BZZZZZ

BZZZZZ

Ericka kept one hand on the steering wheel of the blimp while she used the other to retrieve her phone from her back pocket. She grinned as she saw who the caller was. "Oh, look honey! It's Mav – "

The woman hardly got the name of his daughter out of her mouth when Drac swiped the device from her hands and eagerly answered. "Mavy-Wavy!" he cried out.

"Daddy!" Mavis happily chirped, waving to him. Then, she gave him a questioning look. "Did you snatch the phone from Ericka, or did she hand it to you?"

"Ehhhh…" Drac grinned sheepishly.

"He snatched it, Mavis!" Ericka called out to the phone.

Mavis gave her dad a stern look. "Seriously, Dad?"

Drac chuckled nervously. He very well knew that it was his own fault his old cell phone was floating in a lake somewhere in the middle of the Amazon, dead and useless, and probably even getting digested inside a piranha fish's belly by now. "I'm sorry, honeybat. Look, I promise the first thing I'll do is get a new cell phone when we reach Hawaii!"

Mavis nodded. "Good. Sorry about that, Ericka!" she called to the woman.

Ericka shrugged. "Eh, it's good. You are his little 'Voodoo Doll,'" she said, both women chuckling at the nickname. "And besides," she continued, "I've gotta focus on steering the blimp anyhow. We're gonna be hitting some turbulence soon."

"Oh!" Mavis said, "How far along are you guys?"

Johnny called out in response. "Just passed Cali, babe!" The redhead excitedly looked out the gondola window far below. Dennis was next to him looking just as excited, his face pressed against the glass. The young boy squinted his eyes, using his vampire vision, and then gasped delightfully.

"I think I can see Grandma Linda's house from up here!" he exclaimed.

"Seriously? Sweet!" Johnny laughed, ruffling his son's hair.

Mavis was delighted to hear from them both. "Johnny! Dennis! Oh, I'm so glad you guys are already having fun."

"Yeah!" Johnny said, sprinting up next to Drac so he could also wave to his wife. "I hope everything's cool in Transylvania with you."

"Better than that!" Mavis said excitedly. "Actually, so many folks answered the ad you posted online, I almost didn't have enough hardhats! See?" Mavis held up the phone in her hands high above her head, showing them the crew of what looked to be at least over a hundred humans and monsters behind her.

The redhead's jaw dropped. "Whoa!"

"Yeah, I know, right?" Mavis laughed delightfully. "And don't worry, I wrote down all the ideas you sent me by text, so we'll get started on them as soon as we're able to."

"Nice!" Johnny gave her two thumbs up.

"I am so ready for this," Mavis squealed. Suddenly, the group heard something crash offscreen, and then the sound of some sort of loud argument breaking out. Mavis shot a glance in its direction and cringed, then she looked back at the phone.

"Sorry, but I've gotta go."

Drac waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, honeybat. Love you Mavy-Wavy!"

"I love you too, Dad!" she said. Waving bye, Mavis disconnected.

Drac let out a pleased sigh. "It's good to see my little bedbug is doing just fine."

Johnny nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "She's gonna build the most awesome hotel! And, it's gonna be even more awesome when we put in all these ideas of mine! Wanne see em?" He began to pull out his phone.

Drac squinted, knowing how much his son-in-law could prattle on and on if given the opportunity, but as he figured, there wasn't really much else to do as they sat there in the blimp. "Well… I guess you could show me a few - "

"GREAT!"

Then, as Drac had predicted, Johnny showed him a nearly endless list of ideas, from jacuzzies to juice bars to rock climbing walls to scooters and much, much more, that Drac couldn't even begin to remember if asked. The man sighed, but did listen. This was going to be the hotel in the future, after all. Plus, they were still a good several hours away from Hawaii.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Hawaii finally came into view. The monsters gasped and marveled in delight at the sight of the amazing little island chain, lush and green and teeming with life. It was an even more gorgeous sight to behold upon landing, with twice as many joyous exclamations from the group upon disembarking.

