Wayne frowned, unable to understand why all of his wolf pups found it more convenient to pile up on top ofhimfor their slumber rather than their mother.

He lay, wide-eyed and bloodshot as he tried to relax himself to a state of sleep - a task he had been unable to do since the sun rose. But now, he felt the lethargy begin to overtake him. His breathing calmed and his eyelids grew heavy. Yes, he could finally feel himself begin to drift into sleep. But, just as he was able to close his eyes, the shrill yell of an alarm woke him up with a start. His wolf pups did not wake, but instead howled, long and loud, as the noise continued. Wayne grumbled and his paw reached out to grab the yelling skeleton-head phone that was on the dresser. Picking it up, he spoke into the receiver.

"I didn't order a wake-up call," he growled.

"Count Dracula arranged it for all the rooms," the witch on the other side answered. Wayne rolled his eyes and curled back into sleep. But the phone began to ring again. He growled in annoyance.

"Darn it, where's the snooze button?!"

"There will be no snoozing," the skeleton telephone answered. "The party's today!" It rang out its yelling alarm, leaving the wolfman no choice but to get up and prepare.

As the tired wolf sluggishly made his way out of bed, other guests - human and monster alike - began to prepare themselves for the party as well.

The living brain scrubbed itself clean in the shower. The skeleton family polished their bones. Griffin shaved himself and powered his tush. A few of the witches ditched the maid outfits and adorned themselves with some glowsticks.

In her room, Mavis was contemplating on what outfit to put on. Most of her wardrobe, like her father's, had been the same for centuries. But this was going to be a big party, one with monstersandhumans, and she wanted to change it up a bit. She thought about it for a moment, and then an idea clicked in her head. Grabbing some fabric, Mavis quickly cut and sewed together a brand new countess cape, a silk-magenta color lining the inside just like Drac's that went down her back as far as her knees. She gave herself a once over and smiled approvingly. This would do.

A knocking at the door of her room drew her attention, and she peered through the peephole. Mavis smiled as she saw who it was and gladly opened the door. Johnny was there, grinning and rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet. He stopped when he took notice of her outfit.

"Wow…" he breathed. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she replied with a blush, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You look pretty cool, too." She gestured at the different clothes he was wearing. He had ditched the yellow shirt and khaki shorts for some dark apparel. His face was painted a light grayish-blue and his hair was sticking straight up.

Johnny shrugged. "I figured since it's a monster-mash, I may as well go all out!"

Mavis giggled. "Whatever you say, JohnnyStien," she joked. "I can'twaitto see the party."

"Yeah, me too," Johnny said, holding out his hand so that she could take it. "I think you're going toloveall the little touches that were made."

And she did.

Mavis was fascinated by all the bright lights and glittering decorations. She was taken by pleasant surprise at the music. It was not the regular classical tones that the zombie Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach would play. Instead, it was a raving beat, pumping throughout the ballroom from a sound system at the stage. Her uncles Frank, Murray, Wayne, and Griffin were on the stage singing along to the beat and playing their instruments - Frank on guitar, Wayne on piano, Murray on the bass, and Griffin on the drums. Everyone who was already there were having a grand time, moving and jumping along to the song.

Quinston did a jig alongside his aides Harper and Levon. Wayne's wolf pups pranced around atop one of the tables - that was until Winnie, the youngest of the wolf pups, shoved them off and proceeded to suck her binky innocently as though nothing had happened. Johnny's family was there too, decked out with face paint, fake wounds, and torn clothes to look like they were risen corpses from the grave. The young couple waved at them, and then joined in with the dancing as well, Mavis swaying her hips and Johnny freestyling with some pops and locks.

Dracula arrived soon after in his regular black-caped outfit, his head held up high in pride. Monsters and humans greeted him as he elegantly strode in through the doors.

"Terrific party, Drac!"

"You really outdid yourself this year, Drac!"

"Definitely has to be the best one I've been to in about 500 years!"

"Yeah, well this has got to be the best party I've been to since last week!"

Dracula took all the compliments in stride, his smile never faltering once even as he watched Johnny and Mavis together. The redhead caught sight of the vampire and waved at him.

"Oh, hey Drac!" he called out, nudging Mavis to get her attention as well. Mavis grinned as she came up to her father and hugged him.

"Thanks for all this, Dad. It's the best birthday that I'veeverhad!"

"Yes, yes, of course, my little Voodoo doll!" Drac answered enthusiastically. "Anything to make you happy!"

Johnny smiled at the sight of the pair hugging, and he couldn't help himself. "Aww, come here guys, group hug!" He wrapped his arms around the two of them and Mavis giggled, easing into the hug. Dracula however tensed up. That smell hit his nostrils again, and the feral instincts were suddenly resurfacing again. They withered away somewhat once the boy pulled himself away. Johnny spotted the food spread on a table on the opposite end of the ballroom and licked his lips. He turned to Mavis.

