Chapter 11: Victory

"Something just clicked," Rachel said. "It didn't completely register before, but I saw the Stemwrithes wearing necklaces with an unusual pendant."

"What did the pendant look like?" Dracula asked, still holding Emily and rubbing her back gently.

"Believe it or not, it looked like...a caped beetle," the older girl said. "Almost like...like your cape, Your Majesty."

Dracula's eyes widened. "No," he whispered in horror. "The vampire beetle."

Emily looked up at him. "What is a vampire beetle, Uncle?" She asked.

"A special amulet that was created by one of my ancestors," he replied. "When a human wears it, it grants them immortality, like a vampire."

"I was afraid that they were immortality amulets," Rachel said. "But something else though...I think I saw the amulets fall off from the Stemwrithes right before Emily and I ran in here."

Dracula stood tall. "We need to get those amulets," he said.

Rachel suddenly recalled something from her research of ancient artifacts and amulets. "Wait," she said, pausing a moment. "Is it true that if a human comes in contact or handles an artifact too long, it can affect them? Like something that can grant immortality can make a person grow old if it breaks?"

He smiled at her. "I see Count Noir wasn't overexaggerating about you loving to research everything about monsters and objects related to them," he said. "But yes to both your questions. However, with the vampire beetle immortality amulets, there's a catch."

"What's the catch?" The older girl asked.

Emily looked confused. "There's nothing to catch," she pointed out.

Dracula chuckled. "No, sweetheart," he said gently. "What I mean is that it's not simple as it sounds. There's a step or process that has to be done."

"Oh," the little girl said, somewhat understanding.

He smiled again before looking serious. "Emily has to break the amulets," he said. "Because only a human child with vampire powers can."

The older girl blinked. "Talk about a sure-fire way to make sure something isn't destroyed by anyone else," she said.

He looked a bit sheepish. "I did warn my ancestor about it, but he said that they'd never fall into human hands."

Emily looked at him. "But...if your ancestor created them, how...?" She started to ask.

Rachel chuckled. "Remember, honey, vampires age much slower than humans and have lived for a long time," she said gently.

"True," Dracula said. "Now, let's go find those amulets and put a stop to those Stemwrithes once and for all."

The blonde-haired girl nodded, looking serious. "They're not touching Emily again," she vowed.

She led the way back to the Egyptian room, noticing how several displays they passed by were devoid of artifacts or whatever items had been there before. This puzzled her and she paused, seeing the door that usually had two medievel knights in full armor guarding it now had no guards.

"Look," Emily said, pointing to the dinosaur room, but it was empty of any dinosaur bones, almost as if the skeletons had decided to go stretch their legs. "Where did they go?"

"They were here when we walked passed earlier," Rachel said.

Two screams rang out and Dracula pinpointed where they came from. "Down that way," he said and they headed in that direction, coming to a large room that looked like a theater room, no doubt for lectures or demonstrations.

But now, it was a war zone. Knights were riding on the skeletons of some of the dinosaurs while King Pepi was standing on the backbone of the Triceratops skeleton, his arms outstretched as his eyes continued to glow green and purple, making him look eerie and terrifying.

Rachel shuddered, backing up into Dracula, her eyes wide. "And I thought the guys were scary when they got mad," she said, her voice filled with fear and trembling slightly.

"Yes," Dracula said. "Anyone can be terrifying when greatly angered or pushed to their limits."

"But why is Uncle Pepi all angry?" Emily asked.

"No doubt because he is fiercely protective of you, sweetie," the blonde-haired girl answered. "Sol gets fiercely protective of me whenever my ex-boyfriend tries to come around and talk to me."

"He no doubt gives the boy the scare of his life," the king of monsters said with a chuckle.

Rachel giggled. "Oh, yeah. One time, Sol literally scared the pants off him," she said, still giggling. "We caught it all on camera too."

A gust of wind caught their attention and they saw that Pepi was now concentrating his powers to focus around the Stemwrithes, who were starting to look a bit frightened and Mrs. Stemwrithe reached for something around her neck, only to look horrified. "I can't find it!" She shrieked before looking at her husband. "You don't have yours either!"

