Dani had refused to touch the forest ground ever since she'd found her Wish-Dad the first time.
He was obviously waiting for her the second time.
He looked up at her from a clearing of dead grass, the sky unwelcoming and cloudy, and not at all blue nor sunny.
There was a campfire already burning, ringed by two dozen rocks. Dani watched the fire flicker from afar, her ghost tail wrapped loosely around a series of treetop branches which obscured her vision. She was freezing and tired from following Vlad for who knows how long – the memory of having breakfast at that diner with cousin Danny felt like a lifetime ago, if Dani took her hunger into account.
But there was nothing cooking on that fire from what Dani could tell and so she was content to stay in her hiding spot amongst the treetops.
Eventually Vlad grew bored waiting for her to come down, redirecting his attention elsewhere. He turned around, venturing back into the trees he had come from and Dani began following him as discreetly as she could – a big part of her hoping he was going to find food.
Where? Dani didn't know. They were in the middle of the woods. She just hoped he would be willing to share.
But when Vladimir stopped, it wasn't to catch a deer or to fight a bear like Dani had imagined. He instead plopped down besides an ordinary pile of rocks against an even more ordinary cliff of roots and mud.
Then Vladimir disappeared from view, though as Dani peaked her head closer, it didn't appear he had gone intangible like she'd expected.
Clunsh clun-shhh clun-shh -hhhsh!
There was a weird hiss-sucking sound in the direction Vlad had disappeared, like someone struggling to eat a snow cone through a straw.
Worried she was going to lose him if he decided to wander off again, she slid to the ground by hugging a tree trunk inch by inch and held her breath as she took a shaky step forward – knees wobbly from spending so much time coiled against trees.
Clunsh clunsh clunsssshhhsssh-shhhhhhh!
Naturally the hissing noise grew louder as she stumbled closer and Dani's fear which kept her tethered to the trees withered away under her newfound curiosity.
What was that sound? What was Vlad doing? It didn't sound like any animal or tool she knew.
Dani steeled herself for a mission - her backside itchy and tense from slight sunburn from her long flight from Amity.
But when she rounded a corner just to see a collapsed mudslide with Vlad nowhere in sight, her curiosity felt scammed, and a little startled.
She already regretted her decision to follow Vlad since her journey started - and the unexciting sight of more trees and dumb mud annihilated her budding childlike-curiosity - the situation she was in didn't look good...and it was harder to push aside her regret by the second.
There was no water or food here.
'She wanted to shout,' but phlegm from thirst clung to her throat.
'She needed to punch something,' but she could hardly stay upright and seated.
A headache was luring her thoughts away to sleep...her head rested heavy against her blistered, nervous hands.
Dani sat down on the closest rock, one distinctly wet and mossy. She was exhausted and hungry in a desperate way she hadn't felt in the months she'd been in Amity - her belly felt like it could conjure teeth if she so much pressed a candy or soda against it.
But there was no food nor water, just a "clunsh clunsh clunsh" beneath her feet.
Dani sat still enough on her rock to watch the mudslide move aside like a tattered cloak, revealing a mud-crusted Vlad, his beard caked in pine needles and sweat.
As soon as he spotted her he froze, his golden eyes bounced against his eyebrows so, his head tilted stiffly like a jackrabbit about to exit his burrow.
As if Dani would attack him.
"Can I help you?" he said in a not-too-nice tone, teeth clipping against his lip as if instilled with random anxiety - as if Dani had simply appeared on his doorstep to sell him something.
As if he'd completely forgot who she was. Dani was going to reply, as any normal person would, with a touch of biting words for the blatant audacity.
But Vlad's too-wide gold eyes just clammed Dani's jaw tight.
As if she hadn't followed him all day though the wilderness.
As if she hadn't traveled the length of Amity to Elmerton a full five-times over, chasing him in circles.
In hindsight, she should've just fallen asleep in a tree, and the chances would've been good Vlad would've just bumped into her.
Now Dani felt silly, embarrassed she'd followed a stranger who obviously didn't want her to catch up. She had tagged along like some unwanted duckling after a catty, homeless man - who most likely didn't want to be her dad.
And she hadn't told him about her wish.
About what brought him here.
He was probably was so confused, and she was just sitting there - staring at him like an idiot.
