I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my readers, reviewers and the beta reader floodmaster16.

10/31/2014 Monsters of Hotel Transylvania wishing you Happy Halloween!

The chapter has become longer than expected, I hope you enjoy it.

CHAPTER 10 – A woman's touch

Although it would only be a short time that Drac would allow his daughter to drive and she had never gone beyond the long hotel's bridge, Mavis was a good driver; so much so that she seemed to not be afraid to run at full speed.

"I was hoping you were not like your father, you know? I think I died a couple of times when he brought me back to the hotel. Should I be worried with you too?"Jonathan told Mavis.

"What are you insinuating? Unlike you, I am professional!" The vampire exclaimed.

Obviously the rough path of the forest and the old and hard leaf-spring suspension of the hearse made the trip very uncomfortable except for Dracula, who was sitting magically a few inches high from the seat.

Jonathan was sitting in the front seat and acted as navigator with his big and poorly folded map of Romania, but his help was very limited, either because they were driving along an unmarked road, or because holes, roots, and abrupt shifts made him slam everywhere .

"I've never had so much fun!" Mavis exclaimed excitedly, "I hope the travel lasts a little longer!"

"And instead I hope the travel will end soon or I'll end up in pieces!" Jonathan retorted, barely understandable due to the noise of the car.

"Unfortunately for you, Johnny, there are about one hundred and fifty miles between Hotel Transylvania and my old castle, so it will take at least another three hours."

Upon hearing the bad news from Dracula, the human put his hands to his face, but in doing so, because of the uneven terrain, he slapped himself several times.

Shortly after they left the woods, the trail became a dirt road, surrounded by fields. It was not a highway, but it was much more comfortable than before.

"Is this better, Jonny?" The vampiress asked.

He smirked, but before he could answer, she anticipated him:

"Enjoy the road while it lasts, soon there is a new forest!"

"No, please no! I love roller coasters, but I won't get out from this alive!" He complained, putting his hands through his hair, but then he saw something out the window, "Mavis, turn left!"

The girl looked at him a moment, and then with a sudden swerve she launched the hearse into a corn field, making her way among the plants.

"Mavy? Wouldn't it be better to wait and find a crossing? By doing this you ruin the crops and risk of hitting some..." But the boy could not finish the sentence when, with a loud bang, something big and heavy crashed on the windshield. Even in the dark of night could be distinguished clearly a straw hat, a dirty shirt and pants, "Oh my god! You killed a farmer! "Jonathan cried and started to scream like a madman, but Mavis and Dracula did not seem at all worried, in fact, they seemed quite amused, especially when the vampiress activated the wipers which made the "corpse" dancing right and left and began to lose hay until it was completely dismounted.

"I hope scarecrows don't suffer, right Johnny?" Drac said, teasing him.

Shortly after, the rickety hearse reached the end of the corn field and the three found themselves at the edge of an asphalt road, and lit only by the few cars that passed through.

Mavis was amazed by those much more modern and quieter vehicles than her own, but instead Drac looked scared, so much that he crouched to hide himself.

"So this was your plan? Have us pass through the human world?- The old vampire grumbled, "Do you have any idea of the many dangers of staying here? And I am not referring only to humans, even the members of the Council wouldn't happy to know that I'm having other interactions with humans!"

"Come on, Dad," The girl protested, getting onto the street, "What do you think will happen? You worry too much!"

"And you too little!" Replied her father.

"And no one cares about my butt?" Jonathan replied, jokingly angry, "I vote for the asphalt road, so it's two against one. Decision is taken."

"Look, I'm the only one who makes decisions-" But Drac stopped when the two turned and shot him dirty looks, so he sat back, pouting, "But now that we're here I think we can keep to this road."

The travel continued quietly in a more moderate speed to avoid attracting the attention of local police.

A few hours went by, and Jonathan was blissfully asleep, when he was suddenly awakened by the blow of a deep hole. Indeed Mavis had just embarked on a dirt road surrounded by a grove.

The human took the map he used as a blanket and tried to look for their position.

"Forget it kid, we 're almost there." Drac said, "Anyways, let me tell you, as a driver you're bad as you describe yourself, but as a navigator you're worse!" He continued, laughing brazenly.

Johnny turned to him, ready to reply, but he stopped when he saw the vampire's eyes widen and begin to shine, full of emotion.

The car braked slowly until it stopped at the end of the grove. Ahead of them they could see the Lubov castle, lit so brightly that it stood out in the darkness of the valley.

