My Accomplice

Sorry it took so long to update. You know how it is. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2: Misery

Three weeks had gone by since that incident. In that time, Danny had gained $25200 for pleasuring Vlad. Unfortunately, he only received $19400 of his hard earned cash. Danny' restraint was tested beyond his limits as he failed to keep from orgasming 29 times. Other than that, the sex was amazing for both parties involved, that much was true. The Fruit Loop was into an array of various fetishes, including leather, various forms of bondage, and even the two of them using toys on each other at the same time. It was on odd, yet enjoyable experience for the young ghost.

After a certain incident in which Vlad used a vibrator on the young stud, he came. Three times. In only 15 minutes. The pain was unbearable, but quite lovely when he looked past the stamina concept of it all. Vlad came the same number of times, but was certainly envious of his younger halfa's experience. The ecstasy one felt during coitus was something Vlad failed to understand, though he knew the feeling well. Each time it ended, he forgot the reason why it was such an enjoyable sensation.
That is, until the next time he came.

"I have to leave," said the teenaged boy. He dressed himself and stood to his feet, still not looking at his john. Vlad was enjoying himself for once, and would not allow anything to jeopardize his good time. The teen was about a foot from the door when Vlad placed a shoulder on him. Danny's eyes faced the outward wall and focused on it, never moving or turning toward his older halfa. Vlad squeezed the young boy until his palm was warm and moist with sweat, and in surprising and idle submission, released his grip. Danny left the room and calmly shut the heavy door behind him. He walked down the giant staircase and was escorted out of the house by one of Vlad's servants and rushed out of the magnificently appointed mansion.  Vlad went to the window and watched as he left his property and sighed heavily. He honestly couldn't keep this up. He, in his heart of hearts, had the boy's best interests and couldn't stand to see him the way he was. He would eventually have to let Jack and Maddie know; it had been quite some time since their son had run away. Vlad sighed again when he remembered Maddie.

Maddie was, simply put, Vlad's first true love. Sure, there were a few girls he may have crushed on in the time between puberty and his college years, but Maddie was "the one." Her smile, her voice, the way her orchid-hued eyes glowed at night, all were intoxicating and wonderful to the young prodigy. She was kind to him and saw past his melancholy demeanor and angsty haircut. She introduced him to Jack his sophomore year, he believed, and greatly appreciated it. Because of Maddie, for the first time in too long, Vlad had someone to call a friend. Well, two someones, he supposed.

Introverted as he was, Vlad did his best to show his infatuation for Maddie  by doing the most trivial of chivalrous tasks, such as holding the door for her, saying "bless you" whenever she happened to sneeze, and even going as far as to let her walk in front of him most of the time. Obviously, she only took these acts of kindness as just that: acts of kindness, and saw absolutely no romantic motives behind them. Her affections were directed more towards her overweight other, which were plain as day. Vlad didn't see, or rather, refused to see this.

Despite the love triangle that was quickly ensuing, their research was never interrupted in any way. Day after day they toiled in that laboratory, attempting to create the world's first ghost portal. They were met with much controversy and heat from administrators but were eventually allowed to finish. After months of hard work, a prototype was eventually built. Its quality and operating speed were low, but the three of them were hopeful for the results they would acquire.

"Let's fire this baby up!" exclaimed Jack to Vlad and Maddie.

"We have to wait, Jack. We haven't even made all of the preparations. Calm down." Vlad stood in front of the portal and checked of everything was correct. His annoyance with Jack had growing over the time they had been working together; his immaturity knew no bounds.

"Well, Jack, put the ecto-purifier in the filtration system and we can," said Maddie softly.

One thing that annoyed the crap out of Vlad was Jack's habit of drinking beverages in the experimental area.  Vlad constantly chided him for it, and Jack always swore that he'd be careful and that he wouldn't spill it or anything, he promised. Vlad never let go of this, and insisted to his last breath he'd regret it if he "spilled or anything," to which Jack idly finished his drink and threw away the empty container.
Today was different. Today, Marshall's Law would be in its fullest affect, because God forbid something actually go right when the everything was put into place. Jack grabbed the beaker with the ecto-purifier and began to ramble on about how close they were to making a breakthrough. Vlad had had enough of it.

"Damn it, just pour it!" he yelled. Jack obeyed, unfortunately. Instead of pouring said purifier, he emptied his half-filled can of cola into the filtration system. Small puffs of smoke began to billow form the complex machine and sparks of electricity began to fly out. In his blind fit of zeal, Jack managed to ruin half a year's work in a matter of seconds. "What did you do?"Vlad huffed, frantically opening and closing things to try to undo whatever mistake may have been made. He looked at the portal, his face literally no less than two inches away. An emerald glow surrounded the octagonal structure, bringing some hope to Vlad's eyes, when suddenly the only feeling he knew was heat. Intense heat. The portal sent a wave of ectoplasmic energy directly at the man's face, sending him to a world of intense pain. His blood-curdling screams were excruciating to hear. Jack and Maddie ran to his side, horrified to see his face covered in gruesome blemishes and scars.

