Chapter 10: Monsters In Training p2

The old hearse was driving though the spooky forest once more, this time to a more isolated location.

"Our birthday cake's gonna have the coolest guy and ghoul one it," Dennis and Martha said happily.

"Our birthday cake, and yeah, the coolest guy," Luna corrected.

"Let me guess, Kakie," Dracula moaned in disgust.

"No, he's so cool, he climb walls and wears a cape while his sister said that her ghoul had a cape too and she climbs wall too," said Dennis and Martha , using his hands to gesture wall climbing and covered half of his face with his cape to look sinister.

"He hides in the shadows, and he's the strongest and toughest guy in the world," added Luna , flexing her little muscles.

"Oh, really?" Dracula examined his nails smugly, thinking he's the coolest guy his little girl and precious grandchildren are talking about. "And who is this very cool guy?"

"Batman,Batgirl!" Dennis, Martha and Luna cheered as they placed their hands on their little hips as though to strike heroic poses.

Dracula's face fell to a frown and his shoulders slumped as he pulled his own cape closer around his body, grumbling jealously, "Batman and Batgirl ? Great, you two don't know anyone else with a cape that's cool?" He spotted a good isolated area of the woods, telling Griffin, "This is good, stop here!"

The hearse came to a stop, and Blobby took off his helmet, his head shaped like the helmet.

"Okay, Wayne, it's your turn," Dracula instructed his werewolf friend. "Go kill something," And he leaned back on the hearse and smiled, "Hey kids, watch this."

"What?!" Wayne yelled, shocked.

"I told you. C'mon!" Dracula whispered as he leaned into Wayne's face. "If we don't inspire these kids, how are they going to find their inner monsters?"

Unfortunately, the kids overheard him, Dennis and Martha asking worriedly, "Who's in a monster?"

"Whuh?! No, no, your inner monster," Dracula corrected with a hesitant shrug.

"Why can't we just call Vlad and Lydia?" Wayne turned his back against the woods.

"Vlad and Lydia not gonna happen," Dracula insisted in irritation.

"But Vlad and Lydia way always works," added Murray.

"I don't wanna hear any more about Vlad and Lydia !" Dracula hollered furiously, and the Drac Pak grew silent.

"Daddy, who's Vlad and Lydia ? And why do they make you mad?" Luna asked timidly.

"He's… nobody," Dracula tried to explain soothingly. He reached into their little backpacks (Luna's a pink and purple one,Martha's a magenta and orange ,Dennis's a red and blue and yellow one) and took out two snacks for them, two avocado for Dennis and Martha and an apple for Luna. "Just, here. Have some avocados and an apple," he said to them.

"Yay!" Dennis, Martha and Luna took their healthy fruit snacks.

"Your mommies say these are good fats, whatever the heaven that means." Dracula continued with a happy smile before he grumbled with a frown.

"Listen, I'm not gonna set monsters back again just to make your daughter and grandkids like vampires," Wayne complained as the three children cut open their snacks with child safe knives, and Frank, Eunice ate the pit from Dennis's and Martha's avocados when they offered a slice to them, while Luna gave half of her apple to Murray who ate it happily. "Anyway, there's nothing to kill here. It's all been..."

There came a rustle from the bushes and trees, and a deer gracefully pranced into view, the kids and the other monsters looked on in awe, except for Dracula.

"Aww, what a cutie," Frank and Eunice cooed, but noticed Dracula aiming a dark scowl at him, so Frank said bluntly, "But kill him."

"Ah, great," Wayne groaned. "You know, I haven't done this in years. We don't need to kill anymore, we have pop tarts."

But Dracula didn't listen as he told the children and turned them to face the deer, "Children, you're going to love this. Wayne's going to eat that whole deer, and the next one's yours. Wayne, go!"

"Uncle Wayne's gonna kill Bambi?" Luna moaned sadly while Dennis,Martha made a sad look.

