Chapter 9: Fall

Mavis and Johnny gazed upon the sun as it rose. Johnny made sure that Mavis was safely hidden in the shadow of a chimney. "I know I've said it before, and I know I'll probably say it again, but, this...is the most incredible thing I've ever seen..." Mavis said softly, eyes filled with awe. "Yeah, I know." Johnny replied, "The view from this castle is simply amazing...I've traveled a lot, and I must admit that I'm not sure if I've seen a more beautiful scenery so far..."

Then Johnny looked intensely at the sun, with a pensive look on his face. "Hey, Mavis, why is it that vampires cannot withstand sunlight?" She looked slightly surprised at the sudden question, but tried to answer honestly, "I'm not sure, Johnny. Some say that we vampires are damned creatures, unable to be directly in the sunlight because it is representative of God's power, others say that it's simply because we hid in the shadows of the night for so long that our skin became sensitive to light. Honestly, I'm not sure, I just know that it hurts, that's all...Why do you ask?"

Johnny, still pensive, replied, "Well, I was thinking about the trips we're going to do soon, and, well, I must be honest, we'll miss out a lot if we travel only during the night..." Mavis looked at him, with a disappointed look on her face, "I know, Johnny, I don't like this either, if I had a choice, I would travel during the day too if the sun wasn't a threat to me, I love how colorful the world is when illuminated by the sun..."

"What about clothes then? Can they allow you to go into the sun?", Johnny replied, not wanting to give up on the subject. "Partly," she replied, "but it depends on the fabric of the clothes. For instance, the clothes that I like to wear, including my shoes, don't protect me from the sun. As far as I know, only leather clothing can allow us to go out during the day. However, even then, it's horribly uncomfortable, because leather clothing gets really hot under sunlight. And don't get me started on its rigidity either! My dad might like leather, but I hate it!"

Johnny could feel Mavis' frustration in her voice. He really wished he could do something about her and the sun. Then, his face seemed to illuminate, obviously, he got an idea. "Mavis, could you give me your hand? Oh, and could you remove your glove too? I need your hand to be bare..." She looked at him, with a perplexed look, "Why?". Johnny just grinned, "You'll see, if I'm right about this, you'll love this!"

She complied, removing her glove and the fishnet around her hand, before giving it to Johnny. She wasn't really sure what he wanted to do, but she played along. He rummaged through one of his pockets, until he found a small bottle. From the look of it, it seemed like a balm or a lotion of some sort. He took a generous amount of lotion, then vigorously, but gently, rubbed her hand, applying the lotion as evenly as possible. She felt that the lotion was odd, being pretty viscous. She wasn't too fond of its smell either, it didn't stink, but it smelled like perfumed plastic, or something like that...

"What is this lotion for, Johnny?", she asked, getting more and more confused. He grinned even more, "You'll see...Now, take your hand and slowly stick it into the sunlight!" She looked back at him, not amused at all, "Are you nuts? Do you know how much the sun hurts to us? It's like if somebody poured boiling water on your skin, the pain is excruciating!" He then replied, looking more serious than ever, "Mavis...I wouldn't ask you to do this for nothing...Why do you think I applied that lotion on your hand? If my idea works, you're going to be thrilled!"

Mavis started to get really curious about what Johnny's idea was. She then complied, slowly exposing the skin of her hand to the sun. She closed her eyes, she tensed her body, she closed her fists, she winced over the pain that would usually come. She winced, she winced, and she winced. Then, she realized that the pain wasn't coming like it usually would, instead, only a gentle warmth came. She then looked at her hand, and was in utter shock...She could see the sunlight on her, gently caressing her skin. She could feel the warmth of the sun, making her feel more alive than ever. She could see the reflection of her skin, which emitted a pristine white even when basked in the yellowish light of the sun. Her body started to shake with excitement. She looked at Johnny, and said, "Holy rabies! What did you do?"

Johnny replied, with a smile plastered on his face, "I wasn't sure if this would work, but it seems to. What I did was applying a lotion called sunblock. We humans invented that because even to us, the sun can be harmful in the long term...Mavis, it seems that you'll be able to go outside, even during the day, now..." Her ears heard all that, but her mind still couldn't believe it! Could she really go outside during the day? Could she really stop seeing the sun as a threat? After having processed that, she leaped into his arms, crying loudly.

"Whoa! Mavis, what's wrong?!" he stated, dumbfounded. She said nothing, only emptying her heart for a few minutes. She then composed herself, still sniffling a little, "Nothing's wrong, Johnny! It's the opposite, everything is right! Do you know how desperately I wished for a way to go outside in the sun?! Now we'll be able to visit everywhere we'll want, not having to wonder about the sun! Thank you, Johnny, thank you so much..."

Johnny didn't say anything. He just hugged her softly, cherishing this moment, hoping it would last forever. He then noticed that the sun had almost fully risen, so, like the first time he showed her a glimpse of the sun during the 118th birthday, he gently tugged her arms, and slowly trekked backwards. He felt in heaven, feeling that nothing would ever go wrong again...

Oh, how wrong he was...

Johnny forgot that the roof's structure was shaky at best, and like the first time, he fell through the sauna room. Only difference now, Dracula wasn't there to break his fall...

"Johnny?!" Mavis shouted at the new hole in the roof where he fell.

No answer...

"Johnny?! Are you alright?! Are you hurt?!", she shouted, getting more and more worried, she knew that humans were somewhat fragile compared to monsters...

No answer still...Except that, her nose was starting to sense a powerful smell, an intoxicating smell that she was too familiar with. Without even thinking, she changed into her bat form and dove into the hole, reaching the sauna room where Johnny crashed...

She was horrified...

She found her zing, his neck having smashed the rim of a ceramic bench, laying on the ground, blood oozing from his mouth, nose and ears. With tears streaming from her eyes, she lifted his body, where his head tilted at an unnatural angle, his neck obviously broken. "JOHNNY?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She almost had a breakdown, holding her dying lover in her arms, sensing him slipping away. She pondered, why was life able to be so cruel?! Why did her dad had to suffer when her mom died?! Why does she have to suffer if Johnny dies?!

She then slapped herself, hard enough to leave a red imprint, to compose herself. She regained a tiny sliver of her composure, and used every superhuman senses she had to scan Johnny's body. She sensed that he was still alive, but his heartbeat was rapidly diminishing, since the brain is no longer able to regulate vital functions when the spinal cord in the neck area is damaged. His breathing was also almost gone too...She knew he had less than 2 minutes before being truly dead...

She then muttered to herself, "Please, Johnny, don't leave me yet...No matter how big the world outside is, you are the world to me... You made me feel alive, you even saved my life... Now, it's my turn..."

She did the only thing she could do...

She bit him, draining almost all of his remaining blood. Then, using every ounce of her willpower, she fought back her predatory instinct to not finish him off. She then picked up a ceramic shard, and sliced open one of her wrists...

As she forced Johnny to drink her own blood, hoping it would be enough to prevent him of dying, she mentally collapsed then. She emitted a wailing scream, powerful enough to shatter glass, which reverberated through the entire hotel...

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDD!"