Ding!

The elevator doors opened on the seventh floor, and a small crowd walked out and dispersed. Nobody seemed to pay any mind to the small, hunched over figure under a long black bathrobe.

The little figure shuffled out, pressing against a wall to let others by. Once the coast was clear, she lifted her head and risked peeking out from under her disguise. The girl held the bathrobe close around her, having to pick up the hem so she wouldn't trip as she awkwardly shuffled down the hall.

She had no idea where she was… Getting into the moving box to begin with was a stroke of luck, but she didn't know how far down she was supposed to go. She obviously hadn't gone far enough, she thought, looking first one way and then the other. There was just a bunch of doors and furniture, this didn't look like the way out-

"And where are your parents, young lady?"

The girl made a hoarse squeaking noise, whirling around to see who'd spoken to her.

It was a head hanging from a doorknob, tsk -ing disapprovingly. "Does an adult know you're out here alone?"

She didn't even try to respond. She instead held the robe even tighter and bolted down the hall as fast as her weak, trembling legs could carry her.

"Hey, get back here!"

She kept moving. Turned a corner. The hall looked exactly the same.

Stairs, she had to find stairs. There was no way she could find another moving box-

A door started to open in front of her.

The girl froze for a split-second, heart leaping into her throat before she dove against the wall, hiding behind some large curtains.

"You wanted boneless, right?" a voice call as the door fully opened.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, got it," the first voice said, its owner moving past her hiding spot and further down the hall.

The girl stood with her hands over her mouth so whoever it was wouldn't hear her breathing so hard. She heard the footsteps growing quieter, then another small ding. Hopes quickly rising, she grasped at the curtains and slowly peered out from behind the heavy fabric. It kept slipping from her fingers, threatening to fall back and hit her in the face, but she finally managed to move it enough. Adrenaline was fading, she had to be careful to save her energy. But she was able to look out just in time to see someone step into another moving box.

She waited until the doors closed behind them, then wriggled out from behind the curtains. Throwing the bathrobe back over her head and bunching the fabric up around her face, she unsteadily walked to the same panel and pressed the button.

Ding!

As the girl walked inside and felt the box moving down, she tried to think of a plan.

'Be brave… you did this once, you can do it again. Find the way out first, so you know where to go.' An escape plan was always best if you knew where the escape was after all. 'Sneak back into bed. Find your coat.' She felt her heart sink as she considered the next, and most important, part. 'Stay out of sight.'

Her tiny heart skipped a bit, and she hugged the bathrobe closer. It'd be okay. That was what her disguise was for. She'd be fine.

She'd be fine.

She'd be-

Ding!

The doors opened. She stepped out. This looked familiar… This was the way she'd been brought in, right? All she had to do was go a little further and see where the door was-

-and then she entered a huge, crowded room, and froze.

Voices and bodies were everywhere. Walking in all directions, calling out in loud tones to each other. One huge, hulking figure shuffled in her direction, and she had to frantically move aside, pressing flat against the wall as he moved past. She thought she heard him growling as he passed by, and her spine started tingling.

"Moooom, where's my game?!"

"Did we leave a bag?"

"I'm sorry, I booked this months ago, what is going on?"

The voices were too loud, and started to melt together around her, nearly trapping her in a storm.

This was too much.

Too dangerous.

She had to go back.

The girl bowed her head, holding the robe tightly, and frantically turned to leave. She shuffled quickly, as fast as she could go without running. If she could just sneak out without anyone seeing her-

"Oh!" she gasped, feeling herself hit something solid. She fell back, nearly dropping her disguise. She looked up in a panic, confusion setting in as she saw nothing she could possibly have run into.

"Watch where you're-" a voice began, before the frustrated tone gave way to concern. "Oh, hey-"

She scrambled back, trying to stay hidden.

A deeper voice rumbled much higher overhead, from in front of her. "Hey, you okay, kid? Are you lost?"

She got up, nearly tripping several times, and ran.

"Wait - Kid!"

"Wha-"

She didn't stick around to hear any more. She didn't even risk going back to call the moving box again. That'd take too long, she had to get out now.

So she just ran, even as her tired, weak body kept fumbling and staggering and she threatened to collapse entirely.