Wayne slowly made his way towards the deer, his shoulders slumped. "Ah, man," he moaned in reluctance. "I'm too old for this. Okay, how does it go again?" He tried to remember what to do, and tried howling first but remembered something else. "No, no, wait. That's for the moon. Oh, right, I growl. Okay, here it goes." The wolf man slowly approached the deer with a scary smile and claws ready. The deer looked up at him with a curious observant face as Wayne said loudly, "Growl!"

"Get it, boy!" a human man shouted from somewhere out of view.

A red Frisbee came flying into view from out of nowhere, exciting Wayne and he started a game of tug-of-war for the Frisbee with a brown Labrador as they growled loudly and playfully at each other.

"Get it, Uncle Wayne!" Dennis, Martha applauded excitedly.

"Get the Frisbee!" Luna exclaimed.

Everyone else smiled amusingly, but Dracula gawked in shock and disbelief at his werewolf friend's behavior.

A few minutes later, everyone was back inside the hearse, Dracula was frowning in disappointment while Wayne happily chewed on the Frisbee. Drool foamed around from his long muzzle.

"Some werewolf," Dracula complained rudely. "Did you actually say the word 'growl'? You're a werewussy?"

"I said I was rusty," Wayne said with a mouthful of Frisbee.

At the end of his rope, Dracula turned on Wayne and started struggling to take the Frisbee away from him, turning this into another tug-of-war.

"Give me that Frisbee! Give it to me!" exclaimed Dracula, tugging at the Frisbee.

"No! My Frisbee, it's my Frisbee!" Wayne muffled, keeping a tight grip on the Frisbee with his mouth.

The struggle caused Griffin, still at the wheel, to lose control of the car for a few moments. He swerved to the side and in a sudden circle as the hearse struck a large rock and Blobby's scooter came loose from the side of the car and he went rolling off a nearby cliff. Everyone grew silent at what happened to their gelatinous friend.

Dracula looked out through the window, slightly embarrassed, but confidence as he assured in a sheepish smile, "He's fine. He's blobby."

Meanwhile in Santa Cruz, the night sky with a lovely mixture of purple and orange, and people either walked in the street or entered a few shops.

"This place is so amazing and scenic!" Mavis cooed. "What do you want to show me first?"

"Mmm... I don't know, it's pretty, but there's really nothing to do once it gets dark." Johnny kept it cool, but he knew he had to make this trip as boring as possible to discourage Mavis from moving out.

"Wait! What's that place?" Mavis got distracted by a mini-mart nearby.

Johnny slowed the car and pulled over in front of the mini-mart. The couple left the car and had gone inside.

Inside the mini-mart, Mavis was looking through a shelf of many bags of potato chips. "So you're telling me that I can pick between all these different kinds of chips?" she asked the cashier.

Kal, an extremely bored and tired, cashier, replied, "Yes."

"How do people decide?" Mavis asked, overwhelmed.

The cashier responded by shrugging.

"Whoa! Now what's that beautiful fountain of rubies?" Mavis rushed over to a Slurpee machine, got a cup and filled it with green slush. She drank it in one gulp. "Johnny! Have you tried this Slurpay?"

"Not that quickly, hon," warned Johnny.

"It comes in forty-eight flavors! We have to try them all!" Mavis immediately refilled her cup and downed another slurpee in one gulp, and then another and another.

"Uh, I don't know if we have time," said Johnny, warily.

"Why? This place is open all night!" Mavis finished her cup and asked the cashier, "Right sir?"

"Yes," Kal tiredly assured her.

Chuckling, Mavis flashed a rainbow colored smile as a result of all the slurpees she drank. Just as she was about to finish her next round, she noticed a security camera and grinned. "Johnny, look! They're making a TV show about this place and we're the stars!" She did a fancy pose with Johnny in her arms and jumped up to the camera's level, waving, "Hello, world!"

"Awesome." Johnny weakly gave a thumb's up.

