Freaky Friday (but on a Tuesday)

It was an excitingly eventful night at the Hotel Transylvania.

There was a wedding going on, and it was becoming the monstrous event of the season. Sure, the hotel had held weddings there before, but this one was different. Why? Because it was the wedding of Count Dracula and his bride-to-be Ericka Van Helsing. No one could forget the events that had unfolded aboard the cruise ship The Legacy just a few short months ago in the summer. It was a rollercoaster of happenings that ultimately ended up producing a zing - something that the monsters recognized as one true love. And now, the pair would finally bring that zing to officiality before many of these very monsters through the witnessing of their marriage.

The hotel lobby was decorated with a beautiful spider-woven sign that read ‘Congrats to Drac and Ericka.’ Guests from all over Transylvania - and some like Murray the mummy, Bigfoot, and the Yeti who had come from lands beyond - poured in through the front revolving doors. Their roars and whoops of excitement were heard rumbling throughout the corridors.

Up in his chambers, Count Dracula was preparing himself for the occasion. He dressed down in his most formal suit - a black set with gold embellishments and a frilly white ascot that was tucked neatly into his silk jacket. He smiled as he smoothed back his sleek black hair, knowing that he was looking his finest for his bride. A gentle knock on the door broke his attention away from his thoughts, and a moment later Mavis entered inside. She was looking beautiful as well, dressed in a simple black dress that flared out at the knees with a pair of kitten heels.

“Mavis,” he said sweetly in greeting. His smile fell a little as he noticed Mavis’s slightly somber expression. “Honeybat? What’s the matter?”

“Hey Dad,” she said quietly, coming up to him but not yet meeting her father’s gaze. “I just came to check in on you and see how you were doing.”

“Me? Well, I’m doing just fine, sweetfangs, but I believe I asked you how you were doing.” He came up to her and with two fingers under her chin he lifted her head so that he could look in her eyes. “What’s wrong my little Voodoo doll?”

“I uh…” she began, but then stopped, sighing. “Dad… are you sure you’re doing the right thing and all, marrying Ericka?”

Drac nodded. “Of course I am. I love her, and she loves me. We zinged, just like how you and Johnny did.”

“But what if this is some kind of trick, Dad?” Mavis interjected with worry. “What if she’s just playing along and she really just wants to hurt you?”

“Sweetheart,” Drac began gently, “I hate to say it, but that’s a silly thought. Everyone knows that Ericka is a great lady. At least, I thought everyone knew.” He gave her a pointed look, and her cheeks flushed a little with embarrassment.

“Sorry, Dad,” she said. “I just don’t want you to get heartbroken again… especially after what happened to Mom…” She broke off as tears began to water a little in her eyes. Dracula noticed and opened his arms out so that he could envelope her in a hug.

“Oh, honeybat, don’t cry,” he said, soothingly running his hand up and down her back. “Everything will be just fine. I know this day can be a little bit of a challenge for you, as it is for me. I’ll never forget my wedding day with Martha.” He sighed as he recalled the event that was hosted in his castle, where his friends had provided the music and he and his bride had waltzed through the floors and ceilings at the reception. Drac continued. “But, now it is time for a new beginning… with Ericka. She will never be Mommy, but she is still a wonderful part of our family.”

Mavis seemed to have considered this for a moment, and finally looked up at her father with a look of determination. “Okay, Dad. You’re right. I’m sorry that I acted all like this…”

Drac waved a dismissive hand. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I understand. But you should go head downstairs now. The wedding is about to start soon!”

Mavis smiled and shapeshifted into a bat. “Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll be there!” With that, she flew out the door of the chambers.

A few minutes later, the wedding commenced.

It was a beautiful spectacle to see. The hotel was so beautifully adorned with elegant trimmings that led the eye right up to the altar. There, Dracula stood proudly with his head held high and his hands behind his back, doing his best to prevent himself from rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes. Drac’s friends - Frankenstein, Wayne the werewolf, Griffin the invisible man, and Murray the mummy - loyally stood by his side as groomsmen, whispering words of encouragement.

"Don’t worry, Drac, you got this!" Frank reassured the vampire.

"Yeah, you've done this before. We were there for you then, and we're here for you again now,” Wayne said in a comforting voice.

“Just remember to breathe,” Griffin piped in, with a pat to Drac’s back.

“Uh-huh, don’t you get too nervous there!” Murray teased.

To the bride’s side, the bridesmaids awaited. Eunice, Frank’s wife; Wanda, Wayne’s wife; Crystal, Griffin’s invisible girlfriend; and Mandy, Murray’s girlfriend; had all become very good friends with Ericka and were chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they awaited her appearance.

"O...M…G, girls, did you see just how fabulous she looked? Dracula is just going to die when he sees her!" Crystal gushed.

" I helped with that, you know," Eunice put in. "Always gotta make the hair looks nice and then you're good to go!" She emphasized by fluffing up her own hair, then added, "oh yeah, and let's hope that Drac doesn't die, 'cause then Ericka will miss out on the good stuff later on!"

Wanda gasped at Eunice’s blatant remark. “Eunice!” she cried.

The Frankenwoman shrugged. “What? It’s true. You don’t have to bite the donut to know it’s sweet, am I right?” She nudged at Mandy who was next to her, who was snickering behind a hand.

“You are correct,” she confirmed, grinning mischievously.

Finally, the wedding march started. Wayne and Wanda’s daughter Winnie skipped happily along the aisle tossing sunflower petals from her little basket on the path. The monsters cooed at the little pup, and then their attention was drawn back to the end of the aisle where another presence was made known. Dracula’s heart palpitated quicker, for the newcomer was his beautiful bride - Ericka.

She looked simply ravishing in a lacy white gown that clung perfectly to every curve of her body. With careful steps, she made her way up toward the altar holding a small bundle of sunflowers clutched in her hands, until she made it to the top where her groom was. She blushed significantly as their eyes met, and a shy smile came across her lips. A little moment later, Dennis approached the pair with a pillow that held their wedding rings. After a quick ruffle on the red-haired boy’s head, Drac picked up one of the golden bands and slipped it delicately on Ericka’s finger. She did the same for him just as Blobby wiggled his way up to them. With his gurgling speech, he asked them the most important question that everyone attentively listened to.

