A Ghost of a Chance...

Chapter 7

(An; do I know what I'm doing... No... But ima try!
An; I haven't written much of this in a while but I'll try to get a bit done, I might be leaving work soon, and I don't know what that will mean for me, I'm hoping it will be a good thing but I don't know where this will lead me.
An; it lead me to not touch this till now and I'm only doing so cuz an AO3 book I've already read gave me some inspiration so Ima try to get as much down as I can if I can!
An; I finish this chap... I think... So ima publish but idk when the next one will be out so... Sorry if it takes another year or... Two... -_-'''

Again sorry...)

It had been a few days since Daniel's breakdown in the sitting room, Vlad was still trying to get Daniel to eat more, but every attempt was swiftly avoided by the young man.

Danny on the other hand was still worse for wear, he wouldn't eat or drink, and sleep was constantly plagued with sharp green blades, pleading screams... And bloody bathtubs... And every nightmare was met with another, "ecto-draining session", which only lead to more frost-covered rooms, exhaustion, and power malfunctions.

Like the time his hand phased through a door or was shot into the walls sporadically, and the staff losing track of him while in the same room...

Yeah...

It wasn't good...

And it was only some time until Vlad himself begin to notice.

It was just a little after one night when Vlad awoke to the sound of screams, as he bolted from his chambers and rush towards the only remaining entity in the building, as staff had left hours ago. Vlad hurried on his way only to find the twin doors to young Daniel's room to be completely frozen shut in glowing green ice.

He knew for certain he couldn't phase through the ice and so he began to throw himself into the door. Bashing it with his shoulder until it finally began to open, yet catching on to something from the other side?

As he got it open enough to slip in, he found the room to be well below freezing temperatures as well as large sharp spikes made of ice protruding around the room and away from the bed, most likely what the doors had been stuck on, and yet they only seemed to be growing with each scream the thrashing man made.

Vlad quickly made his way around the spikes and to the bed, climbing onto the ice sheer sheets and scoping the young man up in an attempt to calm him as well as prevent him from hurting himself, which if by the long scratches and quickly darkening bruises were anything, he already had... But those would have to wait...

In the meantime, Vlad simply rocked the young Hafla, whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

Nothing more than simple reassurances that he was indeed safe within the manor, however a small part of Vlad wished to speak of other things... However, he ignored these in hopes of calming the young man.

It took what felt like hours for him to settle and at that point, Vlad had found himself iced to the bed. If it wasn't for his fire core he likely would have frozen to death long before they got to this point.

But as the young man calmed himself and as Vlad flared his core the ice slowly subdued to a point Vlad felt safe enough to return to his own chambers...

For now...

~--------~

When Danny awoke he found his room to be... Soggy? Would that be the right word?

Maybe damp would be better?

The temperature and humidity in his room were all off, it was cool yet warm in a way it made the air wet, and yet his sheets and blankets too felt... Soggy? Damp?...

Wet...

But not that kinda wet unless he managed to release enough fluids subconsciously to soak not only a king-size mattress but also his pillows...

Which gross but highly unlikely given his size... And age of course! He was well, WELL! Past the age of bed wetting and so the question truly was...

What. The. Fuck. Happened. Last. Night...

After getting up, finding puddles all around his room as well, and dressing in some... Semi-drier clothes...

Danny made his way out to find the only other person that was there last night...

As well as ask a few passing maids if they could somehow dry his room...

He found him in the study, fire billowing in its place in the far wall giving the room a warm yet toasty feeling. Much different than the feeling his own room gave upon waking...

Normally he'd find the warmth suffocating and would simply turn away, back out the door... And yet at this moment, it made him feel comfortable... Comfortable to forget his original intentions in coming there.

And so instead of bugging the man with his questions he simply sat on the couch facing the window and listened to the pen scratching as the older man did his work.

Watching the snowfall in front of him with the occasional crackling of the fire behind him, as well as the other man's work, lulled Danny into other thoughts and questions, some of which he'd questioned for years...

Why him...

Why did they hate him...

Why didn't they love him...

Was he never enough for them...

Was Jazz...

Were they both...

Maybe they weren't and that's why they abandoned them...

They were never enough and that's why they gave up on them...

His accident was just another thing to fuel their obsession and take them further away from them...

From him...

Why did they have to be so obsessed...

Why did they have to have an obsession...

Why did obsessions have to be a thing...

Why did he have to have an obsession!!!

Why did Vlad...

"Did it have to be her?"

The scratching stopped...

"Pardon?"

Silence...

It seems he spoke that last one out loud...

"...Did it have to be her?... She won't change... Not for you... And definitely not for me... So... Does it have to be her?"

Vlad didn't know how to answer this... For years, two almost three decades at this point he chased the man to kill him for taking away everything he worked and earned for...

And yet his would-be prize...

The woman he claimed to love...

Has turned vial...

Possibly always was under his rose-tinted shades...

And he simply never noticed...

And yet the symbol he worked toward...

A loving family who would never leave his side never came into reach...

Or... Had it?

And he'd simply been blinded by those rose glasses not to notice what was right before him...

So to answer his question...

"Did it have to be her?"

He wasn't sure...

"Maybe... But maybe not... For a long time, I thought she was... And yet now... I am... Uncertain for the first time since my own accident... Perhaps time will tell?"

"I think he's on holiday?"

"Oh! You know what I meant you cheeky little-!..."

"Yeah, yeah you Fruitloop, now let's go get breakfast."

"Brunch."

"Whatever!"