I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my readers, reviewers and the beta reader wallaceb.
CHAPTER 29 - Meetings
"Drac! There you are here! We were looking for you. And who is she?" It was the voice of Griffin, but he obviously could not be seen.
The two looked around, but saw nothing.
"Did you find a girlfriend too? But that is just my impression or is she human? See, I lost my glasses in the woods and without them I cannot see very well." The Invisible Man continued.
"Griffin come out, I do not have time to play." Dracula grumbled, wryly.
"Behind you..." Griffin said, pinching the buttocks of the girl, who turned abruptly and without hesitation pulled a slap that struck the invisible man on his face.
"Ouch! How did you discover me? You're better at it than Dracula himself!"
Drac pouted as a sign of dissent.
"You have some dust on you... it is almost imperceptible, but I have an eye for detail." Victoria replied, smiling satisfied.
Soon after, the three were joined by Wayne, Frank and Murray with all armor"guard, gargoyle and witches on brooms.
"Drac! We found you! Have you seen Griffin?" Wayne asked.
"Ah. Ah. Ah." The Invisible Man's laugh was somewhat sarcastic,"You're very funny." He concluded in the same tone.
"Oh, but then you're already here. And... Who is that pretty girl?" Murray said.
"Yeah! Who is the girl?" Griffin emphasized.
"Mmmnnh" The vampire moaned while looking for an excuse, but the only thing he could do was change the subject.
"And you, why are you here?" Drac asked trying to sound surprised and angry.
The other monsters looked at each other. No one had the courage to answer and began to talk incomprehensibly, until Frank, impatiently, decided to tell the truth.
"Drac, we wanted to tell you Mavis has fled." The giant, as usual, was calm, but all the monsters beside him were silenced and were on the defensive afraid of the count's anger when he heard this news.
"I know, I met her..." He said in a low and apathetic voice, "If she managed to break the seal that I summoned around her room then she has become a lot stronger than me. I need your help to stop her before she arrives at the city."
"He did not take it so badly!" Griffin whispered to Wayne, who nodded.
"Again with this fear of humans? Let your daughter live, after all what's wrong if she goes to the city? Have you already forgotten the many cool humans there?" Murray commented.
"She will make a massacre." Dracula replied in no uncertain terms.
"What do you mean "she will make a massacre"?" The monsters said in unison.
"The blood of Jonathan that she drank has awakened the demon spirit and now it is taking control."
"I don't believe Mavis would hurt anyone! How can you say such a bad thing?" Frank said, surprised and a little disappointed from the words of the vampire.
"She would not, but the demon that is possessing her will have no scruples." The vampire said, his voice choked with anguish.
"Drac, why didn't you warn us before? We will help you." Wayne said, worried. The other monsters nodded their head to confirm the words of the wolf.
"I was hoping to keep the situation under control by myself, but it was not so." Replied the Count, looking down in shame; his pride had endangered his daughter and all the monsters of the hotel, in spite of his promise to protect them.
There was a moment of silence full of anxiety; so Victoria began to speak to try to raise the morale of the monsters:
"Guys, we cannot waste any more time, we need to find her!" Then she ordered;"Gargoyle and witches, you patrolled the sky, while we scour the woods."
But no one moved. After all, how could they trust a human who they did not even know?
"Did you hear the girl?" Dracula spoke."GO!" He shouted roaring.
Without being told twice, they flew away in a hurry.
Immediately after the ground group began to walk.
"So, Miss "Eye-for-detail", do you want to tell us something about yourself? Dracula seems a bit evasive on that subject..." Griffin said.
Victoria turned to face him, and then came back with a look at Dracula, who kept watch in front of him, he was gloomy faced, but she knew that being silent would have been more suspicious.
"M-My name is Victoria..." She said, referring to the monsters, who, however, continued to stare at her waiting for other presentations.
"Victoria... Victoria... Frances!" She continued with a timid smile.
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Murray and they are Frank and Wayne..." The two made a salute with their hand and had a toothy smile on their face. Meanwhile, the mummy continued to speak: "...whereas I think you already know Dracula and Griffin."
"It's a pleasure to meet you guys!" The girl said with a smile, but her heart was a completely different mood, but only Dracula realized it.
"And what brought you to this remote place? Usually humans are afraid to approach the ghost forest..." Wayne asked.
"Well... here... I am... an illustrator! Yes, a Gothic illustrator, I like to paint vampires and other monsters and this place is a source of inspiration, by the castles, cemeteries and haunted forests that are out there, but I never expected to encounter real monsters!"
"So you're a painter, can I see some of your drawing?" Murray asked excited.
"Um... no, I'm sorry, I lost my folder when Mavis attacked me."
"Oh, I'm sorry Vichy. Mavis is a good girl; I hope you can forgive her. You might become good friends when she is healed!" Frank said to comfort her.
"Do not worry, when we solve this problem I will make a few paintings for you."
"Yes! I cannot wait to get me some drawing on my bandages! They say that girls like tattoos!" Continued Murray always very excited.
For Victoria it was easy to make friends with the whole gang of monsters and this made Dracula think.
"At the very least she can act better than Jonathan: she can find credible excuses for any questions and also knows how to pander to the people! Better that way, they already have made me a rant because I have hidden the true identity of Jonathan, let alone if they find out that I'm protecting the heir of our biggest nightmare!" He thought breathing a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Frank watched the girl and realizing that she was a bit thoughtful, so he tried to calm her.
"Hey, Vichy, I see you are worried, do not be afraid of us, we are good monsters! Even Count Dracula would never hurt a fly."
"Except that bastard who hurt Mavis and Jonathan! Yeah, if he had him in his hands, he would pulverize him!" Murray added, chuckling.
Victoria and Dracula exchanged a look of terror, but were also equally amused.
The two groups of monsters continued to call Mavis begging her to be seen, but in vain, as the sun had already set over the mountains.
"Drac, and if she has already reached the city?" Said Wayne.
"No, there is a group of camouflaged gargoyles on the roof of the church, if Mavis was near them, they would have spotted her and they would have immediately alerted us." Said Dracula.
Wayne was about to say more, but he was stopped by a female voice, familiar to them.
The group looked up; Mavis was sitting on a high branch of a big tree and stared at them with a brazen air of superiority. Soon after she let herself fall down
The girl, in addition to her white robe covered in blood, also wore a long black bat"wing cloak, such as the high collar, where at its points appeared to be claws.
The cloak waved during the descent and continued to move even when the fall stopped it fluctuated while Mavis's feet were a few inches from the ground, which then approach slowly and finally settling on the wet grass.
Only then the cloak lay, it trailed on the ground for more than a yard. Dracula had never seen it before and he had no idea how his daughter had gotten it.
Hello to all!
Even in the reviews of this chapter you can cast your vote to the question: I turn Jonathan into a vampire now, or I make him come back human by an already seen method (Supernatural). The choice is yours! Anyway, remember to comment if you liked the chapter!
See you soon :-)