Henry had pulled over at a rest stop by the time the sun was rising, his eyes heavy and his mind growing fuzzy. He didn't exactly enjoy the thought of sleeping while the two oversized children in the back of his van stared at him, but he knew that driving while tried was just as dangerous as drunk driving- and besides, they'd spent a fair amount of the journey so far looking out the windows. Maybe those massive eyes allowed them to see at night?

Nonetheless, he'd turned off the engine and set his watch to go off in a few hours. Despite his unease, sleep found him quickly and in what he swore was only a few minutes, his alarm had dragged him back into the real world.

Yawning, Henry turned it off and twisted to look at the children. His mouth slackened. They weren't there.

He jumped out of the car, stumbling when the impact jarred his numb legs. He caught himself on the side of his van, looking around the rest stop. They hadn't gone far, at least, and they weren't hard to miss. The two towering figures leaned against the railing that seemed far too small for them, looking out on the valley that the stop overlooked.

Shaking his legs in an attempt to stave off the pins and needles, Henry slowly made his way over to the siblings, careful not to touch the grimy handrail. He wasn't too pleased that they'd left, but then again, he couldn't blame them for wanting to stretch their legs, especially with such a view. A verdant blanket covered the vale and it was easy to imagine a shimmering cloud of fog immersing it, but all traces of mist had already been burnt up in the early afternoon sun, even as the mountain they stood on bathed the trees in a cool shadow.

"It's lovely," He said. "If we had time I'd suggest a hike."

That wasn't entirely true- he really didn't know if he would suggest doing anything with the creatures- but he saw no reason to be rude, especially considering that they were going to be traveling together for 2 days.

"Dad takes us hiking sometimes," Talitha said. "He usually talks about you when he does."

"He missed you," Lazarus added. "Often he'd reminisce of your youth together and mourn your separation."

"Oh." Henry smiled to himself, shifting, accidentally leaning on the rail before snatching his hands back and wiping them on his shorts. "I missed him, too. I wish our visit could have been…less exciting."

"Less exciting?" Talitha asked.

"Weird things always happen to Victor," He sighed. "I just wanted a normal visit. But I guess that was asking too much."

"I think this is fun," She said. "I don't want bad things to happen to Dad, but this is kind of like a quest. Nothing interesting has ever happened before. To me, I mean."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "Really? As Victor's kid, I assumed you'd be used to this sort of thing."

She shrugged. "He's just a normal guy. I think. I don't really have a lot of experience when it comes to people."

He resisted the urge to say that mutilating bodies to create 8-foot-tall children was about as far from normal as one could get and instead checked his watch. They should really get going.

He herded the kids back into the van, starting it once more and resuming their impromptu road trip. The kids were quiet. He hadn't noticed it so much last night, being about two steps from falling asleep at the wheel, but now it was an oppressive thing that seemed to suffocate the van, choking him.

"So, you like quests?" He asked, putting on his friendliest voice.

Talitha's head snapped up from the window where she'd been resting it. "Yeah."

"I like quest books. Have you ever read The Hobbit? I know it focuses more on friends and food than actual questing, but I think that's kind of the charm. After all, you wouldn't get very far in any quest without either of those things."

"I don't like to read," Talitha said. "But I watched the movies."

"You should definitely read it sometime," Henry said. "The movies don't do it justice. They focus so much on the battles and grand evil, but that isn't what it's about. It's about the little joys in life and stepping out of your comfort zone."

"But that sounds boring," She said, her head thunking against the glass once more. "Stories are supposed to be about exciting things, not food or cooking."

Henry sighed.

"I've read it," Lazarus said quietly. "I found Bilbo's story of finding his courage to be very empowering."

"It is!" Henry said, sitting up straighter. "Just because you aren't some all-powerful fantasy hero doesn't mean you can't be a hero!"

"Then what makes a hero?" Talitha challenged.

"A willingness to do good, of course," Henry said. "In the face of all darkness, despite all odds, choosing to do what is right!"

Talitha was quiet for a moment. "So like Dad?"