Any complaints Dani had thought about sharing hours before up in the trees closed up in her throat, iron-hot shame bubbled in her chest as she stared down Vlad's stern yet confused expression.
He didn't owe her anything, this random-wish-stranger. He face looked...
As if he'd been happy to pretend she hadn't existed.
As if she'd just been a nuisance all along.
As if he wanted nothing to do with her.
Her, the dumb duckling, who'd just assumed she'd be welcomed.
He wanted her gone.
Just like the real Vlad.
He wanted her gone.
Honestly, she'd understand… she wanted to disappear from shame right then and there.
She wasn't going to explain her whole wish-situation, for it would take too much courage she didn't have.
Dani looked down at the mud between her knees, too mortified at her strange predicament to formulate any coherent polite response. Her lips licked dry and she couldn't say a word.
Vlad had now stumbled out of his hole, standing with arms crossed - waiting.
She wanted to make demands, to ask for food and shelter – as a child naturally would from her father.
But Vlad didn't know he was her father – a clone, a doppelganger, some cruel joke from the universe just like her.
Vlad looked just as lost and cold as she was, covered head to toe in mud.
How do you even begin to explain to some random paranoid stranger that he was your "magical-wish-dad" summoned by an undead-genie-lady - and so was obligated to take care of you?
It was easier to not have such an awkward conversation and Dani was relieved to put it off for a different day; but now that she had spent hours tracking him down, and she knew she didn't have the luxury of Vlad just waiting around patiently for an explanation.
It took courage for Dani to admit it - but - this Vlad, wish or no-wish, was a person just like her, and Dani owed him a long overdue conversation.
And she was going to leave things up to him, said or not.
She had nothing else to do.
'This is going to be painful,' she thought.
"H-hey, can we talk?" Dani meant to sound serious, like an action protagonist in a movie, but Vlad retreated back to the hole he had buried himself in, and suddenly he looked less than human – he was taller than Dani remembered, his bones and limbs elongated as his hands coupled mud, grey hair frazzled outward like a lion's mane - which contrasted greatly with his muddied beard and sideburns.
"We can talk...little girl," he said simply, "But I have things to do."
'So hurry,' was left unsaid.
Dani nodded her head as if she perfectly understood whatever work he was doing was important, but she couldn't imagine what – why had Vlad run off into the woods when warm beds and running water existed? She wrapped her arms around herself – it was freezing and the sun had set. Vlad appeared to catch on that she was cold then, as he looked up at a cloudy dusksky – his cat's eyes reflected like a beast's in the encroaching darkness.
It was then Dani realized that this new Vlad was more like an animal than the civilized man she had expected to wish for.
He was a clone like her.
A brand-new Vlad, stumbling around confused.
Just like she had...
The idea made her feel better somehow, gave her courage to help this new Vlad.
She could relate to his confusion, how unsure life could be.
She wanted to help him, to know clone-wish-Vlad.
He didn't have to be her dad.
And she wasn't going to scare him off further by asking him to be.
Shrugging her shoulders, Dani reminded herself to accept whatever oddities this new Vlad had – wishes weren't without consequences or quirks – Desiree had taught her that easily enough.
And this Vlad was a clone like her.
And it wasn't as if her life had showed any signs of becoming normal, since making her wish.
Dani couldn't afford to be picky – kids didn't normally pick their parents, right?
And this Vlad probably had clone-memories as tangled as her's had first been.
It was easy to sympathize with him - his confusion.
"Okay," and Dani wanted to say more, to tell him that they were family and that they had to stick together – that they were both clones of two other famous people they had to watch out for.
But Dani was too tired to say the rehearsed lines that she had wanted to say all day. Vlad looked too feral, too intimidating, and she didn't think he'd listen to what she'd say even if she got the words out.
"You know that fire was for you," and he sounded so soft, so sincere then, that Dani was caught off guard.
Dani wasn't sure what he meant, until she remembered the lit fire left behind in the clearing.
"Oh, I see, thank you." she said politely, but Vlad had already turned his back to her and slipped back into his hole – their conversation over.
"Can I talk to you tomorrow?" she said quickly, "Please?"
"Sure."
And with precious little else to do, she returned to the clearing. The fire was nothing but embers and soot. Dani found it a little bitter, and a little funny – it illustrated her current situation perfectly. She closed her eyes.
