She should have known he was dangerous from the moment she found out he was a Romanian drug lord. She should have found a way out of Romania a lot sooner, but finding an easy way to escape his clutches was impossible for her since she had no money, car, friends, or family. She was completely alone, running from the only man she thought she had loved.
Knowing there was a forest at the edge of town; she decided to try to leave on foot, hoping she could escape before her ex-boyfriend realized she was gone. She knew it was foolish of her to leave town in broad daylight, but she hoped the cover of the forest would be enough to hide her and keep him from searching for her, since most of the town's people were afraid to go within 100 feet of it. Unfortunately, there would be no such luck. Her ex-boyfriend and a gang of his closest buddies would catch up to her and make her suffer for her "betrayal" and for the secret she tried to hide from him.
After the last of his friends was finished taking advantage of her in the worst way a man can take advantage of a woman; she was left lying bruised and battered in torn clothing upon the cold, wet ground. She wanted to get up and run for her life, but she was too weak to move. She tried to watch through blackened eyes as her ex and his friends laughed at her. She wanted to scream out in pain as her ex grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to look up at his face, but she was too weak to inhale the breath needed to do so. Instead, she felt his breath and spit upon her face as she listened to his threatening words.
"You shouldn't have left me, you little bitch," her ex-boyfriend said to her in his thick Romanian accent, "We could've had something great together. You had to go and ruin it, didn't you? Now, you'll pay with your life. Come on, boys…it's time to end this." A hard slug to her face was her "reward" after he finished saying this.
After he released her hair; she used the last of her strength to curl into a fetal position as she waited for the pain that would surely come. She watched through blurred vision as her ex and his friends approached her menacingly. She lay there helplessly as they started to kick her furiously. She began wishing for death to come and end the humiliation she felt. "God, please allow me to die quickly," she thought as they tried to murder her.
She could feel her heart rate start to slow. They must've cracked a few of her ribs; it hurt too much to breathe. Her vision started to fade in and out as she tried to look up at the Sun for what she felt would be her last time doing so. She felt her mind and body start to go numb. Suddenly, she couldn't feel any more pain. Just when she thought the end had come for her…she heard a loud, booming voice shout, "Get away from her!" before she also heard a terrifying roar.
"Holy shit! Let's get out of here! Run!"
She heard the many horrified screams of her ex and his friends. She lay there as a broken, bloody mess while she heard someone chase her enemies away. A moment or two passed before she felt two sets of friendly hands begin to check her over for fatal injuries. Their touches were more welcomed; compared to what she had just been through.
"It's okay now, Miss," she heard one of her saviors say, "I've scared them away. You are safe now. No more harm will come to you."
'Some angels have come to save me' she thought as she tried to look upon their faces with swollen-shut eyes. Everything she saw was nothing more than a blur. Inhaling a painful breath of air; she used it to weakly reply, "Please help me."
Had her eyes not been so badly blackened, she would've seen that it wasn't angels who came to her rescue, but two strange creatures instead. She winced as she felt herself lifted by two strong arms.
"Frankie…what are you doing?" she heard a woman's irritating voice say.
"She needs our help, Eunice. We must take her to the hotel," Frankie replied.
"We can't do that. You know Drac won't allow it," Eunice stated with concern in her voice as she looked upon the woman's bruised face.
"What other choice is there? We can't just leave her here. Those men might come back to finish murdering her…or even worse…she might die. We have to help her. Once we explain to Drac what has happened to her, I'm sure he'll understand and let her stay."
A frustrated sigh escaped Eunice's mouth before she answered, "You're right, honey…let's hurry. She probably doesn't have much time left."
The young woman felt Frank hold her close to his chest and begin to run. "Don't worry, Miss…everything is going to be fine…we promise," he told her in between exhausted breaths of cold, Winter air.
His kind words and the sound of two pairs of feet running would be the last things the woman heard before she slipped into a blackened world of unconsciousness.
Later, back at the hotel…
Frank and Eunice paced back and forth in front of Room 613's door. Their mood became very anxious as they waited for Helga to come back out of the room; to tell them how horrible the young woman's injuries actually were. They were so concerned; they didn't notice that the wolf man and his wife were approaching.
