Chapter 20: Forgiveness
Unaware of Quincy Parker's revenge, everybody on board the Legacy resumed back to swimming in the pool, engaged in activities or enjoying a family meal together to take their minds off that terrible incident in Atlantis. The merpeople weren't far off as they took human forms to involve themselves in the ship's activities with the guests.
Meanwhile in the private cabin of Mavis and her family, got bored of playing peek-a-boo with a giggling Diavolo , but Dennis, Martha, Willie and Winnie never seemed to tire out as he enjoyed playing with his infant uncle.
"Why can't I go play with Evan and Nixie?" Luna complained.
"First off, Mom and Dad asked me to babysit you and Diavolo while they're out on a date," Mavis told her, then narrowed her eyes down at her curly red-head son and black- head daughter and their werewolf girlfriend and boyfriend. "Second, Dennis, Martha, Willie and Winnie are on a time out for bringing Tinkles along."
"Aww, Mom!" Dennis and Martha whined. "Tinkles saved our life and Winnie and Willie's life too when the Kraken attacked us!"
"And he helped Captain Eunuch rescue Uncle Drac from getting eaten!" Winnie added.
Overhearing their conversation, Johnny's shoulders slumped and a miserable frown spread across his lips. Luna rolled her eyes, scoffing resentfully at the name of that horrid woman who ruined their lives.
"I know Tinkles did good tonight, but I told you before, we're not allowed to bring our... er, pets to work or on a cruise," Mavis reprimanded him, but careful not to say the word dogs in front of Winnie and Willie . "Furthermore, neither of you kids are leaving this cabin until tomorrow."
"But I didn't do anything!" Luna groaned.
"I know, sweetie, but..." Then Mavis noticed Johnny's state of misery and decided to sit beside him on the couch as the kids turned their attention to watch TV where it displayed an old fashioned episode of Thomas the Tank Engine, where Dennis and Martha pointed out to Luna that their mom, her sister, shared the same name with a female diesel engine.
"What's wrong, Johnny?" Mavis asked.
"Dennis and Martha are right on something," Johnny replied sadly. "I couldn't save my kid or you when you got caught in those giant tentacles. I was useless and weak, and I couldn't protect my own family."
"Oh Johnny, you're not like that," Mavis assured her husband, turning him around to look at her to let him know he is not useless and weak. "You actually saved our lives that night. If it wasn't for your music, we could've been Kraken food... and my mother would've killed everyone. Besides, I talked to your parents, and they're very proud of you of what you did."
Johnny chuckled, her soothing words had an encouraging effect on him. "I love you, Mavy-Wavy." He embraced her and she returned it with equal affection.
"Hey, guys! Guess who we ran into?" Pedro exclaimed, bursting into the room and interrupting the moment.
"Pedro, do you mind!" Mavis argued, annoyed at this intrusion, until she saw her friends bringing in a familiar face come in. "Nosepicker?!" she stared at the human girl in disbelief, not quite sure if she should believe who she's seeing. Memories of the nose-picking human toddler she cared for and got involved in adventures with flooded her brain like a tidal wave.
The twelve year old redheaded girl with black highlights waved politely to the stunned vampire.
"You know her?" Johnny asked.
"Her family used to live right next door to the hotel," Wendy explained.
"Did she grow up or what?" Hank, Alex said, staring at the once nose-picking baby having grown up into a pretty goth tween.
"You... you..." Mavis stuttered her words, trying to find the right ones to speak until she blurted out, "What are you doing here?!"
"Mom forced me into those crazy people's scheme to get rid of monsters, which I wanted no part of," Nosepicker explained. "Right after my dad divorce her, my mom forbade me from doing anything monster-y, and she kind of got too controlling on me."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Mavis replied, sympathetically. "So, what are you gonna do now that your mom is going to jail?"
"A friend of your mom, Molly I think was her name, wants to adopt me," Nosepicker replied. "It's better than living with a monster-hating mother. Hey, you want to get something to eat?"
"Sure." Mavis nodded.
Somewhere in the corridor of cabin rooms, Ericka exited her room, having moved back in with her children to return to Dracula, after changing in her lovely dinner dress. It was a black dress with freely waving skirt, a single strap over her right shoulder, a pattern of sea-blue flowers all over, sea-blue low flats on her dainty feet, a sea-blue belt around her hourglass waist, and her ruby-heart shaped necklace dangling around her neck. Ericka was ready for her date night, the night she had been denied for so long, and hoped nothing or nobody can ruin the moment, especially not Eunuch .
"Ericka , you got a minute?" a familiar male voice stopped her in her tracks.
Not glancing over her shoulder, Ericka recognized the voice as her father. She was still hurt by her father keeping her in the dark about their family legacy; hunting monsters.
"I'm sorry I never told you about Leon, or our family's tradition," Andrei sincerely apologized. "I only wanted to protect you from continuing a dangerous tradition. If you became a hunter and something happened to you, I couldn't live with myself."
After a moment's hesitation, Ericka's brow furrowed though she kept her anger under control. "Mom would've wanted me to forgive you..." Andrei looked up hopefully, until she added coldly, "but someday I will." As she left, Andrei grew devastated by those harsh words.
Nearby Ericka noticed a wave of wolf pups stampeding through the deck, followed by Wayne and Wanda with their younger wolf pups. Ericka was glad to have them back safe and sound, but secretly furious at Eunuch and Danny for what they did to her werewolf friends.
"Wayne! Wanda! What happened to you guys?" Griffin asked.
"Yeah, we're like hardly saw you on the cruise," Crystal said.
"Yeah, I know. We got tranquilized and spent most of the trip locked in a closet," Wayne replied.
Wanda sighed happily, feeling great. "We're gonna book it again for the holidays," she said.
Griffin and Crystal raised their eyebrows, staring at the viewers, but not for long.
"Next time you book a cruise, hire a detective to check the criminal background of the Captain," Ericka advised, rather coldly, as she strides past them.
