It was February and Urbana was sending her Valentine to her father early before they leave for their flight tomorrow morning. It was a drawing of a bleeding, anatomically correct heart laying on a counter, surrounded by morning glory flowers, poppy flowers, and forget-me-nots. As she was putting her mail in the mailbox, Hilda, pulled up to the driveway and offered Urbana a ride back up and she accepted.
"Thanks again for agreeing to take care of Gizmo, Thing, and Pugsley's spiders for us while we're gone," Urbana told Hilda.
"It's no problem at all," Hilda said as she pulled into the front yard of the mansion, "How's your ankle feeling?"
While getting out of her car, Urbana said, "It still hurts when I put pressure on it but it's not unbearable and I can walk using only one crutch now."
"So I see," Hilda said as she walked ahead of Urbana to hold the door open for her.
Grandmama was on the phone with Maddie, who was arguing with her mother about leaving the house despite the threat of the family situation, and Grandmama was reassuring her daughter about the strength and endurance of her ghost repellent charms and potions.
"I'll go get Gizmo. Thing is around here somewhere," Urbana told Hilda.
Urbana climbed the stairs and passed Lurch who was carrying her luggage downstairs so he could put it into the Addams family car. Gizmo was on her computer watching an online movie.
"Hey, my little Furby. Are you ready to go on your own vacation?" Urbana asked him.
Gizmo made an excited, plrrr, sound and he climbed up to his cage on the fireplace mantle and closed the door behind him. Urbana then went over to him and covered his bird cage with the yellow baby blanket and picked it up with her free hand. When she made it back down to the first floor, Pugsley was giving Hilda a list of things she'll need to do to properly care for his spiders. All the while Thing was tapdancing on her head.
"Here's Gizmo," Urbana said as she handed her the bird cage, "There are three things you've got to remember; don't let sunlight touch him, keep him away from water, and don't feed him after midnight."
"What happens if I do any of those on accident," Hilda asked.
Urbana shrugged and said, "No idea, but I don't want to find out since he's a demon. I've fed him at five in the morning one time and nothing happened to him so I'm sure it's safe to feed him at five in the morning. I also give him juice and milk to drink since he can't have water."
"Understood," Hilda said.
"Please take good care of our friends," Pugsley said.
"I will Dear," Hilda said as she patted her Grand-nephew's head.
# # #
After a thirteen-hour flight and a two- and half-hour drive, the Addams family made it to Hotel Transylvania. The hotel was a giant, extravagant, castle surrounded by a deep dark mote that Urbana couldn't see through, but she could tell by the slight rippling of the surface of the water that there was something in it. Normal humans and monsters of every shape and size were crossing the bridge by walking or by personal drivers. Everything had an air of welcoming creepiness, like going into a fun house.
Walking inside, everything was huge and elaborate, and the whole thing looked like it was hundreds of years old. There were hanging chandeliers and wall candelabras and crush red velvet chairs and a lobby fireplace that's big enough to fit a car in it.
"Oh, wow," Urbana said.
"I know," Grandmama said, "Frank and I went here on our honeymoon."
While the Addams family were checking in at the front desk, a twelve-year-old boy with orange curly hair and fangs sticking out of his mouth approached them and said, "Hello, welcome to Hotel Transylvania. May your night be sweet and your stay even sweeter."
"Oh my gosh, you must be Dennis," Grandmama cooed at the boy.
"Um, yes ma'am," Dennis said.
"Hi, Dennis," Morticia said, "I'm a long-distance friend to your mom Mavis, and my Mom here is a longtime friend of your Grandpa."
"Oh, you are," Dennis said, "I'll go find Grandpa then." The little boy then transformed into a black bat with orange curly hair on top of his head and he flew off."
"Oh, cool, a vampire," Urbana said.
"Puh-leeze," a floating pair of glasses said, "I'm much cooler."
"Are you an invisible person," Urbana asked the floating glasses.
"Indeed, I am," He said, "The name's Griffin. How yah doin'?"
"So, are all of your clothes except for your glasses invisible?" Urbana asked.
"No," Griffin said.
"If your clothes aren't invisible, does that mean you're completely naked right now," Pugsley asked.
"Yesss," Griffin said, sounding uncomfortable.
"Since you're invisible and you're not wearing any clothes, does that mean you're going around laying your exposed dick on things that shouldn't have dick on it," Wednesday then asked him.
All three kids glared at Griffin's glasses.
"Okay, I think I should go now," Griffin said and the three of them watched the glasses bob away as he ran.
There was a low pitched nasally laugh as a bat swooped down and transformed into a seven-foot-tall man with slicked black hair in a casual black dress suit with a black cape.
"You really got him on the run, kids," Dracula said, "I haven't seen him get that embarrassed since he first turned invisible."
"Hello, Dracula," Grandmama said, "You look good."
"Joy! I haven't seen you since you, your husband, and daughters came here for Mavis's 118th birthday party," Dracula said as he shook her hand, "You haven't changed a bit."
"Oh, stop it, you old flirt," Grandmama laughed, "I hear you're a married man again."
"Happily, so," Dracula said, "I'll tell you all about it later, but first let me meet your grandkids first."
Dracula crouched down and said to Pugsley, "You look to be the same age as my little Tarantula."
Pugsley gasped and said, "Do you love spiders?"
"I absolutely love them. Spiders make the best doilies," Dracula said.
"Is there a spider monster here?" Pugsley asked.
"Of course, every type of monster and human are welcome here," Dracula said.
Pugsley shook Wednesday's arm in his excitement.
"Yes, I know. Spiders," Wednesday said.
"And I see your as unflappable as your mother was when she was your age," Dracula said to Wednesday, "I haven't seen you since you were inside her and I see you're going to be someone's new big sister soon too."
