Chapter 23: Dawn's First Light!

All seems so quiet at the Seville home.

Alvin, Theodore, Jeanette, and Eleanor sat in the basement wondering what to do next. They haven't heard from their siblings in over 30 minutes. Needless to say they are very worried at this point.

"I wonder where they are?" Eleanor finally asked.

"Yeah. It's been a little too quiet up there." Theodore says.

"I knew somebody was going to say that..." Alvin muttered to himself.

"You think we should go up and see what's going on?" Jeanette suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Alvin screeched. "There are Vampires up there!"

"Correction. There is ONE Vampire. And ONE mortal under the influence of a Vampire." Jeanette corrected Alvin.

"Whatever." Alvin sighed. "I just don't feel it is safe."

"Safe? Since when did you become the safety marshal around here?" Theodore suspiciously asks.

"Heelloo! Since we lost our brother to the undead!" Alvin responded harshly. "So one of us has to look out for everyone!"

Alvin felt weak. He had to sit down, so he backed up to the bottom step. He brought his head down to his knees, and hid his face from the others.

Theodore and the girls looked at each other in a knowing way. They understood how Alvin felt over this situation. It is no surprise that they too feel the same way. All at once the three of them hung their heads in a sense of grief.

Just then a whimpering sound came from outside the basement door.

"Lily?" Theodore squeaked as he looked up. "We forgot all about her..."

Without a second thought, Theodore ran past Alvin and headed up the stairs.

"Theodore, wait!" Alvin warned.

"But Alvin, Lily could be hurt. We just can't leave her out there." Theodore said.

He opened the door, and saw Lily sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor. This caused great concerned for the chubby chipmunk.

"Come here, Lily. Here girl." Theodore nervously spoke to the small dog.

A small groan caught his attention. Theodore let out a gasp when he saw who it was.

"What is it, Theodore?" Jeanette asked as she too poked her head out from the basement.

Theodore did not keep his eyes off of the person, but pointed towards the kitchen door. "Look." He whispered to Jeanette.

Jeanette gasped as well when she saw whom Theodore pointed to.

"Brittany?" She said in a shock.

"Brittany? Where?" Eleanor asks from behind Jeanette and Theodore.

"Over by the door." Jeanette said. She decided to get closer her troubled sister that is lying on the floor, with Eleanor close behind.

Brittany let out another groan and brought her hand up to her head to rub it. "Ooooh, my head." She whined as if waking up from a hangover.

"Brittany...?" Both Jeanette and Eleanor whispered softly to their sister.

Slowly Brittany looked up and spotted two familiar people. "Jeanette? Eleanor? W-w-what's going on?"

At that moment both Jeanette and Eleanor knew for sure that Brittany is now returning back to normal. They began to smile and sighed a relief in knowing this.

"It's going to be ok, Brittany." Jeanette said calmly.

"The last thing I remember is going downstairs for a drink of water and seeing a pair of glowing eyes. Everything after that seems to be a blurred memory." Brittany admitted.

She started to comb back some strands of hair from her face with her fingers. That was when she realized something. "Ah, Eleanor, could you pass me a mirror?"

A nervous look fell over her little sister with blond pigtails. "I-I don't think so, Brittany."

Brittany glared viciously at her, "Eleanor – A mirror – Now!" She growled.

"Ok," Eleanor sighed. "But don't say that I didn't warn you..."

She gets up and starts looking around for anything that can show a reflection. That's when she noticed the toaster. It is made with silver chrome. The smooth surface can work well as an emergency mirror.

Eleanor unplugs it and carries it back to Brittany. She is still reluctant to hand it to her. With a nervous giggle and a wide grin, she holds the toaster out to Brittany.

Brittany snatches the toaster with a huff. She then brings her entire focus on her image that is being reflected in the silver chrome.

"Nooo! This can't be! MY HAIR... IT'S RUINED!!!" Brittany cried out.

She dropped the toaster and flopped her body down on the floor in a prima donna act. Brittany suddenly sees a small bug crawling by. Without thinking about it, she picks up the little insect and tosses it in her mouth. As soon as she realized what she just did, Brittany panics and spits out the bug.

"Plaack!! Yuck!" She cried out, while wiping her tongue with her hands. "*Cough*, *cough*! Please don't tell me that I just tried to eat a b-b...b- b...BUG!"

"Alright, Brittany. We won't tell you." Eleanor said in a supporting way.

Alvin and Theodore looked at each other briefly before Theodore picked up Lily.

"Well, at least Brittany seems to be returning to normal..." Alvin comments.

"But, what about Simon?" Theodore ponders.