The castle had white walls and round, high, and narrow towers, typical of the royal Eastern European palaces. It wasn't big, but it was extremely high with long and pointed ceilings, as if trying to extend to touch the sky. This gave it a unique beauty and made it comfortable. Since it was a house and not a military base, it had no defenses of any kind and the upper floors were made of wood to lighten the structure, in fact, when it was built it was not designed to withstand a possible attack. The exact opposite of this was true with Hotel Transylvania, which was a solid dark castle defended by massive walls and a deep moat, purposely built with dirty stones and partially destroyed to make it look abandoned and not welcoming to the eyes of outsiders.

"It's even more beautiful at night than in daylight." Jonathan said in amazement.

But Drac was still upset. Almost one hundred and eighteen years had not been enough to overcome that old trauma, perhaps because he refused to face the realitym preferring to avoid it. Preferring to keep his hidden anguish into his heart... "The last time I saw it lit in this way was when..." But the old vampire was unable to finish the sentence, as if he had just recalled the past, choking him. Suddenly he blinked, rising his look Mavis and Johnathan were there, smiling. They had turned toward him and had taken his hands.

And in those eyes he saw the happiness and lightheartedness that he always, or nearly so, had around him, but that he was never really able to see, living for years and years on to pretend being happy with others and crying in his gloomy room. But why pretend if he could be truly happy? After all, his wife would never have wanted to see him sad, and making her the cause of his inner sadness meant was like killing her all over again.

He smiled back, finally freed from the gloom and guilt that had been oppressing him for so long.

Is it possible that so little was enough? Ws it possible that two inexperienced and young people had been able to break a curse like that with a simple glance and win where potions and spells of great sorcerers had failed? Maybe it was true that from a loss, no matter how serious, can come great things: if Martha had been alive Hotel Transylvania would have probably remained just a dream, and maybe a great, sincere love between a monster and a human wouldn't have been born, the precious seed of a future of fraternal brotherhood among the most diverse races of this world.

In the eyes of those young lovers lived Martha's true dream, which was taking place. And for Dracula, there was no better way to honor her memory.

"Shall we?" Jonny asked.

"Shall we?" Mavy repeated.

"LET'S GO!" Drac suddenly exclaimed, as if he had just awakened from a long hibernation, pointing to the old castle, then continued with a calmer tone, "Yes, but we walk, the castle may be guarded."

Mavis turned the engine off and the three got out from the cockpit, walking down the road.

"So Drac, are you excited to come back here after all this time?" Jonathan asked, turning around, but he saw no one.

"I never thought I would ever come back to my old home. Too many distressing memories," It was the voice of the count and seemed close to the boy, but around him you could not see anyone, "But if I deny my past, I deny the happy memories too, the time spent with Martha and the birth of Mavis. "

"D... Drac? Mavy? Where are you?" Jonathan asked with a trembling voice, as he continued to look around, then jumped when he felt his hand get grasped.

"Johnny, maybe you should change glasses, you know? We're right next to you!" It was Mavis , but she looked strange. Indeed, her body seemed almost immaterial, blurred, the guy could barely make out some outline of her body, while the rest was almost invisible, as if she was one with darkness of the night.

"I do not blame him, Mavy. A vampire can hide himself pretty well in the darkness even when he doesn't want to, let alone when he want to go unnoticed." Drac said, then took a few steps forward. The light that came from the castle lit him enough to make him fully visible again.

Right after that, Mavis left the hand of her boyfriend and did the same. After all, it did not seem polite to talk with someone who could not see her.

"This is it," Jonathan said, just arriving at the castle gate and looking at the time-table. It had now been closed for hours, "But how do we get in? We descend from the roof in Mission Impossible-style?"

"No." The Count answered, coldly.

"We pass by the back door as in all cop movies?"

"No."

"Do you turn into bats and we fly through an open window?"

"No." Drac replied, always in the same tone, then he put his hand in the large iron handle, a ring held in the mouth of a gargoyle, and knocked three times. The door unlocked and opened by itself, leaving the human a little disappointed.

The three went inside, the only light was the external one that came in through the front door, but when it closed the castle went dark again.

The two vampires looked around with a sigh full of wonder, then their attention was drawn to a small light. It was Jonathan who had turned on a mini flashlight keychain.

"Sorry, but I don't see anything in the dark." He said, as he took a brochure from a table and read, "Welcome to the Lubov castle. This place, unlike many other castles, was not turned into a museum, but it remained a real home. You will not find closed display cases or information plates beside the objects and there will be free access to all rooms.

The popular legends tell us that the Lubov castle was built in the middle of the 18th century by the noblewoman Lady Lubov.

During a travel to a distant land she met a count of her native land, and the two fell in love.

She went back to her castle, accompanied by her new husband, but, a few months after the birth of their first child, in 1894, a fire destroyed the building and broke up this young family.

