Sometime later, Dracula and Elona found themselves inside the hotel attic waiting to be questioned by the police detective. Neither of them wasn't entirely sure why this man wants to speak to them, but whatever it is, it sounds serious if not because of his presence. A visit from an officer of the law can't be a good sign.
"So, what is it that you want?" Dracula wastes no time in asking the man in a demanding tone.
The officer sighed, then got straight to the point. "No need to be impatient, Count... My name is Sherrinford Holmes, an investigator from Scotland Yard in London." He fishes his ID card and badge out of his pocket to briefly confirm his identity.
The surname sounded very familiar to Elona, who's eyes lit up when she figured it out. "Wait... Are you related to the legendary Sherlock Holmes, by chance?"
The detective nodded. "He's my ancestor." His response made Elona and her vampire husband's eyes widen in surprise. "Anyway, I need to ask you something. Are you both familiar with a woman named Florence Seward?"
Immediately, Dracula's and Elona's expressions grew distorted with loathing. Dr. Seward had tried to kidnap Elona, take her back to Pennsylvania and force her into a mental institute because the doctor was under assumption that Elona was either mentally ill or crazy. No thanks to Quinston's manipulations and her parents' incompetence. How could they forget such a horrendous woman? Silently, the two of them nodded.
"She was found dead in her office several days ago."
Just like that, the couple's expressions went slack in horror and disbelief. "W-What...?" was all Elona could mumble. Dracula said nothing, his jaw open and his eyes wider than saucer plates.
"Not just her," Sherrinford continued, "but so was her assistant, Dr. Brown. But they're not the only ones who had been killed. Did you hear about a series of murders where monsters and humans are being killed?"
Elona recalls having read something like that in the newspaper. "Yeah, I read it in the papers. It said an unknown serial killer is targeting them."
"Well, there's an investigation in those incidents. Not just my people back in Europe are looking into it, but the authorities in Pennsylvania or Transylvania have already been alerted to the murders. We're cooperating with them to find the culprit."
"So, what does this have to do with us?" Dracula raised a suspicious eyebrow.
Sherrinford cleared his throat, preparing to explain the true reason behind his visit. "You're a suspect in these murders, Count Dracula. And if the list expands, your wife and your friends are likely going to be on the police's radar if there's-"
"WOOAH! WAIT, WHAT!?" Dracula freaked out, acting like someone had just slapped him.
"You're saying that..." Elona trailed off, her eyes narrowed angrily. "It's bad enough that I've been accused of being an ill lunatic in the past, but to be accused of murder is an entirely different story!"
"Each victim's throat has been horribly mangled or torn like an animal had attacked them." Sherrinford kept a stern gaze on the vampire as he goes further into details. "And planted on the bodies is a piece of paper with the Dracula crest symbol on it." He takes out his phone to display a photo of one of these pictures the police had found at the crime scenes.
The Dracula family coat of arms can be seen clearly. A crown on top of the shield, where in the center of the shield has a big letter D surrounded by four miniature crowns and a bat symbol on the top.
"Something similar happened back in the 19th century, right? Minus the family crest left behind near victims such as Westenra, Reinfeld and your ancestor, Ma'am." Sherrinford places his phone back in his pocket, frowning seriously at a stupefied Elona.
For a moment, Dracula was confused until he put two and two together. "You're Mina's great-granddaughter!?" He facepalmed, mentally kicking himself for not recognizing her surname years ago. "I should've known you were related! Honestly, I had forgotten about her until now!"
Being a relation to her husband's old girlfriend was the last thing on Elona's mind right now. Infuriated, she towered over the detective and yelled, "That may be my husband's family crest, but how can the police believe he would be doing it when they have no proof? It's circumstantial! I admit, I hate Seward and Brown for what they did to me, but neither of us killed them!"
"What reason do you have to hate them?" The detective asked.
