Chapter 12: Sudden Change of Plans
"Well, you look exhausted," said James, finding his prized lady end a bickering between a monster and a human over which room was there's and gave them different room keys.
"I am," Ericka sighed. "But it's nothing I can't handle. It's like working at the Bats in the Belfry."
James pretended to be concerned, but he still wanted to get straight to the point. "About that, your brother and I have been talking about asking you to consider moving to Paris, so your kid can grow up in a safe environment. Not that I'm asking you to leave your husband, but you can still come back for a visit and she can still visit her father."
Remembering what Dracula told her the day before about overhearing her family's conversation, Ericka frowned hard at her arrogant suitor. She knew her father meant well in the past, but he still didn't understand the hotel was her daughter's home and it was Ericka's home now.
"I get what you're saying, James, but I'm not leaving just because you and everyone else think it's not safe here," Ericka responded, stubbornly. "I won't give Luna the same unhappy childhood I had, just because my brother despises monsters!"
Taken aback, James didn't know how to respond to that so he decided to change the subject. "Where is your kid, anyway? And for that matter, where is this grandson you have, since his parents are away?"
"They're fine," Ericka assured him. "They're with Drac."
"And where is the Count, exactly?" James raised an eyebrow.
Ericka realized how late it was getting. Dracula had been out too long and he hadn't called yet. And she had forgotten about calling him when solving a problem with the guests. "He told me he was taking the kids out to the park. They're probably still there right now. I need to give him a call." She took out her phone and dialed the number for Dracula.
Far away from the hotel, in the wild Transylvania forest going deeper into mountainous areas, the hearse drove on to its next destination. Dracula glanced down at the children, both asleep in their car seats. He called upon his vampire x-ray vision to see if either of the children had grown fangs yet. Still no fangs, and he was getting more worried as he had less than a week to make them into vampires.
"Holy rabies!" he gasped. "Still no sign of fangotry." Dracula got more serious and ordered the invisible man, "Alright, Griffin, take us to our old hangout! The old windmill, where I sucked my first blood. It's my turn to show these kids how to be scary! I'm tired of how you guys taught them how to be monsters, it was pathetic!"
"It wasn't our fault!" Wayne argued.
Griffin drove the hearse further on, to a hill they all knew well. But where they expected to see an old worn out and decaying windmill, in its place were now sleek modern wind powered turbines.
"Wind turbines. Impressive." Frank, Eunice looked amazed.
Dracula's face changed to disappointment and anger, he growled in frustration as his face began to turn a bright red. All night things were not going as planned nor were things were going his way.
The Drac Pack moved back slightly to avoid his wrath, but Griffin tried to say humorously, "Okay, so where to next? Why don't we go to my special place; the inn where I first turned invisible?"
Dracula's face turned a deeper shade of red as he snarled at Griffin. The Invisible Man chuckled nervously almost certain the vampire was going to attack him. But instead, Dracula took a breath to calm himself down.
"No, there's one more place we can try. That special place where I learned how to use my powers," he replied in a calm shaky voice.
"Oookay." Griffin shifted the hearse and drove back down the road.
Dracula suddenly felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He was surprised and worried when Ericka's picture appeared on his IPhone, which meant it was her calling. "Oh, no! Ericka's calling," he gasped. "What do I do?"
"Answer it," Murray said.
" Murray is right you can't ignore your wife".Eunice said.
The ringing had awoken the kids from their nap and they got excited when they caught a glimpse of Ericka's wedding photo.
"Mommy! Can I say hi to Mommy? I want to say hi!" Luna asked eagerly.
"We want to say hi to Nana Ericka , too!" Dennis and Martha chimed in.
"Eh, of course, my little Beelzebuddies," Dracula stammered sweetly, before he pressed the answer button on his phone and he clearly heard Ericka's voice and James's voice during a conversation.
While Ericka was trying to get Dracula on the phone, one of the knights came up to her and reported of an emergency in the Werecats' room.
Sighing, Ericka summoned the zombie janitor. "Mr. Ghouligan, can you come here please."