Obviously, it is thought that the Lady Lubov died tragically in the fire is a descendant of the one who built the castle, because otherwise she would have been more than 170 years.

The castle was restored to its former glory in the '80s, and thanks to a long restoriation process it has been possible to recreate the castle exactly as it appeared to be over a century ago.

A big thanks goes to the anonymous painter who donated all the paintings hanging on the walls. The only original is the self-portrait of the noblewoman which, although damaged, miraculously survived the fire.

"There are a lot of errors in that brochure," Dracula said with an air of sufficiency, "Martha was a hundred years old when she ordered the construction of her castle. She crashed into me in Hawaii for an important Council of Order of the Dragon in 1794 when she was 118, and after a hundred years of rehabilitation, in which I became the monster who I am now, you were born, Mavis. And the same year, just before Christmas... you know... "

Mavis hugged her father, but they were suddenly overwhelmed by a flash of white light that made them react instantly, ready to defend themselves.

Just a step away from them was the human, his face illuminated by the screen of his phone.

"Well, well... I also have a few tricks to scare the vampires! Although my intention was to capture your sweet hug..."

"Johnny what the hell are you doing? There may be someone here!" Drac grumbled him, still in low voice, but the silence which he tried to maintain was broken by a multitude of sounds from the Johnny's phone.

"Oops, all the messages and notifications from the last two weeks I had the phone off are now arriving."

The boy was able to activate the silent mode, but they were still able to hear the echo of that great noise.

The old Count did a facepalm, but his daughter looked amused.

"You took us a surprise picture?" Mavis asked.

"Yup," The boy replied, then looked at the just taken picture. Drac and Mavy were snarling and with red eyes, they looked like two murderous monsters, so much that Jonathan was puzzled and frightened.

"So, how is it" Mavis asked, curious.

"Blurry. Too bad, I better delete it..." The human replied, lying, preferring to erase that disquieting picture before anyone saw it.

"No more pictures, and no more noise, there may be guards!" The old vampire said, "I told you I don't want to have deal with other humans." He concluded.

"But without taking pictures, what kind of tourists are we?"

"We are tourists who don't take photos." Drac cut short.

"That's not fair!" Mavis exclaimed angrily, "I want to have a lot of memories of today!"

"Mavy's right. And then if there was a guard at this time we would..." Jonathan continued, but was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice:

"Cine este aici?!"

The three looked at each other in the eyes, and exclaimed in unison:

"We've been caught!"

"Cine Esti baiat? A hot?" The man said, pointing his light on the eyes of Johnathan, blinding him.

"I don't speak Romanian, sir." The boy replied, making shade with his hand.

"Americanii stupid..."

"Hey, I think I understand this!" Johnny said, angry.

"I heard you talk your friends. Where your future cellmates?" The guard said in a broken English with a strong Romanian accent, even more marked than Drac's.

"In fata ta..." Dracula replied, and beside Johnathan appeared two bright red eyes. The guard was just in time to point his flashlight in that direction, making the vampire re-appear from the shadows casted by the red light that iluminated the place.

"You have not met anyone tonight," Drac said in a solemn voice, "You have not spoken to anyone. Now go..."

"...And turn on the lights of the castle..." Johnathan said, continuing the vampire's sentence, even imitating his voice and his accent.

Dracula glared at the boy, but the hypnotized man walked away in a catatonic state.

"Look, only I have hypno-eyes." Dracula said, crossing his arms as a sign of superiority, but a moment later the large chandeliers lit up one after the other, illuminating the entire castle.

"Maybe you're just not the only one..." The human replied, chuckling.

Dracula pouted, but he did not answer; the lighted rooms were fantastic and colorful, the walls were studded with paintings of the hills around the castle, and the furniture was old and refined, with in-laid wood and carvings, all details that not even the two vampires were able to appreciate in the dark, and so, the count melted with emotion.

"It's ... it's all the same as before," Drac said, looking around, "The castlee was burnt, it's so incredible that it wasn rebuilt as it used to be..."

"Are you sure Drac?" Jonathan asked, "How do you think it's possible? This castle was restored about thirty years ago, maybe you are confused. After all, it's been so long..."

"No, my father isn't wrong," Mavis said, "I also remember this place, the furniture, the pictures... it's all the same..."

"But how do you..." Johnathan began to speak, but he was interrupted by Dracula who placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding his head, and the human realized that it was not a good question to ask, but did not understand why.

"Come on guys," Mavis exclaimed, "What are you waiting for? We haven't all night and I want to see everything about this place!"

"You're right, we should continue visiting! Drac, come on!" Jonny said, and the old vampire smiled and followed them.

