February 4, 2013 - February 4, 2014
Today is the last day I'll spend in London, tomorrow I'll be back in Italy.
A year has gone since my first publication, I never imagined I writing a so long story and especially to still have so many other ideas in my mind.
I would dedicate, as always, this chapter and the whole story to my girlfriend, and all of you who have read and supported me with your reviews and comments on this story, without you I would never do this kind of work.
I also want to thank all my Beta Reader Twintailz, Colizuma, RnR66, Penelope Anne Neptune, futureauthor13 and wollaceb!
And a special thanks to wollaceb, Sondardo and Revenge of the Red Pen who gave me also some advice for the story.
And of course I thank all those who followed me for so long and never get bored.
CHAPTER 43 – Ending
There was a moment of silence, until a young Asian woman with long green hair and two deer antlers on her head made her way among the dragons. She was slightly taller than Mavis and wore a white kimono with wide sleeves edged with green and a green hakama (a type of long pleated skirt).
The mysterious woman walked briskly to Dracula, the shrill noise of her geta (traditional Japanese wooden flip-flops) punctuated her every step, until she arrived in front of him.
"I demand an explanation, NOW!" She growled, menacingly.
"Shin Ryu, I did not think you thought the human's issues were so important that would come here yourself..." Drac exclaimed, quietly.
"The problem of the human is serious, but we will discuss it in the future. I know YOU are embroiled in the disaster that happened today, so you should talk!" The woman continued her voice filled with resentment.
"Maybe if we calm down we can talk like civilized people..." Jonathan tried to placate the spirits, but he was cut off by the woman:
"No one asked you to talk! Keep your mouth shut human, your future is quite uncertain..."
The boy looked at Drac in hopes of getting a little help, and instead the vampire grabbed him by his shoulder and brought him back, saying:
"Jonny, do not meddle in things that do not concern you." The Count's voice was troubled, as if he were submissive to do something he would rather not do, then he turned to the woman and continued. "I think you've perceived the demon that woke up a little while ago."
"Yes, a Camazotz, I could say that it's your work, but it would be an excessive compliment, after all no one in your family is able to give birth to such a powerful demon."
"But there was someone who could defeat him." Drac replied in a defiant tone.
"You and that traitor? Do not make me laugh, you wouldn't be able to defeat a cockatrice by yourself!"
"Hmm..." The vampire looked around, "I don't see demons around here..." He concluded mockingly.
"A demon was there and your stunt of wanting to fight him by yourself cost us dear, do you know who Argan was, right?"
"Who was...?" The vampire clenched his teeth and looked away from Shin, without continuing.
"He fought at my side in the Great Battle against Lilith, at that time I was young and he was close to me in those difficult moments. I owe him my life, and despite the passage of several million years I'll never forget what he did for me... the only thing that I'll never understand is what he saw as so important in that sleazy ex-human to decide to make him a dragoon."
"Is this an official interrogation?" Drac asked, his temper began to falter.
"No, no it is not, you are not obliged to answer. I just felt I was in the right to know for what causes my most trusted warrior had sacrificed his own life." The woman turned, "Just remember one thing blood sucker, your actions will result in consequences, and if I were you I would not rely too much on the goodwill of the Order of the Dragon, because even if you founded it, it bears my name for a reason..."
That said the girl exploded into a tongue of green fire that reached for several feet in the air, then the flames were allayed showing what the woman really was, an Oriental dragon, green, serpentine, with a long snout, deer horns, a thick mane and long and thin mustache, She also had two white feathered wings, but they were under sized for her size. They were motionless, as if they were not required to fly, in fact, she appeared to be floating.
"We will meet again soon." Shin Ryu said before flying away being followed by all the dragons.
Jonathan was amazed by what he had just seen, despite staying at the castle where he met a myriad of monsters of all sorts, that dragon was so mighty that she made Glen appear, Dracula's water-heater-wyvern, like a chihuahua. Johnathan had never imagined that some dragons could turn into humans but the only one who was amazed was him.
All other monsters, especially Drac, were very concerned, so as to wipe the boy's astonished smile and make him stop looking at the sky furrowed by dragons.
