Ethereal

27

Danny flew, whipping past trees and brambles with inhuman speed. A glance back proved nothing but that he was surrounded by foliage, and as he focused back in on what was in front of him, the teen ran straight into Wendy.

She didn't even have time to yell in surprise as her back hit the ground, and Danny could hear the whoosh of air leaving her chest as he grimaced in sympathy pain. God only knew how often the same thing had happened to him.

"Wendy, oh my God, I'm so sorry," he apologized in quick succession, adrenaline still adding a hum to his jumbled thoughts.

"Mhm, can you get off me please." It was barely a wheeze as she struggled to regain her breath and the group gathered around them, Dipper leaning down to check on her. Danny quickly obliged, his cheeks flushing an ectoplasmic green.

"How'd you get rid of Vlad?" Jazz questioned, gently taking the journal out of her brother's hands.

Danny's eyes widened. "I didn't. Guys, we gotta go, make a new game plan, figure something else out, just, we can't stay here."

"What happened?" It was Mabel, her eyes wide in concern.

Danny shook his head and the leaves broke open behind him as Vlad clambered out, holding his head. His ponytail was a frizzy white mess atop his head, his usually stellar black suit unkempt and ripped. Danny immediately got into a fighting position, ignoring Stan, who had mimicked his tense movements.

"Vlad Masters?" Pacifica looked up in astonishment.

Danny looked befuddled. "You know this fruit loop?"

"Of course I know him. My parents invite him over for dinner all the time."

Vlad grinned. "Ah, Pacifica, I don't think your parents would be too pleased to hear about your little extravaganza in the woods."

"He does look familiar," Wendy commented, finally able to gather her breath. She sat up. "I think he's in those magazines I read instead of working."

Stan scowled. "What am I paying you for?"

"Ah, Daniel. Must you be so hostile towards me?" Vlad asked, surveying Danny's body behavior and changing the subject at hand.

"You nearly took off my head." Danny rolled his aching shoulders for emphasis, trying to loosen the kink in his back.

"I'm quite certain that that was not me. I struck a deal with a dreaded triangle, and I must say, he's not very true to his word."

"Remind you of someone?" Danny queried.

"I'm confused," Mabel offered.

Danny opened his mouth to respond and Vlad briskly shook his head.

"Ah, ah, Daniel, you give away my secret, I give away yours."

"They already know my secret." Danny shifted to his human self, hair even messier than usual, and crossed his arms in smug contempt. "What's your excuse?"

Vlad's jaw dropped. "You couldn't have possibly—"

"Guys, Vlad's like me. Similar portal incident landed him in the hospital back in his college years. Now, he uses his ghost half to steal money and try to destroy me. Or adopt me."

Mabel looked disgusted. "You're crazy."

"Why thank you." Vlad attempted to straighten his suit, scowling at Danny. "Now, I have inquiries about that two-dimensional object—"

"Us first," Jazz interrupted. "Why are you here? Who is Bill?"

Danny looked confused. "Did I not tell you?"

"No one told me, either," Pacifica piped up.

Mabel muttered something that sounded a lot like 'Bipper.'

Vlad sighed. "I was in my lab awaiting Skulker's return with—never mind, that's not of importance. The area around me turned gray and an eye showed itself in my portal before becoming the illusive—"

"Please just cut to the chase," Danny groaned.

Vlad glared. "He offered me a deal. The Green Bay Packers for a ghost. Now, I was fully aware that Skulker had many ghosts locked away, and this sounded like a swell idea. However, it did seem a bit far-fetched. I asked him what he could possibly do with a ghost, and he seemed to smirk. I believe Bill said something along the lines of, 'More than you know.'"

"You're not very good at cutting to the chase," Stan muttered, to which Jazz angrily shushed.

"Still not convinced, he offered me something else along with the deal. Destruction of Jack Fenton. This was too good to pass up, phony or not, and I would've been an imbecile not to tests my risks. Little did I know, he's not very good at keeping up his end of the bargain. Also, the ghost he had wanted was me."

"You have an uncanny ability to show up at just the wrong times," Danny growled.

"What can I say, it's a gift."

"How does this relate to what happened while you had the journal?" Jazz queried, focusing her attention once more on her little brother.

With a loud sigh of uncertainty, Danny relayed the events that had happened by the stream. How both Vlad and Bill had been thrust into the water. He assured them that he dried Vlad off before any real damage was done when the group began to back away, much to Vlad's confusion.

"So you think..." Wendy began, eyes widening.

Danny gave her a pointed look. "I don't think Bill needs to inhabit anyone's body anymore."

"But did he keep his abilities?"

Jazz shrugged. "Danny managed to preserve his."

"And exactly how long do we have until he comes after us?" Came Pacifica, who was still a bit confused as to who this Bill character was. However, she picked up on the tenseness of the whole situation.

A crashing came through the trees and birds were swept aside with tweets of worry, followed by the unmistakable scream of a certain person that Danny immediately recognized to be Serafina.

Danny looked at the others, the rings washing over his body once more. Vlad did the same.

"I'd say about ten seconds."

* * *

gah, this update is shorter than most. also, it's mostly dialect. however, I kind of needed to explain vlad's presence a little better. he arrived rather abruptly, and that will definitely be fixed in the rewrites.

GUYS OMG THIS STORY HAS 19.5K READS ??? YOU SERIOUS ???? I CANT NAH THATS INSANE

oh also I got second place in the gravity falls watty award things in my category and sighsrugbsruk that's so amazing. i also somehow managed to get picked for best title and just wowie how did this happen why am i so blessed

i love hearing from you guys. don't be a silent reader. xxx