Her words stunned the werewolf parents and the invisible couple, staring at her like she had grown a second head. But Ericka didn't care as she walked across the deck to find the Cantina, which she found it not long after.
Two pairs of feet walked over to each other until they were face to face. The vampire, Count Dracula, wore his orange and black shirt, white pants and shoes. The human, Countess Ericka , surprised him in her black and blue-flower dress.
"You look ravishing," Dracula complimented.
"Thank you... but I get the feeling that you said it before to a certain woman," Ericka scorned, feeling uncomfortable by his comment, as if reading his mind.
A mild shock passed through Dracula's face, but he tried brushing it off nervously as he chuckled, "Uh, I mean, you look as beautiful as ever, my Moon Beam." He magically pulled a chair out for her, and they sat down (Dracula now sat in Eunuch's seat and Eunuch now sits in Dracula's seat). "So, I see you're wearing the necklace I gave you from our anniversary," he said.
"Yeah, I wanted to look nice tonight," Ericka said, shyly brushing a strand of hair behind her right ear.
"Oh! I almost forgot." Dracula made a purple rose appear magically in his hand as he presented it to her. "This is for you."
Ericka gasped softly as she took the rose and sniffed it lightly. "It's lovely, thank you." She tenderly and carefully tucked the rose in the left side of her hair.
Dracula decided to turn on the old vampire seduction, smiling lovingly at his wife. "Did you know purple roses are intended for enchantment, or that it conveys the soulmates to fall in love at first sight? It makes them too irresistible to resist the soulmate." He began to lean in an attempt to gift her a romantic kiss.
"Guacamole!" a fish waiter brought in the guacamole and chips for them to share.
"NO GUACAMOLE!" Ericka refused, suddenly putting her hand up in the fish waiter's face to turn down the guacamole.
Dracula was taken aback by her outburst as he drew back in surprise. "Don't you want to try it?" he asked hopefully.
"Not unless there's garlic oil in it!" Ericka growled, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "We'll have the lobster special," she told the waiter, and the nervous fish waiter hurriedly ran off to the next table.
"Uh, honey, if this is about the night Eunuch and I-" Dracula wanted to ease her mood, but he got cut off.
"On our date night, we're never to speak of people like her!" Ericka retorted tensely. "I'll be thankful that as soon as the ship takes us back to Transylvania, you and I will never have to see Eunuch again."
Sweating nervously, Dracula seemed to doubt it as he frowned slightly. "Actually, about that..." but he decided to hold it back for now after noticing her scowl, chuckling as he realized something else which changed the subject quickly, "You know, its funny how you're from a monster hunting family and you fell in love with a vampire, right?" he chuckled.
Ericka laughed a little too, her sour mood ending. "I guess so."
Another wish waiter returned with their order before placing a wine bottle with two glasses on their table; lobster tails served with steak, twice-baked potatoes, and mixed vegetables. It looked so delicious that it took their minds off discussing Eunuch .
Eunuch sighed happily as she began using a knife and fork to cut a piece of the steak and eat it. "This is so good. You have to try it, honey," she said.
Having never tried this kind of human dish before, Dracula cut a piece of the lobster melted in hot butter and ate it. "Holy rabies!" he gasped, feeling the sweet taste melting in his mouth.
After a moment of silence of eating, Dracula felt the time was right to tell her. He knew it was now or never. He eyed her neck with longing. That was the big decision he had come to agree on. The one thing he had tried to do ever since he met her eight years ago, it was biting her. But if he did, he didn't know how her family would react about their daughter living a life in the shadows or drinking blood. They would have to discuss it sooner or later.
"Ericka ... darling... I have something to tell you," Dracula began hesitantly.
"Yes?" Half-listening, Elisa kept eating her meal.
"I... I decided... I want..." Dracula couldn't hold himself back anymore from the one thing he craved for in years. "I want to bite you."
Ericka was so stunned that she dropped her fork on the table. "What?" she exclaimed, not sure if she heard him right.
"I want to turn you into a vampire," he confessed.
"Uhh, why? Don't you like me the way I am?" Ericka asked him concerned. All of a sudden, she didn't feel like the idea of becoming a vampire was a good one. She looked away, hoping he didn't see the refusal in her eyes.
"Yes I do, but you're right. I couldn't bare to lose you if you get older." Dracula told her as held her hand gently, forcing her to look at him. "Ericka , there is no other woman that I want to be here than you."
He gave her a sympathetic lovingly smile, and it made Ericka shed tears of joy, because she felt the same way about him. If he was going to turn her, then she'll be ready. As they came closer to each other, their faces closed the gap as their lips came together, ready to share a kiss. But the moment was ruined when Eunuch interrupted the Cantina dining area, activating her microphone, speaking loud and clear to get everyone's attention.
"Hey everyone, we have an exciting announcement to make!" Eunuch greeted on the staircase, her voice echoing over the PA system so everyone on board can hear her. To the crowd's surprise, she was wearing a white fiesta attire that had red, orange, and yellow ruffled sleeves, a large red rose in her hair, and a red choker.
When Dracula and Ericka heard the captain's voice, their romantic moment was over and Ericka grew very angry at Ericka for ruining another moment. Noticing Dracula was admiring Ericka's outfit, Ericka kicked him under the table and he yelped in response.
"Hey guys," Danny greeted the couple, wearing his new attire, a captain's uniform similar to Eunuch's outfit, except it was a red captain's uniform with gold accents and red boots, to show off his importance. "How do I look?" he asked.
"You both look hideous!" Ericka hissed, earning her a reprimanded scowl from Dracula. She was not very fond of seeing Danny or Eunuch again. "And what are you doing here?" she asked hotly.
"First off, your compliment is acceptable, so thank you," Danny remarked, jokingly paying no mind to her insult. "Second, Eunuch has a special surprise for everyone."
Ericka scoffed as she was forced to listen to this unexpected announcement while she prepared to take a sip of her wine.