Naturally, the girl was drawn to the big picture of her mother place above the fireplace in the great room. It was the same as that in the room of his father, but in that there were neither she nor him.

The three approached it.

"This was the picture I was talking about. Martha was a beautiful woman and I imagine she was a wonderful woman." Johnathan said.

"I never thought I'd ever see this picture, I thought it had been lost in the great fire. The one in my castle was painted by zombie-Michelangelo" Then the vampire floated to get closer and looked at the bottom right corner, "How i imagined... Lady L., my wife signed her paintings that way. She was a true artist." Then he turned to look at other paintings, "But if her portrait is the only antique, who has painted all the others like the originals?"

"Dad, let's enjoy the holiday. Don't to be worried about everything!"

At his daughter's words, the man came down to the ground, smiled at her, and began walking together.

They wandered around as if it were their home. And actually, it was... more or less. They took a lot of photos and at the end they arrived in front of a door that Drac seemed to want to avoid.

"Dad? It was your bedroom, right?"

The vampire stopped, but without turning.

"Dad? Let's go, I'm curious." She said, smiling.

"You can go, I'll wait outside." The count replied, resuming his walk.

"No, Drac, don't do that! Why don't you leave your past behind you and move on?" Johnathan tried to convince him. "Be brave and face the reality."

The old vampire sighed deeply and turned back. He stood for a moment in front of the door and then he decided to open it slowly.

The room was very large and spacious, partly because there was no furniture but a four-poster bed in the middle of the room. It was wrought iron, twisted and full of leaves, as if it were covered with ivy.

The only window was small and disproportionate compared to the large room for obvious reasons. But the landscape, reduced by the small window, was offset by the frescoes on the walls depicting the landscape around the castle, and on the ceiling there was a clear sky with some white clouds and a flock of birds, and the chandelier was in the shape of Sun . It was like being on top of a hill instead of inside a bedroom.

Mavis was amazed by this strange bedroom, impractical due to the lack of furniture, but very romantic. The best was yet to come.

As she walked towards the bed she noticed that the stone floor had become strangely soft, and when she looked down shesaw that it was grass. But the real surprise was when she looked up and realized they were no longer inside the castle, but outside, and the columns of the bed had become trees. The sun was shining but it did not burn the skin of two vampires at all, and the birds sailed the sky.

"That's your work dad, right?"

The vampire was somber again, the sense of guilt which he had managed to hold in the last few hours re-emerging, strangling him more and more.

His eyes began to burn, but he had to hold back tears, he did not want to ruin the happiness of his daughter. In the end he calmed down and replied, full of melancholy:

"To be honest, this room was designed by Martha. She always dreamed about freedom, and her greatest desire was to be outdoors in the daytime." Then with a wave of his hand the room returned to normal, but there was still something strange in the air.

"Johnny, come on, stop it..." Mavis said in a soft voice, as she left soothed by the warmth of the hand that caressed her behind her ear.

"What are you talking about?" The boy asked, confused.

The vampiress opened her eyes, Johnathan was in front of her, a few feet away.

"Didn't you just touch me?"

The human shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, amused.

"I didn't think even monsters would be scared of wandering through a museum at closing time!" The boy continued, making a mockery of his girlfriend.

"Why should I be afraid? If the guardian wakes up my father can erase his memory again! However, maybe it was just my imagination..."

"Be quiet back there!" Dracula muttered, "I thought I was clear when I said I didn't want any more contact with humans!" He finished, wiping away his tears, trying not to be noticed.

"Drac, what's wrong?" Johnny asked, but then he realized, and so he looked down, worried for his friend, "I'm sorry for what has happened in this castle, but remember I am with you."

"Thanks mate... Anyway, you humans are strange, you first destroy and then restore, I 'll never understand you. But I have to admit they did a great job of rebuilding. Seeing this room again excited me more than I could imagine. When I left I didn't think I would ever be back ... "The vampire's words began to tremble until he could no longer speak. He was crying silently and the human could not tell if they were tears of emotion or sadness.

"Dude, are you okay?"

"Johnny, I feel it again..." Mavis exclaimed, this time seriously frightened, the two men turned to face her.

They said nothing, but their faces were bathed in wonder, not concern, as she had expected.

Then, a soft light, flickering like a small fire, lit up the room with a cold blue. The vampiress could see her shadow break that light.

Whatever it was, it was behind her.

Mavis turned slowly, the reflection of that wisp made Mavis' eyes brighter than a sunny sky.

And the unnatural silence was broken by the trembling voice of the young vampiress:

"M... Mom?"

Finally, little Mavis had the chance to embrace her mother and this time it's not just a dream.

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