Little by little, the family worked to bring the girl from her shell.
It was a group effort, and everyone played their own part.
Since the 'clothes thing,' as Johnny called it, the girl was getting along a bit better with Mavis. She wasn't speaking to her, yet, but she wasn't avoiding her. In most early evenings, she sat with both her and Dennis to color or play a board game.
As long as it wasn't Monopoly. That was one of Johnny's rules.
("Monopoly tears people apart and destroys friendships, nobody is touching it.")
The girl hadn't given her name yet, but Johnny still tried - every chance he could he threw a few names out at her.
"Patricia."
She shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek as she grabbed a gray crayon to color in a dolphin. Rain was hitting the window outside in a percussion symphony, and it was clearly making her think of the sea.
"Henrietta."
Another shake of the head.
"Belle. Jasmine. Rose. Aurora-"
"Honey, are you naming Disney characters now?"
"Might as well."
The girl bit her tongue and shook her head, trying not to smile.
She was especially close with Ericka, everyone noticed. Whenever Ericka was available, the girl seemed to plaster herself to her side, hugging her arm tightly. Everyone was assuming at this point that it was because Ericka had been the one to rescue her, so she was attaching to her first.
Ericka didn't seem to mind, either. It would sometimes take a bit of effort to persuade her to go with Mavis and Johnny for a bit, or encourage her to entertain herself, but other than that, she seemed fine with it. More than once, Mavis had even seen her unconsciously reach down to ruffle the girl's short hair.
The girl hadn't left the thirteenth floor since her original escape attempt, so she hadn't seen anyone else yet, but that was fine, they could take this slowly.
And she was getting on well with everyone…
…nearly.
"There we go, you look great!" Ericka stood back, balling the plastic bag the new clothes had come in into a ball. "Take a look!"
Mavis's altered dress had been a nice, temporary, replacement for the past few days. But the girl had been showing a distaste for the black, dark purple, and dark green colors, so they'd gone on to the next step: online shopping.
Mavis had handed over the girl's measurements, Ericka had asked for the girl's favorite colors (she had responded by holding up the crayons she was using), and now the girl was holding her arms out and slowly turning around as she looked at her reflection.
"What do you think?"
Ericka saw the girl's eyes move up and down her reflection; an oversized white shirt with long sleeves and a big yellow stripe across the center, seafoam green shorts, and a pair of yellow flats.
And over all of that was a white hoodie.
The girl's mouth twitched into a tiny smile as she flipped her hood over her head.
It wasn't her coat. But it would do for now.
"You like it?" Ericka asked, her reflection appearing next to the girl's. She found herself putting a hand on her shoulder as she looked at the mirror image. She'd been doing that a lot lately.
The girl nodded, tugging her sleeves to cover her hands.
"Go show Mavis and Johnny."
The girl nodded again, smiling a bit wider, and ran for the door…
…only to suddenly bump into Dracula as he entered the room.
"Oh! Oh, hello, I mean - are you alright?"
He knelt down, trying to smile and not look intimidating to her - hoping maybe being closer to her level would help some.
But instead, the girl just stared with wide eyes, her smile gone, slowly backing up.
"I, uh…" Dracula fumbled with what to say next. Kids normally weren't so nervous with him. "I like your new shirt. It's very nice?" he tried, his voice rising at the end so it came out as a question rather than a comment.
The girl nodded once, as if acknowledging the compliment, then bolted around him and out of the room.
The wind seemed to go right out of Dracula as she vanished down the hall, his shoulders slumping dramatically.
Ericka approached and patted his arm. "Give it time," she reminded. "It took a while for the rest of us, too, remember?"
"She hates me."
"She does not. She's just scared."
"I haven't done anything to warrant that!"
"Well…" Ericka's mouth moved to one side as she pondered her words for a moment. "You did joke about eating her, that one time."
"I did not joke about eating her, I simply said-!" Drac cut himself off and exhaled again, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes tightly shut. "Okay. I probably could have handled that better. But it's been over two weeks, and she won't even come near me."
"Give it time," Ericka stressed. "We all had our own chances at some point, yours is coming."
She was right.