"Yep," Wednesday said.
"Based on your grandmother's letters you're a woman who likes a mystery," Dracula said, "The hotel has several types of games that we provide for adults and children alike. You're welcome to check them out."
"I think I will," Wednesday said.
"And you must be Urbana, the new tenant of the Addams family home," Dracula said extending his hand out to her, "Nice to meet you."
Urbana grabbed his hand to shake it but as soon as she touched him, he howled in pain like he got burnt. When he took his hand back and looked at it, there was a hand mark from where Urbana's hand was, then he got a good look at her and asked, "Are you glowing?"
"Welp, that's another new thing about me that I know now," Urbana said out loud.
Grandmama took his arm and said, "Come on Drack. Let's go to the kitchen and run some cold water on that."
The two of them left and a zombie bellboy walked up to them and said he'd lead them to their rooms. Wednesday, Pugsley, and Urbana would share a room, Morticia and Grandmama would share a room, and Lurch, Fester, and Gomez would share a room. All three of their rooms were on the same floor and next door to each other.
Once all of their luggage was in their room, Urbana asked the bellboy to lead her to the kitchen since she wanted to apologize to Dracula. The zombie bellboy complied.
As she entered the kitchen the place was packed with all kinds of chiefs doing their jobs. Thanks to her background in working for Olive Garden, Urbana easily and smoothly navigated the large and hot kitchen, despite her bad ankle and crutch, and found Grandmama and Dracula.
"Dear, what are you doing all the way down here," Grandmama said, "You should be unpacking and checking out the pool."
"I just wanted to apologize to Mr. Dracula," Urbana said to her then she turned to Dracula and said, "I'm sorry sir, for burning you. If I had known I could do that I wouldn't have tried to shake your hand."
"I appreciate your apology, Urbana. Joy here, has been telling me about your abilities," Dracula said as he held his burnt hand to his chest, "You seem to have a strange effect on all of the undead and I have a lot of undead guests. So please be careful around them."
"I will do my best," Urbana said.
"Now, is there anything I can do for one of my favorite guests," Dracula asked.
"Well, I have a question," Urbana said then asked, "Are you the Dracula, like in the books?"
Dracula pulled a card out of his breast pocket then handed it to Urbana. On the card it said, No, I am not the fictional Dracula in the books or any media. Dracula just happened to be a popular name at the time of my birth. Please stop comparing me to that murderer.
"I'm sorry I asked," Urbana said.
"Yah, I get it a lot ever since I've let humans stay at the hotel. It's quicker this way," Dracula said, "Have a good evening, Ladies." Then he rushed off like he was the Roadrunner on Loony Toons.
# # #
Wednesday was off doing an advanced scavenger hunt with Morticia. Pugsley was with Gomez at the pool. Fester was at the bar playing a trivia game. Lurch and Grandmama were walking a lap around the hotel moat. So, Urbana decided that she was going to hang out in the lobby and interview the undead since it's a rare opportunity for her to better understand herself and them since she's only ever had experience with ghosts.
She talked with the zombie bellboys and they told her how rare it is for someone to actually understand them, even among other monsters they can still be ignored because they can't talk like everyone else. They allowed her to give them a test touch and the zombies told her that her touch felt warmer than most living, but it didn't hurt them and that they could see her golden glow.
Urbana talked with the skeletons who were super chatty and talked to her like she was a confessional. Urbana learned that they have an easier time talking to normal people because they use magic to help them translate. When Urbana asked why the zombies haven't used that magic, they said that zombies are too slow for conventional magic, and they didn't mean mentally, they are physically too slow for the magic to properly translate for them. The skeletons allowed her to give them a test touch and they said they felt nothing but that they had a flashback feeling from before they were enchanted and were just normal skeletons. They could also see her golden glow.
Urbana was lining up to talk to some ghouls that she had seen pass by when she got interrupted by a mummy and a big guy with bolts in his neck.
"Hey, little sister," the mummy said, "Heard you're interviewing the undead. How about you interview us. I'm Murray and this is Franky."
"Well, that depends on the big guy here, is he truly an undead," Urbana said, "Cause you're a Frankenstein's Monster, right?"
"I am based on the book, which is why my name is Frankenstein, but I came into being after the book was written" Franky said.
"Interesting," Urbana said, "Then as a person who is a bunch of body parts sewn together and turned sentient, can you really call yourself undead? Sure, you're made from other people's dead body parts, but you are more than the sum of your parts, right?"
"I… Oh, wow. This is philosophy that I wasn't ready for," Franky said as he scratched his head.
"That's fine then," Urbana said, "May I touch your hand to see if you feel any affect from me?"
Frankenstein allowed her to put her two fingers on the palm of his hand and she asked him if he felt anything, he said no. Then when she asked him if he could see her golden glow, he said no.
"You can't see it," Murray said, "She shines like the Egyptian sun over the Libyan Desert."
"Okay," Urbana said, "that answered that question. I'm safe for you to accidentally brush against me, but it worries me that you see my glow so brightly. Only ghosts can see it like that and especially when I'm angry and/or upset."
"You don't seem upset," Franky said.
"And I'm not, so I'm worried about the affect I'll have on Mr. Mummy."
"Please call me Murray," he said.
Urbana asked if she could touch Murray's hand. He allowed it and when she placed her two fingers on his hand, Murray grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug.
"You remind me of home," Murray said.
Urbana didn't feel like her energy was being drained like a ghost could do to her, but she did feel uncomfortable from the hug.
"Okay, then. I induce nostalgia in mummies," Urbana said out loud.
Murray gasped then ran off yelling, "Hello, Scarlet!"