"Ooo weee! This is some swimsuit weather for sure!"

"Lots of open space for the pups to run around!"

"Oh, look at those mountains! So pretty!"

"Wow, there's that volcano, too!"

"Oh, I can't wait to take a dip in the beach!"

"Which one? There's like a dozen!"

"Well, I'm gonna get me a moontan AND a suntan!"

"I'm gonna try some of the surfing!"

"Hey, maybe we can go to one of those fire dancing shows!"

"Can we check out the hot springs?"

"Oh! We should book a tour!"

"Or maybe we can find a buffet!"

"You ALWAYS wanna find a buffet!"

"That's because the food there is delicious!"

Drac watched as his friends all clamored out of the blimp and already began racing off to their desired destinations. He shook his head fondly, chuckling to himself. They'd never pass up a good vacation, and he couldn't blame them. Hawaii was still as breathtakingly beautiful as he remembered it to be almost a century ago. And this time, he thought as he glanced over to Ericka, he would be spending it with the one he loved. He gently interlaced their fingers, the woman peering at him with her own twinkle in her eye.

"So," he said, smiling at her, "are you ready to explore?"

"I am," she said. But just as soon as she did, Dennis and Winnie bounded up excitedly to them.

"Papa Drac! Nana Ericka!" Dennis cried out. "Can we go to the zoo?"

"Please, please pleeeeaaasseee?" Winnie begged. Both the children's eyes were large as they gazed up pleadingly at the two.

Ericka exchanged a look with Drac and then smiled warmly at the pair.

"Of course we can, sweethearts."

Dennis and Winnie's faces lit up, and the two high-fived each other. "Yay!"

"BUT," Ericka said, putting a finger up, "Papa Drac is going to stay behind."

Drac looked bewildered. "Whaaa?"

Dennis also looked confused. "But why?" he asked.

"Because!" Ericka said. "He's going to be spending some time with your Dad. Right, Johnny?"

The redhead, who had been standing some paces away trying to take a picture of a passing nēnē, jerked his head up at the sound of his name, stunned to hear the news. "Wait, for real?"

Ericka nodded.

Johnny pumped his fists. "ALL RIGHT! We're gonna have the best time, Drac!"

"Eh heh... right," Drac said uncertainly. Then he looked at Ericka for explanation.

She put her hands on her hips, giving him a look as though it were obvious. "Drac, I think after the lie you told which caused your situation in the first place, you really do owe Johnny some special father-son bonding time. Wouldn't you agree?"

Dracula looked between his wife and Johnny, the expectant look on the former's and the eager look on the latter's. It was then that he felt a pang of guilt. Johnny had been constantly eager to seek approval from Drac, and had thought he'd gained it when they'd gone out to the Amazonian trip. But of course, that hadn't been the case. In fact, in the decade that they'd known each other, the pair hadn't really spent any one on one time with one another. And if there couldn't be any better time, then now certainly was it. The vampire-turned-human nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Whoo hoo!" Johnny whooped, slinging an arm around Drac's neck and giving him a noogie. "We are going to have the bestest time!"

"Yes, yes, okay, we will!" Drac said, barely able to breath in Johnny's hold.

Ericka giggled at the sight, taking Dennis's hand in her right and Winnie's paw in her left. "Have fun you two. We'll see you later!"

"BYE!" Johnny waved. "You guys have fun too! And bring me back a souvenir from the gift shop, bud!"

Dennis turned to look at his father. "You got it, Papa!"

As they walked away, Johnny turned his attention back to Drac. "OH, man," he said, "we are going to have thee best time!" He grabbed Drac's hand and began to haul him off. "Come on, Dad! I have got a load of ideas!"

Drac couldn't help but snicker at his son-in-law. "Don't you always."

