All was going well at the castle with the guests having enough fun in the foundation. Most of them were getting along and getting to know each other, while some rivalries die hard. Adam had to make sure Freddy and Jason weren't trying to tear each other apart, this man from a place in Texas who wore a mask made from the skin of human faces and wielded a chainsaw brought his equally strange and sadistic family along with him and they had to remain in their room until further notice. It wasn't because they weren't trusted, but it was only a precaution. There's this massive, shapeless, indestructible and sentient mass of extraterrestrial goo everyone could only refer to as the "Blob". It was kept in a room with no air vents or drains. No one wanted to be cleaning that pink goo out of the pipe system. Ghosts also roamed the castle walls. You can easily see them hauntingly floating above the ground.
To name a few, there was Reverend Jeremiah Ketchum, a corrupt preacher and leader of a cult who slaughtered denizens of Native-Americans who were then buried on the spot a house now sits on. A house on 112 Ocean Avenue. The ghost of a man who lived in that very house was named Ronald DeFeo Jr. who was persuaded by voices to murder his entire family. Another was named Diana Walter, young girl who was diagnosed with a rare disorder that causes her skin to react negatively to any forms of lights and her spirit is only visible in the darkness. There were many to count. While some ghosts stayed in their spiritual, ethereal forms, others can manifest their otherworldly abilities to appear alive. Vlad's senses went haywire when the presence of someone at the door alarmed him. It wasn't someone he recognized. But come to think of it, not many of these guests were anyone he knew personally. There were 11 of them. 10 of them were younger than the other, who was in his late 50's.
"Is everything alright, dear?" Mirena asked her husband.
"There's someone at the door." He answered with a tone that she didn't understand.
"More guests, perhaps?" She suggested.
"Could be." He said and disappeared down the hallways towards the front entrance. Mirena gave it a moment before she eventually followed after him, turning into a swarm of bats herself to see who was at the door. Vlad stopped right at the door and pressed his ear against the wood of the door, listening and hearing their voices.
Dragomir knocked on the door, which made a loud, hollow sound each time his fist impacted the large, beautifully-carved wooden doorways. The rain came down even harder and it was getting difficult to avoid getting doused with rainwater.
"Oh, give it up. I don't think anyone's here." Abe demurred. "Who could be living in an old place like this?"
"You never know if there even is." Dragomir articulated. "What if it's someone who could help us?"
"Oh, man. It's really coming down." said Jackal, trying the cover himself from the rain. "I didn't even bring my umbrella."
"You would've brought it if you expected this." Muhammad replied.
"Look, there's nobody here, okay?" protested Abe with annoyance that they're getting nowhere fast. "This castle probably hasn't been inhabited in years. Let's just go right inside-"
Abe was cut off mid-sentence when the doors finally swung open and everyone turned to come face-to-face with Vlad. It came to them with a surprise to think that someone actually lived in this old place up in the mountains. The group started at him, while he started back in surprise to see ordinary humans at the door of his castle. How could they have found his castle far away from their civilization? Despite this, he hid it all away to give them a simple greeting.
"Who are all of you?" He asked them.
"Uh...we're just travelers, sir." Dragomir spoke for the group. "We were just mountain climbing together and we happened upon this strange castle."
"But that's impossible." Vlad doubted. "No one's supposed to find this castle so easily."
"Well, I did, pal." Ash raised his voice. "See, me and him-" He gestured to John. "-received a letter to find this place."
"Oh, yes. I see." Vlad nodded.
"Hey, listen. We'd really like to get out of the rain. So if you don't mind, can we please come in?" requested Abe.
That's when Mirena came to the door to get her own look at the new human visitors to the castle; bless her curious heart.
"Oh my goodness, you all must be freezing. Please. Come on in." She gasped and urged the group inside before Vlad had the chance to protest.
"Thank god." Rod sighed with relief.
"Thanks, ma'am." thanked Marcia as everyone entered.
