Chapter 22: Anniversary of Lady Lubov
Autumn was still around in the mountains where Hotel Transylvania peacefully and quietly existed, but longer warmer days drew closer which put a spark in Ericka's heart as she happily ventured off to the kitchen to create a surprise breakfast for her husband; a pot of hot coffee with blood substitute, and a covered breakfast plate that hid the surprise breakfast. She tiptoed back to her bedchambers where a dozing Dracula slept in their four poster fuchsia bed.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" The brunette woman announced in a perky voice while pulling the bedsheet off the vampire's body.
Dracula stirred while he yawned and rubbed his eyes to open them. "Hello, wormbun," he greeted in a tired voice but smiled that was only halfhearted in the moment.
"I brought you breakfast in bed," Ericka announced with a big smile. "I hope you like it."
The vampire king slowly sat upward while his queen gently placed the tray in front of him. She removed the cover from the plate to reveal scrumptious heart-shaped wormcakes. "Oh, thank you, Ericka ," he cooed, truly appreciated. "This looks delicious." He kissed her on the hand to show his gratitude.
As much as Dracula truly appreciated what his wife was doing for him, he really wasn't in a celebratory mood. By now Ericka noticed how depressed, maybe even crestfallen he looked, while he momentarily twiddled a fork in his fingers like he was deep in thought and unsure of what to do with it.
"Don't you want to try it?" Ericka tried to encourage him to eat more.
"Oh, uh, yes, sweetheart," he stammered. "It's just... I'm still a little tired." Dracula slowly began to eat his breakfast, which he found very good.
Sensing something must be weighing heavily on his mind, Ericka decided he may need a little alone time. She slowly walked to the door, saying, "Okay, honey, I'll be right back with my own breakfast." And closed the door with a quiet click on her way out.
Ericka didn't get very far when she noticed a witch maid was actually carrying her breakfast tray to her, so she said politely to the witch, "Thank you, Babayaga," and took the tray from her, "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, your Grace." Babayaga nodded.
"Dracula's looking very depressed right now," Ericka said, looking puzzled. "I thought he'd be happier since I'd surprise him with breakfast in bed. Instead, he looks like a poor lonely teenager whose been made fun of, any idea why?"
"Ahh, I see," Babayaga sighed mournfully. "It's the anniversary of his and Martha's wedding day. Unfortunately, it's a day he and everyone else visit the ruins of Castle Lubov every year to leave flowers where his late wife died in remembrance of her."
"Oh!" Ericka gasped as she let this sink in. She thought how foolish she had been to not knowing about her husband's depression and shouldn't have tried cheering him up with breakfast in bed.
Babayaga stood still waiting for any more service to the Countess, but Ericka said 'thank you' and dismissed Babayaga. She slowly walked back to her chambers, thinking about what she had been told. When Ericka entered her room she saw Dracula had hardly taken a few bites of his heart-shaped wormcakes, and the human woman wished she could do something more to cheer him up.
Then, a light bulb lit up in her mind at that very idea, and hopefully it will work wonders. Ericka sat beside her silent morose vampire husband in bed as she stared at her own breakfast for a long minute. "So," she broke the silence, "Enjoying breakfast? I had plans for today. But if you want to stay here and do nothing... or if you want..."
"It's okay," Dracula mumbled. "I heard you talking to Babayaga."
"Oh... well, I uh..."
"Before Martha died," the vampire count explained sadly with his head hung low, "we did all sorts of fun things together. But now, on the night we pay our respects to her, it's just another day that reminds me how I lost her and how alone I was." Ericka gave him a look of hurt and sorrow, but he quickly redeemed it when he tried to reassure her. "Oh, but that was before I met you, Beloved. You've made me happier than I've been in a long, long time. I never thought about how else to spend my lonely nights without her. I mean, Mavis often surprised me with special food or hunting mice, while I often took her stories about her mother. I suppose part of me feels ashamed if I didn't explain it to my new wife."
Ericka had a sad face as she gently placed a hand over his own, and he gingerly clasped her hand. It was then she remembered the idea she thought of after speaking with Babayaga. While it's wasn't what she originally planned for the day, all she really wanted was to make her husband happy. "Well, I think she'd be happy if you did something with me to cheer you up," she began gently. "But, what if we tried doing what you and Martha used to do in the past. You could pretend I'm Martha for the day, err, night."
