Mavis had grown up into an attractive Gothic beauty over the past two centuries, a hundred and seventeen years old going on a hundred and eighteen year old in about tomorrow. She was in her bedroom staring at the mirror, despite not having a reflection, apparently not happy about the events going on tonight for she was busy practicing the argument that would soon be coming on between her and her father.
"Dad! You said that when I turned 118, I can go out into the world like every other adult that gets to come and go from this hotel." Mavis then did an impersonation of her father, "But Mavy-Wavy, it's not safe. Bleh, bleh, bleh." She reverted back to herself while walking up the wall to the ceiling. "Dad, thirty years ago you promised. I remember, we were both eating mice and you specifically said that you gave me your word."
Outside the hallway, the elevator doors parted open, and Dracula stepped out to walk down the hall to reach his daughter's room. As he did so, the shrunken heads hanging on the doorknobs all sensed a presence and began talking their famous catchphrase, "Do not disturb" multiple times.
As Dracula paid no mind to them, he walked past one of the witch maids who smiled adoringly to her boss, greeting, "Good morning, Your Eminence."
"Maid, clean up this room!" One of the shrunken heads shouted, which caused the witch to frown in annoyance.
The Count stopped at Mavis' door, in which the female shrunken head at the door spoke to him in a snobby voice, "Oh, it's you! Glad you can make it."
"Is she up yet?" Dracula asked.
"Oh, she's up," replied the shrunken head. "She's ready to go. And by go, I mean go! As in go check the world out. What you gonna do? What you gonna say?"
"I got it covered," Dracula reassured the shrunken head. "Please, just do your job."
He turned the doorknob and opened the door, sticking his head in and smiled, "Good morning, Mavy-Wavy!" Dracula walked in to the center of the room, looking around for his daughter. "Happy birthday, my little mouse!"
Mavis appeared in front of him, upside down and nearly face-to-face with her dad, and droned, "Thank you, Dad. I know it's my birthday."
"I have so much fun planned. Whoo-hoo! But first, we go catch some scorpions together." Dracula smiled as he playfully pinched his daughter's cheek. "Just the two of us. Yes, deadums?"
"Dad!" Mavis interrupted, while she jumped off the ceiling and got back on the floor again, her back facing her father. Her face looking serious as much as the tone of her voice. "Please let me speak. There's something we have to talk about."
Dracula kept smiling as he replied, "You want to go out into the world. You can."
"Aha!" Mavis shouted, whirling around with a smirk as if she caught him in a lie. "I knew you were gonna say." She paced back and forth as she explained, "But, Dad, you know that I know that a Dracula's word is sacred. That our trust is the core of our..." Mavis stopped, as she let what father said sink, and looked at him in surprised confusion, "Wait, what?"
"I said you can go," Dracula repeated.
Mavis crossed her arms, not believing his words. "You're just playing with me."
"No, no, no," Dracula slightly waved his hands as he explained, "You're old enough to drive a hearse now, you're old enough to make your own choices. You can go."
Suddenly, Mavis' face brightened up in a happy joyful smile. "Holy rabies! HOLY RABIES!" She quickly embraced her father in a tight hug, then rushed inside the closet, and then came out now sporting a Hawaiian t-shirt, acting like a jacket over her ensemble, and placed a straw hat on her head. Giggling in delight, Mavis carried her suitcase and zoomed past a confused Dracula for the window. She transformed into her bat form, close enough to exiting the window with her suitcase.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop, wait a second, sweet fangs." Dracula stopped her in time, as a confused Mavis turned around to face him. "Where are you going?"
"Oh, well...I'm going to Paradise," Mavis shrugged, still flapping her wings. "And this is just some stuff that I thought I would need."
"Paradise?" Dracula asked.
Transforming back to her regular form, Mavis took out an old black and white postcard of Hawaii, with the title 'Paradise.' "Yeah, you know, it's that place out there where you and mom met. Auntie Wanda says you two were just like 'zing!'"
"I don't know from zing. Where did you find that?"
"In one of your drawers," she admitted, but asked, "Why won't you ever tell me about how you met?"
"It's...complicated," Dracula hesitated before he confessed, and then explained what Paradise is really called. "And it's not called Paradise. It's actually Hawaii."
"Ha-what-what?" Mavis asked in confusion to the name.
Dracula's eyes widened that his own daughter didn't understand the name, but then got right to the point as he explained, "Look, Honey, I know you're excited, but everyone has gone to great lengths to come see you on your birthday."
