Escape

Chapter 10 caught

Danny groaned in pain. He felt as if his body had been split into two after being hit with a giant boulder. When the pain dulled down to a tolerable point, he attempted to move. First, he tried to lift his hands, but couldn't. He then tried his feet and legs, but they felt as if they were pinned down. Finally, he snapped his eyes open and let out a small grunt of pain as they burned from the bright light shining directly on them. After the burning sensation left he examined his surroundings and froze. This area was too familiar and he realized why. Panicking, he struggled against his bindings, but no luck. He was trapped. They had caught him.

A woman wearing a blue jump suit suddenly appeared by his left side. He instantly recognized the woman, after seeing her his entire life, it was hard not to. He knew what was coming next and didn't try to fight it. It was pointless. This was it; they won. Again.

"Good, you're awake," the woman started with a light voice, "my, and look at you. You're in good condition." She examined his body, poking his ribs that were once broken. "You've healed quickly in such a short time. I'm surprised; with the amount of damage done to you I thought it would take at least a month for you to recover, even with the ghost powers aiding you. Whoever helped you did a really good job. This is actually a good thing. We haven't had you in such good condition in a long time. It'll be a good way to see if your speed of recovery has increased."

Danny lay still as he listened to the woman talk, his eyes glazing over dully with the realization he had lost.

"We couldn't believe you escaped us again, you know. We were really angry." She placed her hand on a machine that hovered above Danny. The machine popped out several pointy and sharp objects, along with lasers, when she pressed a red button. She calmly grabbed a laser and pulled it down to hover over Danny's chest. He wasn't even frightened.

"We searched everywhere for you," She continued. "We didn't think you'd get very far, considering you were in pretty bad shape when you escaped. We were surprised you even got past all the traps and security set up we put after the second time you escaped. We made sure this time though, that there's no chance of you escaping. Several back-up generators will do the trick. Those vents you used to crawl through? They're not only sealed down, they're surrounded by a ghost shield. As I was saying, we looked everywhere for you. We didn't think to look into a hospital, but when Agent K happened to stumble upon one and asked about someone named Danny, he was surprised when a doctor asked if he knew where his parents were."

The situation was so ironic Danny wished he could laugh. It would probably hurt to though and he didn't doubt his laughter would soon turn to sobs.

After a slight pause, the woman continued explaining. "We looked up the profile the doctor made up for you and to our surprise, it was you! We asked what happened to you and they told us Vlad Masters took you in. We couldn't believe it. We thought it was probably a mistake; that someone could have just been posing as Vlad Masters and took you in. Just to be sure, we sent a few of our captured ghosts to look for you at his castle. When they reported a confirmation that you were there, we had to be careful. We didn't want to hurt Vlad, since we know him, but Agent K and Agent O were more interested in getting you back." She let out a sigh. Apparently she hadn't agreed with their intentions. "So, they sent ghosts to spy on you. It was tricky to get you back. Apparently you were attached to Vlad's hip. That's really low of you, by the way, to use Vlad as a form of protection from us. And it worked, too, until you ran away from Vlad."

Danny swallowed drily, finding what was left of his strength to ask the question burning in his mind. "Vlad? Where is he?"

She scoffed. "As if you care, ghost boy. Now, hold still; this is going to hurt. A lot."

The laser grazed Danny's skin, melting through the jumpsuit instantly, and he bit back a shout. "Tell me what you've done with him!" He insisted, growling, his voice coming out more forceful than he thought he could even manage.

This annoyed her. "You're in no position to make demands." The laser was burning through his shirt, making its way down to his stomach.

This time, Danny let out a loud wail of pain as the laser went through his side and stomach. He could tell this was just punishment for escaping. The laser cut through deep enough to hurt, but not enough to really endanger him. He wished he could die. After two weeks of freedom, one week of it being unconscious, they caught him. He thought for sure he had a fighting chance this time, and perhaps would have if Vlad had just let him go from the beginning. Then again, he didn't know when they discovered that Danny was living with Vlad Masters. Either way, nothing could be done about his situation. He continued to shout as the laser made its way back up towards his chest, only from a different angle, causing the laser to seep through deeper. He heard one of the tools go off like a chainsaw and it was being lowered down to his body. Blood was coughed up as his vision began to blur when he felt the spinning blades cut slowly into his right arm.

Despite the pain he was feeling, he wondered if Vlad was okay. Hopefully they hadn't harmed him. Although he would be more than happy to die at the moment, the thought of Vlad being harmed or dead was too painful to bear; even more so than the pain he was going through now. He let out another loud shout, his voice going hoarse as hot consuming pain shot through him.