Noticing their strange behavior and walking up to the two creations of Science; Wayne greeted Frank as he approached, "Hey, Frankie! What's going on?" He watched as Frank faked a friendly smile and then waited for a reply. When Frank didn't answer right away, he asked, "Well? You going to answer me or not?"
Panicky; Eunice stepped up to the werewolf from behind and placed a hand over his mouth before saying, "Shut up, please…Drac mustn't find out! He'll ban us from ever returning to the hotel, if he finds out!" Slowly, she turned him around to face her and after seeing his confused expression; she slowly removed her hand from his mouth and gave him a pleading look. Her desperate plea must've worked; for Wayne fell silent.
Sensing the urgency in Eunice's voice and seeing the worried look upon Frank's face; Wanda asked in a whisper, "Why? What's going on?"
Answering the werewolf's wife in a returned whisper; Frank cautiously replied, "Eunice and I have brought another human into the hotel."
Simultaneously, Wayne and Wanda yelled, "WHAT!? Are you two crazy!?" while looking at the two creations in disbelief. The horrified look on their faces said it all. They knew Dracula wouldn't like having another human inside of his hotel.
"Ssshhh, ssshhh, ssshhh!" Frankie replied as he waved his hands in a way that told his friends they needed to lower their voices, "We had no choice. We had to bring her here. There was nowhere else for us to take her."
Since Frank was getting ready to explain; he didn't notice that there were three other hotel occupants walking up behind him. "Who did you have to bring here?" a familiar Romanian-accented voice asked from behind. Wayne, Wanda, and Eunice's eyes were glued to Dracula as he approached with Mavis and Johnny by his side. One look upon their faces and anyone could tell something was wrong.
Oh crap! How long has he been here? After hearing Dracula's voice; Frank's eyes went wide and he swallowed a nervous gulp before he turned around to face the undead king, Mavis, and Johnny. A nervous chuckle escaped him before he replied, "Hey, guys! How ya' doing?" as a guilty grin spread upon his face.
Dracula gave Frank a glare that told everyone he was in no mood for nonsense. Examining their faces; he could see that Frank, Eunice, Wayne, and Wanda were hiding something from him. Their eyes were wide and their expressions were laced with guilt. With more sternness in his voice this time; he repeated himself, "I'll ask again…who did you have to bring here?"
Knowing that her husband could be somewhat of a coward at times; Eunice bravely let Dracula in on the secret, "Drac…don't be angry with us…but we had to bring another human into the hotel."
Mavis and Johnny gave each other a look that read "uh oh…they're in trouble"; before looking at Dracula's face. They knew they were right when they saw his eyes start to glow red. Noticing the glowing red eyes too; Frank and Eunice grabbed each other in a reassuring embrace, preparing themselves for what was about to come.
A vicious snarl escaped Dracula's mouth before he yelled, "YOU WHAT!? HOW COULD YOU!?" He started to move towards them menacingly. He watched with smug satisfaction as they started to cower.
Noticing Frank and Eunice's uncomfortable expressions and feeling embarrassed because of her father's overreaction; Mavis stepped in to calm her father down. Holding her hands against his chest and demanding in a soothing voice; she said, "Dad! Relax! I'm sure they have a perfect explanation."
Johnny stepped in too and teased, "Yeah, old man. Give them a chance to explain."
Shortly after he and his friends attended the human world's "Monster Festival"; Dracula discussed it with all of the hotel's occupants and they all agreed that no more humans should be brought to the hotel. They needed to know for sure that humans could really accept them, before they would feel comfortable in allowing more humans to come visit. Dracula couldn't help feeling angry, since Frank and Eunice had broken the agreement. Still, he knew his little Mavis was right. He had to be fair and give them a chance to explain.
Taking a moment to calm himself down; he finally answered Mavis's request. In an exasperated voice, he replied, "Oh, alright…let's hear it." He crossed his arms across his chest and gave the creations a stern look as he waited.
Frank was the first to speak, "We were on our way here to the hotel for Mavis's 121st birthday celebration, when we happened by a group of men trying to murder an innocent, young woman."
Eunice stepped in and added, "Frank scared the men away. After he was finished scaring the men away, we started to check her over for fatal injuries. As we were doing so, she asked for our help."
Frank continued, "We decided that we couldn't just leave her there to die, so we brought her here."
Dracula's gaze softened as he listened to their explanation. "How many men would you say there was?" he asked in a curious tone of voice.