Vlad was too late to warn them that they couldn't come in, because of the castle's important fundamental and that it's only housing monsters. As soon as the human group entered the great hall of the castle, they were finally glad to be out of the rain. But their relief soon turned into shock and disbelief when they gained their bearings and looked around the place. Not only were they standing in an old castle whose interior looked new and pre-made, but everywhere they looked, monsters and frightening creatures stood everywhere. None seemed to be aware of their presence as they were preoccupied with their conversations and whatnot to take notice.
"W-W-W-W-What the h-hell is this place?" stuttered Muhammad with nervousness. "Please tell me this is some kind of early Halloween party or something."
"Oh, yeah. It's Halloween in the middle of summer." Jackal said sarcastically.
"Who are all these people?" asked Abe in his own moment of flabbergasted awe.
Then suddenly, Vlad zipped right in front of them to try to come up with some excuse as to what they were witnessing, hoping not to arouse any panic.
"Please don't be alarmed." He told them all. "I know this is a lot to digest, but try not get all excited. I assure you all, this is just a regular thing. These people won't do you any harm, just as long as you don't try anything to provoke them."
"Who the fuck are these people?" Chris finally spoke up.
"Or better yet, what are these people?" Jackal retorted, demanding some kind of explanation, but Dre gave him a smack on the head, just in case he said anything offensive.
"I'm afraid it's complicated." Vlad reasoned. "I want you all to calm yourselves and take this slowly. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Count Vlad III, the owner of this castle, my family home. You are currently standing inside a safe haven for paranormal beings from various places around the globe."
"Paranormal beings?" repeated Abe.
"Yes." nodded Vlad. "You'll get to know much me soon enough."
"Is there some kind of party going on here or something?" asked Casey, still gobsmacked.
"This is a special gathering for my youngest daughter, Mavis's birthday is next Monday." explained the Vampire King. "We have far so much planned when that day arrives."
"Ooh! I love parties! Can we-" Jackal shrieked with delight, before Abe silenced him with a punch to the gut.
"No! We're not here to have fun! We're just here until the rain stops." He reminded him exasperatedly.
Vlad placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look at him.
"There's no need to start any animosity. I promise no harm will come to you here until the weather blows over." He said to him.
"Now, hold on." Ash stepped in arrogantly. "What I wanna know is: Why did you summon me here?"
"I hear tell of you countless encounters with the evil dead. I know you and your friends unleashed the Necronomicon and summoned vast hordes of Deadites. Is this correct?" asked Vlad.
"Yeah, that's correct." nodded Ash.
"Then you'll fit right in." coaxed the Count.
"I doubt that." Tyler remarked and headed for the door with Jackal following him. "Because we're leaving right now. I'm not gonna stand around and listen to some David Cronenberg crap about ghosts and goblins and demons-"
He opened the door and see that it was still coming down hard outside and closed it back up. Dragomir was looking outside the window and remembered the risks it would take to get back down the mountain.
"It's still raining outside." He explained. "It'll be too dangerous to climb back down the mountain. Unless you all want to risk slipping and falling to your death."
Muhammad gulped as he felt his fear of heights overwhelm his senses from the thought of falling thousands of stories down if he slipped while climbing.
"The rain doesn't last very long around here." Vlad announced to the humans. "It should be over by tomorrow afternoon."
"Well, that's just great!" Dre complained. "We're stuck here in a dark, spooky castle all thanks to that asshole Ash!"
"Hey! I needed to get here and you know it!" Ash screamed into his face with fury.
"We already had plans to go mountain climbing in the morning, but you just had to step in and fuck everything up!" Rod joined in on the argument.
"What would you rather I did instead? Give you candy and ask you politely to come with me to this scary-ass castle in the mountain?" Ash spat sardonically.
"Try pissing off!" Dre shouted.
That did it. Ash was about to give him a piece of his mind and the group was about to break them up, but Casey was brave enough to take action first and so she forced herself between the two arguing men and separated them.
"Hey! Enough! Enough already, you two! We're already here and none of that matters right now. We'll just have to spend the night here." She explained, giving them both the same look a mother would when her child misbehaves, forcing the two to forget their animosity of each other.
"How are we gonna sleep here?" asked Muhammad.
"I don't know. But as far as I'm concerned, I can pretty much sleep anywhere right now, because I'm beat as fuck." Jackal yawned his words out.
