The Count's steps were brisk as he trekked down the hall, guiding the redhead to the elevator with him and rising up in the hotel until they reached the 13th floor, where Dracula's chambers were. Johnny kept quiet all the while, unsure of what exactly the Count was up to.
Johnny tuned out the chorus of "Do Not Disturb!"s that rang out as the shrunken heads saw them pass by. Dracula unlocked the door to his room in a few swift motions. "There's… something I need to show you," he murmured.
The aged wooden door creaked open, dust billowing into the air from the motion. Johnny coughed a couple of times and then took a good look around. The surroundings were dark, most of the windows covered with thick billowing curtains and only a limited amount of furniture. The one that caught Johnny's eye was the large coffin at the far end of the room.
"Wow…" he mumbled. "Are we at a funeral right now?" Then Johnny remembered. "Ohhh, right, it's your bed." He ran his hands along the cool, sleek surface and grinned. "So creepy and cool…" Then another sight caught his eye, and he lit up.
"Oh wow, I know her!" he said, pointing up to the portrait on the wall that Dracula was now standing in front of. On it was a woman with dark wavy hair, her outfit a long black dress and her face adorned with a kind smile. "I've seen that picture at the ruins of Lubov. That's my favorite castle," Johnny explained. "There's a wholelegendaround that lady!"
Dracula peered to Johnny curiously. "A legend?"
Johnny nodded and began to speak. "The story is that a lonely count met her by chance, and they say that no two souls were ever more meant for each other. Eventually, they settled down at Castle Lubov and had a child. But then, a horrible tragedy happened - a fire started mysteriously one night, and killed both of them." The redhead paused, a sigh of disappointment leaving his lips. "When I was at the castle, I could still feel their powerful love. They say it's as if a soul is still trapped in the ruins themselves." As Johnny stared up at the portrait, he failed to notice Drac's somber expression to the side.
"The legend is wrong," he whispered, his voice coming out a hoarse rasp. "It was only thewifewho died."
Without waiting for Johnny to ask what he meant, Dracula gripped the curtain that was hiding the rest of the portrait and hastily tugged it off. The voluminous fabric billowed for a second in the air, and then fell flattened on the ground. Johnny looked up, his eyes widening as he, for the first time, saw the remainder of the portrait before him. As it turned out, Lady Lubov was not the only one in the painting, because next to her wasDracula.
"Ohh…" Johnny said in quiet understanding, his brows furrowing to a look of concern at Drac. It all made so much sense now. Johnny had figured that Drac simply thought the humans were annoying, but now he saw that it ran much deeper than that. He had lost hislove.
"It was no mystery who killed her," Dracula continued. He clenched his fists. "She was killed byyourkind!"
Johnny flinched as the Count's voice raised and he turned back to the boy with a fearsome snarl. But Drac reeled himself in as the memory of that night flooded his mind.
Fire was burning everywhere around them.
Outside, an angered human mob was converging, torches and pitchforks in hand. Inside, the castle was burning, wooden beams falling from the ceiling and the rank stench of smoke filling the air. Mavis was still asleep in his wife's arms thankfully, as he would have hated for her to see such a horrific sight. The same could not be said for Martha. She stared up at him, an unfamiliar look of worry in her beautiful blue eyes. Drac gently caressed her cheek. "Go, hide. I'll take care of this." Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he set out downstairs to confront the angry humans. He had only managed to get a few pleads for peace out when he heard it - the scream that sent shivers down his spine and a cold dread throughout his body. And then, he had found her lying on the ground, a wooden stake sticking out of her chest…
Dracula shook off the memory, refusing to let the tears that had begun to pool in his eyes to spill over. He didn't want to be weak in front of this boy. "They are the real monsters," he said instead, his voice low and laced with hate.
Johnny let out a defeated sigh again. He wanted to offer comfort to the vampire, but he didn't quite know how or what to say. Everything was becoming crystal clear to him now, before Drac began to further elaborate.
"I built this place for my love, to keep our child safe. As a father, you do everything to keep your family safe. But now… Mavis has thesefeelingsfor you."
Johnny blushed, trying to stammer with some kind of reply to that, but only failing.
"It's alright," Drac chuckled. "You're a good one, I can tell. I'm sorry if I came off aggressive earlier, I just… it's been a lot of change to deal with all at once. All these humans here, you being my daughter's zing…" He trailed off, and Johnny took the opportunity to speak up.
"Drac, you don't have to apologize. I totally get why you would feel so defensive over Mavis and all your friends. What happened to you was horrible, and I'm really sorry." Johnny paused, swallowing down a lump in his throat. He had only known Mavis over the course of a few short hours, but if anything happened toherhe didn't believe he'd be able to bear it. "But Drac, Quinston isn't lying about what he's saying. Humans aren't like the way we used to be back then. We love you guys now, and we want to be yourfriends,not your foes."
Dracula nodded. "Yes. I can see that now. Perhaps we just need to start over. AndI'llstart by giving you my blessing to be with Mavis. A zing never lies, and I know that you two will be great together."
Drac extended his hand for Johnny to take, but was surprised when the grinning redhead leaped forward and wrapped his arms tightly around Drac's waist in a bone-crushing hug. Dracula felt awkward at first, not having really received any hugs aside from his daughter, but eventually just gave the boy a couple of pats on the back. He chuckled uncertainly at first, but the sound suddenly caught in his throat. He paused, his senses overtaken as they were earlier when Quinston and him had made a brief stop at the steam bath room. Only this time, the delicious waft that drifted into his nose was directly below him.
Theboy.
His pupils shrank to a feral slit, and he tilted his head down ever so slightly to catch the scent again. He inhaled deeply, his mouth watering. A growl began to rise in the back of Drac's throat, but Johnny did not notice. He released Drac and made his way to the door with a bounce in his step. "Well, see ya later Drac! I'm gonna go hang with Mavis!" He gave a small wave and exited, leaving the Count baffled. The vampire shook his head, regaining his senses. What had just happened? Dracula did not know. As before he only shrugged it off, and went to the bathroom. The sun was just starting to rise, and if he wanted to turn a new leaf, he wanted to be in the right mindset.
Tomorrow,he thought. It would be a good time. Plans had been made for a big party in the ballroom to celebrate Mavis's 118th birthday, this time alongside the humans. It would be a perfect chance to reintroduce himself as the new Count Dracula, the one who welcomed humans into his hotel and wanted to pave a better future for monsterkind by being on good terms with them.
Yes, tomorrow.
And with that, the Count snuggled into his coffin and fell asleep, no worries on his mind for the time being.
Nothing could go wrong.