Chapter 10
As Dracula and Ericka walked down the corridor, she noticed how the Count had become strangely quiet and with a sad look on his face. But in an attempt to cheer him up, Ericka decided to thank him for rescuing her.
"Hey, thanks for saving me back there," she said. "That guy's crazy, trying to eat me. I remember my mother telling me about how monsters would try to eat me after stealing my hair..." That didn't sound right. "Uh, I didn't mean you, I meant monsters like that crazy chef."
"There's something I need to show you," Dracula spoke in a very sad voice.
"Oh. Okay, what is it?" asked Ericka.
The Count didn't answer her as he entered through a door into a rather dark room, making Ericka cough lightly at the thick dust, the only light to be seen were the candles on a candelabra held by Dracula.
"Wow." Ericka gasped as she looked around.
The room she had been taken into is Dracula's private chambers judging by how dark and gloomy it was, it somehow fit his tastes as all she could see was his black coffin with giant stone fire basins on both ends like guardians, and above with several draped tapestries and curtains, one of which cover half of a giant portrait where Dracula now stood with the image of a beautiful darkly dressed woman. She was very beautiful with long wavy black hair and pale skin and gleaming sapphire eyes, and she wore a long black dress similar to the one Ericka now wore as a costume, with a black choker with a pink jewel. As Ericka looked at the woman in the portrait, she realized she had seen that mysterious and lovely lady before, but not in person.
"Wait a second! I know her." Ericka came next to Dracula as she said this. "I've seen that picture in a book I once read about the Ruins of Lubov, it's my favorite castle. There's a whole legend around that lady."
"A legend?" Dracula asked, puzzled.
"The Lady Lubov," explained Ericka, as she took the candelabra. "The story goes that she met a lonely Count by chance, and they say no two souls were ever more meant for each other. Eventually, they settled down at Castle Lubov after they married. But then, a horrible tragedy happened. A fire started mysteriously one night, and it killed both of them. When I read this story, I could imagine how powerful their love must be. They say it's as if a soul is still trapped in the ruins themselves."
"The legend is wrong," Dracula spoke quietly, his figure silhouetted in pitch black near the giant portrait.
"Huh?" Ericka was confused.
"It was only the wife that died." Dracula suddenly pulled the curtain down hard, revealing the rest of the portrait.
Ericka's eyes widened as she let out a soft yet surprised gasp. There was Dracula, in the portrait, smiling and lovingly holding hands with the Lady Lubov. Apparently, he was the lonely count in the story.
"And it was no mystery who killed her," Dracula grit his teeth and suddenly his eyes began to glow a cold blue as he snarled, "She was killed by your kind!"
In a high window of Castle Lubov, two figures could be seen looking out at the angry mob now gathered at the front gates shouting, "Vampire!"
Dracula stood beside his darling Martha, with love and fear. Why the villagers were here, or even why they were attacking them, they understood that it was that witch's doing to set them up for her crimes. They could not stop the fire that spread quickly, and there were too many humans with too many burning torches, so it seemed like there was no chance of escape. But the brave and noble Count had only one option.
"Honey?" Martha looked into the eyes of beloved Dracula, not sure of what to do. "I'm scared."
"Go hide," he said reassuringly as he gently touched her cheek with tenderness, "I'll take care of this."
The two vampires said their 'I love yous' as they shared a kiss before their hands slowly parted, neither knowing it will be the last time they touched and kissed.
"VAMPIRE!" shouted an angry human in the crowd.
Dracula stood at the front door in front of the vicious human villagers, as they started shouting insults at him. But Dracula remained calm as he tried to reason with the mob. Then he heard a high pitched scream of pain. His heart dropped as he feared who made it.
"MARTHA!"
She had fallen to the ground; her left arm seemed to be the last to fall in slow motion to Dracula's eyes. He knew in his heart she was gone. Her killer stood over her body; a woman with long curled black hair and wearing a red dress with long draped sleeves, and a dark hooded cloak covered her body. The woman glared over her shoulder at the Count with an evil smile of triumph on her lips and pure wickedness in her eyes.
"She was killed by a witch named Gothel!" Dracula spat out the name of his wife's murderer with seething venom. "That old woman concealed a magic flower to keep herself young. One night she deceived the townspeople and framed my darling Martha and I. She had manipulated the villagers that my wife and I were going to steal their youth to keep us immortal when it was her!"
With rage in his blood red eyes, Dracula would have attacked and killed Gothel to avenge Martha, but more support beams from the ceiling came down blocking his path and seeing Gothel nowhere in sight, he believed she had perished. In a flash, Dracula burst through the broken glass window, just as the flames engulfed all of Castle Lubov. Safely on a hillside, Dracula could only watch the remains of his beloved home burn away as he suddenly roared his grief and anger over the death of his poor Martha.
"THEY are the real monsters...but most of all, Gothel had taken everything from me."