Said chance came the very next day, as it turned out. Over the course of the night, the steady rain began to progressively intensify, the dark clouds becoming more and more foreboding, and if one set foot outside they could feel a tingle of electricity in the air.
All of these were the telltale signs of a storm, and the entire family was used to them. Slept right through them.
So at first, Dracula had no idea why he was suddenly staring up at the ceiling just as thunder rumbled directly overhead. Thunder and lightning rarely woke him anymore, even if the storm was right on top of him. So why now…
His answer came a moment later, in the form of a faint noise just next door.
A panicked whimper.
Oh.
In an instant he was up and out of bed, throwing a robe over his shoulders before opening the girl's door. He moved quickly, but cautiously - and honestly, he realized too late, he could have just woken Ericka and had her tend tot his. But years of experience and instinct had taken hold, and. Well.
He wasn't about to leave a scared little girl to face a storm alone for longer than he had to.
"Hey, girl…" he called out softly, easing her door open and peering inside. The girl was standing by the window, curtains gripped in her fists as she stared out at the clouds. With how dark it was outside, he could easily see her reflection, her expression pinched and pale as she watched the black clouds overhead. She must have heard the noise and gone to see what was happening outside, he thought. Mavis had done the same thing more than once.
Another bolt of lightning flashed, momentarily blinding them both, and the girl let out another sharp noise.
"No, no, let's get away from the window," Drac quickly said, gliding over and gently tugging the curtains from her hands. "You'll just scare yourself worse."
Thunder roared again, making the glass tremble. The girl cried out, jumping away and grabbing his robe.
"Hey… hey, now, it's okay…" He knelt down, putting his hands to her shoulders. "Hey - look at me." She trembled, but did as he asked. "It's okay. It's just a storm, it'll pass. You're safe in here, it can't hurt you."
The thunder chose that moment to rumble again, and the girl flinched. Drac could feel her shoulders shaking.
She was so afraid of the thunder and lightning that she'd forgotten to be afraid of him.
"Hey," he tried again. "Do you know what always helped my Mavis when she was afraid?" He didn't wait for a response. "We'd read together until she was calm again. Come on," he moved to scoop her up, but stopped himself. Instead, he rose back to standing height and held a hand out. It'd probably be easier on her if she was walking instead of being 'trapped' by him. "Let's go into the library."
The girl hesitated only for a moment. Then her tiny hand slipped over his palm.
Drac left her door open as they left, just in case. "I'm sure you already know the way," he began as the two started walking - his steps smaller and deliberate so that she could keep up with him. "A little mouse told me you've been exploring. Said you found the laundry room and upturned all the clothes baskets."
The girl flinched.
"No harm done, they all needed washing anyway. Have you seen my library yet?"
She shook her head.
"Oh, you don't know what you're missing. Mavy and Dennis loved it - it's got every book you can think of." He paused, noting the blank look on her face. "You do like books, do you?"
The girl seemed wary of him still, but she shrugged.
"Well. We'll see about that."
Drac pushed the door open as they reached the library - the one meant for just the family, rather than the guests. It was dark, as everyone was meant to be asleep, but a few flicks later there was enough light to see and read by without eyestrain, but not as bright as it'd be during waking hours. Essentially, perfect atmospheric lighting and good for potentially getting a child back to sleep.
The walls were a bit thicker, so even as the storm continued to roar and throw sheets of water at the windows, the sound was muffled. It gave the impression that the storm was further away than it really was, so the boom of thunder was less intimidating. Less frightening and more ambience.
He couldn't help but smile as he noted the way the girl's eyes widened as she slowly took in her surroundings, the number of books and the comfortable furniture. "Come on," he said quietly, leading her to a couch and using his free hand to pluck a well-worn favorite from an end table. "Sit with me."
This too was a bit of a gamble. But as he sat on one end of the couch and opened the book up, the girl's fear of the storm, curiosity of the promised story, and fascination with the new room won out over her apprehension. She hesitated just for a moment before approaching the couch and climbing up beside him. She stayed about an inch or two away, but that was fine. Progress was progress.
"Squire Trelawney, Dr Livesy, and the rest of these gentlemen have asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island…"
