Chapter 26: Scary Creepmas/Merry Christmas
A month had past after the rowdy but enjoyable sleepover and crazy class reunion and the hotel was quieter than it had been in quite a while. A blanket of snow covered the entire forest and mountains, even freezing over the lake where the hotel was perched upon it's single inland island.
Within their chambers, a loving and very actively romantic couple in a black robe and in a white robe with the hotel's logo on each of the robes snuggled together warmly on a couch by an ornate fireplace. The blazing fire kept their bodies and their spirits warm while sipping hot tea, prepared by the gargoyle chefs. The tea was gone, so Ericka decided to get a little more comfortable in Dracula's arms. He understood this as he pulled her body closer to his own. She titled her head up for a kiss, and Dracula bent right down to accept her offer. Tongues dancing around their teeth and fangs, Ericka and Dracula remained like this for almost five minutes tasting the flavor of both the warm tea and each other. They panted through their noses as they made out fiercely, pulling themselves into a tighter embrace. Things would have gotten a bit more hot and sexy in the moment, until they broke the kiss, trails of saliva connecting them long after their lips had separated.
Noticing the curtain partly open at the window, Ericka happened to notice the gentle falling snowflakes and a winter wonderland it created upon the landscape outside. She broke out of their embrace, much to Dracula's chagrin as he sighed, "humph!"
"Do you know what the snowy landscape reminds me of?" Ericka smiled, looking up at him.
Dracula raised an eyebrow and smiled amusingly while he teased her, "No, what?"
"Christmas!" she replied in a perky grin of her own, "And you know what? It's coming soon."
Dracula lost his amused smile and stood up immediately, walking away from her to their closet as he grunted, "Christmas? Bah!"
Ericka shot him a surprised hurtful expression underlined with irritation. "What do you mean 'bah'? What do you have against Christmas?"
"I don't want to talk about it, but Creepmas is far better and that is what we should be talking about!" Dracula retorted sharply as he whirled into a blue cloud to dress up in his usual attire that he kept in his closet and walked out of their chambers. "I have hotel business to tend to, and a Creepmas holiday to prepare."
And he was gone with a heavy slam of the door, leaving a perplexed and saddened Ericka alone by the fire, as if effected by her mood the flames began to die down.
In her bedroom, Mavis woke up to a brand new evening literally rising from her coffin shaped bed. Stretching her arms out wide and yawning, she cast a brief glance out her window to catch a glimpse of the winter wonderland and shivered, not liking the cold as much as her father didn't like this weather. She decided to go see Johnny and figure out what to do to keep her mind off the snow, but instead she found out he wasn't in his private suite. Mavis asked one of the witch maids nearby to where Johnny had gone and she reported her fiancé was outside by the pool.
Confused as to why Johnny would gone outside in this weather, Mavis bundled up in a raven black coat, black and red thick stockings, red earmuffs, black boots, and headed outside to the pool area only to find him and her foster uncles and close friends playing a strange game on the frozen hotel pool, gliding around on the frozen water wearing shoes with metal sharp-looking objects attached to their feet and swinging wooden sticks, while they struck a flat black shaped object across the ice.
"What you all doing out here?" Mavis inquired.
"We're playing hockey, babe," Johnny answered, enthusiastically. "You want to join us?"
"Uh, I don't know. It's freezing out here," Mavis responded, reluctantly. She was eager to go back inside, feeling very uncomfortable being out in the cold though she never really understood why, even from what her father taught her as a little girl.
"Aw, c'mon, Mavy," Johnny encouraged his girlfriend. "You're always wanting to try human stuff. Look, the guys are loving this, so why don't you give it a shot?"
"It would be more fun if you'd try ice skating," Frank attempted to help encourage his niece. "Sure, I've fallen on my butt a couple times, but what the heck. It shouldn't be a problem for you."
Johnny skated up to her but when he came to sudden stop he side-swiped on the ice, causing specks of frost to fly near Mavis' feet. "At least give it a shot, babe!"
Something in Mavis piqued her curiosity and childlike wonderment. "I want to play, too!" She couldn't say no to another fun human activity.
An extra pair of skates were found and they fit Mavis' feet perfectly. Carefully she stepped lightly onto the ice. She struggled to stand on her feet, but she fell on her bottom.
"Mavy, it will take you years to get this good," Johnny told her.
"Well, I'll give it a try."
"We're going to beat you easy!" Pedro boasted, confident his team would win.
The four infamous monsters quickly instructed her on how to play hockey and started a new game so Mavis can join them. Being such a quick learner as well as using her enhanced vampire speed and agility, Mavis took off down the ice leaving a trail of fire behind her. The ice began to melt when the fire started, though a crack formed a path that trailed after her. She zipped underneath Uncle Frank's large legs to past him, sliding around Murray and Pedro in circles to make them dizzy (and tying their linen together to wrap them up in a ball with a ribbon), and rocketed past Wayne (her speed blew the clothes off his body leaving him in his underpants). Griffin tried to block her shot from the goal net, but with a mighty swing Mavis scored a goal and left a burning hole in the net. Johnny didn't even try to stop her, he only stood by watching in pure amazement.