Ericka swallowed a huge lump in her throat. Stuck in a shock of silence, a chill whispered up her spine. She turned to Dracula and thought: She did that? My own mother! It was his silence that rattled her, a silence that only magnified the drumming of her heartbeat. All she had to do was ensure Dracula never learnt the truth because if she told him her mother is Gothel, he would drain the blood from her body in a matter of seconds. She contemplated the horrors that lingered in his mind. Gothel, her own mother, would kill a vampire for framing them for supposedly stealing the youth of other women. No! That was not true! Her mother had raised and cared for Ericka since birth. Her mother would never do that.
"I built this place for my love to protect our friends to make sure they never suffer like I did," Dracula added, walking towards Ericka. "As a friend and a protector, you do everything to keep your family safe, even if you have to break their trust. But now, I have feelings for you,Ericka."
But Ericka wasn't listening. Her mind was drowning in a sea of betrayal and lies, trying to reach the shore of truth.
"Ericka?" Dracula waved his hand in her face to bring her back to Earth.
"Huh? I'm sorry. What was that last thing you said?"
"I said, I have feelings for you."
"What?" Ericka felt her heart skip a beat. Dracula has feelings for her? Feelings of love, perhaps? She didn't know what to say, except her painted white cheeks turned a shade of pink. She felt this and put her hands on her cheeks. "Am I blushing? I'm sorry!"
"It's alright, you are a good one." Dracula smiled tenderly at her, but then his smiled changed to a sad frown. "If the world was different, maybe it would be possible."
"Are those people still the same as they were back then?" Ericka asked, then she looked hopeful. "Do you think people have changed since you have been in hiding for so long?"
"Can you tell me for certain that if we came out in the open everyone would accept us? Everyone?" Dracula questioned, almost desperately.
Staring into the Count's eyes, Ericka turned away and looked back up at the portrait of Dracula and Martha. Her face fell in deep sadness as she considered what Dracula had told her. She now knew of the pain he had felt a long time ago. But she could not understand the pain she now felt of whether or not to believe her mother would do something so horrible. This she had decided to keep from the vampire.
"No, you're right." Ericka gave the candelabra back to Dracula, turning away with a look of hurt and sadness. "I understand. I'll go for good this time. You can just say my mother came for me or the gremlin lady ate me, or something."
"No, no, no, no." Dracula placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to stop her from going. "I don't want to ruin my brother's wedding. You can sneak out after its all done."
"I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted was to hurt your friends - or you." She was on the verge of breaking into tears.
To make her feel less upset, Dracula smiled comfortingly, "You know, you're not the smoothest monster, but you'd make a great vampire."
Ericka's eyes lit up. "Really? Cause I think I kind of got your hypno eyes down."
Dracula rolled his eyes in amusement. "Oh, boy. Here we go. Let me see it."
Ericka backed up in the shadows before she emerged into the moonlight, her arm covered half of her face to make her look sinister as she spoke in a Dracula accent, "Beware! For you are in my power. I command you to be the werewolf man!"
Dracula let out a long howl. "I have too many kids." The two friends started laughing, enjoying their fun as Dracula exclaimed, "Someone scratch me, I have fleas!"
"Cause he's a wolf, he'd get those!" Ericka laughed.
"Yeah, no, don't explain it. It's not funny when you do that," Dracula chuckled, placing a hand on Ericka's shoulder.
Feeling his touch on her shoulder, Ericka felt a little warmth in his hand despite the cold. She looked up into his smiling face and the pink color came back into her cheeks.
"So, do you still want to help with the wedding planning? We have a lot of work to get done before the sun goes down." Dracula asked her, hopefully. She didn't answer as she continued to stare at him with those adoring green eyes. "Uh, hello?" He waved a hand in her face and this brought Ericka back to reality.
"Huh? Oh! Uh, yes. Yes, I do. And for the record, I like 'Drac' better than 'Vlad,' because if it bothers you since its your dad's name..."
"No, no, no. It's fine. But you'd be the first for me to say thank you."
As he escorted her out of his chambers, Ericka stopped for a moment. At first Dracula was concerned, but then Ericka stood up on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his soft yet cold cheek.
"That's for saying thank you," she said as she blushed. "You know? For saving me from the ogres?"
Even Dracula felt the color of his pale face turn to a shade of pink. "Your welcome," he squeaked, then covered his mouth in embarrassment over how the tone of his voice changed.
Ericka giggled as she found this amusing, and then she said, "By the way, don't forget my birthday is in two days and I have to be out of here in two days to go see the lanterns."
"Yeah...lanterns..." Dracula was in a dazed state until he shook his head in realization and horror. "THE LANTERNS?!"
"I knew you wouldn't forget!" Ericka cheered. "Well, we better get back to wedding planning. So, what do we do first?"
