Hey guys! Update time!

"Paddy, have you seen little Nate's pacifier? Dad won't take him if he's as rebellious as now!"

"Uhm, no I haven't. I'll look around for it, you mind telling the Pumpkin Fella to get our stuff in the Hearse while I search?"

"Who's he calling Pumpkin Fella?" answered the Headless Horseman, feigning indignance.

"Sorry, Mr. Horseman. Would you be so kind?"

"Of course, Mrs. O'Donnell" the Horseman picked up the two over-sized suitcases and carried them to the outside of the small cottage and onto the hearse's trunk. At the same, Mavis tried to calm the baby, who was crying loudly on her arms. O'Donnell came down the stairs, wearing a three-piece suit with a white, cotton T-shirt underneath and his son's spare pacifier in his right hand.

"Sorry, couldn't find it at all. But here, the spare one should do" he said as he clipped the item to Nate's shirt and stuffed the rubber tip on Nathan's mouth. The baby continued to cry with intensity, causing his mother acute ear pain. Who said sharper hearing is always a blessing? Luckily for her, her husband took the infant from her arms and began rocking him. The baby calmed down almost instantly.

"I think I should take him all the way to the hotel, Mavy"

"Why, yes, thank you" she sarcastically answered, picking her black dress jacket and filling it with her figure. While nowhere near as dressy and classy as her husband's attire, it gave her a proper look and made her look more grown up, something that she liked. She suspected that it came as a trait of her upbringing as Dracula's daughter, what with the famous vampire always being very proper, even more so when clothing was involved. Whatever the reason, she wasn't about to disagree with it. The vampiress was the last through the door, turning off the lights and locking the door. The couple got on the hearse and the Horseman drove off at an insane speed, arriving at Hotel Transylvania in relatively short time. Vlad and Claire Dracula were already waiting for them in the entrance, the old vampire carrying his baby daughter in his arms.

"Hey, guys!" Mavis cheered as she dismounted and jogged to meet her dad and adopted mother. She hugged them both, having not seen much of them since her son was born, "And you, little Lilith. How's my little sis doing?"

Lilith gurgled and babbled, apparently happy to see her grown up sister again. She wasn't sure the baby recognized her, since last time they saw each other Mavis was still a bit… swollen. There really was no telling with baby vampires.

"It's so nice to see you, my sweet dead-ums. And you look so great!" the Count, complimented his daughter. As much as he hated to think about it, he was forced to admit that his daughter was a grown up woman now, with a husband and a son of her own. That didn't mean she didn't have some childish feats every now and then.

"Yeah, you look great, Mavy. Got to tell me your secret, I don't seem to look as good after a pregnancy." Claire declared with fake jealousy. Both women giggled at the joke while Padraigh was finally able to dismount without disturbing his son's sleep.

"Mavis has always looked fabulous, and you too Claire. Vlad can agree with me, don't you, gramps?"

"Indeed. But don't make me feel older than I am." The vampire grumbled, irritated at being called "Gramps". I'm not that old!

"Hey, you are a grandpa, but that doesn't mean you are old, does it?"

"Believe me, he's not. Anyway, we should get on with this, before little Nate wakes up and cries for mommy." Claire really didn't want to deal with another rebellious child. She was having serious doubts about how she would take care of both of them. Dracula would help, sure, but in the end she would be the one with the most things on her platter.

"Actually, he's not been very needy of mine today. In fact, he's been very sticky with his dad. I don't know why" Mavis declared, seriously worried that something might be wrong with her son.

"Sometimes it happens like that. Baby vampires are usually very close to both of their parents. I don't think it's much to be concerned about" Dracula explains, as Claire takes little Nathan away from his father. The baby somehow knew he wasn't in Padraigh's arms, as he immediately began crying again. The old vampire was impressed with his grandson's pulmonary strength, but he didn't really liked what he was listening.

"It's alright, little guy, I'll be back before you notice! You won't even miss me!"

"It's ok, we'll take good care of him, you lovebirds enjoy your trip. Now go before I regret any of this." Claire expressed, trying to lull her grandson into sleep. Mavis and O'Donnell said good bye to the couple and the babies and mounted back on the hearse. As the vehicle rocketed towards the airport, Mavis' demeanor changed from excited and energic to extremely pensive. O'Donnell easily detected this, and it began bothering him.