"Whoa-ho-ho! You hear me now? That's my girlfriend, suckers!" Johnny taunted the other monsters while pointing at Mavis.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Griffin complained.
"You're just being a sore loser, Uncle Griffin," Mavis retorted.
Her comment made everybody chortle jokingly until Dracula, dressed in a heavy black cloak, and Ericka , also dressed warmly for the snowy weather in a blue and white winter attire, came out when they had heard all the ruckus.
"What's going on here?!" the Count demanded. "What are you all doing out here? You should all be inside where it's warm!" He glanced down at Mavis on the ice and became worried as he gasped, "Mavy, be careful or you'll hurt yourself on those sharp slippery shoes!"
"They're called ice skates, Dad," the teenage vampire replied in slight annoyance at his behavior. "I just won a game of hockey."
"You should join us, Drac," Wayne invited.
"No thanks, Wayne." Dracula refused, shaking his head. "You know how much I loathe the cold."
"C'mon, the weather's not that bad," Frank added. "Hockey's a lot of fun if you'd give it a chance."
"Honey, it's a winter activity," Ericka tried to encourage him, "its a lot like ice skating except you play a game on the ice."
"MY ANSWER IS NO, AND THAT'S FINAL!" Dracula bellowed harshly and then ordered with authority to the group, "Everyone, back into the hotel right now, before you all turn into monstercicles!"
There came a wave of strong disappointed groans. The monsters, and even Mavis, reluctantly began to follow Dracula back inside the hotel, but while Johnny stepped off the ice he got a sneaky idea as his lips curved up into a mischievous smile. Doing the shush gesture to a few confused monsters, the red-haired young man gathered up a pile of snow into his hands, rolling it into a ball and threw it right at Dracula, the snowball struck him right on the head.
Dracula released a held back cry of surprise as he felt something cold on his head. He whirled around to glare at everyone demanding to know who did that. There came suppressed tittering snickers, but no one wanted to rat out Johnny.
The Count kept on glaring until he turned away to go back inside when another snowball struck him and he cried out again, "Aaah! Alright, who did that?!" He was clearly getting agitated while everyone held in snickers, so Johnny pointed his gloved finger to Wayne, who was smiling smugly. "Wayne..." Dracula snarled as his eyes glowed a faint red, ready to give the werewolf a piece of his mind.
Suddenly Johnny extended his hand out revealing another snowball and shouted, "Snowball fight!"
The next moment everyone else, including Mavis and Ericka , were all throwing snowballs at the uptight cranky vampire, covering him in a big pile of snow. The Count managed to escape back inside the warmth of the hotel running through the glass doors.
"That's enough! Stop it! You're all crazy, you know that?!" Dracula shouted angrily at his friends and family through a crack in the door.
But the entire group laughed and pointed at the snow covered vampire, with Johnny shouting through heavy breathing between laughs, "Oh, man! You should see your face now, Drac! With all that snow on your face, you look like Santa Claus!"
Once again everybody chortled at Dracula, who groaned in annoyance and sulked back inside to clean himself up in his chambers.
As soon as the gang ceased their laughter and calmed down, Mavis wiped away some happy tears from her eyes and asked, "What's a Santa Claws?"
"Oh, you know, Mavis," Johnny began to explain. "Santa Claus is a jolly old Christmas elf who bring presents to all the good boys and girls during Christmas."
But what Ericka nor Johnny didn't notice was the blank expression of bewilderment on Mavis' face, nor did they notice the other monsters starting to look confused and staring at each other, further baffled.
"Oh yeah," Johnny continued, ignorant of their reaction. "He's called lots of other names around the world like Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, St. Nicholas..."
"Which reminds me," added Ericka . "Christmas is coming! This will be your first Christmas now that the humans love you."
"Uhh, pardon my interrupting, Auntie Ericka , but I think you mispronounced the word 'Christmas' instead of Creepmas," Wendy announced, speaking like a teacher correcting her student on mispronouncing a word.
"Huh? Err, no sweetie," Ericka chuckled. "It's called Christmas."
"Nope! I believe Wendy is right." Hank shook his head dismissively. "We call it Creepmas, instead of that other yucky word."
"Alright, what's gotten into you?" Ericka questioned in a motherly tone, placing her hands on her hips. "Christmas is not a yucky word, it's a wonderful word! Where did you get such a word like Creepmas?"
"Oy, she's adapting to motherhood quickly," Wayne whispered under his breath in Murray's ear.
"I think we'd better explain," Frank admitted, gesturing the humans to follow him and the others back inside the hotel.
