In the Enemy's Fortress

In the Enemy's Fortress

Chapter 6: Kidnapped

Haha, I was rereading the first five chapters and I have realized... This fic has such a fan service.

If you haven't read "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson, do yourself and favour and do so.

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Vlad clacked lazily at his computer. He was trying to find a way to spend his time until he was contacted by Skulker with news.

The town was firmly in order, thanks to Jack and Maddie. There were little to no ghost reports. The married couple had gone into their lab, hired a team of workers and tightened security on their ghost portal, which they learned that many of the spirits used to make it in. They also learned to track random rips, capturing the spirits as soon as the enter the town.

There also seemed to be a problem beginning to pop up with Samantha and Tucker. They just couldn't accept Danny's death, especially since Vlad had presided over the funeral. They had tried to break into his manor twice since Danny's funeral.

However, they were stopped before they entered the house both times. They were convinced Danny was not dead. They believed that since they had not been contacted by Danny's free ghostly side that it was not possible that they were dead. Hmm, perhaps he needed to have a conversation with them to enlighten their view.

Because, honestly, Vlad realized he does not know what happens when a halfa dies. There are only two known in the world and both are still alive and kicking.

It had honestly made him wonder about what would happen when he or Danny died. None of the spirits he has spoken with ever spoke of remembering their lives, and the ones that did claimed they did not remember well. However, they believed that their spiritual persona had something to do with what they did when the where alive.

..But none of these spirits, as far as they know, were ever part-ghost when they were alive.

Vlad sighed as he glanced at his watch. He knew there was nothing new to see by looking at the device, but it helped alleviate his anxiety for the moment as he did.

There were stories in the ghost world of a staff of power like no other. This staff was unlike anything he had attempted to go after before. As much as he wanted it, he had no idea exactly how to get it to work once he did get it. He had been spending his free time searching the internet for any idea on how to use it, since sometimes ghost history found it's way into human mythology.

He growled and angrily pushed his chair away from his keyboard when his search continually came up with no answer. He had half a mind to ask Skulker, since the ghost seemed to know which staff he was referring too. However, if he did that, then the hunter would realized that the man had no idea the significance of the staff, which was untrue. He just needed to know how to use it.

Damn, he needed to go to the library.

He swiveled his chair around and checked the ghost shield and power shorter. He grimaced, slightly annoyed that he could not visually check on the boy with a camera, but he could not risk someone wondering in and seeing the boy on a screen.

He had not invited anyone over to his home in sometime. He tried as best as he could to keep his home and work life separate. He had to refuse many hints to a dinner party at his home by many of the upperclass and social climbers that wondered into his office every now and then.

The man checked his watch and saw it was half past noon. He needed to take Danny his lunch. He had brought him a small breakfast at about seven this morning and was sure the boy wouldn't mind a light lunch of some kind.

After he left yesterday, he found Danny was eating a bit better. He had at least finished his lunch and dinner that night.

He stood, forcing the chair behind him. He turned off the monitor of his computer and walked out of his study to the kitchen.

He thought carefully about what to give the boy. He personally had grown up with eating broths and light salads for lunch, but he was sure that due to Danny's middle class raising, he probably ate a lot of potato chips and processed sandwich meats. Ugh.

Vlad hated the thought of putting bologna in his own stomach, let alone giving it to someone else. He decided on a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and a sodapop. He placed everything on the tray and made his way from this kitchen to the boy's holding room.

He rapped lightly and let himself in.

When he entered, he saw the boy sitting at the desk, reading a book. On closer inspection, the book had apparently been pulled from the shelf across the room.

"You're reading?" he asked as the he set the tray in front of the boy.

"Yes, what else is there to do?"

Vlad gave a sideways smile, "Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson? I read that in my youth.. I always thought it was an amazing story."

Danny gave a sigh and closed the book, "I think the main character is gay."

"Oh?"

"Yes.. David Balfour, after his father dies, his uncle sells him into ..slavery," he started slowly, "to make sure he can't get his rightful inheritance. Then on the ship, he gets beaten, thrown around.. He has to take the place of a kid who died right before his eyes. Then this shipwrecked guy, Alan Breck Stewart, gets taken on board and David saves his life right before the ship crashes. Then, once he got off the island.. Instead of trying immediately to get back home and trying to get his inheritance from his uncle, he goes on a three-month search for that guy from the ship.. It seems pretty gay to me."

"Ah, well, I'll try not to ruin the ending, but.. Consider it this way. David had nothing to go home to but an uncle that would do nothing but try to kill him again. Perhaps it wasn't love that convinced David to look for this man, but the idea that Mr. Alan Breck Stewart offered some possible protection that wasn't available to him back home."

Danny was silent for a moment before he replied, "I liked the story better when David was gay... It made it more interesting."

Vlad chuckled, "I agree. I have never heard that twist on it before."

There was an uneasy silence after Vlad finished speaking. Danny looked up nervously at the man. It was strange that some times he could speak to the man so easily and at other times he was afraid to meet the man's eyes.

The boy had plenty of inner turmoil to consider since their last encounter the day before. He thought constantly about how the man had badly hurt him but how he had been so willing to force things along. He gritted his teeth and looked back down at his book.