A bonding trip is composed of two distinct elements. One, to go without saying, was the actual bonding between the two individuals on the said trip. The other were the activities that took place during the outing that would hopefully inspire more of the desired bond. And so far, in Drac and Johnny's trip, only half of that had been successfully accomplished.

It would be a relief to say that the half that had gone well was the bonding itself. Unlike Drac's aloof attitude the first time around, he was much more amicable, not even once minding the way Johnny was tugging him along like an excited child or the way he kept stopping to point at interesting things as they made their way through the stunning scenery around them. The two men laughed and talked animatedly the entire day, sharing stories from Johnny's life in Santa Cruz and Drac's life at the hotel decades before the redhead was even born. The day could not have gone better - well, except for one teensy little thing: if Drac had actually participated in the activities.

Thus far, Johnny had been the one doing all sorts of cool extracurricular things - scuba diving, cliff-jumping, ziplining, surfing - and Drac had sat out each and every one of them. It had not bothered him at first, figuring his father-in-law was just mentally coaching himself each time, but eventually it became increasingly clear that Drac didn't plan to participate at all. Though the reason why was not so obvious to Johnny, and he chose to confront him on the matter as they split lunch at a small beachside cantina. Not a huge fan of human food, Drac had selected a platter of the one dish he knew he could eat and enjoy - guacamole and chips - and now sat happily munching them down with great gusto. Johnny too grabbed some chips and dipped them in the delicious avocado puree, humming in delight.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm! Gotta say, guac NEVER disappoints," the redhead said through a mouthful of chips. He dipped another in, and rose it up to meet Drac's, tapping it against his like one would do with two glasses. "Cheers to an awesome lunch... and hopefully an even better rest of the day!"

Drac chuckled at his son-in-law's toast as the two stuffed the chips in their mouths. "As if you haven't been having enough fun already," the vampire-turned-human said through his mouthful.

Johnny shrugged. "Yeah, it's been cool. But maybe it'll be even cooler if you actually joined me for something?"

Drac paused and wiped a napkin on his lips. "Eh, what?"

"Oh, Drac, don't think I haven't noticed! You've barely done any of these awesome activities yet," Johnny said.

Drac disagreed with that statement. "I'm eating here with you now, aren't I?" the man asked.

"Draaac, eating doesn't count as an activity! Seriously, what is it that's eating at you?"

"Nothing, just having these chips," Drac said, showing him the last that remained on their plate.

"No, Drac," Johnny chuckled. "I mean, why aren't you just hanging on the side?"

Drac pushed his plate away and sighed, looking seriously at the boy. "Johnny... I can't."

Johnny blinked. "But... why not?"

Drac suddenly seemed to grow embarrassed. "Eh heh heh... well you see, I..." He sighed. "I'm just trying to stay alive. And with the way I am now" - he gestured to his middle-aged human self - "I don't think I'll be able to do anything. I mean, how are you humans so fearless? You could easily drown in the ocean! Or break your bones doing that cliff diving stuff! Or crash into the trees in that zipline thingy!" Drac whimpered in a paranoid sort of manner. "Like I said… I'm trying to stay ALIVE so long as I am human, Johnny. I can't risk it... I just can't!"

He buried his face into his hands. A second later, he felt a reassuring pat on his back.

"Hey, Drac, chill. I get it. Okay, maybe not the whole being changed from a monster to a human exactly per say… but hey! I've been a human all my life. I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Miraculously," Drac muttered.

Johnny playfully punched Drac in the shoulder. "Come on, Drac! The point I'm trying to make is that you can't be hiding away all the time. You've gotta take those risks so that you can live your life and enjoy it, and maybe even do some really awesome things!"

Drac wasn't looking fully convinced, so Johnny continued his explanation, taking a glob of his guac, plopping it onto his plate and shaping it to be round. Then he grabbed a chip, and began to elaborate. "Why, if humans were scared all the time, then nobody would've ever been brave enough to take a rocket ship and land on the moon for the first time!" He made a sort of whooooshing noise, and dipped his chip into the guac in an attempt to demonstrate a rocket landing on the moon.