The two realized they were missing the amulets and they looked horrified. Rachel decided it was time to move in, especially when she spotted a few knights guarding the amulets with swords drawn. She quickly, yet cautiously, moved towards them, but they crossed their swords to make her stop. "Wait, please," she said. "I need the amulets. There is a child who can break them and stop the Stemwrithes."

The knights refused to move, but Rachel didn't give up and motioned Dracula over. He came up to her, still holding Emily and shielding her from the Stemwrithes. When the knights saw the little girl, one pointed to her and then to the amulets. Rachel nodded. "Yes, she can break them," she said.

The knight put his hand out in a 'stop' motion, shaking his head before again pointing to Emily and then to the amulets. "Yes, she already said that Emily can break them," Dracula said, wondering what the controlled armor was going on about.

Rachel tried to move towards the amulets, but again, the knights blocked her way. She fell into thought before her eyes widened. "Wait, I think I get it," she said. "They're guarding the amulets, but if Emily were to approach them, they'll let her through to destory the amulets."

"I believe you might be right," he said as they heard the dinosaurs growling and King Pepi was now beginning to look absolutely terrifying, like something out of a horror movie.

Dracula gently set Emily down and gently nudged her towards the knights. One picked up the little girl and carried her over to the amulets, setting her down and silently encouraging the girl to pick them up and destroy them.

Taking a deep breath, the little girl picked up one amulet and began pressing it between her hands, almost as if she was trying to flatten out a ball of clay. A crunching sound was heard and the amulet shattered into small broken pieces that would be impossible to put back together again. She did the same to the other one.

As soon as she had done so, the Stemwrithes began to age rapidly until they were finally two very old people in their nineties. King Pepi blinked, his powers finally receding as the knights and dinosaurs went back to their exhibits and became still once again while Pepi and Dracula quickly found a place to hide and just in time, because the police came running in moments later.

"Freeze!" One of them said.

Rachel and Emily froze, along with the Stemwrithes. "What's going on here?" Another one asked.

"Officer, those are the Stemwrithes," Rachel said, pointing to the old couple. "They were trying to kidnap Emily and use her to get rich."

He nodded. "We got word of them and a picture of what they looked like," he said before shaking his head. "It's amazing how they could pull off such clever masks to hide in public and never been seen."

Rachel looked puzzled, as did Emily, but neither one said a word as the couple was taken away and the police said they had enough charges to put the two into a maximum security prison with multiple charges, so they would never get out again.

That was a relief to everyone and Dracula was equally pleased to learn that Emily had been adopted by two vampires and he was even more pleased when he learned their names. "Oxana and Boris Hauntley," he said. "I know them well."

"They're my mommy and daddy," Emily said, making him smile again.

King Pepi came up to them. "Well, the Stemwrithes are finally defeated," he said with a smile. "Emily's safe again."

The little girl hugged him and he chuckled. "I'll get her home," he said. "I better call Oxana and Boris too."

Rachel got a text on her phone and checked it, smiling. "No need," she said. "Bonetop flew back to California with the good news and brought the Hauntleys back. They're on their way home now."

"And I need to get to my coffin," Dracula said. "Goodbye, my friends. I wish you well, especially you, my little niece."

This was said to Emily, who smiled. "Love you, Uncle Dracula," she said.

He smiled. "I love you too, little one," he said before heading back to the gothic wing and back into his coffin.

Rachel and King Pepi headed out with Emily and arrived at the Scare B&B just as Bonetop and the Hauntleys arrived too. The hugs were plentiful as they all hugged each other and Emily hugged her parents, glad to finally be safe with them. Chef Remy, Demi, and Gregoria were also happy, welcoming the Hauntleys home.

Soon after, Rachel and Bonetop said goodbye to the family. "If you ever need us, just call," the blonde-haired girl said as her skeleton friend held out his arm to her and they walked back to the private plane and were soon off, back to California.

Chef Remy made a feast to celebrate while everyone pitched in to decided on how to celebrate the victory over the Stemwrithes and Emily, who was by the window, looked up at the sky, smiling.

She never had to worry about those awful people again. She was finally safe and sound.

Well, Emily's finally free of those two creeps. :)

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GoldGuardian2418