Avery spent all the way up to the end of new years with the Fentons who gave her nothing, but love and affection along with Dan's over protectiveness, despite after only just knowing her for a short while in Vlad's mansion.
However, he had enough waiting and was wanting to know if this child knew more than he had expected, so she was sat down in Jasmine's room with both siblings present ready to get the girl to confess.
"Now, Avery. I want you tell me what exactly happens when you're at home with your uncle? We won't tell as it'll only be a secret between us three, I can promise you that" Jasmine asked in a gentle tone as she crouch down midway showing no signs of forcing the girl to speak, but nothing seemed to be said other than an anxious look and a turn of her head.
"If you do I'll give you a cookie, a plush and a all day worth of cuddles" Dan quickly stepped in bringing up a good deal for the kid to accept, it instantly got her attention, but still something seems to be keeping her from spilling the beans. "What is keeping you from telling us?" He asked in a gently tone sitting himself down beside her on Jasmine's bed, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"I.. T-the.." she started to stutter struggling to saying what was wanting to escape from her body, like it was chained down slowly breaking through.
"The what? What are you so afraid of that is keeping you from telling us?" He asked again as Jasmine allowed him to do most of the talking due to the bond he created with this little girl. Avery gulped as her eyes and head began to glance around the room, as of searching for something or someone.
".. I don't wanna.." she muttered crawling down and hid underneath the bed as if scared to keep her mouth shut from exposing any dark secrets she may know. They sighed as Dan got up and got down on both knees on the floor beside the bed and peeked underneath, seeing her quivering like a scared little puppy.
"It isn't normal to be acting like this. Do you think Vlad might know anything about this?" jasmine suggested only knowing the girl through the old man and his doppelgänger, but it could be a good start since they both knew Avery's uncle. So one of them are bound to know something dark about him.
"You don't say.." Dan sarcastically responded sitting himself up on his knees looking up at his sister who had both of her hands place on both sides of her waist, silently glaring at him. "What? You hardly know anything about her, but I sorta do in a way. So I'm going to talk to the doppelgänger and find out what's happening here. Leaving you in charge of the little one whilst i am gone" he added sharing his idea not wanting to bring the child along incase things don't exactly go in his favour. Avery remained hidden under the bed refusing to get out no matter what they tried to do, not even cookies.
"Fine. But don't be getting yourself into trouble or we'll both be in big trouble" she responded taking the responsibility until some understanding comes to light, and maybe some lore on what really happened to Avery's mother.
Later on that night Dan snuck out in his ghost form to find the one he wanted to have a very detail conversation without anyone butting in this time. Phasing through the roof he managed to easily find Vlad's doppelgänger in the library searching around the bookshelves for something.
"There you are. We need to talk" Dan instructed in a serious tone causing Vlad to turn around rather startled at first before seeing that it was just him, but something was up as he loomed over him as if he had done something to upset him in a way.
"I'm kinda busy, but I guess I can spare you some of my time for a little chat" he was nervous not exactly wanting to fight knowing how quickly Dan would win with zero effort if he so desirably wanted to. As Dan went back to his human form he guided Vlad to a more private area of the library and stopped instantly turning to face him, showing no signs of letting them walk away without juicing at least some valuable information out of that brain of his. "Clearly something is bothering you, what is the matter?" he asked hoping that whatever was bothering Dan wasn't going to ruin this little friendship they had going on, even if it can be hard to come to terms with it, but they're slowly managing to cope.
"It's about the girl, and don't lie to me either. You clearly share some sort of bond with her, and I need to know why she's so scared to tell anyone a dark secret on why she's so smart, independant and lets not forget to talk about how her 'uncle' hires ghosts from who knows where to watch over her, whispering to the girl's while using the missing mother's voice!?" Dan exclaimed staring to becoming mad point, and poked his index finger several times at Vlad's chest not fooled by any excuse he might conjure up next, but he too seemed quite surprised especially by the fact that he too cared about the child despite it not being one of his own.
"Her father is a close friend of mine-well other me of course, but Vlad gives her to me to care for, but she has told me a little about her uncle and why she can't really talk about him. But judging by your reaction she has chosen to hide, am I correct?" Vlad answered as if he too had been through the similar situation with Avery, but even if the girl is kind and very forgiving, she too can be quite a stubborn child who is easily manipulated to keep her mouth shut under any means. Dan went silent for a moment seeing that he wasn't the only one Avery has done this to, making him even more determined to find out what exactly is happening with her so called uncle.
"Then tell me! Tell me why she's so scared to tell me? I need to know so I can actually help her" Dan was becoming impatient, desperate to know more making Vlad sigh knowing he had made a promise to not tell, but he knew it was for the girl's own good.
"She mentioned a cellar that Kai keeps locked tightly with 3 metal locks along with special magical veil that keeps everyone, including ghosts like yourself from entering. I don't know why, but she is afraid of acting up.. I think she said monsters lurked in there or something like that, and if she were to go down there they would gobble her up. It's an easy little trick most adults use to stop their children from becoming curious in places they shouldn't be" Vlad replied becoming rather puzzled and curious himself to know what he's hiding down there, but nothing dangerous came to mind unless it's where he keeps his treasured belongings knowing Avery is too scared to enter.