"You see, I have this unique ability to see and communicate with ghosts. I kept it a secret for a long time, until Quinston outed my secret and my parents tried sending me to a mental institution. My closest friends made arrangements to help me escape to Transylvania, where I've lived under a different name. Thanks to my carelessness in sending letters to my friends, Dr. Seward and Dr. Brown tracked me down and kidnapped me, threatening the Mullers and Johnny, all who tried to help me. It's thanks to Drac that those real monsters no longer bother me anymore."
It took a while for Sherrinford to process what he'd been told, shocked. "That's... quite a lot," he replied. She didn't sound like she was making it up, considering this is a monster-infested hotel and is strongly inclined to believe her. He cleared his throat to get back to the point. "Furthermore, I actually agree with you on another thing. The police don't have solid proof of your husband being the killer. In fact, I'm the one who pointed it out to my superiors that it's just circumstantial evidence. And we need real DNA evidence to confirm whether or not you're involved. However..." his face took on a more solemn frown, "I don't think it'll be enough to convince the police."
"What are you saying?" Dracula questioned.
"Not everyone is a fan of monsters, after all. Most people don't trust your kind... especially the authorities. They want to make sure that monsters everywhere go back in hiding where they belong. The serial murders seem to be the excuse they need."
The couple were immediately concerned when they heard that, because if there's someone framing Dracula for these murders and there are people who hate monsters for stupid reasons want to see them banished from the human world forever, this sounds like a hate crime and totally racist.
"Then why are you here?" Elona crossed her arms, glaring. "Have you simply come to arrest him? Don't you need a warrant?"
"I'm not here to arrest him," Sherrinford explained. "I personally volunteered to come here and keep a close eye on you and your friends, just to be sure if you're innocent. While I do that, I'll be conducting my investigation in private. And I ask that you keep this meeting between us a secret for now."
"Fine, go ahead!" Dracula huffed, irritated. "Look around if you have a warrant or something! But I have nothing to hide!"
"Fine by me. In the meantime, I'd like to request a room."
Sighing, Dracula reluctantly instructed him on going to the front desk in the lobby to get a key for a room. Sherrinford thanked them for their time and left. Right after he had gone, the couple was now left alone. There were some things that needed to be discussed.
Out of nowhere the question that came to Elona's mind that she hadn't thought of ever since she first met the Lord of Darkness. "Drac, did you ever zing with my Great-Grandmother Mina? I mean, I should've remembered that you knew her because I read about her exploits in an old journal."
Thrown off track by the question, Dracula didn't know how to answer that. True, he did love Mina with all his heart, but did they zing? He knew he had to give his answer quickly so he replied, "I don't know if we zinged, but I can tell you I did care for Mina and I loved her very much. She was the first human to ever show me kindness, so I thank her for that."
Upon hearing that, Elona wanted to know more about Dracula and Mina's relationship. "How did the two of you meet anyway?"
"Uh, didn't your parents tell you?"
"Well, no. Now that I look back, nobody wanted to talk about Mina. My grandmother said how she betrayed humanity when you showed up in London, then she abandoned her husband and my grandpa, when he was a young boy, to elope with you."
"Ever since that happened, Great-Grandma Mina was shunned and disowned by the family forever. Heck, we don't even have any pictures of her."
"Really?" Dracula was clearly surprised by this, but he realized that he caused this rift in Mina's family and he secretly blamed himself for this.
"Yep, my family just didn't want to acknowledge her, other than acknowledge her as a traitor. So, my family removed or destroyed every photograph of her," Elona explained, sighing. "I don't even know what she looks like."
Dracula thought for a moment and then remembered something that he happened to have kept hidden in the attic. "Wait, I think I have an old picture of Mina up here. I'll look around and find it." He told Elona as he went over in the corner looking through the pile of junk.
Elona waited patiently, eager to see this old picture. She didn't have long to wait because her husband had finally found the photograph.
"Ahh... here it is I found..." When Dracula turned around, he revealed a small self-painted portrait of Mina Harker.