"I'll catch you in a minute, babe," he said. "I wanna see if Drac can maybe recommend something to eat."

Mavis nodded as Johnny began to hop away. "Well come on, Drac!" he called happily. "I justgottaknow if the wormcakes or the moose-nose omelets are better."

Dracula didn't say a word, only nodded. His focus was elsewhere, but the idea of food did seem nice. There was a certain aroma - not necessarily coming from Johnnycompletelyhe learned - but overall that hung in the air. He had to figure out what it was, and he lifted his nose in the air. It seemed so familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Lively pop music continued playing in the background as Dracula went over to the buffet table, continuing to sniff. "Mmmm…" he hummed.Somethingsomewhere in the ballroom definitely smelled delicious - too delicious to keep away from.

Johnny in the meantime eyed the food. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, indecisive. He tapped a finger to his chin as he scanned the display. "Drac, would you go for the mouse jelly or the cockroach paste? Or maybe the cow stomach? Ooh ooh, wait! I think I wanna do the shark innards, what do you think?"

Dracula was barely listening, but tried to act as though he was engaged. "Huh, what? Oh, yes yes, sure I think that's good, yes."

"Awesome!" Johnny replied, scooping up a plateful of the rubbery meat and loading it onto a plastic fork. He hummed in delight at the taste and smacked his lips. "Mmm! Great choice!" He downed the plate in only two minutes, patting his belly and letting out a small belch of satisfaction.

Johnny excused himself, and then his face brightened upon hearing another song start playing. He noticed Mavis waving him over. "Come on, Drac," he said, "Let's go have some fun!"

Johnny rushed over to the dance floor and began busting out some more energetic moves. Dracula followed, still whiffing the air. Yes, he was beginning to recognize the smell now. It was sweet. It was mouthwatering.

It wasblood!

Upon the stage, the music began to die down and Quinston made his way up, tapping the microphone. The feedback echoed throughout the room as he tapped. "May I please have everyone's attention?" he called out.

The crowd's excited chatter was taken down a notch as human and monster eyes focused on the man. Content, he began to give his little speech. "A hundred years ago, monsters were unfairly persecuted by us humans…"

Behind him, his aides Harper and Levon had set up a slideshow and were presenting pictures on it as he spoke. They displayed paintings of angry human mobs with torches and pitchforks. Frank frowned. "Firebaaad…" he groaned under his breath.

But then the pictures switched into brighter, more recent ones. Monsters were shaking hands with humans, hugging them and smiling warmly.

"But now, monsters are our friends! It was wrong of us to behave the way we did. If we just accept our differences and learn from each other, we can make a better future!"

The crowd erupted in an agreeing cheer, and then Quinston spoke again. "And can I just give a special thanks to the guy who allowed us to host this here - your friend and mine - Mr. Count Dracula!"

Another cheer sounded out as the spotlight fixated on the vampire. He was caught off guard at the sudden attention, but he didn't let it bother him. He smiled and politely waved.

"Got anything you want to say, Drac?" Quinston prompted, holding out the microphone.

"Weeelll… I guess I could say afewwords," Dracula conceded. He strolled up to the stage and took the microphone from him, clearing his throat as he prepared to speak.

"A couple of days ago, my daughter took a risk," he began. "It was a risk that none of us had wanted to take for a while. She wanted to go out and see the world. Now, mind you, she knew just how dangerous she was told humans were, and she had me worriedsickwhen I saw that she disappeared! Didn't you, Mavy?"

Down below, Mavis grinned sheepishly and shrugged. Dracula chuckled some too, and then continued. "But, in a way, now I'm glad she did. Because if we hadn't gone out and tried to rescue her, we wouldn't have found out that humans didn't hate us anymore, and we would have kept living in fear for another several centuries. But now, as Quinston has reiterated, we can now live together in harmony. On behalf of all the monsters, we appreciate all the support - and I personally thank you for making my daughter's birthday celebration such an extravaganza. She has made many new friends, and has found her zing - something the monsters recognize as our one true love…"

Mavis and Johnny leaned into each other, adoringly staring at each other as everyone cooed over the happy couple. And then Johnny's mother tapped her son's shoulder, speaking up. "Wait… what's a zing?"

Johnny stared at her, baffled. "What's a zing? What's azing?Only the best thing EVER!" he exclaimed, jumping about a foot in the air and pumping his fists. He ran up to the stage and to Drac. "Mind if I take the mike?" he asked. "I think it's about time the rest of the humans find out what a zing is - throughsong!"

Onstage, Drac's friends instantly agreed.