He blinked. "I guess so? Don't get me wrong, he's my best friend, he just…never seemed all that heroic to me."

"He's quite stringent in his morality," Lazarus said. "He was very certain to impart that to us shortly after we were brought to life. Despite ridicule from those who live in town, he has been unwavering in his love for us."

What a shining example of morality. Unwavering in his devotion to the corpse abominations he brought to life. Henry's mouth tasted bitter.

They were several hours into driving when Henry's phone rang in his pocket, startling the kids from their sleep and Henry from his thoughts. One hand on the wheel, he fished his phone out and pinned it between his ear and his shoulder.

"Hey, Quincy," He answered. "Something cropped up and I won't be able to make it to the fencing practice tomorrow."

"Not to worry, man," Quincy answered in his southern accent. "Dracula decided to rear his ugly head again, so I won't be there neither."

A spike of adrenaline shot through his stomach. "I thought he was dead!"

"Technically speakin', he is. I'd guess that's the problem."

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, mind churning. "Is Mina okay?"

"Physically, we all are, so far. But she's real worked up about it."

He sighed through his teeth. "I imagine. Do you know where he is?"

"Holed up in that old castle by the school," Quincy seethed. "Yellow-bellied goth don't even got the guts to face us."

"Considering the damage you did last time, I'm not surprised," Henry said. "Is the school still operating? Can you get in?"

"Dunno. Probably. We've had our hands full. Mina thinks she'd onto him this time, thinks she knows his plan."

"What is it?"

"We're thinkin' he's makin' some kinda army with necromancy. What we can't figure out is how he's doin' it."

Henry's blood ran cold. "What time did you notice that?"

"Wee hours of last night."

He cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth together. Nothing could ever be simple with Victor, could it?

"You okay?"

Henry took a breath. "I think Victor might be involved with this."

"Didn't you say he was a good kinda guy?"

"He is," Henry said quickly. At least, I think he is. "I don't think it's his fault or anything, but around 2 in the morning his necromancy went haywire and did something to him. We think it possessed him- we being his kids and me."

The other end was quiet for a few moments. "That don't bode well."

"Henry," Talitha whispered, leaning forward to make herself heard. "What is that?"

He squinted and looked at a mass of figures in the distance. When he finally pieced it together, his face went pale.

"That's…not good."

"I know that, but we gotta-"

Henry wasn't listening anymore, watching in muted horror as they passed a small group of shambling, blank-faced creatures that looked as if they'd crawled right out of the grave. He couldn't pull his eyes away, even as he rounded a bend.

Then Talitha screamed and Henry whipped his head back forward, letting out a shout of his own and slamming on the screeching brakes, mere inches from a veritable wall of the decaying figures.

"What? What happened?" Quincy demanded as the children voiced similar questions. Henry gulped.

"About that army," He said, a little breathless. "I think we may have found them."

With rotting fists harboring exposed bones and putrifying muscles, the zombies began to beat on the windows of the van. Their movements were sluggish and weak, but there was a good enough number to make Henry nervous.

"Where are you?"

"Too far for you to get here," Henry said, the realization sinking in as he said that. He checked the rearview mirror; Lazarus sunk back from the window, his face twisted in some approximation of disgust, while Talitha leaned forward, her eyes dazzled and excited. Neither of them seemed to have any idea. This was up to him.

"That's alright, though," He went on, gathering his courage. "I've got this."

"I know," Quincy scoffed. "But where are you? How far from the school?"

"Maybe 150 miles?" He could almost hear Quincy thinking, but there wasn't time to focus on that. He shot an encouraging smile to the rearview mirror, partially for the kids but mostly for the reassurance of seeing his own confident face.

"Hold on," He warned, then slammed the van into reverse, putting some distance between them and the crowd. But before they could shamble closer, he switched the gear back into drive and stepped on the gas.