Dracula stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Remember when we first met, and everyone thought I looked a lot like Martha? I'll dress up in a vampire costume for the night. And if it makes you feel better, we'll do the things you used to do with Martha. We'll even visit Castle Lubov with everybody else if you want so you can pay your respects to her."
He smiled warmly at her, as he clasped her hand tightly. Dracula leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers as he whispered, "Thank you."
A little later in the night, Ericka began to get ready for her date night with Dracula, preparing herself for the night in the bathroom. Finally when she was ready, Dracula's eyes widened at the change her appearance and his heart soured simultaneously.
Ericka wore an old vampire gown that resembled Martha's dress in the portrait. She wore a choker around her neck with a blue jewel in its center, dabbed white power on her face to look slightly pale, put on a fresh coat of black lipstick and black eye massacre to create a vampiric beauty to her. "Do I look okay?" she asked hopefully.
"Holy rabies! You look more beautiful than the first time I saw you in it," the vampire king complimented her with charm and sincerity as he took hold of her hands.
"Ready to go?"
The count looked hesitant for a moment, but he steeled himself. "Yes, but first we must get everybody ready for the service. And I want to show Mavy where she was born, and could have grown up. To tell you the truth, I never took her to her old home, cause... you know... I was a helicopter parent."
Ericka smiled in understanding his actions. There was a part of her secretly ecstatic at visiting Castle Lubov. She always loved that old story her mother often told her at bedtime, never imaging that she would marry the 'Lonely Count' from the story.
"Then let's go," she said as she brought his hand closer to her chest. "We'll have some family time together as we pay our respects."
Smiling, the vampire king gave his human queen an appreciative kiss.
Some time later, the passengers of several hearses sat calmly while their drivers drove them down a road only the Count knew to his old home of Castle Lubov. The ride was heavily quiet as only members had painful memories of the place, one didn't remember at all, and the last knew it as his favorite castle from a fairy tale story with two versions to it. Everyone was puzzled to why Ericka wore Martha's old dress, until Dracula told them her idea of pretending to be Martha while she and him go out on a date.
At last, the group arrived half an hour later. Somehow, the ruins of Castle Lubov looked both dreary from more than a century of loneliness and intimidating in the darkness as a haunted castle like in Bram Stoker's novel of the infamous vampire.
Mavis stared up at her old family home, her first time visiting it in person after so many years made her feel a mixture of excitement and sadness. "So, I could have grown up here," she whispered to her father, upon his exiting the hearse.
"Yes," Dracula replied quietly. "This could have been your home. The hotel our home away from home." He tenderly brought her in an embrace. "I know you could have been happy here, if only none of that tragedy didn't happen."
A lot of their friends attended the ceremony, having known Martha in life back in the past and to show how much they cared for her; the Steins, the Werewolves, the Mummies, the Invisible Man and the Blobs. Each of the family members had brought flowers, an old fashioned phonograph, a photo album, candles, and a whole bunch of black balloons that Frank had a hard time to keep a hold on.
"What's with all of the balloons, Frankie?" Dracula questioned. "This isn't a party!"
"I know, but it was Johnny's idea," said Frank.
The dark prince was in Johnny's face like lightning, glaring down at him. "I certainly hope you are not trying to dishonor my late wife with a party!"
Johnny gave a nervous smile, briefly startled. "Relax, they're not party balloons. I think you'll like this idea."
"Oh? And what is it?" The vampire continued staring down at him.
"You and the guys get a balloon, use a permanent ink marker to write your names and your 'Love you, Martha' on the balloons," Johnny explained, hoping his future vampire father-in-law would at least allow it.
Dracula backed off from his daughter's boyfriend, sighing as he thought it over. "I suppose we could do it."
After having told of Johnny's idea, the monsters agreed that it was a great idea. The only ones who knew and interacted with Martha received their balloon and wrote 'Love you, Martha' on them. Even though Mavis only knew her mother as an infant and didn't know much about her mother, she wrote 'Love you, Mom' on her balloon.
Elegantly, Dracula used his magic to place the portrait of himself and Martha at the castle doors' front entrance, allowing everyone to gaze at the face of their lost and dearly departed friend. The dark prince himself gazed at her face the longest before he rejoined his friends and family. Candles had been set on both sides of the castle steps, illuminated to give the outside gloom a warm spark in their hearts.