"Yeah!"

"Great idea!"

"Let's do it!"

"Alright!"

Dracula shrugged, handing it over. Johnny smiled as Drac's friends provided the opening beat to the song, and Johnny began to sing.

"I thought I found love but she was just a fling, and then I met a girl and felt a different thing, it's like a hit in the ring, like you're pulled by a string, you can't breathe like you're choking on a chicken wing, it's a thing called a zing and I wanted to sing, and listen to the ballads by a man named Sting, the look is in your eyes and it's suddenly Spring, like when Nala looked at Simba in The Lion King!"

Frank scratched Wayne's belly, and the wolfman began to scratch at a record with a hind paw. Murray picked up his own microphone and joined Johnny along in the song, his voice smooth and rich.

"Zinging in the air and I don't have a care, I'm winging from the Zing that we share…"

"Singing in the rain and we're feeling no pain, it's a real time for celebrati-ing, cuzyou'remy zing!"Johnny sang, and pointed out to Mavis, who blushed.

The audience resumed the dancing, and Drac was bopping his head to the beat. Johnny noticed and extended the mike back to Drac. "Hey Drac! You ready to throw down?"

But Dracula waved his hands. "Oh, no, I don't think I can really 'thrown down' as you say…"

"Aww, come on, just give it a try!" Johnny encouraged.

Dracula smirked. "Well, all right, maybe just a little," he said modestly. But then he swooped the mike right out of Johnny's hands and began to bust out a rap.

"So listen all you zingers from here to Beijing,

You better crash the box spring and get ready to cling,

Cuz' if love was money you'd be yelling 'cha-ching'

Next to a zing Cupid's arrow is a little bee sting

It was a zing and a zang and a zingy-dee-dee

And there is only one lady in the zing for me

Cuz when you zing, you better know one thing,

The only bling you're gonna sling is a wedding ring!"

The crowd whooped in glee at the sound of the Count getting so into the song, and they clapped enthusiastically. He took the encouragement and continued crooning out the next verse.

"Zinging in the air now I don't have a care, I'm winging from the Zing that we share, singing in the rain now I'm feeling no pain…"

"It's a real time for celebrati-ing, cus' you're my zing!"Murray and Johnny finished. Dracula wrapped up the song, hyping everyone up with a final flourish.

"Do the zing y'all, ba-da-bing ya'll, gonna knock you right out of that ring y'all, Better ring y'all, happen-ing y'all, pay attention to the undead king y'all!"

The crowd roared and stomped their feet as they chanted along to the song. Hands were raised in the air and human and monsterfolk alike were leaping into the air in delight.

Dracula was enjoying himself as well, but then he took notice of the persistent scent from before. The blood smell. As everyone else partook in the frenzy of dancing, his eyes scanned the buffet table, wondering if the zombies had put out any pig blood or moose blood for the occasion. But he was stunted when he saw that therewasn'tany. Not even Blood Beater. He furrowed his brow in confusion, and then they raised in understanding as his eyes flitted toward the dance floor where the monsters were - and thehumans.

Then, he made the connection.

Why he hadn't made the connection sooner, he really wasn't sure. He had been absent from being around any humans after marrying Martha, let alone acrowdof them. After being introduced to Blood Beaters, it wasn't necessary to drink human blood anymore. Besides, it was too fatty and unhealthy. But still… nothing could quite match the sweet taste that it had. A taste that he had not experienced in such a looong time. A taste that was right there, all around him now… including a few feet away on the stage. Had he been in a better mindset, Dracula would have corrected his thoughts and reminded himself that humans were NOT food, not anymore,especiallynot his daughter's zing. But, as his eyes glowed a feral red and his teeth gleamed under the lights, he just couldn't help himself. Slowly, he stalked over, the claws on his hands flexing.

Unaware of the impending danger, Johnny kept chanting to get everyone excited.

"Yeah! Oh, oh, ho, oh, ho, oh -AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!"

Johnny dropped his mike, and it clattered to the floor. The music came to an abrupt halt, the record scratching. The humans and monsters on the dance floor gasped in horror. Drac's friends dropped their jaws in shock, as did Mavis.

Because right there, on the stage in front of everyone, Dracula had taken Johnny by the arm and bitten him.

The redhead gasped in shock, his arm encased in the jaws of the vampire. "Drac!"he yelped. "What are youdoing?!"

Drac, who had closed his eyes in contentment, popped them open and glanced at Johnny. "What?" he asked, his question muffled as his mouth was still full with the boy's arm.

"You'rebitingme!" he cried.

Dracula raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not."

Johnny gaped. "Yes, youare!"