Logically, Henry knew that wasn't the best idea. Decomposing as they were, their bones had sounded sturdy enough against his windows and, while reliable, his van was old and certainly not the toughest of vehicles. Maybe he'd seen too many zombie movies, or maybe he just wanted to show off in front of the kids and Quincy. Either way, there wasn't an ounce of hesitation in him as he barreled through the wall of rotting flesh, festering gore smearing the windshield and several concerning thunks coming from the underside of the van.

But it worked. They sped out on the other side and away from the remaining zombies with no immediately noticeable damage and a fair amount of the undead mowed down.

"Gross," He heard Lazarus remark at the bits of discolored flesh hanging from the window. Bubbling elation swelled in Henry's chest at the absurdity of the situation and he let out a barking, triumphant laugh.

"I reckon you handled it?"

"I did!" He cried, and whooped again. Talitha joined in that time, laughing.

"I told you this was fun!" She said, even as her brother audibly groaned.

"Odd that they're so far out, though," Quincy said. "They're slowpokes. It'd take 'em ages to get that far."

"That is weird," Henry agreed, settling back down. "And Dracula's only been active for a little over 12 hours, right?"

Quincy hummed. "Something ain't right. But you said your buddy has somethin' to do with this?"

"He might."

"Then maybe he made them? Y'all've been heading downhill, right? Take 'em less time to get there."

Henry chewed the inside of his cheek. He didn't like that possibility- that anything could make Victor willing to hurt him, and his kids. But hadn't he thrown Henry out a window? Didn't that prove that he was willing?

"It's possible," He admitted after a while.

"There any reason Dracula might be wantin' your buddy on his side? Or any reason your buddy'd be willin' to join him?"

Quincy was a down-to-earth, honest sort of man and Henry didn't think telling him about Victor's adventures in body-snatching would go over too well. That being said, it was important for him to know what was going on.

"Victor's a powerful necromancer," Henry said. "And I don't know what lengths he'd go to in order to achieve his goals. But I'm not sure he made the choice to help Dracula, if he is. His kids think he's possessed."

"How would Dracula do that? All his power's focused on keepin' himself alive."

"I know," Henry sighed. But Victor wouldn't have tried to kill him on his own accord. Right?

"So it won't be too long before you're at the school? Should meet up when you get there."

Henry agreed, then hung up. But before he could go back to wondering if Victor cared about him, Talitha spoke.

"Who was that?"

"A friend from university," He said. "He hunts vampires."

"You sound worried."

"I just wish I knew what was going on," He sighed. I don't even know if this involves Victor at all, but it just seems like too much of a coincidence. And I don't know how it would involve Victor."

"Who is Dracula?" Lazarus asked. "Is he like us?"

"You and Talitha?" Henry scoffed. "Couldn't be further from it. I guess you're both reanimated? He was a count who lived around 200 years ago, but he was so scared of death that he couldn't just die like a regular person and had to use some backwater form of necromancy to tie his soul to his body even after death."

"Necromancy doesn't work on the living."

"Necromancy deals in the souls, right?" Henry asked.

"Partially. It is also concerned with the reignition of the figurative 'spark of life', restarting the machinery of the body."

"I'm not an expert or anything, but from what I've heard, he wasn't dabbling in the more physical aspects and instead bind his soul. That's his issue, though- his soul is preserved, but his body decays rapidly and it takes more and more power to keep it functioning. He gets that power from killing people, I guess."

"But he could still be killed," Talitha said. "Even if old age can't kill him, other means should be able to."

"Theoretically," Henry agreed. "But he's clever and has had centuries to plan out what to do when people attack him."

"You said your friend hunts vampires," Lazarus said. "But this Dracula sounds like no vampire I have heard of."

Henry shrugged. "He isn't, in the traditional sense, but he kills people to survive, so the vampire-hunting crew still counts it. And they have personal beef with him- he tried to kill one of them a few years back and now she's dead-set on finding a way to get rid of him."

Talitha giggled and Henry looked in the rearview mirror.

"They count it?"

Lazarus's mouth twisted into a grin. "And she's dead-set?"

Henry blinked, their words setting in, before letting out an over-exhasperated groan that was only half-serious. "Jokes? At a time like this? You two are incorrigible."