Then the zombie janitor comes in and groans like he's saying 'what is it madam.'
"Can you please clean the Werecats' room? They clogged the tub with their hairballs again," she asked nicely.
Mr. Ghouligan moaned in agreement and went to the room.
Whilst Ericka got distracted in telling Mr. Ghouligan to clean up after the were cats' litter, James noticed Dracula's face on the phone trying to contact her and he got an idea, smirking.
"I know you think you love him, Ericka ," he said loud and clear for the vampire to listen, "but I heard stories how he raised his daughter while she was growing up. He can be very extreme most of the time. We just feel that since James is more human than vampire, the two of you should come live with us in Paris."
"I hate to admit it, but you're right on that one, James ," Ericka replied in slight agreement. "Drac is a control-freak and overprotective, and yes, he has been extreme."
"He's even dangerous around his own child," Corbin continued in a razor edge tone. "Paris will be safer than the hotel for you and your kid."
"You really want me and Luna to live in Paris, with my relatives and you," Ericka asked, although Dracula didn't notice the sarcasm in her voice, "away from her father and other monsters, where it's safer. Well, I've been thinking about what you and my brother said and... you're right."
Dracula gasped painfully, dropping his phone face down on the floor. He grasped his chest like he felt his heart break in two. His breath caught in his throat and everything seemed to fade as his mind reeled from what he heard Ericka say.
The IPhone may have fallen from his grasp to the floor, he failed to overhear the rest of the conversation as Ericka finished, "Luna does seem more human than vampire... but this is her home as much as its my home! I keep telling everyone this, I am not dumping Dracula and moving to Paris just because my family hates monsters and you still have feelings for me. She's as safe here as she is anywhere else, with me and my husband!" Ericka noticed the screen on her phone displayed video of Dracula's feet, which seemed kind of strange. "Uh, hello? Drac?"
Dracula's face suddenly appeared on the screen, gathering himself together from his shock and picked up his phone to answer Ericka's call. The Count answered in exaggerated affection, "Hello, Ericka , my love. How are you? How is everything at the hotel?"
"Everything's fine, Honey," replied Ericka . "I just want to check on you and the kids. How are they doing?"
"Oh, they're fine." Dracula asked. He shifted his phone in Luna's and Dennis and Martha's directions, and they waved vigorously.
"Hi, Mommy! I miss you!" exclaimed Luna .
"Hi, Nana Ericka !" waved Dennis and Martha .
"Hello, my little angels." She smiled affectionately and waved back. "Are you having fun at the park?" Ericka asked, but noticed something strange in the background.
"Oh, everything is great, just great." Dracula's affectionate smile twitched. "We're having so much fun at the park. Yes, we are at the park. Nowhere else, at the park having fun."
Murray was waving and winking to her from behind Dracula. "Why are your friends with you at the park?" Ericka was becoming confused and suspicious.
Dracula glared dangerously at the mummy to silence him while Murray smiled innocently when he got caught, but Dracula tried to cover up, "Oh, uh, they're here with me because, uh... I figured that since Denisovich and Martha might move to California, and since Luna is stuck inside the hotel all the time, maybe they can watch us talk to the humans and know what to do and what not to do. It's like reading a book, you need to look up more than one reading lesson." He laughed nervously as his smile became weirdly twisted, for it made Ericka think her battery was running low at first.
"Well, when you put it that way I understand," Ericka tried to be supportive. "Anyway, my family and friends are here, and we were talking. My brother recently asked me to consider moving to Paris with my daughter, but..."
"Well, we won't be out long," Dracula gaped in shock, before he interrupted rudely, "We're going out for lunch after the park, and then we'll be on our way home."
"That's a good idea," Ericka replied, but doubt lingered in her voice.
"Okay, kids, say good-bye," he told them.
"Bye, Mommy!"
"Bye, Nana Ericka !"
"Bye-bye, my darling, I love you," Dracula spoke overly sweetly, as he puckered kisses to the phone's screen before hanging up, his friends were looking at him funny while the kids exchanged looks at each other, thinking 'Daddy/Papa Drac is weird.'