"I am pleased to announce that as of now I have made Danny the Chief Officer and first mate of the Legacy! And as a special surprise, I want to personally thank Dracula for inviting us to live at his hotel in Transylvania!" Eunuch declared, excitedly and gratefully.
The audience began to go wild once again. However, Ericka gawked furiously at Eunuch like she just said a bad word. Her wine glass trembling in hand and in her lips. Turning her head in the direction of where Dracula stood, the vampire knew he had to tell her.
"U-umm... look, darling. I've been thinking and I wanted to talk to you about letting Eunuch and Danny stay at the hotel." Dracula began to sweat, and an embarrassed grin spread over his face.
The news shocked Eunuch so much that it made her gag and spurt wine out of her mouth, choking and coughing from the beverage. The wine splattered all over Dracula's shirt, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant.
"Ewww!" some of the members of the audience exclaimed.
"When were you going to tell me this! No, don't answer that! You never planned on telling me!" Eunuch seethed angrily at her husband. "You invited them to live with us at the hotel without my say in it, and I'm the one who told you that once this vacation is over that we'll never have to see Eunuch again!"
"Oh darling, look I know what they did was unforgivable," Dracula tried to reason with his wife calmly, "but if they really want to change and have a second chance to be better people then what better way to give them that chance than by letting them live at our hotel. So they can work and get better aquatinted with everyone."
Captain Eunuch and Chief Officer Danny quickly came over when they heard the shouting.
"Did you even think that I wanted Eunuch to live at the hotel at all?! Do you think I want Captain Tramp to be around us all the time!" Ericka ranted, fuming.
"Ericka , please, let's just be reasonable about this," Danny calmly suggested.
Hearing this, it only infuriated Ericka even more as her hands tightened into fists. "Reasonable?! REASONABLE?! After everything you put me and my family through, you think I would be reasonable to accept a bunch of liars like you!"
Eunuch and Danny knew she wasn't wrong, but they wanted to talk to her about them living at the hotel to start a new life.
"Look Ericka , we want to start over and Dracula thinks the best place for that is at your hotel," Eunuch calmly told her. "And I didn't know about the love spell at all until-"
"Maybe so, but that doesn't excuse you for using my husband's feelings against him when you went on that date!" Ericka chewed her out, the pain and heartache she had carried for so long poured out of her. "You're no better than Monica! It's bad enough that my dad had to date my teacher that he put her before me without caring about the consequences! She ruined everything in my life, but you definitely take the cake, Eunuch !" Her voice got higher as she shouted, "You ruined our vacation! You ruined my family! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"
In the crowd, Ericka's friends and family had disappointment written all over their faces when they heard Ericka speak that way about her brother and stepsister . Monica was devastated by those harsh words.
"I was just doing my job of getting rid of Dracula so I went along with it," Eunuch apologized, although that didn't sound right. "I know now that it was wrong and I'm sorry."
"Apology not accepted!" Ericka rolled her eyes and scoffed haughtily, rejecting the pathetic apology. "You knew that we were married and you practically destroyed our marriage, our trust, and our family!" she retorted angrily.
"Honeyfang, settle down." Dracula calmly told her. "I know you're upset, but I remember a few years ago I never thought of giving humans a second chance for monsters after centuries of living in the shadows. Then one day, a young woman came into my life and encouraged me to go out into the world." Then Dracula took his wife's hands into his own and kissed them. "And that decision changed my life for the better. For monsters and for me. Do you know who that woman was?"
Ericka knew exactly who he was talking about. "It was me." She told him as she gave him a smug smile, until it turned into a scorning frown as she harshly pushed his hands aside. "But you're still not off the hook for going behind my back again! After everything that's happened, now I find it harder to trust you or my friends and family than ever!"
Dracula was emotionally hurt by this. "Ericka ..." His wife no longer trusts him, maybe she no longer loved him anymore, but the worst of it is that she never trusts their friends and family again.
"And let's not forget how you made all my friends, family, and especially Dracula, turn on me because you used your phony charms to make yourself look innocent and made me look like the bad guy!" Ericka started to get more emotional at this point that tears threatened to burst from her eyes, earning sympathy from the people or monsters around her. "Did you know how much pain I was in when I thought I lost the people I loved and my husband to the likes of you! It felt like my whole world came crashing down that it made me want to kill you! And you know what else? I wish I had finished you off in Atlantis for good!"
A chorus of appalled gasps and jaws dropping everywhere, and even a fish waiter dropped his tray of food.
Eunuch was getting even more upset and disturbed, that she desperately suggested, "Come on Ericka , you know the old saying, forgive and forget! Can't we do that?" She extended her hand out for a handshake to offer her friendship, but it was cruelly rejected as Ericka smacked her hand back away from her, though Eunuch nearly lost her footing at the impact.
"I'D RATHER DIE THAN FORGIVE YOU!" Ericka screamed bitterly.
Everyone present in the restaurant gave a heavy gasp at those last words, especially Dracula, surprised and shocked to hear such a thing like that come from Ericka . But no sooner she had spoken those words, a dark intruder emerged from behind the ship's railing and malevolently approached the unsuspecting woman holding a dagger. Catching the dark presence behind her, everyone panicked and tried to warn Ericka , but it was too late.
In that instant, Ericka whirled around to come face to face with Quincy Parker, his face twisted with a murderous vengeance as he smirked dangerously, "That can be arranged." And then, he seized his chance.
Suddenly the next thing Ericka knew, she felt a horrible excruciating pain agonizing in her abdomen. The cries of her family and friends seemed faint to her ears. She became numb with shock as she stared at Quincy's gleaming red eyes, his face twisted with malice satisfaction. As quick as he had done this murderous deed, Quincy withdrew the dagger from her body, causing Ericka to wince in pain.
All fear was in Dracula's eyes at the moment as he witnessed the love of his life being killed in front of him again, just like how Martha was killed. "NOOOO!" he screamed in agony.
"ERICKA !" everybody cried in terror.
