I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my readers, reviewers and the beta reader wallaceb.
Forgive me another time for being so late. Unfortunately I had other problems with my work; I hope to be less busy the next days.
CHAPTER 6 - Hidden shadows
"Good morning, Drac!" The young man exclaimed, perky as he used to be.
The vampire turned slowly.
"You finally woke up Sleeping Beauty!" He replied, jokingly.
"And I could sleep for much longer if I wasn't hungry!"
"Don't worry, it's almost lunch time. Rather, did you sleep well?"
"To tell you the truth I dreamed it again, but this time I was not scared, I knew that I am no longer alone to face it... But tell me, where's Mavis?"
Drac's happy expression faded and he sighed gloomily.
"Oh... yeah... The mess that I've made that I haven't had time to tell you... It was my fault you had a row?" Johnny replied
The old vampire sighed again, worried.
"Yes, you've made a mess, but you're not the real problem. Erzsebet approached Mavis, with such lovely words and so much kindness that they have become friends. I don't know what her intentions are, but I'm sure that they're not good, she's probably using my daughter to hit me... or worse... you."
Jonathan gulped loudly, to be in the crosshairs of two dangerous vampires who moreover even have Mavis on their side, was certainly not a good prospect for the poor man.
"Are you sure?" Jonny asked, worried, "They may've changed just as you did?"
"No, I can feel their arid heart, they are soulless creatures, the only love that they feel is for themselves."
"And so, what can we do? We cannot allow Mavy to trust monsters like that!"
"We have to let her do what she sees fit. I tried to tell her that they are dangerous, but I fell into the Countess's trap who emphasized how Mavis isn't free to make her own choices. I know it's dangerous but I'll let my daughter recognize that she has given her confidence to the wrong person. But do you really think I'll not keep an eye on her, after all we play in my house!"
"Well said, Drac!" The boy exclaimed, giving a friendly pat to the count, "But where's she now?"
"I'm afraid she's with Erzsebet but she should be back for lunch. I don't trust letting you go to her alone, and if I go with you I would seem too oppressive."
…
"So, little vampire? Have you calmed down?" The Countess said, playfully, flopping down on the soft armchair.
Mavis was silent for a moment before answering:
"Yes, I love my father, but sometimes he just infuriates me... Why is it so hard for him to understand I'm not a kid anymore? Why does he keep giving me all of these false illusions?"
She walked in a circle in the large room, still nervous.
"Mavy?" The woman asked, drawing the attention of the young vampire, "You're nervous not only because of your father, right?"
Mavis blinked stopping herself and sighed.
"Am I right?" Erzsebet insisted.
"It's not so easy..." The young girl replied, frowning and anguished, walking again and placing a hand on a column of the canopy bed.
"Keeping problems to yourself and not telling anyone what you're afraid of can really eat you up. I learned it in the hard way... I know you cannot always speak freely with your family, because you don't want to worry about the people you love. That's why I often talk about my problems with my maidens who are also my friends. Do you have someone who you can consider a friend?"
The vampire sighed, and then turned to the noblewoman.
"I never went out of this castle and the only people who come here are adult monsters, at most with children. I've often talked about my more personal things with my aunties, but now that I'm growing up I would like someone who has my same mindset, my aunties are too old to understand me."
"But now you have me!" Erzsebet answered, amicably.
Mavis was puzzled at first, but the smile of her friend seemed too sincere to not trust.
"I read the newspapers..." The Countess broke the silence, "I can only imagine what happened to you. Is this bothering you so much? I can see it in your eyes, you're scared... you can hide it from everyone, even your father, but not from me."
"I would rather talk about something else." Mavis broke her off, abruptly.
"A young vampire like you should let herself go and vent all her vices and whims! You'll be 118 years only once in your life, you should live it!" The woman insisted, getting up from the chair and walking slowly to Mavis, up to reach her, then she put a hand on her shoulder and kept walking around her until she reached her back.
Her words reminded her of Jonny, after all they are similar, both are free spirits.
"W-what are you doing?" The girl stammered, embarrassed.
"Relax... I just want to teach you how to live... you'll like it!- Erzsebet replied in a too sensual voice.
Mavis stood still, she was not even looking at her and therefore had no idea what she was doing, but she felt her hand slip from her shoulder passing over her bare neck, until it reaches the other shoulder, forcing the young vampire to arch her neck back, while the other arm was held her up to belly.
Mavis felt a shiver flow from her legs up to her neck.
