NOTICE: THIS CHAPTER WAS NOW CORRECTED, THANKS TO futureauthor13 & wallaceb FOR YOUR BERTA READING.
I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my followers, reviewers and beta readers.
CHAPTER 8 – Escape
The little bat flew into the forest past the lake and came upon a swamp where the trees were tall and dense enough to give shade. She left Jonathan lying on a deformed trunk a little away from the water as she dived headlong to extinguish the fire on her body, emerging from water in human form with water up to her knees.
The boy sat up to see how she was; she had several burns all over her body, her dress was burned in several places and had a broken shoulder strap. The skirt, now in tatters, sinuously floated on the water.
Her wet hair was too heavy to be bangy, it was glued to her face. Even her nightgown was adhering to her skin accentuating her curves.
Mavis was standing with folded hands on her knees for support as she was exhausted and in pain.
Jonathan got up from the trunk and walked through the leaves floating in the water towards Mavis. He picked up a flower water lily red tinged with white and reached behind the vampire as he clasped it between her wet hair. She turned slightly and leaned her hand on the boy's which was still stroking her head. Jonathan, a little worried, asked softly:
"How are you?"
Mavis was silent for a moment.
"I do not know, but I think bad, very bad..."
She was devastated from what had happened with her father and burned out due to the daring escape under the Sun, but the flower that was donated to her by Jonathan made her smile.
"I'm feeling lucky cause you're with me..." Continued the girl in a whisper, and then turned taking the boy's hands. He smiled; those words filled his heart with pride. Then she asked:
"How are you?"
"Of course I'm okay! I'm with you, what else could I ask for?"
"Has father hurt you? I'm sorry; he's always been an adorable father. I don't know what happened to him..."
"Do not worry, everything is fine, but vampires do like to take people by the neck, right?" Jonny said jokingly as he massaged his still sore neck. Mavis did not smile; she noticed that her father's behavior was not so different from her own when she attacked Jonathan in the bathroom.
He noticed that the joke was causing her even more distress, so to calm her stared at her straight in the eyes.
"Mavis, close your eyes..." Jonathon said as he slipped two fingers on the girl's face to close her eyes.
"Wait and do not peek!" Jonathan walked a few steps and began to shake a tree, and when back in front of Mavis, put his hands on her shoulders.
"Open your eyes."
The vampire opened her eyes slowly, then her eyes widened in amazement. She looked up to the sky excited.
"It's amazing..."
Surrounding the two was a rain of white petals falling down slowly, like snowflakes.
The girl began to dance around Jonathan while holding his hand, laughing, until a petal landed on her nose. The boy smiled, then lifted a hand as he approached Mavis slowly bringing his forefinger to Mavis's little nose.
"Poke!" Said the boy, then with a gentle tap of the finger he dropped the petal from her nose.
Then Jonathan went back to look into her eyes, he loved those shiny and colorful gems, but they closed when she slid her head toward Jonny to give him a passionate kiss. When her lips touched his she felt like she was in paradise.
At that moment, Mavis felt free from all problems, she did not care anymore about her father or the Jonny's blood. She was so relieved from all anxiety that she seemed to fly, and in fact she really was. The drops of water fell from her feet as she was floating a few feet from the shining water, but unable to reflect the magical scene upon its surface.
Meanwhile, at Hotel Transylvania, Dracula's behavior had shocked everyone. No one had ever seen him so angry, to lose his temper, verbally and physically attack someone like that.
The silence filled the room, the vampire was still lying on the wooden planks and broken glass, then got to his feet and put his hands to his head clutching his hair:
"What did I do..."
Dracula began to cry and this surprises guests even more. None of them had ever seen him cry, except his closest friends, who remembered that sad day when Martha died. Only Frank had the bravery to come forward, approaching Dracula and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder:
"Don't worry, let her calm down and then you'll see that she will come back and you can explain everything once and for all."
Then Wanda also stepped toward him and adjusting his jacket and said:
"You must understand that you can't control her life forever. You must let her grow. The more you force her to stand near you, the more she wants to go away."
"I know my behavior was wrong, but I did it instinctively. If only I could turn back time..."
"You still do not understand!" Wayne said, then continued" You need to stop living in the past, the more you look back the less you can live the present and the future. This is your true ruin, can you be so stubborn? First you chase Jonathan away and now Mavis!"
Their words rekindled something in Dracula, who taken by euphoria ran to the window shouting:
"You are right! Mavis I come to take you back!"
But just before he jumped over the curtains was taken on the fly to the mantle by Griffin, who exclaimed:
"Where are you going with this Sun up? You've already 'tanned' enough last time, and probably the last thing Mavis wants now is to see you. Your daughter just wanted to blow off steam and talk to someone. Send Frank and Wanda to find her, they are better with words."
"Yes, yes, I thought about that too, but did not want to be intrusive..." answered Dracula lying to protect his pride, so he looked at them both and said:
"Do you want to try?"
The two responded with a smile, so he called a gargoyle that took Wanda and Frank on his back and flew out the window to where Mavis and Jonathon had fled.
While the two flew towards the forest, Dracula now calm, asked those present with his usual cordiality:
"I know that I have behaved badly, and I apologize. But now, everything is fine, you can return to your room..."
