#chapter-1

Out front there is a nice, black economy car waiting just before the steps of the mansion. I open the backseat door tossing my bag in and slide into the car. The driver puts the car and gear and begins to head down the driveway towards the teenage prison. I grumble and put my seatbelt on placing my arm on the door armrest and look out the window at the passing trees and bushes.

It's been about a month since I started living with Vlad Masters, he adopted me after being in the foster care system for 16 years. It was a bit strange how he would invite someone who broke into his cabin to live with him, even stranger that he wants to be family with that person. I still don’t understand him completely, he is the weirdest adult I have ever met in my life and yet, the only one who seems to understand me. I feel like I’ve loosened him up a little in the time I’ve spent with him so far, he seems to be less awkward and unsure when we talk. Well, I think we are both getting better, I’m not exactly the easiest person to get along with.

I don’t think of him as my father, it’s too weird to think of him that way yet. When I was younger, I dreamed of a fairy tale ending where I get adopted and get hugs and kisses every night. That’s just too sappy now, a child’s wish. I don’t know if I will ever end up calling him ‘Dad’, he seems fine with just Vlad. Back when he first adopted me, he was swarmed by reporters. They wanted to know everything, about me, about why he decided to adopt, and why a delinquent teenager. He didn’t seem phased by any of their questions, he was very professional with all his answers. Makes sense since he is a smooth talking billionaire who likes to talk about himself.

When a reporter asked him how he thought about being a father, he seemed a bit uncomfortable with the question. He, of course, tactfully avoided answering the question. When questioning came to me… let’s just say I didn’t answer as smoothly as Vlad had. The buzz of Vlad and I has faded so we don’t get reporters at the door as often, thank goodness. Those reporters have no filters and no idea what invasion of privacy means. Vlad handled everything good though I guess, that’s what he does.

School has been a nightmare though, the teasing and bullying has not stopped. I’ve been made fun of more now than I ever was in the past. If being adopted wasn’t enough fuel for them, being adopted by THE Vlad Masters was enough to double their arsenal. I’m usually good at ignoring their insults and stupid comments but there was one day last week I decked a kid for calling me Vlad’s PET. Vlad didn’t seem to mind, honestly I think he was strangely proud of me? That was a weird experience to be in the principal's office with a parental guardian that showed no concern about me getting into a fight. It was actually quite funny to watch that pompous principal try and scramble for reasons as to why it was bad.

When we arrive at school I hop out of the car and head to my locker. I shove most of the books from my bag onto the shelf without a care and grab the notebooks I’ll need for the day. I head to my first class and slide into a seat in the back. The teacher tried to make some conversation with me, I didn’t pay attention and just ignored them. They seemed to be asking about my life with Vlad and I was not interested in an interrogation this morning. When I didn’t answer back, they went back to whatever they were working on at their desk. Rude I know but I don’t really care for small talk with adults, especially when I know they are just trying to be nice.

School starts and it goes by normally, I avoid people as much as I can and try to not get into trouble or pick any fights with those annoying boys. I had forgotten today was a short day due to a teacher development meeting or something. After my last period I called the driver to come pick me up early, I tried to text Vlad but he never answered. I arrived back at the mansion expecting to find Vlad’s car gone or a bunch of cars there in the driveway but didn’t. Did someone come pick him up for a meeting or something?

I head inside and look around, listening to hear if there are any sounds of business meetings or phone calls. Nothing… It was dead silent. I walk over and hang my backpack on the stair pillar and head towards the kitchen. As I am grabbing an apple from the fridge I notice the coffee maker is on and a freshly brewed cup is waiting. I walked over and felt the mug, it was hot. Vlad must have just made it and left it there to go and do something. After finishing my apple, I toss the core and grab the mug, if he was anywhere he would most likely be in his study.

I make my way to the study and peek through the door. I expected to see Vlad at his desk but it was empty, just as I was about to leave to try another room a green glow caught my eye. I open the door more and find a huge hole in the wall where the bookshelf was split open to reveal a hidden staircase.

“What the…” I say to myself. I highly doubt that has been there the whole time, I would have noticed it. The strange green glow was coming from the staircase, there had to be something interesting down there to put off that kind of an eerie light show. I placed the mug on the desk near the center of the room and began slowly making my way down the stairs. I started to hear muffled voices echoing up the staircase, it sounded like Vlad but someone else was there too. As the light got brighter I shifted my position and began walking slower down the stairs, staying as close as possible to the side.

“I don’t care, I have what we agreed on. No negotiations” said the voice that sounded like Vlad.

“I don’t want cheeky suit upgrades, I want a weapon upgrade you cheapskate!” Shouted the other voice.

When I reached the end of the stairs I tried to take in as much as I could. They had led me to a large lab like area with strange machines and liquids on all the tables. There were cabinets lining the walls, all with strange looking contraptions on top of them. There was one lone table in the room not too far from where I was crouched at the end of the stars. There was a glass chemist equipment obscuring my vision of the two people in the center of the room so I quietly shifted my weight and crawled to the table. I peek slowly over the top of the table and freeze.