"Hey, Mavy"

"Uhm… yes?"

"You alright? You look kindda spaced out. I thought you'll be thrilled to go on this trip"

"I… I am thrilled, it's just… the thing with little Nate back there… its… no, forget it… its ok. I'm ok"

"Are you sure? If you have doubts…"

"No, no… its fine. Seriously, Paddy, its ok"

The Irishman was left pretty distressed, but pushing the issue any further would make the trip uncomfortable at the very least. He decided to let it be, and contented himself with holding her close. Even then, he could feel her slight shaking, as if she was afraid of something. She eventually relaxed after they boarded the plane, were she was able to catch her usual day-sleep, cuddled against her husband, while he remained wide-eyed during the whole flight.

Do you believe in bad omens, Paddy boy?

Johnathan finished packing his suitcase, ready to take the flight back to Florida. He looked around his hotel room, waiting for an hour to bleed out before heading there. Torres' letter was still on his mind, having read it a couple dozen times now. He wanted to solve the puzzle, he really longed for closure, at the very least. But it was also true that he really didn't know where to even begin.

There must be something I can use. A loose tread to pull from… Wait… the landscape. Maybe I can start there!

He pulled out a small case from his pack, containing pencils and other art items. Torres was the one who had once suggested he took upon art as a way of relieving the anxiety that Johnathan's dreaming caused him. He spent the best part of the next hour illustrating the forest of his dreams, a spooky, yet lush forest that covered some hills. His artistic abilities, earned from the months he had spent learning and refining his technic, allowed him to confer a great amount of detail to his work. When he was done, he quickly stowed it away and left for the airport.

Three hours later he was sitting in the first class section of his flight, sipping iced water from a glass and looking at his work. The familiar forest was hard to place for him, something really odd since he had been travelling all over Europe some years ago. That narrowed it a bit: it was surely a place he had been to before.

"Nice work. You an artist?" he heard from behind him. A man in dress clothes was looking at his drawing in the most inconspicuous way he could.

"Uhm… not really. Just something I drew out of boredom" he lied.

"You have talent. Can I take a closer look?"

"Sure"

Johnathan reluctantly agreed and handed the drawing to the man. The stranger inspected the artwork, as if recognizing the place.

"I take it you've been to Romania, huh?" Romania?!

"I… traveled through Europe some years ago, but I don't remember much about it"

The stranger laughed, returning the drawing to Johnathan.

"Yeah, well there is some crazy stuff in Europe, you were probably enjoying it a bit too much and that's why you can't remember about it. But still, Romania has something distinctive about it. Must be all that Dracula lore that permeates the area, it makes the forest over there look distinctively creepy, but cool at the same time"

"Yeah, probably. Sounds like a good spot to go visit."

"Oh, that it is, believe me! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to my music. You should think about being a pro artist, seriously, you got talent"

"Yeah, thanks…" Johnathan disconnected himself from the conversation, instead retracting into himself.

Romania? Wasn't I mount-climbing with some fellas there? YES! Then… my rope snapped, and I fell… thank god for safety lines… and then… I went to a tavern, and the owner and his wife, they said something about…

A spooky forest! But then what?

He was onto something, he could feel himself breaking through his locked-down mind, but the memory refused to come out. He focused on it, pulling the thread that had finally come loose, until he felt something wet dripping from his nose. He quickly used his hand to try and stop the leak, but it came out red. Shit! He quickly got on his feet and headed for the restroom, locking the door behind him. He used some toilet paper to clog his bleeding nose and sat on the small toilet. The blood and the splitting headache were clear signs he was getting near of what he was looking for, but he wasn't ready to pay the price to find out just yet. Baby steps, Torres had said every time he went to see him.

Baby steps, Johnathan. Easier said than done

This one feels like a filler... because it is. Have you noticed I have some problems when writing Johnathan's parts of the story? I don't know, they feel kindda awkward. Anyhow... I know these chapters haven't really been that good (yes, guys I'm aware), but they are a bit necessary for me to build up momentum (you know, from Ok to Great, like it was with Resignation). I'll try not to disappoint with the story guys, it's already well thought-out. So, don't forget to review and leave your input. It's rude to leave without reviewing, guys!