Urbana saw that it was a demon that Murray was running towards. She looked humanoid, with bright red hair and pointy horns sprouting out of her forehead proudly, with leathery bat wings closed and pulled in tight to her back. When she looked at Urbana and Franky's direction, Urbana locked eyes with her and saw into her soul.
She saw their most important parts of life in Hell, she saw their escape from Hell, she saw their struggle to survive in the human realm flipflopping between a male and female prostitute, and she saw her being hired by Dracula to be an escort/entertainer here. When Urbana came out of it, Scarlet looked like she was embarrassed and quickly dragged Murray away with her. Urbana felt a bit lightheaded and leaned on her crutch heavily.
"Are you okay," Franky asked.
"Yah. I just wasn't expecting to see a demon here," Urbana said.
"Oh, yah, Scarlet's been here since Mavis left to see the world with Johnny," Franky said, "Since she's a succubus, Drack thought her abilities would help make human integration go smoother."
"I guess that makes sense," Urbana said as her lightheadedness passed, "I think I'm done talking with strangers for today. I'm going to go to the buffet."
"Oh, I love the buffet. I'll join you. I'll probably find Eunice there too," Franky said.
# # #
Urbana was laying on a long lawn chair by the hotel pool while she was watching and sketching the rest of the Addams family playing in the pool. Some monsters were singing on the karaoke machine at the far reaches of the pool area and the sound of kids yelling and having fun overpowered the music.
Pugsley yelled, "Urbana! Watch this!"
I giant tentacle shot up into the air with Pugsley on it and Urbana watched him jump off it and do three front flips before hitting the water with a big splash. Once he resurface, Pugsley looked to Urbana.
Urbana clapped and said, "Truly amazing, Pugsley!"
"I bet I can do better," Wednesday said.
The tentacle picked her up and she did an elegant nosedive into the water and barely made a splash. Urbana clapped just as hard for Wednesday as she did for Pugsley.
"You kids are wild," Urbana told them.
Pugsley gave Urbana a huge smile while Wednesday gave her a small one. Then Gomez jumped out of the water and started attacking his kids with pool noodles while the rest of the family cheered them on.
Urbana went back to sketching them when Urbana saw a man with horns and bright red hair and bat like wings on his back, sit next to her in a long lawn chair and they laid down in a suggestively sexy pose.
"How are you doing, Mr. Scarlet," Urbana asked him.
Now that Urbana has seen two demons in her life, well, a half-demon and a demon-demon, she now sees how cartoonish looking demons look. With pure black eyes and his bleach white skin dotted with patches of bright red and speckled with black dots all over his body. Urbana knew they can make themselves look more human, but she thought that maybe demons look cartoony to her because she isn't used to seeing them.
"You leave me at a disadvantage, Madam," Scarlet said, "You know my name, but I don't know yours."
Urbana sat down her sketchbook and pencils, thinking this was going to take a while, then she extended her hand out to Scarlet and said, "I'm Urbana. Nice to meet you sir."
He sat up and shook her hand.
"So, since you ran away from me the other day in embarrassment, are you here to ask me for my silence or are you less worried about that and more curious about what happened to you," Urbana asked him.
"Oh! You got me," Scarlet said as he stretched, acting like he wasn't showing off his sculptured swimming body.
"Well, then don't worry about me saying anything to anyone about you. Your history is your own. I may know it but it's not my right to tell anyone about it," Urbana said, "Does that make you feel better."
Scarlet stopped trying to look sexy in front of her and seemed to actually relax as he said, "Yes… I do. Thank you."
"No problem," Urbana said, "I wasn't expecting to dive into another demon's soul while I was on vacation either."
"I have no soul," he said, sounding very serious.
"Ha! That's not true in the slightest," Urbana said, smiling at how ridiculous he was being. Like a goth kid trying too hard to be goth.
Scarlet was confused, he's never been told that he has a soul, and it goes against everything he's ever known. Uncomfortable he changed the subject.
"You don't seem interested at all in my male form," Scarlet said, "I can change."
Urbana just shrugged as Scarlet transformed themselves to look like their voluptuous female persona that Urbana saw the other day.
"Feel anything now," Scarlet asked, as she was trying to gage Urbana's sexual attraction.
Urbana shrugged again then said, "I'm fine with whatever you feel most comfortable being in. I don't think any form you take will make me feel uncomfortable. So feel free to take whatever form you want."
Scarlet stared at Urbana in disbelief. She's trying her damnedest to be sexy and get Urbana all riled up for her, but she just sits there like a sack of potatoes. This is her first time dealing with anyone like Urbana.
Scarlet deflated her female form and made her face look sharper to give herself a more neutral female look, and she kept her high-pitched voice.
"Man, I'm so jealous of you. You can wear whatever clothes you want with your shape shifting abilities. I have to take forever to find proper pants since I'm like a string bean from my ankles to my knees and then I have ham shaped thighs and a car bumper butt. Do you know how many pants I go through from just my body rubbing against itself, a lot," Urbana said.
Scarlet whole-heartedly laughed, not because she was being malicious, but because she imagined a Beetle car driving around with ham as its wheels. Urbana was glad that she was laughing, considering she thought she seemed so tense.
# # #
Urbana was hobbling around looking for the perfect spot to practice drawing the furniture and rooms of the hotel. Her phone rang and she saw that it was her Aunt Jane again.
She picked up and said, "Aunt Jane? Why are you calling me?"
There was a lot of static and it was like trying to listen to someone through a wall. Urbana saw a balcony and hobbled over it to stand outside.
"Are you still there?" Urbana asked.
"Urbana… there? It's... He… car... Urbana?... Hello?...," Aunt Jane said.