Everyone bowed their heads and some of them shed a few tears. In respect to Dracula and his tradition to pay respects to Martha, everyone remained silent while he opened a box and gently placed some beautiful black roses on the ground. Everyone else laid the flowers they had brought down in front of Martha's picture. They let their balloons go in the air until they fly higher and higher into the sky. Everyone held their hands in silent mourning. Ericka held her husband's hand in support, and Dracula gently clasped it. Mavis did the same with Johnny as they quietly held hands.
When it was done, Mavis stepped forward holding her mother's present she received on her 118th birthday. She wanted to read the poem her mother had written for her about finding her zing. Clearing her throat, Mavis skimmed through the pages as her voice was heard loud and clear, "Two lonely bats crashed in the night... they felt a Zing, love at first sight... they knew right then, they would be husband and wife... for a zing only happens once in your life... your Zing will come my love, cherish it. Love, Mommy."
Everyone applauded at the young vampire for reading her poem.
Dracula couldn't have felt prouder as he gave his precious daughter a big hug, warmly commenting, "That was beautiful, devil chops."
"Thank you, Dad." Mavis returned the hug with equal affection.
"This was Martha's favorite tune, and she adored its theater," Wanda said, turning on the phonograph, set the arm and needle on the disc, and the turntable started turning the black vinyl record.
A sweet, delicate, soothing orchestra emerged from the phonograph's acoustic horn, one that reached Ericka's and Johnny's ears upon recognizing the tune; Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
"And it wouldn't get better without taking a trip down memory lane," Eunice said as she displayed an old leather book, which actually turned out to be a very old photo and worn out album full of charming black and white pictures of Martha with either Dracula or with his friends when they were younger.
The first picture the female golem wanted to show everyone was a painted portrait of Martha, as a bat with blue eyes, looking concerned when Dracula, in bat form, crashed into a coconut tree.
"What happened here?" Ericka asked curiously.
"Drac was trying to be Mr. Cool Guy so he performed a ridiculous stunt to impress her, but as you can see, it didn't end well," Eunice told her, snickering.
Everybody else began sharing giggles, except for a silently irked Dracula, who's face turned red.
"Mom looks just like me as a bat," Mavis awed.
"You sure do," Ericka agreed. "A lot people tell me I look just like my mother when I grew older."
The second picture Eunice showed them had Dracula having his first dinner date with Martha (who wore the same lovely Hawaiian dress that Ericka wore during the pool party for Mavis's 118th birthday, except Martha wore a pink flower in the left side of her dark hair). Their dinner date was Hawaiian themed, sharing coconut beverages and eating grilled shrimp with cockroach sauce.
A few pictures the lady golem showed them had Martha hula dancing with Eunice and Wanda, Martha playing fetch by throwing a stick for Wayne as if he was a dog, Martha desperately helping Frank stop choking on his food, and Martha winning a sandcastle contest over Murray who failed by creating a small pile of sand when trying to use his powers.
One picture that Dracula wasn't too happy about when he saw it; a picture of Dracula and Martha in their coffin bed, wrapped in bedsheets that covered their naked bodies, peacefully dozing in each other's embrace. Everyone gave a cry when they saw the photo of Dracula and Martha in a private moment, but upon noticing a pair of familiar sleazy glasses in the picture, they glared at the invisible man caught red-handed.
"Heh-heh... sorry..." Griffin chuckled awkwardly.
"YOU PERVERT!" Dracula bopped the invisible man on the head, furious over his friend peeping in on him and his darling Martha.
"No hitting!" Wanda scolded. "This is a ceremony for Martha's memory!"
"Ugh! You're right, but I'll be keeping my eyes on you, Griffin, if you ever invade on my privacy with Ericka !" Dracula snarled threateningly at the floating glasses.
"Riiight…" droned Griffin, his head ached from the bop he received.
While everyone was chewing out on Griffin for being a peeping tom, Ericka walked up the staircase to peek inside the castle. The halls of the castle were decaying and covered in webs. She wanted to get a further look inside the former home of the famous Lady Lubov when she heard her vampire husband calling for her.
"Honey, it's time to go!" Dracula turned to everyone else. "You can all head back home, enjoy yourselves and keep an eye on things. Ericka and I have plans for the rest of the night."
