Chapter 2:

Danny stared out the window of the car as they drove through an underground tunnel. They had been driving so long that he'd been able to read all of the books that Sally had packed for him. Both for the leaving and the returning trips.

"There's a forest that surround the hotel. You can go explore when we get to the hotel. I know you want to get out of this car." Jack said, smiling as the teen straightened with excitement.

Danny paused and glanced at Sally, who had fallen asleep soundly against the side of the car. Jack caught his concern and smiled a boney smile at the ghost boy.

"Don't worry, Danny. I'll get Sally to the room and tell her where you went when she wakes up."

As they spoke, the hearse emerged from the tunnel to reveal a castle surrounded by water. Danny looked up at it in awe as they crossed the bridge. He was used to seeing so many monsters but to see the crowd reminded him of his slight claustrophobia. Luckily, the castle wasn't small at all. As the car drove over the one bridge that connected the castle to the forest. As soon as it stopped, Danny went intangible and flew towards the forest while Jack was greeted by Dracula.

"Great to see you again, Jack." Dracula said as he shook the pumpkin king's boney hand.

"It's nice to see you too, Drac. Sorry but Sally fell asleep one the way and I'd like to take her to our rooms."

"Of course. The staff will get your bags. Follow me." Dracula said as he lead the pumpkin king as his wife through the hotel.

Meanwhile, Danny laughed as he sored through the sky. The forest was just like the one at home except for there being a lot more trees. A small village ahead of him caught his attention and the phantom flew over to land on one of the roof tops but changed his mind and landing in between two buildings that gave him a weird feeling.

Being that is was night, the town was silent and Danny peeked out at the street from a dark alley, willing his ghostly white glow to dim. He was about to walk towards the fountain before he sensed someone else in the town. He took a step back when a girl walked down the wall of a nearby building. She smiled widely, revealing two white fangs, as she looked around the square.

Danny watched as she seemed to be looking for someone. It was when she went to the display window that he realized how familiar the girl seemed. Her short black hair bringing a sense of nostalgia to him.

"Sam?" Danny whispered, confused as to where the name came from before he paused.

This girl wasn't Sam. She looked like her. Dressed in dark like her. But the differences were obvious. Danny was brought out of his thoughts when the girl screamed. He looked up to see her surrounded by what looked like humans but after a closer look, it was obviously just zombies with masks on. After the girl said something about rabies, Danny jumped into action, a sense of a hero complex kicking in. He ran out to the crowd, not knowing why he didn't just fly, as he shoved the zombies out of his way before grabbing the girl's hand. She looked at him with fearful blue eyes that he couldn't seem to understand where he'd seen them before. A boy with black hair and ice cold blue eyes flashed through his memory before shaking it out. He had to focus.

"You can fly, right?" Danny demanded, pulling the girl with him as he shoved through the zombies.

She yelled out a response that she could as the zombies surrounding them started on fire.

'Fire?' The halfa thought, cursing his luck. 'Of course they added fire!'

"Holy rabies! You're on fire!" the girl exclaimed as Danny finally decided he'd just pull her with him.

Ignoring her blush as he pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist, Danny took off into the sky, carrying the girl with him.

Mavis was having a weird night.

Sure, it started off great with her dad letting her leave to go to a human town but then the humans had attacked her, her father ended up being right (not that she'd ever say that out loud) and now she was flying with a white haired boy who had saved her. She looked up at him, his green eyes focused on avoiding the trees as they flew. She studied his face. He could possibly be the most handsome guy she had ever let had he not been the first guy she had ever met that wasn't either a monster or her dad. This brought the thought to her. Who was he? He could fly and had naturally why hair (from when she could tell) and green eyes that glowed in the darkness of the forest. His skin was ghostly pale and could be translucent if it were any paler. Maybe he was a vampire. He knew she wasn't human so maybe he recognized her as a fellow vampire. Mavis looked around her as they soon began to just fly through the trees.

'OK,' Mavis thought, returning her gaze to the boys face. 'Maybe not a vampire.'

The boy seemed to have noticed her staring since he glanced at her only for Mavis to quickly look down. They seemed to slow before they landed on the ground. The boy looked away from Mavis, shyly, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry for the sudden take off but they did start on fire." he said.

Mavis blushed, his voice echoing in her head. The moonlight lit up his hair and face perfectly, making him look more spirit like. Catching that she was staring, Mavis nodded and cursed herself for stuttering.

"R-Right. Don't worry about it. Th-Thanks for saving me." Mavis said, running a hand along her arm.

The boy nodded before grinning and raising a hand to her.

"Well, bye." he said before taking off into the air.

Mavis thought about taking off after him until she realized he had completely disappeared. She sighed, hoping that she'd see him again as she morphed into a bat and flew back to the hotel, landing on her bed.

"Sweetheart, have you returned so soon?" Dracula asked, knocking on the door gently.

Mavis sat up and hugged her knees.

"Oh. Come in, Dad." She said, walking toward the window, remembering the flight with the boy.

Her dad entered the room and joined her by the window.

"How'd it go? How was the big world?

How was it out there?" He asked.

Mavis just sighed and leaned against the window sill with her chin in her hands as she stared at the moon, slightly hoping she'd see the boy.

"It was okay, Dad." She said halfheartedly.

"What's the matter?" Dracula asked, setting a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

Mavis sighed again and hugged her dad, burying her face into his shirt. The silky fabric calming her thoughts and reminding her of when she was younger.

"They attacked me, Dad! They had garlic on bread! They wanted to bite my toes!" Mavis cried, burying herself more into her father's arms.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Dracula said, leaning his chin on her head. "I hate that you had to see that."

Mavis nodded into Dracula's shirt, not noticing her father's small smile at not having to worry about his daughter wanting to leave the hotel.

"Look, Daddy's going to make you the bestest birthday ever. Look what I brought you." Dracula said, holding his daughter at arm's length before taking out a plate of pancakes with worms crawling through them. "Your wormcakes! Don't be sad anymore. Remember, this is the year we open Mommy's present for you."

"What did she get me?" Mavis asked, holding the plate in one hand and wiping her eye with the other.

Dracula shrugged.

"We'll see. She said never to open until you're 118. We've waited this long. You eat your wormcakes. You come down whenever you're ready, honey." Her dad said, going over to the door and opening it.

"Thanks, dad."