"Yes, I'm still here, but I can't understand you," Urbana said.
Urbana was answered by only static, so she hung up. The signal sucked at the hotel, but Urbana was sure that her Aunt was just trying to get a hold of Lurch and thought she could bypass the static by calling her.
Someone yelled boo at her from behind, startled, she dropped everything and used her crutch like a bat and knocked Beetlejuice's head off.
She gasped and said, "I am so sorry!"
Beetlejuice couldn't help but laugh as his head slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
"The look on your face was priceless," Beetlejuice said from the floor and his body doubled over.
"Okay," Urbana said as she limped over to his head, "Har, har. You're hilarious." She then picked up his head and put it back on his body then she asked, "What are you even doing here? I thought you were playing cat and mouse with those ghosts who are trying to get me?"
He took a moment to breath then he said, "Yah, I was, but Pugsley summoned me, wanting someone to play with him, since Wednesday didn't want to hang out with him and he couldn't find you."
"And what about the murder ghosts back home," Urbana asked him.
"Eh, they found out you were gone like a week after you guys left," Beetlejuice said, "They still don't know where you are."
Urbana started to pick up her stuff, but Beetlejuice snapped his fingers and made her sketching supplies and phone float in front of her and Urbana grabbed them out of the air.
"Thanks," she said.
"No problem," he replied.
Continuing to hobble along, with Beetlejuice following her, Urbana told him about how her vacation was going and how she was enjoying herself.
"And you met another demon," Beetlejuice asked and when she confirmed he then asked, "Are they hot?"
"As far as I know, they have no fire powers," Urbana said.
"No, no. I mean, are they sexy," Beetlejuice asked.
"Well, they look pretty," Urbana said, "I'd draw them if they wanted me to."
He sighed then said, "You're hopeless."
"Oh no. You're the twelfth person to see through my facade of hopefulness," Urbana said, referencing a cartoon but also trying to be funny.
Urbana felt a rumbling through her feet as something came storming down the hallways. Coming up behind them was a giant black dog and she knew it was Dennis's hellhound, Tinkles, and behind Tinkles were three dozen werewolf children happily chasing the giant dog. Urbana only had a split second to flatten herself against the wall before she got herself trampled so Beetlejuice pushed her to the wall before he was caught by the wave of dogs. It was only for a couple of seconds, but it was like hanging onto a tree in the middle of an avalanche. Once they were gone, all of the furniture was knocked over or skewed, the tapestries were knocked down to the floor, there was mud on the rugs, and candles were blown out making her surroundings darker than usual.
"Kids," a man, desperately and tiredly called out, "You can't. Run. In the. Halls!"
Urbana turned on her phone light and saw a werewolf man in a dirty white dress shirt, a black tie and black pants. Drool was coming out of his mouth as he was panting.
"Man, I feel tired just looking at you," Urbana said, "Is there any way I can help?"
"Not unless. You're. César Felipe Millán Favela," the werewolf man said.
Urbana felt the rumbling again and she grabbed the werewolf and dragged him to the wall. Through the light on her phone, the two of them saw Beetlejuice riding Tinkles and everyone howled as they stormed past them.
"Oh, no," Urbana said.
"Who was that," the werewolf man asked.
"An agent of chaos that's who," Urbana said as she started to hobble after them, "Come on."
They followed them to the lobby and watched from the top of the stairs, as they made a mess of everything. Beetlejuice was playing tug-o-war with three of the werewolf pups using a throw pillow. A few pups were chasing down the skeletons, some were hanging from the chandeliers, and the rest were chasing the hellhound in circles. Urbana was about to scold Beetlejuice when everything became frozen.
"Wayne, did your kids get into the candy bowls again," Dracula asked as he flew down, transformed, and landed beside them in his humanoid form.
"Yah, sorry about that," the werewolf man said, "Before I could stop them, they had already eaten the bowls."
"Yo, what's going on," Beetlejuice yelled at them from the lobby.
"You're in trouble mister," Urbana told him.
"Wait, I froze everyone," Drack said, "Is he a ghost?"
"The one and only," Beetlejuice said as he flew up to them and bowed before them, "We were just having a little fun."
Dracula face palmed and sighed.
"Beetlejuice, we're not at home, you can't do this kind of thing here," Urbana scolded.
"Awe, come on Toots. You know I clean up after myself," Beetlejuice said.
"That's not the point," Urbana said, "There is a time and a place for rough housing and you know it," then she yelled down at the kids in the lobby, "You all know it."
"Ugh, fine. I'll clean everything up," he said as he was about to snap his fingers. Urbana put her hand on top of his and stopped him.
"Oh, no you don't," Urbana said, "You're cleaning this up the old-fashioned way."
"What! No!," Beetlejuice said.
"Ah, ah, ah. You won't be doing it alone. It took an army for you to make this mess, and you'll have an army to clean it."
He sighed then said, "Okay."
"Now kids," Urbana said as she addressed the werewolf pups, "I want to hear every one of you apologize to Dracula for your behavior and you will help my good friend here clean up the mess you made."
Urbana then motioned for Dracula to unfreeze them. He did and the three dozen pups all said they were sorry. Beetlejuice then made cleaning supplies appear and passed them around before he and the pups started cleaning.
"Wow," Wayne said.
Urbana realized what she had just done, and she said to him, "I am so sorry sir, I just inserted myself into the situation. I didn't mean to step on your toes."
"Do you think you could babysit for me and Wanda," Wayne asked.
"No, I have way too many responsibilities of my own, adding children into the mix will make my life more of a disaster than it already is, and your children don't deserve that," Urbana said.
Wayne then got on his knees and grabbed her shirt and said, "Please be our babysitter!"
