Chapter Text
Red. Flashing and fading behind his eyelids. A siren blaring in the distance. Muffled, like he was underwater.
"...a breach in the facility!"
"...don't let it—"
Crashing. Shattering. Far away, yet right by his head.
Danny groaned.
His head hurt. Everything was numb and heavy, and it felt like he was trapped under the weight of a hundred bricks, unable to move, his blood replaced with molasses.
He opened his eyes to the sight of a dancing emergency light.
Where the hell...
His head lolled to the side, and the wall just kept on turning, pulsing with the pain in the back of his eyes. A shiver ran along his arms. Why was it so cold? He was freezing.
There was a small table sitting beside him, kind of like what you'd find at a dentist's. On its surface, metals glinted in the flashes. Needles. Scalpels. Other fun, shiny, distinctly non-dentist things.
Not the kind of stuff he liked to see greeting him in the morning. If it even was morning.
Bang, bang! Weapon fire echoed distantly.
His heart picked up the pace. And he wished his mind would do the same already, because he really needed it to start putting some pieces together.
Ominous sounds? Check. Ominous lights? Check. Lack of feeling everywhere in his body? Check.
With all that information, the answer of where he was and why he was there should have been obvious. But it's like it was hanging so closely that it became nothing but a blur he couldn't make it out.
Clang! Thunk! The sounds seemed to only be getting closer, his pulse getting faster.
Maybe he should leave. Leaving sounded like a pretty good idea. Why hadn't he thought of it before? He needed to get up and get out of there, and—and something tugged on him, keeping him in place.
He craned his neck up to assess his situation, and found metal straps across his waist, his wrists, and his ankles, pinning him down to some kind of table.
Talk about a comforting revelation.
A whirl of dizziness rushed through him as he dropped his head back down, dark fuzziness playing on the edges of his vision. He bit down against the pain, and reached for his powers, trying for intangibility, hoping for an easy escape. But... nothing. He couldn't even get a spark. Couldn't focus, couldn't get his body to listen.
Thud! He startled. That sounded like it was right outside the room. Like—
The big metal door whirred open, framing a tall silhouette. Danny's lungs froze. It was too dark to see their face, but he could tell they were wearing a suit.
And that probably meant one of two things, and he really, really didn't like either.
Footsteps echoed quick and sharp as the person marched right up to him.
"I wish you'd chosen a better day to get captured, little badger."
And there it was, the rotten cherry on top of the horrible cake that was his day so far: the fruitloop.
His stomach flipped, landing somewhere between relief and dread. Vlad's presence made him all too aware of how he couldn't get his powers to listen right now. "What do you want..." this time, he tried to say, but another wave of dizziness washed over his words. He tried not to grit too hard, hoping it wasn't obvious how much he was struggling to tell up from down.
There was a click, and a shink, and the straps retracted from his body like dead skin sloughing away.
Danny blinked, suddenly even more confused. Did Vlad just help him?
He experimentally lifted his hand, testing his freedom. "What are you doing?"
"Getting you out of here." Vlad grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up, dragging him off the gurney. Danny's feet hit the floor like lead, legs refusing to hold him up, leaving his whole weight to collapse into Vlad's hold. "Really, you should be thanking me."
He shoved off of him, backing into that gurney and knocking it askew. His head was swimming, and his stomach was trying to jump out of his throat. He clutched his pulsing head and grabbed onto the metal behind him to keep steady. "Getting me out of where? What the hell is going on?"
"We're in a Guys in White facility, Daniel. So unless you enjoy being used as a pincushion, I suggest you start remembering how to walk."
His blood froze, heart sinking.
That... would explain all the horrible ominous things going on at the moment.
Danny looked up into those dark eyes, made black by the red lighting, searching their callousness for a reason. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because if I don't, I'll have no chance of salvaging this mess." Vlad grabbed the front of Danny's shirt and dragged him along as he started towards the door, sparing him no time to process anything.
Danny stumbled as he lagged after Vlad, mind spiraling just as much as his vision. "What?" His voice shook, feet stumbling as Vlad forced him down the hall. He clutched onto the arm pulling on him in an attempt to stay upright. "What the hell are you talking about? What—why are you even here?" he asked, confusion and panic twisting together inside his chest as walls sped by, one blur after the next. "Shouldn't you just—can't you just teleport us out or something?"
