Chapter 25
The envelope sat on the bed between the two vampires, so small but at the same time holding such power - neither of them really wanted to open it, fearful of what would happen afterwards...whether things were going to stay the same or become more difficult for them.
Finally, Lucy cleared her throat nervously. "Well, it's addressed to you so I guess you should be the one to open it."
Freddie gave a small nod, looking paler than usual. "R-Right. Umm...I'll just..."
He picked the envelope up, turning it over in his hands; after a few seconds of staring at it anxiously he started to open the seal so that he could get to the letter inside of it. Lucy held her breath, mentally crossing her fingers that everything was going to be okay...that nothing bad was going to happen...
Freddie opened the sheet of paper inside and started to read it silently. His girlfriend just watched him, looking for any signs of good or bad news - this, however, was made quite impossible by the fact that he had the sheet so close to his face that she couldn't see his expression at all. "So?" She questioned, unable to take it. "What's going to happen now?"
Slowly, Freddie lowered the paper; his eyes were glazed over, utterly stunned as he tried to focus on the other red head. His expression was still unreadable though.
"What?" The teenaged vampire asked worriedly. "Come on, I'm freaking out here!"
Freddie looked at her, voice hoarse. "I'm...I'm off the hook."
Lucy let out a surprised shriek and leapt at him to tackle him into a hug. "I knew it, I just knew it!" And suddenly she was pressing her lips against his, something to say congratulations, and for Freddie it was nothing short of pure heaven.
I'm free. I'm going to stay here...
It was almost too perfect - something was going to have to go wrong soon, he was sure of it.
And to think...the nightmare on the other side of the hotel was just heating up.
"Johnny," Mavis said desperately, shutting her room door behind her. "We really need to talk-"
"Yeah, you think?" Johnny snapped uncharacteristically from where he was sat on the bed, arms folded. Mavis halted at the cold look he was giving her. "Fine, let's talk, Mavy. For one thing, how the heck can you know you're pregnant yet?!"
Mavis bit her lip. "That's kinda what we need to talk about."
"Well, I'm all ears," The red-head said, leaning back and looking at his wife expectantly. "'Cause I have no idea about what's been happening lately."
The other vampire sat down opposite him, keeping her distance in case he didn't really want her particularly near, and looked down at her lap guiltily. "I...I'm so, so sorry... A-And if you hate me after this then I completely understand."
Although he was angry, he also looked quite shocked by that last statement.
"There's a witch," Mavis breathed shakily, hands on her stomach protectively. "She came to me in the lobby, a-and she knew about what had happened. I have no idea how, but she could just tell... And then she told me that...that she'd be able to help..." She gave a sniff, unable to look at her husband. "She told me that she'd bring the baby back, a-and I trusted her."
Johnny stared at her, eyes wide in shock at what he had heard. "So...that's why you... you and I, we..."
"I'm so sorry," Mavis choked out, looking truly depressed about the matter. "I didn't mean to...to.."
"To use me," The red-head finished, tears appearing in his eyes. "So we had sex just so that you could...you could... GAH! So that you could mess about with this kind of stuff!" He pushed himself off of the bed, looking at her sadly. "And to think, I actually thought we were getting better; that we were just...just..."
"Johnny-"
"That we were just finding comfort, you know?!" He continued angrily, though it was obvious he was mainly upset. "I thought that you and I...that we were doing it so that we could connect, so that we could try to move on. But, no: it was to bring back something dead."
The dark-haired vampire also stood up, looking at him fiercely. "Oh, like you wouldn't have done the same!"
"I wouldn't have," Johnny insisted harshly. "Mavis, things die. It happens, it's a natural thing! And, no, that baby dying wasn't right a-and it was messed up - but bringing back the dead is...it's wrong! When something is dead, it's meant to stay dead!"
"I KNOW!" Mavis yelled, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know that now, and I wish I'd never done it! Do you not know how awful I feel about the whole thing - that I went behind you back... But I couldn't help it! I was depressed and I just couldn't cope with what had happened!"
Her husband just stared at her, unable to understand it. "Mavy, you don't think I was depressed by it?! That I was all happy and rainbows and stuff?! No! But I knew that there was nothing we could do - I let it all go!"
"But there was something!" She exclaimed. "And I did it, okay? Yes, I was stupid for doing it...b-but I can't do this on my own."
"Do what?"
Slowly, Mavis put her hands on her stomach, and it was only then that Johnny seemed to realize how big it had gotten; his eyes got wider, shocked and surprised. "That witch cast a spell on me - without telling me - and now...and now we only have a week."
"A week?" Johnny whispered in disbelief.
She nodded. "There's something else too. She...she wants me to pay her for it - b-but it's not like money or anything..." She took a deep breath. "She wants me to...to give up some of my life span."
Johnny could only stare at her in disbelief. "But...But you won't, right? I mean...that's..."