Everyone nodded as they left in their hearses for Dracula and Ericka to enjoy themselves for the rest of the night as well.
As soon as the younger couple had gone, Ericka looked over at Dracula to ask curiously, "So, we're alone. What do you have planned?"
Dracula smiled as he momentarily cloaked himself in his cape and with a whoosh he presented an old wicker picnic basket out of thin air. Ericka smiled in amazement. "Take my arm," he said. "I know a place not far from here where we can feast under the stars."
Ericka became giddy with excitement as she took his arm in hers and, after a few minutes of walking, they chose an open meadow not too far from the ruins of Castle Lubov, but far away enough it looked like a dark silhouette of an haunted castle instead of old ruins, while above was the snow white moon and a clear view of the night sky full of twinkling stars; Ericka even recognized a few constellations.
With his magic, Dracula spread a black blanket with red-spider patterns onto the ground and an assortment of gourmet food he had his kitchen staff prepare just for him and his human wife. He sat down on the blanket as he poured himself a dark red drink into a golden goblet and patted on the blanket for Ericka to join him.
She sat down gracefully beside him while he poured another dark red drink for her into another golden goblet, clinking their goblets together gently as he whispered, "Cheers, my love."
"Cheers, my sweetheart," she said softly as she took a sip. Ericka felt the taste of a fine wine in her mouth, and was glad it was wine for she briefly worried it was something else. "This all looks delicious," she added when she saw the food covered by a black cloth, but then she thought she might have spoken too soon when she saw noticed the food seemed to be moving. "What is it?" she asked, trying to keep a smile and hide anything hinting she thought was gross.
Dracula named all of the food he had brought for them to feast on for their picnic, and most were his personal favorites; worm spaghetti with bloody mary sauce, bagels with scream cheese, and blueberry muffins with scorpions for dessert. This colorfully named and monster-y food really grossed out Ericka so much she felt slightly nauseous.
"Uhh," she hesitated. "It's... really interesting, Honey... but, I, uh..."
"I hope you like it," the vampire added cheerfully. "I know you'll love it once you try it."
He picked up a fork and twisted some of the worm spaghetti around it and held it up for her to try, but Ericka remained uncertain yet she didn't want to hurt Dracula's feelings.
"Uh, thanks, Honey," she stammered nervously. "But, uh, I had a big lunch, and uh..."
"Ericka ..." Dracula groaned as he rolled his eyes at her. "For months I've been trying new human-y foods for your sake, and I found it really wasn't so bad. A lot of it was really good. Please, it's your turn to try new things for me, and this is some of the best food served at my hotel and some of them are my favorite. The worm spaghetti is a personal favorite, bagels with scream cheese have always been Mavy's favorite, and Martha always loved scorpion blueberry muffins. Please, darling. It's delicious."
Ericka's face fell at his words, still unsure as she eyed the wiggling 'pasta.' It made her stomach churn a bit. She held up her hand as she tried to politely refuse him, "I'm sure it is, darling, but, no thank you."
Dracula began to get so frustrated that his eyes gleamed red and he growled rather harshly at her, causing her hair to fly back in the wind as he roared, "I SAID EAT IT!"
This actually frightened Ericka, and she looked nearly on the verge of tears that her own husband was forcing her to eat worms and scorpions in their food.
Dracula tried to calm down so he closed his eyes shut and took a deep breath as he tried to speak more calmly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. You promised I could do things with you I used to do with Martha, and this is one of those things. Please, try it."
Ericka could hear the pleading in his voice, and she knew he was right. She did make that promise to him. So she closed her eyes, and held her nose as she opened her mouth. Dracula smiled eagerly as he let her take a bite, and waited for her reaction. She seemed to squirm, but astonished at tasting something not so different than pasta. It's not as good as regular spaghetti, yet she swallowed up the sauce covered wiggling worms after chewing it up.
"Slimy, yet satisfying," she giggled.
Dracula raised his eyebrow, but chuckled nevertheless.
For a while the couple enjoyed each other's company. Ericka was surprised at herself for waiting this long to try some of the monster food as she found it was really delicious, even if it looked really gross to her.
The vampire and human lovers ate food and drank red wine for Ericka , and Blood Beaters for Dracula, as they gazed up at the sky to watch the glimmering stars while they laid on the soft blanket after finishing their meal and snuggled together, whispering sweet nothings to each other or would tease each other with romantic kisses.