Plasmius followed the Guys in White after they had knocked Danny out and took him. A blast had been shot from the adjoining room and hit him and Danny, knocking them apart. Plasmius turned invisible just as the Guys in White came charging in. He tensed for a moment, wondering if they had spotted him since they were looking around. He heard one say "I thought I saw another ghost in here" to his partner, but after not spotting anything, they simply retrieved Danny's unconscious body and flew away on their jetpacks. Vlad's blood boiled as he followed them to their base, a good 20 miles away from his home. After making sure they entered their base without noticing him, he tried to go through the door they used, only to be blocked. An invisible ghost shield was in his way. Annoyed, he immediately switched to his human self and punched in a code required to enter. It was a guess, but a good one. The door slid open. Once inside, he saw a hallway with multiple doors and wondered where to go.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he switched to his ghost form. He didn't have time for this! Danny needed his help now. Quickly, he phased through the first door only to encounter prisoned ghosts. He looked through the 20 cells there, but didn't find Danny. Angry, he tried the next room. It was just a room for experimentation. He quickly destroyed it, making an alarm sound go off. He ignored it in favor of going to the next room.

The next room kept all the weapons the Guys in White owned. Vlad destroyed those too. Hoping the next room would be Danny's, he was disappointed to find just another room for experimentations. Just how many of these did they need? Ready to destroy it, he was interrupted by a green ecto shot that he barely managed to dodge. Looking down to see who had shot at him, he was surprised to see someone familiar.

"Jack Fenton?" Plasmius asked, his voice chocking from the shock.

Jack, armed for battle, looked momentarily off guard that the ghost knew his name. He quickly recovered and aimed his exaggeratedly big gun back at the ghost. "So you've heard of me! Well, you should save yourself the trouble and surrender now!" He shot at Vlad again, who merely put up a shield, effectively protecting him.

Vlad knew Jack Fenton and his wife were ghost hunters. After all, he did attend college with them. However, he was surprised to see them so close to his home. Didn't they live in Amity Park with two children? Not only that, he didn't think Maddie and Jack were the type to join the Guys in White. They seemed very independent and competitive with other ghost hunters. So why was Jack here, protecting the base? Something didn't seem right. He rolled his eyes as Jack continually shot at his shield, trying to break it to get to Vlad. Well, maybe they knew where they kept Danny?

Vlad duplicated himself and surrounded Jack to discourage the man from fighting him. "I don't have time for this! Where is the ghost boy with white hair and green eyes?"

Jack's eyes widened at the mention of Danny. "You're allies? I should have known!" He put down his gun and took out some gauntlets. He punched his fists together, a cruel smirk on his lips. "Don't worry, you'll be joining him soon enough!"

Vlad didn't like the sound of those words. Jack took out one of his clones but was immediately over powered. The clones easily pinned him down. Using his ghost powers, Vlad wrapped Jack in pink ectoplasm and had him pinned to the wall instead. Calmly, he walked over to the ghost hunter, showing his superiority.

"Now, I'll ask one more time: Where is Danny?" Vlad asked with his usual smooth tone.

Jack scowled at Vlad. "Don't call him that! That was our son's name, not that thing. Just because it took our son doesn't mean it deserves to have his name!"

Vlad was taken aback by the angry reply. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know." Jack muttered bitterly, his eyes shifting from a fierce look to one of sadness. "You ghosts took our only son away. We will find out how and prevent ghosts like you from ever doing it again!"

It didn't make sense, but Vlad didn't have the time to wonder the meaning behind it. He stared at Jack strangely and opened his mouth to retort, but a loud, chilling scream stopped him. Looking around wildly, he tried to pinpoint the direction the sound came from. When he heard it again, Vlad took off in the direction, his heart racing. Was he too late to save his Daniel?

Vlad encountered another door and was immediately blocked from entering. He scowled, realizing it was another ghost shield. Another sickening scream made its way through the door. Quickly, he spotted the security lock and guessed the same password. Relief swept through him as the door slid open. When he walked in, his relief was diminished instantly at the sight before him. Cold dread tightened his heart while rage, indescribable rage, and horror radiated his body.

Danny lied on the table, a pool of blood dripping from his chest, stomach, neck and arms onto the table and to the floor. His voice hoarse from all the screaming as Maddie, the woman he had once loved and considered a wonderful woman, calmly tortured him with the lasers and blades in her hands. She hadn't looked up to see who entered the room. Taking advantage, he flew towards them and knocked Maddie back with a violent swing of his arms. He shot an ecto energy shot at the machine with the weapons to torture Danny, effectively destroying it. Vlad then removed the binds holding Danny down and cradled the young halfa's head.

"Daniel?" Vlad asked worriedly, wondering if he was too late. Danny's green eyes were glazed over. Panicking, Vlad shook Danny urgently, his voice coming out pleadingly and desperately. "Daniel! Daniel, please, look at me! DANIEL!"