Vlad grimaced at his words, and Danny only felt more confused, more desperate.
Voices bounced down the hall. Men, probably Guys in White, barking orders and reporting statuses. Vlad paused, and so did Danny.
A sweaty hand clamped over his mouth and everything rushed by. Vlad slipped them past an open door and into a dark, spacious room, sticking to the nearest wall. An arm locked across his waist, pressing his back tight against the warm body behind him.
His breaths rapidly condensed against Vlad's palm, suffocating him in the humidity. His fluttering lungs wouldn't slow down—couldn't slow down. His nails caught the fabric at Vlad's thighs, clenching, grasping desperately for some sort of stability.
Footsteps darted towards them, echoing down the hall.
The picture was starting to clear up, but pieces of the puzzle were still missing. Like why this room—what should have been a clean lab—looked like a mini tornado had trashed it, complete with shattered lights and fallen bodies.
Steps thundered by, and Danny clenched his eyes shut and held his breath.
But they went right past the room. Vlad's hand left his mouth, and Danny drank in the chilled air. In an instant, Vlad was pulling them out of the room and running down the hall again.
Running. Something they shouldn't have to be doing.
Danny desperately looked to Vlad for answers, taking in the sight of flushed tan skin and tousled gray hair, one question screaming with an answer he didn't want to hear. "Why aren't you using your powers?"
The tight lines that cut into Vlad's face told him everything, and there was no pretending anymore. "Same reason you aren't," he said gravely, his irritation loud and clear, "I can't."
Rocks sunk into Danny's stomach, his blood going cold. This whole situation sounded way too much like a nightmare to be real. He didn't want to believe it. "What?" he questioned, voice weak.
Everything rushed by in a haze.
That meant that earlier, he wasn't just struggling to focus. He actually couldn't use his powers. They'd done something to them. Something he couldn't remember.
He looked to his trembling hand, willing the molecules to change, stupidly hoping for something, anything—please—
And he got nothing.
The fingers blurred in his vision, unsteady, full of blood and sinew, taunting him with their solidity. "You're... kidding. This is..." His thoughts swam in tandem with his vision, shoulder careening into Vlad's side as dread iced over his ribs. "It has to be from some kind of drug or something, right? Which means it'll wear off any minute and—"
Bang! A shot whizzed past them, stealing Danny's breath.
"Don't move!"
Vlad whipped around, and behind them was an operative with a weapon pointing right at them.
Danny blanked as two hands shoved him in the chest. His shoulder hit the concrete wall, and the ricochet sent his head slamming into it. Pain blossomed in his skull as he slumped to the ground, vision blurring.
There was grunting, a blast, some scuffling as the sound of knuckles hitting flesh filled the hall.
Danny clutched his pounding head as he looked up to see the unfolding fight, but then—
Zing!
—something small whizzed through the air, striking Vlad between the shoulder blades.
With a burst, electric currents spiderwebbed over his body, tearing a violent cry from his throat before he fell to his knees, gritting his teeth.
Danny scurried to his feet, reaching out. "Vlad!"
"Careful," a smarmy voice echoed from the opposite hall. "Or you'll be next."
Danny whipped a glare in the direction of the warning and found another agent, plain, clean-cut, and annoying, just like the rest, with a weapon glinting in hand. It looked bigger than the usual arsenal, and judging by what he just saw it do to Vlad, it wasn't just another toy to sneeze at.
Shivers traveled up Danny's arm.
The agent stepped closer, and Danny stepped back, chest spasming. He was powerless, weaponless, and outnumbered. No matter how he sliced it, there was no chance of winning this fight.
But that didn't mean he wasn't about to try.
He turned, darting towards the man at the other end of the hall. There was another click and a zing, sparks tickling his heel as he slipped behind the agent. He reached for a gadget hanging off the man's belt, but right as his fingers brushed steel, an arm swung for his head. Heavy pain crashed into the top of his skull as the butt of the gun clipped him. He staggered, needles rattling around in his brain.
Forceful hands grabbed his shoulders and shoved him down, slamming his knees hard onto the cold floor.
The agent holding him spoke coolly, chilled rubbery gloves clamping around his wrists and forcing them behind his back, "If you come quietly, we might just keep the torture relatively pain-free."