“Blublu Bubbubuh Blublublubuh bluh?” he asked Drac.

The vampire nodded. “I do.”

The Jell-O monster then turned to Ericka.

“Blublu Bubbubuh Blublublubuh bluh?” he asked.

Ericka answered breathlessly. “I do.”

Blobby nodded his green head and proceeded. “Bluh bluhblubuhbluh blublubluhbluh!” he said, which roughly translated to “Then I now pronounce you husband and wife!”

The monsters in the crowd began to clap and cheer vigorously. Drac enthusiastically swept his new Countess into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss that Ericka gladly returned. Everyone could clearly see that they were meant for each other and that they would soon lead a happy life at the hotel. Still, even among all the enthusiasm, there was still one that was rather off-put by everything.

“Woo-hoo! YEAH!” Johnny cheered, standing up on his seat and clapping loudly. “Drac’s a married man! Isn’t it great, honey? Honey? Mavis?”

“Oh, what?” Mavis replied, only really half-hearing what her husband was saying. She was too focused on keeping an eye on her dad and Ericka. They had broken away from their kiss, with much reluctancy, and were now making their way down the aisle and out of the back door that led to the ballroom where the reception was about to take place. Watching the last of them disappear, she half-heartedly answered Johnny. “Oh yes, hon, it is great. Dad’s happy again. He’s married after almost a century after all.”

“Yeah, totally!” Johnny grabbed her by the hand and rose to follow the others out into the ballroom. “Now come on! A party isn’t a party without DJ Jazzy Johnny in the house, am I right?”

Mavis giggled a little at his energy and allowed herself to be dragged out to the celebration.

And it was a grand celebration indeed.

Bright lights flashed on the dance floor and the monsters pranced and skipped to the rhythms. A few of Drac’s friends were by the buffet table, where Frank was presently gorging himself on a few slices of the vanilla wedding cake topped with scream cheese. Drac led Ericka to the table to get some of the pastry for themselves when Dennis excitedly flapped up next to them as a bat.

"Congratulations Papa Drac and Nana Ericka!” he cheered.

“Denisovich, my little devil dog!” Dracula greeted cheerfully, and scooped the kid into his arms as he shapeshifted back. The boy giggled as his Vampa nuzzled against him and then transferred him to Ericka’s arms so that he could get a drink.

“So, are you going to make a baby now?”

Dracula immediately choked on his Blood Beater and Ericka paled so much in the face that one would have likely mistaken her for a vampire in that instant.

"W-wh-what?" she squeaked out.

"A baby!” Dennis said as though nothing had happened. “I learned all about it at school, where when two people love each other very much, they go and - "

“DENNIS!” Drac suddenly cut in, his throat a little hoarse from having coughed. “I thought I heard Tinkles whining. Why don’t you go up to your room and check up on him to make sure he is okay, hmm?”

Dennis grinned, showing off his little vampire fangs. “Okay! See you later, Papa Drac!” Then, jumping into the air and turning back into a bat, Dennis was out of sight.

Dracula breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Ericka. “Whew!” he exhaled. “Conflict avoided!”

Ericka giggled as she wiped a dribble of Blood Beater that was on the corner of his lip with her thumb. “Yep!”

Just as they were getting over the shock of Dennis’s sudden question, a slow and rather romantic song began to play over the speakers.

“I think that it’s just about time for a certain couple to make their way to the dance floor!” Johnny called out from the microphone.

Ericka blushed as the spotlight fixated on her and her new husband. Dracula offered his arm out to her in a gentlemanly fashion and she took it as they treaded to the center of the room. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. Their foreheads were pressed close together as they began swaying silently, but lovingly, in a slow embrace to the music, their lips meeting every now and then in gentle kisses. In between the sweet little pecks, the two shared soft words that could only be told by others through the movement of their mouths. As Mavis sat in observance while other monster pairs clamored onto the dance floor as well, she morphed her ear into that of a bat’s. Her hearing in that way was much sharper, and provided her ease of access to the conversation despite her 30 foot distance from them.

“Sweetfangs,” she heard her father say, “are you sure it is a good idea?”

“I know it is,” Ericka assured. “Besides, once you’re out of here, all your worries will go away… and you can finally rest in peace.”

Mavis stiffened upon hearing those words. Rest in peace? Once he’s ‘out of here’ ? All his worries will ‘go away’ ? In what context did any of that sound good when it came from a Van Helsing in regards to a Dracula? The young vampiress did not like the sound of it one bit, and from the look of how content her father was, he didn’t seem to suspect a thing from his new wife. But Mavis was not about to let a potentially harmful plan that could bring demise to her father slip under the radar. Ericka was a good actor, the proof of it was obvious when the cruise happened and nobody else could see through her cheerful captainy demeanor. Even Mavis herself had been fooled for a while. A part of her felt guilty at the anger that was arising within her, clearly recalling the conversations she had had with her father during his courtship with Ericka and how much he had tried to tell her that she changed. So far, Mavis hadn’t really seen any red flags, but whose to say it wasn’t all just one big act again? Who’s to say that Ericka could potentially have some other plot hidden just under her sleeve that no one could once again see?

Mavis clenched and unclenched her fist at the table and averted her gaze from anybody who could see her. Thankfully, nobody really paid her much mind as they were distracted with other happenings at the celebration. She tried to tell herself that Ericka was no longer like that anymore. She tried to tell herself that Ericka was not a monster hunter out to stake her father or harm her friends. But still ever so that little voice in the back of her mind persisted strongly. And it was that fraction of doubt that made Mavis feel uneasy. She couldn’t shake the feeling that stirred inside of her whenever she fathomed something terrible happening to her father, leaving her parentless and the hotel ownerless. The hotel was built to keep such people out, and now that she was married to Drac, Ericka would come into ownership of it. The thought of it nearly made Mavis laugh if it hadn’t been for the weight of worry resting on her shoulders, and the unpleasant thought of needing to take orders from who would turn out to become her so-called ‘step-mom.’

