I think you'll learn that I do not tolerate disrespect from you, little badger." He stretched out a hand and thumbed a tear roughly off Daniel's face. "I know this is a strange time for it, but I'd like you to start calling me Dad soon--or at least Father. You're my son, and you'll address me as such. No more 'Sir' or 'Vlad'."
Daniel tried for words, but he didn't find any that could possibly respond to that. He just nodded. Guilt and fear were being washed out by a need for comfort, but Daniel couldn't move an inch, much less talk. Too much at once.
"I trust you'll do better to heed my commands next time?" Vlad tilted his head forward, making meaningful eye-contact.
"Y- yes." Daniel forced the word this time. Weren't fathers supposed to be safe? Daniel abandoned that train of thought as soon as it came.
Vlad smiled kindly, the same parental and genuinely caring smile from the morning. It was strange how quickly Daniel's perception of it had shifted. "I'll escort you back to your room. I'm sure you'll agree you'll do well to go to bed early." He offered his hand, and Daniel took it.
Wait, he was forgetting something. Daniel had been about to tell Vlad. Was it too late now? Would he anger him? "Father?" Daniel asked hesitantly as Vlad began leading him out of the basement. No turning back now.
A long, tired sigh. "What is it now, Daniel?" Vlad didn't even look down at him.
"It's just- something- no, someone- I saw back there, in that... place." He paused, but Vlad seemed to be waiting for him to continue. "He looked exactly like me, but... more confident. And aggressive. He was fighting another ghost. We saw each other, and I flew away."
"I see." Vlad paused, looking at Daniel from the corner of his eye. "Daniel, you'll see a lot of things in the Ghost Zone that won't make sense. The place has a way of messing with your head. It's most likely vulnerable anyways after your accident. I assure you, whatever you think you saw, it was simply a hallucination." The taller man's hand tightened almost imperceptibly and pulled Daniel along as he resumed at a faster pace.
Daniel bit his lip, but followed. "Right." He pushed back the doubt that overshadowed his thoughts. If he couldn't trust Vlad, he couldn't trust anything. And the words made sense enough to know the doubt was illogical. He yawned as his thoughts turned to sleep, mind easily tempted by the idea. Vlad finally let go of his hand, opening the door and beckoning Daniel in. Daniel went in and climbed onto the spacious bed. He didn't hear the room door click closed until after he was safely beneath the suffocating covers and half asleep.
*AN: Well, we got a pretty good look at abusive Vlad *evil author laughter* annnnd the plot thickens! Thanks for sticking through this for another chapter and giving me the support you have. It's my pleasure writing this, and I'm glad yall can enjoy it too. Feel free to comment ideas, opinions, or other thoughts, and I'll see you next week!