Ten minutes later, Dracula helped Ericka up from the blanket and took her hand as he made the picnic basket and blanket disappear into thin air, possibly back to the hotel. He walked arm in arm with her down a nearby damp muddy path. At first Ericka worried she might ruin her shoes, but being with her husband on the anniversary of Martha's death it didn't matter since this was a romantic stroll in the moonlight with her vampire husband.
It was nice taking a quiet stroll down the path back to the ruins of Castle Lubov, all in an open meadow with sparsely growing trees under the stars and moonlight. Shortly, they arrived back to the ruins, which seemed oddly romantic instead of frightening, yet still forlorn and lonely.
Dracula soon lead her to a room he remembered well enough, which in it's hay day was a majestic ballroom hosted lavishing parties. Now it was crumbling ruins with a missing wall and a missing ceiling to let in the moonlight and stars. He lead her out into the dance floor as he gave a bow, while she hesitated about what to do for a moment but instead gave him her best lady-like curtsy.
Ericka looked skeptical while she asked him, "What are we supposed to dance to if there's no music?"
He gave her another smile as he cloaked himself again and produced another phonograph with a black vinyl record. He wound it up, placed the needle on it, and it began to play a waltz Ericka recognized from Sleeping Beauty.
She was caught up in the moment while she and Dracula danced and spun to the classic music, even coming to a gentle sway for a time which allowed her to lean her head onto his chest. As she felt his heart beating, she quietly hummed the Once Upon A Dream tune to the waltz.
All of a sudden the music stopped, and Ericka looked up in surprise. Dracula had made the antique phonograph disappear into thin air, probably back to the hotel. He then got another idea when he remembered another activity he and Martha used to do.
"Come on!" he cried excitedly as he grabbed Ericka's hand and literally flew, or rushed superhumanly, them off into the nearby forest.
"Drac, where are we going?" she asked.
"Something we should have done together a long time ago," he answered happily if cryptically to her.
He slowed down a bit and landed the second he heard something rustle in the nearby bushes. Dracula pulled Ericka down beside him and told her to keep quiet as they watched and waited. A few minutes passed and Ericka didn't see anything. She felt a chill travel down her spine like some wild animal was about to jump out at them.
Instead, it was only a mountain goat. Ericka sighed in relief, thinking Dracula wanted to show her a few wild animals near his old home. But it turned to dread when the vampire suddenly leapt out from their hiding place and pounced atop the goat as if he were a wild animal himself.
His eyes gleamed violently red and he let out a frightening growl as he grabbed the goat by the neck and sank his fangs into it. All Ericka could do was watch in horror and in slight nausea as she felt sorry for the poor goat. She wanted to tell Dracula to stop and let it go, but it was too late for he drained the animal's blood in a matter of seconds. He stood up and tried to gentlemanly wipe his face with a black handkerchief and smiled at Ericka .
"Oh... my... God," she stuttered.
Thinking it meant how impressed she was, Dracula took her by the arm and lead her deeper into the forest as he said excitedly, "Now it's your turn, my love."
"My turn?" she repeated in confusion.
"What, do you have cotton balls stuffed into your ears?" he snarked. "Of course it's your turn. Come on, it'll be fun. I know you can do it."
Ericka began to feel apprehensive as she became very worried about what Dracula wanted her to do and why he wanted to do this. "I can't, Drac!" she tried to tell him. "Not without a gun or something to hunt with..."
"You don't need any of that," Dracula said dismissively, not listening to her pleas. Then, he stopped at a thickly gathered bushes, and kneeled them down out of sight as he said excitedly, "The next game animal that comes through those trees, you get it and it's yours to eat."
Ericka wanted to refuse at his insistence, which she didn't understand why he was acting this way. Before she could say anything else, a beautiful young deer with the beginnings of antlers appearing on its head gracefully pranced through the tree and began grazing at the fresh grass in the small opening.
"Now go get it!" Dracula cried as he shoved her out of the bushes, scaring off the deer enough for it to run away. Ericka watched it disappear for a moment before the vampire ordered her, "What are you waiting for?! Go after it!"