Dracula got in between them and told him, "Wayne. Please. You're embarrassing yourself. Go relax by the pool or something."
Whining, he dragged his feet as he walked away.
"You did good today," Drack told her.
"Thanks," she said.
For the rest of that day Urbana kept an eye on Beetlejuice to make sure he finished his cleaning before he went home.
# # #
Urbana, Pugsley, and Wednesday successfully exited one of the five escape-the-room games and they had five minutes left on the fifteen minute clock timer.
Hi-fiving each other, Urbana said, "Good job guys. We beat our record again."
"Imagine what kind of unstoppable team we'll be when our baby brother/sister is born," Pugsley said.
"I don't know," Wednesday said.
"What do you mean," Pugsley asked.
"Well, I find you annoying sometimes, but I know you enough to get annoyed," Wednesday said, "When our new sibling turns three years old I'll be gone for college and when they turn five you'll be in college. They won't have any memories of us. We'll be nothing more than just a fact, instead of family."
"Oh," Pugsley said, "I never thought about it."
"Woah! Hey, hey, hey now," Urbana said, "That's a lot of baggage there. We should sit down for this."
The three of them walked away from the game area and sat in a hallway against the wall.
"Now, are you just saying this because you're afraid you won't have a connection with your youngest sibling," Urbana asked Wednesday.
She just shrugged and said, "I guess. I mean, they're going to grow and change and experience the world in such a different way."
"Now that I think about it," Pugsley said, "All I've ever known is having a sibling. I can't imagine being alone while also still having people out in the world that are your siblings."
"What if we're not in their lives enough," Wednesday said, "What if we get so absorbed in our own stuff that we fail to make a connection with them."
"What if they grow up thinking they're alone," Pugsley said.
"Okay guys, slow down," Urbana said, "It's nice that you're worried, but you really don't have to think this hard about it."
"How can you be so sure," Pugsley said.
Urbana wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders and pulled them in to her. Then she took a deep slow breath in, then a deep slow breath out.
"It's true that I grew up as a single child and that I don't really know what it's like growing up with someone in the same household," Urbana said, "But you are both kind and supportive children with your own strange oddities. I know that you two will make every effort to be in your sibling's life and even if you two feel unsure about it, know that I have complete faith in you both."
"You really think so," Pugsley asked.
"I'm so sure that when they're old enough, I know they'll know you two enough to be annoyed," Urbana said.
Wednesday and Pugsley chuckled.
"Do you two feel better now," Urbana asked them.
"A little," Wednesday said.
"I hope it's a boy," Pugsley said.
"Then I hope it's a girl," Wednesday rebutted.
"Well, with that settled. Please help me up," Urbana said, and they did.
# # #
Urbana was sitting at a dinner table in the buffet with Scarlet. They were using their voluptuous female form as they were eating together.
"Thank you for inviting me to dinner," Scarlet said, "I'm surprised you're not eating with your family."
"Eh, it's fine. Grandmama and Morticia are in their room taking a nap. Fester and Lurch are participating in a Dart Board Contest in the bar and Gomez and the kids wanted to explore the village that was close by, so they'll all be tired when they get back," Urbana said.
"So that leaves you to eat alone," Scarlet said before she took a bight out of her steak.
"I'm sorry if it's weird for you," Urbana said, "You're the only other person here who I know well enough to not feel uncomfortable around, and I really do appreciate you eating with me. It's nicer sharing a meal than eating alone.
"Not at all," Scarlet said, "I was actually hoping you'd come talk with me more."
"Oh, really? Lucky you then," Urbana said, "What did you want to talk about, specifically?"
Urbana felt her leg brush against hers and she immediately retracted her legs and apologized.
Scarlet giggled then said, "I'll be performing a show tomorrow night and I'd like to invite you." Then she placed a ticket on the table in front of her.
Urbana picked it up and said, "Can I invite my family."
"Mmm, well, it's a dance show and it's for adults only," Scarlet said.
"Ah, I see. So the kids won't be able to participate," Urbana said, "Then I'll ask if Fester and Lurch would want to come, if that's alright with you?"
"Of course," Scarlet said, "I'll get you more tickets for them."
"Thank you for inviting me. It's really nice of you," Urbana said.
"I'm a demon. I don't think nice is a word that can be applied to me," she said.
"And that's bull crap and you know it," Urbana told her then she said, "I'll be sure to come to watch. I bet it'll be amazing."
"Then will you come to my dressing room after the show so you can tell me what you think," Scarlet asked.
"Of course," Urbana said, "I'd love to."
The next night, Urbana, Fester, and Lurch found the room that Scarlet was going to perform in. Urbana was holding her sketching kit and there was a line of men and a few women, and a gargoyle bouncer was standing in front of the doorway.
"Do we stand in line," Fester asked.
Urbana looked at the time on her phone and said, "No. Since we have a ticket, Scarlet said to just give it to the guy protecting the door."
The three of them walked past the line, much to the anger of a few men in the line and handed the bouncer their tickets. He looked them over, then ripped the tickets in half and handed them the other half while opening the door for them.
"Enjoy your night," he said.
"Thank you," Urbana told him, and the two men echoed her statement.
The room was small but swanky with low red colored lighting, a small bar, a stage with a pole in the middle of it, cocktail tables and round tables to sit in near the stage. It was a packed house. There was a man on the stage talking to the audience about the show before him.
Lurch grabbed Urbana's shoulder nervously.
"You're worried about what my Aunt would think about you being here?" Urbana asked him.
He nodded.
"Eh, she won't mind, but if she does, I'll tell her about what I said to you," Urbana said to reassure him.
"Oh, excuse me," some random slime woman said as she came up to them, "Are you Urbana?"