"Drac? It... It did not go so badly..." Jonny said to try to bring up the vampire's morale.
Dracula raised his eyebrows thoughtfully, then sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Well, actually it's not bad... What is certain is that I will have to give some explanations to the Order..."
"And so what are you worried about?" Jonny exclaimed, giving a couple of heavy pats on the back of the vampire, "Don't worry about future problems, otherwise we will suffer both before and after!"
"Basically, you would tell me to live the day without thinking about the future?"
"Exactly!" The human concluded, full of enthusiasm.
The vampire raised an eyebrow, almost shocked.
"Is it really so beautiful to live in stupidity for not seeing the problems of this difficult existence?" The Count asked, giggling.
Jonathan snorted and glared at him, "What are you insinuating?" He asked in a threatening tone.
"The fact that you haven't understood it confirms my thesis!" Drac replied in a snooty voice, while the other monsters were holding back their laughter with difficulty.
"Look, I lie you down with a Chunk Norris's style roundhouse kick!" The boy threatened him, starting a clumsy series of punches and kicks in the air, made even more ridiculous by the "Pew! Bam! Wha-Tha!" that he shouted to emphasize the shots.
"Shut your mouth, boy!" Drac said, shooting lightning with his index finger that hit the human in the face turning his mouth into a closed zipper.
This angered Jonathan even more and he began to rant and moan loudly, but before the vampire could do more both were interrupted by a flash of purple light that slid out from under Dracula's cloak, then materialized into a small bat.
"Would you all stop acting like children?!" Mavis was really angry, she was not joking as her father and Jonathan were doing.
"My little shameless, back under my coat!" Her father exhorted her, trying to wrap her back under his cloak, but the little bat cut him off abruptly:
"NO! SHUT UP!"
The vampire was upset as he had never received such a disrespectful response from his daughter in his whole life, but considering what she had been through, he preferred to let her vent. Obviously the fact that his daughter had no clothes, albeit in the form of a bat, tormented him to the point that he glared at his monsters friends, who turned, snorting and rolling their eyes.
"Jonny! How can you take what happened lightly? And you, Dad, how can you follow him?!"
"Come on, Mavis!" Jonathan began to speak, "Your father has learned to roll over and let his problems stay behind him, why not you?"
"Jonny! Do you realize that I am a murderer? Do you understand that or are you too stupid? It was already hard to endure the fact that I hurt my uncles and my father, that I almost killed you, that I brok a Holy Lance, but that dragon... I was hoping to be wrong, but I know who Agran was, I know his legend... And because of me that dragoon will now be sentenced to death..."
The little bat fell to the ground and dropped her big wet eyes, she felt too ashamed to look Jonathan in his eyes after what she had done.
"Mavis, do not be so hard on yourself, you have done a lot more than you can imagine..." The human paused as he approached her, "Mavy, look at me..." He told her gently, but she did not move, "I said LOOK AT ME!" He repeated with a higher tone, almost angry.
The vampiress slowly raised her gaze blurred by tears, only one thing was clear, the sweet look of the boy.
"Mavy, you managed to defeat a demon, do you realize that? Camazotz would have killed us all if you had not prevented him! It's all his fault for all the evil he has done, you have done everything possible to stop him."
"My coz is right!" Frank said, turning to her.
"Very true, you were so brave." Wayne confirmed.
They were all smiling proud of her, and that instilled a lot of confidence in her, causing her to smile.
The only one to be sulky was Drac who crossed his arms looking angrilly at his friends.
"Guys, I think it's time to return to the hotel, why do you not keep walking?"
The four monsters complained to each other, but they obeyed and began to walk towards the castle.
"Come on, my big-eyed bat, I'll take you home." Jonny said, lovingly, then he made her climb out of his hand and hugged her gently.
The vampire smiled, in that scene he saw the reflection of himself and Martha. He also adored his beloved's embrace when she was transformed into a small and soft ball of fur, but the smile did not last long and after a moment of surprise the expression on the Count's face became more and more angry, until he was about to go on a killing spree.
In fact, his daughter, taken by the emotion, returned into human form to reciprocate Jonathan's embrace.
