I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my readers, reviewers and the beta reader wallaceb.
I'm sorry for the delay, but I got some truble these last weeks.
CHAPTER 4 - Unexpected check in
Jonathan came to Mavis' room door, still thoughtful of Dracula's words. Would he be able to convince his zing to give up her dreams of traveling and discover the world?
The boy gave a slight nose-sigh and raised his hand ready to knock, but was stopped by a hand resting on his shoulder, it was Drac.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" The vampire said.
Jonathan turned.
"I should not talk to Mavis?" He answered.
"We will, now quickly follow me." the Count concluded, walking towards the room next to Mavis' and now free.
The two entered, the human closed the door behind him and the vampire began to speak with his back towards the boy:
"Answer me honestly and without omissions, it's important." Then he turned, his worried look crossing with the Jonathan's puzzled one. "You're not fine." He said bluntly, "Unlike many other monsters I know humans, the others haven't noticed it, but you're pale, have dark swollen circles under your eyes, your eyes are bloodshot and you struggle to maintain balance."
"It's nothing." The human snorted, "I'm just a little tired, you know, sleeping during the day and living at night is not natural for us humans!" He concluded with a chuckle.
"Are you sure it's just that?" The vampire asked, so serious that even the boy took off his smile.
"No, it's not just that..." Jonny's voice became gloomy, "You're right, I cannot sleep."
"I know many monsters make horrible noises when they sleep, so it's normal to always have some screams during the day, but the cries I heard in the last few weeks were different from the usual ones. What is it that upsets you so much? Is it about what has happened to Mavis?"
Jonathan looked down.
"I have nightmares, horrible nightmares... I continue to see it as soon as I fall asleep."
"The demon?"
The human remained silent confirming Drac's concerns.
"Since you've looked through his eyes?" The Count continued.
"I keep seeing that eye, yellow... huge... flaming... menacing... Before I wake up immediately, but now that I'm more tired I can't and it's a terrible torture. Today I woke up crying blood." He said, barely holding the tears.
"Damn... Why didn't you tell me before?"
Jonathan took a moment before answering:
"You have too many things to think about. In just one week there will be an uproar of monsters, dragons and who knows what else around here! They could close this amazing place if everything is not in order... that's why I don't want to give you further concerns..."
"Boy, you know that my only concerns are you and Mavis, everything else doesn't matter if you have problems," Drac said in a fatherly voice, "I wish I could help you, but erasing your memory won't erase the fear and shock you've felt. You've shown great courage looking a demon in its eyes, in your place many would not have survived. Seeing the true spirit of a demon is a terrible experience."
"But in doing so I've found Mavis. And that's what counts." He sighed contentedly.
"And that's the reason why in spite of what you are I think you the best person for my daughter."
"Hey, this is racism against humans!" The young man exclaimed.
"You are wrong; this is racism against dumb people!" Dracula jokingly pointed, unleashing the wrath of the human, "Now go to her, I do not want make you lose any more time."
Jonathan smiled, then walked toward the door.
"You've escaped once again, old man!" He said as he left.
"Hey Jonny, you're all right?" The shrunken head gave a happy welcome to the boy, "When Mavis came angrily slamming the door I thought you were coming immediately, what have you been doing all of this time? Come on, answer me!"
"Let's say I was held..." Jonathan replied.
"Ah... I understand... The Count Crockula has made another of one his messes and now sends you to fix his mistakes. Got it?! Can you hear me from there?!" She concluded addressing Drac who was walking away down the hall and replied by puffing without even turning back.
Knoch, Knoch
Jonathan gently knocked on the door, but got no answer.
"Mavy? It's me, can I come in?"
Nothing.
The boy gave a questioning look to the shrunken head, who replied with a shrug-face.
"Come on boy, come in, I don't know why your girlfriend has not responded, but she gave me permission to let you in if you were alone." The head said.
Jonny slowly opened the door announcing himself again.
"Mavy? Your knob-head told me to come in, are you here?"
Jonathan looked around, still amazed at the excellent work the witches had done in rebuilding the interior of the bedroom.
"They would also be convenient at my house, but maybe even they would not be enough to repair the disasters of my three little brothers." He said to himself, sighing thoughtfully, as he was crossed by a slight shiver down his spine from homesickness, not so much homesickness but family-sickness. It had now been more than two months since he saw them, but with a shake of his head he got rid of all these sentimental thoughts.
The room was dark and it looked like there was no one there, the window was closed by heavy curtains and the candles were extinguished, but the boy could still smell the melted wax as they had been extinguished recently.
Jonathan walked over to the large window, opening the curtains and lighting up the room, outside there was some clouds, but they would not have protected Mavis if she had gone out from the window.
The boy was about to leave the room, but as he walked down the antechamber he heard a buzz coming from the bathroom, then he approached the door he managed to hear Mavis who hummed softly.