"S-stop it..." The girl whispered, but those words were lost when she felt a slight pinch at her neck and a moment later was invaded by a heat which expanded rapidly all over her body.
Mavis wanted to run, but Erzsebet enveloped her like a snake with its prey, and more the girl was breathing and more she felt herself tighten and choke, but it did not hurt her, this embrace was as hard as it was loving and Mavis felt as threatened as she felt protected.
This feeling of being trapped was exciting, almost erotic and Mavis stopped struggling and closed her eyes, abandoning herself to that flood of emotions.
It was all so strange, she felt full of life and, nor her father, nor Jonathan had made her feel emotions so strong and confused, but they were not new, although she could not remember when and where she had felt them.
Her heart beat fast, more than even a human who was escaping a hungry vampire, but it seemed like her.
"Humans know how to be cruel..." The Lady whispered in the girl's ear and those feeble words awakened images in Mavis' heart that she would rather forget, an ominous shadow, a bow, an arrow... The girl winced as if a jet of icy water had suddenly awakened her from a nightmare.
Erzsebet moved to the other ear and continued to whisper:
"But they can be awfully sweet... if you know what I mean..."
The beat of Mavis' heart increased again, and other images passed quickly and confused her mind, but they were not the ones that she expected, no party, no kiss, no zing... the only thing that she really felt was that bitter and metallic smell, but just as inebriating and sweet.
She bit her lower lip, smiled wickedly showing her long fangs and dropped her head back up to lay it on the countess's shoulder.
Now she remembered the first time she felt so full of life, she could almost feel that taste in her mouth...
Erzsebet was right, for a vampire nothing is sweeter than the blood of a young human and even if Mavis had kept him hidden, even if she pretended nothing, even if her feelings for Jonathan were stronger than her instincts, she had never forgotten that night.
"Mavy?" The woman asked, drawing the attention of the young vampire, "You're nervous not only because of your father, right?"
Mavis blinked and shook her head, then looked around, bewildered. She was alone beside the canopy bed and Erzsebet was sitting in her armchair. She seemed to experience a sense of deja vu.
"Am I right?" Erzsebet insisted.
"Oh, well... I'm sorry, it seemed that..." Mavis replied, still confused and insecure.
The countess looked at her curiously, as she put her strange perplexity aside, replying:
"No, nothing..."
"You're right, but it is not easy to talk about. It is about what happened the night that I fought against Van Helsing, I was so weak..." She concluded gritting her teeth, angry at herself.
"It's not your fault, you were very strong, after all, you stood up to the most experienced hunter of the world and you were also able to protect your beloved Jonathan." The Countess tried to bring up the morale of the girl, but she seemed have a completely different opinion.
"It is not true..." Mavis said, looking down and stopping in front of a wall. "I also forced Van Helsing to flee, but I was overwhelmed by my instincts... I shouldn't have surrendered so easily."
"And how was it?" Erzsebet asked, intrigued, almost happy for what happened.
Mavis turned and looked at her indignantly, the woman realized that she had over stepped her bounds, but before she could apologize, she replied anyway, looking away from her friend, as if the girl was ashamed for what she had done.
"It was horrible, if I hadn't been forced, I wouldn't have ever done it, but in that case... I'm not sure I could have done anything else to save both of us..."
Those words left Erzsebet curious, she understood that Mavis had omitted something important, something that she wanted to find out, but she was satisfied with the response that she had obtained, in spite of the too direct and impertinent question.
Erzsebet looked at the young vampire, that question had disturbed her more than she bargained for.
"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have forced you to remember that thing. I didn't want to hurt you."
But Mavis seemed to have other thoughts on her mind; in fact she walked anxiously around the room, including the walls and ceiling.
"Whaaaa! Whaaaa!" The phone rang loudly and the Countess went to answer it.
"In half an hour dinner will be served, please take a seat at the table." The skeleton phone exclaimed.
"Yes, thank you..." The noblewoman said, disinterested, hanging up the phone, then she turned to Mavis. "Are you still sulky with me?"
She did not answer for a moment, she was sitting on the big iron grate that closed the well and looked down, "Tonight the stars seem brighter than usual..." The girl whispered, then looked up, it was clear she did not want to touch that topic anymore.
"What a sentimentalist!" The Countess exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling of her suite to meet the gaze of Mavis who was just above her, hanging upside down on the skylight.
The girl stood up and was ready to get down on the floor again, but she stopped when she heard a familiar voice coming from under (or perhaps I should say above) her:
"Mavy? Is that really you?"