In a flash Dracula came up behind his daughter, he was so angry that his heart began to beat faster than it has ever beaten even when he was human, such that his facial veins bulged, his skin turned red, his eyes became bloodshot and his canines became so long that they force him to keep his mouth wide open, all this added to his grim and frowning face making him more terrifying than Camazotz itself.
Jonathan at that time had his eyes closed and he had not noticed the girl's transformation, but he had a shiver of terror, as if a threat was looming over him, so he opened his eyes finding himself face to face with that devil.
The young human paled, so much so that he began to feel even the warmth of the girl's usually colder body. He would have jumped out of his skin itself if the terror had not completely paralyzed him.
The vampire did not growl, nor roar as he usually did, this time he didn't need it, perhaps because if he opened his mouth more he could not resist the temptation to bite off the boy's head.
To try to prove his innocence Jonathan left Mavis and put his hands in sight, then tried to break free from the girl's arms, but the more he struggled, the more she squeezed him and the more Drac's face became angry. It seemed as if steam was coming out from his ears, indeed, he was really smoking, the sun had moved and some sunrays passing through the trees were illuminating behind his head.
The vampire had not noticed the burning, and the smoke made him undeniably more disturbing.
"Jonny, what is that smell of nutria in flambé sauce?" The little vanpiress asked, then opening her eyes she noticed her "little" problem and immediately turned into a bat falling to the ground and wrapping herself in her wings, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I hope I have not embarrassed you! I'm so clumsy sometimes..."
"I swear. I. Did. Not. See. Anything." The boy said enunciating every word, of course, the sentence was addressed more at Dracula than at Mavis.
The vampire took his daughter and brought her gently under his cloak, his face was back to being that of a loving father, as if nothing had happened.
Jonathan gave a sigh of relief, but his serenity was short, in fact, the Count took the boy by his collar and approached him again with that scary face, whispering in his ear:
"If it happens again, or if you tell what has happened to someone I SWEAR that I will take your mouth and pull it so much as to make you able to kiss the nape of your own neck!"
The human put a hand over his mouth, then he slid his hand up to his neck.
"Are you crazy? You would turn me into an elephant?"
"If you prefer I can slip a hand down your throat and then turn you inside out like a sock, after that do you know what you will look like?"
"NO... I will look like what?" Jonathan asked, hesitantly.
"Like a human turned inside out like a sock!"
There was a moment of silence.
"That was not the greatest..." The human said, a little disappointed.
"Oh... man, I didn't say that as a joke..." Drac concluded, his face was back to normal, but his sadistic grin made him resemble a true psychopath.
Jonathan gulped loudly and said no more.
"Let's go back to the hotel," Drac said, starting to walk towards the castle, "Mavis has fallen asleep, I think you're tired too... And then I have to adjust my arm, it's annoying that it itches, even if there is no..."
"I'm sorry..." Jonny said, feeling a guilty.
"You were very brave man. You saved my life."
"It was an honor!" The boy said with a smile, "But... Can I ask you a question?"
The vampire looked at him, "Sure, I imagine there are many things you will want to know about the monster world."
"Well, actually they is more than one... Dragons have always fascinated me..."
"I hear you."
"Why does everyone seem to be so concerned about that spear? Is it magical or something?"
"The Dragons' Holy Weapon, it's considered a serious offense to define them as magical. The magic in fact, regardless if it used for good or evil, it's always demonic energy. You cannot defeat a demon with magic because they are pure magic. The Holy Weapons are not tools, they are living creatures. Before they were dragons who lived for thousands of years in meditation until their soul became holy and pure energy where they sacrificed their body with which this weapon is forged containing their soul. They choose the knight, and if you focus, you can even hear them speak."
"I didn't think they were so important..."
"You should be proud of yourself, you're the first human being who is able to wield a Dragons' Weapon."
"Whaa! The first? Really? I'm too cool!"
"Yes, yes, but don't boast about it, this may shock the whole world of monsters, no one thought it possible..." Drac commented, smiling.
"Ok ... Another thing, that woman who looked like a Japanese priestess named a "Council of the Dragon", what is it?"
"You mean "Order of the Dragon"?"
"Yes, that!"