"Mavy? Is everything okay?" Jonathan asked, cautiously, knocking on the door.
"Jonny?" She answered, insecure, from behind the door, "Jonny are you? Are you alone?" She concluded.
"Yeah, sorry if I came in without your permission, the little head out here said I could..."
"I know, come on, and get inside." She invited him with a sweet voice.
The boy slowly opened the door and was hit by a soft scent of soap and warm humid air, and then he looked around and saw Mavis immersed in the bath full of foam. She had her arms crossed on the edge of the tub and held her head lying on them.
"Woh! Mavy!" Jonathan exclaimed, embarrassed turning away immediately, "I... I'm sorry... I... I didn't want..." He stammered.
"But I wanted!" She replied with a mischievous little girl's voice, as she removed a headset from her ear to hear better her boyfriend.
The boy didn't answer, but he could hear the soft sound of water move as Mavis changed position. She was now lying immersed up to her chin and with her knees bent out of the water.
"The phone you lent me is fantastic; you have a lot of good music in here!" The girl exclaimed, making the phone float inside a soap bubble protecting it from the water.
"Just don't get it wet, please, anyway the summer is over, the solar charger will not charge it for you as easily as before..." He said while remaining turned.
"Well, try asking my uncle Frank, he's an electricity expert. If you want your Xperia you can come and pick it..." She challenged him, but Jonny didn't move, "So, Jonny's back," She said, mocking the human who still had his back turned towards her, "What did my father say while I was gone?" She asked, falsely disinterested.
Jonathan turned back toward her, although shifting his gaze anywhere but on her.
"Well, you know how your father is, I tried to speak, and he has decided that we are going to visit your mother's castle." Said the boy in a serious manner.
"How boring is that monster!" Exclaimed the vampiress almost angry, crossing her soapy-wet legs and swinging the leg by touching her foot on the water slowly, sighing sadly, but a moment later she stopped, puzzled, "Wait... What did you say?" She concluded, raising an eyebrow, confused and a little hopeful.
"You got it, baby; soon I'll let you know what's outside these walls." He said in a cool-man tone.
At these words, the girl sat up quickly, placing her hands on the edge of the bath craning her neck as much as she could towards Jonathan to be sure to hear him better.
Her eyes sparkled with thrill and happiness.
"Really?" Mavis squeaked, excitedly and Jonny replied with a satisfied smile.
The vampiress stood up in a flash, Jonathan put his hands in front of his chest in defense, but before he could say "stay down" to his girlfriend, all that remained of her was just the outline of foam and water that was on her which soon fell to the ground, as she tuned into a cloud of purple and light mist. She was moving along the bathroom, until she reached a large black towel with a red HT logo that she picked up and dragged up in front of the boy, then she raised up wrapping it around herself, and she rematerialized, still a little wet.
The two were face to face, so close that their noses were touching.
At that moment, the thrill of Mavis could only be equaled by the embarrassment of Jonathan.
"When." The girl asked, bluntly and with a tone more suited to a statement than a question. Her blue eyes were never so big and shiny like at that time.
The boy tried to back away, but she grabbed him by his sweatshirt and pulled him even closer to her, more and more impatient to get a definite answer.
"Precisely I don't know, as soon your father is released from his obligations. Also he deserves a little rest; this whole council thing is bringing him out of his mind. But I promise you it will be very soon... of course, I'm not a vampire who is obliged to keep his word, but I hope you can still trust me."
The broad smile on the girl's face faded in an instant, replaced by anger. Then she left him, she turned and walked a few steps away.
"Vampires and promises" Mavis began to speak in a voice filled with poison, without even looking at him, "My father has proven otherwise..."
"Hmmm... Technically, your father promised that he gave you permission to visit a human city when you turned a hundred-eighteen. He just lied about the location of a real village, maybe that is why during your party he was so worried when you told him you want to try again..."
But the anger was short lived; as these words defeated it, donating to Mavy a new smile, happy and a bit dismissive.
"You're right," The girl exclaimed, turning her gaze to the boy, then began wandering around the room as she was accustomed to do when she reflected, "If, after this visit to my mom's castle my dad will not want to release me, I can remind him of his promise! You're a genius Jonny! Now I have no more chains preventing me from achieving my dreams."
The boy smiled in satisfaction, but a moment later Drac's words echoed in his head and that smile was shattered.
"Holy crap... what have I done? Now how can I tell her that...?" Jonathan muttered to himself, mentally slapping his own face, "I'm sorry Mavy, but I have to go. Dress yourself, I'll back soon..." He continued, gesturing nervously.
"Why are you going so early?" She asked, "Do you want to leave me alone again?" She said, stroking her wet hair which dripped on her bare shoulders.
"Y-Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention some important things to your father, I wouldn't forget it..." Jonathan replied, looking for a plausible excuse.