A little later inside the gymnasium after removing their winter clothes and sending them to the laundry mat, Clifton the zombie had shown Johnny and Ericka an old slide show of photos back when Mavis was a child each showing an iconic memorable moment, and to the humans those photos were truly heartwarming classic Christmas memories.
"This is how it is on Creepmas," Mavis told them. "Creepmas is the time of year when Krampus comes. He only comes when you're asleep, driving down your street, and when things couldn't possibly get any scarier, Krampus pulls out his cannon and blasts presents under the Bone Tree. We sing scary carols, assist in the decorations, and enjoy a roast serpent dinner. Sometimes we go goo-bogging and my dad goes crazy in helping me decorating and baking."
"Don't you mean goo-bogging is like toboggin?" Johnny tried to correct the monster kids.
"Well, I understand from what you're telling me that Creepmas sounds just as wonderful as Christmas," admired Ericka, truly sincere. "There are plenty of comparisons between them: trees, decorations, carols, presents, family dinners, baking and this Krampus is just like the Santa Claus in your world, or rather underworld in your words." Her eyes lit up when an idea occurred to her. "And that reminds me, we'll show you how similar Creepmas and Christmas is really like. We can take you out to the village and show you. Then you will see how wonderful Christmas really is, and perhaps it will convince Dracula to celebrate both Christmas and Creepmas here."
The gym fell silent as the monsters exchanged looks of nervous terror.
"But we're more familiar with Creepmas, and Dracula has warned us against celebrating Christmas because its the birthday of Jesus," Murray warned her. "We're monsters of the underworld. We are shunned by Christianity."
"Just because you're monsters of the underworld, doesn't mean you're bad guys," Ericka lectured, frowning. "You have emotions and families like all humans do. We can celebrate both holidays on the same day."
Everyone looked very unsure, but they trusted their two human friends. If what they said was true, perhaps learning about the true meaning of Christmas, and still celebrating Creepmas, won't be such a bad idea.
"I guess we could give it a shot," said Wayne.
While everyone got ready to go into town again, bundling up in their extra pair of winter clothes, so Johnny and Ericka could show them what Christmas was really like so they can celebrate it alongside Creepmas, Ericka went to find Dracula so she could invite him along.
"Honey, we're all going down to the village for a while," the Countess invited. "Would you like to come with us?"
"Maybe," the vampire Count responded, interested but clearly skeptical. "I really do have some hotel business to take care of. What's the occasion?"
"Drac, the hotel is practically empty!" Ericka scoffed and then smiled, "Johnny and I are taking everyone to the village to show them what Christmas is really like, maybe even do some shopping and go caroling. After that, we can prepare the Creepmas holiday."
Dracula stared at his wife, his eyes grew so large as his face melted to a harsh frown. "Christmas?! I don't believe that's such a good idea! That holiday is bogus!"
Ericka didn't expect this kind of reaction from him. "Christmas is not bogus, it's a fantastic holiday! Do you hate it because of its Christianity?"
But Dracula looked away with a groan, "Close enough."
Gentle, Ericka took his hand and said in determination, "But I'd really appreciate it if you come with us to the village so you can see what Christmas is like, and then we'll get ready for Creepmas. If you give it a chance, you would like it. You never understood what it was really about, and I want to show you that."
"I know exactly what it's about," Dracula retorted, "And it's something my kind, vampires, are not fond of and want nothing to do with it. I know it celebrates the birth of Jesus whose supposed to save humans from their sins or something, and he was the greatest thing ever happened to mankind and it's in his name humans had to rise up against savage vampires and other monsters because we're called creatures of the devil..."
"Wait a second!" Ericka immediately cut him off. "Who told you that last part?"
"My father..." the vampire mumbled, then he seemed to go quiet again, not really wanting to speak more about it.
So Ericka gently embraced him in what she hoped was a warm hug, which she was glad he returned the embrace after a long moment. After a few minutes of silence, she gently told him, "Whatever you've been told by your father it's not true. I've always loved this time of year. I won't force you but I hope you will come with me to the village with the others, so I can show you what Christmas truly means. It's not so different from Creepmas, they are practically the same."
"No, thank you, Ericka ," he refused, bluntly. "I thought you understood my pain on why I don't like this holiday."
"I do," she replied, patiently. "But I don't think Martha would want you to behave like this at this time of year because of Jesus. Christmas and Creepmas had one thing in common: it's about spending time with friends and family, and I'm sure she'd want the same for you."
"Maybe," he added, doubtfully. "But knowing what it's supposed to be about, how do I know the townspeople won't shun me? Maybe the rest of the year, they're fine with monsters, but now..."
"If you're worried about it, I'll show you it's not true. I promise everything will be fine, and if anyone does try to hurt you, I'll pummel them so badly it'll hurt until after the New Year," she teased, thus earning her a small chuckle from him.
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary, my darling. I'm still not going to the village."