So caught up in her thoughts Mavis was that she nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud pop song began to blare through the ballroom. The slow song had evidently concluded, and the fearsome dancing had once again resumed. Her eyes scanned the ballroom and quickly found Drac and Ericka coming off of the dance floor. As always, they were oblivious to anyone else but each other. Mavis almost rolled her eyes, but then perked up again when she saw Drac’s friends - her “uncles” - and their wives approach the two. She didn’t bother to listen in on what they said to the pair, as the next moment Dracula was drawn away by his Pack and Ericka by the excited monster females. Suddenly, Mavis grinned, an idea formulating in her head. She drummed her fingers against the tabletop as she brainstormed it for a few moments more, refining it in her mind, and then stood up to join them by the buffet table where they had gone.

Her Aunt Eunice’s loud and rather nasally voice was the first she heard when approaching them.

“ Congratulations! ” the Frankenwoman said cheerily, clapping the bride on the back. “It’s so wonderful to see the two of you finally tying the knot! I remember, I married Frank only a few months after we met too.”

Next to her, Wanda raised a paw. “I can say the same for me and Wayne, and now look where we’re at.” She gestured down to her once-again pregnant belly.

Ericka blushed. “Oh! But, uh, don’t you think it’s a little too early to start thinking about children? I mean, we did just get married!”

Eunice snorted. “Of course not! We don’t get any younger, do we?” The women chuckled and continued their talk.

"So, any immediate plans now that you're married?" Crystal asked.

“Well..." Ericka began. "There is one thing in mind…” But before Ericka could finish sharing the thought, Mavis came up to her from behind with a slight bounce in her step and made herself hug the woman, nearly knocking her off of her feet.

“Congratulations!” she exclaimed as happily as she could pretend to be. “I’m so happy for you and my dad!”

Ericka laughed and patted Mavis on the back. “Thanks, Mavis, that means a lot. Your father is an amazing person and I'm proud to now call him my husband!"

Mavis grinned even wider to hide the small pang of envy that shot through her. Instead, she turned to the other bridesmaids. “Aunt Eunice? Aunt Wanda? Crystal, and Mandy - would you guys mind if I spoke to Ericka alone for a few moments?"

They nodded easily. "Of course!" Eunice answered for them. "Take a breather, I know how riled up a monster party can get folks!"

The girls shared another laugh, and Mavis and Ericka excused themselves outside to the pool deck, each toting a small chalice of punch with them.

Mavis took a long sip of her drink before turning to Ericka with the biggest grin on her face. “You look beautiful today," she said simply.

“Thank you,” Ericka replied quietly, smiling softly to herself. “I just can't believe this is all real. This time a few months ago I was plotting out his death and now... well, now I'm marrying him!"

“Yeah," Mavis agreed. "It IS crazy, right? But it's nice too."

Ericka sighed deeply and took a sip  from her punch. "It's like a dream come true..."

Mavis watched her intently for a moment. "Yeah," she said again. "I just... I gotta wonder what's going to happen when the council hears of this though."

Ericka raised her head, both in interest and confusion. "The council?"

"Oh," Mavis said in feigned surprise. "You've never heard of them? I would have thought that Dad told you about them by now with how much time you spend together.”

“Well, who are they?” Ericka asked.

Mavis sat up straighter and began to speak animatedly. “The vampire council is a really old, really strict group of mostly elder vampires who regulate all matters in the vampire world. My own dad holds the title of Grand Vamp there, actually. They're very stern about not breaking their laws, and most of the time there aren't many violations. Well, except, I don't know about now..."

Ericka 's eyes went wide and she leaned forward with concern on her face. "Mavis, what's going on?"

Mavis sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, you see, if I remember correctly, I am pretty sure there was this law that forbids a human from coming into ownership of a monster property. And you know, given that you’re married to my dad now, who owns this hotel…”

She trailed off, knowing full well that Ericka realized what she was trying to say by the expression that she wore. "Wait, so... do you know what happens if the law is broken?"

Mavis shook her head. "I have to be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the punishment is, but I have heard plenty of rumors. Hanging by the eyelids. Defanging. Forcibly eating a bucket of garlic or wearing silver..." Mavis shivered slightly at the thought. "And the worst of all could be termination."

Ericka 's eyes widened in horror. "Termination? Like, the death penalty?" Her voice rose several octaves, sounding more like a squeak than anything else. Mavis just nodded grimly.

"Oh man, I shouldn't have said anything. Now I've ruined your wedding, and put all these horrible thoughts in your head - "

"No, no!" Ericka interrupted. "I appreciate you telling me. Just…" She paused as she ran her hand through her platinum hair and took a deep breath. "What should we do? Why wouldn't he tell me about something so critical like this?"

Mavis got nervous as she fumbled for an answer. "Uh.. well... maybe he just forgot! He's got a lot of things on his mind since he runs the hotel... for now," she emphasized at the end. 

Ericka’s brows creased with worry as a result. She just got Dracula all to herself, and now she was going to lose him already? She stayed silent still as Mavis rose up from her seat and downed the last of her punch from the glass.

"Well, I suppose we better get back to the party. Enjoy everything while we can, you know?"

Ericka nodded faintly and followed Mavis back inside with a numb feeling inside of her. This wedding had been going so wonderfully; she'd finally found love, gotten married and could possibly even become a mother! How could this be happening now ? A commotion a few tables down across the dance floor caught her attention. Her husband was surrounded by his friends who were cheering him on as he chugged down as much Blood Beater as he could. The man got several more swigs before letting out a big satisfied belch. His friends gave him an encouraging pat on the back as he wiped the remaining dribble from the corner of his lip and looked up, catching her gaze. His face lit up, and over the music she could hear him call: "Ericka! Honeybat!" He began to make his way over to her, but Mavis's warning words of the vampire council rang through her head again and she sprinted away with a start, hiding amongst the sea of dancing monstrous bodies. At that moment, a lively popular dance song began to blare out of the speakers of the dance floor, causing everyone to break into a frenzy of clapping and whooping. It seemed like it was the perfect opportunity for a quick escape.