At that time, Mavis and Johnny and the kids had come out of their cabin upon hearing of a huge fight between the four adults, only to find Ericka ambushed and brutally stabbed by a familiar intruder.
"MOM!" Mavis and Luna cried in dread, worried for their mother.
Then Quincy shoved her body to side, watching passively as Ericka tumbled to the floor, grasping her stomach and struggling to breathe. Everyone remained frozen, their eyes popped open in shock and later fury.
"You coward!" Eunuch bellowed, enraged at what this madman had done.
"Don't blame this on me!" Quincy gestured to the fallen woman's figure, chiding menacingly, "She's just like my pathetic excuse of a mother! They make selfish decisions, abandoning their families without thinking about them only themselves, and for what! Because they're in love with a monster!"
The Drac Pack and some of the human relatives surrounded the poor fallen woman, who coughed weakly. Andrei tenderly cradled his daughter, as if this would be the last time he held her. On his knees, Dracula carefully reached down and removed Ericka's hand from where it had been covering her wound. He winced, seeing how red the gash was. She was already losing a lot of blood. His heart dropped and his blood run cold to see his beloved dying like this.
"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO KILL THE WOMAN I LOVE!" Dracula bellowed, his eyes almost became slits and his fangs bared.
"Oh please, it's not like this is the first time I did this to your wife," Quincy scoffed.
Hearing this, Dracula was confused and the rage from his toned down and his face returned to normal. "What are you talking about?"
"This is precious," Quincy snickered sadistically. "Don't you remember what happened to Martha Lubov?"
"How do you know about Martha?!" Dracula demanded, and everyone close by grew curious at wanting to know how this madman knew about his first wife.
"Didn't you wonder how those human villagers were able to find your home and destroy it? Well, let's just say that I gave them directions," Quincy admitted slyly.
"You led those human villagers to my home?!" Dracula gaped in shock and disbelief.
"That's not the only thing I did. While you were trying to pathetically reason with the villagers, I decided to pay your wife a little visit."
Then Dracula put the pieces together and the realization struck him like a physical blow to his heart. He couldn't believe that the son of his first love would do this to him, then again the reason would be his scandalous affair with Mina would be the cause of this monster's actions. "Y-You... YOU KILLED MARTHA!" he screamed in an enraged fury. "Why... why did you do this?!"
"Isn't is obvious?" Quincy retorted. "You took my mother from me! She betrayed all of us, she wanted to elope with the monster who ruined our lives. You took her from me... to even the score, I had take someone from you!"
Mavis looked on in horror at this elderly man, who was the son of her father's old girlfriend had killed her biological mother. Now she knew the truth, that real monster was the reason why she never got to know her mother and kept forever at the hotel by her overprotective father. "HE KILLED MY MOTHER!" she screamed as she plunged towards Quincy, ready to attack him.
Her eyes were all red and her fangs barred, like her father whenever he got angry. But, luckily her friends Hank, Alex ,Wendy and Pedro were able to grab ahold of her and stop her from making a huge mistake.
"Mavis, no! That's what he wants us to do!" Wendy tried to reason and calm her down, not wanting her to set monsters back centuries again.
"But, he..." Mavis stammered.
However, Melany remembered the letter she had found inside the photograph of Mina Harker, and she thought if Quincy should hear what Mina had to say in her letter, maybe it will be enough to convince him to end his bloodlust.
"You want a monster! I'll give you a real MONSTER!" Dracula exploded as he roared in blood thirsty rage, his eyes red and his voice deep and demonic.
His thunderous temper startled guests nearby, but he didn't seem to pay attention as the one thing his mind focused on was getting revenge for Martha, and for Ericka . He hurled towards Quincy and tackled him. Once Dracula had him pinned on the ground he began to choke him, ready to end his life. As this was happening, Vlad saw this happening and noticed that Quincy wasn't resisting Dracula's attack, noticing that he had a big smirk on his face as he was being suffocated to death. He knew at once that Quincy wanted him to do this. To prove who was the monster present if he took his life.
"Drac, stop!" Vlad called.
He used his magic to catch hold of his son and hauled him right off the wretched creature, struggling to hold him back as he thrashed and growled.
"Let me go! I WANT HIS BLOOD!" Dracula snarled.
"Son, listen to me! If you kill him, you'll set monsters back again," Vlad reasoned. "It's what he wants; to prove to everyone that you're a monster."
Suddenly Look jumped into the fray. "Quincy, wait!" she cried, boldly standing between her father and her mother's killer. "Do you think your mom would be proud of you if she saw this!"
"SHE LEFT ME!" Quincy growled.
"Please, just hear me out. Mina loved you, and she knew what she did was wrong." Luna explained, holding the letter out for all to see.
"LIES! All lies!" Quincy bellowed, telepathically lifting Luna up in the air and callously threw across the deck. "And don't forget that if not for you, brat, I wouldn't have the power to destroy monsters!"
Rushing forward, Daniel caught the little girl in time. Slightly annoyed by his presence, Melany climbed out of his arms, determined to stop this madness forever. But she was stopped by her father's voice.
"What's going on?" Dracula asked, confused and suspicious. "What did you do?"
"I'm sorry..." Melany knew at once she was busted as her friends and family, monster or human, gathered around with suspicious or worried expressions. She cringed, before she confessed, "I helped him steal the orb in Machu Picchu, on the promise that he would let me use to bring my parents back together. I didn't know he was going to use it to hurt everybody."
"LUNA DRACULA!" Dracula hollered, outraged that his own child would do such a thing. "What have I told you about talking to strangers?! Never talk to them or go with them! Don't you know that you were helping the enemy?! What if something happened to you and I wasn't there?!" he breathed heavily.
"I'm sorry, Dad, but you're the one who messed this up in the first place by avoiding us!" Luna retorted.
"She was quite a big help, Count," Quincy chortled.
Dracula wanted to rip that man to shreds, but first he turned to Luna , "We'll discuss this later!"