"Ah, c'mon!" Ericka pleaded while giving him her specialist pouty face she learned from Mavis. "Pretty pleaaaase."
Dracula tried so hard to resist her pout, but it was too much for him. "Ugh, fine. I can't resist that look, even if you can't turn into a bat."
"Oh, thank you!" Ericka squealed, and ran to their chambers to get warmly dressed and brought back winter clothes for Dracula to wear before they made their way to their awaiting friends and hearses.
"Dad, you're coming?" Mavis smiled, almost in disbelief that her father would actually consider joining them.
"Well, you're mother convinced me to come along," admitted Dracula, before he turned serious. "If any human, any human at all, tries to threaten us with crucifixes, holy water, or any of that tripe, I'll suck every ounce of blood from their bodies until they look like deflated whoopee cushions and I'll never set foot outside my hotel again!"
"Whatever you say, Mr. Grinch," Ericka teased, causing Dracula to raise his eyebrow in confusion.
Under heavy winter clouds covering the moonlight, two hearses drove over the bridge and the frozen lake to the forest, covered entirely of snow and frost. Mavis' face was glued to the window, watching the snowflakes stick to the window in awe. Pretty soon, they found themselves in a beautifully colorful decorated village ready for the holidays. What the monsters saw in the village not only did they find the colors too bright but the Santa figurines too creepy. As they drove further into the town square, almost every building was decorated with bright and vibrant Christmas decoration making the entire town inviting and festive.
Once the monsters had to find a difficult parking spot, the townspeople had noticed their favorite monsters and greeted all of them with such warmth and nearly every person saying 'Merry Christmas' to them. The monsters remained frozen, not by the ice, but with confusion. They were totally unfamiliar with this Christmas-y stuff, being more comfortable in their comfort zone of Creepmas. In the park, people were cooperating in putting up a giant tree to decorate for the holiday. There were a few activities set up in the park for everyone to enjoy; ring toss or throwing balls at a stack of Christmas cans, and a beautiful light show for people to walk in and admire it all.
"This... is too bright and human-y," droned Dracula.
Hank, Alex got nervous by all that bright colors and gifts, especially the Santa floatie. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea for me."
"We're doing this to make Auntie Ericka happy and you are no backing out on this one, you two!" Eunice whispered in their ear, grasping their arm tightly.
A few police officers arrived to force the crowd on their way, allowing the monsters to have free exploration of the village.
Staying together as a group, the monsters and their two human guides walked around the village for a short time, before stopping to watch some people in the park decorating the tree with lights and ornaments. Mavis and her friends noticed a little boy lifting a rather large gold star and tried to carry it to the tree for some reason.
Mavis and the gang walked up to the boy and the other humans, all smiling excitedly at them, when she asked, "What are you doing with that big star?"
"It's supposed to go on the top of the tree," the little boy replied.
"Why?"
"I think it's supposed to look pretty or people just like stars or angels on the top of Christmas trees."
"Do you need any help with it?" Mavis offered, kindly. "I bet we can help you with that." Transforming into a bat, she grabbed the star with her feet and flew to the top of the tree so she carefully placed the star on the tree's top.
The villagers decorating the tree applauded at the female vampire's kindness. Transforming back to her normal form, Mavis would have returned to her friends when a gang of familiar boys approached her.
"Hey, that was some pretty cool stunt you pulled there," complimented one boy.
Mavis scowled, instantly recognizing the boys as the same losers who flirted at her before the time her stepmother used magic to enlarge her breasts. "That was no stunt, it was just a friendly good deed."
"Well, some people do stuff to make themselves look good, babe," added the second boy. "Just like that idiot boyfriend of yours, he does a lot of stupid things to get noticed by you."
Mavis gasped, shocked by this insult. "Johnny is not an idiot! He's my boyfriend and I love him just the way he is!"
"How about one of us changes your mind..." the third boy slid his arm around her waist, attempting to drag her away.
"Keep your hands off me!" protested Mavis, trying to push herself out of the boy's grasp.
The second boy caught her by the arm, assisting his pals to haul the teenage vampire to someplace private where they can have their fun with her, but a knight in black shining armor had come to her rescue.
"What the world do you think you're doing to my daughter?!" Dracula bellowed, his fangs bared. He had kept his concerned eye on his daughter when she put the star on the tree, and when he saw those hooligans harassing his daughter, fury boiled inside of him.
"Nothing, we're just going to a party," the first boy lied, nervously.
"A private party for the sexually aroused perverts no doubt!" The vampire Count screamed, towering over those bastards as his eyes gleamed a dark red. "She is already engaged to Johnny, and if you continue to harass my daughter again, I will track you down and suck every ounce of blood from your bodies until you look like dried up prunes!"
He may have been bluffing, but the boys took it seriously as they released their hold on Mavis and ran like their very lives depended on it.
"Are you okay, Baby Fangs?" Dracula asked in an affectionate fatherly tone.
