Author's Note: This chapter was written by me! And all chapters from here on will be written by me.
Buried
Someone was making quite the racket outside. Vlad looked up from his desk toward his front door. The noise ceased almost as if on command.
Vlad stared at the door a little longer before returning his attention to his work, but then the banging started up again. With a low growl under his breath, Vlad stood and marched toward the door, throwing it open to find a royal guard using a hammer to nail the town's latest wanted posters to a wooden post along the street.
Vlad narrowed his eyes as he watched the guard bang! bang! bang! the third and final poster onto the post. Could he possibly be anymore obnoxious about it?
The guard left at last, slinging his hammer over his shoulder and whistling a jaunty tune. Vlad turned to reenter his home when something about one of the wanted posters caught his eye.
Something…impossibly familiar.
Vlad marched up to the post and snatched the poster off. He held it in both hands and stared at it, sure that he had to be hallucinating because this was simply not possible.
It was a wanted poster for Danny. The face and hair in the drawing were unmistakable.
But how? If there was a wanted poster for Danny, that meant someone in town had seen him, and if someone had seen him, that meant Danny had left the lab.
It had to be someone else. Someone who somehow looked exactly like Danny.
He looked at the other posters. A young woman he vaguely recognized as the Sanchez daughter. And a little dog with bright green fur.
That was Danny's dog—
But no, Danny was locked away in his underground bunker, it just couldn't possibly be him—
Danny would never disobey him. Never.
Vlad stared at the posters a little longer before crumpling Danny's poster in his hand and stuffing it in his pocket. He ran back inside his home and locked the door, then willed his molecules to change over into his ghost form, freshly stabilized for the moment by Danny's ectoplasm.
Danny just couldn't have gotten out. He had to see for himself.
Turning invisible, Vlad kicked off and phased through the ceiling of his home, flying up and out toward the expansive forest beyond the outskirts of the town. He spotted the top of the familiar tree marking the location of his lab and slowed, descending and then landing on the ground in front of it. He changed back into his normal form and straightened his tie out of habit.
He approached a cave enclosure hidden by a curtain of vines. He pushed aside a few of the vines to reveal a keypad. He keyed in the code, triggering the sound of a large metal bolt sliding into a new position. Vlad pushed aside more vines to open the now unlocked door to the underground bunker.
"Daniel?" he called, trying to sound stern and not at all panicked. He descended the stairs and looked around the lab. "Daniel? Don't play games with me. Come out right now."
Silence. And not the silence of sleep or simply not answering. The silence of emptiness.
And to his horror, the ghost portal was switched on and open, casting an eerie green light over the lab counters and floor.
"Daniel?" shouted Vlad. "Daniel—"
He frantically checked each of the other rooms in the bunker. His old bedroom that he used to sleep in when Danny was very young and needed his care more often. The training room where he taught Danny to use and control his ghost powers.
And Danny's bedroom.
The bed was made and the room was clean but Danny was truly and absolutely nowhere.
Vlad tore the room apart, ripping off the bedding, flipping the mattress, pushing all of the books off the bookshelves. There had to be some kind of clue, something to tell him where Danny had gone, why he had left.
Because he had to find Danny, had to bring him back. Without Danny's ectoplasm to stabilize him, Vlad would die—
He threw everything out of Danny's closet, the few shirts he had and some old toys from when he was a child and a shoebox with a lid that came off when it hit the floor. Vlad was about to search another area of the room when he noticed the contents of the box.
He knelt to get a closer look. There were several hairbrushes in the box. He picked one up and pulled out a very long strand of black hair. Certainly not Danny's hair.
He rummaged through the other items in the box, mostly shades of pink and rose gold. A few hair barrettes. A couple pocket mirrors. Three tubes of lipstick. Necklaces and bracelets. A bottle of perfume. But whom did they belong to? And how did Danny come to possess them?
Beneath the items was a photo. Vlad recognized it immediately as he took it out of the box, a photo that he used to keep in one of his dresser drawers but had gifted to Danny after Vlad caught him staring at it one day. It was a photo of Danny's mother, Maddie, when she was young and still single, no children, no engagement to the king of Amity Park. Just the woman Vlad loved more than anyone else, gleaming red hair cascading below her shoulders and a pearly smile lighting up her beautiful face.
Vlad sighed and held the photo to his heart, longing, yearning, aching.
But then he saw another photo in the shoebox. Vlad frowned and set the photo of Maddie aside as he stared at this new photo. His fingers hovered over it a few seconds before lifting it out of the box and studying it.
It was the Sanchez girl. He had never personally met her, but he knew her father. It was no wonder to him why Danny would keep her picture—she looked absolutely stunning—but how did he acquire it?
Vlad thought back to the wanted posters, how one of them resembled the girl as well.
He had no idea where or how Danny got these items, but he was sure Danny was with that girl now.