"A cellar? And he locks it up? He clearly is hiding something down there, but another thing. Is he human?" Dan asked curiously feeling a feeling in his gut to go down there and find out for himself, but gathering a little more information on Kai wouldn't do any harm, right?
"No, he is not" Vlad was confident with his instant reply like he knew this guy and if he isn't exactly a human, then what is he? A ghost? "I have recently learned that he has came from a different realm from ours, it's full of different species including ghosts.. How should I put it? He is a living being having ghost like qualities like yourself, but his kind can die once their core has either ruptured, dies out, eaten by another similar being or stabbed with a specialised weapon capable of killing them. The girl is exactly the same, but is far much stronger than Kai in ways I can't even comprehend" He added on as he lowered his voice not wanting anyone else who could be nearby to hear this secret information. Dan was stunned completely taken by surprise knowing that not Kai, but Avery shared something in common with most of the ghosts despite actually being alive unlike the dead who cannot do things what living beings can. Unlike them Dan wasn't exactly dead and very much alive.
"I guess that makes things even more interesting. Now all that's left is where exactly he keeps the darn cellar keys? I need to get in there whenever I can, and take a proper look at these 'monsters' for myself" Dan said to himself while his hand rest on the bottom of his own chin thinking in great thought of what to do, even though Avery could be over reacting with the monster part so that wasn't a believable theory of what could really be lurking down within that cellar.
"That is very simple. Every time I went to visit, he would take the keys away from the key hanger that he usually kept hanged up on the wall next to the cellar door, and puts them in his back pocket. So I advise you go when he doesn't expect you. Cause once the locks are undone the veil will lower its defences allowing you to go through, and that is all I got on him so far" Vlad responded giving even more detail on how he could easily slip into the cellar, but it's going to take a huge amount of stealth as this Kai guy was no ordinary threat, but something far more dangerous than any normal ghost he had fought before. "I suggest never letting him know you're there as he can be very hostile with his guests, but I think you've already got that covered" he added entrusting Dan with this very delicate task to find out what really lurks down there, but neither of them was ready for what is about to be revealed?
"It will go smoothly if I go on my own, so don't tell anyone what I'm about to do unless I don't come back. Not even Danny or I'll thrown him down that cellar head first myself" Dam stated making it pretty clear as Vlad gave him a understanding nod ending their little interrogation, allowing Dan to transform and headed out the same way he originally had came, using most of the intel he got to locate Kai's place and took his precious time get the whole place laid out in his head, just incase things were to go South.
However, he arrived just in time as Kai had finished locking the cellar up with what appeared to be blood on his hands, he watched him go into the kitchen, washing both his hands and keys until they were clean of blood before putting them back in their rightful place.
"Blood? Could he be some sort of butcher?" Dan thought not immediately seeing the full picture even if he was invisible and impossible to be spotted by Kai, but he had a gut feeling and remained on watch for any strange behaviour.
"With the kid out of the way, things sure have become a lot easier without any messes all over the place" Kai could be heard complaining about Avery as most of her toys and stuff has been put away neatly as he cracked his back on the way upstairs ready to call it a night. Dan saw this a perfect opportunity to swipe the keys and descended down until his feet touched the solid wooden floor in front of the keys.
"I need to be more patient.. I'm going to give him a few minutes until I take these fucking keys and open that darn cellar" Dan thought still hearing his footsteps sluggishly move about until the sound of a singular thump could be heard from the bedroom upstairs. He leaned against the wall passing the time glancing down and messing around with his ghostly sharp claws until everything went silent and became visible again, as he moved his hand near the keys and hucked them onto his claw as he slowly began to lift them off from the hook. Once off he casually went around the corner and stopped directly in front of the cellar door, his eyes fixed on the three locks with their own individual lock. "Having different keys for all three just makes it ever more suspicious, but I could be wrong" he thought again starting with the first lock failing to push the first key of three keys in until moving to the neck and carefully slid it inside, a perfect fit as he started to slowly turn it before hearing a light click unlocking 1 out of 3 locks, pulling it off placing it on the floor, flipping the latch off until moving to the second one doing the same for the last two locks until finally lowering the veil barrier that preventing him from entering inside. He took a deep breath in and grabbed the cellar's door handle slowly opening it as it creaked open allowing his eyes to stare down into the dark abyss that dwelled below. The atmosphere was intense nothing he had ever experienced before, and for a first he was the one intimidated and scared to even take a step down into the cellar, but the longer he stared the more intense it became. "This is pathetic! Why can't I move my body? It's like I'm glued stuck" Dan thought confused on what was happening to his body the longer the darkness dwelled as anything could jump out and take him under without a challenge.
However, his body soon overcame the effects and regained the opportunity to move again, but this time he wasted no time and descended into the cellar step by step. The deeper he went the dark it became forcing Dan to form a glowing green ball that floating around beside him giving some sort of light, even though it wasn't necessarily needed as he could see perfectly fine in the dark.