Summoning a storm with this new power, Quincy levitated in the air and made the wind shift violently to tilt the cruise sideways, hoping its passengers will slid off and fall into the sea. Luckily, nobody fell into sea as they all clung to the ship's railings for dear life. Some of the passengers took cover in their cabins or in the ballroom as they glided side to side, feeling nauseous. Eunuch managed to scramble to the control room, trying desperately to steer the ship to get out of the storm and deliver everyone safely to land, but it wasn't easy as the wind picked up and the waves grew stronger and larger. Daniel quickly lead some of the passengers inside to be safe, but he got swept across deck and would have fallen off the ledge had Andrei not caught him. The mermaids tried to stop him, but the giant waves collapsed down on them as they tumbled downward into the depths of the ocean, none of them seriously hurt though. The waves grew bigger and stronger as they crashed against the ship, attempting to push it over and fall into the sea.
"No one can defeat me! I will destroy every one of you monsters and ignorant humans on board!" Quincy cackled with an evil slur.
In the midst of taking cover from the storm, Dracula was on his knees at Ericka's side as he gingerly cradled her body in his arms, feeling her life slowly slipping away. "Ericka , look at me! Look at me! Stay with me!" She could barely speak to him but responded by coughing weakly and her strength was fading. "No! Please Ericka , don't leave me. I lost Mina, I lost Martha, I can't afford to lose you too!" he cried, as he leans his head over her face, until he remembered what he told her during dinner. He couldn't lose another zing, he would have to do it now. "Ericka , I told you that I loved you... and I will save you," he whispered as he brushed past her face and pushed the strands of brown hair out of the way to expose her dainty neck.
As lightning crashed, he opened his mouth to reveal his predatory fangs and sunk his teeth into his wife's throat. To his surprise, her neck was truly quite delicious. More delicious than complimenting Eunuch's neck when under a spell. Ericka gasped in agony at the sudden pain in her neck, but forced herself to stay brave as she knew he was doing this to save her life. He injected his vampire venom deep into her veins as he clung to her back to hold her closer. She felt a burning sensation throughout her physical being as some changes to her body occurred; her skin turning pale, a dusky gray shade covered her eyelids, and when she opened her mouth to groan, two fangs burst out in place of her original teeth.
Memories flashed through her eyes, although these memories of a past she knew nothing of; a blurry vision of a handsome Count holding her in his arms as she cradled an infant Mavis protectively, she realized the Count was actually Dracula and she was inside the flames of Castle Lubov as he told her to go hide before they parted hands, the vision of a younger Quincy Parker maliciously sneaking up behind her and taking her by surprise with a crossbow and wooden stake aimed right at her heart.
When it was over, Ericka fainted. For a moment, it seemed like nothing had worked as she lay unconscious in Dracula's arms. However, the second her eyes flung open, her eyes began to glow that infamous laser red color before the glow faded as quickly as it came. To Dracula's surprise, she was gazing at her surroundings like an infant seeing the world for the first time, or had the eyes of a baffled amnesiac woman wondering how in the world she got here in the first place. At first, Dracula feared she must have lost her memories. But when Ericka's gaze landed upon him, her pretty features lit up, like she had found a long lost boyfriend. Cupping his cheeks, she joyously forced her lips against his own, catching him off-guard but he didn't seem to mind.
Breaking off the kiss, Dracula said, "Honey, I don't mind your kisses, but are you alright?" He was puzzled by her strange behavior that confused her, but then he noticed something else. "Oh, look! Your wound's gone!"
Looking down at her stomach, Ericka could see the red gash had vanished as if it was never there to begin with. The memories of what recently occurred came flooding back to her. Pleased that his rescue was a success, Dracula began crying tears of joy. Ericka shed some tears of her own as she examined her skin and felt her fangs for the first time, realizing she had become a fulltime vampire.
"Thank you, thank you!" Ericka threw herself into his embrace, and he returned it with equal affection.
After they hugged for so long, they finally broke apart and just stared into each other's eyes.
Dracula broke the silence, choking on his tears, "I thought I lost you."
"For a moment there, you did!" Ericka responded.
Just as the two continued to embrace each other, suddenly the boat's tilting brought them back to reality and a familiar presence made them smirk, knowing they had to put an end to Quincy Parker's madness for good, but this time he was in for a big surprise.
"I found you!" Quincy sneered, discovering the vampire hunched over the form of his wife. "Are you so busy mourning the death of your wife?"
But Dracula drew back, revealing Ericka as a newborn and undead vampire, her fangs bared as she hissed, "No, he was saving my life."
Quincy was taken aback by this, shocked as his eyes widened at this unexpected turn of events. "What... You... He..."
As she studied his facial features, Ericka's eyes changed as they widened, as the memory of his ambushing her in Castle Lubov broke through the surface. "You!" she cried.
As he bore into her eyes, he realized the suspicion he had of her weeks ago was true. She looked at like the surviving victim of an attempted murder identifying her attacker from the past, not recently. "Well, well, well. So, my suspicion of you was true!" Quincy said to them, but Dracula was confused although Ericka had some small confusion.
"Huh?" Dracula asked angrily.
"I cannot believe that you of all people haven't figured it out yet, Count. It's obvious that Ericka is Martha's reincarnation! Especially with her new looks, and I can see it in her eyes too." Quincy explained to him, irritated at his ignorance.
The revelation shocked both Dracula and Ericka . It also surprised everybody else present as they glanced in their direction. Mavis, most of all.
"My stepmom... was my biological mom... this whole time?" Mavis stuttered.
"Martha?" Dracula stared at Ericka in disbelief, unable to believe that his wife had returned to him reincarnated as his new wife. He had seen the resemblance, but it was impossible. It made sense to why she behaved differently when she woke up. It was Martha's soul adjusting to her body and her surroundings, and her reaction of her surrounding and to him told him the rest.
"I-I... didn't know," Ericka whispered, feeling just as shocked as everybody else, though she had no idea she had a part of Martha inside of her.
"That explains how she easily was able to become a real vampire when you bit her," Quincy continued on.