Drac cocked his head. "Wait, wait, wait… you're telling me humans have actually been on the moon?"

"Yes!" Johnny exclaimed.

Drac shook his head. "Why in the world would they do that? Can't your spacesuit rip or your rocket run out of gas? Then what?"

Johnny shrugged. "It's just the risk you gotta take."

Drac shook his head. "Eh, no thank you."

Johnny deflated, his message not quite coming through. Then his face lit up as he thought of another example. "Oh! Okay, here's a good one: You remember what happened when you kept trying to kick me out of Mavis's birthday party before she found out I was human?"

Drac rolled his eyes. "Yes," he groaned. "You kept coming back! Even though I clearly told you that I would suck every ounce of blood from your body until you looked like a deflated whoopee cushion!"

Johnny smiled and sighed fondly. "Yeah, good times." He laughed at Drac's deadpanned look, and continued on. "But you see? I knew the consequences, but I still stayed anyway and look what happened! Now Mavis has a zing, you've got a cute little grandkid, and your hotel has a lot of human business, too! All thanks to your favorite son!"

"-In-law," Drac finished with a smirk. "And don't go off giving yourself too much credit. I like to think of it as Mavy who convinced me to go and find you and your smelly backpack."

"Sure," Johnny shrugged. "Whatever you say, Dad."

Drac rolled his eyes, but it was in more of a playful manner.

"Oh!" Johnny piped up again, "and you definitely can't forget how Ericka went in and saved you from that giant freaky octopus thingy!"

"It was the Kraken, Johnny," Drac corrected.

"Right, right, my bad. But you remember, right? That thing was a huge crazy beast who coulda easily squashed her! And yet she still went in there to save you, didn't she?"

Drac was brought back to the memory of that night on the cruise. He had not seen it happen, but somewhere in the hazy recollection as he first recovered from the suffocation, he could remember Ericka being the one had held him steadfast from falling into the depths of the sea below, bravely declaring her love despite knowing that her great-grandfather could easily command the Kraken to destroy her. He smiled, lovestruck again by his wife's deeds. She sure was an amazing woman. And an amazing human.

"All right," Drac said, nodding his head. "I see where you're going with this," he admitted to Johnny. "But still, I really do miss being a vampire." He sighed, and hung his head.

"I know you do, Drac," Johnny said softly. "But maybe we can try and find something to do that'll make you feel like one again! What is it that you really missed the most?" he prompted.

Drac thought about this, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "Hmm… weeelll… I really liked my fangs," he subconsciously opened his mouth and rubbed the flat teeth that now sat on the inside. "And my hair." He smoothed back the thinning strands that were now on his head. "And my old stomach." He didn't even spare a glance down at the considerable pudge that was on his abdomen now.

"Okaaay," Johnny said. "What else?"

"I miss my powers," Drac continued. "Hypnotizing and using my magic. I miss my vampire vision, and my strength. But mostly…"

He trailed off after hearing the squawk of several birds in the sky, the birds beating their colorful wings as they took flight in the sky.

Drac sighed, gazing up longingly. "I really, really miss flying." He rested his head in his hands and slumped down.

"Ohhh." Johnny could see the pain radiating off of Drac, and the gears began working in his mind.

Flying...

Johnny gasped.

FLYING!

"OOOOHHH Drac, I just got the best idea! You're gonna love it!"

"I am?" Drac asked.

"You are! Come on, come on, let's go!"

Not left with much of a choice as Johnny dragged him off his stool, Drac hurried after the young man, wondering just what it was that he was up to.

"THIS is your idea?!"

"Totally sick, right?"

"Yes! Yes it is!"

Johnny laughed, but Drac did not feel the same merriment. Of course, when both men had agreed that the notion was 'sick,' it was not with the same meaning. Johnny on one hand was quite thrilled to be where they were at, each strapped with various harnesses to large gliders above their heads while atop a large mountain. Drac on the other hand did not share that same thrill. He gaped out at the incredulous height they were at, not at all different from the mountaintop that Johnny had wandered on when attempting to track the crystal.