"Sheesh," Wayne mumbled to Griffin, "He's a lot worse than you and your 'girlfriend.'"
"You see, they're fine," Ericka said smugly, turning to James . "They'll probably be at the park until sunrise."
"I'm not sure," James looked suspicious of the Count's behavior. "Didn't he seem to be acting strange to you?"
But Ericka shrugged off her suspicions like he was imagining things. "You know Drac, he's so crazy about those kids, he'd never let anything happen to them. Well, I have to get back to work. So, either you check in or check out." As Ericka made her way down the hall, she muttered, "I wonder how Mavis and Johnny are doing in California."
"Chocolate cereal," Dracula said grumpily in a flat tone. "Are you kidding me?"
"It's okay, Drac," Frank assured him as he slurped up some fruit roll ups. "It's cause they love us."
"Yeah, monsters are what's going on," Murray added.
" Yes, I own a beauty shop where a girls can you look beautiful like me",Eunice said.
"Oh yeah, you should embrace it like I did," Griffin agreed. "I've got a bestselling work out video."
Though due to being invisible, the women doing the exercising with Griffin got so confused about what to do, they started improvising.
"That's not me, guys," Dracula refused, holding up his hand.
"C'mon, even Bigfoot's tearing it up in the German soccer league," Frank added encouragingly.
Of course, with Bigfoot living up to his name, his large foot easily blocked the goal net.
Dracula's phone rang again, this time it was his older daughter calling. "Oh, no," he gasped. "Oh, no, no, no! It's Mavis!"
"You gotta answer it," Wayne said, and Dracula struggled to press the screen again with his long sharp nails.
"You're pressing too hard. Lighter!" Murray tried to help him.
"Alright!" Dracula yelled at him. "Denisovich, Martha ,Luna , wake up." He tried to wake them by shaking their car seats, but neither kid stirred awake. "Oh, boy, they're out cold."
"I got it," Griffin said, taking out three pairs of sunglasses from an invisible shirt pocket and placed them on the kids' faces so Mavis won't see their asleep.
Mavis waited impatiently, until Dracula's face appeared on the screen answered the phone. "Dad, I've been trying to call you earlier but you didn't answer. What took you so long?" she asked.
"What? Nothing, Mavy. I was just helping your mother with some work," Dracula answered nervously. "We're all great here at the hotel, just doing hotel things." He noticed Wayne panting on him like a dog, mumbling, "Sorry, can't handle your breath."
"I hear you." Wayne sat back down in his seat, frowning.
"Uh, how are you?" Dracula asked with a forced smile.
"We're having a blast," Mavis told him excitedly. "We just went biking and mini-marting, it's so fun here."
"Uhhh..." Dracula groaned before he could say anything.
"Is Dennis and Martha okay?" Mavis asked.
"Oh, of course. He's right here with your sister," Dracula explained. "Eh, do you want to see them?"
"Yes. Yes, I do," Mavis said eagerly, and her screen was shifted to a sleeping Dennis and Martha first. "Hi, Babies . How are you?"
"Mommy," Griffin said in a high pitched kid's voice to imitate Dennis and Martha . "We're happy. Whee-hee-hee-hee!"
"Aww," Mavis moaned sweetly.
"Hey, little ones," Johnny said over the phone until he noticed Luna , "...and other little one."
"Hi, Mavy!" Dracula used a free hand to hold Luna and imitate her in front of the camera.
"Hi,Luna! Are you having fun?" Mavis greeted affectionately.
"Oh, yes! Lots of fun!" Dracula responded in a high pitched tone.
"Why are they wearing sunglasses?" Mavis asked, which worried Johnny.
"Oh, we were playing, uh, it's uh, a superhero thing," Dracula fibbed.
"Cebause I'm Sunglasses Man, to the rescue and this is my sidekicks , Sunglasses Girls ," Griffin kept imitating Dennis, Martha and continued to fly them around the car, while Wayne held the steering wheel. "Wheee! We're flying!"
"Okay, take it down a notch," Dracula grumbled.
"You sound funny," Mavis started to look suspicious.
