Chapter 4

The forest took on a surreal yet eerie quality as Ericka laced her hand flat against a tree, and then Salem's ears pricked up. With her enhanced hearing she heard something coming from a nearby pathway. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ericka asked, looking at the cat.

"Someone's in trouble."

"I'll check it out."

"Ericka , wait a minute. You don't know who that could be."

"I think they need help."

She headed towards the part of the forest where the road was bigger. There was something in the road, she realized, something odd, and the shape of it that made her pause. She got too steps before the two beings, looked at her in shock.

Ericka look a closer step and they backed away. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Stay back human!" shouted the aqua-haired colored girl, as she lay on the ground, her scaly foot bleeding from a deep cut after having lost her footing while trying to push what appeared to be a hearse stuck in a small ditch.

Ericka blinked, concentrating on their strange, unnatural features. "What are you both?"

"I'm a siren, and she's a banshee, now stay back!" The siren bared sharp fangs and hissed.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Give me a second, and I'll have that out of there."

Being the strong girl she is, Ericka pushed with all her might. Feeling someone's weight shoved against the back of the vehicle, thee zombie driver put his foot down on the pedal to pick up speed. Once it was done, the hearse was free. Rapunzel noticed the siren's injuries, and gently wrapped her hair around her wound.

"What...What are you doing?" the siren questioned in suspicion.

"It's okay, just don't freak out." Ericka began to sing, slowly and gently, and her hair started to glow.

"Flower, gleam and glow…let your power shine…make the clock reverse…bring back what once was mine…heal what has been hurt…change the fate's design…save what has been lost…bring back what once was mine…what once was mine."

Afterwards, the two female monsters stared at her, unsure of what to do, or think. The siren stared at her scaly leg, her wound suddenly gone.

"That… is…incredible!" The platinum blonde banshee breathed in astonishment. "Hey, are you a hybrid or a witch by any chance?"

"A what? No, I-I'm just me. I'm Ericka,and this is Salem and Pascal. It's nice to meet you." She gestured to the cat by the tree and to the chameleon in her basket.

Obviously, the two monsters only believed her to be a witch, a pretty one at that, or because she looked human she could be a hybrid. No human would ever have magic glowing hair. But they did not know what to think.

The banshee shook her hand and added, "The name's Bianca. And that's Sirena. Hey, you look like someone dragged you through a bush, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I mean, I recently escaped from a group of ogres because one of them tried to rape me, but I'm fine."

"OGRES!" Sirena hissed. "We hate those guys! Disrespectful, ruthless, gassy, cannibal, sexual predators they are!"

Bianca gave the blonde girl a sympathetic glance. "That must've been awful for you. You know, we're on our way to Hotel Transylvania, come with us."

Rapunzel's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes! Thank you!"

"Looks like luck is on your side, sweetheart," Salem purred.

The two monsters allowed Ericka to board the hearse from behind, and after closing the door firmly shut, the hearse began to speed down the forest road. Ericka had never felt more excited in her life. Going to this hotel meant this was her ticket to see the floating lights. Bianca watched her with a smile of her own. However, Sirena watched them, deeply worried. She glanced at the tunnel the hearse drove through a few times before frowning at them.

"Uh…Bianca," Sirena whispered, "Maybe this isn't a good idea."

"What do you mean?"

"She could be a human hybrid."

Ericka said, "Is there a problem with that?"

Sirena hesitated. "Hotel Transylvania is for monsters only. I'm sorry."

"M-M-Monsters…" Ericka stammered. She remembered her mother always warned her about monsters.

"And if Count Dracula sees you, or us with you, we're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"But…But I wanted to ask this Count Dracula to…" Rapunzel didn't have the time to finish, because they had arrived.

Peering out through the curtained window, Ericka's eyes widened when she saw the large, gothic castle. "Wow!" The hearse parked at the front hotel entrance, and Sirena and Bianca climbed out from the back door, with Ericka in tow. Salem & Pascal watched from either side inside the basket.

"You better stay out of sight," Sirena said cautiously, "because you never know if..."