And Vlad had to find him. Immediately.
…
So much walking. Danny had never done so much walking in his entire life simply because he never had anywhere to go, but he absolutely loved it.
He clutched the broken telescope in both hands and stared down at the ground as he placed one foot in front of the other, snapping branches, crunching old leaves, kicking up dirt. Amazing, incredible. He had no idea any of this existed right above him all those years in that underground bunker.
Cujo padded alongside him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he kept pace. Every now and then, he looked up at Danny and yipped excitedly.
"I know it's around here somewhere," said Paulina, sounding thoughtful.
Danny looked up. "What's around here?"
"There." Paulina pointed ahead. "The Nasty Duckling."
Danny followed Paulina's finger to a tavern situated on the roots of a large tree. "What's that?"
"It's a popular hangout spot," said Paulina. "My friends and I come here all the time."
"Hangout spot? What does that mean?" asked Danny.
"You know," said Paulina. "A place where you eat and just…hang out."
"But what does it mean to 'hang out'?"
"Like…just sit and talk. Together."
"This is something people do?"
Paulina laughed. "It's something friends do."
Friends. Danny remembered reading that word in the novels his father brought home for him to read.
"I, uh…" Danny rubbed his neck. "I've never had friends to 'hang out' with."
"Well. You have me now." Paulina tugged on his arm. "We can hang out and eat something together."
"But what about getting a new telescope?" asked Danny.
"I'm starving. Aren't you?" Paulina threw her hand out as a gesture in one direction. "Town is still a couple miles away; we really should eat something before we get there."
Danny's stomach growled, as if on cue. He looked down at his telescope again, then at the tavern, then down at Cujo, who was sitting beside him. Cujo caught Danny looking at him and started drooling.
"I guess I am hungry," said Danny, smiling. "And I think Cujo wants to eat, too."
Paulina clasped her hands. "Yay!"
Danny walked behind Paulina, quickening his steps to keep up with her as she led the way down the road to the tavern. Cujo ran circles around them, yipping and prancing with his tongue hanging out.
Paulina opened the door into the tavern and sashayed inside. Danny held the telescope close to his chest as he followed her, his eyes wide as he scanned all of the unfamiliar faces sitting at different tables, heads turning as Paulina walked by with her hips swaying.
He had never seen so many people in one place.
And now they were all staring at him, he was sure of it.
His father's warning echoed in his head: Humans are dangerous, Daniel. Humans are cruel. They don't like anything that is different or would not hesitate to capture and destroy you the moment they find out you aren't like them.
His hands shook as he tightened his hold on the telescope.
"Danny, are you okay?"
He jumped at the sound of Paulina's voice. She was standing in front of him now, frowning with concern. Cujo was peering up at him from the floor.
"Hey, Paulina!" a voice called. "Where have you been all day?"
Danny looked up to see a group of three people staring in their direction, two large guys with thick muscular arms and a girl with long blonde hair.
"Oh!" Paulina turned to Danny. "Those are my friends."
"Your friends?" said Danny.
"Yes," said Paulina. "I told you that we hang out here a lot. Come on, let's sit with them."
Cujo wasted no time trotting after Paulina. Danny hesitated a moment before following.
One of the muscular guys with blond hair furrowed his brow as Danny approached. "He with you, Paulina?"
"Oh! Yes." Paulina gestured to Danny. "This is Danny. And his dog, Cujo. Danny, this is Star, Dash, and Kwan."
"Hey," chorused Paulina's friends.
"Hey," Danny echoed, not sure if that was even the right thing to say. He had never met even one new person before today, and now he was having to meet several all at once.
Paulina pulled up two chairs and gestured for Danny to take one. Danny slowly lowered himself, hugging the telescope in his folded arms and bouncing his knees.
"That's an interesting belt you have on," said Star to Paulina, tilting her head. "I don't think I was with you when you bought that one."
"Oh." Paulina looked down at the silver belt still secured around her waist—the Specter Deflector, as Captain Gray referred to it. "It was a gift, actually."
Star wrinkled her nose. "A gift from who?"
"Just family," said Paulina with a dismissive shrug. "Some aunt far away sent it by post."
Star hummed and nodded, but she didn't look convinced.
"Do you guys want anything?" asked Kwan. "Milkshakes?"
Danny caught Paulina's eye. "What's that?" he mouthed to her.
Paulina smiled and turned back to Kwan. "Two milkshakes. One chocolate, one vanilla."
Kwan flagged down a server and made their request. Cujo nuzzled Danny's leg with his nose before settling down for a nap on the floor.
"So." Star looked from Paulina to Danny then back to Paulina. "What have you been up to since lunch, Paulina?"
"Yeah, we tried finding you before we headed over here," said Dash. "But you weren't in any of the usual spots."
