I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my followers, reviewers and beta reader wallaceb.
Another thanks to wallaceb for inspiring me to write this chapter.
CHAPTER 19 - The mother I never had - part 1
Mavis saw from over the door some thin red lines entering the room which moved like snakes and had the smell of her father's blood. She, frightened, got up and took a few steps back toward the center of the room.
In a short time a magic circle was formed on the ceiling, similar to what she had seen in the infirmary, under the Jonathan's bed.
"Dad? What's going on?" The girl tried to ask, who heard her father mumble something, but did not answer her.
Mavis was afraid to be alone, so she ran to the door to try to reach her father, but a few steps from the door she stopped. She wanted to get out, but there was something inside her that prevented her from going over.
The girl looked up and noticed that she was just below the outer edge of the pentacle circle that her father had drawn on the ceiling.
"But then, this is a magic seal to keep me trapped in here... Dad has never locked me in a room, if he did it; it means I am really dangerous. But why... why is all of this happening to me? What am I becoming?"
Buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz...
The girl was startled, she was immersed in her thoughts and in her concerns, and this extraneous noise woke her like a bucket of cold water.
It was not the first time she heard it, so she looked around in search of the Jonathan's backpack which was on the floor along the short corridor to the exit resting next to hers. The two backpacks were so close they seemed to hug each other.
"I knew Jonathan's mother would call, but this time I will not give her bad news. Indeed, I could talk with her a bit to get to know her, so dad is not here..." Thought Mavis, who meanwhile approached the backpack.
"Damn..." She said after being stopped, the backpacks were outside the magic circle.
"And now, what can I do?" She complained and dropped her head and arms down disconsolate
Buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz...
Meanwhile, the phone continued to vibrate.
Mavis looked around her in search of something long to pull at the backpack with.
"I got it!" She said euphorically walking quickly towards the bed.
She pushed the mattress, then she knelt down and focused on the slats; the bed was made from a coffin, so the longest slat was the central one.
The girl closed her hand into a fist and gave a couple of taps on the side of the slat closer to the frame to take aim before launching the real attack with which she wanted to break the wooden board.
Mavis loaded her arm and struck a blow with all the strength she had.
Bad idea.
The board endured the blow, but not Mavis, who dropped herself to the floor in pain, holding her unlucky hand.
"Damn, that hurt! This seal also reduces my physical abilities!"
Buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz...
Silence.
The girl looked up at the backpack.
"She hung up the phone; I knew I wouldn't have done..."
Buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz... buzzzzzzzz...
The vibration started again immediately after.
"No, she is trying again. This time I can't fail. Mavis Think, think..." She said as she was getting up, and then looked around for something useful, but her attention was drawn immediately.
"What a fool I am, how had I not thought of it before?" She said looking at the high wrought iron candelabra placed next to the backpacks, little more than three feet outside of the pentacle.
Mavis took the purple blanket from the floor and threw it on the candelabra, where it became entangled, and then she pulled hard causing it to fall.
"I don't remember it being so heavy; maybe I rely on my powers too much..."
Then, without wasting time, she used the clow"feet of the candelabra as a hook to grab one strap of the backpack and drag it towards herself.
"Please, do not hang up now, do not hang up now!" Mavis repeated hopefully.
As soon as the pack came in hand, Mavis took it and pulled the mobile phone out from the side pocket responding as quickly as possible.
"Hello?... Hello?" Mavis heard noises from the other end of the line, then a female voice:
"Jonathan? Where are you? I was about to give up!" She was the mother of Jonny, but no one appeared on the screen, it was a normal call, so Mavis placed the phone to her ear before she started talking.
"No, I am Mavis."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't interrupt your intimacy; call me when you're done." Replied the woman embarrassed.
"Intimacy?" Asked Mavis naively,"However, Jonathan is not here now, but if you want we can talk."
"Talking with me? You have found the right person! I like to meet new people, especially if they will soon become a member of the family! However, when you answered the phone I almost worried, Jonathan would have ended the call as soon as he saw it was me. He always says if he wanted to talk to me, it would be him who calls me, but it's been two days and he has not called me yet. He knows I always worry about him, although he says I am nagging!
Okay, What about you? Where's Jonny? What are you doing? Are you going out tonight? Are you sleeping together or in two separate beds? Where do you rest for the night, in a hostel, hotel or at your home? But, do you give him enough vegetables to eat?..."
"Madame? Madame? MADAME! Please, ask me one question at a time so I can answer you." Mavis finally stopped Jonathan's mother before the storm of questions caused her dizziness.
"Everyone tells me the same thing... But the problem is not me asking too many questions, it is the others who can't keep up with me!" She complained jokingly, before she spoke again:
"Oh, Dot, I'm sorry, I have not yet introduced myself, I'm so rude! My name is Zoé, but you can call me Zo or Zezé."
Mavis chuckled.
"What a funny name! I had never heard it."
"It's quite common in Switzerland, where I was born. It means 'life' and I have to admit it suits me, as lively as I am! However, your name means 'throstle', which is a little songbird. I imagine you are a good singer, or am I wrong? The 'Mavis' name is becoming less common, I'm glad there is a rediscovery of the passed names in the new generations."
"Well, madam, er sorry, Zezé, you're right, I really like to sing, especially with of your son."
"I suppose, you are too sweet together... Wait a moment, I want to do a thing."
That said, Zoé hung up the phone, and then she call again soon after.
Mavis answered the video call, but on the phone there was only one empty armchair.
"Mavis! Wait a second, I'm coming!" Zoé's voice seemed far away.
Shortly after the woman appeared and sat down, she had three tiny quite lively children in her arms. They were all the same, showed about five years and had red curly hair.
"Here I am, my dear. I wanted to introduce these three little pests"
But she stopped immediately, she had a surprised face and the scared children clung to their mother.
"What have you done to your face?"
Mavis had forgotten that her appearance was not very normal.
"Well... here..." Mavis did not know what to say, then she remembered the same call that she had lived in the vision.
"Tonight Jonny and I are going to a costume party! I can't wait!" Mavis said trying to be euphoric, fortunately she did it well.
"Well done! You looked like a real monster! A young charming bat girl... and who will accompany you? The count Dracula bhla, bhla-bhla?" Asked Zoé laughing.
Mavis gave a puzzled smile; she did not know how to reply, after all what Zoe had said was not very far from reality.
"But, why do you wear those bands?"
"Ah, these... I cut myself falling from a tree."
"Ouch! I hope you did not hurt yourself! But then, you are agitated as my Jonny and these little pests? By the way, they are Harry, Hubert and Hamish my triplets of five years."
Then she turning to them and continued:
Hello little ones! Mavis said gently beckoning with her hand.
The girl was excited to the point that her eyes became shiny. She was happy because Jonathan's mother was thrilled to introduce her family to her.
Furthermore, she realized that humans and monsters were not as different as everyone thought, and it was the children's behavior that made it clear to Mavis that humans had the same fear of monsters, that monsters had of humans.
I wrote this chapter too long, so I had to split up in order to translate and publish a part.