Alvin suddenly realized that Simon could be somewhere in the house still. He looked around the kitchen and saw that he is nowhere in sight. Now curious, Alvin headed for the hallway. There, he could see a trail of destruction all the way to the hall closet.

The closet door is opened and when Alvin looked inside, there was no one inside. This concerned Alvin. Theodore caught up to Alvin and they both examined the small table that had the phone sitting on it by the stairs. The table and phone appeared to have been knocked over and the papers that were on it are now scattered on the floor.

A drawer from the table has been taken out of its slot. Dave's little black book filled with phone numbers, along with other papers, are also scattered everywhere. Alvin picked up a case that would have Simon's spare glasses and looked inside. It is empty.

"Simon?" Alvin called out after dropping the case down with the other debris.

"Alvin... The living room..." Theodore whispered when he saw something move.

When the two boys walked in the living room they noticed that Dave's easy chair has been moved and is now directly facing the window. The curtains are opened filling the room with sunlight. Alvin and Theodore both could see a small hand resting on the arm of the chair.

"Simon?" Alvin and Theodore call out in a chorus.

The hand started moving and a face poked out to see who called out to him. The face looked very familiar to the two brothers. The child wore something on his face that started to reflect the sunlight. Alvin and Theodore recognized those big round glasses anywhere. They both smiled seeing their brother wearing them on his face again.

Simon slowly smiled back, "Alvin? Theodore?" He calls out to them.

"Boy, are we glad to see you..." Theodore cheered as he began taking a step towards Simon.

"Wait, Theodore. How are we to be sure that Simon is normal again?" Alvin questioned as he stopped Theodore from walking any further.

"Well...I..." Theo tried to answer back, but couldn't find the right words.

Just then Lily barked happily. She started getting excited, like she is happy to see a person that she hadn't seen in a very long time. Lily leapt out of Theodore's arms, and ran up to Simon. She jumped up and started licking his face.

"Hee, hee!" Simon chuckled. Her licks always tickled his face. "Lily, knock it off...that tickles. Hee, hee...I'm glad to see you too."

Theodore turns to Alvin and grins. "I don't know about you, but that's proof enough for me."

Alvin nods in agreement and both of the run up to join Simon and Lily in the reunion.

The Chipettes finally joined the boys in the living room. They watch with smiles on their faces as they see that things are now returning to normal. Brittany's hair has been pulled back and almost looking neat.

"Boy, this is really strange." Alvin commented. "None of this turn of events is making any sense."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Simon agrees. "The last clear memory I have is facing Dracula in the park. Then the next thing I remember is waking up in the hallway closet, feeling like my chest is about to explode, and gasping for air."

"I personally don't remember the past few days that I blacked out, but I just know it had to have been your fault." Brittany spat as she pointed a finger at Simon.

"Now hold one second there, sister!" Alvin retorted in Simon's defense.

As Alvin and Theodore begin to argue with the Chipettes on what happened last night, Simon started looking around the room. That's when he just realized something.

"Guys...Uh, guys!" He shouts at them. As soon as everyone looked at him, he continued. "Where's Dave?"

That's when it hit them. Dave is still missing from when he went after Sibylla and Simon after they left to meet Dracula.

****************

TEN MINUTES LATER!

The Chipmunks and Chipettes started to head down the street when a familiar voice called out to them.

"Children!"

The kids turned around to see Miss. Miller standing on her front balcony.

"Miss. Miller!" The Chipettes called back. They ran up to their surrogate mother and gave her a big hug.

"You're awake!" Jeanette cried.

"Of course I'm awake," Miss. Miller chuckled. "Where have you kids been?"

"Heh, you know... here, there, and running for our lives... That sort of thing." Brittany says.

"Oh dear. I wish I could have been more protective, but something had happened and I passed out on the couch." Miss. Miller explains.

The boys' walk up to Miss. Miller and the girls. Simon suddenly became very guilty, and began to lift up his hand to get the elderly woman's attention.

"Ah, Miss. Miller... I-I-I might have been responsible for that..." he sheepishly admits.

"What do you mean, dear boy?" Miss. Miller asks.

"Uh, don't worry about it, Miss. Miller. What we want to know is if you have seen Dave anywhere?" Alvin jumped in.

"I'm sorry boys, I haven't seen him since last night." Miss. Miller answers.

"Boys?" Came a voice from down the block.

The Chipmunks turn to see their Dad staggering up to them. He looked as if he'd been in a fight with bruises on his face and his shirt torn.

"DAVE!" The boys cried while running up to him.

Dave fell to his knees and hugged his kids with affection. "I am so glad to see you three alive...and back to normal." He says as he touches Simon's cheek.

The Chipmunks responded by giving Dave another big hug.