"I'm fine, Dad," assured Mavis, slightly shaken by the events of what happened. "Why do they behave like this, especially on a holiday?"
"I guess some people never learn." Dracula tenderly placed an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. "How about we go eat some cookies and drink some hot coco to cheer you up?"
Silently, Mavis smiled in agreement.
The entire group wanted to go shopping and explore the rest of the village so they can understand Christmas, whilst the vampire-human family of four walked inside a nearby café selling plenty of hot cocoa or sweets to go with it. Having told of what occurred between Mavis and those perverted boys, Johnny angrily wanted to punch one of their lights out, confusing the vampires with his words. Ericka ordered a few hot cocoas with a plate of freshly baked gingerbread cookies with icing, though Dracula insisted to pay for it with his own money. She paid the vendor and returned to her seat, a nice cushioned seat by the fireplace, handing Dracula and Mavis their steaming hot cups of cocoa.
The Count's face twisted in a grossed out frown as he eyed the dark brown concoction with white puffy things floating in it. "What's this?" he asked.
"Hot cocoa," Ericka replied, "You like chocolate, but this is chocolate melted into a hot drink with marshmallows."
"And what are those?" Mavis pointed to the strangely odd-shaped cookies on their plate.
"Those are gingerbread cookies," Ericka told her stepdaughter. "You should try them. They're delicious."
Dracula and Mavis took a sip of their beverages. They winced a bit as it burned their tongues, but it passed as they felt the sweetness of the drink and their bodies get warmer inside. Mavis felt much better after that difficult encounter with those gang of perverts, taking a marshmallow and popped it into her mouth.
"It's delicious!" she exclaimed.
When Dracula put a marshmallow in his mouth, he mumbled, "Not bad. But I don't think I like the puffiness of this marsh-mellow, it's too... puffy. Why would humans put something like that in their hot cocoa? It looks like little white sponges, and they're nowhere near as good as spider web puffs."
"Stop being such a Scrooge and eat them!" Johnny scolded, jokingly.
Ericka took a bite of her gingerbread cookie as the vampire drank the rest of his hot cocoa. Curiously, he decided to try one of the cookies. Dracula took one and bit the gingerbread man's head off. He expected it to taste terrible but he loved the flavor immediately. Mavis also enjoyed the deliciousness of the cookie, humming in content.
After finishing their hot cocoa and cookies, the four of them wandered through the streets for some more exploring and came to a small crowd watching a group of carolers dressed in 19th century garb and singing modern or classic Christmas carols.
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.
"I'm not sure if that is how the song goes," Mavis recalled, remembering how the monsters sang their own tune of the carol in Creepmas style.
Dracula and Mavis vaguely remembered this song back in their heyday, but neither of them didn't really know most of the songs the humans sang such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, or 12 Days of Christmas, Deck the halls,yet he found them entertaining enough. But when they began another song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Dracula wanted to leave and he tried cover Mavis's ears so not to listen to them.
As they walked away, there was a Nativity scene just outside the village church and Dracula tried to look away and protectively shielded Mavis's eyes as they passed by, while dozens of people rushed by them and stores advertised sales with long lines formed from over eager shoppers. At one point down the block, two men in a hurry bumped into each other and fell to the ground. They both shouted in frustration at each other when their packages got mixed up and nearly ruined. All Dracula could do was frown at the absurdness of the scene. He tried to ignore them, but what he didn't see was a lady interrupted the men's little brawl to scold them and spoke to them as if reminding them of something important. This calmed down the two men enough to help each other clean up and give each other their rightful packages before shaking hands, thanking the lady who helped them, and wishing each other a Merry Christmas.
"What did you think of the carolers?" Johnny asked when he noticed Dracula frowning.
"They sounded different than what we know," Mavis admitted, "but they had a gentle atmosphere around them as if there was something holy about it."
"Cute songs," Dracula mumbled, not entirely impressed. "I can relate a little to the reindeer one, and I could suck the blood out of all the other reindeer for their bullying. But why sing about a snowman who comes to life? And why would anyone want any of those things for Christmas like those jumpers, leaping lords, dancing ladies, all those birds and animals? All the noises and the messes they'd leave. If not for the housekeeping witches, I don't want to think about the state my hotel would be in and I'd never get enough sleep even in my old coffin from all that noise!" Ericka and Johnny tried to hold in their giggles as it came out as snickering, including Mavis who thought her father's rambling sounded silly, while Dracula continued, "And that one song about the cold reminds me how much I really don't like it right now. Seriously, it's freezing out here."
"Alright, we get it, Count Grinchula," Ericka teased. "We'll go inside somewhere and warm up for a while."
She took them to a nearby library, the very same library Johnny had taken Mavis to once before, and she lead them to a quiet corner where a fire was lit and surrounded by comfy leather couches and chairs where a few humans sat and read books or were glued to their laptops and phones. Once seated, the two couples snuggled together and enjoyed the peace and quiet, though Dracula made sure Johnny didn't get too comfortable around his daughter as he kept a close watch on them.