"Perhaps if you hadn't killed me, then I wouldn't have been bitten, so basically its your fault I'm her, but I have to thank you for it," Ericka sneered, smirking.
Enraged, Quincy roared as he forced green magic to shoot out of his hands. Ericka was expecting this to happen as she extended her hands out and a pink mist created a wall that pushed the green cloud back and forcibly threw Quincy across the deck, catching the attention of the scared passengers. Because of Quincy's distraction focused on a battle, the waves began to calm down and the wind ceased calmly. Fed up, Quincy telekinetically lifted up a table and tossed it right at the newborn vampire. But it didn't reach her as Ericka maneuvered out of the way in time and, with her incredible super strength, landed a great big punch in his face.
Everyone looked up or glanced behind them, as they gasped in surprise at what they were witnessing, but then began to cheer joyously. Mavis was astonished at first, but she smiled proudly at her mother's new powers and shed tears of joy to have her bio-mom back. As for Ericka's friends and family, they were numb with shock. They didn't know whether to feel happiness that she survived, or anger that she had become a vampire without their consent. Nevertheless, they were ecstatic that she was alive.
Andrei was stunned for a second, until he glared at Dracula hatefully, "What did you do to my daughter?!"
"I did what I had to do!" Dracula declared defiantly.
Ericka shapeshifted into a slender white wolf; still had her long brown hair and her eyes had become a cyan blue-green shade, and she pounced on a baffled Quincy in attempt to maul at his throat, but Quincy used an umbrella pole to block those sharp canines. While gnawing at the pole, Ericka drew her head back and, with a snarl, struck him across the face with her claws, engraving three scars on his left cheek. Crying out in pain, Quincy used his legs to shove the wolf off his body. Using the orb, Quincy shapeshifted into a huge grayish black mangy wolf with gray hairs and blazing dark red eyes. He lunged for her, but she moved forward, their bodies collided as the two wolves clawed and bit one another. Fangs sunk into fur, claws swiped at their snouts, and vicious snarls left a chill in the atmosphere. They were equal in combat and strength. Proving to be older and stronger than her, Quincy managed to use his hind legs to push her back.
Refusing to give up, Ericka maneuvered back and, shapeshifting into a pretty white mouse, scurried up his leg. Quincy squealed as he tried swatting at himself to catch her, but when her tiny form emerged from the back of his coat, she had shapeshifted into a white snake hissing maliciously. "Aaah!" Quincy cried, startled. She wrapped her coils around his furry neck and the other half of her long body coiled around his arm to bring his fist into his face like he was hitting himself. He managed to grasp her neck and pulled her coils off his arm and neck, but she shapeshifted into a cute white rabbit, with a mess of brown hair and cyan eyes, and as Quincy laughed at her non-threatening form, until the rabbit bared sharp vampiric fangs and began scratching and thrashing at his face. "Gotcha!" he shouted, grabbing her tiny bunny form, but Ericka had shapeshifted into a white bat, still with her long brown hair and cyan eyes, rammed him in the face with her wing, then she caught his wrist and did a judo- flip as she flipped him over right on the ground.
Shapeshifting back to her normal form, a heavily panting Ericka picked up Quincy, who turned back to normal, by the shirt collar. To Dracula's horror and everybody else's horror, they recognized the symptoms of what she was going to do next. Ericka wanted to make him pay for killing her, twice, and for all the damage he had done. Her eyes became a livid red with black slits as her fangs were bared, opening her mouth, ready to sink her canine teeth into his throat and put an end to him once and for all.
"Mom, stop! This won't solve anything!" Luna cried as she flew over.
"Stay out of this, sweetheart!" Ericka growled viciously, refusing to listen. "After everything he's done to us, he deserves to die!"
"But who will everyone see as the monster if you bite him?" Luna demanded furiously.
Her words made her hesitate. Ericka wanted him to suffer like she did, but as she glanced at the eyes of terrified monsters and humans as they saw she came close to setting monsters back again. Fear was written all over her family and friends' faces. The terror in Dracula's and Mavis' eyes told her that her youngest daughter's words were true.
"Besides, you need to hear this." Luna unfolded the letter and began reading out loud and clear for everyone to listen. "Please try to understand, my dearest little Quincy, why I'm doing this. It may be selfish of me, but I'm not doing this just to be with Count Dracula, I also need to find him so he can help me start a new world for monsters and humans." Quincy's eyes popped open and shifted toward her as she continued, "The world is so cruel to monsters, and humanity is the true monsters, but I want to change that to raise my son in a better world. Even though I don't love your father, but I regret hurting his feelings. You were the best thing that happened to me from it. I left to find Dracula, but I will come back for you because I can't start a new life without my special little boy. I admit what I've done to my friends and family is selfish, but I can't lie to my heart anymore." She finished the letter with this, "See you soon, Quincy. Love Mother."
While listening, Ericka's eyes returned to normal as her heart was touched by Mina's endearing apology. Guilty for trying to end this man's life when in reality, he was hurt by his mother's abandonment when she only wanted to make things right for her child and for monsterkind. In some strange way, Mina was just like Eunuch and Danny . Her gaze shifted toward them as they both had been listening to Luna reading the letter, and her resentment at those two former trouble-makers changed to remorseful for how she treated them, and for all those nasty things she said to them. And to everyone's relief, she released Parker from her grasp, the intent to kill him no longer matter.
"Let me see that!" Quincy demanded, snatching the letter from the little girl. As his eyes glazed over the letter's contents, the blow came to him like a bolt out of the blue. This whole time he had his mother wrong. Mina did care about him. She didn't just abandoned him to elope with a vampire, she was coming back for him. Quincy started to think perhaps he got his mother all wrong, then maybe he got the monsters all wrong too, but he had gone too far by murdering Martha and Ericka , and abandoning his family to an almost grim fate. He began to feel guilty for what he has done and, to everyone's surprise, he collapsed to his knees and starts shedding a rainfall of regretful tears.