"It's either mine or someone else's," Mavis stated tearfully, suddenly looking much weaker than Johnny had ever seen her. "Johnny, what if that someone else is one of the guests? My dad? Or one of the kids?!...Or you?! I-I can't let her do that."
Johnny watched his wife for a moment, at a loss for words in that moment. She had a point; if he had been given that choice, he would have given up his own life for that of another's. But he couldn't watch Mavis do this - and as much as he was angry and upset by what she had done, he couldn't sit back and watch her deal with it all by herself.
After all, they were zings - they stuck together through thick and thin.
"I'm sorry," Mavis repeated, falling back onto the bed and burying her face in her arms to sob.
He was immediately by her side, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly and pressing kisses into her hair. "We'll figure something out... I dunno what or how, but we'll...we'll do it together."
The first thing the two agreed on, Mavis grudgingly, was to let Dracula in on the secret - after all, he was older and more experienced than the two of them, so surely he'd be able to help them in some way.
Telling the kids, however, had not been in the plan.
"No," Mavis stated firmly when she saw Lucy and Jack sitting either side of Dracula - Mina, of course, had been deemed too young immediately. "Absolutely not."
Lucy frowned at her mother defiantly. "Mom," She said sternly. "I'm a hundred and four now! I can deal with listening and helping you guys, for goodness sake!"
"You're not a hundred and eighteen yet," Mavis retorted. "You're not an adult-"
"Near enough!"
Jack remained quiet, watching his sister and mother argue; he'd already told his grandfather what he knew, but he was unsure about admitting to his parents that he knew. He didn't need to, it turned out.
"Look, Mavis, Johnny, the two of them are old enough to understand whatever is going on," Dracula disagreed hesitantly, shooting the two teenaged monsters nervous looks. "Besides, from what I can gather, Jack has already managed to figure out some of it anyway."
His parents both turned to him, looking quite stunned. He shrugged, feeling quite embarrassed. "What? I..I was reading books in the library and I saw it."
It had taken about ten minutes for Mavis (and Johnny to some degree) to re-explain everything that had happened - and none of the other three vampires were all too impressed on hearing this information.
Dracula had merely fallen silent, looking between his daughter and son-in-law with a mixture of disappointment and worry; it was one thing to see his daughter grown up, but meddling with these kinds of things because of how sad she was?... It was too difficult to wrap his mind around.
"Oh, Mom," Lucy breathed, eyes wide and filled with tears. "Why?!"
Jack just looked between his parents, eyes also wide and skin paler than ever. "You do realize that you have to give her whatever she wants, right?" He asked quietly. "This witch knows dark magic and all of that kind of thing - it's possible for her to take what she wants forcefully."
"And what does she want?" The Count questioned suddenly, looking between Mavis and Jack fearfully for an answer.
There was a very pregnant pause in the room where mother and son just looked at each other, silently waiting for the other to say it - it wasn't an easy thing to comprehend, and therefore not easy to admit to.
"Life," Mavis said finally, voice hoarse. "She...She told me that she wants some of my life span. It's how she survives...the magic, it makes her look older or something..."
"Life," Dracula repeated quietly. "Oh, Mavy." He stood up and wrapped his arms around his daughter; for a moment, it was as if it were the old days - when she was little and innocent, when this kind of thing, all dark things, wouldn't have happened.
The dark haired vampire hugged back, feeling the exact same way. "I'm so sorry, Dad."
"What does she mean by life?!" Lucy questioned fearfully, also standing up and looking quite terrified. "A whole life? A few years?! What?!"
"She never said how much."
Lucy bit her lip, suddenly avoiding everyone's gazes. "Well...it's just that...if it's a couple of decades or something, then...maybe-"
"If the book I read is anything to go by," Jack muttered lowly. "The witch is going to want a couple of centuries, at the least." He sent his sister an apologetic look, clearly having figured out what she had been thinking. "Lu, it wouldn't work...you'd be too old then..."
"Okay, what's going on?" Johnny asked suspiciously, looking between his two older kids. "Lu, why the heck would you want to be older? And, Jack, she'd be too old for what?"
And suddenly it wasn't just Johnny but also Mavis and Dracula looking at the two of them intently, clearly quite perplexed by their conversation. Jack sent his sister a clear look: this was her business, not his. He wouldn't say anything because it had nothing to do with him.
So it was all up to her.
Lucy swallowed thickly. "I...I zinged with someone."
"Wait, you what?!" Dracula blurted, mouth hanging open in shock. "But, Lucy, you are only young...how could you-"
"I know he's my zing," Lucy snapped fiercely, surprising the adults further. "It took me a while to figure out it was him...but now that I know it's him, I'm never letting him go." She looked at her parents, a fire burning in her eyes. "Look, I know a lot about how you guys zinged - and it was similar to how you zinged, Grandpa, with Grandma. It..." She hesitated, voice suddenly a lot more tender. "There's a crash and then this...this jolt where you just look at each other and it's like seeing your entire life in one person - seeing that person for who they are and how much they mean to you."