Vlad spent  2 months in a coma. He spent 8 months in at the university hospital, a time he deemed the worst eight months of his life, from what he can even remember. The first moment when he opened his eyes the only thing he remembered was the white tiles that hung above him, motionless, like him. He attempted to move his arms, to no avail. His muscles were so out of it that they were limp and small. He turned his head slightly and saw the tubes protruding from his nose and wrist, and then saw a nurse just outside his door. She noticed his eyes were finally open and giddily entered the room and looked into his eyes.

"Mrs. Masters, you're awake!" She quickly checked his vital signs and performed a few tests on him before scribbling on a clipboard and prancing outside.

That's right. My last name is Masters. Vladimir Masters. I'm in a… hospital.

"Wait," he called to her before she was completely out of earshot. "What day is it?"

"It's Tuesday," she replied quickly.

"I mean, what is the date?" he slurred, panicking.

"Oh, it's May 17, 1984, and it's two 2:16 p.m." She walked out smiling, leaving the man dumbfounded. Last time he checked, it was early March. He breathed heavily and attempted to hold back tears, but they seemed to leak out anyway. He bit his lips as two months of missed opportunities and wasted time sprung out from him.

The next six months were hell. Pure hell. Hours and hours of rehab left him tired and in grueling pain. The food was terrible. He couldn't eat anything that seemed remotely edible to human beings because he might "react negatively to the enzymes" or some other bullshit he didn't want to hear. His speech didn't take much time to recover, as he practiced daily by yelling at someone, anyone who happened to be in direct sight of him. Who could blame him? He didn't like hospitals, needles, doing the same thing over and over again, and, more specifically, the color white, which was a hatred he only acquired after being surrounded by it for so long. In addition to that, Vlad had no visitors. Well, he had one that visited once, but it wasn't anyone he was particularly fond of. A classmate of his, an acquaintance named Harry who wasn't a friend, but might as well have been.

He visited in late August before he was supposed to go off to his job. It was a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless, another thing Vlad had come to despise. "Vlad. It's been a while," he said in his most nonchalant voice.

"Yeah, I guess it has. What's going on?" he asked, feigning interest. Harry proceeded to discuss his life and how he had graduated, and what a shame it was that Vlad couldn't graduate with his class, and how his friends were doing. Vlad interrupted when he mentioned friends and immediately asked about Maddie.

"How is she? Is she well? I haven't talked to her in a while." Vlad had an earnest look in his eyes, which was returned with a look of sadness in Harry's.

"Well, she's engaged. She has been for 4 months now." Harry could see the despair wash over Vlad's face .  "She's having a kid soon, too."

Vlad hung his head and shuddered angrily. "Who with?" he asked under short breaths.

"Does it matter?" Harry replied, avoiding the heat. "It's not you--"

"Who the hell is she getting married to?" he enquired, shaking with fury, face painted crimson.

"Well… she's marrying Jack Fenton. Next month, before she gets too big, you know?"
Vlad kept his head low, clenching his blanket and gritting is teeth. "Yeah. I get it." Harry nervously stood up and backed out of the room. "Well it was nice seeing you again. Get better, alright?"  

"Yeah."  Harry left and closed the door behind him, shutting in the broken man sitting on the bed. His sobs shook his entire being, rocking him to the core. His heart wasn't broken; if it were he'd be able to pick up the fragments and piece them together in some way. His heart was gone. Completely. Ripped from his chest and given to someone who didn't even want it. He grabbed his chest and wept heavily, tears falling onto his arm and gown. He knew there was no point in attempting to kill himself; the doctors would revive him. Plus, he was already dead inside.

It was only in Late October and early November when Vlad discovered that his ghostly powers were beginning to manifest; strange fluids and discharges of all sorts of colors were leaking out of him; body parts would become intangible at any given moment and made it very difficult to recover at home. After "going ghost" for the first time some months later, Vlad began to display his rage at the cards he was dealt in a much more drastic way. Vandalism wasn't really his niche but he found that it helped him to relieve the tension. He finally got the idea to take advantage of thee abilities y overshadowing anyone he could find, extracting their savings to the last dime until he had a considerable sum of money. He bought houses, cars, precious artifacts, anything he truly wanted, but… he still couldn't quite get the attention of a certain former crush.
He got invited to the wedding. A kind gesture to most, but to him it was a hard slap in the face. Jack knew how he felt about Maddie (or maybe he really DIDN'T know, he was that dense) and to propose to her not even a month after the accident was too much to handle. He ignored the invitation and continued to live life the only way he knew how to, since there was no way he could become normal again.

As the years went by Vlad acquired a multitude of loyal employees (human or ghost) to do his dirty. His fame was unmatched for a short while, and was even listed in Forbes Magazine as a highly esteemed billionaire bachelor. He world remain that way for the better part of 10 years until he once again would have to encounter the bane of his existence and the love of his life. And then he met Danny. That fateful college reunion would only push his plan forward in attain Maddie for once and for all, but of course, her "little badger" would ruin it for him. His sights were set on Danny, this much is true, but he never thought these feelings would grow into a sort of lust for him.
And they hadn't. At least, that what he told himself.

Vlad walked from the window and poured himself a glass of vodka. It was warm but he didn't mind, though he would have liked to have some ice. Vlad wasn't one to drink to excess but when he did, it was always at home where he would be taken care of in case something were to happen. Glass after glass was filled until the entire bottle was emptied. This was a typical Thursday night for him when Danny wasn't there. He just drank, alone.

He was miserable.