"Yes, ma'am," Urbana said.
"Oh, lovely," she said, "Scarlet has reserved a seat for you and your friends. Follow me."
"Oh, wow," Fester said as they followed the slime lady, "This Scarlet person really went all out with this."
"I know," Urbana said, "I can't help but feel special."
The slime lady showed them to their seats, and they were in the perfect place for them to see everything on the stage. Urbana sat in the seat that had her name on it and the man on the stage was finishing up his talk.
"So, uh, I didn't peg you to like this kind of stuff," Fester said.
Urbana shrugged as she placed her crutch next to her seat and said, "I feel like that I'm friends with them. Maybe it's different for them since they don't know me as much as I know them, but I want to support them in the best way that I can."
"You're an absolute sweetheart," Fester said, and Lurch nodded his head in agreement.
The guy on stage finished his bit and he announced Scarlet. The white light that was on the guy turned into a flushed blue as he walked off the stage. Jazzy music started to play, and the curtain pulled up to reveal Scarlet. Their red coloring looked violet under the blue lighting and they were covering themselves using large feathery fans. Urbana got out her sketching kit and was ready to sketch what she saw.
Scarlet's show was absolutely awe inspiring and beautiful. They danced with the precision of a surgeon operating on a heart. Urbana especially loved the trick of when they would spin around the pole and shift between being a male and a female. For Urbana, watching Scarlet dance was like watching a snowflake twirl in the air. Urbana didn't know if she could capture their weightless energy, but she sure tried.
When Scarlet left the stage, Urbana went to talk to Fester and Lurch about the awesome show but found their seats empty. Urbana looked around then went up to the bartender and asked her if she had seen the men she was sitting with.
"I don't remember the tall guy you're talking about, but the bald man got up several times to use the bathroom," she said.
"Okay. Thanks," Urbana said.
She hobbled over to the restroom area.
"Fester," she called out.
She heard Fester's voice come out of the men's bathroom.
"Fester are you alright," She asked as she placed her ear against the bathroom door.
"I'm fine… I just need to stay in here for a bit," Fester said.
"Well, okay. Do you know what happened to Lurch?" she asked.
"He left ten minutes into the show," Fester said, "He didn't feel comfortable being here."
"Now I feel bad for inviting you two here," Urbana said through the door.
"Please don't feel bad," Fester said, "We enjoyed the show but maybe we… kind of… enjoyed it too much."
"Okay? Well then, I'm going to go visit with Scarlet in their dressing room. You can go on a head without me when your done in there. Okay," Urbana said.
"Okay," Fester said.
While Urbana was making her way backstage, a stand-up comedian was talking to the crowd. Once backstage, there were a lot of people getting ready for the next act and people were taking off make up and putting on make up and people were running around in black clothes taking care of lighting. It was very overwhelming. She asked around and the guy who was on the stage before Scarlet pointed her in the right direction. She then found a dressing room with Scarlet's name on it.
She knocked then said, "Scarlet, it's Urbana."
Scarlet opened the door and they were in their male swimmer persona, and he excitedly pulled Urbana into his dressing room. Urbana barely managed to hold on to her sketching kit as she was spun around and placed in a chair full of glittery costumes. Then Scarlet sat a cross from her at his make-up table, wearing only a feather boa around his shoulders and super tight booty shorts.
"So, what did you think about my show," Scarlet asked, his low voice humming with anticipation.
"You. Were. Amazing!" Urbana gushed, "I've seen dancers on Dancing with the Stars, but you take the cake. You danced like you were a mighty river binding and curving the earth to your will and then you were delicate as the small ripples rain drops make on a pond. You have got to teach me how to dance like you do. Some of those pole dancing moves you did I bet I could use for battle. Like imagine someone pulling out a knife on me and then I'm like, nope, and I climb up a pole where they can't reach me. You were just so amazing."
Urbana then tore out her drawing from her sketch book and gave it to Scarlet, "Here. I don't think I did a good enough job capturing your essence, but I hope you like it."
Scarlet got up and grabbed the drawing and he looked at it for a long time. Urbana was starting to get worried that he was offended, especially when he started crying.
"What's wrong!?"
"Me. I'm wrong," he said.
"Did I draw your wings incorrectly," Urbana asked.
"I'm not talking about your beautiful drawing, Urbana," Scarlet said, "I'm talking about me."
"Oh… What do you think is wrong with you?" Urbana asked.
"I've been trying to seduce you into sleeping with me," he said, "Because I wanted some kind of control over what you know about me."
"You're still upset about me seeing into you," Urbana said.
"Who wouldn't be," Scarlet said as he sat back down at his make-up table and covered his face with his hands.
Urbana looked around for some tissues while Scarlet spoke.
"I thought. If I slept with you, then I would know what kind of person you are. So that I could know some of your secrets," he said, "I've been violated before, but when you looked at me that day it felt like being forcibly stripped in front of a jeering crowd. I couldn't handle it."
Urbana found some tissues and sat on the floor in front of him then gave him the tissues.
"Thank you for being so brave to tell me this," Urbana told him.
"I don't know if I'm brave," Scarlet said, "Your sweetness just guilted me into confessing. I mean look at your drawing of me. I'm on the pole, naked, and yet I don't sense a lick of sexual desire in it."
"I'm not sure if I told you this, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry I caused you so much destress and I'm sorry for being blind to your discomfort," Urbana said, "I understand the terrible feeling of being known."
Scarlet believed her.
"So. What do you want to know about me?" Urbana asked him.
"What?"
"I said, what deep dark secrets of me do you want to know about," Urbana asked as she laid her arms and head in his lap, "You want an even playing field, right? I'm on vacation and I have all night to talk."