All the monsters disappeared in an instant taking refuge in their rooms. The vampire lowered his head in a moment of contempt. Until now he could scared monsters fine by growling, but now they were really terrified by him and it reminded him of when he seen that same fear in the eyes of humans, a few hundred years ago.
He walked out of the room, but something held him by the mantle, it was again Griffin.
"Drac, I don't think it was you when you attacked Jonny and Mavy."
"What do you mean?"
"The eyes are the mirror of the soul and your's are a beautiful deep blue color because you have a good heart, but when you behaved like that I saw them as gray as if you did not have a soul... For a moment I saw you like in the time of old Vlad Tepes and I do not deny that it really scared me."
"I do not know why I lost control so easily. Martha and I waited many years before having Mavis precisely because of the difficulties I had with controlling the monster inside me. I can not believe I've let it go so easily, I'm a disappointment to all of you... Griffin?... Giffin?"
Dracula looked around, but the invisible man had already disappeared.
Meanwhile, outside the hotel, while gliding at low altitude, Wanda advised the gargoyle:
"Do you know where Dracula built the fake village of humans?"
The gargoyle gave a nod of approval.
"Well, flying slowly in that direction, they probably will seek refuge in those houses for the day. I don't think they know that they have been dismantled"
They flew towards the cemetery calling Jonathan and Mavis' names, asking them to come out.
The Jonathon and Mavis, hearing those voices, dissolved the kiss and the sulky vampire fell down with her feet lading in water and immediately put the record straight:
"I will not go back to my father!"
So the boy hid behind a tree trunk, while Mavis turned into a bat and flew almost to the top of a tree to see who was looking for them, she was sure she would see her father, but was he not there. Instead it was Wanda and Frank.
Once they passed over, she returned to the ground where Jonathan has his hands extended so she could land on them. The young man looked in her big blue eyes surrounded by soft black hair, this was the most soft and sweet thing that the boy had ever seen:
"I never realized how pretty you are, little-bat, and your flutter tells me a feeling of freedom..."
"For you my bat wings are freedom, but for me they are only chains..." Said Mavis thoughtfully and sadly, so Jonathan stroked her head with his forefinger and she sank into his hands to cuddle while stretching her wings and rubbed her little head on the boy's hand, then he stopped and asked:
"You know, my love, you have not answered my old question yet..."
The word "love" made the little bat feel butterflies in her stomach. She had never been called that by anyone other her father and this thrilled her so much so her eyes began to shimmer.
She closed her wings, plunging her head between her shoulders to hide the redness on her cheeks, already veiled by thick fur. Jonathan not realizing the Mavis' behavior continued smiling:
"You didn't have any clothes on when you were a bat? Or were they bat-sized?"
The little bat smiled a little disconcerted by the way Jonathan was able to collapse the wonderful romantic atmosphere, but she was happy anyways, this naturalness and spontaneity were typical of the guy and made him even more adorable in her eyes. She answered truthfully, even if a bit embarrassed by the bizarre question:
"Um... yes, but... no, I do not have clothes on when I'm a bat, the clothes in contact with my body disappear, and the most external, if I wear any, become "bat-sized" as you say..."
"Oooooohh, so I can say I saw you naked?"
Mavis returned to human form and slapped the boy in the cheek leaving a visible red mark of the whole hand.
"Auch! You hurt me."
"Next time you think twice before ruining these magical moments with your foolishness...- Ironically replied the vampiress.
"What magic are you referring to?"
"Forget it... men, you don't understand anything about the feelings of others."
The two walked to a grassy shore and sat down on the ground.
The sun was setting behind the mountains and the branches of the thick wood were framed to the red sky.
The girl enjoyed the show resting her head on Jonathan's shoulder.
The darkness quickly made its way through the now cold swamp. It was transformed from a paradise of colorful water lilies to a disturbing marsh where only the croaking of toads hovered in the shadows.
Mavis seemed to be still at ease, while Jonathan was a little apprehensive, but he felt safe with his Zing, so much so that the cold did not bother him even as it was becoming more bitter because of his wet clothes.
"Maybe it's time to go back to the hotel, it doesn't bother me, but I can feel that the temperature is falling." Mavis said.
"Yeah..." Jonathan replied looking down at his bare feet. "I no longer feel my toes..."
Mavis put her feet Jonathan's. Her feet were so small that they barely covered the boy's, and soon she realized she was colder than young man, so she withdrew immediately for fear of cooling them further.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to shelter you from the cold, but I forgot that you humans are warmer than us vampires..."
"Don't worry, I am very pleased you wanted to take care of me. But, are you sure you want to go back to your father?" Jonathan replied sweetly hugging the girl around the neck and stroking her hair.
"Sure, I guess he will be very worried. I know he is a good father, so I want to talk to him, maybe he needs my help. After all, when I hurt you, talking to him really helped me."
Then the sound of broken twigs made them turn towards the forest, but they saw nothing, then another rustling in the dark.
The two looked around; felt observed, maybe Wanda and Frank had found them? No, impossible, they would call for them as they did in flight a few hours ago. Why would they approach by stealth?
Maybe it was just some nocturnal animal that came out of the hole, but then about twenty yards away a figure came out from the thicker woods.
He remained hidden in the shadows, he seemed to be wearing a long dark coat like a mantle, his face was covered between the high collar of coat and his wide brim black hat. He looked up at the couple and said threateningly:
"Boy, run away from that inhuman beast before by it's too late!"