Ericka weaved through the dancing crowd, gracefully navigating her way past through lithe movements and well-placed steps as she ducked beneath arms and stepped over legs. All at once, she bumped into a large body behind her, and saw that it was Eunice. The other bridesmaids were also with her.

“ There you are!” she exclaimed. “Where were you? Felt like you were gone forever , and a bride can’t miss her own reception party!”

Ericka gulped. “Heh, heh, right! It’s just that I… I uh…” She thought about what to say, and then got an idea when she looked down at the emptied chalice in her hand. “The punch I drank while I was talking to Mavis kind of upset my stomach and, to be honest, I’m not feeling completely one hundred percent quite yet, so if you’ll please excuse me!” She tittered nervously and then quickly grabbed the hems of her dress to scurry away.

“Ericka, honey, wait!” Wanda called out. The wolf turned to the others “What was wrong with the punch?”

Mandy shrugged. “Nothing that I can tell,” she replied.

“Ah, it’s probably because she’s a human. Some humans can’t tolerate some monster foods, just like some monsters can’t tolerate human foods!” Eunice offered as an explanation. Then she put a finger to her chin and pondered. “Although, there really wasn’t anything wrong with the punch that I could think of.” But she waved a dismissive hand and turned to the girls. “Remind me to try it later on again!”

The female monsters nodded and continued with the dancing.

With some success, Ericka was able to make it to the buffet table somehow undetected. She quickly ducked under it, ensuring the cloth covering that extended down from the table concealed her. She heard Drac’s voice again, only steps away as he passed by the table calling out her name.

“Ericka? Ericka ? Sweet blood orange, where are you?”

“I don’t understand Drac,” Frank piped up next to him. “How can you lose your bride at your own wedding reception?”

“No questions, Frank,  just help me keep looking!” Drac snapped in response. A second later, the voices of Frank, Murray, Wayne, and Griffin aided the Count along in calling out for her. Once they were completely faded out from her hearing, she breathed a sigh of relief and backed up. She briefly yelped when she felt a cold, metallic machine right behind her and whirled around to see what it was.

Or rather, who it was.

“Ericka!” her great-grandfather exclaimed, a sheepish look on his face and a mouthful of food in his cheeks. “Fancy seeing you down here.”

She stared at him, baffled. “Great-grandfather? What are you doing here?”

“Well, eh, I live here, don’t I?”

“Er, yes,” she replied. “But I mean, like, here under a table? You’re not still hiding from my monster friends, are you?”

The sheepish look on Van Helsing’s face returned full-force. “Eh heh, well…”

Ericka rolled her eyes. “Great-grandfather, how many times do I have to tell you, nothing is wrong!”

“Yes, yes, well, from the look of it it does look like something is indeed wrong.” He crossed his arms and looked at his great-granddaughter. She stared back at him with wide eyes and then blurted out the truth before she could think twice about it.

“Oh, great-grandfather, something horrible has come up!”

Van Helsing scowled. “What? It’s that Dracula isn’t it?! You just tell me what it is he did, and I’ll blast that vampire to kingdom come!”

Ericka frowned at him. “No! It’s the fact that he’s in danger because of me!”

“Is that all? I’d say that’s a good thing!”

“Great-grandfather…”

Van Helsing put his hands up. ”All right, all right, just putting it out there. So what is this big problem?”

Ericka gulped. “Well, because I’m a human and coming into ownership of the hotel alongside Drac, we’ve just violated one of the vampire council’s really strict and ancient rules - one that is punishable by death!”

Van Helsing’s eyes narrowed. “The vampire council you say?”

“You know about them?”

“No,” he answered, “I’ve only heard rumors of a group of higher vampires that are supposed to govern the monsters. You can bet I tried to uncover their location, but I regret to say that I failed. Besides, it was only a side matter during the time where my main focus was to hunt and kill Dracula specifically.” He sighed. “Well, I suppose you should talk to the Count about trying to appeal to the court - “

Ericka shook her head. "No! He can't know about this. He's the last person who should know about this! Please, great-grandfather,” she said, looking into his eyes with a pleading look. “I know you and I have had our differences ever since that night on the cruise ship, but I don’t know what else to do! I’m not a monster, and monsters are the only ones who can own a monster property!”

The old man suddenly snapped his bony fingers. “Ah-hah! I’ve got just the thing down in the lab. Just, uh, hold on for the drop, okay?”

“The drop? What dr - OOOOOP!”

Ericka shrieked as Van Helsing opened a trapdoor beneath the two of them under the table and the pair plummeted downward and out of sight of the party to the hotel’s basement.

Ericka and Van Helsing landed on a mattress at the bottom with a loud THUMP . She coughed as dust cleared out and the dark view of the basement came into view.

“Since when has there been a trapdoor in the ballroom?” Ericka asked.

Her great-grandfather turned himself upright and wheeled off the mattress. “I don’t know how much that vampire has shown you, but in the time that I’ve been here I’ve mostly been exploring around this whole castle. And boy, is there a lot of little nooks and crannies! Of course, when I’m not out snooping around, I’m in here!”

He approached the wall and switched on the lights with a lever. With everything illuminated, Ericka could see a vast space cluttered with seemingly endless boxes and bins scattered all over the floor and haphazardly stacked atop one another. She looked at him questioningly. “Great-grandfather?”

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “I know where to find it. Just follow me.”

He made his way through the giant maze of assorted junk, turning and stopping every so often to inspect something before moving onward at a faster pace each time. Ericka kept up at first, but soon began to struggle getting through the more narrow passages of the lab. Then, she lost sight of Van Helsing completely.

“Uh, great-grandfather? Where are you? Where did you go?” she called out.