Scarlet couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt like such an idiot for not telling her how he felt and for not asking her, out-right, to begin with. He supposed old habits die hard.
The two of them talked all night and in the end, Scarlet felt much better and learned a lot of her secrets. Scarlet had no intention of telling anyone about what Urbana told them, but they felt better now knowing who Urbana was.
# # #
Urbana just got off of her Aunt's failed attempt to call her again as the Addams family was socializing with Dracula's family at the hotel pool.
Vlad, Dracula's father, came up to Urbana and said, "After our families are done playing with each other, come talk with me."
"Okay," Urbana said to him.
The old man then turned into a bat and flew high above the pool before turning back into his humanoid self and did a big cannon ball on his grandchildren and on the Addams children. Urbana hobbled over to the long lawn chair and sat next to the pregnant Ericka, Dracula's wife, who was reading a magazine.
"Is it weird having a daughter that's older than you," Urbana asked her.
Ericka sat her magazine on her large stomach and said, "If they were regular humans, then I suppose I would be weirded out, but vampires can't help being as old as they are. Dracula dear."
Dracula was immediately out of the pool and was by her side, "Yes, my little crabapple?"
"I feel like having some ant bread covered in scream cheese. Will you get me some, please?"
"Of course," Dracula said, and he was gone and back within the blink of an eye, "Here you go. I also toasted the bread for you since you love it crunchy."
"Thank you," She said, and they pecked each other on the lips and Drack went back to playing in the pool with his family.
"Sorry. I know the food's a little weird, but our baby just loves this stuff," Erica said before taking a bight out of the screaming food, silencing it.
"No need to apologize, Morticia has her own food cravings too," Urbana said, "How long until your do?"
"Oh, it could be any week now," Erica said, "We're all very excited."
Dennis got out of the pool and went up to Erica, "Grandma Erica. Can I sit with you?"
Erica skootched over and patted the empty space beside her, and he sat down.
"Tired," Erica asked.
"Yah," he said.
"Did you stay up too late last day," she asked him.
"Maybe," Dennis said.
"So, how exactly do you guys handle having different sleeping patterns," Urbana asked.
"Well, since we have humans here, we usually tag team. Johnny and I usually handle the people in the day then when we go to sleep, Dracula and Mavis handle the people at night. Our dinner is their breakfast and we always try to eat as a family," Erica explained.
"Awe, that's sweet," Urbana said.
"What's sweet?" Scarlet asked, they were in their deflated female form, but their voice sounded more neutral than feminine or masculine.
Urbana filled them in as they sat behind her and wrapped their arms around her neck and rested her face in her hair.
Fester got out of the pool to get a drink and when he saw Scarlet he froze.
"You okay," Urbana asked him.
"Oh. Um. Yah," Fester said, his voice unusually high pitched.
Fester tensely walked away towards the bathrooms.
"I hope he's alright," Urbana said.
"He'll be fine," Scarlet said, "I tend to have that kind of effect on single men and women."
"Is it because you're a succubus," she asked.
They shrugged then said, "It's part of it, but it's also because I'm really good at my job."
"Urbana," Wednesday called out, "Nobody's using the karaoke machine. Will you sing a song?"
"Heck yah, I will," Urbana said as she hefted herself up using her crutch.
When Urbana got on the stage, she flipped through the different songs that were in the book and there were a lot of really old songs, however, Urbana was fine with this since both of her parents are fans of "oldies". Eventually she found the song by Frank Sinatra, I've Got You Under My Skin and she played that.
She had a lot of fun singing the song and a lot of people started gathering around the stage to listen to her. Someone even threw roses at her. She hoped that they weren't for anyone special. When Urbana finished a lot of people got in line to have their turn at the karaoke machine since she made it seem so fun. Before leaving the stage, she picked up all of the roses then she passed them out to the Addams and Dracula Family. Then she gave the last rose to Scarlet placing it in their hair, behind their ear.
"Beautiful," Urbana said.
It was in this moment, that Scarlet the Succubus, realized that they have caught feelings for Urbana. It was a moment after that, Scarlet realized that the only way she's not head over heels for them has to be because they're already in a relationship with someone. Scarlet felt their heart crack a bit.
Later that night, Urbana went to look for Vlad, but he found her first, flying above her head in his bat form.
"Oh! Hello, sir. You wanted to talk to me about something?" Urbana asked him.
"Yes. Please, follow me to my quarters," Vlad said.
Urbana hobbled along behind him as he flew a few feet away then waited for her to catch up. Eventually they made it to a more decrepit part of the hotel that made it look more like a man-made cave than an actual hallway in a castle. Then Vlad transformed into his humanoid form and opened a door that Urbana didn't see at first.
Inside the room was a recliner chair, torches that were lit, and a whole lot of books sitting everywhere in the cave like room.
"Dracula told me what happened between you two and it made me think of someone who was like you," Vlad said, "He was a good friend of mine. He was a fish monster."
"That's cool," Urbana said, "Do you not talk with him anymore?"
"That's right. He's been dead for a few hundred years now," Vlad said.
"Oh. I'm sorry," she said.
"Thank you," Vlad said as he shuffled over to his recliner that had an old dusty book in it, "Bubble was his name and I remember him feeling alone in his life before he was killed."
Urbana nodded her head and encouraged him to continue.
"He had a way with the dead, just like you do," Vlad said and he picked up the book in his recliner and then went up to Urbana and handed it to her, "He would have wanted you to have this."
The book was leather bound, and the pages were yellow with age. It looked like an old diary.
"He wrote everything he knew he could do and how he was able to help the dead," Vlad said, "He wouldn't want you to feel alone like he did."