And Mavis stood there, motionless, watching her boyfriend run away and vanish over the door.
"It must be really important if he prefers him to me..." She sighed, a little disappointed.
…
"Drac?! Drac?!" Jonathan called hysterically as he ran here and there in the hotel.
It did not take long before the security service noticed the rowdy guest and ran to his aid, carrying him to the hotel owner, who was in the party room with the architect Hyde and a team of zombie carpenters to discuss future changes.
"Drac... Pant, pant... Thanks suits of armor I found you!" The human said exhausted, "I messed up..." He concluded with a regretful child-like look.
Dracula turned and his quiet expression changed suddenly.
"What are you doing here?" He growled as his voice was rough and his eyes half closed, angrily frowning.
"Please, don't get mad!" Jonathan begged him, but the old vampire did not heed him.
"I too am happy to see you." Said a female voice, in an Eastern European accent, which came from behind the boy, then there was another, male, with an English accent:
"Always polite as usual..."
The boy turned back, they were a man and a woman, dressed with elegant antique Victorian clothing.
She was a petite young woman with pale skin, brown eyes and hair, wearing a bodice that showed off the curves of her narrow waist and large breasts leaving her shoulders bared and a long flounce draped skirt down to the floor both red and black damask, and a black lace choker with a red rose on black background cameo as a pendant.
The man beside her looked a lot like Dracula, both in dress and physically, black hair, pale skin and brown eyes, but he looked much younger than the count. He wore a black morning dress held open, a red silk shirt with frilly cuffs topped with a black lace jabot and a red and black damask waistcoat as the dress of women, black classic-cut trousers, ankle boots in black leather with belts without laces, and on his shoulders a long, heavy black cloak.
They walked arrogantly toward the count, who seemed surprised and nervous to see them.
"Lord Ruthven, Countess Bathory... you know you are not welcome." Said the vampire rudely, as it had never happened with any other visitor.
"And so this would be the famous human?" The woman asked with a smile, ignoring Drac, but also Jonathan himself could feel the hostility hidden by that good face.
Dracula passed the boy, standing in front of him, as if needing to defend him.
"That's not your concern." The Count replied, irritated, "Now be gone, we don't accept new arrivals until October 30. Even then you would not be able to get in."
"Your security service is not very effective; members of the Order don't like it..." The Lord mocked him.
"Drac, but who..." Jonny began to ask, but Dracula quickly raised his hand up to the human's face to silence him, rudely.
"Now we are here and we'll not leave so easily, deliver your best room and we will avoid any unpleasant surprises. We will remain only to assist the Council, don't worry, we're not going to stay longer." The countess said, arrogantly, "Oh, yeah, it also must be spacious enough for my four pets."
Dracula clenched his fists, full of anger, then turning to a zombie:
"Accompany the lady and the gentleman to suite number 99 in the dungeons." Then moving his eyes to the woman, "I know you like luxurious rooms with bricked windows!"
She grimaced angrily, and when she noticed her partner chuckling at the dig from Dracula, she hit him with her elbow. Then the two followed the zombie and when they got inside the elevator they were joined by four girls dressed as maids; they were very young and beautiful, but one of them was more pale and weak to the point of needing to be sustained by the others.
"Shit!" The vampire roared as the elevator closed, strong enough to scare everyone in the whole great room.
"Drac, calm down, this language is not allowed in this hotel." Jonathan joked to defuse the situation.
"Well, news flash, when the situation is already too difficult to believe that it cannot get worse, and instead it falls unexpectedly, you can cuss as much as you want. Also because if I can't do this, I'll vent myself destroying the first thing that comes to my hands and because of your luck it's precisely your head!"
"Jonathan took a step back, frightened."
"Do you want to know who they are? Vampires of first genesis, ex-humans turned into monsters directly by the Lamias generated by the innocent blood that they themselves have spilled. There are only three, and the third is me, but unlike them, I have regretted what I did."
"And they are so dangerous? Also their daughters?" Jonathan asked.
"Daughters? Creatures without a soul such as them can only conceive corpses; those four humans are just their portable fridge bar."
The boy shuddered, enough to make him sick to his stomach.
"How... how did you meet them?"
"We three are the founders of the Monstrous Supremacy group, but since I met Martha we hate each other... They don't make our life easy..."
"So they are conservatives? And what interests about me do they have?"
"They want to kill you." The vampire said, bluntly, "After all, I see no other reason for their visit..." He concluded, sorry about the risks to which it would have been subject to human.
The boy gulped.
"What? How could you allow them to stay?!" He whimpered, freaked out.
"What else could I do?" Dracula replied, disappointed by his weakness, "If I had driven them out they would have done something even worse and unpredictable, just for the sake of revenge. At least now I have them under control."
I hope you liked the chapter, remember to review!