Hopefully Vlad would still be around when she woke up.
Her travel bag was missing.
That was the first thing that popped into Dani's mind that morning.
She needed to brush her teeth, as she tasted fuzz against her tongue.
But how to do that without her bag, stranded in the middle of nowhere?
More half-dead than normal, she miserably rose from a pile of leaf litter she had buried herself in to stay warm, with little success.
She was just as cold as she had been the night before, and her back felt knotted like a rope.
Waking up without a bed had been the norm for Dani for most of her nomadic lifestyle, but she thought she had permanently solved her issue of falling asleep on cold hard ground when she had decided to stay in Amity Park.
Apparently not.
She remembered fondly her couch at "home."
Life had a way of humbling her disappointment.
Her toothbrush was missing and her tongue was stuck as fuzzy as a squirrel's tail.
Thankfully, she knew exactly where she had left her travel bag.
She had left it and her other meager supplies at the run down house on Maple Street - naively thinking she would've spent the night there with Vlad, before he had run off.
Tucking into her cache of snacks she always kept in her bag felt very appealing and every second spent standing around exposed to the elements, meant another second not spent on getting closer to her supplies.
She couldn't stay another day in the woods, running after a feral Vlad for no discernable reason.
She couldn't take the stress.
No one could.
Crept' apparently, a crazy feral Vlad.
He won; she lost – whatever weird contest the expedition to nowhere had been.
Last night she'd gotten just a wink of sleep, left too cold and worried to do much else but think about how to fix her predicament concerning her wish.
How to keep track of Vlad – how to keep him from running off once she told him about being her dad – how to get him to stay family so she was never alone again.
Her real dad, the real Vlad had first taught her manners on her first day of being alive. Then on her second day, had taught her how to make deals, specifically business deals that would align in her favor – specifically how to make a deal to get out of the glass experimental cage Vlad Masters had locked her up in.
Dani had no idea how much of her genetic make-up belonged to Vlad Masters, but she could say with confidence that it wasn't zero percent. All she could think about last night was getting away with her plans, a scheme of pulling off a happily ever after by befriending her weird wish-dad.
Though she had no idea how to convince some stranger to be family.
But she would try.
It's not like she had anything else to look forward to in life.
Stretching to get her blood flowing, she went over to where Vlad had been the night before, fingers crossed that he hadn't run off during the night. She had chickened out talking to him and had promised herself during the night that she wouldn't do it again. She couldn't survive another day of just chasing after him in the woods.
It was now or never.
But when she approached the hole Vladimir had been…it was empty.
Her heart sunk…why had she been expecting anything else?
Dani sat down on a wet rock, the same as yesterday.
She should've spilled the beans last night, should've just said her piece and left…
She'd already be at Maple Street…brushing her teeth…
Dani sighed.
It started with hugging her knees because she was cold, and then Dani closed her eyes because she was tired…and thirsty…and alone…
Then she started crying. It was easy to do. Her tears ran oily and snotty, green with ectoplasm.
She was just some brat who didn't get her way, she knew that.
But she had been hoping for a lucky break for once…
She should've never made that wish to Desiree.
"Um, should I come back later?"
"Vlad! You here!" Dani hadn't meant to scream, but she didn't mean to do a lot of things.
She had jumped up and given Vlad a giant hug right then and there, afraid he would disappear again.
"Sorry! Sorry! Just don't leave again!" Dani fell over backwards, crawling away red-faced as a wide-eyed Vlad looked down at her, nonplussed.
"Well…" he took a sip, there was a beer bottle in his hand. "I hadn't realized I had been missing."
"What. Are. You. Wearing?" Dani rubbed her fingers in disgust, mortified she had touched…whatever that was. It looked like Vlad had skinned a yeti and had turned it into a bathrobe.
"You mean where do I shop?" Vlad smiled, his teeth yellow like corn, but Dani looked away, still embarrassed she had run up and hugged him when she hardly knew him.
"Okay, fine. It's just a bunch of deer I stitched together – stained white from the bleach I used."
Dani turned over the edges of the fur Vlad was wearing, noticing he was still wearing his "Nasty Burger" uniform underneath. The fur was disgusting, wet, and gluey. Just the thought of wearing it made Dani's stomach twist into knots, but it also gave her the inspiration to help along her plan of getting "Vlad to like her."