"Let's say that it is a political organization. The idea of founding it was my attempt to create a precise legislation that takes into account the needs of all monsters, were before only the dragons were laying down the law and enforceing it. Also doing so the dragons have noticed the potential of other monsters and so the dragoon were born. The first circle of the order consists of eight members, each of them represents a macro-category of monsters, among whom I am the representative of the darkness monsters, and the second circle consists of twenty monsters that represent the twenty most popular breeds. We meet once every five years, in addition to extraordinary meetings when something important happens and I think that soon a conference will be called after everything that has happened. It was thanks to one of these meetings taking place in Hawaii that I met Martha...
However, you will probably also attend the next one, so I will have the opportunity to tell you about it better."
"Wow! I hope that they will not condemn me to death!"
"Oh, no, don't worry, someone will propose it, but the final decision is rarely so drastic!"
"What?" Jonathan jumped, startled, but seeing the Count giggling he calmed down soon.
Dracula stopped and started to press various stones on the ground with his feet until an underground passage was opened.
The two went through it and in a short time they reached the long stone bridge, unfortunately it was under sunshine.
"I should have said to Wayne to ask Jack to pick me up with the hearse..."
"What do we do? I'll go ahead and ask your driver?"
"There will not be a need, young human."
Jonathan looked at Drac, but it was not him who spoke, so they both looked around, but there was no one else.
Suddenly the two were dazzled by hundreds of beams of light of all colors. Dracula was obliged to protect himself under his cloak so as not to burn, but Jonathan could see that incredible show. A crystal clear water snake was coming out from the lake and the sunlight that crossed it was broken in all the colors of the rainbow, then from that water materialized a big blue sea serpent, with three pairs of long thin mustache, it was not hairy but meaty as those of a catfish and with two large purple wings behind the head. The sea dragon was ridden by a man about twelve feet tall with green scaly legs and a thick black beard full of seaweed and shells, he wore a Greek tunic and brandished a golden trident.
The two were very similar to the statue of a merman on a Leviathan in the fountain on the back garden of the castle, so Jonny figured that they were them.
The mighty couple lost all their glory when they began to spit and complain:
"Drac! When are you going to salt the water of this lake? It's crappy, you know?" Said the dragoon still disgusted.
"After all this time where you do not come to Transylvania, the first thing you do is complain?"
"And you, after all this time where you do not meet me you grumble me?" Said the merman, "So this is the famous human? The news has already been around the world giving birth to the greatest scandal of all time. On "The Daily Inquisition" the death of Van Helsing is only at the seventh page... I brought you a copy!" The man said pulling out a dripping and completely faded newspaper, "Okay, Never mind..."
Jonathan and Dracula giggled embarrassing the merman who tried to change the subject:
"If you want I'd shade you up to your castle."
"Yes, that sounds good!"
The man fell to the ground, while the Leviathan was transformed into water and then a giant wave came up from side to side of the bridge, generating a long water tunnel.
The three walked in, the water was continuously moving and made a loud noise.
Jonathan looked around, amazed at the powerful magic of that sea dragon.
"Forgive me if I haven't introduced everyone yet, Jonathan this is Poseidon, he is in the First Circle of the Order, he represents the monsters of salt water, he took me to Hawaii for a meeting of the Order, and we've become friends during the long travel. Poseidon this is Jonathan." Drac said.
The merman held out his hand, but the human was still. The giant looked at him puzzled, but then the boy began to stammer:
"P-Poseidon? The god of the abyss?"
"No, don't go overboard, I'm just the older and stronger merman, but I'm not the one who unleashed storms or tsunamis... At most I could sink a fleet two millennia ago, but now with these modern vessels at the most I can do sicken the sailors..."
"Excuse me if I ask you this question, but what is the "Great Battle"?"
"Do you want to tell it?" Dracula said to Poseidon.
"With pleasure. It was a battle that lasted nearly a thousand years between the dragons and Lilith, the mother of all demons. No one knows how or why she was born, but the only thing she wanted was to destroy everything that had a soul. Before her birth there was no magic and the only intelligent race on Earth were the dragons, and then 66 million years ago, everything changed, the battle was a massacre, not only for the Dragons but also for the majority of living beings in the world which were extinguished. Only small animals survived, and a few dragons. Only Shin Ryu and Agran have lived until today, and now there's only one left.
