Danny's Flashback-Part 15

   Vlad Plasmius watched from the opposite wall of the room, hearing Danny’s screams of agony, but not budging from the spot. He just stood there, watching, waiting for the transformation to be complete.
   “Oh, Daniel, this all could’ve been avoided if you had just joined me on the multiple occasions I asked you to be my son,” Vlad said, sounding, for once, sincerely sympathetic. “But sadly, you didn’t, so this, my boy, had to be the outcome.”
   Danny never heard him, though; the sounds of his own screams, the thoughts in his head, and his heartbeat, drumming in his ears, tuned everything out. After another minute or so of his mind stinging and being altered, the machine stopped sending vibrations from the lasers. With a final cry of pain, Danny slumped in his seat, out like a light.
   Vlad, knowing it was over, glided over to the computer, and shut it off, then changed back into Vlad Masters. Walking over to Danny’s chair, he loosened all the belts, picking Danny out of it, and carrying him out of the room. It took only a few minutes before Vlad had gone down the hall, and opened the door to a room with a small bed, bright blue walls, a large window, and a few new toys piled in the corner. He drew the covers of the bed with his free hand, laying Danny down carefully, and pulling the covers back over him.
   “’Night, my boy,” Vlad whispered, then walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
   After only a minute of walking down the hall, however, he heard a loud cry come from where he had just put Danny. “DADDY!” it cried.
   Vlad, quite surprised, spun on the spot and ran down to the bedroom once more. He flung open the door to find a sad-faced Danny, crying in his bed, and yelling for him. Danny heard the door open, and when he looked up and saw Vlad, he jumped out of bed, and before Vlad could figure out what had happened, Danny was clinging to his legs, sobbing into his suit.
   “Daddy,” he said between sobs. “I… had a…bad dream.”
   Vlad gave him a pat on the back, still in shock, then picked him up in his arms. “What happened in your dream?” Vlad asked.
   “You…tied me up in this… big chair, and… it hurt,” Danny managed to say, as he was still crying. “But I know you’re…not mean like that… right daddy?”
   Vlad carried Danny back to his bed, and tucked him in once more. “Of course not, Daniel,” he replied, wiping Danny’s tears with a handkerchief from his pocket.
Danny smiled, and reached his arms out for a hug. “I love you, dad,” he said, as they hugged; Vlad smiled.
   “I love you, too, my boy,” Vlad replied, and a tear rolled down his cheek.