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The first thing Danny felt was the cold—sharp and biting, stinging against exposed skin. He grimaced, awareness flooding slowly back into him as his mind reeled back to consciousness. He tried to shift, to move anything, but his limbs caught on something with every slight movement. Panic flickered in the back of his mind, dulled by the haze clouding his thoughts.
Danny fluttered his eyes open, squinting at the sterile light flooding the room he was in. It didn’t take long, even through his swimming vision, to recognize where he was, especially as the probable reason he was here sat not too far from him, pouring over a desk.
It was Vlad’s stupid secret lab. Again.
He tugged at his limbs, finding his arms bound against the surface he was laying on, strapped tight to the metal and pressed against his sides, ankles and thighs in a similar position. He tried to keep the rattling and heaving quiet but already knew it was futile.
Vlad placed something metallic down with a click and stood to face him. Danny didn’t want to see his smug expression and laid his head back down with closed eyes, groaning in growing frustration.
“Ah, awake at last. You almost had me worried for a second you’d leave me alone for this.”
There was a self-satisfied lilt in his voice, almost as if he were gloating. But Danny knew this song-and-dance too well by now.
“Going ghost!” he shouted instead, body tensed, his voice scratchy from having just woken up. And as he very well expected, his form remained unchanged, the dull thrum of power that normally lurked under his skin trapped deep inside his core.
His body unclenched and his back thudded back to the uncomfortable table he was strapped to. The unmistakable sound of dress shoes clacked closer towards him.
“Okay, do tell. I know for a fact your powers work without the triumphant outcry, so why do you do it?”
Danny squinted his eyes back open, glaring up at the man who only quirked his brow. Vlad rolled his eyes.
“Actually, you’re a fourteen year old with superpowers. Nevermind, you don’t have to answer.”
“Vlad.” Danny said the word with a bite.
“To answer your unspoken question, yes, I shorted out your powers while you were out. Obviously. Who do you take me for?”
Danny sighed loudly, dramatically, like this was all a small inconvenience, knowing it would make Vlad bristle and relishing when the man couldn’t hide his annoyance.
“Okay, why am I here, Vlad?”
That question was obviously the one the man was looking for to continue their little game as he quickly perked up again, signature grin back on his lips.
“Now that's the question isn’t it? I certainly wouldn’t bring you over for your company, that’s for sure.”
“And I would never come voluntarily for yours.”
Vlad shot him a glare and as per routine, Danny ignored it.
The man began a slow methodical walk around the table Danny was strapped to. The boy wondered if he wore those overly loud shoes just to irritate him.
“Tell me, child. We’ve known each other for a good while,” Vlad came to a standstill right beside his head, leering down at him. “What do you think of me?”
Danny knit his brow together in confusion.
“What I think about you? Like in general?”
“Humor me.”
He couldn’t help how his lips twitched upwards.
“Well, I think you’re a sad, lonely, desperate man who has no clue what to do with his life so you decided to torture me and my family instead of doing anything worthwhile. Did you get that cat yet, by the way? I think it’d fit your evil persona as well as your bachelor lifestyle.”
Vlad’s fake smile stretched over his teeth, the rest of his expression giving away his annoyance. Danny wondered why he even asked when the answer he would get would be obvious.
“Tongue as sharp as ever. See–”
“OH! Pretentious. That's a good word. Overly dramatic. Pathetic. Did I say sad yet?” Vlad flicked at his temple and Danny flinched back. “OW!”
“Yes, yes, you have a lot of wit, don’t you. This disrespect is partially the reason why I brought you here. Tell me another thing, and you can be honest. It won't hurt my feelings, I promise.” His stance tensed ever so slightly, expression turning unreadable. Danny squinted to make him out behind the too bright light. “Are you afraid of me, Daniel?”
He immediately barked out a laugh, body snapping against the restraints and undermining the point he was trying to make. It felt somewhat eerie to not see Vlad react in any way. Still, Danny couldn’t help but wheeze.
“You do have a sense of humor after all.”
“And so do you, apparently,” Vlad remarked dryly, straightening his back.
As Vlad began another walk around the table, Danny tugged at his restraints once more. Just because he wasn’t afraid didn’t mean he had any intention of staying here.