Gazing at her photograph for the first time, Elona was amazed at how lovely and elegant she was. Dark brown eyes matching long dark brown hair, sporting a scarlet red dress, and a warm smile completed a face of pure beauty. "She's beautiful..." she whispered. Mina didn't look like the kind of person who could betray her family, given that she was Dracula's first love.
Speaking of beauty, it can't last forever. Elona realized this when she remembered what Ginger had said in their fight. A human like her will grow old and become useless to Dracula, who will live on as a handsome guy until he becomes old and wrinkly like Vlad in who knows what decade.
By now, Dracula noticed his wife's behavior had drastically changed. One second, she's mesmerized to have finally found a photograph of her ancestor. And now, she had grown forlorn and upset. "Is there something wrong, honey?" he asked.
"I-I'm fine, Drac." Elona responded in a low voice, looking trying not to show it.
Dracula could see how upset she was and knew she was lying. "Come on, Poison Flower, tell me what's wrong." He tenderly stroked her hand as he took it.
Elona looked up at her husband. "Ugh... Looking at Mina made me remember what Ginger said about us Drac, and she's right."
Dracula was surprised by this. I mean, how could she believe at what Frank's cousin had said about their relationship not working. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her from behind, like a back hug. "Moon Beam, don't listen to what that vixen said about us. Yes, we might be different, but remember what I always say. Humans, Monsters, Unicorns, what's the difference." He added in a cheery, soothing tone.
"It's not about that, Drac."
"Oh, then what is it?"
"About you being immortal and that I'm not. You're going to live forever while I'll grow old and die." Elona started to get emotional. "And since Melany is a vampire too, she'll live as long as you and I will miss out on most of her life. I don't know if Mina will be a vampire or not, but I don't want to miss out on her life either."
The vampire hated seeing his wife so upset and was trying to think of something to say to her to make her feel better. But he couldn't think of anything.
"Drac... I've been thinking about this, a lot actually, and I wanted to ask you if..." Elona hesitated. "If you can change me into a vampire!"
Dracula was so shocked by her request that it left him speechless for a moment. "WHAT!?" he shouted. "Y-you want to become... a-a vampire!?"
"Yes! That way I can live forever and be with you."
The vampire king had mixed feelings about this. But he decided to question her about her choice. "Ellie-Wellie, do you know of the consequences that will happen when you make this decision. You could never go out in the daylight again and you can't eat garlic-based foods anymore." He hoped it would change your mind.
"Drac, I practically live like that anyway!" Elona replied, very sharply. "I'm fully acclimated to waking up at night and I never eat garlic-based foods because I hate garlic. This isn't the first time I thought about this."
Dracula was surprised by this news. This is the first time that his wife thought about becoming a vampire? Then why ask him now? "If this isn't the first time you thought about being a vampire, then why are you bringing this up now?"
"Cause it didn't really hit me until Ginger brought it up. So please, Drac, make me a vampire." Elona pleaded, as she presented her neck out to him so he could bite it.
Dracula was having a hard time with this decision. His eyes were bulging at her neck and the moonlight gleaming from the windows made her skin look so radiant that it made it hard for him to resist. Sliding his arms around her back to pull into his embrace, his instincts got the better of him and he leaned in to bite her neck... her, oh, so delicious neck he craved for so long.
His fangs brushed against her skin, ready to puncture her smooth elegant skin. Just as he was about to puncture her skin with his fangs, memories flooded his head of the last time he did this... Lucy's once beautiful human face transforming into a terrifying monster with soulless black eyes... and he instantly backed away from Elona, covering half of his face with his cape. "No!" he cried.
Elona was hurt and confused. Why did he not bite her? "Drac, why did you stop?"
"I... I can't do it."
"Why?"
"I just can't."
This was starting to annoy Elona as she could tell he was refusing to do it. "No, you just won't do it!"
"You're right, I won't!" Dracula grunted, trying to avoid her piercing gaze.
Scowling, Elona didn't like where this conversation was going. "If you're worried I won't handle the consequences, then I will."
