One week later, Mavis asked her father if they could organize a sort of repeat of her birthday party, to rectify the emotional wounds caused by the last one. They went for something simpler this time. Dracula set all the tables in the right places, along with chairs. All the guests would be sitting around them, while the gargoyles served the most terrific dishes the new chef had lovingly prepared.

Quasimodo had been fired and banned, and nobody knew what had happened to his mouse, Esmeralda. Nor did anybody care.

The Count was at a table, Mavis on his right and Griffin on his left, Jonathan opposite him. With them were also Murray, Wayne, Frank and Eunice.

The vampire cleared his throat loudly and stood up, drawing the attention to him.

"Dear monsters and friends of all kinds, it is my pleasure to have you here tonight for this dinner party, which was my baby girl's idea!"

"Dad!"

"… Which was my grown girl's idea! I wish you all a pleasant evening, and hope you will enjoy the dishes!"

Cheers greeted his declaration, and the monsters happily tucked in. Soon enough, the room was filled with loud chatter and laughs.

At Dracula's table, Jonathan was trying to explain pizza to the other monsters.

"It's super delicious! You can put plenty of good stuff in it, like meat, cheese, tomatoes- "

"To-what?" interrupted Mavis, curious.

"Round and red vegetables. Fruits. Whatever. They're really sweet! Hey Drac! Maybe you could order pizza at the hotel, I'm sure the guests would love it!"

"What?! I will not let you poison monsterkind, Human!" Dracula replied in outrage, making the whole table crack up.

"Anyway, where's my food at?" asked Jonathan once everybody had calmed down. The dinner had started 20 minutes ago, and everyone had gotten their dishes except him. Just as he said it, a gargoyle came up at the table, put a plate in front of him and went back to the kitchens.

Once uncovered, his dinner revealed itself to be a cooked fish along with some vegetables that resembled carrots in every way, except for the fact that they were blue. Jonathan, trusting that no one would try to poison him, shrugged and began eating. He got as far as two mouthfuls before the supposedly dead animal in his plate started moving.

"What the… AAAAAAAARGH!"

He let out an unholy yelp. The fish had literally jumped out of the plate and, by the looks of it, was now biting down hard on Johnathan's forearm. Mavis cried out and immediately grabbed the 'food' by its tail, sending it flying across the room, where a goblin grabbed it in midair and ate it.

"Holy rabies, Johnny, are you all right?!"

"I think so", he grimaced, looking down at his arm. The bite had been deep enough to draw blood, and he could see the shape of each of the fish's sharp teeth. "But this hurts like a bitch."

"Watch your language!" said Eunice. "I'll get the doctor. Frank, try to find the kid some clean clothes so he can stop the blood flow with it." She was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Johnny, you should sit," suggested Mavis anxiously.

"Yeah…"

"Where am I supposed to find a clean piece of cloth nearby?" panicked Frank. "How is that even going to help?!"

"Just ask Dad!"

"Oh, right!" Frank turned around. "Hey Drac, d'you know where I could…"

He lost his voice even as he spoke when he saw the vampire's face.

–***–

Dun dun dun! Oh my, Chapter Three already. This one's short, I admit it, but the next ones will be longer... And we will get into the good stuff. Well, good according to me, at any rate.

Please do not hesitate to leave a comment, you'll make my day!