The girls realized too late that Salem had seen a mouse and disappeared until she had glided through the doors to get inside.

Ericka's eyes widened in shock and she pushed her way inside. "Salem! Come back!"

"ERICKA!" Sirena and Bianca called out her name, but she had already left.

Meanwhile, Dracula walked out of the elevator, glancing around the lobby, knowing everything was going according to plan; his best friend's wedding was going to be perfect, even with all of his monster friends right here and safe from any human interference, nothing could ruin it.

"Salem!" a woman's voice shouted.

Something unusual caught Dracula's eye - a strange figure pushing its way inside. After the black cat returned with a dead mouse in her mouth, Ericka was about to scold her until she glanced up. Piercing blue eyes faced her alluring green eyes, without meaning to. There was a pinkish hue of light in their eyes and then it disappeared.

And the second Dracula looked up, he felt his stomach drop. "A human!" Images of angry mobs wielding pitchforks and waving torches flashed within his eyes. As Dracula lunged at her, Ericka screamed. Anger and hatred flared in his eyes when he cornered her in the rapidly spinning revolving door.

"Who are you and how did you find this place?" Dracula snarled.

The girl froze. She was at eye level with him. But she managed to speak. "Oh! Uh, I…I…I'm Ericka, and I was just sitting around at home. Then I heard about this hotel from your pet cat. And who's not going to go there, right?"

Dracula shot the cat a glare for luring a human to his hotel. But his eyes grew wide in horror that he remembered how Salem meowed and begged to bet let out so he did. He should have known Salem had planned this. If he hadn't let her out of his sight, none of this would have happened and he'd have been able to stop her. He turned his attention back to the blonde girl. "How many of you are there?"

"Just me. I wanted to go alone, but Pascal wanted to come." She gestured to the basket, but Dracula didn't see a 'Pascal.'

Glaring, Dracula squeezed her close to his chest and covered her body with his cape and a lot of gathered up blonde hair to make her appear like a giant hairball, trying to keep her out of sight. "I'm such an idiot! You have to leave." With inhuman speed, he shot out of the hotel. But he halted when more monster guests blocked his path. "Oh no."

"Excuse me, one of the piranhas in the lake is very rude, he ate my sister-in-law," said a lady gremlin.

"Be right with you." Dracula shot back into the hotel lobby, only to be stopped by the Hydraberg.

"Mr. Dracula, we asked for a room with a view of the pool."

"The room's fine. We want to book a massage."

"Swedish."

"Shiatsu."

"Aroma Therapy."

"We don't want hot stone!" They all said together.

"I'll get back to you, Mr. Hydraberg," Dracula said quickly as he left.

"See that you do!"

"That's Ms. Hydraberg."

Inhaling the scent of roses & dead mix, Ericka tried to concentrate. But it felt good, relaxing, like the soaps mother had brought her as a child. She let herself think for a moment and listened. She felt his pulse quicken and right then, she realized why her heart was beating fast inside her chest. Dracula navigated his way around the monsters, while keeping Ericka in his grasp, as if she could slip out of his arms at any moment.

"Drac, hey, Drac, how's the planning?" Frank asked, but his friend suddenly vanished. "Drac? Hey, where did you go?"

Dracula pulled the human girl behind a pile of luggage and, before she had a chance to react, he pushed her into a closet.

Inside the closet, Dracula pressed his ear against the door to make sure no one was coming.

Ericka held her basket and straightened her dress and her hair. "Wow, this room's kind of small for a big castle. Too bad there's no bed. Ooh! Look at these awesome dustpans they have."

"Quiet, you fool!" Dracula pushed her into the wall and started rummaging through her basket.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Ericka glared at him.

"What weapons are you keeping in this basket? Your pitchforks?" He questioned, peering inside.

With impeccable strength, Pascal clamped his mouth onto his long hawk-like nose and refused to let go.

"OHHHH! Get it off! It's hurting me!" Dracula screamed.

"Let go, Pascal." Ericka held out her hands for the chameleon to jump on.