"Those aren't the consequences I'm worried about." With venom in his voice, Dracula hissed as his own anger took hold of him, "You know, you sound just like her."
"Like who?"
"Like Mina! She begged me to turn her into a vampire so she could be with me, but after what happened with Lucy, I couldn't do it. She may have become a vampire, but she already suffered the consequences."
"Look, I know what happened with the whole ordeal of humans becoming vampires, but maybe what happened to Mina won't happen to me."
"I don't want to risk it!" Dracula retorted defensively.
"But you're fine knowing that I'll die one day!" Elona snapped, hurt and confused tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't want to lose you, Drac."
Dracula's expression softened at this, but before he could answer he was interrupted by another presence in the room.
"I hate to intervene, but I'm gonna have to agree with my son on this." It was Vlad, who had come in from the open window and hung upside down in bat form to eavesdrop on their argument.
"How long have you been there, Dad?" Dracula frowned at his father for eavesdropping.
"I was looking for you when I heard some policeman wanted to talk to you." Vlad floated down to the floor and changed back to his regular form.
"Don't you want your son to have a long loving marriage with me?" Elona stared at her father in-law, shocked that he was against the idea of her living forever without leaving Dracula alone.
"Believe me, I do want you two to be happy, you've proven to me your love for each other. But Drac is right, who knows what could happen if he tries to turn you."
"But that only happened to Lucy, it doesn't mean that could happen to me."
"Look I get what you're saying, Elona, but there have been other cases that ended the same way. There have been many other humans that lose themselves in the process when they turn into vampires. They hunt and prey on humans, not thinking, just listening to their instincts. They become literal, feral, violent monsters." Vlad explained like a teacher lecturing a student. "That's why vampires stopped turning humans to vampires centuries ago, so that can never happen again, not to mention it won't set monsters back again."
Elona was so upset by this. The elder vampire were basically denying the only way she can live as long as Dracula. It's like nobody wanted her to be with him forever. "So, you're fine with this? You're all okay knowing that I'm gonna die one day!"
"Honeyfang, that's not what we're saying-" Dracula tried to tell her but she cut him off harshly.
"YOU'RE UNBELIEVABLE!" Feud up, Elona stormed out of the attic and slammed the door on her way out.
In the upstairs hallway, Mavis walked toward her suite to retire for the day, clicking away on a large tablet to check over the hotel and the guests. When she heard a noise coming from behind the attic door, she stopped to listen.
Upstairs in the attic, Dracula has grown frustrated at his huge fight with Elona. "Oh, thanks a lot, Dad!" He blamed his father for making things worse.
"Hey, I was just trying to help!" Vlad protested, annoyingly. Then, he scowled suspiciously at his son. "So, fess up. What did that detective want? What did you do?"
"It's nothing, Dad!"
"This is about the serial murder on monsters and humans, right?"
Dracula cringed, knowing it's no use hiding secrets from his father. "Yeah... but they have no evidence. What they got is pictures of our family crest."
"Well, if it's someone trying to frame you, my theory is it's someone who holds a grudge and-"
Just then, Mavis stuck her head in from the door. "Dad? Grandpa?" she asked, noticing the two men alone in the attic.
"Ah, Mavis." Vlad just smiled and acknowledged her presence.
"Ohhh! Mavis!" Dracula whirled around, his eyes squished together comically becoming one, shoving the phone in his pocket. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just checking on the honeymoon suite and then I heard something," Mavis answered, eyeing the two men suspiciously.
"Oh, uh, I'm sorry, my little bedbug. I uh... I mean, we..." He remembered Vlad beside him. "I mean, I was helping my dad in cleaning the attic!" Dracula whipped out a feather duster, then frowned at his dad with a look that said 'Don't say anything to Mavis' and started dusting at the old chandelier in the room, then began dusting around the attic. He hummed an awkward tune to himself. "Oh, so dirty!"