I saw two beings, clearly not human standing a few feet apart. One was tall wearing all white with a matching cape but his skin was a minty blue color. He had red glowing eyes, sharp fangs and black spiked hair. The other was what looked like a metal skeleton wearing all black leather clothing but had green flames for hair. They both gave off a glowing aura, one that was hard to mistake for anything else. What I saw before me were two ghosts.

“Right, because more weapons will make you a better hunter. You kind of need a stable suit to store all those weapons or else they’ll just get destroyed” said the white clothed one.

“No, if I had better weapons my targets wouldn’t have a chance to get close to me!” The metal skeleton said opening up panels in his back to reveal a plethora of guns and missiles.

“Uh huh, and how many times has the ghost child defeated you?” The other ghost said annoyed.

“Like you did any better Plasmius! He still beat you too, I’ve at least captured him several times which is more than I can say for you” he said grinning.

“You best watch your tone with ME Skulker, where are you going to rebuild your armor if I cut you off?” The other ghost sneers back. His sinister smirk looked an awful lot like Vlad’s, it sent shivers down my spine. The skeleton ghost glares off to the side and folds his arms, he almost looked like he was pouting. He puts his weapons away and snatches something out of the white ghosts hand.

“Fine, but next time I want a weapons upgrade, got it?” He threatens.

“We’ll see if I have need of your assistance in the future, your whining sounds just like that ghost child. It’s quite annoying” the white ghost retorts back.

The skeleton ghost huffs and slaps something back into the other ghosts hand while two doors open behind him revealing a portal of some kind. He makes his way through the portal and disappears. The other ghost sighs and fiddles with something in his hand.

“Stupid hunter, might as well go fetch these things myself if he is going to throw a fit like a child.”

He walked over to the counter across the room and began tinkering with something. I wanted to get a closer look so I peeked up a bit more over the equipment. I still couldn’t see so I stood up and slowly rose over the chemistry set but like an idiot wasn’t watching where my hands were. My palm knocked over a beaker and it fell to the ground with a large shatter before I could grab it. The ghost immediately turned around scowling and I froze in fear. My body wouldn’t move, I couldn’t avert my gaze from his glowing red eyes.

“What are you-“ he paused and his angry gaze changed to panic. “M-Mallory?! What are you doing here?! You are supposed to be in school for another 3 hours!”

“H-how do you know my name?! Who are you?! What are you doing in Vlad’s house?!” I began shouting back. I couldn’t restrain myself from yelling, it was almost a knee jerk response when I panic.

“I uh… Well, you see-“ he tried to form words but couldn’t. He took a deep breath and chuckled as he began walking towards me. “I think we need to have a talk…”

“You stay over there!!! Don’t get any closer!” I took a few steps back and my back touched the wall. My palms were shaking and I could barely hear myself think over my pounding heart. Was this ghost going to kill me like they do in every horror movie out there? My hands scrambled against the back wall trying to find the stairs without taking my gaze off the ghost.

“Just calm down, I’m not going to hurt you” he continued walking forward, he put his hands up trying to show me that he meant no harm but he was close enough already.

“Stay away from me!” I yelled and bolted it up the stairs. I heard him shout my name but I was not staying to listen to any explanation he had. Who was he? Why was there a lab under Vlad’s house? How did he know me?! I stumbled up the last two steps of stairs and turned to see if he was following me. I was relieved to see no ghost chasing me but right as I turned around I ran into what felt like a brick wall. I stumbled backwards and looked up, it was the ghost.

“How did you-“ I started.

“Just hang on! Would you let me explain!” He said, sounding scared himself.

“No! I’m not listening to anything you have to say, ghost!” I grabbed a nearby book and threw it at him. It phased right through him, like he was never even there. I stared confused, how the heck did I run into him if books go straight through him?

“Mallory. Would you stop and listen to me, I’m not going to hurt you” he said sternly making his way over to me. I threw a book at his face and tried to run around him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me around to take hold on both of my wrists. I tried to get away but he was too strong, the more I flailed the stronger his grip became.

“Get off me! Let me go!!!” I screamed.

“MALLORY WINCHESTER!” He yelled back. I stopped and stared back at him, at that moment his form changed with a bright light starting at his chest and spreading across his whole body. When the light vanished Vlad was left in his place. My brain went all over the place. I tried to make sense of what I had just witnessed.

“It’s just me alright, calm down” he tried to say softly. He slowly released his grip on my wrists and I pulled my arms in towards my chest. I rub on the areas where he had tightly gripped them, they were throbbing while all the blood rushed back into my hands. I looked at him, inspecting him up and down. His expression was concerned and fearful, waiting for my response. He was indeed Vlad which meant that the man who had adopted me, was a GHOST.