"Don't worry yourselves." Vlad said to his new human guests. "We'll find you all some suitable accommodations. Help you all get settled. Just make yourselves at home."
"Thanks, sir." Abe nodded.
"Mirena." Vlad turned to his wife. "Do show our guests to their rooms."
"Uh, yes, of course." She immediately nodded diligently and without thinking twice about it, gestured for everyone to follow her to their rooms. Vlad kept his eyes locked on the human friends as they departed down the hallways with his wife leading the party. Something about them made him feel strange and unsettled. He didn't recall sending invites to any of them, besides Ash and John. If there was some kind of intent either of them that seemed sinister, he'll never know for sure. But he just had to. Meanwhile, Mavis walking down the steps with Ahmanet.
"We just want you to get to know some new people." explained Ahmanet in her best maternal tone.
"I know, I know." Mavis stated and nodded her head, acting as if she had heard his lecture before. "I just don't have any really friends, you know? Friends to talk to, to share my feelings with or even take selfies with."
"Maybe you'll find some friends when your birthday comes." regarded the mummy queen. "But never forget. Friends come and go."
"Yeah." Mavis despondently agreed, looking down at her feet descending down step after step, but then her senses lit up like fireworks. She sensed the humans in the castle and it almost brought some confidence in her heart. She hoped that she could finally makes some friends and maybe see that humans and creatures of myth can actually see eye-to-eye. Part of her wonders if it's possible and part of her disagrees. Against all odds, she would introduce herself to these new human guests.
Mirena brought them down the corridors with the room doors on each side. Mirena was not fazed by humans strangers in her home, not one bit. In fact, it's been centuries since she had last seen a normal human face. One of the downsides of being a vampire.
"I'll have to inform to all of you that we have a limited amount of rooms as we were not expecting guests like you. So may I suggest that some of you be willing to share rooms?" queried Mirena.
"I got no problem with that." Rod shrugged, putting his arm around Chris and Abe. "Me and my homies can share a hotel room, so what's the problem?"
"Excellent." Mirena smiled.
The group seemed to pass by a strange figure in grey, faded jumpsuit and wearing a white head mask in the form of a blank, expressionless face. The man stopped in his tracks when he noticed the humans. Tyler seemed to be the only one to find his staring gaze as the rest were falling Mirena. The man just stared back at him, stiff as a statue, motionless. Tyler started to feel uncomfortable and rushed to join his friends. The man watched him dart away and proceeded walking. Mirena finally found them some rooms and noticed Tyler's uneasy state.
"Something the matter?" She asked.
"There's this guy staring at me. White mask and grey jumpsuit." Tyler replied.
"Oh, that must be Mr. Michael Myers." Mirena confirmed. "He comes from a town in Illinois, as I have heard. Haddonfield was the name. He's known to come around on Halloween."
"Wait, I heard of the Myers family murder on Halloween in 1992." responded Muhammad.
"Of course. He murdered his family on Halloween." Mirena explained.
Tyler not felt even more uneasy when she said that. How comforting of her to just openly admit that the weirdo staring at him was a psychotic murderer. He just hoped to God that Michael wouldn't kill him in his sleep. Mirena gave them the keys to their rooms and the rooming and sleeping arrangements were made. Casey would room with Chris, Marcia would room with Rod, Claire would room with Dre, Muhammad, as usual, roomed with Jackal, Tyler had a room to himself and so did Abe. Mirena gave them the low-down.
"Many of the guests around here aren't like the guests you'll find in a hotel or resort. You'll find it difficult to get along with these kind of people. Not many of them are people, as you probably already know. If you feel more comfortable remaining in your rooms, that's okay. But make sure not to provoke anyone here. Many of them don't take kindly to strangers like you all. Many of them have not had pleasant encounters with regular individuals. This castle is a safe-haven to them. So don't lose your keys, make yourselves at home and enjoy your stay."
Everyone watched Mirena shuffle down the hallway away from them. Aside from Abe, who was pondering over Mirena's words, everyone entered their rooms and everything seemed quite enjoyable to say the least. Most of everyone has gotten comfy in their new rooms, but when Abe was about to open his own door, he felt a new presence appear behind him.