A strong sadness came from Mavis as she turned around and slumped on her suitcase, transforming into a bat, as she sighed, "I know...they always do. Aren't I getting a little old for these parties? I love them but...I really want to see new things. Maybe meet somebody my age."
Her bat face because all pouty, her eyes grew bigger and her lower lip quivering.
"Come on. No, no. Don't do that," Dracula pleaded, "Don't give me the pouty bat face."
Seeing her not give up, Dracula gave up at last. "Okay, there's a human village not far from here past the cemetery. You can go there and be back here in like thirty minutes or so. It should plenty for your first time."
"Well, it's not Haweewee..." Mavis sighed, but then her smile brightened up, "But it's still technically out there!" She grabbed her suitcase and flew back to her closet. "Okay, okay, okay!"
As Dracula watched her with a secret sad frown, Mavis put away her Hawaiian jacket and placed her suitcase back in her closet, before stepping out of the closet in her normal form again.
Smiling, Mavis gave her dad a big hug. "Thanks for trusting me."
Dracula smiled and embraced his daughter back. "Of course, my little one." But then his smile felt a little lower for some odd reason. "I gave you my word."
All of a sudden the door swung open, startling Dracula and surprising Mavis. In walked Frank, Eunice, Hank, Wayne, Wanda, Murray, Pedro, Griffin, Blobby and Wendy.
"Hi, guys!" Mavis greeted her uncles and aunts and cousins.
"Happy birthday!" cheered Hank, Pedro and Wendy.
"Thanks, you guys!" Mavis's smile grew brighter.
"You excited about tomorrow?" Frank asked.
"Not as excited as I am right now," Mavis told them the good news, "Your not gonna believe this, but Dad is letting me go out on my own to see a human village!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone began arguing as they tried to question Dracula what in the world was he thinking.
"Excuse me? Drac, have you lost it?" Eunice broke through the crowd and walked towards Mavis, while berating the Count, and brought Mavis in an awkward hug. "Letting your own daughter out there with those horrible humans you tell us about? That's why you built this place." She let go of Mavis and shouted at the top of her lungs, "They hate us! They're vicious! AND THEY'RE VERY LOUD!"
"And so are you," Pedro whispered, and the look on Dracula's face told he was just as irritated with Eunice's loud mouth as he was.
"Auntie Eunice, maybe they've changed," Mavis defended herself calmly. "I'm just gonna fly down the street and see how it goes."
The adults and their kids didn't object to her plan because they loved and respected Mavis as if she were a part of their own family.
"Well...if you say so," Hank said, shrugging his shoulders doubtfully.
"Okay, Honey. Be safe," Wanda advised. "Bring warm clothes and a sword."
"And look out for pitch forks," Griffin cautioned.
Blobby gurgled a warning message, which Wendy had to translate for him, "My Dad says you should use your hypno-eyes on the humans if they try to attack you, and personally I have to agree."
"Don't you let anybody scoop your brains out either," Murray warned.
"Don't let them hammer a stake through your heart, man," added Pedro.
"Maybe stay in the shadows," Wayne advised. "It's always to just observe, from under a house."
Frank frowned at the others warning and approached his niece, defending her. "Guys, guys. She can handle it. She's a Dracula, for Pete's sake." He gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Thanks, Uncle Frankie," Mavis smiled gratefully at her adoptive uncle.
"No problem," Frank nodded, but then he whispered to her, while at the last part, stared off into space, "But seriously. Watch out for fire. Fire bad."
Mavis felt a little weirded out by all this, but she didn't want to be rude. She then stepped towards the open window with confidence, standing on the rim of the window. She turned back to glance at the others, some of them smiling while a few looked concerned.
"Bye, everyone! I'll be back soon!" Mavis waved to them, and then flipped out the window, as she hooted out, "Whoo-hoo!"
She fell down the castle wall, letting the wind blow through her hair as she smiled, allowing the freedom of journeying outside the castle to override her fear. And when she was twenty feet away from the ground, Mavis transformed into a bat and flew towards the lake. While she was down there, she allowed her wing to dip into the water, gliding joyously above the waters. It was a splendid feeling. Flying across the open area of the lake, as she headed towards the forest, and to find the human village Dracula had mentioned before.
Frank had been watching from the open window as Mavis disappeared. "Drac, I can't believe how calm you are about her leaving. I'm proud of you." But when he turned around to face him, everyone was surprised that the vampire himself was nowhere in sight. He looked around, as did everyone else, asking, "Hey...where did Drac go?"