"Quincy?" Luna approached him, concerned.
"Oh, mother," Quincy choked, his voice trembling. "What have I done?" The orb was still around his neck as it began to glow violently as if trying to repossess him, and he knew at once that he had to destroy it before it fueled his hatred again. "I need to stop this," he declared.
"How? The orb's magic is too strong, you won't be able to-" Luna said, but she was interrupted.
Quincy looked down at her, a crestfallen expression crossed the face. Looking at the orb, he made his choice to redeem himself. It was the face that people made before they sacrifice themselves for the safety of others. Telepathically, he commanded the orb to destroy its controller and itself.
"No, wait! Quincy, don't!" Luna pleaded, as the orb's essence began engulfing the older man.
"There's no other way to fix what I've done," Quincy retorted, though it sounded forced as the shooting pain weakened his body. "I made myself a monster, because of what I've done, I let myself be fooled by humanity's blind hate."
"But, you'll die!" Luna sobbed.
"I know." Quincy said calmly, then he turned Dracula, Mavis, Ericka , Andrei, and Danny . "I understand you won't find it in your hearts to forgive me, even if what I do will make it right, I did terrible unspeakable things to you that will always hang over me. I'm truly sorry for what I did to you, all of you."
Those words send tears of extreme depression to the crowd.
"Grandfather!" Danny protested, but he was prevented by the Drac Pack.
"You needn't worry over me. I don't fear death." Quincy told his shocked grandson as he watched sadly. "AAAAGH!" he screamed as the orb's power began eating up his entire body until he was glowing.
The green light was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes, but some of them caught a glimpse of Quincy Parker's silhouette vanishing, just as the orb cracked and exploded. When the light faded, everybody found there was nothing left of Mina Parker's son, only broken pieces of the once powerful orb.
Afterward, nobody could hold back their sobs over this man's self sacrifice and his apologizing for his actions when he realized how wrong he was and Mina never abandoned him like he originally believed she had. Luna began crying mournfully while Dracula placed a gentle hand on her shoulders and allowed his child to cry in his chest, sharing their sorrow together, that is until he got stern with her.
"Now, about our discussion," he said frowning, and she smiled sheepishly at him.
A few days later after everyone retired to their cabins instead of engaging themselves in activates or family suppers. The only person left on the deck was Ericka as she thought deeply about what Quincy had done and her rash actions against him and the people or monsters she loved. She stood calmly on the front deck of the ship, staring at the sea and the stars, and the wind blowing her brown locks back.
"Are you okay, honey?" Dracula asked, appearing out of nowhere and approached her, now wearing his regular tux attire.
"Drac, I..." Ericka hesitated, before she got it out of her system. "Those things I said to you, and what I said about Eunuch and Danny ... I behaved just like Quincy did when he... when Mina..."
"No, it's my fault he did what he had done," Dracula admitted. "If I had know what he was planning, and for pushing you away like that for Eunuch , none of this would have happened."
"You couldn't have known it, sweetheart," Ericka assured him. "Neither of us knew it. I was afraid you cheated on me because of our fight of turning me into a vampire, but I'm glad it was only a spell."
But Dracula was still ashamed of his recent behavior. "No, the only spell I should ever be under is yours."
Touched, Ericka threw her arms around his neck to hug him. As he slid his arms around her to return the hug, she said, "Even though the world tried to push you away from love, the universe knew you deserved love. So, it made me. No... Martha made me. It's just hard to come to terms with this that I've been her all along."
"Whether you're Martha or Ericka, a human or a vampire, I fell in love with you, and only you," he said affectionately.
As Dracula leaned in to give her a passionate kiss, Ericka drew back with a sly smile, confusing the vampire.
"You know, now that I'm a vampire, not only do I have to share a coffin with you," she said. "There is something I can do with you that I've always dreamed of."
"Uhh... and what is that my love?" he asked hesitantly, not knowing what she meant by that.
Then all of a sudden, she transforms into a bat again, saying, "Let's go for a fly!"
Excited, Dracula transformed into a bat and follows her, just as the song 'My, My, My!' by Troye Sivan begins to play in the background.
Shine on, diamond
Don't make me wait another day
Cause passion is passion
You know it just as well as me
The two bats dove downward as they felt the wind all around them while supposedly plummeting down to the ocean. Instead, they created a huge wave with their wings. They laughed at how both of them could be such show offs. She guided him over the surface, dipping their wings into the water as they faced each other, smiling lovingly. Flying across the ocean's surface, Ericka noticed she had no reflection in the water, but it didn't matter anymore because she was flying for her first time as a bat. She was fulfilling every girl's dream to fly.
Now, let's stop running from love
Running from love
Let's stop, my baby
Let's stop running from us
Running from us
Let's stop, my baby
It was truly a beautiful night for a flight, the stars glittered the night sky, the moon's light created a magnificent reflection on the ocean surface, and a bunch of thick clouds approaching. The two vampire bats were really enjoying themselves, gliding across the water and high over the Legacy.
Oh my, my, my
I die every night with you
Oh my, my, my
Living for your every move
Flying higher, they entered the clouds. Ericka playfully tapped his wing, gesturing him to follow her. Smirking, Dracula pursued his beloved as she guided him through a cloud tunnel, with only the moon high above them to light their way to the end of the tunnel. As Dracula gazed up at her, Ericka seemed to shine brightly in the moonlight, making her appear more radiant than ever. Popping up out of cloud tunnel, the two bats used their mist, blue and pink, to create the shape of a heart in front of the full moon.
Oh my, my, my (oh my, my, my)
I die every night with you (I die, I die, I die, I die, yeah yeah)
Oh my, my, my (oh my, my, yeah)
Living for your every move (living for, living for, yeah)
Resuming her normal form, Ericka thought about walking on the clouds to see if they could hold her weight. But she almost fell through the second she set foot on a cloud, until Dracula caught her arm in time. An idea came to him as he decided to take this opportunity to dance with his beloved in the clouds. First, Dracula twirled her to the side. Then Ericka twirled to the other side, leaning back for him to bring her down in a dip. He pulled her back up and the two were back-to-back or cheek-to-cheek as they danced across the valley of clouds, moving in perfect sync together.