"Wow…um, I actually kinda…like it? Do you think I could get one?" Dani tried to give her best impression…of being impressed…and not horrified as she took a couple steps back. The smell of bleach was pungent on her fingertips.
Vlad didn't seem to believe her, watching as Dani clasped her hands to her sides in disgust. He took another sip of his beer, bemused.
"Where did you get that?" She asked. Her tongue rolled with thirst, eyeing the golden liquid.
"I already told you – oh, right, you mean the beer."
"Yes, the beer…" Dani didn't expect Vlad to share. Adults tended not to give children alcohol - not that that stopped Dani from drinking before.
Vlad shrugged, "There's a gas station down by the road, you know?"
"Really?!" A road, out here? Dani couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, I was surprised too. I'll show you."
"Funny how this place sells alcohol when it's right besides a highway," mumbled Vlad, through a new bottle of beer.
"It's closed!" Dani had ran ahead, eager for breakfast.
The entire gas station was sectioned off by yellow police tape – the doors locked by a giant metal bar.
"Does it matter?"
"Uh, no I guess not."
They both slipped inside without issue and the only inconvenience was the lack of lights and a skimpy selection of food on the selves.
"This looks like Danny's handiwork, though why the alcohol is still here eludes me."
"What? What does Danny have to do with this?! He doesn't steal – or drink – he's a hero!"
Vlad huffed as he picked up a case of beer, delightfully cold.
"No no kid, not that Danny, if you mean the strange boy I met the other day 'who said I was your dad,' or whatever."
"What?" Dani had found her own drink, a can of soda, thankfully full of sugar and caffeine. "You remember that?"
"Remember what?"
"That Danny said you were my dad."
"Yes, what was that about anyway?"
Dani nearly choked on the fizz of her soda, drinking deeply to buy time to answer the question.
"Well...it's because of a wish I made..."
"A wish?"
"Do you believe in genies, wishes coming true, that kinda thing?"
"I'm half dead, ain't I?"
"Right well, I made friends with a genie named Desiree...and I made a wish for parents."
Vlad said not a word, occupied with his beer, but he was looking in her direction and by the tilt of his head she knew he was paying attention.
"A-and this is going to sound nuts...but...I think you're supposed to be my dad, the one I wished for." Dani anticipated a violent reaction and stepped away from Vlad, enough to feel a shelf against her back. Vlad was sucking down a beer. "Nuts sound good right about now," he snapped his fingers." Be a dear and hand me one of those bags of peanuts behind you."
Awkwardly, Dani handed the bag over, her arm trembling with nerves. Smoke began to manifest from Vlad's nose and mouth as he ripped the bag open with his teeth. As he began to eat, he took the little girl's words seriously, ears swiveling to-and-fro like some sort of man-beast-creature.
Him.
A father?
Impossible.
But then he tried his hardest to remember the day before the Nasty Burger, before his morning shift grilling up burgers - and memories became a blur.
He had taken a smoke break besides the dumpster hadn't he?
He always took his breaks out there, with a cup of coffee.
But.
That day, the Nasty Burger had exploded.
Killing everyone there.
And Vlad never would have destroyed the Nasty Burger.
Not on purpose.
Never.
He liked grilling up burgers.
"Valerie shot me in the head."
"What?"
"She shot me, screaming about me being some kinda imposter."
"Thought she was nuts," and Vlad grabbed another bag of peanuts.
Dani crossed her arms, leaning against the shelves, trying to project a calm composure, but at the mention of Valerie's name something broke inside her.
"Valerie's dead because of me, because I made that stupid wish."
"You knew Valerie?"
"Yeah, she was one of the first people to be nice to me, to accept me as me..."
"A shame she's dead...shot me in the head..." Vlad slurred his words, not sober enough for the conversation.
"Little girl we'll talk later. I'm falling asleep." And without ceremony, Vlad collapsed to the floor and curled against his knees, clutching peanuts against his chest.
Dani was left alone with the sound of humming refrigerators. Vlad had left a beer untouched and she helped herself to it.
'Why not,' she thought.
She didn't have anything better to do but to watch Vlad sleep.