Dracula rubbed his nose in pain, now understanding this 'Pascal' was nothing but a frog-like creature.

Salem chuckled at the vampire's misfortune of being bitten by a tiny reptile. "Well, don't you know it's rude to look through a woman's belongings?"

Dracula glared down at the black cat. "How could you?! You brought her here?!"

This time, Salem openly scoffed. "I wanted to bring her here, because of her hair."

As Ericka felt her pulse quicken, Dracula crossed his arms. "What's so special about it? Other than being sooo long?"

Ericka said nothing. She should have known this cat lured her here because of her hair.

Dracula leaned over her, until she felt her back press against the wall. "You need to go. No human has ever entered this castle. And if someone should see you…the safety of the hotel…the sanctuary…No one would ever come again!"

But Ericka gave a little laugh. "Ever come again. I love your voice; it's so over the top." But then a frightful thought came to her. "Wait! Since I'm the only one who knows about this place, will you kill me?"

"I can't kill you. It would set monsters back hundreds of years."

She let out a long breath, evidently relieved. Ericka then noticed some bellhop jackets and other clothing hanging on coat hangers and looked at them with interest. "Ooh. Check out these awesome costumes."

Dracula's eyes lit up. "Costumes." He put her basket down much to the blonde's surprise.

"Huh? Sorry, I-I need that. Everything I own is in there."

"It'll be right here," he said.

Dracula grinned, flashing white teeth and faced her. Martha's old dress levitated out of a crate and floated into his hands. In his other hand was a bucket of white paint.

Ericka eyes widened. She realized what he was planning to do. "Oh no."

Using magic, he removed his cape and held it in front of her as he magically removed her clothing. She wiped the splattered cold paint from her eyes and lips, wiggling and screaming. When it was done, he stepped back and observed her. Her entire body looked pale enough, her lips he had black lipstick put on along with black nail polish, and the black dress fit her perfectly as if it has been made for her. After finishing her hair by braiding it with his powers, he passed a pair of black shoes to her so she won't have to go around barefoot. She put them on and her feet felt trapped, like she couldn't hold them anymore. Dracula had little time to react just as Ericka tripped and crashed right into him.

The impact for her felt cold and soft. She groaned and opened her eyes, and as she recovered from the fall, she saw a pair of blue eyes looking right at her. Everything then felt strange as if they were the only ones in the room and time seemed to stop. Their faces were touching. They were even close enough to kiss.

Ericka's face turned red. "Sorry." His handsome form was too much for her to take. But it was his eyes – remarkably blue – that didn't cease from captivating her. Her crotch heated up and she felt butterflies in her stomach. God, what is this feeling she had for him? Whatever it was, she liked it.

Dracula's face burned. Even after Martha's death, he remained a faithful widow, yet found this mortal girl painfully alluring. Her eyes resembled that of beautiful emeralds. Her delicate hand placed upon his heart caused it to beat faster. Her form lying against his own caused a strange feeling inside his chest. A craving. A craving he never felt since Martha died. His erection started to pulse in his pants. What is this feeling? He hadn't felt it since Martha.

Salem and Pascal looked at each other, and then back at the vampire and human in the room before them, until at last, Salem grew bored and shouted with annoyance, "How long is this going to take?!"

That broke the trance.

Clearing his throat, Dracula helped Ericka, still blushing, to her feet. Pascal jumped on her shoulder and hid behind her thick braid. Dracula escorted her out of the closet, his hands placed on her shoulders. He pushed the growing lust to the back of his mind and chose to concentrate on getting her out of his hotel.

Ericka had seen the revolving door getting closer to her. "Wait, why are going to the front door? Are you going to take me to the floating lights now?"

Dracula didn't listen as a wicked smile spread across his lips. He would finally be rid of this human nuisance. But then, a zombie bellhop followed his gaze on the white girl and smirked with a groan. He took her hand and began kissing it. Ericka could only look at him in disgust. The zombie's action made the vampire go into a protective stance as he shot the zombie a hard look and wrapped an arm around her waist. The zombie frowned and walked away groaning in disappointment.