"Oh. Right." Paulina cleared her throat. "That's because I was with Danny here. In fact, I'm taking him into town so he can buy a new telescope."
Danny held up the broken telescope sheepishly as all eyes turned on him. He wasn't sure who to lock eyes with and so decided to look down at the table instead.
"And who exactly is Danny?" asked Dash, leaning in to study him a little closer.
"He's a friend," said Paulina.
Danny's heart quickened. Paulina just called him "a friend." He had read about friends in books but never thought he'd ever have one himself. Once when he asked his father if he was his friend, Vlad merely sneered and scoffed, calling him ridiculous for asking such a question.
"He doesn't really know his way around the woods to get into town," continued Paulina. "So I'm showing him the way."
"Mmm hmm." Star scrunched her mouth. "And that's all, is it? Are you sure something really crazy didn't happen today?"
"What on Earth are you talking about?" asked Paulina.
Star reached under her chair and produced three wanted posters, two sketches that strongly resembled Paulina and Danny and a third sketch that aptly captured Cujo's lolling tongue hanging out of his smiling mouth.
Paulina stared at the posters for several silent seconds. Danny's knuckles turned white as he gripped his telescope.
"That—was an accident," stammered Paulina.
"How do you accidentally get yourself on a wanted poster?" asked Kwan.
"We could turn you in right now for some serious coin." Dash rubbed his thumb and middle finger together.
"But you won't!" gasped Paulina. "Will you?"
"Of course not." Star glared at Dash, who merely grinned. "We even went around and tore down all the posters with your face so your dad wouldn't see them."
"Oh, God, my papa." Paulina paled.
"Your dad would totally freak if he saw them," said Star.
"Yeah, my dad once made me pull all of my neighbor's weeds just for coming home late one night," said Kwan with a laugh. "I can't imagine what he'd do if he saw me on a wanted poster."
"My old man would lose his shit," said Dash. "He'd probably happily let them throw me in jail."
"My dad usually just takes my allowance away when I do something really bad," lamented Paulina. "This would destroy him."
"I feel like my dad just wouldn't talk to me ever again," said Star.
"My father sometimes locks me up in the hypobaric chamber when he's mad at me," said Danny.
Everyone turned their attention to him, no one saying a word. Danny's ears tinged red.
"Just—just for a night," said Danny. "He always comes back early in the morning to let me out. And he doesn't turn it on or anything. Not usually—I mean, there was one time—"
"A hypo what?" asked Kwan.
"Oh, it's this tube-type thing where you can control the pressure or oxygen or temperature inside," said Danny.
"Your dad locks you up in that as punishment?" asked Star.
"Not always," said Danny quickly, almost defensively. "Sometimes he just hits me a little harder during our training sessions."
"He hits you?" repeated Star.
"What kind of training?" asked Kwan.
Danny froze. He definitely couldn't tell them how his father trained him in the use and mastery of his ghost powers.
Dash squinted, leaning toward him. "Where exactly did you say you were from?"
Danny leaned back, resisting the urge to vanish.
"He and his father live out in the woods," said Paulina. "Off the grid."
"But you said he didn't know his way around the woods," said Kwan.
"Oh, well, that's because—"
"Paulina, just tell us what's really going on," said Star. "We're your friends. You and this boy and his dog are all on these wanted posters. What trouble did you get into today?"
Paulina stared at her friends, unmoving, not speaking. Danny had no idea what explanation to give either.
A server came over with their milkshakes. A vanilla milkshake was placed before Danny. Danny tilted his head as he studied the tall glass filled with frosty ice cream and milk.
He watched as Paulina took her own chocolate shake and dipped a silver spoon into it, scooping up a bite that she placed in her mouth. Danny followed her example, taking a bite of his own vanilla shake and shivering when the ice cream hit his tongue with a melty sweetness.
"Oh, my God," he whispered, digging in his spoon again and scooping up an even bigger bite.
"Paulina, you're not off the hook," said Star once the server was gone. "What is going on with you and Danny here?"
Paulina groaned. "Okay, I…well, you know how a lot of my things have been going missing lately?"
Star nodded.
"Well, I found the thief." Paulina pointed to Cujo, who was happily licking up vanilla ice cream that Danny let drip off his spoon onto the floor. "And after lunch today, he tried to steal my purse, so I chased after him all the way to the castle where he somehow pulled me into this lab…"
Paulina told her friends the whole story, about trying on the belt, the captain of the royal guard catching her in the act, Cujo transforming into his ghostly monster form and whisking her through the lab's ghost portal, and meeting Danny on the other side.
"The dog is a ghost?" gasped Star.
"Yes," said Paulina. "Danny's father is some kind of scientist that does experiments with ghosts."
"Ghosts give me the creeps," said Kwan, shuddering.
Danny slurped up more of his milkshake and kept his eyes down. Cujo whined, begging for another drop, just a lick.