Groaning, Ericka ran into the woods in the same direction the deer ran. She didn't get too far since she didn't like running in her dress and ruining her dress, but she didn't want to disappoint nor anger her vampire husband either and it irritated her a lot more. She tried to gently call out to the deer, but it was nowhere to be seen. After a couple of minutes, she found the deer but she gasped in horror at how she found it.
It was dead, killed by a pack of hungry wolves.
Quietly, she started to back away real slowly, but like a cliché from a cartoon or a horror movie she stepped on a twig. One of the wolves shot its head up and looked straight at her, more of curiosity than hostility. But to Ericka it was a look of hunger due to the blood stained on its face and sharp canines and lolling tongues, and it frightened her enough to make her run away.
This attracted the attention of the rest of the wolf pack, which enticed them into the chase and capturing another easy prey, while the rest of the pack stayed behind to finish off their deer. Ericka ran as fast and as far as she could through the woods, panting heavily of fear fueled adrenaline as she tried to navigate her way through the unfamiliar forest. Part of her mind blamed Dracula for this, for she was mad at him for dragging her into doing something she didn't want, and had no right to do.
Wishing she had a gun or something for defense, she slowed a little to try and catch her breath, but she heard the snarls and the growls as the wolf pack got closer, catching up with her. Crying out in fright, Ericka was about to try running again, but she unwittingly tripped over a hard rock and feel to the ground. She tried to get up, but she felt sharp teeth pierce the skin of right her leg. Looking back, she could see a wolf had captured her sinking its jaws into her flesh. Its painful bite caused her to cry out in agony as she tried to wretch her foot out of the wolf's jaws without getting it torn off.
Somehow she managed to get her leg free by kicking the wolf away with her other free leg. Ericka crawled a short distance away to try and get up, but her injured leg was too painful to stand on and she fell to the ground again. She tried to crawl away again, just the wolf pack surrounded her.
With no other option she screamed a desperate cry of, "DRACULA!" As the wolves entrapped her and tightened the circle, Ericka knew she was dead meat for she was trapped and couldn't go anywhere with her leg wounded.
But the next moment, a familiar shadowed figured appeared out of nowhere and caught hold of a the wolf that had bitten Ericka's leg by the scruff of its neck as he gave a fearsome roar right in its fearless face.
Ericka's face lit up with a smile of relief when she saw her husband come to her rescue, but intermixed with that relief was some fear as she watched him bite into the wolf's neck and drain its blood in seconds and then tossed the body aside. A couple more wolves in the pack tried to pounce on him and bring him down, but Dracula either punched them in their faces, backhanded or fed on more of them.
His cape cloaked around his tall figure. Eyes glowing a deadly red as he stared down at the wolves and they halted their attacks upon him and Ericka . The pack became terrified of the vampire as they began whining mournfully and backed away with their tails between their legs as the surviving pack members ran away and disappeared into the forest.
Ericka smiled in relief at him as she cheered, "Oh, Honey! Thank you." She was expecting a bow or a smile for his bravery and saving her life, but instead he turned to look down at her with a glaring face of harsh disappointment and a bit of anger, causing her to lose her smile.
"Why didn't you catch that deer?" Dracula harshly scolded her. "It should have been easy for you."
"I couldn't, I don't have a rifle," she replied defensively. "But I never liked hunting anyway. Besides, it was too fast."
The vampire king scoffed dismissively. "Pfft, I've caught deer that were way faster, that one should've been duck soup for you, or rather deer soup."
"Duck soup my ass!" Ericka growled, grasping her injured leg. "I never would've been able to catch it since I don't have super speed! This was a stupid idea!"
Dracula's eyes widened at her insult, like this was a blow below the belt or something worse. Before Ericka could argue with him any further, Dracula's face lit up as if a light bulb had gone off above his head. He pulled her up from the ground and dragged her off, rather forcibly, to a place he knew very well, panting, "C'mon, let's go flying!"
"What?" Ericka gasped, not liking what he had in mind as she limped painfully on her leg.
It seemed like forever before they finally reached a tall cliff that was close by. Ericka momentarily glimpsed over the cliff, and while Dracula had helped her face her old fears of heights, they seemed to be coming back to her as she gawked at him with terror stricken eyes.
"Dracula, what do you think you're doing?" she asked apprehensively.
"Are you ready to fly?" he asked playfully.
"What?! I..."