“AHA! I found it!” Van Helsing suddenly shouted out. His arms popped out from the boxes a few yards away. In them was what looked to be like a giant ray blaster of some kind with a large glowing crystal right above the barrel. He wheeled his way over to Ericka and eagerly showed her.

“Behold - it’s the Monsterfication Ray!” he announced. “It has the capability of turning any human into a monster, and vice-versa!”

Ericka stared at the contraption, wide-eyed. “Woah… I had no idea you had this.”

Van Helsing nodded. “A monster-hunter is always prepared with whatever tools he or she can find.”

Ericka ran her fingers over the staff. “Yeah, I guess… but is it safe?”

“Huh… great question. I haven’t actually had a chance to try it out on anything before,” Van Helsing replied with a shrug of his bony shoulders. “What we need is a guinea pig.” He removed a cloth covering from a nearby table, and underneath revealed a cage that held a small guinea pig inside.

Ericka’s eyes lit in recognition at the animal. “Hey, is that Gigi? I thought you said that one of the wolf pups ate her!”

Van Helsing smiled sheepishly. “Eh heh heh… that may have been exaggerated.”

Ericka groaned, and distracted herself by squeezing two fingers within the cage bars and stroking the little rodent. “Well, at least she’s still as cute as I remember.”

“Not for long!” Van Helsing replied. He lifted the ray and, switching it from ‘human’ to ‘monster,’ fired a bright red beam at the little guinea pig. The ray blasted Gigi, transforming her right before their eyes into a larger guinea pig about the size of a small dog. Her purple fur was disheveled and her teeth protruded outward like great fangs.

“Oh my!” Ericka exclaimed, taking a step back from the cage. Aside from her obvious changes, Gigi didn’t seem to behave any differently from a normal guinea pig. She still nibbled at her feed and scurried around her cage - as best she could with her larger body - like she always had. This was a good sign.

“Wow, it really did work! It’d be so great to become a vampire just like Drac and Mavis.”

“Well, it doesn’t quite work that way,” Van Helsing began to explain to her. “It’s not refined to be so exact right now, and doing so could take as long as years . You can become any beast with this ray. It's just a matter of seeing what .” He lifted the ray up with a raised eyebrow. “So… would you like to find out?”

Okay, Ericka had to admit to herself that the unstable ray was a bit of a risk, and the fact that she may not even end up a vampire worried her. But, there was no time to waste on the matter. After all, the law as Mavis explained it wasn’t specific to vampires - it only said that a monster needed to come into ownership of a monster property. All in all, the ray was bound to do its job on her. So this was it. This was the one thing that was going to fix everything… and change it for her, too. But if it meant being able to stay with her one true love - her zing Dracula - and keep him safe, then she was willing to go for it.

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath, “Do it.”

Van Helsing grinned a maniacal grin that made Ericka a little uneasy before her great-grandfather turned the ray in her direction and blasted its red beam out. Its energy swept over her like an electrifying wave, coursing through her system with shocking force that made her body shiver all over. And just like that, it was over, and her senses were back to normal. She looked down at herself, but realized that nothing had happened. She was still just a regular human in her wedding outfit. Huh? She decided to wait for a few moments more, but still nothing was happening.

Then all of a sudden, Ericka’s body began to contort. She clutched at her stomach and nearly fell to her knees. “Ughhh… “ she moaned. “I don’t feel so good…”

Just then, a long scaly tail burst out from behind her and horns came out from atop her head. Her nails lengthened so that they appeared more like claws instead, sharp and pointed. Her canine teeth then elongated so that they turned into fangs, long and vampiric. Despite her modifications, she still looked a bit like herself.

Van Helsing looked at his great-granddaughter's new look with wide eyes. “Ooh!” he said, quite impressed. It wasn’t exactly a vampire, but the monstrous creation still looked great.

Ericka continued changing, growing slightly bigger, and accidentally smacking into her great-grandfather. The elder went flying across to another side of the room, screaming, as Ericka arose and let out a ferocious snarl.

Mavis hated to lie.

She knew it was wrong, but what other choice did she have? Risk having her only other parent die because he wasn't too careful? No. Besides, her father had lied plenty of other times before all in the sake of her safety. Why not do the same for him?

She stood to the side, filling her chalice with Blood Beater when her father suddenly approached her from behind.

“Dad?” she asked, noticing the concerned look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Ericka!” he exclaimed. “Have you seen her? I’ve been looking and looking for her for the past ten minutes and I can’t seem to find her!”

“Oh,” Mavis said, a little surprised. “No, I haven’t seen her around recently. I’ll help you look in a sec, okay?”

Drac smiled and side-hugged his daughter. “Thank you, my little Voodoo doll!” He then released her and resumed his search around the ballroom, calling Ericka’s name.

Mavis watched him go, sighing, when her ears caught the sound of a  rather strange noise, like a distant roar. She frowned in confusion. That’s odd , she thought. All the hotel guests should be here in the ballroom for the reception party. She grew a bat ear to listen to the noise over the music from the party, and no doubt, it was indeed a monstrous roar, followed by a series of crashing all coming from the direction of the basement.

Wait a minute, she thought. Isn’t that where Van Helsing’s lab is? She grew uneasy and managed to slip away from the party without anyone noticing her to investigate.

Mavis had hardly gone to the basement ever since Van Helsing established his quarters in there, but it still looked in relatively the same state. Boxes upon boxes were scattered all over the place, making the trek through seem more and more like a maze.

“Um, hello?” she called out. “Is everything okay down here? I heard some strange noises, and I just wanted to be sure…”

Mavis trailed off, noticing a cage on a nearby table with a weird-looking guinea pig inside. It squeaked when it saw her, and nibbled at the bars of the cage with its large incisors. She looked at it strangely, but knew that the noise wasn’t coming from it. She could sense another creature within the lab, much larger and possibly even more dangerous. As if on cue, a low growl sounded from within deeper inside the lab. Mavis gulped as boxes shook in a trail leading right toward her, the growling growing louder as it got closer and closer.