"Uhhh...I'll explain back at the ballroom," the vampire trembled nervously, but Ericka didn't seem to notice.
"Great! Let's get going!" Ericka got a head's start down the corridor.
Dracula had been left standing where he was. He was no longer determined to keep her out of the hotel. He felt fear. Fear of Ericka out in the human world where those real monsters would cut her hair for it's magic and use it for themselves. If what her mother had told her was true, Dracula believed Ericka was making a big mistake to go out into the world just to see the lanterns on her birthday, only to walk into some dreadful human's clutches and take advantage of her...Dracula shook his head to get rid of that disturbing thought, briefly remembering her run-in with the ogres. Didn't she understood humanity's true colors after sharing his pain with her? Clearly, she didn't understand all of it.
"Hey, Drac!" Her voice startled him as she waved her hand in his face and a look of concern on her face. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." Dracula waved her worries away with an awkward smile. "Listen,Ericka, about the lanterns...wouldn't you like to...see them from the hotel? We could watch them together on the roof."
"That sounds like a nice idea - but I don't think it will work," Ericka replied. "I can't watch them from another window again. I need to see them in person. I can't help but feel like they're meant for me because they appear only on my birthday! Now, let's go make a wedding the Steins will never forget!"
After that, Ericka began skipping merrily down the corridor humming the wedding march. Dracula could only follow in a slow pace. At the end of the corridor, Ericka turned back to look at him with that innocent, cheerful smile, waving for him to hurry up before she disappeared around the corner.
Watching her leave, Dracula suddenly knew why he was feeling such strong feelings towards this girl. If his friends knew it would destroy their trust. He understood it during those moments he had with her. He knew it the second she had kissed him on the cheek. Dracula had fallen in love with Ericka, a human.
"Oh, man. That old bird is going to kill us if she finds out." One of the ogres trembled as his group trudged further into the countryside searching for someone they knew.
"You just let me do the talking," one of the taller ogres announced confidently. "She can't kill all of us if there's too many of us. Besides, if we tell her where that blonde brat ran off to she won't be mad at us, she'll be mad at that blood-sucking beast."
"There she is!" A smaller and shorter ogre pointed out to a figure in a dark hooded cloak.
Following his pointed finger and in his direction, the ogres gave a cry of relief as the entire group charged forward towards the cloaked figure. However, they had lost their footing down the steep hill and tumbled downhill like runaway barrels. The cloaked figure, startled, shielded herself just as the ogres came closer. But their rolling had slowed to halt. Groaning, the ogres stood up one by one to face the hooded figure, who pulled her hood back to reveal none other than Gothel.
"What are you all doing here?!" Gothel demanded, in a mixture of annoyance and surprise.
"Boss, we had to talk to you," said the short ogre.
"You're supposed to be guarding my flower."
"Something happened," a fat ogre spoke up when the others hesitated to tell her, "The girl...she, uh...escaped."
"WHAAAT?!" Gothel screamed, her voice filled with horror and rage. "HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPENDED?!"
"Well, one of our boys wanted to teach her a lesson, twice by screwing her good, but he..." The fat ogre wasn't given a chance to finish because Gothel struck a blow to his cheek bone.
"IDIOT! I didn't ask you to have Ericka impregnated by one of your filthy lot! Now, which one of you tried to rape my flower?!"
"He's dead." The taller ogre spoke sadly.
"What?"
"The filthy lot you called for trying to rape the girl is dead. His blood had been drained by a vampire."
"A vampire?" Something about a vampire irked Gothel badly. She felt a tremor in her cold heart. "Was it him?"
"Who him?" questioned the taller ogre.
"Count Dracula!" Gothel replied in a harsh tone.
"Yes, it was him!" The shorter ogre reported. "He was the one who helped the girl escape, well, not the first time because she got out on her own with help from some shadow cat that took her into the haunted forest, and the second time we caught up with her we met that blood-sucker."
Gothel's facial expression is filled with horror. Her magic, youth-restoring flower had been stolen by that vengeful monster, scalding her by the reminder of her past crime of murdering his wife. But she was determined to find her flower again at all costs.
"Listen up, boys!" Gothel commanded. "We are going back to the haunted forest to find my missing flower and the location of her whereabouts!" Her face twisted darkly with an evil frown, clutching a slender, sharp dagger from beneath her cloak. "And this time, Dracula will not get in my way again."
Meanwhile Agro was baking cookies when he saw an invitation to a wedding he read it to his two friends named Joe and Oliver listened to him read the invitation. The invitation was a celebration for Frank and Eunice.
"What, she can't marry that big fat Stein",said Agro, feeling so angry.
"But why can't she marry him boss?",asked Joe
"Yeah, I mean they love each other they zing boss", added Oliver
"Because she is my girlfriend and besides they're too different to be married. That's why we're gonna go to their wedding and I've objected to their marriage", said Agro with an evil grin.