“Is it because you believe I’m destined to fail? That no matter how carefully I plan, you and your little friends will always stand in my way? Is that it? Because you’re the hero, and I’m just the villain? That’s the story, isn’t it? The hero always wins, no matter what I do. You think that makes you safe. Untouchable.”
“Uh,” Danny said inelegantly. “Yeah, kinda.”
“But that’s your big mistake, Daniel. You should fear me more.”
Suddenly, a creak echoed through the room as Vlad flicked his wrist, angling the lamp until its harsh light seared directly into Danny's eyes. He tried to crane his head away with a yelp at being so abruptly blinded.
“Ow, hey-”
“Tell me, Daniel, do you think ghosts have organs?”
That question made something in his mind stutter.
“Uh-”
“Muscles? A nervous system? Of course, there are some that can grow facsimiles but even those are made out of the same material as the rest of the body, and we both know that because we both tend to splatter our enemies against the walls and there’s not much there but green ectoplasm.”
That statement made Danny recoil, not enjoying being compared to Vlad and his practices in any way. Through squinting eyes he could now start to make out the man’s silhouette, stepping forward once again.
And suddenly Danny became a lot more aware of the operating table beneath him.
“Where are you going with this?” Danny forced his voice not to waver.
“Aren’t you curious? About us, I mean? Half alive and half dead. Sure, as humans we tend to have our regular insides but we still retain our ghostly essence. Our bones are less dense, there’s ectoplasm in the blood.”
Danny's heart raced just a little faster, and when Vlad’s grin widened, ever so slightly, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had heard it.
The man placed a hand onto the operating table by Danny’s side, staring at the surface as if reminiscing.
“I know this because I’ve studied it,” His eyes flickered to Danny’s, locking them into eye contact. “Me, to be precise. Duplicates, to be even more precise. Tragically my experiments can only go so far when you share a pain tolerance with the subject.”
Something inside Danny’s ears started to thrum, cold sweat pressing his shirt to his back. Vlad gave him a firm squeeze to the shoulder and he forced himself not to flinch.
“But now there’s two of us! That should make things a lot easier.”
Vlad released him, and the spots where his fingers had pressed tingled beneath Danny's skin. The man turned, walking back to the table with an apparent spring in his step. Danny’s mouth suddenly felt dry.
“You wouldn’t.” Danny thought he knew Vlad, and not even he would stoop this low.
He, however, simply continued with his monologue.
“You probably don’t know this, at least I assume, but our bodies process alcohol quite differently. It takes a lot longer for us to become inebriated, much less intoxicated. I’ve always wanted to study what exactly about the liver changed to cause such a reaction. Or if it even is the liver at all! So much to explore, oh, this will be fun!”
“Vlad, you are not going to do this.” And Danny was still fairly sure of his assessment, but when Vlad was upon him again with scissors in his hands, his conviction was certainly wavering.
“HEY!” Danny flailed, trying to arch his body away as Vlad began cutting through his shirt, exposing skin to chilled air. The feeling of shame mixed cruelly with the pit of anxiety that was slowly starting to bubble up his stomach. “You creep! Don’t touch me!”
Vlad deftly ignored him, discarding what was left of what was once his shirt and placing the scissors out of Danny’s view. Instead, he watched as the man retrieved what looked like a marker, skillfully popping the cap.
Danny’s eyes went wide as Vlad leaned over him, breath trapped in his lungs.
A warm hand was placed to his clavicle, keeping him steady against the metal surface, the tip of the pen set against his shoulder. Vlad was so close, Danny could feel his breath. And it was suffocating.
“Do hold still now-”
“NO!!” Danny bucked, thrashing wildly against his bonds until they cut into skin, teeth bared with a fury that had nowhere to escape to. He could feel the iron palm against his collarbone grinding down into him, vainly attempting to keep him steady but Danny was ready to fight with every little bit of strength he had.
He screamed as electricity poured into him, spreading from his chest into his every nerve end with blinding agony, his muscles tensing and untensing wildly and against his will. White flashes burned into his retinas even behind his eyelids as Vlad refused to relent, flooding his body with pure static power.
Until he eventually did stop. And Danny sank back to the table with a pained groan, electricity giving way to utter exhaustion.