Finally, one last row of boxes remained between her and the creature. Two clawed hands came into view, and with it the monster to which they belonged to. 

“Oh!” she said, a little surprised to see the vampiress. “Hi Mavis!”

Mavis’s eyes widened as she stared at the monster before her, who had a very familiar voice. “Ericka?” she asked tentatively.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Ericka shrugged. “I was hoping to become a vampire, but I guess this hybrid monster-thing will have to do. It’s not so bad.” She turned around to try to have Mavis look her over all around. "I have the fangs, see?" She opened her mouth wide to show the sharp teeth. Then she held her hands up. "And I also have these wickedly long claws. Also, this tail came with the deal." She held up the tail that was spiked at the end and smiled.

Mavis didn’t quite share in her excitement. She was shocked. “Ericka… h-how? I mean, why? What - “

“Oh, it wasn’t that hard,” Ericka explained. “My great-grandfather had this crystal gem that he used to transform me with, so now everything should be fine. Your Dad will love the new me!” She smiled so that her long fangs showed through from the inside of her mouth and held up the ray that helped make her transformation possible.

Mavis was speechless.

After a beat, Ericka spoke again. “So, come on! I’m ready to get back to the reception now !” As Ericka bounded away, Mavis could not share in the same enthusiasm as the woman. She needed to stop this now before it got out of hand. Before she went back to the reception. Before her father - her father! Mavis gasped aloud. If he saw Ericka in that way and she explained what was happening, she’d surely be exposed.

“Ericka, hold on! Wait!” Mavis called out desperately. She ran a few steps out the basement door, but then skidded to a stop. The ray! She reared back and grabbed it before running out of the door again. “Ericka, stop!” She paused to switch the ray’s dial from ‘monster’ to ‘human’ and caught up to her in the upstairs hallway. She zapped the ray at her, but it missed and hit a zombie bellman. The zombie-turned-human looked up from his baggage cart and gasped.

“Could it be? The nightmare is over?! I’m human again!” But before the man could celebrate, another zombie bellman promptly came up to him and bit him on the arm. The man transformed back into a zombie, and he groaned in disappointment.

Mavis grimaced. “Oops. How can I forget - there are monsters everywhere . I have to be more careful.”

She continued to chase after Ericka, but Ericka’s sleek new build made her faster, and the rays Mavis fired would hit the walls, floors, or ceilings instead of her intended target. As they rounded the corner to an open window, Mavis shot the ray, certain that it would hit her. Once again, it did not succeed. It blasted out of the window, ricocheted against glasses inside the ballroom and then landed inside the punch. The ray’s energy absorbed into the liquid, turning an ominous shade of green and bubbling wildly.

Oblivious to what had occurred, the chase continued. Ericka ran into Dennis and Winnie, who were coming down the hall after a group of the hotel’s monster dogs with Tinkles in the lead.

“Whoops! Excuse me, Dennis!”

Dennis stopped in his tracks and stared up at her strangely. “Nana Ericka?” he asked, uncertain. “Is that you? ”

“It sure is!” she replied. “I’m heading over to your Papa Drac, so I’ll see you around!”

Dennis watched her sprint off, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Mavis was not too far behind.

“Mommy! Was that really Nana Ericka?”

Mavis got very nervous. “W-what? Oh, no no no, it was uhhh - “ Then she made her eyes turn a deep shade of red as she stared the children directly in the eyes and spoke in a commanding tone.

“That was not Ericka. It was just another monster. All is well. All is normal.”

Hypnotized, Dennis and Winnie nodded and repeated in monotone voices. “All is normal.”

Right at that moment, Ericka finally succeeded in rounding the last hallway that led right toward the ballroom. There weren’t as many guests now since everything was wrapping up for the night, but her husband was still inside, and that was what was important. 

“Drac!” she called out, but she mistepped and slid into one of the elevator’s instead. Mavis tried to shoot the ray at her right before the doors closed, but missed.

She hissed in anger and, turning into a bat, flew upward as quickly as she could, toting the Monsterfication ray in her bat feet all the way to the thirteenth floor where it was to bound to go.

When the doors opened up again, she immediately shot the ray. This time, it hit the back of the elevator, bounced against its metallic surface, and then flew right back at her. Mavis yelped but could not escape the ray’s beam hitting her. The force made her fly backward out the window and fall out of the hotel entirely. As she fell, she unintentionally turned back into her humanoid form, and continued to change; she could feel her fangs shrinking from within her mouth, and a draining feeling as though her magical abilities had been sucked right out of her. Mavis tried desperately to turn back into a bat, but it just wasn’t working, and she continued to go down and down.

Ericka noticed this and bolted from the elevator to the window to peer down at her husband’s daughter. Something’s wrong! she thought in a panic. “Hold on, Mavis! I’ve got you!” She catapulted herself from the window, certain that her acrobatic skills would aid her in having a safe landing.

She had to save her - and fast!

Meanwhile, Wanda, Eunice, Mandy, and Crystal were inside of the ballroom enjoying the wedding cake. Eunice in particular was eating away at multiple slices, and was about to go back to the buffet table for more.

Wanda stared at her with worry. “Are you sure you should be eating that much cake?”

Eunice waved it off with a dismissive hand. “Ah, don’t worry about it. My Frankie can handle it, and so can I!”

Suddenly, the women heard an enormous splash from the pool. With a start, they leapt to their feet and sprinted outside to see what it was. In peering down at the figure struggling to get out of the water, they gasped in shock.

“Hey, guys,” Ericka sputtered in between her coughing.

The women immediately began to talk all at once.

“Ericka?!”

“What happened?”

“Is that you? How is it you? ”

“You’re a monster now? What in the world?”

Before Ericka could answer any of them, a shriek sounded from above their heads. They looked up and saw a dangling figure from the edge of one of the hotel’s window ledges. Just then, it lost its grip on the stone and fell downward. As the others tried to make out who it was, Ericka already knew, and leapt to her feet to catch the falling person in her arms just before she hit the ground. The girl shook, and carefully stood up in front of the women on shaky legs.

