Desperate

Chapter 10

Vlad sighed, exhausted after what happened the night before; he killed a woman, a poor widow that just wanted to avenge her family's murder. Every time he closed his eyes, she was there; the burned face, the split open neck, and the blood pouring down her face was always there.

He glanced to his right when a soft coo reached his ears and saw Elizabeth lying next to him and staring up at him. She smiled wide, but he sighed again and turned his attention back to the book he was reading, not in the mood to play.

How could he do such a thing? How did he not know that he shot a more powerful ray at that poor woman than he realized? What did she do to deserve such a painful death?

He glanced back down at Elizabeth when he felt something small touch his right leg and saw her tiny fist resting on top of it. She pouted her bottom lip, frowning, right as he looked over at her then cooed softly, the sound almost saddening. He frowned back at her then closed his book and set it to the side before picking her up, believing she wanted attention and wouldn't leave him alone until she got it. He set her feet down on top of his lap as he encircled his fingers around her upper body, holding her in place and trying to get her used to standing.

Once making sure her feet were secure against his lap, he looked back up at her to see her still pouting. He raised a curious brow. "What?" he asked, confused with her facial expression. "What's wrong?"

She looked down and reached over to touch his wrists with her tiny hands. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and watched as she unclenched her fists and tried to encircle her fingers around his wrists but failed in doing so because his wrists were much too large for her small fingers. Still, he smiled softly at her attempt, now understanding that she was only trying to comfort him; well, he hoped that was what she was trying to do. "Oh, sweetheart, you know me so well, don't you?" he whispered and brought her closer to him then rubbed noses with her, making her smile.

He pulled her away from him and readjusted his hold on her to cradle her then stood up and walked over to the door of his private study. "Are you hungry, sweetheart? Do you want something to eat?"

As if understanding what he was asking her, she placed her fist in her mouth and sucked on it, giving him her answer that she was hungry. He chuckled softly and walked out of his private study before heading over to her bedroom to feed her.

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After feeding Elizabeth and putting her down for an afternoon nap, he walked towards the kitchen to eat lunch himself. He strolled into the kitchen, glancing at the miniature TV that the chef most likely turned on to watch while he worked, then glanced up at Mr. Martinez himself, who was cutting up a tomato on the counter. "Good afternoon, Mr. Martinez," he greeted, sitting down at the table.

The chef briefly looked over his shoulder before returning his attention to his work. "Good afternoon, Mr. Masters. How are you?" he asked, slicing a tomato in half.

He smiled. "Surprisingly, in a better mood than I was in this morning."

Mr. Martinez smiled over at him before picking up the diced tomato and putting it in a nearby bowl. "I take it has something to do with your daughter?"

He hummed and watched as the chef poured dressing into the bowl. "Actually, yes. It seems she knows me better than I would have thought."

The chef chuckled and started mixing the contents inside the bowl. "Three month old babies learn to recognize different emotions from their parents." He then turned around to face him, bowl in hand still. "Well, in your case, 'parent' is the more appropriate term."

He rolled his eyes, annoyed with Mr. Martinez's comment. "Yes, I suppose that is correct." He tapped his fingers on the table. "For now."

Mr. Martinez poured the contents of the bowl into another one and grabbed a fork from one of the kitchen drawers then placed it in the bowl. He then walked over and gave Vlad his lunch, which the latter could tell was a Caesar salad. He then turned to the TV when a news report came on, breaking the silence around them. "Last night was a very tragic evening for Sam King after finding his best friend, Katie Davis, dead in her basement. No foul play was reported by the authorities; they believed that the weapon she built overloaded and exploded, causing her tragic death," the news reporter reported.

Vlad frowned and lowered his gaze to his salad, the reminder of what he had done the night before coming back to mind. He picked up his fork and poked at the lettuce in the bowl, not bothering to pick any of it up.

"That poor woman," Mr. Martinez sympathized, frowning and shaking his head, "I can't imagine how much pain she was in before she died."

Guilt crept through him as he pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping the action would get rid of the memory. "I can," he muttered, trying to push away the memory of Katie's scorched face.

His chef pursed his lips then walked over to the TV and turned it off. "I really hate the news."

"Then why do you watch it?" He dropped his fork in his bowl and glanced over at him. "If you hate it so much then don't watch it."

"I would if I didn't have a family to raise, Mr. Masters." He took out some disinfectant wipes from under the sink and placed them on the counter. "If I don't watch the news, how am I going to know whether or not it's safe for my children to play outside? Or for them to go to school?"

Vlad pursed his lips, understanding Mr. Martinez's reasoning, and picked up his fork again. "That is a very good point, Mr. Martinez. I suppose I should do the same."

"It would be a very wise thing to do." The chef started wiping down the counters. "You never know when the news could save your life."

He hummed and took a bite of his salad, deciding to stay silent for the rest of his meal.

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Plasmius hesitated in front of his ghost portal, debating whether or not he should fly through it to explore more of the Ghost Zone. He wanted to explore it, but his powers were out of his control; what if he killed someone again?

He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face; he had to get over it. He had replayed the entire battle with Katie inside of his mind repeatedly and, as much as he didn't believe it was true, it was self-defense; the woman was trying to kill him and that made him shoot her in self-defense. "It was self-defense," he muttered, bringing his hand down from rubbing his face and stared into the swirling green portal, "I was allowed to do what I had to do to stop her."

He sighed once more before taking a step towards the portal, now only one step away from it. He took a deep breath, levitated in the air and flew forward. He stopped however when the Ghost Portal doors shut and looked over to see his hand resting on the lever that controlled the doors. He pursed his lips, taking his hand back and changing back into Vlad Masters.

Perhaps he wasn't ready to go back out into the Ghost Zone yet.

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Author's note: Hey, beautiful people! I know this was a really short chapter and didn't include too much fluff between Vlad and Elizabeth, but I really wanted to include his struggle with killing someone. Do you think Vlad will ever return to the Ghost Zone any time soon? Or will he wait a long time until he returns to it? Please let me know what you think! :)

Fun Fact: Elizabeth's new binky looks a lot like the ectopuses (the green octopus ghosts) in the first episode of Danny Phantom, even though it's supposed to be a frog. :)