Dracula and Johnny simply continued to stare at her; it was clear that they were both quite surprised by this revelation as well as being somewhat protective deep inside... Mavis let go of her father and sent her daughter a proud smile. "That's great, Lu."
Lucy gave them a small smile - but then it faded when she remembered what else had happened. "The thing is, he's a lot older than me. Uhm...twenty six years, to be exact. Hey, don't freak out!" She added hurriedly when Johnny frowned and opened his mouth to protest. "He works here at the hotel, and...and I know that it's not at all great at the minute, the fact that he's technically an adult and I'm not, but...but I thought..."
"That you'd be able to give up some of your life to become older," Dracula stated softly, eyes suddenly watery. "That's very sweet...but it wouldn't work, either way." The other four just sent him looks, clearly not sure what he meant by this statement. "From...from what I've heard of these kinds of witches, they take the life span off of-"
"Off of the end of a life," Jack finished quietly. "So...So she'd remain the same age but just live a shorter life?"
"Yes," Dracula sighed heavily. "And it wouldn't be a few decades, either - like you said, Jack, it would be a few centuries at the very least."
Lucy frowned at them. "How can she take off life from the end? I mean, there's no telling how long someone will live-"
"No, but we all have to go at some point," The count said sourly. "There's only so long we can go on living."
Mavis collapsed into a seat, suddenly pale and sickly-looking. "I can't let her do that to anyone," She murmured, shaking her head and stroking her stomach. "Not to any of you, or Mina or even any of the guests staying here."
"Well, she's not doing that to you," Johnny seethed protectively. "Mavy, we can figure this out. I mean, if we can't then... Then I'll let her take some of mine."
"No!" Mavis snapped tearfully, seemingly offended by the idea. "I did not turn you just so that you could throw your life away, Johnny!"
"I can't let you do that either!" The red-head protested. "Mavis, I love you and the kids...I mean, I even love Drac a little bit!"
Dracula blinked, not quite sure what to make of his statement. "Jeesh, thanks Johnny..."
The female dark-haired vampire watched her husband for a moment, eyes looking him over in a regretful way. "I started this," She stated quietly. "I told her and let her do this to me. I should have to pay for my mistake, not you."
Lucy's eyes were filled with tears, and it was obvious she was trying her best not to cry; Jack, meanwhile, had fallen into silence as he watched their parents argue over the ordeal. If only there were some other way... But he knew there wasn't. Dark Magic was tricky, and - from what he'd read - rarely had loop holes involved.
Johnny sat next to Mavis in another seat, looking at her pleadingly. "Look, I totally don't think what you've done is right, Mavis...But that's kind of it. Even when you're wrong, I just...I have to keep you safe, you know? I mean, if anything happened to you, I'd just..." He trailed off, clearly at a loss for words for once.
"I don't want either of you to do it," Lucy muttered loudly, breaking into the conversation and looking between the two. "As I'm the oldest, it's my responsibility to look after you guys when things get rough...therefore, I should do it."
"No way!" Jack shouted, glaring at her in slight anger. "I'm the only boy, I'm the odd one out - I'll do it."
"Neither of you are doing it," Dracula interrupted sternly, knowing that his daughter and son-in-law couldn't intervene at that moment, what with the high emotions flowing in the room. "You are both under the age of a hundred and eighteen and therefore not responsible for your actions or decisions. No protests!" He added sharply when they just gaped at him and frowned. "Now, Mavy..." He turned to Mavis, expression softening somewhat as he bent down and took one of her hands in his. "I'm your father; it's my job to protect you..."
"Drac, no," Johnny muttered, horrified.
The count took a deep breath. "I'm not exactly young anymore - I have lived my life and I've loved every minute of it. But now...now I think it's time that I move on-"
"No!" Mavis choked out, shaking her head as if it would make him change his mind.
He continued anyway. "I'm not saying I would die immediately, of course: I would have maybe half a century left...maybe even a whole one if I'm lucky..."
"Dad-!"
"I will take the risk," Dracula stated firmly, although his voice trembled slightly. "And you cannot change my mind: I'm older than any of you, and I can therefore do what I want in this matter."
They all knew it: once Count Dracula made up his mind, there was no changing it.
Hey, guys! Sorry I'm being a bit slow, but I have good news!
1) I got my mock exams back today (they're the exams I took last month that lasted two weeks) and...I got an A* (in the writing paper no less!), 5 As, a few Bs and one C. :D
2) My birthday is on Monday (Sweet 16!) and I have the whole day off :D I can't guarantee I'll write all day, but I could probably manage something...
Anyway, I want to thank you all again for your continued support (God, I sound like a broken record) and it really does mean a lot to me as a budding young writer. Please leave your thoughts in a review or something! :)