Pretty sure that's an oxymoron, Danny wanted to spit, dizzy pain fighting to keep the words locked inside. He struggled to try and break free from the grasp, but all it did was make the frustration in his veins run hotter.
His eyes darted to Vlad. He was still down, sporadic twitches rippling through his body. The other agent was already on him, pulling out a pair of specialized handcuffs.
Fear sank fast and deep, the events unfolding in slow motion, freezing his lungs solid.
The taste of loss sat bitter and heavy on his tongue. But without his powers, what was he supposed to do against two fully-armed adults?
Some hero he was.
He slammed his eyes shut and tried not to think about what was going to happen next.
Thwack! A cry of pain, one of the men.
His heart restarted, eyes flying open to the sight of Vlad whipping around and catching the operative by the lapel, pulling him down before gripping his face and slamming his skull against the floor.
Danny barely had time to process the hands letting go of him before the click of a weapon echoed in his ears, sending a fresh rush of adrenaline through his body. He acted on instinct, spinning around to slam a surprise kick directly to the man's shin. The agent grunted and faltered, a stray shot scorching the wall while Danny got to his feet.
But the agent quickly recovered, swinging at Danny's face with the metal blaster. It clocked him, pain radiating from his jaw to his nose. He spun and stuttered some steps, grabbing at his face as blood dribbled down it.
A gun leveled right between his eyes, and every muscle in his body went rigid.
His solid flesh had never felt so helplessly heavy as it did when he was staring down that barrel.
But the shot never came—Vlad intervened, catching ahold of the agent's wrists. He pulled the man down and kneed him in the guts. Spit rained from the agent's gasping mouth as he struggled in the hold. Vlad took a solid fist to the back of the man's head, ending his sputtering with a crack. The body hit the floor, joining his friend face-first.
Danny took a moment to catch his breath while letting his heart remember how to beat, fizziness floating all around inside him. He wiped his nose, then flicked the blood off his arm. His eyes met Vlad's, and for whatever reason, a sudden misplaced chuckle escaped him. "I didn't think you understood the concept of teamwork."
Disinterest dulled Vlad's features at the comment. "It's hardly teamwork when one person is doing all of the work."
"Hey, I got a hit in."
Vlad bent down to his knees, picking up one of the abandoned blasters and inspecting it. "And a broken nose for it."
Danny scoffed, "It's a surface wound."
"More like a novice mistake that could've cost you." Vlad grabbed the second gun as he stood up, tossing it to Danny.
Danny fumbled with it like a hot potato before clutching it tight against his chest. A glare was in order for that one. "Geez, did no one ever teach you the importance of weapon safety?"
Vlad smirked. "You'll find it's quite safe, actually. Which you'll want to turn off if you plan to do any damage with that," he said, stepping over the couple of prone bodies. "And if you don't know how to use it, I'm sure you'll very quickly find out."
He wanted to remind Vlad of just who exactly his parents were, but the sudden thought of them sent something anxious trickling down his throat. There were a lot of unanswered questions right now—questions too difficult to think about—so he let it go. He could one-up Vlad later. Getting out of this drab place took number one priority.
Danny checked that the safety was actually on, concluding Vlad would have just spun it to be an insult against his dad anyway, and trailed after him.
Every hall stretched the same length, disorienting in their rigid similarity and bleak whiteness. Yet Vlad's determined steps never wavered, leading them as if he knew exactly where to go.
The weapon felt grimy and heavy in Danny's palms as he trailed behind. Buzzing confusion swarmed his thoughts, and it was only worsened by the rapid thudding of their footsteps. Vlad's silence was weighing on him, and he really didn't feel like holding it up anymore. "You seem to know where you're going," he blurted, tightening his grip on the blaster.
"That would be because I do."
Danny narrowed his eyes. "How's that? You come here often?"
They stopped at a large steel door. It looked heavy and locked, the sort of thing that wasn't meant to be casually opened.
Vlad glanced over his shoulder. "No, but personally, I don't make a habit of getting captured against my will." He aimed the stolen weapon at the keypad lock and fired. With a metallic clang, it's covering clattered to the floor, revealing a tangle of wires and circuitry. He pocketed the blaster in his coat, and his fingers got to work with the wires.
Danny hoped he actually knew what he was doing. "So what, you chose to get captured?"
"Hardly. I came here to deal with some unfinished business. Which I could have handled perfectly well had it not been for a certain unforseen variable messing things up."