"Are you having a good time, Honey?" Ericka asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Eh..." he groaned in response.
"What's wrong?"
Dracula frowned for a long moment as if lost in thought at everything he had seen so far, but then he answered, "I don't see what the big deal is about all this. All the saturation with colorful decorations that assault your eyes, we never do that much colors on Creepmas. The humans rushing everywhere to buy some useless pieces of junk, placing glass balls on green trees for some ridiculous reason that flies over my head, and all in the cold which I always hated."
Ericka remained silent for some moments as she let what he said sink in before she said, "I know it's not your favorite holiday, Drac, and I'm aware of what you told me why you really don't like it so much, except it's the holiday that's close to comparing it with Creepmas. I understand what you're saying, but I wanted to show you how wonderful Christmas can be. I understand why some of it makes you uncomfortable, but the true meaning of Christmas is about spending time with friends and family, the people you care about and sharing that same care to the less fortunate. Let's go back outside and I'll show you what I mean." She turned to Johnny and Mavis, who dozed comfortably. "Are you two ready to come back out?"
"No thanks, we'll be alright and go find the others," Johnny assured her. "After that, we'll do some shopping."
Dracula reluctantly let her take him by the arm again as they left the library, several patrons even wishing them a Merry Christmas. Ericka took him to a part of the village that had seen better days, but even here there were fewer Christmas decorations to liven up the area, along with a less flamboyantly decorated tree, and all around were a few humans wearing heavy jackets with a strange logo on the back proclaiming some kind of charity foundation.
In one corner, children played in the snow, while a vendor passed out hot food and drinks to people in line and some went to join groups of other people sitting around a modest fire pit as they laughed and chatted together. In another area, a young female volunteer passed out brightly colored wrapped gifts to a lot of excited little children who opened them eagerly. In another area, another female volunteer lead more poor people in singing carols, while on the other side of the area a male volunteer minister lead a group in prayer in front of a Crucifix display, which Dracula clearly wanted to avoid all together.
"What is this place?" he asked with confusion and curiosity in his voice. "I've never seen this part of town before."
"A nearly forgotten neighborhood that I've passed by sometimes where I make enough denotations to help these people," Ericka told him sadly. "Everyone here struggles to get by, barely have enough food for even a few days for their families, much less themselves, and hardly have any or no worldly possessions. And I know there are a lot more people who're worst off, homeless folks with nowhere to go and no one to look out for them. What I'm trying to show you here, Drac, is this is what the true meaning of Christmas is when you take down all the pretty decorations and over-hyped commercialization. I know that makes it all so shallow, but try to remember it's about being caring and good to friends, family, and other people because we only have each other in this world, and it's tragic not everyone can have that. I know this is a painful time of year for you due to religious stuff involved, but it doesn't have to be anymore. I don't want you to shut the rest of the world out, or our friends and family, because of it."
As Dracula studied the run down and very bleak neighborhood, something inside him seemed to change, as if a century old icicle began to thaw around his heart. He saw homes and other buildings looking as though they were falling apart and were barely standing up despite signs of attempted repairs to the keep the roofs closed and up, windows mismatched boarded up with wood or glass windows either whole or with cracks, and much of the stone street worn and riddled with potholes. The people themselves wore hand-me-down and old clothing and gave off a sense of struggle, despair and cynicism at the rest of world, yet at this moment they looked happy like they hadn't a care in the world. Holidays like Christmas for them was a chance to escape their worries and depressing lives, and be in the moment to lift their spirits with fleeting moments of merry laughter and joy.
But as the vampire looked at the group of people praying and the minister, he brooded again, "I'm still not comfortable with that part. When I tried to escape to save my little Mavy-Wavy that night, I remember all too clearly how humans shoved crucifixes in my face and cursing at me how I was a evil bloodthirsty monster and a spawn of the Devil. What I remember, and what you should know, is if I touched a crucifix it would burn me and it would prove I didn't have a soul."
Ericka gave him a look of pity and she knew a lot of it also had to do with her ancestor. But is it true about vampires afraid of crucifixes? From what she knew, people who hated monsters became racists or manipulative liars who spread untrue rumors about Dracula and preying on the fear of people back then. She realized none of that to be true about him, but she wanted to be sure if a crucifix did or didn't burn vampires. Getting an idea, she lead him to one of the volunteers who passed out meals and the lady volunteer wore a beautiful jeweled crucifix around her neck. "Hello, Merry Christmas," she greeted the volunteer, whose name on her jacket said Holly.
"Merry Christmas," Holly smiled. "I haven't seen you two here before. You must be from another part of town, but everybody's welcomed. We're still taking donations, if you'd like to make one, it is Christmas after all."