The vampire glanced down, seeing his jaws connected with the redhead's arm and his eyes widened. He immediately released it, startled by his actions, and frantically cleaned his tongue with his hands while spitting out the taste. "No! I didn't… did I?" he asked, confused with his own actions. Mavis ran up on the stage and examined Johnny.

"Johnny! Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

"I think so," he said shakily, looking down at his arm. A red mark was forming, but by some miracle no skin had been broken. He shook his head in disbelief. "Did you all see that? He just bit me!" Then he turned back to Dracula. "Why the heck did you bite me?" He asked, sounding more panicked with every word.

Another hand came onto Johnny's shoulder. It was Harper, who stared at him forlornly alongside Levon. "It's because you're hisdinner," he explained.

More gasps were heard, people in the crowd muttering to each other, before Quinston pulled his aides away from Johnny. "Excuse me? Come now, Harper, Levon. What is a simple little bite? I mean, it's probably a custom thing in vampire culture! You know? A bite here and there to show that you're friends?"

"Ooor," Levon countered. "It could be that he actually meant to bite him - to drawblood."

Quinston blew a raspberry. "Pfft, what? No, not Drac! What did I tell you before? He gave up human bloodloooongago. And his friends can vouch for that, can't they?" He glanced over to Murray, Wayne, Frank, and Griffin who all nodded their heads, a little too stunned at the unfolding situation to actually say anything.

"We're nottryingto be party poopers, Mr. Quinston," Harper explained. "But I still think it is critical to take into consideration. I mean, just take a look at what's happened!" He gestured out to the reddened mark on Johnny's arm and cast an unnerved look at Dracula.

"Vampires drink blood.Humanblood to be exact."

Johnny shook his head. "No. I don't believe Drac would want to eat me… oranyof us! I mean, c'mon, Drac!" He turned to the vampire. "Do Ireallylook like food to you?"

Dracula turned to look at Johnny - the redhead boy who had been so friendly to everyone, even Drac and his friends since he first met them on the train. His own daughter's Zing. Then he looked out at the humans below, so willing to reach out and want to be a part of their world and willing to invite them to theirs.

All he could think of was the intoxicating scent of their blood, and how good it would taste.

"Yes!" he cried.

"See that?" Johnny told the others. "I told you I don't look like - "

Then he registered what Dracula had said. "Wait, wait… what did you say?"

Drac licked his lips. "Oohhh, yeah," he breathed. He dropped down on all fours, fangs bared in a snarl and a wild look in his slitted red eyes.

A woman screamed. "He's gone savage!"

"Run for your lives!" a man screeched.

Quinston, Mavis, and Drac's friends all tried to reach forward to grab the vampire before he could do anything rash, but Dracula had used his telekinetic powers to blast them all away before they could reach him. They sprawled out in different directions, and Dracula grinned in satisfaction, his gaze honing in on Johnny.

"Johnny, run!" shrieked Mavis.

He didn't need to be told twice. Following the other fleeing guests in the ballroom, Johnny ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Dracula laughed a maniacal laugh and then tossed his head back to let out a primal roar, the sound shaking the walls of the hotel. A shiver went down Johnny's spine, and he didn't dare look back. Dracula gave himself a minute. He knew he could easily catch up to the boy, being that he was a vampire and had superspeed, but what was the fun in that? After a moment, he finally began to take off after him. The vampire burst out of the ballroom and went in pursuit of the human, leaping over any monsters in his way and easily following his trail. Johnny had ran outside, fleeing across the bridge of the hotel and into the dark forest. There were plenty of places to hidethere.But, when he looked back, he found that time wasnoton his side. Dracula was approaching him, closing the ever-shortening gap between them as they ran. He was only inches away now. Dracula opened his jaws to the max, preparing for the kill, and -

WHACK!

A force knocked the vampire on the head, and he collapsed in a heap onto the forest floor while Johnny continued to flee.

Above, in the treetops, were Quinston and his aides.

"A bullseye!" Quinston said, giving an approving thumbs up to his aide. "Excellent shot, Harper."

Harper nodded. "I told you garlic stops them!"

On the ground, Dracula regained consciousness and sat up, rubbing his head. He became aware of Johnny fleeing. He gasped, realizing just what had happened.

"What have I done? What iswrongwith me?!" He winced, retracting his clawed hands from embedding into his head. He looked down at his hands, trembling, and grateful that they were not stained red with the blood of the boy.

Notyetthey weren't. But if he stuck around any longer, continuing to let himself be around the humans for longer than he already had been in the way that he was feeling, Drac feared he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing so.

"It's true…" he whispered. Quinston's aides were right. The humans may have changed, but deep down, his nature hadn't. He was a monster. He stood suddenly, breathing heavily and shaking. "I have to get out of here…."

And with that, he turned into a bat and flew off as quickly as he could.