Chapter 4

Danny sat down for dinner, apparently uneasy.

"So Daniel, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Vlad asked while cutting his duck.

Danny didn't look up as he also cut his food. "Um, yeah, right..." He racked his brain for a plausible answer, knowing for certain he couldn't trust Vlad based on what he had just seen. "English!" He blurted, perhaps a bit too excitedly, but he continued. "Uh, I have this English test coming up, and I'm pretty nervous about it." He gulped as he realized half of his left hand had become invisible. He quickly hid his hand under the table and gaged Vlad's reaction. He was distracted, sipping some wine.

"Did you need some help with studying?"

Vlad seemed so sincere. Danny trusted him without a doubt before seeing the Fenton Thermos in his room. But now he was having second thoughts about all of his interactions with his uncle up this point. There had to be some kind of explanation for what he saw.

His assumption was that, for whatever reason, Vlad had a ghost steal the device for him. The question was why? And why not just ask his parents to borrow it?

He wanted to know so badly, but he had a nagging feeling that he shouldn't say anything until he knew better what was going on.

Vlad seemed concerned by Danny's long bout of silence. "No! Nope, I just wanted to tell you about it," he stammered.

"Oh," Vlad nodded, eating a piece of cauliflower. "You sounded urgent over the phone. Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

"Well..." Danny needed to divert the conversation. "Actually, Mom and Dad activated the ghost portal today!"

Vlad raised his brows at this. "Really? Well, that's quite a feat. Did you help them?"

Danny shook his head adamantly. "No, uh, I was hanging out with some friends when they did it," he said, taking a sip of water. Out of nowhere, his hand became intangible, and the glass shattered on the table, spilling water everywhere. "Sorry!" He exclaimed, heart racing as he tried to figure out if Vlad had seen what had happened.

He seemed unbothered as he rang the bell. The butler promptly came in and cleaned up the shards of glass.

Danny gulped but continued their conversation. "Have you ever seen a ghost before?"

Vlad chuckled. "A ghost? I wish. That'd be an experience I'd never forget."

Danny looked down at his food and pondered what he should say next. "Well, I actually saw a ghost for the first time today. Actually three ghosts."

Vlad nearly choked on his food but then drank some water to wash it down. "Three ghosts? Here in Amity Park?"

"Yep!"

"Well, now that's something you don't see every day!" Vlad looked astonished.

Danny nodded. "I guess my parents aren't nut jobs after all," he chuckled.

"Now Daniel. I studied parapsychology alongside your parents in college. Of course, it was all more theoretical to me, but I believed in ghosts all the same."

"That's right...sometimes I forget that you were a part of that."

Vlad scooped up some mashed potatoes with his spoon. "Yes. I've changed a good bit since then. I have…clarity now."

Danny took a sip of water from his new glass. He really didn't think much about how Vlad had studied parapsychology with his parents. But now that he was recalling it, he wasn't sure if it was helpful information or made everything even more confusing.

The dinner went on as Danny talked about what was going on with school and what his family had been up to lately. Once they were done eating, Danny was about to leave when Vlad stopped him.

"Daniel," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If you need to talk about anything, you know I'm here."

Danny nodded. "Right, thanks."

He tried to pull away to open the front door and leave, but Vlad didn't let his shoulder go. "But snooping is something I do not take lightly. Don't let me catch you rifling through my things again." Is that a threat?

Danny swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to say something, but Vlad shook his head. "You don't need to explain yourself. I just want to set some boundaries. You wouldn't like to learn that someone has been looking through your room and going through your things, hmm?"

Danny shook his head slowly. "N-no," he stuttered.

Vlad loosened his strong grip on Danny's shoulder. Somehow, Danny felt it might be a bit bruised by the pressure. "Good," Vlad said, unnervingly.

Danny speedily opened the mansion door and walked out into the night. He felt as if he was in a trance. Had that really just happened? The way his uncle spoke with such malice behind his words...it wasn't like anything he had seen from him ever. It was extremely out of character, and yet, it seemed to come so naturally to him.

It was alarming to see this side of him. When he initially walked into Vlad's home, Danny didn't have a seed of doubt that he could trust him. But now, he wasn't sure what to think.