When Lilith was defeated the splinters of her spirit were flown all over the world and all living beings that were affected by them became magical creatures, giving birth to the monsters."
"What an incredible story, I'm sorry for the death of that dragon... and I didn't think such ancient creatures could exist!" Jonathan said.
"Yeah, in fact, the Asian dragons usually do not have wings, they begin to grow after more than a million years, and she is the only one of her race to have them." Then he turned to the vampire, "Drac, anything you decide to do I will support you, I know that you can always choose the right path. I trust you."
"Thank you..." The Count replied, smiling, "Well, we got there, thanks for the shade!"
"Not at all! See you!" Said the merman, then he jumped in the wave and in a moment the water tunnel vanished.
Dracula opened his cloak, Mavis dozing upside down clinging to her father's jacket. Jonny was looking at her, she was very sweet, but when he realized that the vampire had turned toward him, he looked away pretending nothing.
"Wake up sleepy head, we're home." Said Drac with loving voice.
She opened her eyes still tired. Her father using a spell turned her into a fully dressed human.
"Oh, thank you daddy, I didn't realize I fell asleep." Mavis said, yawning and stretching, then rubbed her eyes and straightened her skirt.
"Mavis, how are you?" Jonathan asked her.
She smiled; everything seemed to finally be back on the right way.
"You have arrived at last," It was the voice of Griffin, "The situation is unwieldy in there, "Frank, Murray and Wayne are in serious trouble."
"And you, why are not you helping them?" Drac rebuked him.
"I was with them, but I was crushed by the crowd..."
"Yeah, in fact you don't look good!"
Mavis and Jonathan giggled quietly so as to not make Griffin more angry.
"Very funny... instead of wasting time why don't you enter?"
"Come on, follow me." The Count said, walking to the revolving door.
Once they entered into the noisy hall a silence fell, the few dozen remaining monsters rushed over the three bombarding them with questions, so chaotic as to be incomprehensible.
For Dracula it was enough for him to raise his index finger to mute them all, he had not used any paralyzing magic, just all the guests were ready to listen to him.
"It's all right." He just said.
There was another moment of awkward silence; maybe the answer was not enough to quench the curiosity of monsters, so Jonathan stepped forward:
"Guys! Mavis is fine, I'm fine, Drac is fine, Van Helsing is just a memory and the castle is safe as usual, what more do you want?"
"Bla blvblo blublu prrrrt!" A red sahuagin babbled, spluttering in the face of the human who could not understand that language therefore Drac intervened:
"Demons? Also I have met the dragons, but even they have found no demon, and therefore they are gone. So I confirmed that we are all safe."
"And how can we trust you?" George Gremlin asked.
"If my father was not sure of the safety of this place would he bring me here again?" Mavis said, dispelling any remaining doubt.
"Thank you all for your understanding and I apologize for the inconvenience, but now I have to accompany my children to the infirmary for additional checks, if you don't mind..." The vampire asked, cordially.
The monsters dispersed and they walked to the secret passage which opened on the floor by a snap of the vampire's fingers.
"Where you going archduke?" The words of Murray made the three stop, "Monsters here have talked about a certain party... When is the great day?" The mummy asked anxiously.
"Murray, old party animal, let them rest at least!" Frank answered him.
Dracula just smiled and then walked on.
"Daddy, can I rest in my room? This place is full of bad memories..."
"I know my little-louse, but it's good to remain under observation for a little while."
"Jonathan, could you be with me?" The girl asked the boy.
"Well, it would be nice, but I must agree with your father too..."
"Jonny I have prepared you another room." Dracula said with authority.
The girl looked down a bit 'sad.
"Don't worry honey-vamp, I'll be with you until you fall asleep," Jonny suggested, "All right?" He concluded turning to Drac, who reluctantly agreed with a slight nod.
Mavis leaned her head back to catch the eye of her father who was right behind her; she had a nice bright smile.