"It's totally awesome! You're so lucky, Kal," Mavis said to the cashier, who came over to them.

Holding a slurpee cup in his own hand, Kal waved, "Hello, world." He smiled a bored rainbow colored smile.

Back at the hotel outside at the pool area, Ericka was eating dinner with her family and friends. The pool area had been decorated to give it a Hawaiian feel to make her family and friends more welcome. She had to make sure the food wasn't anything monster-y and only human-y food to make them feel welcome. She learned how to make paprika chicken, the same meal Dracula had made for her years ago, and served it to her family, along with matzo ball soup, finger sandwiches, burgers, scream cheese on bagels, and spaghetti in sauce. The kids ate either the spaghetti, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, small pan pizza, chicken strips, and mac in cheese. As soon as the children finished eating, they immediately rushed over to the pool for some fun, although they were cautious about playing with the monster children. During their meal, the grownups decided to ask Ericka how she's been. The other adults decided to relax by the pool in lounge chairs, not wanting to get in the grave lounges.

"I still can't believe you're married to the infamous Count Dracula!" Molly perked excitedly.

"Yeah, sometimes I can't believe it myself," Ericka responded.

"So... what's he like?" Molly wiggled her eyebrows.

"Drac... well, he's kind, caring and protective of his friends and family, and the most romantic man I've ever met." Ericka sighed with a dreamy tone at the end.

"Aww, that's sweet." Molly was happy for her friend.

"But why on earth are you wearing that?" Andrei questioned his daughter's new gothic modern attire. "Black was never your color!"

The rest of the family agreed with him, except Molly defending her clothing choice, rebuked, "Come on, Helsing . I think it looks great on her! She looks like a real business woman." Then she commented her friend by adding, "I always knew black was your color, Ericka ."

"Thanks."Ericka blushed.

"So, has anything else interesting happened in your life since you got married?" Monica asked curiously.

"Yes, actually Drac and I have daughter together. Her name is Luna ," Ericka told everyone.

The news made an appalled Andrei choke on his drink a little. Monica turned over to see if he was okay which he is. Mathias' mouth hung open in shock. Rose stared in bewilderment.

"OMG!" Molly shouted ecstatically. "You had a baby! It seems to me you and Count Dracula got bussyyy!" She teased her a little at the end, making Ericka blush.

"What is Luna like? Is she a vampire too?" asked Mathias, despite behaving coldly earlier he was slightly curious.

"No, she's human," explained Ericka . "She likes ballet, soccer, Batgirl , Kakie the cake monster..." she would have continued had her father not interrupted.

"I would like to meet her!" Andrei ordered in a demanding tone wanting to meet his new grandchild.

"Me too. I would love to meet her," Monica added, looking excited.

"Luna is not here right now. She's at the park with her dad and her nephew and niece ." Ericka calmly answered the adults.

"Nephew,Niece ?" Monica questioned.

"Mavis, Drac's daughter by his first marriage, got married and had a son and a daughter , Dennis and Martha ," Ericka replied cheerfully. "So as you can see, I'm actually a grandmother!"

The four adults were less than thrilled by the revelation. Molly and Rose snickered quietly.

"You and Drac are probably the youngest-looking grandparents in history!" Rose added, jokingly. Upon noticing her parents gesturing her and the others to leave so to speak with her sister, she hurriedly stood up. "Okay, we're all gonna go for a swim with the kids. Thanks for the dinner, Ericka ."

"But I didn't ask to go swimming..." Mathias objected, but he and the others were hauled away by his sister.

"Uh, what's going on?" Ericka knew her father wanted her friends and half-siblings to leave so to speak with her.

"We have something to discuss with you," said Andrei, before hesitating. "Ericka , are you truly happy here?"

"Yes I am," Ericka nodded.

"You've changed over the years," Andrei sighed deeply.

"How have I changed?"

"You married a vampire and had a hybrid child with him."

Ericka scowled at the word 'hybrid.' "To put it lightly, Melany is actually human."