Oh my, my, my
I die every night with you
(Oh my, my, my, oh my, my, my)
Oh my, my, my
Living for your every move
(Living for your every move)
Oh my, my, my
When doing a twirl whilst gliding over the clouds, Dracula stared at her with a smoldering gaze of adoration, and Ericka closed her eyes to take in the moment. He lifted her up in the air by holding her stomach as she struck a ballerina pose. As they danced across the clouds with a quick movement of their feet, Ericka looked back to see Dracula kept that romantic smoldering smug gaze as he flailed his arms and cape about like a flamingo dancer. Ericka swayed toward him, shaking her hips and waving her arms to copy his movements amusingly.
As they came closer to each other, Dracula and Ericka smiled tenderly as they panted and breathed from the rush of adrenaline. And then, they embraced and shared a passionate kiss, gradually wrapping their arms around his head and her back to bring them closer together.
When the moon and stars had gone, the sun was peeking out over the horizon, signaling everyone to turn in for bed. Ericka and Dracula landed on the deck and transformed back into their normal forms, turning a corner to find their cabin to rest for the day.
"That was wonderful," Dracula sighed, thinking about last night.
"I'm just glad you finally took me out to dinner and dancing," Ericka thanked him. "I hope the kids are alright."
"Don't worry, I let my Dad watch them. I'm just glad he took me back as his son again," Dracula explained. "After that whole ordeal with Quincy and his orb, I grounded Melany for three days, so I couldn't let her try to sneak out while I'm gone."
"I hope you weren't hard on her," Ericka reprimanded. "She was tricked into stealing the orb."
"I give you my word," Dracula assured her.
Just as Ericka was about head back into her cabin to join her husband, she started to hear voices, with her new vampire senses, talking and she saw and overheard a private conversation between the Captain, the Chief Officer, and the Chief's uncle. "Could you excuse me for a minute?" she told Dracula, before she hurried off to find them.
"Listen, as much as I support your decision, I don't think it would be wise for the two of you to go live at the hotel after all," Charles told his nephew and girlfriend dejectedly.
"Why not?" Danny asked, shocked. "We make our own choices!
"No, he's right! Think about it, we've caused so much pain to other the monsters and other people, especially Dracula's family. It's wonderful that he gave us a second chance after everything we done, especially to Ericka ." Eunuch's smiling face lowered to a hurt frown. "But you heard what she said."
Daniel understood what she meant and was starting to get upset from remembering what happened.
"And I don't think Ericka will allow us to live at the hotel," Eunuch pointed out sadly.
"Perhaps you'd like to start a new life on the boat with her?" Charles sadly looked over at his nephew. "You could travel the world together."
"Maybe..." Danny sighed, wretchedly.
It was at this moment that Ericka knew she would have wanted to this to happen, she would never have to see them again and be much happier. But something in her heart told her this was wrong, nobody was happy about this, and they deserved a second chance, despite still holding a teensy grudge against them. "And where would that be anyway?" Ericka suddenly spoke, walking in on them and startling the small group.
"Ericka !" Danny gasped surprisingly.
"How much did you hear?" Charles asked, slightly annoyed at her presence.
"Everything!" Ericka bluntly replied.
"If you came here to tell us off, don't bother," Eunuch snarked. "We're not staying at your hotel."
"No, that's not why I came here."
"Then what did you come here for?"
Though reluctant, Ericka hesitantly said, "I-I... came her to a-apolo... g-gize!"
"Huh?" Everyone gaped, wondering if they heard her right.
"I came here to apologize!" Ericka repeated, louder.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Eunuch cut her off, trying to get things straight and gestured to her and to herself. "You came here to apologize to us?!"
"Yes!" Ericka confirmed, sincerely honest with them and from the heart. "I want to say I'm sorry for how I acted towards you when I heard you were going to stay at my hotel. Especially to you, Eunuch. I didn't really mean it... what I said earlier... I mean, I meant it at the time, but not right now. I can now see that you both truly want to change. So, I personally would like to invite you guys to stay at the hotel. That is if you still want too."
"I think you said enough already!" Charles retorted, but he got pushed aside by his nephew.
Eunuch and Danny looked at each other and smiled, knowing what they wanted to do and were relieved.
"We'd be happy to stay at your hotel!" Daniel answered.
"Great! Oh, just so you two know, you will be working at the hotel as long as you're staying there. We're not just gonna let you live there for free without you not paying it off." Eunuch explained to them sternly, and they understood. "Oh, Eunuch can I talk to you privately. There's something I want to discuss with you!"
"Sure," Eunuch agreed.
"I better go tell everyone the good news, c'mon, uncle." Danny told them, gently shoving his baffled uncle out the door to give the two women some privacy.
Once they were alone in a secluded sided area of the deck, the two women began their conversation.
"So, what is it that you wanted to-"
"Listen here, Captain!" Ericka sternly interrupted, cutting Eunuch off. "Just because I'm letting you stay at the hotel doesn't mean we're friends. I still don't entirely trust you after what almost happened," she sighed deeply. "But I want to be the bigger person and give you the opportunity for a second chance since you're very keen on it. And I'll keep a very sharp eye on you, because if you ever go back to your old ways, I'll make sure your legacy will end here! Are we clear?" Ericka explained, while offering her hand to shake on the agreement, though her nails grew as sharp as cat claws as she remained in control of her temper.
Eunuch was a little startled by her threat and her eyes bulged at the claws, but she was determined to prove her second chance. She took her hand and shook on it, stating, "Crystal!" Although she cringed at the sharp touch of the claws.
Then with that said, Ericka took off to return to her cabin, just a Crystal the invisible woman appeared, saying, "Did someone call my name?" startling Eunuch , much to her annoyance.