Chapter 11: Depression

One month later...

Johnny still lies motionless on his bed, showing no progress or hints of recovery. Mavis spent most of her free time by his side, whispering in his ear about how much she loves him, and about the trips she wanted to do with him. Also, each time she was by his side, she couldn't avert her eyes from him, as if she were in a trance.

Even though he was turned into a vampire, Johnny's physical appearance didn't change much. His flowing red hair was messy as always. Of course, he was now much paler than before, but aside from that, his physique didn't really change. When looking at him, she always thought to herself, often restraining a sob. "At least, even as a vampire, he's still as ...gorgeous as ever..."

While she didn't really ate much anymore, claiming she didn't have any appetite, at least she was drinking her Blood Beaters. While she didn't quite look like a corpse anymore, she was still looking worse for wear, since she pretty much stopped caring about herself, a side effect of being depressed.

She stopped wearing make-up altogether, since she often cried until her tear ducts became empty. Her eyes were now bloodshot and extremely red thanks to that fact. Her hair was a mess as well, but not the same kind of messy as Johnny's, her hair simply looked dull now, having split-ends everywhere, becoming broken from lack of care... Lastly, she stopped doing her nails as well too, since she developed the habit of chewing on them. They were now uneven, cracked, broken, with small wounds all around them...

Dracula was of course witnessing her daughter fall deeper and deeper into depression, which tore him apart from his insides. He often asked her if she wanted somebody to assist her in her daily routine, whether it was him directly, or perhaps a maid. She always refused, not having a care in the world how she looked like, so long that she could be on Johnny's side. He was extremely tempted at times to simply hypnotize her, at least to force her to take better care of herself, but he never did, because he knew that would not solve anything, plus, he always hated the idea of being able to mold his daughter's very soul like playdough, finding that very unethical to say the least...

Two months later...

Mavis' mental state deteriorated even further. Dracula often found her rambling incoherent words at odd times. She often suffered from delirium as well, seeing Johnny everywhere she went. She also refuses to even drink her blood substitutes, forcing her dad to force feed her to ensure she's still living...

Dracula was also extremely wary of Mavis' location at all times, because, one time where she was on the roof, her favorite spot to wind down and weep, she watched the sunrise, amazed by the sun's magnificence, illuminating the scenery of Transylvania, showing a myriad of colors go through the valley, the cliffs, the trees, the birds...That reminded her of the magic moment where she firmly realized that Johnny was her zing...

The only problem was, well, she didn't want to move. She was so overtaken by her sadness and melancholy that, even when the sunlight started to singe her toes, she didn't move at all. She just thought to herself, too emotionally tired to even cry, "I'm tired of all this pain, Johnny! I want to be with you...If you are truly brain-dead, you might be in the afterlife...I want to join you..."

Thankfully, Dracula was in the vicinity, because he noticed that the sun was about to be up, so he went to Mavis' room to be sure her daughter was okay. After he knocked, receiving no answers, he decided to barge in. Much to his horror, Mavis was nowhere to be found, and the window was wide open. Not thinking twice, even though the sun still hurt him as much as ever, he still morphed into a bat and went outside.

What he saw then, no words can convey the pain his heart felt, not even the pain from the sun was registering anymore. He saw her daughter sitting motionless in the sun, not even showing a care in the world. Her skin was blistering, becoming redder than a lobster. Her flesh was also starting to decompose, large chunks of skin were falling on the ground, sizzling...She was getting so damaged that she seemed to age at a frighteningly rapid rate, looking older than Martha.

Dracula didn't lose a second, she rushed towards her daughter, because he knew that while he was strong enough to withstand the sunlight for a certain amount of time, Mavis was not. Flying at breakneck speed, he grabbed the neck of Mavis' shirt with his talons are hurriedly tugged her to her room. He then bit his own wrist, and forced Mavis to drink his own blood. Thanks to that, she recovered quickly, she now looked like she just suffered a minor sunburn.

After making sure her daughter was safe and sound, Dracula, much to his chagrin, raised his hand towards her for the second time in his life, making his slap echo through the whole hotel. He angrily asked her, "Mavis! What were you thinking?! You almost died out there!". Mavis replied to that, her voice broken, "I don't care! Johnny is not coming back, is he?! This is too hard, I'm not strong enough to suffer any longer...I don't have a reason to live anymore..."

Dracula calmed down a bit and composed himself. His anger was now completely replaced by a soft sadness. Trying to reassure his daughter, he told her, in the sweetest tone he could muster, "Mavy...Trust me, mouse, I know how you feel, I've been there too! Didn't you want to bear Johnny's child within you to give you the courage to live on?".

Mavis, now calmer herself, responded in a more consistent voice, but still shaky, "Yeah...I did say that, but I had some time to think it more thoroughly, if I become pregnant with his child, and then he wakes up, how will he react? I'm afraid he might even hate me...". Mavis tried hard to restrain her tears, obviously tired of crying, but to no avail...

Dracula then continued, full of concern, "Mavy-Wavy, I know what you mean...But if Johnny wakes up, only to find out that...you're...no longer in this world, how do you think he'll take it? No, no, no, no, I'm sure he'll understand in time if he ever wakes up..."

Mavis then took a deep breath, then said, seemingly relieved, "Yeah, I guess you're right, dad...I'm sorry to have put you through all that, I was only thinking of myself, I must have hurt you as well these last few months..."

Dracula then bore a huge smile and hugged her daughter in his mantle, "Don't worry, my precious little blood-orange...I know how hard it is to lose a loved one...But I want you to take better care of yourself, you need to be more healthy for what is coming..." To which Mavis readily replied, "Yeah..."

Three months later...

While Mavis was still sad, she was now past her depression, looking forward to a better tomorrow. She now happily ate or drink, like she was before that ordeal happened. She tried her best to get her body back in good shape, she took care of her body again, she looked pretty much as healthy as she was before. She prepared herself, because she knew that tonight was her big night...

At the end of the night, where the sun was almost rising, she went to Johnny's room. However, instead of having her usual attire, she only wore a white silk gown. After entering the room, she obviously locked the door, not wanting to be disturbed. She slowly approached Johnny, still in his dormant state. She softly whispered in his ear, "Johnny, my zing, my love, I'm doing this for you, for me, for us...I hope that, if you ever wake up, you will understand, and forgive me..."

Having said that, she then disrobed, revealing her pristine and perfect body, only wishing that Johnny could see her. She went on top of him, being mixed between feeling guilty and excited. Then, she slowly and gently did the deed, making sure to have his seed within her, while constantly whispering, "I love you...I always have, I always will..."