"This is your only memento from your friend, isn't it," Urbana said, holding the book with care.
He nodded.
Urbana opened the book and was met with a bunch of scribbles.
"Um, sir. I really do appreciate your generosity, but I can't read this," Urbana said.
"Oh, that's right! Humans don't know Fish-speak," Vlad said has he walked away and started scanning the rest of his book collection, "How silly of me. Give me a minute. I know I have a Fish-speak to English translation book around here somewhere."
"No. Please. I can't take your only memento of your friend," Urbana said.
"Ah-ha! Found it," Vlad said not listening. He then went over to her and handed her the translation book.
"Sir, please. I don't want to take something so personally valuable," Urbana said.
"Now don't start with me Missy," Vlad said, "Just take the damn books."
"… No," Urbana said, "I will trade you."
"Okay, do you got a pen in your pocket or something," Vlad asked, sounding tired.
"No. I'll draw your friend. You remember what he looks like right," Urbana asked.
"I do," he said.
Urbana then handed him back the books and said, "Then I'll draw your friend. It may not be perfect, but I feel like you deserve that much. We'll talk in the lobby."
Then Urbana hobbled away and the next night, Urbana spent all of her time drawing the fish-man, Vlad used to know. When she finished the drawing and Vlad looked at it for the first time, he didn't cry, but the face that he made while looking at the drawing made Urbana want to. After a long minute of not talking, Vlad folded the drawing in half, stuffed it in his breast pocket, then he handed the books over to Urbana.
# # #
It was the last day and everyone was packing up their souvenirs and luggage, getting ready to leave in the afternoon.
Grandmama and Morticia were out having a final conversation with Dracula and Mavis, Wednesday and Pugsley were talking to Dennis and Winnie who were saying their goodbyes. Fester, Lurch, and Gomez were helping get all of the luggage downstairs and into the rental car. Urbana was just trying to stay awake since she wanted to fall asleep on the plane so the ride will go faster.
As Urbana had finished packing up her luggage someone knocked on the door. Thinking it was the kids who forgot their keys she opened the door and saw that it was Scarlet. They were in their masculine form, but he was less buff, and his voice had a hint of femininity.
"Hey, Urbana," Scarlet said, "I heard you're leaving today."
Urbana yawned then said, "Yah. Sorry. I'm so use to staying up late at night, being up in the morning is a bit draining."
"Want to get some breakfast with me before you go," Scarlet asked.
"I would love to," Urbana told him.
Before leaving Urbana saw Fester and told him that she was done packing and that he could take her stuff down to the rental.
The buffet was full of mostly humans as everyone ate breakfast. Urbana had herself a nice cup of white tea and was having toast with blackberry jelly. Scarlet was having poached eggs, an English muffin, and coffee.
"Thank you for inviting me to breakfast," Urbana said, "I've enjoyed being here and I enjoy your company."
"Yes, well. I enjoy your company too," Scarlet said, "This hotel's going to feel a little emptier with you gone."
"Oh? That's too bad," Urbana said. She took a sip of her tea then asked, "Are you not enjoying your job anymore?"
Scarlet was silent for a long minute before he asked, "Do you think all I'm good for is being a stripper and an escort?"
"Absolutely not," Urbana said without hesitation, "Why do you ask?"
"I've been an escort for as long as I can remember," Scarlet said, "I remember having fun with it when I was in Hell and I made myself out to be a big star for Valentino in his asinine Porn Studio. Then when I had my break and found a way out of Hell, I had fun being a street urchin and corner hoe until it wasn't anymore, then I came here and I've been having fun, but now, I just feel like I'm stuck in a rut… That, this is all I can do, like escaping Hell was a wasted effort."
Urbana was silent for a long while, trying to make sure she would say the right thing.
"Look, Scarlet, all I know is that when you feel stuck in a rut, you either change it slightly or you go full force in and dramatically change your life or you do both. I'm currently doing both… I moved out of my family's home when I was eighteen and that was a dramatic change for me and then when I got into the rut of having school and work, I decided to commit to learning how to fence and I joined a band. Maybe you're tired of being an escort, so find a job that deals a lot with people but just not in a strictly sexual way. I can actually imagen you being a chameleon secret agent or something like that, going undercover into a cult and gaining insight to bust them at their weakest. I think you'd be good at that."
"Hmm, you do make it sound exciting," Scarlet said, "It's certainly something to think about."
The two of them sat there and talked all morning, until Gomez found them and told Urbana that it was time for them to go.
Scarlet and Urbana hugged each other, and Scarlet said, "Your significant other is a lucky person to have someone like you."
Urbana stepped back from their hug and said, "Significant other? I don't have one of those. What made you think that?"
Scarlet was choking on his words from the shock of the news and Urbana was patiently waiting for him to answer her, but Gomez cut in.
"I'm really sorry, but we must be going," Gomez said, "Thank you for befriending my daughter and have a good morning."
Gomez took Urbana by the arm and the two of them walked away from the still tongue tied Scarlet, and as they walked away Urbana waved goodbye.
# # #
It was nighttime and Urbana was happy to see her bed again. She didn't even bother to taker her clothes off as she got into her bed. She didn't realize how tiresome being on vacation could get. Before she could actually fall asleep, her phone rang, and through her blurry, tired vision, she saw that it was her Aunt Jane again.
"Aunt Jane?"
"Urbana, finally! I've been trying to get a hold of you and/or Lurch for a little over two weeks now," Jane said.
"We just got back from vacation, so sue us," Urbana mumbled.
"Honey, it's your father. He's in the hospital," Aunt Jane said.
Her words took a minute for Urbana to absorb.
She jumped out of bed saying, "Text me the address!"