"And why are you standing by the window instead of cleaning the attic?" Mavis asked her grandfather suspiciously.
"What? Me? Oh! I was, uh, checking to see if these windows were tightly secured!" Vlad pretended to budge or set the wooden planks in place. As much as he hated doing this, telling Mavis about her father becoming a murder suspect won't go well.
For a second, it seemed Mavis wouldn't buy their excuses as she frowned at their strange behavior. Suddenly, her expression changes to an understanding smile, believing she saw right through his excuses. "Stop trying to hide it from me."
"Hide who, I mean, what? Me?" Dracula suddenly stiffened up, instantly nervous at being caught.
"Yesssss!" Mavis smirked, floating up to her father's eye level, forcing him to back away. "And I know what it is." A frightened Dracula gulped, believing she had discovered his secret. "You're stressed out from working too hard. And you're trying to drag poor Grandpa into it," Mavis guessed, lowering herself to the ground, her face calmer.
Dracula exhaled with relief, though none was more relieved than Vlad. "Okay, you got me. It's a big hotel, lots to do," the vampire decided to play along. "But what about you? You're pretty busy yourself."
Mavis agreed. "I know. It seems like now that we're working together more, we're seeing each other less."
Dracula thought it over and then smiled. "Oh, you're absolutely right. I am working too much. You're working too much. You're mother's working too much. We should really take a break, but until then, night-night!" He quickly escorted her out and shut the door behind her.
With a sigh of relief, he leaned against the attic door. However, he began to think deeply about what his daughter recently said. True, neither of them had time for family bonding due to all the work they had been doing.
After leaving the attic, a sullen Elona exited the elevator to enter her bedchamber. Noticing the coffin that Dracula sometimes slept in whenever he wanted, she thought about what her life would be like to live in the shadows... eat monster food... drink blood... sleep in a coffin... avoid the sun, garlic and stakes... but now that she thought about it, she didn't know how her life in the shadows would make her happy. But she was determined to go through with it, scared of no longer living side by side with her vampire husband and leaving their children alone. However, she didn't want to think about her family's reaction to her decision of becoming a vampire. Thinking it over, they probably won't allow it.
Before turning in for the day to sleep, Elona pressed against a stone in the wall that parted open to allow her entrance into Melany's room. She found her daughter snoring peacefully in bed. Nearby was the crib used for baby Mina to sleep in, where she slightly drooled on the bed. Grinning, Elona gently tucked her children in by pulling the blankets close to their chins. Melany and Mina would be devastated if their mother died of old age and no longer had a mother to raise them until adulthood. Somehow, Elona would have to get her husband or her stepdaughter to turn her into a vampire.
Meanwhile, Mavis had recently returned to her suite, where Dennis and Johnny were snuggling together beside the giant sleeping dog, Tinkles. The TV had been left on, playing a kung-fu movie that father and son had fallen asleep through.
"Aww," Mavis cooed. Her family looked really cute together, and there was plenty of room close to the dog, so she sat beside her husband and son.
Feeling her presence, Johnny gave a huge yawn and stirred, "Hey, ready for daaaaaaate night?"
"No, Honey, it's okay. You rest," Mavis calmly said to him. When her husband fell asleep, she muttered to herself about the conversation she had with her father, "You know, Dad was right. We do need a break." She considered that thought for a while. "We need to all be together again, like a family. Like we used to."
Picking up the remote, Mavis decided to turn off the TV, but instead of clicking it off, she accidently turned up the volume. On the screen, a fish man was talking.
"Are you overworked and stressed out?" the fish man announced, and he seemed to be speaking directly at her.
"Urgh!" Mavis snorted, not in the mood to talk about stress. She fiddled with the remote, but then particular words the fish man spoke of caught her attention and she began listening to what the fish man was saying.
"Do you need some family time? Are you a monster? Then you need a vacation. A MONSTER vacation!"
As the music from the commercial kicked in, this gave Mavis a brilliant idea for her friends and family to spend time together.