Ericka put what she hoped was a generous donation into a glass jar, and then shot Dracula a hard look to comply and he gave a rather large one with mixed feelings, clear reluctance but hoping to please his wife and glad to know he was helping in some small way.
"That's a pretty necklace," Ericka complimented. "May I borrow it for a minute?"
"Thank you, but why?" The puzzled Holly handed her the jeweled crucifix.
"I just want to show my husband something. It's not silver, is it?"
"No, its Pewter I think, nothing fancy."
"Oh, good thank you," Ericka said politely, then whispered to Dracula, "Is the silver thing real, like with garlic and sunlight with you?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Dracula whispered through his sharp teeth.
Making him take off his glove, Dracula at first wanted to resist knowing what she was planning, but Ericka was insistent as she gently placed the small crucifix in the palm of his hand and let the cold metal touch his cool bare skin.
For a long moment, Dracula tensed and waited for something awful to happen - but his skin did not burn. He kept his palm open and steadily relaxed, even smiling calmly as he appreciated how pretty the little charm was, especially realizing he didn't burst into flame when he touched a crucifix.
"You see, you're not evil or a spawn of the Devil," Ericka assured him, kissing him on the cheek. "You're a wonderful and good man, and I love you. It's just crap spewed by psychotic monster haters and people's fear making them believe stupid things. So forget about it, and I hope you can at least enjoy Christmas with me a little more."
Dracula gratefully embraced Ericka as he handed the jeweled crucifix back to Holly and she nodded at them while she put it back around her neck. Seeing her do this gave the vampire an idea of what to buy his precious daughter for a gift. The couple began walking back to the town's square with their arms locked together, but not before Dracula paused at a jewelry store where he bought something that even if didn't tell Ericka , he wanted it to be a surprise.
"So, is Christmas really so bad?" Ericka asked, quietly.
Dracula gave it some thought before he whispered quietly, "You were right, my love. It truly is wonderful. It's still strange for me, because of hos different it is to Creepmas. But you're right, there is something special about it, and I want my Mavy-Wavy to be happy about it. As long as we're together, I could ask for no better Christmas gift."
Ericka kissed him passionately and he returned with equal passion, before they walked through town arm-in-arm again. A short while later they found their family and friends sipping on cups of hot cocoa or eating tasty Christmas cookies. Pretty soon they noticed Dracula and Mina walking up to them. They noticed plenty of colorful bags beside them, realizing the group must have gone on a shopping spree.
"You guys must have been very busy," Dracula teased. "A last minute shopping, eh?"
"You could say that, and there's this very gorgeous dress Frank got me that I saw in the display window," boasted Eunice.
"Mom, Dad, we just saw this train carrying humans around the park," Mavis thrilled with childlike enthusiasm, "and it looks like a blast! Can we ride it?"
"I suppose we can do that before going home," Ericka decided, then turned to her husband. "Are you up for it?"
"I don't see why not, Honey Bat," agreed Dracula, then he remembered his gift for his daughter. "Oh, Mavy! I have something for you." He reached inside his small paper colored bag to take out a black box, tenderly handing it to his daughter.
Curious to what was inside the box, Mavis opened it and gasped in astonishment. Inside the box revealed a jeweled snowflake necklace that glimmered in the light of the fireplace. She gave her father the biggest warmest smile he had ever seen on her young ivory face. The next thing he knew, Mavis squeezed him in a tight loving embrace like she did on her birthday after he said she could go out to see a human village. Glancing over at his friends while he embraced his daughter, Dracula could see the looks on everyone's faces they were touched by his thoughtful present and Johnny mouthed 'thanks' to Ericka because she was the one who opened Dracula's eyes.
Mavis decided to wear the snowflake necklace for the rest of the evening, especially during the gang's ride on the Christmas train in the park. There were so many lights on trees or many different glowing displays of decorations that mesmerized them; snowmen waving at them, polar bears playing together, penguins singing carols, reindeer flying or stood still, candy canes lined up in a row, smiling elves carrying presents, marching nutcracker soldiers, and the grand finale had the birth of Jesus Christ followed by a waving Santa Claus. It was all so beautiful and a sort of romantic atmosphere added to it, making Dracula steal a kiss from Ericka , Johnny and Mavis snuggling together, Frank and Eunice kissed too much that Murray had to complain at them to stop, Wayne and Wanda nuzzling their noses affectionately.
Afterward, the Drac Pack decided to go back to the hotel, but first they had brought a good sized Christmas tree to the hotel for its first official Christmas and Creepmas, and everyone couldn't have been happier. The tree was set up in the middle of the lobby into a large enough planter with dragon styled feet. Everyone cooperated to decorate and make the tree look truly festive. The rest of the hotel had been decorated in a festive but macabre fashion; green garlands hung curved up at the walls with red bows and smiling silver or golden skeletons, green wreathes were placed up on the walls yet decorated with sparkling silk webs. Dracula and Mavis began wearing their brightly colored Creepmas sweaters and even had another pair made for Ericka and Johnny as gifts.