"Hi, human." He saw Mavis standing there and then all of the sudden, when they locked eyes, it would seemed their eyes sparkled as they eyed each other for the first time. Even though she just met him, Mavis looked at him with shock and blushed. Abe immediately felt his heart flutter when he eyeballed this cute, beautiful girl, but he shook himself from his reverie and began to speak.
"I'm sorry, "human"?" Abe asked.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I meant "new guy"." Mavis chuckled nervously. "My name is Mavis. What's yours?"
"Abraham Grey. But call me "Abe" and not "human", please." Abe greeted himself and joked with a chuckle.
Mavis kept her eyes on him, looking at him up and down. Something about this human made her heart beat faster and butterflies flutter in her stomach. She didn't know why she felt this way for him and didn't know what to think.
"Are you guests here?" asked Mavis.
"For now." Abe informed. "We're just here until the storm passes over."
"Storm?" snickered Mavis. "The storms around here last longer than any regular storm."
"So I've heard." drawled out Abe with sarcastic acknowledgement. "So I hear it's your birthday?"
"Yep. Well, it's going to be, anyway. It's going to be huge! Parties, presents, lots of fun!" Mavis chirped excitedly.
"Yeah, I'm happy for you." nodded Abe before he went back to opening his door, when she suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Wait!" Mavis shouted, but then calmed down and spoke in a normal tone, "Sorry. I just really want to get to know you all. But mostly you. Don't ask why. It's just that I don't have a lot of friends around here. You can imagine how lonely it gets when you're living in a castle in the mountains."
"Well, maybe there's something you and I could do. Just name it." suggested Abe.
"Great! I'd love it." Mavis exclaimed with joy. "Well, I can see my mother has already given you a room. You just get yourself settled and we'll meet again sooner than you think."
"Sounds fun." Abe smiled and she smiled back. They both seemed to be hypnotized by each other's eyes as they both silently stared at one another. Abe and Mavis suddenly realized what they were doing and looked away from each other awkwardly, blushing madly.
"Okay, bye." Not wanting to face any more embarrassment, Abe flung open the door, dashed inside and quickly shut it.
"Bye." Mavis winced pathetically and walked away, rubbing her arm.
Once inside, Abe's mind replayed what just occurred and it almost seemed too good to be true and yet, so sudden. But why, he asked himself. Why now?
"Did I just ask a girl on a date?"
Unknown to them, Îngeraș was listening to their conversation and once he heard Abe introduce himself, his eyes widened with disbelief. The same human the Boogeyman told him about was inside the castle right now. How was he going to explain this to his father? But most importantly, how was he going to explain it to Abe himself? He wondered what the Boogeyman had in store for him. Perhaps he had an old score to settle with him. Or probably something much worse. His fears became worse he wondered how he was going to explain this to his Mavis as well. Maybe she would try to befriend them and try to trick them into taking her out to see the world. But that's silly. Mavis isn't deceitful. But Mavis did say once that she also wanted friends. It wouldn't hurt for her to get acquainted with these humans. Most presumably the one she has her eyes set on the most. Abraham Grey.
"Well, this is quite legit." Claire expressed, getting a good look at her room with Dre. "I was expecting cobwebs and dust, but this looks really new."
"And this bed is comfy, too." Dre added, bouncing slightly on the bed's mattress. "Almost makes the perfect place to start making us some babies. Get our groove on."
"Oh, shut up, Dre!" laughed Claire, hitting her boyfriend playfully.
"You're right. Shouldn't have said that." Dre agreed.
"You have a dirty mind, mister." She smirked at him.
"At least my mind is still adjusting."
"I bet that new brain of yours is full of ideas on how to make your girlfriend happy." Claire playfully teased, giving him a poke on the head.
"Okay, that's it!" Dre tackled his girlfriend on the bed, making her scream and laugh with delight from the excitement.
Yes, the two of them were gonna enjoy themselves in his fancy castle full of these strange people and creatures. But if only they knew who they were. They still didn't believe that they were, in any way, associated with the supernatural or paranormal. But that is to be revealed on a later date.