“Mavis, are you okay?” Ericka pressed.

The female monsters were astounded. “MAVIS?!”

They couldn’t believe their eyes, but it was true. Slowly arising from the ground, Mavis stood. She looked fairly the same, though something was off about her. Her skin seemed rosier in hue. The look in her eyes seemed more aged. And when she opened her mouth to take a few heavy breaths of air…

“Uh, Mavis… what happened to your fangs?” Crystal asked, pointing an invisible finger to her.

“ What? ” Mavis almost screamed out. With a couple of fingers, she felt the upper teeth in her mouth, but could not feel the familiar little points that defined the larger canine teeth within them. She sprinted to a nearby glass door and screamed. “AH, NO! No, no, no, this can’t be happening!” She dropped to the ground, sifting around in desperation.

“Oh, where is it? Where could it be? It has to be here!”

“Mavis, sweetie, would you mind telling us just what the heck is going on around here?” Eunice asked, a little impatiently.

“Auntie Eunice, I need to find the ray!” Mavis answered, still looking around.

“Oh! You mean that one?” Mandy asked. She gestured toward a zombie bellman, who had the ray sticking out of its chest. Mavis came up to him.

“Thanks, Porridge Head!” she said and, ripping it out of him, aimed it to herself to transform back into a monster. But it didn’t work. The brilliant beam that had fired before did not come to life again.

“Oh no! What’s wrong with it?”

Ericka came up and took a closer look. “It’s broken!” she said. And sure enough, there was a large crack on the crystal gem that now made it stay in its neutral clear state.

Even worse was when Mavis spotted her father through the glass windows in the ballroom. He came up to Harry Three Eye.

“Hey there, Harry! Have you seen Ericka or Mavis? I thought I just heard them.”

Harry nodded. “I thought I heard them too. You might want to check outside.”

Mavis gasped. “Quick, Ericka! We should head to Van Helsing. I can’t stay a human!”

Ericka nodded. “You’re right. If anyone will know how to fix it, he will.” She scooped Mavis into her arms and began to head back inside the hotel. As she left, she spoke over her shoulder at the girls. “We’ll see you later, guys! I should be back in time before Drac and I depart for the honeymoon!”

And with that, the monster-turned human and human-turned monster departed out of sight.

“Hi ladies,” a familiar accented voice suddenly said from behind a few moments later. It was Drac! He was standing right behind the four female monsters with a curious look on his face.

“Was that Ericka I just heard? Or my Mavy?” he asked.

“Of course not!” Eunice quickly said as convincingly as she could.

“Absolutely not, Drac,” Wanda added.

“One hundred percent NO,” Mandy said.

“Haven’t seen hide or hair of neither one of them,” Crystal replied.

“Oh…” Drac said a little sadly. Then he raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? ”

They all nodded vigorously. “Of course we’re sure, aren’t we girls?” Eunice asked.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Yep.”

“Totally.”

“Positive.”

Dracula sighed. “All right, well I’m going to go to Van Helsing and see if maybe he - “

“NO!” they all almost shouted at him in unison. He jumped back, startled, and the girls awkwardly cleared their throats.

“Heh-heh,” Wanda laughed nervously. “What we mean to say is that, we didn’t want you to go until you saw the brand new dance that Mandy was supposed to perform at the wedding reception, but kind of forgot to because we were all caught up chatting with each other.” She pushed the mummette forward with a gentle shove in front of the Count. Wanda shot her a look. “Well, come on, honey. Do your thing!”

“Um… okay,” Mandy replied, a little unsure of how to start. She swung an arm out, then pulled it into a circle around the top of her head. Next, she bopped her head and extended her leg out to curve it over in front of herself, then she shimmied downward. Mandy grinned as she felt herself start to get more comfortable with the motions, and soon she was grooving to a rhythm within her own head. The girls watching had to admit that the dance was actually pretty good, an Egyptian type of ballet style mixed with some pop and lock freestyle. Dracula wasn’t so interested in the dance as he was in finding his girls, but he politely watched until it was over.

“Yes, yes, lovely. Well, if you do happen to see my Ericka or my Mavis, please don’t hesitate to let me know right away.” With a swish of his black cape, he turned on his heel and stalked off.

Mandy, Wanda, Eunice, and Crystal let out sighs of relief. The secret of Mavis turning into a human and Ericka into a monster was safe - for now.

Mavis and Ericka had just arrived to Van Helsing’s basement laboratory. Van Helsing had the crystal ray hooked up to some intricate contraption and was running a series of diagnostics on it. The computer screen he had beeped angrily several times as it ran through.

“Well,” Van Helsing finally sighed. “It’s broken. The crystal cracked, and it cracked beyond any repair.”

Mavis was stunned. “Wh-what? Can’t you get a new one?”

“Well, I wish I could young lady, but these crystals turn out to be VERY rare and VERY difficult to come by,” Van Helsing reported. “Why, this one that you see here took me a good three years to find! The three years right before I came into guardianship of Ericka. I was but a young monster hunter at the time - okay, maybe not so young, but I felt young - with many more years of monster-hunting still ahead of me - “

Ericka put a hand up. “Okay, great-grandfather, please, you can save it for another time. We’re on a little bit of a time crunch here.” She turned to Mavis and whispered to her. “When my great-grandfather starts to tell a story of his monster-hunting past, you will never hear the end of it.”

Mavis chuckled. “Kind of the same with my dad when he starts talking about his life before building the hotel. That’s like 400 years worth of stories!”

The girls laughed a little and brought their attention back to Van Helsing. He continued.

“Yes, well, luckily my brilliant professor mind was able to think of installing a crystal locator on the ray itself, just for this very situation.” He held up the ray, switching a hidden lever on it. It bleeped with a loud ping, and a hologram of the earth showed up before them. It swirled a few times, trying to pinpoint a location on the hemisphere, before indicating a location on the map with a bright red dot. Van Helsing announced where it had landed. “There it is! South America! That’s where the new crystal will be!”