"Sooo awesome, right?" Johnny asked.

Drac closed his eyes, the height already making him feel lightheaded. "Johnny, are you TRYING to kill me?"

The redhead scoffed. "Hey, what did we just talk about at lunch?"

"Johnny, one strap breaks or one of the wings gets a hole and I am DONE for! I can't do it!"

"Well, not with that attitude you can't!" Johnny gave his father-in-law a serious look. "Look Drac, you wanna fly, don't you? Well, this is it!"

Drac cracked an eye open, and then immediately shut it again, frightened again at how high up they were. "I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Look, it's gonna be super fun. Trust me! I'll even go first, okay?"

Drac nodded, his eyes still shut. "Okay, sure, fine you go fir - Wait, what?!" Drac's eyes flew open right as Johnny made a running start to the edge of the mountaintop.

"Three, two, one, BLAST OFF!"

Drac gasped. "JOHNNY! NO, WAIT!"

But it was too late. Johnny had already leapt off the edge with a loud "WAAAAHOOOOO!" And down, down, he went, disappearing through the misty clouds below, his scream fading away as he went. It almost reminded Drac of when Dennis had been thrown off the tower in Camp Winnepecaca, only in this situation, Drac had no option of flying down to save him since he couldn't turn into a bat. Which meant he had to deliver the bad news to Mavis and the others.

"Oh no…" he whispered, no longer able to even hear Johnny's scream. "He's gone!" Grimly, he began to pull out his new phone to dial Mavis, but just as suddenly, the scream of delight returned when the redhead soared back upward and high above Drac's head in the sky, laughing and whooping wildly.

"Johnny!" Drac exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"You bet I am, Drac! WOOO HOOOO!" he hollered in reply.

With a precise skill that surprised Drac, Johnny easily glided across the cloud tops, riding the serene breeze in a wide circle around the island. For a while Drac stood frozen with disbelief, watching as his son-in-law rode the currents of the air like it was no more than the waves in the ocean, the wind blowing through his wild red hair and whipping against his jovial face. Dips and dives of all sorts were pulled off with near accuracy, almost as natural as the colorful island birds themselves, who seemed to squawk in impressiveness at the display.

As Johnny finished circling around, Drac watched with pride only a father could feel as he swooped down to land next to him, the redhead practically bursting at the seams with excitement.

"So? Whadda you think? Pretty darn amazing, right?!"

Drac couldn't help but smile. "I guess that did look kind of fun..."

Johnny looked at him incredulously. "Kind of? It WAS!" Unstrapping himself from his glider, he approached Drac and began to push him towards the edge of the mountaintop. "All righty, Mister Cranky Fangs, it's YOUR turn!"

"Ehh, what? Huh? Oh, no!" Drac protested, refusing to move his feet. "I am not nearly as good of a flier with this thingy as you!"

"Don't gotta be!" Johnny said, still managing to push Drac despite the man's feet dragging against the rockface below. "The wind is what does all the work for you. All you gotta do is just remember to steer with the handlebars in whatever direction you wanna go!"

"And how the heck do I land?" he asked.

"Just pull up!" Johnny said. "Trust me, you're gonna have a blast!"

"Okay, but - "

"Aaaaand off ya go!"

Before Drac knew it, he was shoved off the mountaintop. Screwing his eyes shut, he screamed, and screamed and screamed his head off...

… only to realize that he was not in fact falling to his death!

"AAAHHHHHH!... wha?..."

Slowly, tentatively, he opened an eye, and then the other. And gasped. Because his glider was hovering beautifully in the open air, perfectly suspended in flight. And that's when Drac realized it.

He was flying.

He was human, and he was FLYING!

"Johnny!" Drac called down.

"Yeah, Dad?" the redhead called back up.