Danny narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"
The door opened, revealing a descending staircase. "Oh, you'll figure it out eventually. Just keep exercising those last remaining brain cells." Vlad walked on with haste, shoes clacking almost sardonically.
Danny got the feeling he was the unforeseen vairable.
Blood trickled down his mouth with a coppery taste. "Asshole." He wiped it away, and followed suit.
Every stair came with a drop in temperature. The walls pressed in, tight and claustrophobic in the dim red lights.
Danny's voice bounced off the walls when he spoke again. "That doesn't tell me the reason you came here in the first place."
"I was destroying evidence," Vlad explained, shoes echoing on the concrete as he left the last stair. "Evidence they obtained because a certain someone thought it would be funny if he told them I was hiding 'ghost contraband'."
Danny felt a smirk of victory forming as he followed behind. "Meaning you actually got caught with ghost contraband?"
"If only it were so simple," he scoffed as he led them down an expansive hall. "But no, dear boy, what they found was my research."
An unsteady cold filled Danny's chest just as they passed through an unusual area. At the back wall, there was a row of large cylindrical chambers. "Research?" he questioned.
They were made of glass, offering a window into what lay inside. Puddles of phosphorescent green sat idly in each one, an all too familiar shade and consistency.
"Research on human-ghost hybrids." Vlad kept on trekking, ignorant to the sight. "Obviously, we can't have that. So I infiltrated their database and broke in, planning to destroy any damning physical evidence," he said. A deeply wearied sigh tumbled out of his throat before he continued. "But then you appeared."
Danny lingered behind, tension pulling at his ribs as Vlad went up to a door in another hall. The implications of what this meant for them refused to settle in his mind. He wasn't really sure, or maybe he just didn't want to think about it. He briefly glanced back to the odd chambers, a chill caressing his skin.
He tore his gaze away and caught up to Vlad.
The lock mechanism on the door sputtered as Vlad shut it down. He stayed close to the wall, his eyes meeting Danny's with a serious warning as he raised his weapon in preparation.
He pushed the button, and metal whirred, the door opening.
Bang, bang, bang! Several bright bursts shot out from inside the room, startling the air out of Danny's chest.
Energy seared Vlad's arm, tearing away his sleeve and leaving a line of red behind. He crumpled in pain, hand flying to the wound as he clung to the nearest wall.
Blood pounded in Danny's ears, his hands trembling as the reality crash landed on him. Running wasn't an option—it would only get him lost and separated from his best bet out of here—but that meant all he had was one flimsy weapon and an injured old man by his side.
Well.
So be it.
He flicked the safety off and leaned over the open doorway, firing two blasts before quickly taking cover again. He'd seen at least four agents in there. And it didn't sound like he hit any one of them. He glued his back to the wall, heart thundering.
"They're armed!" a voice called.
No shit, Danny almost called back.
"Daniel," Vlad breathed with haggard urgency, "throw the blaster at them!"
Danny incredulously gaped at Vlad, wondering when and why he'd suddenly forgotten how guns work.
Vlad rolled his eyes. "Oh, fudge bars! Just do it!"
The sound of footsteps hurried towards them, and Danny didn't have time to remind Vlad of the intended functionality of guns, so he accepted that this was how he died, and chucked the blaster into the room.
Vlad drew his own weapon, whipped around the doorframe, and fired.
Danny didn't know what he expected, but it definitely wasn't the bright flash followed by a deafening boom.
He slammed his eyes shut. People cried out in pain. Thuds and clatters filled the air.
So, it turned out GIW blasters could work as an emergency hand grenade when needed. He found that information good to know.
He reopened his eyes just in time to see Vlad rush into the room—the room full of people decked out in weapons. Weapons designed to kill the exact thing they both were. You know. That room.
Sure, why the hell not? Danny concluded as he followed suit, accepting that Reason and Vlad were like oil and water. And, honestly, he wasn't much better.
The two frontmost agents had fallen to their knees, clothes and skin singed with the smell of battery acid. Vlad grabbed one by the hair and then the other, slamming their skulls together to deal with them.
That left two more, who were quickly recovering from the makeshift grenade.
It was at moments like these, that thoughts tended to stop happening in Danny's mind. The only thing he knew was that he needed to incapacitate at least one of them somehow. The somehow wasn't very clear, but that didn't really matter to him as he ran over and kicked a guy in the nuts. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and all that.