Some candles, spider web garlands, different ornaments of glass eyeballs or gold spiders and skulls and bats, and spider web tinsel or holly were placed upon the tree, Frank hung up the skeleton hands all bent in the shape of a candy cane on each branch, while a few green and red candy canes were put up, and Dracula even placed plenty of his shrunken head employees onto the tree in place of ornaments. One of the shrunken heads blew him a loud raspberry when she stuck her tongue out at him. Dracula gave an annoyed frown and turned her face and buried her into the tree as she continued her raspberry. He smiled in satisfaction.
Behind him, Ericka tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and pointed to a mistletoe held by a pair of fireflies. Dracula could only be momentarily confused until she gave him a long and passionate kiss to show him the meaning of this particular Christmas/Creepmas tradition, which may easily become his favorite. On the other side of the tree, Mavis and Johnny enjoyed more hot cocoa made by the hotel cooking staff, and she happily plopped two eyeballs into their drinks. Mavis slurped up her cocoa while poor Johnny stared at the eyeballs in slight disgust.
Dracula held up a candle, showed it to Johnny, Mavis, Ericka , and everyone else as he readied to light the tree, one candle at a time. As he lit the first candle, the tree suddenly burst into flame and completely destroyed it to leave behind a burnt charred tree of bones. Everyone stared in shock at the sudden awkwardness at the destroyed tree.
All Dracula could do was smile it off like it was no big deal, and to save face more Johnny gave him a thumbs up before shaking hands with Dracula. Johnny offered the eyeball in his cocoa to Dracula and he happily took it and tossed it into his mouth to munch on it. Both Johnny and Ericka eyed this in disgust but tried not to be rude.
The tree may have not worked out so much, but everyone knew it didn't have to ruin Christmas because this was how the Creepmas tree would look.
Various wrapped-up presents were placed under the bone tree. Even though everyone wanted to open them right now, they were reminded to wait until tomorrow morning to open them because it was tradition. To end this night, the gang had a Creepmas/Christmas party. The TV screen played a movie called The Nightmare Before Christmas for the kids whilst adults feasted on a delicious roasted serpent supper combined with side dishes, others engaged in polite conversation about plans for the New Year, and there was a brief waltz of Nutcracker music played by the zombie composers for couples to dance. When the party was over, everyone retired to their bed chambers by the first signs of sunlight. Hardly anyone could sleep throughout the day because of their excitement, but before they knew it Christmas morning, or Creepmas nighttime, came at last and everyone practically scrambled to the bone tree like excited children on a sugar rush.
Smiles spread galore as gifts were exchanged and opened; Dracula opened his gift from Ericka and it was a beautiful black scarf with snowflakes all over it and they reminded him of beautiful spider web patterns; Ericka got a beautiful ruby pendent with bat wings from Dracula and it was so gorgeous her eyes lit up at the sight of such a sparkling jewel; Frank got CDs with classic rock music he could jam to on his guitar; Griffin got a chemistry set with which he could pull pranks with; Murray got a brand new and long back scratcher; Eunice had gotten the emerald green winter dress with the white fluffy hood and boots she always wanted, Wanda got a pretty blue dress with white bone patterns on it; the wolf pups even behaved themselves and got brand new chew toys for gifts while their sister Winnie got a new tea set; Wayne got new earplugs and a sleeping mask from Wanda; Johnny got a brand new scooter, and Mavis went gaga over her and friends new iPhones, much to Dracula's displeasure because he was still convinced it was a soul-stealing device.
The night seemed to pass by a little too quickly as everyone enjoyed or played with their gifts, had fun laughing, talking, or sharing stories or sharing their Christmas/Creepmas traditions with each other, as they all gathered together for their first official holiday dinner together in a private dinner room. Traditional Christmas dinner, or Creepmas food, was brought to them and drinks were poured in silver chalices.
Dracula stood up at the head of the table as he held up his filled chalice he toasted, "Scary Creepmas, everybody! Oh, and Merry Christmas as well!"
"Scary Creepmas, and Merry Christmas!" everyone cheered as they toasted.
At the same time back in the village, the poor neighborhood Ericka had taken Dracula to was awoken to quite a surprise as the children ran outside to play, only to find a new and even bigger Christmas tree in the middle of the street. After a moment of stunned silence, the children started screaming for their parents and the neighbors to wake up and come see the new tree as the volunteers from the charity foundation had arrived again to show everyone a very large donation of money as they brought building and repair equipment with them.
"Hey, everyone," Holly announced happily to the crowd. "We got an incredibly big donation last night, and this letter. I was told to give it to you." She read the letter, and as she did she shed a small tear of gratitude:
I hope this donation of monster money from me and all my friends and my family will help you and everyone else in the neighborhood have a better life and a better future.
Merry Christmas, from Count Dracula.