"IIII'MMM FLLLYYYYIIIIIINNNGG!"

Johnny cheered for Drac, and the man happily beheld the view from above. The island spread beneath him as far as the eye could see, a vast sea of green and blue, dotted with gorgeous floral blossoms, the water sparkling like a field of diamonds in breathtaking splendor. Rugged volcanic peaks rose here and there, some tall, some small, their summits all bubbling with piping hot magma that oozed out like a flaming waterfall. But there was so much greenery and color below him, so much to admire and wonder at , that Drac was barely aware of his surroundings anymore, and only became aware of the exhilarating sense of freedom and control that he felt flying through the air.

As he flew, as he let the wind play over his body, caressing every inch of him, a feeling in his heart that he could only describe as complete and utter happiness, an emotion he hadn't felt much in his human body ever since the transformation. All that prior fear and nerves seemed to be carried away with the breeze, leaving the man an excitable, hooting mess, his joy bellowed so loudly in the air that it attracted the attention of the residents below, including a familiar set of faces.

Occupied with their own activity of waterskiing, Frank, Murray, Wayne, and Griffin were all having the time of their life. Frank was driving the boat, while Wayne and Griffin were doing their best to balance themselves atop of the mummy's shoulders. Out on the beach, Ericka had returned from her zoo trip with Dennis and Winnie, the woman lounging on a towel and the children busy building sandcastles. But it was all heads that turned up at the sound of Drac's voice high up in the sky.

Frank's jaw dropped. "Hey… is that…?" He gasped. "Drac?"

"Wait, seriously?" Wayne looked up, Murray and Griffin's gazes following. They too were just as shocked as Frank.

"What in the world?"

"It is Drac!"

"What the heck is he doing?"

"He's flying!" Dennis shouted, looking up from his sandcastle on the beach and pointing with Winnie excitedly. "Papa Drac is flying!"

"Wow," Ericka breathed, actually quite impressed at how well her husband was maneuvering his glider. "You're doing a great job, honeyfangs!" she called up to him.

"Nice job, Uncle Drac!" Winnie called out as well.

Drac took their compliments in stride and, in a precise move, swooped on down to land on the beach with a gentle thud.

Having come ashore in the time that he did, Frank, Wayne, Murray, and Griffin all began to approach him, clapping with their approval.

"Nice goin', Drac!"

"You really nailed that landing!"

"Who says a human can't fly?"

"You rocked it, man!"

Like a movie star, Drac smiled and waved at his friends with all the confidence in the world. "Yes, yes, thank you. It was nothing, really. It was nAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!"

The Pack gasped when a huge gust of wind suddenly rocketed the man back up into the air, up so much that he only looked like a small speck in the sky from their vantage.

And it was even worse for Drac. His friends looked like ants from where he was!

He shrieked in fear as the glider dipped and swirled without any control whatsoever, flailing him uncontrollably around and around. Scared for his life, he clung onto the handlebars, hoisting himself up so that he could wrap his legs around it. It did little to help his situation though, as the next instant they broke with a loud SNAP! The glider out of commission, Drac fell through the sky and wailed all the while. He "oof!"ed and "ouchy!"ed as he fell amongst the forest trees, the hard leaves slapping his skin and the branches giving him scratches. It was by a miracle that the glider caught and allowed the man tangled up in its strappings to hover a good ten feet from the ground, breaking his inevitable crash to the ground. The friends all came dashing into the part of the forest where he landed, met with the curious sight of Drac hanging upside down with straps tied up in his arms, legs, and body.

"Don't worry!" he said assuringly. "I'm okay!"

But it was right then that the part of the glider caught in the trees came loose, allowing Drac to fall the remaining ten feet with an unsound BANG that echoed through the forest.

His friends cringed.

"Yikes!"

"Boy, that was some fall…"

"It's gonna leave a mark for sure!"

"Ouch…"

And the groan from Drac that followed sounded anything but good.