"Thanks." Ericka whispered in his ear.

"Your welcome." Dracula didn't know why he felt that way when one of his zombies had looked at her like she was a prize, but he pushed it out of his mind.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Dracula." Quasimodo, the head chef, unexpectedly came face to face with Ericka, and startled the vampire.

"Uh, hello?" Ericka greeted meekly.

"Oooh. And who is this lovely monster?" Quasimodo's yellow eyes gazed up and down at the blonde girl's figure and her beauty.

Another gesture that made Dracula protective as he pushed her behind him and said in a clearly distressed tone, "Not right now, Quasimodo."

The Count broke into a cold greasy sweat as Quasimodo's pet rat Esmerelda jumped on him and began sniffing at his cape. She squeaked, signaling she had found something.

"What?" Quasimodo frowned as his rat squeaked again but he scoffed in disbelief, "No, don't be absurd. It's not a human, but Monsieur Dracula."

Dracula chuckled nervously and awkwardly. "How ridiculous. It's me."

As the rat skittered towards her, Pascal, who appeared from behind Ericka's hair, gave a growl of annoyance at the pesky rat. Even Salem, close to her master's feet, hissed threateningly as she grabbed the rat and threw Esmerelda in the elevator.

The chef didn't seem to notice as he and a gargoyle waiter presented a dish of tonight's meal. "Monsieur, the devilled-lizard fingers."

The chuckling vampire ceased his awkward chuckles as he frowned. "Devilled-lizard fingers?! I asked for spleens in blankets!"

"You ugly fool, I told you spleens in blankets! Not devilled-lizard fingers!" Quasimodo used the gargoyle waiter for a scapegoat as he began battering him with a frying pan.

While Dracula was busy calming the chef, Ericka took that as the opportunity to stroll the lobby. It was incredible and reminded herself of the fairytale books her mother had shown her in her youth, but now, various monsters were standing around and speaking to one another. She went to take a step back, and retrace her steps – and nearly walked right into the figure standing right behind her.

"Careful," came a woman's voice.

Ericka turned and realized she was glancing at Wanda. Wanda and Ericka looked at each other in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Ericka apologized.

"That's alright, Miss…?"

"My name is Ericka."

"I'm Wanda," she said, her voice a soft gentle quality. "It's good to meet you." Wanda smiled; there was something about this vampiress she couldn't quite place, and tried to understand why. "I take it you've met Drac," she added, gesturing to him.

Ericka nodded. "He made me a little bit jumpy."

Wanda laughed. "Don't let him get to you. He's just, well, controlling at times."

While talking, Ericka looked around the lobby. She had originally thought every monster within earshot would be suddenly looking at her, but that wasn't the case. Neither of the monsters had noticed her hair, or seemed interested in it. The only two monsters to know of this were Bianca and Sirena. Thinking of them made Ericka wonder if she did the right thing to show them the magic of her hair. But Sirena had been injured and Ericka did what she had to do to help them. Where had they gone to anyway? She turned her attention back to Wanda, who remained polite with her.

"Has he given you a room yet?" Wanda asked.

Ericka shook her head. "Not yet." She paused. "He was pretty rude when we met."

Wanda gave her a sympathetic glance and replied, "Don't worry, he always comes across as a legendary and fearsome vampire, but he's a really a sweetheart once you get to know him."

After hearing the word 'vampire,' Ericka felt her spine crawl. Her mind rolled back to a past conversation which she had with her mother. He wouldn't hesitate to enthrall her, control her mind and do whatever he took to keep her to himself. She felt her pulse quicken. Even worse, she didn't know when he would strike. She did not dwell on it. Ericka made an excuse to collect her bag and disappeared into the passageway upstairs.

Dracula finally turns around to see Ericka wasn't behind him anymore. "Oh no!" He gasped, and then headed off to find her as soon as possible. Across the lobby, he caught a glimpse of her disappearing up the staircase and followed in pursuit.

"Wait for me!" Salem meowed in annoyance at being left behind.