Andrei raised his eyebrows, keenly interested. "Is she?"

"Yes, she loves it here and gets along really well with the other kids!" Ericka gestured to the pool where the wolf pups rough-housed the other kids, including her nieces and nephew. Although their managed to rescue them, Andrei scowled dangerously, not pleased at all by what he witnessed. Seeing this, Ericka grinned sheepishly although it came out twisted.

"Do you honestly think that a monster-infested hotel is a safe place for your child?" questioned Andrei.

"I've got it under control." Ericka took out the remote control pad and the wolf pups were jolted by their electric collars to stop their rough-housing.

"And pray tell, which park did your husband take my granddaughter to?" Andrei pressed her further.

"He... uh..." Now that her father mentioned it, Ericka hadn't been told of which park Dracula had taken Luna to.

"You don't know where he is, do you?" Andrei's expression darkened. "Does Mavis know?"

Ericka admitted in defeat. "No."

"Do you know what kind of man you married?!" Andrei demanded. "He's got you running an entire hotel by yourself, while he's sneaking out to do who knows what with Melany! Did it ever occur to you that he might put Luna's life in danger?!"

"It does matter to me! But Drac won't let anything bad happen to Luna !" Ericka snapped. "And that includes Dennis too!"

"WILL YOU STOP LISTENING TO YOUSELF!" Andrei bellowed, towering over her and slammed the table. "Mavis is NOT your real daughter! And Dennis and Martha are NOT even your real grandkids!"

Ericka gasped, appalled by her father's harsh words. She held back the tears that could've burst any second when caused by her father refusing what she loved. The other monsters and humans close by overheard the argument and ceased what they were doing to gawk at them.

"There's something else we need to tell you," Monica continued, massaging Andrei's shoulder to calm him down. "We moved to Paris when some relatives died and bequeathed it to us. Our restaurant in Paris has been progressing over the years. We believe you and Melany should come home with us."

Ericka couldn't believe her ears. "What?"

Monica took out her iPhone and handed it over to Ericka , so she could see photos of the restaurant and home that her family had moved to long ago;

The restaurant was located in a Parisian bistrot. In the photos she examined, plenty of tables and chairs were outside the building, and a string of lights hung from a few lanterns close by to the restaurant itself, creating the building's appearance a lovely atmosphere at night. The interior of the restaurant was quite fancy-looking, white walls, plenty of chairs and red seats, computer screens nearby for employees to use, a martini bar located at the corner of the room, two bathrooms for males and females, and the kitchen doors located beside the bar. The living quarters for her family was located upstairs of the restaurant.

The living residence, mostly living room and the kitchen both shared the same room, it looked quite fancy with a television sitting in front of a large couch, a rug with flower patterns beneath a small glass table, a video/bookshelf, a lamp, two windows with silk curtains opening up a balcony, a dining table, a sink, a dishwasher, cupboards, an oven and refrigerator. There was a staircase located by the kitchen, which displayed the interior of the sleeping quarters. Andrei's and Monica's bedroom was huge with a queen-sized bed, but Rose and Mathias had their own private bedrooms that seemed simple enough for them. The nieces shared their room together filled with girlish items and a modern bunk bed, and the nephew had his own private room filled with boyish stuff. Two bathrooms, one near the sleeping quarters and one close to the kitchen/living room.

"Like I said, our family's restaurant and café has been progressing. Doesn't it look wonderful?" Monica asked, hoping her stepdaughter would like it and agree to move in.

However, Ericka slid the iPhone back in her stepmother's direction, rather abruptly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not moving to Paris, and neither is Luna."

"You've been weak and misguided by your blind trust in monsters," Andrei added, gesturing to the monsters in the area. "Only I can protect you and my granddaughter from these creatures."

"NO! You don't get to barge into my hotel and tell me how to live my life!" And with those words, Ericka stormed back inside the hotel, leaving her perplexed father and stepmother behind.