The man cried out and faltered. Danny grabbed a fistful of shirt and pulled, throwing his other fist into the agent's stomach. It probably didn't do much, but it was enough to get the guy off balance. He fell to his knees, and Danny leaned his weight onto his elbow and jabbed the man in the back of the head.
With a thunk, the man went limp. Danny observed the prone body, wondering how the heck he managed to do that. He was actually a little impressed with himself. And a little winded.
Until a sharp burn shot into his left shoulder, harshly reminding him that he wasn't alone. He hissed in pain, gripping at the hot, seeping wound.
A sharp crack echoed off the walls, and Danny looked up just in time to see Vlad handling the fourth and final agent. He wrapped his arms around the operative's neck and held tight. They grunted and scuffled, their wordless voices struggling for second after painfully tense second. One, ten, fifteen, and then without warning, the agent's grip went slack.
The body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, and Danny just stared at it.
"Well," Vlad started, smacking his hands free of their crime-ridden dirt, "that wasn't so bad."
Finally, Danny's lungs remembered they were supposed to take in oxygen. "Yeah. Somehow." His eyes trailed back over the body at Vlad's feet. "That guy's not dead, right?"
Vlad shrugged a shoulder before taking off towards the large terminal at the back of the room. "I'm sure he's fine—not that it would matter if he wasn't."
His shoulder throbbed, a hot pulse of agony settling in. He gripped it tighter, choosing to focus on how fruitloopy that comment was instead of the pain. "Oh yeah, what's one human life worth? Apparently nothing if you're as crazed-up as Mr. Masters here."
"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of your noble and heroic pride. Now I'd appreciate it if you could keep your yappy little mouth shut while I do this."
"You can tell me to shut up, but you can't actually make me—"
Zhoom. Danny startled as they were plunged into sudden darkness, a tense quiet filling the space.
A beat, and then white lights with an attitude kicked on. Danny squinted under their blinding intensity.
"Never underestimate the cunning of a businessman."
Danny forced his eyes to stay open against the stinging pain. "What?"
"It'll only be a matter of minutes before someone notices the security system override," he said, already halfway out the room. "Don't dawdle."
The warning smacked Danny in the face with all the force of an unseen power line. He hurried behind that annoying fruitloop down the stark white hall, not caring to figure him out anymore.
It didn't take long before they found a big staircase, the kind that screamed main entrance ahead. Their shoes clacked up the metal stairs with a tinny echo, each step trying to pull Danny back down with the heavy pain weighing on his whole body. He felt light and heavy at the same time, and he wished he could just lie down and pass out already, blissfully ignorant to whatever the consequences of this mess may be.
Man, he did not want to think about that.
As the final stair rose into view, the lights flickered, switching from radiant white to shattered blackness as he stepped over the threshold.
Danny's feet rooted themselves in place.
Sparks trickled down from wires hanging out of exposed joists and frames of the disheveled ceiling. Scattered debris coated the floor. Glass shards, torn-up linoleum, puddles of black. There were enough unmoving bodies to classify it as a morgue, and the scorch marks told the story of how it became one.
Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. "What the heck happened here?" Danny asked.
Vlad didn't waste time taking in the sights and continued on ahead. "A couple of things."
Danny mercifully stepped over a weakly groaning body on the ground. "Yeah, like what? A government frat party?"
"They didn't take kindly to my suggestions."
"I can only imagine how great your suggestions were," Danny remarked, silently mourning a comfy-looking upturned couch. "Couldn't bribe your way to victory this time?"
Vlad's steps halted as he turned to look back, stopping Danny in place with a stoney glare. "Unfortunately, knowledge isn't something you can simply bribe people to forget."
A weird knot formed in Danny's stomach. Was it guilt? Dread? Hunger? He didn't know, wasn't sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. He pointedly looked away from Vlad's loaded glare, and his eyes just so happened to land on a set of two big, beautiful doors just ahead. "Hey, the exit!" he pointed out, darting over to it and pretending like he didn't hear the disgruntled sigh from behind him.
He grabbed one of the metal handles and pushed, ready to finally embrace some fresh air.
Only, it didn't budge.
"Oh, come on!" Stubborn spite flared in his chest and he pushed harder, only to be met with the same amount of resistance.