"Six. However, them trying to murder her isn't the worst part. We think they…" Frank looks at the ground solemnly and a single tear slides down his cheek before he continues, "…took horrible advantage of her."
Dracula felt a sudden rage appear inside of him as he remembered the night his beloved Martha was murdered. Disgusted at what he just heard, he asked, "You mean those men probably raped her?!" When he saw Eunice give him a gentle nod; he continued, "And bastards like that call US monsters!" He knew men could be cruel at times, but to rape a woman was the second worst crime he felt men could commit. (Murder would always top rape, in his opinion). Even though he hasn't met the woman yet, Dracula had the sudden urge to go out and hunt those sick men down, making sure none of them lived to hurt her or another innocent person again.
With a worried tone of voice, Wanda replies, "Oh goodness…the poor dear. Where is she?"
Knowing the answer before Frank or Eunice could reply; Mavis and Johnny exchanged a concerned look between them. After they were finished doing so; Mavis pointed towards the room's door and asked, "She's in there...isn't she?"
"Yes. Helga is in there with her, checking her over to see how bad her injuries are," Frank answers her.
"That's good news. So, has either of you found out what her name is?" Jonathan inquires, knowing everyone was just as curious about her name as he was.
"No. She fell into unconsciousness while we were bringing her here and she has been unconscious ever since," Eunice answers him.
After taking a steady breath to calm himself down; Dracula approaches the two creations and gives them a brief hug of pride. He was extremely proud of his friends and he needed for them to know it. "Don't worry yourselves any longer," he assures them while looking from face to face, "You made the right choice in bringing her here." He watched as their expressions became more relaxed.
After listening to the entire conversation and seeing that everything was okay between Dracula, Frank, and Eunice; Wayne asks, "So, what do we do now?"
"We wait," Dracula answers him with the voice of a leader.
Two hours pass…
The seven friends were still waiting outside of the woman's room, when Helga finally came out of it. She gave Frank and Eunice an inquiring look that read "does he know?" once she saw Dracula was with them. Eunice gave her a simple nod as a reply.
Mavis breaks the temporary silence by asking, "How is she?"
Once all eyes were upon her; Helga replied, "While I was changing her clothing, I noticed that she has several cuts and bruises all over her face and body. Three of her ribs feel as if they are cracked. Not only that…she is very weak…barely clinging to life."
"What are her chances of survival?" Jonathan asks with a worried tone of voice.
"None, if my sisters don't hurry up and bring me the potion I have requested from them."
It was as if the other two witches had heard her, for at that moment, Agatha and Bertha zoomed towards the waiting monsters and human on their brooms. Bertha was carrying a vial of glowing, green potion in her hand.
"It's about time," Helga said sarcastically as she watched her sisters dismount their brooms and walk towards her with the potion. Giving her sisters a stern look and taking the potion from Bertha before she returned her attention towards Dracula and his friends; she demanded, "Come. There isn't a moment to lose. We must give her this potion immediately."
Dracula and his friends followed the witch sisters into the room. When they all gathered around the young woman's bed, they could see what Helga had meant. The poor woman's face looked horrible and her breathing was very labored. They watched as Helga gently woke the woman up, lifted her head, opened her mouth, and started to pour the potion down her throat. The woman started to choke at first, but then realized she was receiving something to drink. They watched as she weakly began to drink from the vial and tried to open her blackened eyes.
Once the woman had drunk the entire potion; Helga gently laid her head back down onto her pillow. After doing so, Helga then looked up at Dracula and his friends. "The potion should take effect any second now," she informed them.
Sure enough, in a matter of seconds, the woman's body started to glow a light shade of green. Everyone watched as her cuts and bruises started to fade away. They heard soft popping sounds as her cracked ribs sealed back together. Once the glow faded away, they were able to look upon the woman resting soundly in her bed.
She looked to be in her mid-thirties. She had long, dark black hair. Once they gazed upon her face, however, many gasped. Not only was she beautiful, she looked very familiar.
"Impossible. It can't be…" Dracula thought as he gazed upon the woman's face in total disbelief. He had to get a closer look. He finished approaching the bed. He carefully bent over the woman's form and gently brushed her cheek with his hand. He continued to bend over her, until his face was a few inches from hers. "Martha?" he asked the sleeping woman as tears filled his eyes.