Oh god, no, no, no, no, no...he couldn't lose Danny. He couldn't! Danny had given him meaning to his life that he never had before; had given him something he had always wanted. He couldn't live with himself if Danny died. There wouldn't be a reason to continue. He needed Danny. He needed him like his next breath and wanted nothing more than to take him home and take care of him for the rest of their lives. e He hugged the other hybrid to him, too deep in sorrow to reflect on why there was another hybrid such as him in the world.

"Daniel..." Vlad sobbed lightly.

"W-who?"

Vlad whipped back to see Danny's eyes focused on him. He could have laughed with relief. "Daniel..." His voice chocked; unable to believe Danny was in his arms and still breathing. The young half ghost looked as if he was clinging on to his life, but just barely. Vlad was just about to take him away from this nightmare when something shot at his back. After letting out a shout of pain, he gingerly placed Danny back down on the table and turned around to face his foe.

There stood Maddie, a ghost weapon in her hands aimed at Vlad. Vlad felt his rage sweep back into him and bared his fangs at her, his eyes glowing a vicious red. For a moment, he wanted to pretend he was in shock at what Maddie had done to Danny, but truthfully, he wasn't. He knew she was a ghost hunter and a cruel one at that, just like Jack. He had thought she was just a bit more sensible. Now that Vlad had a few seconds to reflect, he was happy he didn't have a chance with her back in college. This was a side to her that he didn't think he could stomach.

"How could you?" Vlad hissed at her, unable to help himself from asking. "He's just a boy!"

"He's a ghost," Maddie responded heartlessly. "And he should have thought about that before he took our son away."

"What in the blazes are you talking about?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you!" She took a few shots at Vlad, who easily dodged it. Tossing her gun aside, she took out a laser stick in her pocket and attempted to fight Vlad. Vlad, too wrapped up in his rage, hit Maddie with one of his ecto blasts and watched as she slammed against the wall. She let out a shout of pain and attempted to get up. Not giving her the chance, he swiftly lifted her up by gripping her throat, pinning the woman to the wall.

"Actually my dear, you do! Now, explain!" He demanded roughly, squeezing her throat enough to make it difficult for her to breathe. He couldn't believe he was hurting Maddie, it blew his mind, but after seeing how she heartlessly hurt his Danny...

"That ghost took our son away 3 years ago. We came home one day and he was floating in our kitchen. We tried to take him out, but then he had the nerve to switch his form to look like our son and say he was Danny! Well, we didn't fall for it. We've spent years trying to learn how he could make himself look so human and life-like, but no luck. Don't worry though, we'll find out soon so ghosts like you can't use the same trick!" Maddie explained, her eyes cold and hard.

What she said started to make sense to Vlad. He clenched his teeth in anger, even more infuriated than before. "You utter fool," he hissed. The accident Danny referred to must've been the same one that Vlad had when he was in college. He also didn't doubt it was Jack Fenton's fault. It broke Vlad's heart and revolted him to know that Maddie, sweet Madeline, would do something so cruel to her own son. Perhaps there was still a chance to salvage this? He thought it was worth a try. "That is your son!"

Maddie scoffed. "That isn't our son! Our little boy wasn't a ghost."

"He wasn't born as one, no, but I have no doubt that an accident made him the way he is! Don't you see? That's why he's still able to be human! He's a hybrid!" Just like me, Vlad thought, but was glad he didn't voice it out.

Maddie spared a glance at Danny, who was on the table, whimpering in pain. Her expression hadn't changed. "Liar. That thing can never be our son."

Vlad closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I gave you a chance." His tone became eerily calm before he tightened his hold on her throat, chocking her. "You've lost your privilege. Never again will you see Danny. If I ever catch you within so much as 100 feet from him, I will killyou." When she was desperately clawing at his arms and trying to get a single gulp of air, he released her. She collapsed on the floor, coughing and trying to regain some air into her burning lungs. Waiting until she recovered enough, he knocked her out.

That was when the door burst open and the Guys in White stepped in, armed and ready. "Hey! You there! Stop!" They shouted.

Vlad felt no remorse as he killed them. There was no doubt in his mind that they had done cruel experiments on Danny as well. Remembering Jack, he flew over to the man in the next room. Jack was still struggling and trying to break the bonds. Vlad contemplated killing him but thought against it. If Danny really wanted Maddie and Jack dead as revenge, he could always find and kill them. He was tempted to just kill them on the spot, despite what Danny might say. Perhaps Danny lost any attachment he once had for them a while ago, but Vlad wasn't too sure. He couldn't risk it. Instead, he made his way back to Danny and gingerly picked him up from the bloodied table. It was going to be a long flight home. With that thought, he phased them out of this nightmare, Vlad flying as fast as he could to take them home.