His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths but Vlad didn’t let that stop him, taking the short moment of reprieve from Danny’s outburst to trace along his skin. Despite everything, the man’s hand remained steady and deliberate, calm like the eye of a storm, as if he had done this countless times before.
“And… there we go.” Vlad pulled away, staring down at the large Y drawn across Danny’s torso with methodical eyes. “It’s not perfect, but it’ll do.”
Danny already felt like his skin was being split apart under that gaze alone.
“Vlad,” His breath was heavy, but his desperation was clear. “This will kill me.”
Again the man was on him, and immediately Danny flinched.
“That’s the big question isn't it?” His eyes were wild. Danny could see the red of his ghost shimmering between the blues, betraying his scientific interest for the sadism that laid beneath. “Can hybrids die? Ghosts tend to be already post mortem but we’re very much still alive! I certainly never wanted to test the theory. But now other solutions have presented themselves to me.” He righted himself, fingers stroking over his jaw in contemplation. “You don't mind if I write our findings down, do you?”
“Come on,” Danny attempted to put as much self-assured confidence into his words as he could. Out of his peripheral vision he could see the stark lines drawn across his chest. “You’re not actually going to do this.”
“Tell me, do you want anesthesia?” Danny blanked at that. “It won’t knock you out, but it will numb the pain. I’m kind like that. Either way, you will be staying awake for this.”
“You’re not going to do this.” He asserted. He begged.
“Your insistence on something you know you're wrong about isn’t an admirable trait. But, full awareness it is, then.”
He reached for a scalpel.
“VLAD!”
“Choose, Daniel. Awake and alert? Or the anesthesia? It’s not that hard, it’s just two choices. I know you can at least count that high.” He rolled his eyes and Danny felt murderous.
“LET ME GO!” He resumed his desperate struggles, the powers locked away scratching desperately against the inside of his core, burning, flaring, forcing a gasp from his lips from the pain.
“No third option I'm afraid. And if you don't make the choice soon, I will choose for you. And let me be clear, because I know how your manners are. If you want the pain free route, you will need to ask me nicely. Please and thank you would be appreciated.” His grin was wolfish.
Danny tried to spit at him and Vlad turned with another roll of his eyes, picking up a swab and beginning to disinfect the area of skin around where it was marked. Slow and precise. Danny felt every miniscule moment of it.
He wasn’t actually going to do this.
Vlad placed an empty container to their side.
That’s where Danny’s organs would go.
He washed his hands.
He arranged the tools.
Vlad wouldn’t actually do this, right?
He rolled up his sleeves, apparently not bothering with a mask or even gloves. Maybe Danny wasn’t worth that much. Or maybe he just wanted to feel Danny’s organs pulse beneath his fingertips as he was pulled apart piece by piece.
Lastly, Vlad turned on a camera, making sure Danny was in focus. The very idea of this ever getting watched made him taste bile on his tongue.
Danny stuttered, falling over words stuck in his throat as Vlad tightened his ponytail and stood next the operating table, towering over him, cold yet monstrous. Merciless.
“V-Vlad- come on, now. I- I know you don’t– don’t really like me, but this is a bit much, don’t you think?”
The man looked at him, eyes dark, waiting. Waiting for Danny to beg.
He picked up the scalpel.
Danny already felt the pain, it locked in his lungs, tearing the breath out of him. Through the reflected shine of the sterile light on the blade he could feel the next few hours of skin ripping open, hands between his ribs, entrails outside his stomach. Blood in his teeth as he wished for a death that refused to come.
The scalpel was placed along the set line.
“WAIT! VLAD–” The man paused all movement, eyes boring into his own, set in anticipation. Danny didn’t want to beg, it refused on his tongue, even as his heart beat against his ribs with frenzied desperation. “Vlad– I- I don’t-”
The blade pushed in.
“NO VLAD! Please, please, the anesthesia!” The words tumbled from his tongue, wet and thick with snot and mucus as tears rolled involuntarily down his reddened cheeks. “I c-can’t– I don’t w-want this. PLEASE!”
Vlad looked at him, long and hard, and Danny could see satisfaction reflected in his eyes.
“Good choice.”
The blade was put aside for now, and Danny felt a fresh breath finally enter his struggling lungs. A mask, connected to a gas tank through a tube came into view, though Danny had no way of figuring out what was actually in there. But he would take anything at this point.
