Dracula wanted to believe the woman before him was his late wife, alive and well…but he couldn't allow himself to do so. Not yet. Not without performing a test, to be sure. As carefully and gently as he could, he leaned down and laid an ear against the woman's chest. He expected silence, but listened to the sound of a slow, steady heartbeat instead. If he himself had a beating heart, it would've broken at that moment. Slowly, he stood upright again and allowed his tears of disappointment to roll down his cheeks. He was so deep in the depths of his sorrow, he forgot about the other onlookers in the room.
Mavis slowly approached her heartbroken father and placed a hand upon his shoulder. She watched as another tear rolled down his cheek before she stole another quick peek at the look-alike's face and asked, "Dad?"
Dracula quickly wiped away his tears, reached up to his shoulder, and grabbed Mavis's hand before turning to face her. "Yes, my little voodoo doll?" he replied in a solemn tone of voice as he looked upon his daughter's face.
"I thought you said Mom was killed?" Mavis inquired as she looked into her father's bloodshot eyes.
"She was," he answers her while temporarily looking away from her face. He didn't want her to see that he was about to start crying again.
"Then, why is she lying in that bed?"
Dracula took a deep breath and tried to be strong. However, he replied with a shaking voice, "Do not believe your eyes…for they are deceiving you. I know you believe that this woman is your mother, but she isn't. She has a heartbeat. She is a human."
He could see the confusion Mavis must've felt and watched as tears started to form in his daughter's eyes. Mavis refused to believe what her father had just told her. Tears started to flow down her cheeks and she buried her face into Dracula's chest before she asked, "Why does she look like Mom?"
The vampire father wrapped his cape around his daughter and tried to give her a reassuring embrace. "I don't know, Mavis…I honestly don't know," he answered her in an uncertain tone of voice. He started to rub the top of her head as he allowed her to cry.
Johnny and the other onlookers listened to everything that was said between Drac and Mavis. They could plainly see the sadness upon the vampires' faces. Johnny wanted to say something sympathetic, but he really didn't know what. Instead, he stood there and thought things over. 'Why does that woman look like Martha?' he thought as he looked from his vampire friends over to where the woman lay in her bed. He thought about his travels and tried to remember all of the different information he had learned about various cultures and religions. Suddenly, he got an idea! 'If monsters actually exist, even though most humans believe they are a myth…then maybe…' he thought.
He cleared his throat to try and get everyone's attention. When that didn't work, he finally spoke, "Excuse me…I don't mean to interrupt, but I think I know why she resembles Martha." He watched as the vampires stopped embracing and everyone else in the room started to gather around him.
After everyone was finished gathering around him; Wanda was the first to speak, "What do you mean?"
When Johnny saw that he finally had the vampires' attention as well; he started to inform everyone about his idea, "Perhaps this woman is the reincarnation of Martha."
Confused; Frank asked, "Reincarnation? What is that?"
"While I was on my travels… I learned about all sorts of differences in culture, style, architecture, technology, and religious beliefs."
Wayne jumped in and pressed, "Yeah, so?"
Johnny gave Wayne a quick, stern look for interrupting him before he continued, "I learned about reincarnation while I was traveling through various countries. Apparently, there is more than one religion that believes reincarnation exists. Reincarnation is the belief that when someone passes away, their soul begins a new life in a new body. Some religions believe this new body may be in human or animal form, depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions. If the soul is reborn in a human form, some religions believe it will be reborn as the opposite sex of its previous life. In other words, if the person was a woman, then she will become a man in her next life. Other religions believe this new body will look exactly like the old one and will be the same sex. It is also believed that the reincarnated person may or may not have memories of their past lives."
After listening to her fiancé's theory; Mavis looked up at her father and asked, "Do you think it's possible, Dad? Do you think this woman could be Mom's reincarnation?"
The vampire looks toward the woman's bed again and thinks, 'If it is possible, I hope she has memories of Mavis and I.' After having that thought; he finally looks down at his daughter and replies, "I don't know…maybe? I suppose it's a possibility…even though I've never heard of a vampire being reincarnated before."
Johnny starts to feel a little hopeful and asks, "Why couldn't it be possible? There are many things in this world that have yet to be discovered! Miracles are happening everyday. Many people think monsters don't exist. Yet…here you all stand before me. If you all exist, then why can't that woman be Martha's reincarnation?"
Frank takes a moment to think about everything Johnny had just said. He grabs Johnny in a headlock and gives his hair a quick tussle before saying, "You make a good point, little buddy!" He hears a few muffled sounds, feels some struggling, and sees that his little human friend is starting to turn blue. Figuring out that he was making Johnny uncomfortable; he lets him go and adds, "Oops, sorry."
The now 24-year-old man runs a hand through his hair and catches his breath before replying, "Don't worry about it and thanks."
After listening to the entire conversation, Wayne asks, "So, we have a theory as to why she looks like Martha…what now?"
Dracula steals another quick peek at the beautiful woman lying in the bed before returning his gaze upon Wayne and answering, "Someone needs to stay with her until she wakes up. We need to find out who she is, where she comes from, and whether or not she has any family or friends."
Mavis steps in and volunteers, "I'll stay with her." She watches as Helga moves toward the bed and begins to hope she'll be allowed to stay.
After Helga finishes approaching the bed; the witch lays two fingers against the side of the woman's neck and checks for a pulse. When she feels that the woman's pulse is still a little weak; she informs Mavis, "I don't think that would be a wise idea. If a monster is the first thing she sees when she wakes up…she might go into shock. We certainly wouldn't want that happening."