The three came into the room where Mavis sat down on the bed, took off her shoes and lay down, meanwhile Jonathan sat down on a chair beside the bed, stroked the girl's hair with his fingers and then had them slip down her cheek and finally took her hand entwining her fingers with his.
"I love you Mavy." He whispered.
"I love you Jonny." She answered the same way.
Drac at that time was talking to a nursemummy at the door and his daughter's words gave him a thrill of bittersweet pleasure. He shared Mavis' happiness, but he knew that he would no longer be the center of her attention, but overall she found someone really worthy of her, someone who loved, respected and protect her as he had done in these 118 years, and perhaps it was rightly so.
The nursemummy went away, and the vampire turned to his daughter, who was already asleep.
"Jonny, do you remember the pacts?" He said, but there was no answer.
He had also collapsed, exhausted, his head had fallen back with his mouth open wide, he was snoring and a drizzle of drool went down to the neck.
The vampire walked over to him, he could barely restrain his laughter, then paused a moment on their entwining hands.
"All right, you've won, but only because I do not want to wake my Mavy-wavey... But if you stay in that position you will have a stiff neck!"
So Drac used his magic to lift the boy's head and with a snap of his fingers a pillow appeared where he leaned the boy's head, now he was in a much more comfortable posture.
It had been a few hours and after fixing some problems and damage to the hotel due to the rowdy wolf pups and absence of staff during the search of Mavis, Dracula could relax for a moment enjoying his new arm. Of course, it was nothing more than an arm of a zombie stuck to his shoulder with some adhesive tape. It did not respond to his commands perfectly and smelled rancid, but all in all it was better than nothing while waiting for the real one grow again.
The vampire was in his coffin looking at the painting of Martha.
"Who would have thought that our little girl would grow so quickly? Well, it's true and she's the same age as you when you knew me, but she still looks so young, almost like a child... maybe it's a sign of changing times, perhaps the modern generations stop to grow old before... But how can I let her go on her way? It's so hard to accept... If only you were here with me to advise me... I've always been the one with a blocked mind on his own ideas and refuses any change, and you were the one who convinced me to try new things, but now I'm alone and I do not know what to do."
"You just learn to live your life..." A voice, light and sweet, like a slight sigh of a loving mother, "I will live forever in your heart, but your life is incomplete without a person who loves you and you cannot force your daughter to be with you forever, you're selfish..."
"Martha? I- It's impossible!" Drac exclaimed in amazement.
"Open your heart to a new love; you think it was just a coincidence you saved that girl in the woods? It was your destiny."
Dracula was too excited to answer, but then he noticed that in the light from the door there were shadows of someone peeping and who seemed to be giggling, so the Count opened his cloak with so much rapidity that it held up a thick cloud of dust from the ground.
"Coff! Coff! Coff!" Someone not far from Dracula coughed loudly, it was Griffin made visible by the dust that had settled on him.
"I should imagine that it was your work, when you play charades you're a duffer, but you've always been the best at imitating voices." The vampire said, pointing his finger menacingly towards the wall above Griffin, but noticing the error with the other hand he took his malfunctioning zombie arm and brought it at the right height to indicate the face of the dusty invisible man.
"Oh, damn, he located us!" Wayne said.
"Let's get out!" Murray exclaimed, but before they could escape the vampire used his magic to capture them and bring them in front of him.
"This trick was taught to you by your friend "I-have-eye-for-detail"?" Asked Griffin, "Or after more than a hundred years you realize that this room needed a wipe?"
"What did you want to do?" The count yelled, angry, "This seems to be nice joke, knowing how much it hurts me?"
"I did not agree," Frank began to speak, "But I worry seeing you always sad when you think about your wife. After all, what Griffin said is true, is that even what Martha would like?"
"You may not know what Martha would like, and you cannot judge me because your wife is still alive!" Dracula replied, angrily, this response made everyone indignant.
"Also I was like you," said Frank, in a tone so serious that he did not even seem himself, "I wandered the world in search of something that will seem minimal, but it is what differentiates us from others, a name. My father never ever gave me one, he always called me "experiment" , "monster" or "devil" and just because he's dead doesn't mean that I can never have one. You just have to learn to live your life by detaching yourself from the past, because I don't think Martha would be glad to know to be the burden that prevents you and Mavis to live truly free and serene."