Another hand appeared on the handle, and Danny tensed, Vlad's presence looming uncomfortably close behind him. "You know, I specifically disabled all of the locks."
The door effortlessly pulled open, forcing Danny to stumble backwards into Vlad.
He craned his neck up with a glare, only to see Vlad looking down at him, smiling all too smugly.
"But it's a pull door, not a push door."
Heat rushed to his cheeks and he looked away, glaring at the distance. "Yeah, I was just about to try that."
He ignored the scoff and rushed outside, desperate for some distance.
Concrete smacked under his shoes, crisp night air pouring into his lungs. After being cooped up in a place like that, even if it was only for a short time, the simple fresh air felt like pure bliss, rejuvenating him and making him feel alive again.
The field was large and barren, painted blue and black by the moonlight. He couldn't see where it ended and had no idea what could have been hiding in the dark. But he didn't exactly care. He was tired and sore, and freedom was only a few desperate sprints away.
He marched on, taking a grand total of two whole steps before Vlad caught him by the shoulder.
"Don't forget, we're still on government grounds, Daniel," Vlad warned. "I wouldn't recommend going for a stroll here, unless of course you want to lose your head."
"I wasn't going to," he grumbled, ignoring the fact that he almsot just did.
Vlad stepped in front of him. "Stick close."
Acting like he cared about his safety, how annoying. Danny almost wanted to jump in front of him or lag behind just to spite him.
Yet, like a bumbling fawn, he stuck behind Vlad anyway as they crept through the open field. No bushes, no walls... just the noisy rustle of grass beneath them, each step like banging a pot against a pan. It prickled under his skin, that feeling of vulnerability.
But they were so close to freedom. And once they got out of here, it was just a matter of making it back home and figuring things out from there, even if he wasn't sure how the heck they'd do that.
His chest clenched tight as longing drained his heart of its resolve. When he tried to remember how he got here, all he could envision was darkness. He had no idea when it happened or how much time had passed since.
Did his family—did anyone—know what happened to him?
"It should be right around here."
Danny's attention snapped up at Vlad's voice. A tall chain link fence stood before them, razor wire wrapped all around the top. It looked strikingly mundane, and impossibly easy for a ghost to get past. "I'm almost surprised their fence is so typical," Danny said.
"It's main purpose is to keep curious idiots out. After all, the only thing they're trying to do here is keep ghosts in," Vlad stated, running his fingers along the mesh. "And the only thing they need for that is a ghost shield."
"Looks like the jokes on them."
"Ah, here we are," Vlad mused.
What he'd found was lost to Danny in the darkness, and squinting didn't help.
"I left this here as insurance in case I needed a more human escape route, though I didn't expect to need it." Vlad grabbed a handful of mesh fencing and pulled it back, revealing an easy way out. "It pays to be thorough," he said, stepping through the gap.
Danny followed suit, stuffing down the floaty thankfulness he felt about Vlad's planning skills. It sucked being on the receiving end, but working with him? Well, it was a lot nicer than having to wing literally everything.
Maybe if Vlad wasn't such a psycho—
Sudden blinding white light flooded the area, forcing Danny to shield his eyes with his arm.
A staticky voice echoed across the field. "Attention, all operatives: subjects have been located at the west gate. I repeat subjects have been located at the west gate."
"How?" Danny shouted.
Vlad cursed under his breath.
"Yeah, that's right, you ecto-loving scum. We have you surrounded. No point in running unless you want to feel some pain."
Blood pounded through Danny's veins, his lungs picking up as numbness traced his fingertips. He met Vlad's eyes. They held his own, tense, and burning with a storm behind them.
A weak chuckle escaped Danny. "You want to feel some pain?"
Vlad smirked. "I don't break easily."
Grass kicked up into the air, shouts and demands chasing after their path. Trucks tore out into the dirt, engines roaring as they tried to catch up.
Vlad grabbed Danny by the bicep and pulled him off the path and into the trees. The ground gave out, and they slid down a steep slope into a thick forest before hitting the ground running. Lights trickled through the leaves, angry voices chasing after them.
Danny gasped every unsteady intake of breath as Vlad dragged him by the arm into the darkness. He had no idea where they were going or what they planned to do, and without his powers or a single thing in his pockets, the only thing he could do now was trust Vlad to get them out of this.