"It'll be fun!" he insisted as he pushed her toward the edge.
"Drac, wait!" Ericka tried to resist but he was too strong. "I can't... No, please!"
"Here... we... GO!" he shouted as he threw her over the edge and she fell at an incredible speed with gravity pulling her down too hard, while she gave a blood curdling scream in the fall.
But Dracula only stood proudly upon the cliff as he waited for Ericka to 'fly.'
"It'll happen," he said to himself as he heard her continued screaming. "Any second now."
Still falling, Ericka continued to scream.
"She's taking her time."
"DRACULAAAHHH!"
His face dropped while the dark prince was forced to accept defeat. "You know what? She's not gonna fly."
Dracula leaped off the ledge and instantly transformed into a bat for a rapid nose dive, concern grew inside of him as he flew closer and closer to Elisa. In the last second, he successfully grabbed her left foot and flew up with her and transformed back into his regular form with his human wife in his protective arms as he slowly levitated them to the ground safely.
"You see, I'm always here for you," Dracula told her gently and reassuringly.
But the second their feet touched the ground, Ericka furiously pushed herself out of Dracula's arms. He looked at her confused while she scowled at him in angry tears and collapsed to the ground with her leg, still wounded and bleeding.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" she hollered.
"It's a traditional activity Martha and I have done for years!" he retorted, acting like he had done nothing wrong.
"I'm not Martha, and I'm hell not a vampire!" Ericka yelled right back in his face as she tried to hold back tears. "So what gave you this dumb ass idea to do this anyway?! I could've been killed because of your stupidity!"
Dracula's face fell as he felt his heart drop. He almost forgot Ericka was still completely human and he was reminded of it when he couldn't really answer her. He then noticed how she was cradling her leg and utter concern replaced his frustrated disappointment as he took a closer look at her injury.
"Holy rabies! You're hurt!" he gasped in a worried guilt-ridden voice. "You're right, this was stupid, I'm so sorry. I got so caught up in old times, I forgot there are some things you can't do." He lifted her up into his arms as he declared, "We're going home, and I'll get you patched up."
Ericka smiled forgivingly at him while she held onto his neck and he flew them back to the hotel.
As soon as the couple returned to the hotel, a guilty Dracula carried Ericka in his arms so he could take her to the infirmary to get her bleeding leg patched up. Babayaga was able to bandage Ericka's leg and foot with a healing potion along with a Sauvé she wrapped around the Countess's leg and foot.
"Thanks, Babayaga," Ericka said. "You're a miracle worker."
"Just doing my job, Your Grace." Babayaga curtsied.
"Has anything happened in our absence?"
"No, Your Grace. Everything is in tip-top shape." The witch maid curtsied again before she returned to her duties.
Scooping her up in his arms, hearing his wife gasp faintly and then giggling like a school girl, the vampire king carried her back to their bedchambers. The door opened with a creak as he carried her inside their chambers and sat her down on their bed, very carefully due to her injured leg.
With another soft whoosh of his cape, he presented her with a large and beautiful bouquet of red roses. She gasped in delighted surprise, took them and sniffed the roses deeply. Smiling at her husband, she then leaned towards the pillows and pulled out a hidden black and red-ribbon wrapped box for him.
Opening it, Dracula saw it was a small freshly made devil's food cake, its red icing created the silhouette of two bats flying in the moon. He didn't understand why or what it was supposed to mean, so his wife told him it was a gift to cheer him up and the two bats were supposed to be him and Martha. He truly loved his gift nevertheless.
They embraced each other, arms and bodies pulled themselves closer. Gently and softly, Dracula caressed Ericka's body as he helped her out of her clothing and tried to be careful of her injured leg while she helped to unbutton his jacket and shirt, to then make her way down to his pants and unzip them.
Again, they were naked to each other. Dracula pushed Ericka down on the bed and guided themselves into a deep passionate embrace as he began a gentle thrusting in and out of her which gradually build into a faster pace and began pounding into her. Ericka cried out in bliss while Dracula laughed the second they reached their climax, and they remained this way for the rest of the night.
Overhearing her parents making love, Mavis tried to block it out while reading, a strange thought crossed her mind over what would it be like if she and Johnny will physically give themselves to each other in a moment of passion like her parents. She would have to discuss it with her boyfriend one day, without her father's knowledge.