"A zing only happens once in your life." Drac quoted, sighing and turning away.
"It's true, but a zing made you start a new life, her death, unfortunately, made you start another one." Frank said, and the other monsters nodded.
"No, in my heart there is and will always be only Martha..."
"If that's the way you think, were sorry for teasing you." Wayne replied, sadly, "But where is Viky? We thought we'd find her at the castle."
"Yeah, she had promised me a tattoo!" Murray continued.
Dracula's eyes widened in terror, he had left Victoria in the infirmary, right next door to where Mavis and Jonathan were resting.
After a moment of panic the vampire managed to find a credible excuse:
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't allow the coming of other humans, even Jonny was a big exception. I erased her memory and ordered her to never return."
"Thank you so much Count of Boredomland!" Murray reproached him.
"Too bad, she was a nice girl..." Frank exclaimed.
But the vampire did not listen to them and ran out of the room shouting:
"I'm going to see how Mavis is, I'll be back soo~oon!"
The three monsters, and maybe also Griffin, shrugged, confused by the strange behavior of Drac.
In an instant, the vampire reached the door of the infirmary room, he was hesitant.
"Or she's bled to death after the transfusion, or she's fled, so why am I concerned?"
The vampire opened the door and stepped inside.
"Finally you came back; I thought you'd forgotten me!"
The unexpected woman's voice startled Drac.
"Why the hell are you still here?!" He said approaching her, "Why didn't you run away if you recovered?"
She was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall.
"To tell you the truth I tried to force the door of this prison, but I couldn't find the lock."
"Lock? Prison? But have you tried to open the door using the handle? This is an infirmary, the doors don't have locks and can't be locked!"
"It's so? I thought it was locked for granted..." Victoria said, visibly frustrated.
Drac did a face palm, he was dejected too.
"And you're the one who almost killed me?" He said, making the girl giggle.
"Would you like some pistachios?" She said holding out her hand full of seeds to the count.
"No, thanks... hey, wait, where did you find pistachios?"
"Well, I love pistachios and you left your magic jar unattended..."
"Damned thief of pistachios!" The vampire growled taking back the magic jar.
"Just joking, I know why you're here." The human said in a suddenly serious voice.
Dracula nodded his head, the smile he had on his face was gone.
"But I can't let you do it," She continued, pulling out a dagger from her boot, the vampire took a step back, "You've killed too many people, too many innocent... I can't let you kill me too."
Dracula opened his hand and his estoc appeared.
"Your heart is already torn by the laments of your past life, you don't deserve it, and you're a good man." She concluded, smiling but with tears in her eyes.
Then Victoria closed her eyes, the tears streaming down her face, she grasped the dagger with both hands and pointed it in the middle of her chest, right on her heart.
But a moment before doing it she felt the cold hands of the vampire tap hers.
The human looked up at Drac's face.
"I thank you for the generous offer," The vampire said, "But I refuse it."
Victoria left the dagger, she was confused.
"There are things I need to fix by myself." Dracula spoke again pointing his sword where before her dagger pointed.
The girl closed her eyes.
"You know, you haven't rebuked me yet." She said, in a soft voice.
"For what?"
"For calling' you "Drac"..."
"You could choose your last words better."
Victoria chuckled as the cold sword of the vampire penetrated through her flesh, through her heart, until it stops on the hard wall.
The curly red head slid back leaning against the wall, breathing out. Not even that sword, which had broken her heart, had managed to break her smile.
This chapter is the longest chapter I've ever written, as usual I thought it would have been shorter and instead...
I hope you liked this chapter and the whole fanfiction!
This could be the last chance to review, I said "could" because, as you have noticed I have left many things on hold and I have many ideas for a possible sequel.
Unfortunately I'm very busy and begining another long story takes me a lot of time, I do it with pleasure, but for me it's really hard. I do not know if I'll write the sequel the next week, or month or never, the only sure thing is if I begin this new project I'll complete it, as I have demonstrated to you with my first fanfic.
So let me know if you want me to continue my story!
See you soon! And thank you for reading!