Vlad was no Alan Breck. Vlad wasn't there to save him from an evil uncle. There was no romance about it. If anything, Vlad was the evil uncle that held Danny as a slave for his own personal gain. He sighed and looked back down at the book's cover, wanting the man to leave so he could finish reading in peace.

When the man did not immediately leave, but walked over to his book shelf and investigated what else was there another question popped into his mind. Why did he want Danny here? Was he merely a sexual toy or did Vlad have other plans? Knowing the man's previous schemes, there was another reason why he was here. Vlad never let his resources go to waste.. Which is what Danny was. A resource in whatever he was planning to do.

He had decided against asking the man anything. Vlad was in the position where he didn't have to answer questions and everything would be nothing but a futile attempt to get information. He's learn more by interrogating a picture of the man then the actual biological organism infront of him.

Danny supposed that if the man hadn't killed him yet, then he had some use. It was most likely some scheme to try to take over the Ghost Zone, as was his normal ideas involved. Danny could guess that he would be used as a pawn. He could guess that by assaulting him, he intended to break him.

That was as much as he could get out of the situation without know any details. He wished there was a way that he could talk to the man about it, but he'd probably have to make a deal with him and Vlad's deals were never fair for the boy.

"Well, enjoy your lunch and that book. I shall return with your dinner later. I have much to finish.. Having you here has been quite the distraction."

Danny rolled his eyes, "Ah, well, if I'm distracting you, I should just leave. I've over-stayed my welcome."

Vlad smirked when he saw that the boy didn't even move from his spot as he made those remarks. It almost sounded as if the boy were flirting with him.

He shook the accusation off, it was impossible. That young man hadn't been won over just yet. He was merely being sarcastic, wanting him to leave. Danny still hated.

..And how could the boy feel any different? He was being kept here against his will and discretely being broken by the man who was holding him prisoner. He was being forced into situations that Danny, never in a million years, would even attempt to put himself into that positions.

He sighed to himself and decided to take his leave.

Danny watched at the man left the room, relieved to see him gone, but also a bit saddened. Vlad was kind of tolerable to be around when he wasn't being violent of domineering.

The man was intelligent. The whole being kidnapped and held prisoner wouldn't be as horrible as it was for him it Vlad didn't take advantage of him. If Vlad had decided not to rape Danny, they might actually be having conversations and the like..

But no.. No matter how much he yearned for the physical contact that Vlad gave him, it was not worth reliving the memories of when the man violated him. He couldn't get over it. It had been rape plain and simple. Even if he did enjoy it in the later part, it was still rape. He had demanded that Vlad stop, but the man continued nonetheless.

..But once he felt the man's warmth and the way the man felt when he pressed his lips forcefully against his own, he seemed to forget about the rape. He didn't concentrate on the loathing he felt for the man when they were close. It felt like it didn't even matter anymore.

Danny shook his head and wrapped his arms around his torso and hugged himself for a moment. He was not physically hurting anymore. He knew it was all emotional. The boy sighed as he didn't know whether or not he could get over the fact that he had been violated in such a way.

He had heard of people being raped and attacked, and he had even wondered how they had dealt with it. He knew that some people couldn't. Some killed themselves to end their suffering. But he saw that as the weak way out. He wasn't going to be weak. If he died, then Vlad won... the man would loose a valuable asset, but he still won the war.. and he couldn't let Vlad have a victory like that.

The only way for Danny to win, as he saw it, was the preserve until he was able to hurt Vlad back just as badly as he had hurt Danny. He just needed to bide his time and deal with what the man was dishing out to him.

However, the only way for Danny to win was to escape and it appeared as if that was not too likely.

He silently ate the food Vlad had left for him, wanting to eat the sandwich before the bread became stale. The peanut butter was good, but it would have used jelly. He looked at the banana, trying to decide whether or not he should but it with his sandwich. He decided against it and ate the fruit separately. The soda Vlad had given him was a diet, no caffeine Pepsi. Danny wasn't too big on the diet soda. The caffeine would have shook him up a bit, make him feel a bit livelier, but since there was none, he felt the same as before.

When he finished, he placed the plate back on the tray and look at the book. He decided it was a good idea to read.

A thought struck him as he crawled into his bed with his book. What if Vlad was Alan Breck Stewart to his David Balfour? What if he was the man that was helping him through a life of being trapped by his parents and friends, helping him finally reach a sense of freedom he didn't have before.

He, however, shook the thought from his head. The only freedom he had was to decide whether or not to struggle when the man decided to hold him down. It was Danny's decision to decide whether or not he wanted to like what he was feeling when the older man touched him... And what kind of freedom was that?

Danny looked at the cover of the book, feeling slightly disgusted with himself. He placed the book on the nightstand beside him. He didn't want to know if David had a happy ending.. David was not Danny.. There was no way the fictional character's plight was going to help him feel better and give him a better look of his own situation.

This story made him sick.

To Be Continued..

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Sorry about all the Kidnapped references.. I grew to love that story whenever I had to do a research paper on Stevenson last year. I don't know if I'll reference the story again.

I decided to have a no fanservice in this chapter, just to see whether or not I could do it.. So, here you go.. Sorry for how short this chapter was.

I've also decided to alternate writing chapter for Harry Potter and the Pirates of the Caribbean and this fic. HP&PotC is almost finished, so this should only happen for a few more chapters.

This chapter is also currently UNBETA'd. It will probably be updated in a few days with a BETA'd version, so watch out for that.