"How did we even lose her?" Dracula muttered to himself, moving through the halls. "She's sick, she's weak, she was only alone for fifteen minutes. How far could she have gone?"

He received no answer, of course. He was searching alone; he and Ericka had split up to find the girl, going two different directions. Mavis had been called at the front desk to watch for her, and Ericka had quickly texted Johnny to do the same. If anyone found her, they were to bring her back to her room and drop a message in the family group chat.

His phone wasn't going off, but he kept obsessively checking anyway, looking for either a new message or even three dots. If someone was typing, then maybe they'd found-

The three dots appeared under Johnny's name and he stopped, waiting.

[how did you even lose her?]

Damn.

[I DON'T KNOW. SHE JUST SNUCK OUT]

The three dots reappeared. [that shouldn't be funny but honestly? it kind of is]

Drac snarled and shoved his phone back into his pocket. It was not funny, no matter what Johnny said. A child was missing! What was funny about that?

(A little part of him in the very, very bac of his head spoke up, bluntly saying that he was probably just trying to diffuse the situation, and that actually, yes, this tiny, feisty selkie child who abjectly refused medicine managing to sneak away was funny in a schadenfreude kind of way. He shoved that thought back. Deal with it after they found her and brought her back.)

It would be so much faster if they got the armor involved. Just tell them to spread out and find her. But Ericka had quickly vetoed that.

"She's going to be scared enough, we don't need big, clanking suits of armor chasing her down, too!" she'd said.

They wouldn't have been chasing her, of course, but Ericka didn't leave any room for arguing. They were going to find her themselves, and they were going to be nice about it.

(...oh but she was going to be in such big trouble.)

His phone buzzed again. He nearly flung it down the hall, taking it out again.

[Think we found her. Uncle Frank saw a kid with a big black bathrobe over their head near the lobby. Ran towards dining room. I can't leave.]

Well. It was definitely a lead.


The dining room was empty when he walked in. At least, it looked empty - nothing here but dozens of tables.

So basically the perfect place to hide, if he'd been human.

"Girl," he called out quietly, slowly making his way further in. "I know you're in here. Come on out…" He did his best to keep his voice soft and nonthreatening, but a bit of an edge creeped in despite his efforts. He couldn't help it, a runaway kid would make anyone panic. Not to mention the pure frustration… "I promise nobody's angry," he tried again, walking further. "Just come out from wherever you're hiding, and we'll forget this happened."

Silence. Of course there was.

"Come on, girl, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

A shuffling sound.

One of the tablecloths up ahead moved slightly.

Well. Looks like he was doing this himself.

With a heavy exhale and slumped shoulders, he marched through the tables, keeping an ear out. The shuffling had suddenly stopped when he started walking at a brisker pace, no doubt due to the way his footsteps echoed, but he could still hear her breathing. And her heartrate had sped up, not to mention the sound of her blood rushing through her veins.

"I don't want to scare you," he called out again, coming closer to one table in particular. "Nobody wants to hurt you. But you can either come out…" He bent low, grasping the white tablecloth. "Or I can bring you out."

With a flourish, the cloth flew up.

And there was just a bathrobe, sitting in a pile on the floor.

"Okay, really?" he scoffed, dragging it out and giving it a rough shake. "You took one of my robes and then you just dropped it on the floor? Who raised you?" The only response was another shuffling noise and the rustle of fabric.

Okay. He could admit it. For a child her age, that had been clever.

But he was clever, too.

"Okaaay…" Drac called out again, dragging out the word and putting the robe over his shoulder. "I guess she's already moved on…I better go check outside…" And he slowly, deliberately began moving towards the exit…

…only to quickly side-step and hide behind the wall. He held the robe open wide in front of him, crouched low, and waited.

After a few moments, the shuffling sounded again. There was another rustle of cloth, and small, timid footsteps heading in his direction. They faltered a bit, moving slowly, pausing every now and again. But they kept moving in his direction.

Dracula just waited, unmoving as stone.

And then the girl cautiously shuffled out of the doorway.

Instantly, he snapped the robe shut and scooped her up, straightening back to his full height as she yelped in shock. "Gotcha!"