"He's a nice ghost dog," said Paulina. "Don't you dare be mean to him."
"So Danny wasn't with you when Captain Gray caught you," said Star. "Why is he on a wanted poster, too?"
Paulina continued the story, about going back through the portal with Danny and reemerging in the castle lab where the guards were waiting for them, their escape far away from town and into the woods, and the broken telescope that they hoped to replace.
"Danny's father is…kind of intense," said Paulina. "He keeps Danny locked up in this underground lab all the time."
"He—he's just protecting me," stammered Danny.
"Protecting you from what?" asked Dash.
Danny opened his mouth but had no answer. He certainly couldn't tell the truth, that his father was protecting him from humans. Humans like the very group of people he was with right now.
Oh, if his father knew where he was right now, he didn't even want to think about how he'd be punished for it.
"And what's so important about that telescope?" asked Star. "What do you need it for?"
"My father gave it to me for my birthday tomorrow," said Danny, his stomach twisting over how horrible a son he was to break a gift from his father.
"Wait, why would your dad give you a telescope if he keeps you underground all the time?" asked Kwan.
Danny fingered the cool metal of the telescope. "Because he knows how much I love the stars. Even though I've never seen them."
"You've never seen them?" Star's jaw dropped.
"No," said Danny. "But I've been dreaming about them for so long now, and when I read there was going to be a meteor shower on my birthday tomorrow, I just had to see it for myself."
He sighed and hugged the telescope to his chest. Dash and Kwan exchanged glances and snorted.
"It's just a meteor shower," said Dash. "It's really not a big deal."
"It doesn't even last that long," said Kwan.
"But I've never even seen the stars," said Danny. "Haven't you ever had a dream?"
Dash, Kwan, and Star all looked up at the ceiling, thinking. Paulina also paused in consideration.
"Well," said Dash after some time, "I guess maybe I do have a dream." He flexed his muscles. "I really want to get swole, like a big bodybuilder's body, you know? Can't you see me pumping iron and making the ladies swoon?"
"Bro, I think that might be my dream, too," said Kwan, his eyes lighting up.
"Bro, really?" cried Dash excitedly.
"Yeah, but also I want to open my own gym," said Kwan. He looked around the table and started speaking very quickly. "I'd have all the latest workout equipment. Dumbbells, bikes, resistance bands, suspension trainers—I mean, can't you see it? Kwan's Gym?" He clasped his hands and sighed.
"Bro, wait, that's also my dream," said Dash.
Kwan gasped. "Bro, we should open one together."
"Yes! We totally should. We can get even the puniest people in town bulked up, bro."
"Yeah, bro, I even got a tagline already: You gotta hustle for that muscle."
"Bro, that's genius. I think we might be swolemates."
"Bro! Me, too!"
Dash and Kwan whooped and celebrated with a handshake that quickly turned into an arm wrestle. Danny warily looked over at Star and Paulina, who merely shrugged and rolled their eyes.
"Quite the dream you have there," said Star. "Why am I not surprised? With all the blood going to your muscles, there's not enough for your brains."
"Oh, yeah? What's your dream, Star?" asked Dash with a huff.
Star preened and flicked a section of her shimmery blonde hair over her shoulder. "Oh, that's easy. My dream is to marry someone very rich so I can just hire servants and live in a big house and never have to work again."
"Great dream," Dash sneered.
"Yeah, it is," said Star, sniffing and turning up her nose.
"What about your dream, Paulina?" asked Kwan.
"Oh." Paulina twirled a lock of her hair. "Well, I really want to be a fashion designer. I want to design clothes for all the runways."
Dash and Kwan very dramatically pretended to be prissy models, throwing back their shoulders and patting imaginary buns on their heads. Paulina scowled and pouted.
"Hey, I didn't make fun of your dumb dreams!" she whined.
"You don't think my dream is dumb," said Danny, "do you?"
Paulina studied Danny's very wide, curious eyes. She shook her head, smiling.
"I think your dream is beautiful," said Paulina.
"And if you've never seen the stars, then you really have been missing out," admitted Kwan.
"Yeah, there's really nothing quite like a clear night when the moon is just a sliver and the whole sky is just shimmering above you," said Star with a sigh.
"We could all watch it together tomorrow night," offered Dash.
"What do you say, Danny?" asked Paulina.
Danny looked at each face individually, smiling, not at all threatening. He then slurped up the last of his milkshake and set it down on the table. "You know, the longer I'm out here, the more I'm glad I left my father's lab."
The group cheered and Cujo yipped. Kwan ordered another round of milkshakes and something else called cheeseburgers. Danny was only too excited to give it a try.
And just outside, Vlad peered in through the window of the tavern, his eyes flashing red as he watched Danny grinning and laughing while so deliberately disobeying him.