"Oh, no," Dracula tried to reassure her. "That's his Sunglasses Man voice." He started to vocalize fake static interference on his phone at Mavis and shook his phone around. "Uh-oh, static. Oh, the signal is bad. Mavis, are you there?" He disconnected immediately.
"Yeah, I'm still..." but her phone had been disconnected. "Alright, I guess they're having fun," Mavis sighed, figuring Dennis and Martha would enjoy hearing about how much California is.
"Of course they are," Johnny assured her, chuckling nervously.
Back in the hearse in Transylvania, Griffin praised himself over his acting, "Wow, I nailed it with the Sunglasses Man thing. I threw in a 'cebause,' did anybody see that?"
But Dracula wasn't listening; he had become consumed with fear about loosing his entire family and what was going to happen to them. "She said she was having fun," he cried in panic. "Johnny's blowing it. She's biking and mini-marting! She's gonna wanna move! And Ericka's stupid family have pressured my wife to move away, and she's really gonna do it! I gotta fix these kids NOW!" He then yelled at Griffin, "Are we almost there or what?!"
Griffin nervously laughed, "Okay, I uh, I may have taken a wrong turn a few miles back, heh, heh. Don't get mad."
"WHAT?!" Dracula yelled, and tried to bring up something on his phone, but his nails made it difficult and he grunted, "Someone turn on the navigator on this thing."
"Look at how light I touch it," Murray said as he simply pressed the navigator app on the phone.
A voice like Peter Lorre said, "Please, enter your destination. Pleeease! I'm begging you."
A short while later the children had awoken from another nap, while Dracula's friends in the back slept as the hearse continued its journey through the darkened forest and tall mountains.
Dracula tried to tell them calmly, "This is gonna be good, children. Scary stuff, it's in you." He lightly patted each of their heads and said apprehensively, "We just gotta concentrate on the scary."
"Um, Papa Drac, do you miss Grandma?" Dennis and Martha suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Miss Grandma?" Dracula repeated as he was thrown off by the question, and he made a dreamy look in his eyes as he gazed longingly up at the sky, "Oh, sure I do. I miss her every day. She was my zing."
"I thought you and Mommy zinged, Daddy," Luna was confused.
"We did, Pumpkin," he said reassuringly to her. "She's my new zing, even if I still miss Martha, she's always here." Dracula placed a fist over his heart. He leaned in closer to them and asked teasingly, "Why do you ask?"
" We don't know," Dennis and Martha shrugged shyly.
"Do you miss anybody?"
"We miss Mommy and Daddy," Dennis and Martha smiled.
"I miss my Mommy too," added Luna .
"And who else," Dracula got teasingly inquisitive. "Do you miss that Winnie and Willie , the pups who tackles you and tries to lick you all the time?" He playfully tickled Dennis and Martha as he asked.
"Yeah, but we're just friends," Dennis and Martha said simply.
"Oh, no, no, no," Dracula chuckled. "You're a Dracula, you can't just be friends with a cute hairy number like Winnie and Willie ." He tickled Dennis and Martha again, causing the little red headed boy and raven black hair girl to giggle again.
"I miss Evan too," Luna added, and Dracula frowned at the mention of the boy's name. "Why can't you be nice to him, Daddy? He's my best friend."
"He's a boy," Dracula explained in obvious disapproval. "He's nothing but trouble. All that electrical stuff he tosses around for jokes, it's not normal."
"Sometimes I wish Mommy was here cause she lets me and Evan be friends!" Luna whined angrily. "Why do you have to be so lame, Daddy?! You're NEVER fun to around!"
Dracula momentarily looked hurt at his youngest daughter, which she ignored as she pouted. Dennis and Martha frowned sadly at Luna in disappointment for her words.
Before he could say anything else to her, the Count heard his phone talking and searched for it on his person, before taking it out of his inside vest pocket hearing it speak in that same Peter Lorre voice, "Right turn, now! Here! You imbecile!"
"Oh, right," he cried and pointed to where they had to turn. "Turn, Griffin!"
"Yes, Papa Drac," Griffin concurred, as he made a hard right turn to their next destination.