“Thank you…” Danny muttered, remembering. Vlad looked utterly pleased with himself as he set the mask over the boy’s mouth and nose, turning at a valve until something hissed.
“Deep breath, now.”
Danny only managed one breath before the mask was removed again. And that was all it took for him to feel lightheaded, dazed, Vlad swimming slightly in his vision. He distantly imagined that this must be what getting drunk felt like. But at the forefront of his mind was only the terrifying thought of how horrifically aware he still was of everything.
Vlad slapped his cheek lightly, playfully, Danny didn’t feel a thing.
Maybe that fact should have been reassuring. But it just felt like the final nail in his coffin.
“This does make things a lot easier. As much fun as it is, screaming doesn’t really lend itself when trying to do delicate work.”
Work.
That was all this was. Just another experiment; some findings to write down on paper, to keep in a file. He knew Vlad was cruel but he had never made Danny feel so insignificant before. Like he truly meant nothing to that man.
And he didn’t really understand why that thought hurt so much. Maybe the gas was making him loopy.
The scalpel was picked back up and Danny choked on a whine.
“D-don’t–” He managed to rasp, eyes burning, wrists snapping fruitlessly against the binds.
The tip of the blade once again sat at the drawn line, right where he was already bleeding, large palm against his sternum to keep him steady.
There was nothing to be done.
Danny was going to die here. Or worse; he wouldn’t.
He grit his teeth, muscles tense beneath his trembling skin. All he could do was wait for the inevitable.
And wait.
And wait.
Vlad let out a long, overly dramatic sigh and Danny dared to crack an eye open.
“As much as the prospect of studying your biology intrigues me, I’m afraid your continued existence is of more use to me.”
The scalpel was unceremoniously thrown into the container at their side with a loud clang, making Danny flinch. He was starting to feel very dizzy.
“Wh- y- you…”
“But you should see your face,” He said with a hint of amusement. There was another pat against his cheek, warm palm resting for just a second to trail along under his eye. “I dont think I’ve ever seen you cry before.”
Danny recoiled, as much as he could. Vlad had already grabbed another tool from his arsenal before the movement could even register.
Danny’s chest felt impossibly tight, his guts flipping and twisting. He still couldn’t quite grasp what was happening.
Through a blurring vision he watched his captor retrieve a large needle and his breath hitched violently.
“I do actually want some samples.” Danny was aware that something was being pushed into his neck but strangely there was no sensation. “Despite everything, I don’t want you leaving with me empty handed.”
“Y-you- I don’t understand…” Danny was slurring, the adrenalin in his blood fighting with his induced exhaustion. His pulse hammering in his ears almost louder than Vlad.
“Of course, you don’t,” Vlad spoke condescendingly, using his hand to grip Danny’s jaw and force it open, pushing a cotton swab over his gums until the boy felt like choking. “Honestly if you had paid attention, you knew this outcome would be inevitable. My problem was that you don't fear me enough. Ergo, my ideal outcome would be you terrified, not dead. And you did an excellent job. Or I did, I guess.”
He grinned and Danny felt like his repressed core was about to burst through his chest.
“I’ll take you home. I know for a fact your parents haven't noticed your absence yet, so I'll tuck you back in and you can sleep our little encounter off. Kind of reminds me of our first meeting.”
Before Danny could retort Vlad slammed his nails into his shoulder, claws beginning to dig in as he leaned in close with cruel intensity, locking them into vicious eye contact.
And Danny truly did feel afraid.
“But remember this for next time, I have no qualms pulling your organs out of you should the need arise. So you better make yourself useful, or I'll show you just how creative I can get with your suffering.”
Suddenly the mask was placed back over his face and involuntarily, Danny took a deep breath.
“And don't forget, my offer still stands. On my side you will have nothing to fear, but stand opposed, and I won't hesitate to break you piece by piece.”
The edges of his vision were beginning to darken; he didn’t want to black out, not while still in Vlad’s grasp. He craned his neck, but Vlad only pushed onto him further.
“Join me, and together, we can reshape this world in ways you've never imagined. Refuse, and I'll ensure you're the first to fall.”
He fought against unconsciousness as much as he could but there wasn’t anything he could do. Never before had he felt so utterly helpless.
Danny’s eyes fluttered shut.
“Sleep tight, little badger.”