"That's true. She needs to see another human," Dracula agrees with a little disappointment in his voice while turning to face his human friend, "Johnny, do you mind staying with her until she wakes up?"
"No. I don't mind at all. With your permission, I'll try to find out who she is," Johnny replies with certainty.
"I'll also continue to monitor her progress from time to time," Helga adds while gazing up from her patient, to look at the human and vampire.
After placing a hand on Johnny's shoulder; the vampire answers his friends, "Johnny…you have my permission to find out who she is. However, if she starts to ask you questions, be careful what you tell her. If she asks where she is, you have my permission to tell her the truth. Just try to do so in a way that won't alarm her. If you are able to find out any information about her, please come to me and share it with me." After speaking to Johnny; Dracula then turns his attention to Helga, "Helga…if anything changes with her condition, you are to inform me straight away."
"Sure thing, Grandpa," Johnny ensures his future father-in-law while sporting a mischievous grin.
Helga replies, "Yes, your Excellence."
"Good. Come. Let's allow our new guest to rest," Dracula commands of his friends while gesturing towards the room's door. As quietly as possible; all of the monsters and witches leave the room in a single file as Johnny takes a seat beside the woman's bed.
After everyone except Johnny left the room; the two vampires, two creations, and two werewolves walked in the direction of the hotel's lobby while the three witch sisters walked in the opposite direction and began talking amongst each other.
"I don't understand, Helga," Bertha started to inquire in a curious tone of voice, "if we could've easily made a real healing potion…then, why did you have us make a fake one out of Near Blood and firefly essence?"
"Because, that poor woman needed either real blood or a blood substitute to heal a lot quicker than she would have without it. The firefly essence was just for show," Helga replies while giving her sister a knowing glance, "We needed to change the color of the blood substitute and way to make her body glow. Nothing works better for that, than firefly essence."
"I don't understand. Why would a human need blood to heal quicker?" Agatha asked while signaling her broom to come to her.
"While I was examining her," Helga started to explain while coming to a halt and gathering her sisters into a huddle, "I noticed that her blood had a strange scent to it. It had the scent of human blood mixed with some monster blood. I gave her a fake potion, because I didn't want the others to know she is unique. There is still a lot I need to learn about her, because I believe she is a mixture of human and…" She leans in and whispers her guess to her sisters after she notices a suit of armor eavesdropping nearby. She watched as her sisters' mouths dropped open from surprise.
Agatha and Bertha's eyes widened from surprise before they asked simultaneously, "Really?! WOW! Shouldn't we tell the others?"
"No. Not right now. If my guess is correct, she is the first of her kind. Plus, after everything she's just been through... I feel it is not my secret to share. She should be allowed to share her secret with everyone, when she feels ready to do so. We want her to feel welcome here. Not threatened by our presence."
Voicing her opinion; Bertha adds, "It looks like everyone else would've noticed the strange scent of her blood as well. I wonder why no one else did. Heck, I didn't even notice!"
"I guess it was because everyone was too busy showing concern for her." With her guess, Helga motioned towards the janitorial supplies closet and added, "Come. Drac expects us to get back to work. We'll finish discussing this later."
With that being said; the three witches gathered the supplies that they needed to do their various jobs and went back to work.
"Honey?"
She cradled a young baby in her arms as she watched a tall man with black hair, blue eyes, and handsome features approach. She quickly stole a peek around the room and watched as the fire spread. Instinctively; she cradled the baby closer to her chest.
She felt the touch of the man's hands against hers as he replied, "Go and hide. I'll take care of this." She looked into his eyes and could sense the concern and uncertainty they held inside of them. Before he turned to walk away; she watched as he mouthed the words "I love you". She watched with a sense of dread as he walked away.
He had told her to go and hide…but where was she going to go? The whole place was on fire and surrounded by angry villagers. Her only option was to hide in the baby's room and hope she could somehow escape through its window. She dashed there as fast as she could. Unfortunately; when she arrived inside of the baby's room, she found out many intruders had already entered the room through the window she had planned to escape from. She cradled the baby closer to her chest and watched in horror as they approached. Her instincts told her to put down the baby and start to fight. But, if she put the baby down…someone could harm it! The crowd continued to move in menacingly. She decided to beg, "Please! Just leave us alone! We don't mean anyone harm!"
She heard someone from the crowd yell, "Vampires! You all must be destroyed!"
Again she pleaded, "Please! Go away! Leave us alone!" She felt the tears as they started to roll down her cheeks. She watched as the crowd surrounded her. There was really nowhere to go now. The baby started to cry. She clutched the baby even closer still to her chest.
Suddenly; she felt a jolt of pain from behind as someone stabbed her in the back with a sharp object. The pain continued until it exited through her chest. She didn't want to look, but she forced herself to. The tip of a stake was barely sticking out of her chest. Her crimson blood was dripping from its tip. Her eyes went wide from the sight. She screamed out of fear rather than pain. She realized her death has come. She started to fall towards the ground. Even as she fell, she still held the baby close...
She woke up from the nightmare with a sudden gasp. Slowly; she sat up in her bed and placed a hand against her forehead as she thought, "There's that dream again. Why do I keep having it? Why is it always the same dream?" She took a couple of minutes to calm herself down; before she looked around the room she was in. She noticed the stone walls, the suit of armor standing in the corner, and the beautiful red covers made of silk on her bed. "Where am I?" she thought before her eyes finally rested upon a young man with red hair, sitting and sleeping in a chair beside her bed.