The vampire looked down and saw Jonny peeking through the skylight well. She smiled, happy to see him in full form and bent slightly placing her hands on her knees.
"Wow! I almost didn't recognize you dressed like that, I've never seen you so beautiful!" He continued in amazement.
Mavis smiled excitedly, and her cheeks blushed, she loved to be appreciated, especially by Jonathan.
"Maybe it's because now you're looking at her from the right perspective." Erzsebet commented, jokingly.
At first these words left the two lovers perplexed, even if noticing her presence Jonathan was frightened, but Mavis soon realized what the Countess was referring to.
"Jonny!" She yelled, angry, but mostly embarrassed, while she pushed her skirt between her legs.
At this point even the human noticed his gaffe and looked away, forgetting Erzsebet for a moment.
Mavis sat down with high knees and dropped herself forward, but when her body reached the grate she went through it as if she were immaterial and continued the strange somersault until she was outside the room, from the natural side of gravity, and finally she stood up and put her crossed arms on the wall of the fake well.
"Jonny? How are you? Did you sleep well?" The vampire asked in a soft voice.
"Sure, thank you! I'm just sorry for not seeing your pretty face when I woke up!" The boy replied romantically, making his girlfriend smile, "Come on, get out, I want to see you." He concluded, offering his hand to her.
Mavis took it and rose into the air, floating above the wall and landing in front of the human resting her hands on her narrow waist, remodeled by the corset, which also pronounced her hips and made her breasts seem bigger. This gave her a more curvy and sensual shape, much different from the young maiden who Jonathan was accustomed to seeing, so much so that he was speechless, while Mavis was staring at him, anxious to get his opinion.
"So? What do you think?" She asked.
Jonny blinked as if he had just woken from a daydream.
"You-you're fantastic." He answered, he simply could not find better words to describe such beauty, "Where did you find these new clothes? I remember your closet was full of only your black dresses which were all the same."
"It's true, before it was my father who to decided what I could wear, but I think I have more style than him." Mavis said, chuckling, "Erzy, my new friend, gave me these clothes. I must absolutely present her to you, she's cool!" The vampire girl concluded, excited, but Jonathan seemed to be of another mood, he frowned and said, badly hiding his fears:
"Yes... well... maybe later. Dinner is almost served, shall we go together?"
The young girl nodded, then went back to the fake well.
"Erzy! We're going, are you coming too?"
"No, thanks, I want to wait for my husband, he should be back soon." The Countess replied.
The two began to walk, hand in hand, towards the side door of the hotel.
"I love the young, they are so naive..." Erzsebet whispered in her luxurious suite.
"And I love you, you'd be able to seduce even a stone with your charm." A dark ghostly voice answered her.
The Lady ran a hand through her hair, styled in a bun, but her shadow did not followed her, indeed, it seemed to fiddle with something in its hand, it was less dark than the rest of the shadow, as if it were transparent.
"And so the little vampire went to dinner with her boyfriend... I hope he enjoys this meal, because his could become the main course! Ha ha ha!" The Shadow exclaimed, rising on the long skirt up to her shoulders, then Ruthven came out of it and the real shadows of the immortal couple returned to normal.
The Lord embraced his countess from behind and she took his wrist and moved his hand in front of her face, inhaling deeply through her nose; that sent her into ecstasy, her lover was holding a thin empty syringe in his hand.
"Blood of a young virgin, when I injected it, it was still warm... Would you like some?" Ruthven said with a persuasive voice.
"Don't tempt me, I have a craving! You know, I 've never spent so much time fasting, as I told Mavis we drink human blood very rarely, I don't want to smell of blood when I'm with her."
"A long time? It went a little more than half a day!" The Lord replied, chuckling.
"You seem a little? However, are you sure that the plan has been successful?"
"I injected the blood directly into her jugular. She barely noticed the passing of my shadow on herself, the puncture, and the blood that I gave to her, all thanks to you who distracted her perfectly.
She had already tasted the power of human blood, but her feelings and the bad memories related to her first bite probably have meant that she kept control of herself. But this new dose of blood will awaken her vampire instincts. There will be fun... let's see what the Council of the Order of the Dragons think about peaceful coexistence between monsters and humans after little Mavis Dracula eats, for the second time, her beloved human!" The vampire concluded, smiling wickedly.
"So we just have to wait…" Erzsebet said, turning to the man.
"Remember, we are not here to wait, our true objective is much more important and we must not fail. There is just a reason why all those dragons came here suddenly and armed for battle. I'm sure Dracula knows what really happened two weeks ago. I'll make him talk at all costs."
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