Desperate

Chapter 23

Vlad's POV:

Disconcerted.

Confused.

Yet, relieved.

A week had passed ever since Elizabeth had punched Matt, Mr. Henley's son, and no word of the incident had been leaked to the Press. Vlad was expecting his rival to explode with rage and use that as an opportunity to ruin his company, yet he hadn't. He wasn't sure why Mr. Henley hadn't taken that opportunity to his advantage and a was a bit concerned. Surely, his rival was waiting for the perfect moment to do so.

He knew he shouldn't have anything to worry about though. He could always scare the pants off of Mr. Henley if the rival attempted to take down his company by using Elizabeth. After all, the kidnapper, who attempted to kidnap his daughter, learned that lesson when he found him a few days after the attempted kidnapping.

He smirked in amusement; no doubt, the criminal hadn't even left his run-down apartment yet after what Plasmius had done to him. Oh, the memory of seeing that 'tough' criminal curl up and back away in fear caused his smirk to widen. That was a fun night.

He glanced up from the applications he was reading through to hire a new employee and dropped his smirk when he heard soft footsteps enter the kitchen. He smiled softly, yet furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw her freeze in the doorway, seemingly surprised he was there. "Good afternoon, Elizabeth," he greeted then set his pen down, "how was school?"

"I-It was fine," she stuttered out, confusing him even more, then walked over to the fridge, "w-what are you doing here?"

Ah, now she was stuttering. Vlad had an idea why, but he would have to prove his theory before coming to such conclusions. "Well, I realized I had been doing most of my work at the Office, so I figured I would finish some here at home." He watched as she opened up the refrigerator and took out the container of sliced apples Mr. Martinez prepared for her earlier. "Plus, I wanted to have an opportunity to spend more time with you, Elizabeth."

"Y-You didn't have to do that." She set the container on the counter, opened it, then walked over to the pantry. "I know you're busy."

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean I can't spend some quality time with my daughter." He smiled softly again then frowned when she flinched as she turned her back to him and tried reaching for the jar of peanut butter sitting on one of the top shelves. He stood and walked over to her, accidentally startling her, then grabbed the jar of peanut butter and handed it to her, noticing how clammy her hands were. "Is that alright with you, Elizabeth?"

"Well, yes." She twisted the cap off of the jar and hurried over to the counter. "I-It's just that I have a lot of work to do."

"'Work'?" He raised a skeptical brow then closed the pantry door. "What kind of 'work' do you have to do exactly?"

She took out a spoon and scooped some peanut butter out and onto her plate. "H-Homework and a few projects."

"Well, couldn't you do that at the table?" He walked back over to the table and set his hand down on the spot next to him. "We could work together."

"T-That sound's nice, but-" She twisted the cap back on the jar then grabbed her plate and hurried over to the entryway of the kitchen. "-I need the concentration."

Before he could utter another word or stop her from leaving, she practically ran out of the kitchen. He sighed in dejection then sat back down and picked up his pen. He knew this was going to happen; Elizabeth had been nervous around him ever since he told her she was adopted. He read that adopted children needed time to become used to the truth and that they had adopted parents. It was going to take her some getting used to, so he would just have to wait for her to be ready.

How long was it going to take for her though? She was his daughter, and she had to know that. Heck, he'd been her father her entire life, so she had to be used to that already.

Right?

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Elizabeth's POV:

Elizabeth felt awful for lying but what was she supposed to do? She wasn't ready to talk about Matt and certainly didn't want to cause any more problems between her father and Mr. Henley. Lying was the only way to protect both families from creating more tension between them.

Once she reached her bedroom, she closed her bedroom door and hurried over to her bed. She placed her snack on her nightstand then climbed on top of her bed and sat down. She slid her backpack off of her shoulders then took out another paranormal book she rented out after school and started her 'homework'; she just had to learn more.

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Vlad's POV:

Honestly, who wouldn't be concerned if their daughter hadn't left her room ever since she arrived home? Vlad was definitely concerned. She had locked herself in her room for the past six hours, and he hadn't heard anything from her ever since; she didn't even come downstairs for dinner.

He trekked up the stairway and towards Elizabeth's room to check on her. If she was still working on homework, he was going to have to have a discussion with her teachers on how much stress they were going to cause their students if they didn't ease up on how much work they assigned.

Once he reached her door, he knocked gently on it. "Elizabeth?" he called then turned the handle, not waiting for her to respond, and peeked inside, "Is everything-?"

As soon as he started to ask, he stopped when he spotted her limp form close to hanging off of her bed. He pursed his lips and moved further into the room then over to her, picked her up and gently set her down on her bed, being careful not to wake her. She sighed and turned on her side, her back to him.

He sighed then started to turn to leave but froze when he spotted something small and black peeking out from underneath her blankets. Slowly, he lifted up her blankets and gently grabbed the object then pulled it out. Once he had a good hold on it, he set the blankets back over her and examined the object, which he noticed was a book on the paranormal.

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, glanced at her for a brief moment then back at the book. Why in the world would Elizabeth be reading a paranormal book? She had never shown interest in the paranormal before; she had always told him that she believed it was just another way to provide entertainment when people wanted a good scare so why would she be reading that bo-

He widened his eyes, interrupting his own thoughts. She didn't believe anything relating to the paranormal was real until Plasmius rescued her.

Plasmius.

His other half. The half he never wanted her to discover or learn about, yet she wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know more about the paranormal because of him. Plasmius intrigued her without him even trying.

He sighed and set the book on her nightstand then sat down on her bed, causing her to turn slightly. He held his head in his hands and sighed again as his eyes closed softly. What was he going to do? How was he going to convince Elizabeth that the paranormal didn't exist? How was he going to encourage her to not look into Plasmius without causing suspicion? What if she found out he was keeping a secret from her and investigated him? What if she found his secret lair?

What if she found out he was Plasmius?

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Author's note: Hey, beautiful people! How are you all doing? :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think will happen now that Vlad figured out Elizabeth has an interest in Plasmius? How do you think he'll convince her the paranormal doesn't exist? Let me know what you think! As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated! :)

Fun Fact: Elizabeth never told Vlad she had a slight interest in the paranormal before investigating Plasmius; she believed he would think it was ridiculous and force her to get into something "less childish," which is what she believed he would say. :)