“South America?!” Mavis repeated incredulously. "All the way over there?"

“Oh, it’s not so bad, Mavis,” Ericka assured. “I’ve navigated through a jungle before. My great-grandfather had me train in the African vegetation for a few years for when I was still learning to be a monster hunter, and I’m sure South America won’t be any different. We can just go there and grab a new one.”

“I wish I could say it was that simple, Ericka,” Van Helsing interrupted. “First, you will have to overcome the most perilous obstacles - jungle that stretches for miles and miles, under blistering heat, down a perilous river, with danger around every corner, not to mention the predators that will want to attack you!”

Ericka scoffed. “Oh come on, Is that all? I thought you knew me better than that great-grandfather.”

He chortled a bit. “Yes, but then you will have to enter the cave of the REFLECTION!” His voice boomed, and Mavis’s head shrunk in her shoulders. “Escape is impossible! For in your reflection, the guardians shall awaken, and you will soon be faced with an unspeakable EVIL!!!” He caught his breath from the outburst, almost sobbing at the traumatic memory. “It.. it… It cost me my right back wheel!”

Mavis and Ericka looked to where Van Helsing was pointing. The back wheel on his iron gray-body was now a smaller, sparklier purple one.

“I’m awfully sorry to hear that,” Mavis commented politely.

Van Helsing tossed the ray to Ericka and wheeled off. “Well, happy hunting girls!” he told them.

Mavis groaned in exasperation. “This is disastrous!” She sat on the floor, tugging her knees up close to her head in order to conceal her distraught face. Ericka came up to her and patted the girl on the back.

“Hey, don’t worry, Mavis. We’ll get the crystal, change you back into a monster, and then everything will be back to normal before you know it.” She got up and made for the door. “I guess I better tell your dad where we’re off to. He’ll want to know the reason I’m sure as to why he’ll be spending his wedding night alone.”

Mavis started. “What? Oh, no, you shouldn’t tell him!”

Ericka looked at her, confused. “But why not?”

Mavis had to think quickly. “Oh! Because he will, uh, want to join us along on the trip! He’ll slow us down with the sunlight and all getting in the way, and we otherwise wouldn’t be able to travel during the day and night. And, if you want me to be honest…” She peered up at Ericka with what she hoped was a convincing look. “I kind of wanted to just hang out, together on our own. Haven’t really had an opportunity since you and your great-grandfather moved in.”

Ericka thought about this for a moment, and then her face softened. “Aw, of course I understand, Mavis. I’m sorry if I’ve been hogging your dad all to myself.” She blushed considerably, but Mavis patted her hand reassuringly.

“It’s all right. Now, let’s go! We don’t have any time to lose!” She leapt up in the air, flapping her arms wildly and expecting to mist and take the form of a bat. But instead she fell back down to the ground with a harsh thump. Mavis grumbled and sat up. “Right, of course. I forgot I was still human…”

Back over in the hotel’s ballroom, the reception party had come to a close. Witch maids were cleaning up the remainder of the streamers and confetti that littered the floor while some lingering monster guests eventually went and retreated back to their rooms.

From the pool patio deck, Eunice, Wanda, Crystal, and Mandy returned back indoors. They were still reeling about the bizarre transformations that had just occurred with Mavis and Ericka.

“I can’t believe how totally cool Ericka looks as a monster!” Crystal commented.

“Tell me about it!” Mandy agreed. “She’s even more gorgeous!”

“Right?” Wanda input.

“There’s just one thing I’m just not quite understanding,” Eunice said.

“What’s that?” the girls all questioned at once.

Eunice crossed her arms. “I mean, why go through all that trouble - you know, getting transformed into a monster and all - just to be able to tolerate some monster punch? I mean, there are other easier solutions that Dr. Jekyll or Dr. Gilman could have suggested for her. But then again, she did go to that strange old Van Helsing…” The Frankenwoman tried to wrap her head around it, but eventually shrugged it off. “Oh well!”

Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to check.

“It’s from Mavis, girls!” she exclaimed. The female monsters gathered around her as she read the text message out loud:

“Hi Aunt Eunice! We just went to talk to Van Helsing. Looks like this trip is going to be a lot more involved than we originally thought. I just left with Ericka to go and find a new crystal for the Monsterfication Ray so that we can both turn back to normal. Please, please, please, don’t tell dad! (or else I’m positive he’ll have a heart attack)”

“Huh. I wonder where they could be headed…” Wanda pondered when Eunice had finished.

“Ah, who cares where they’re headed, as long as they come back unharmed,” Eunice replied. She then pocketed her phone again and approached the punch table to pour herself some of the bubbly green monster punch.

“Thank goodness I’m a monster, because I just love this punch!”

“Oh, I hear you, sister,” Crystal agreed, scooping a couple of glasses for herself, Mandy and Wanda. They raised the glasses up as Eunice called a toast.

“Here’s to a successful and safe trip for Mavis and Ericka!”

“For Mavis and Ericka!” the girls repeated. And then, they tilted their heads back and downed the contents, licking their lips once it was all gone with a content sigh.

At first everything was normal between the four women. Then, suddenly, Mandy’s glowing yellow eyes began to flicker. She blinked a couple of times startled at what felt like a sudden change coming unto her. She caught her reflection in the shine of the chalice she was holding and yelped when she saw that her eyes had turned into human eyes!

“Uhhh, girls! Something is going on!” she shouted. Then, her mummy wrappings began to loosen. She stared with panic at Wanda, who was too occupied looking down at her own arm which had begun to shed fur at an extremely rapid pace. The werewolf’s eyes widened and she yipped in horror.

Crystal’s situation was no better. A button nose began to manifest in midair. Then Eunice’s stitching started to come apart, her body parts actually fusing together! She screamed as her wig embedded into her scalp.

“Oh, my HAIR!!”

In the next instant, Mandy’s wrapping dissipated completely, leaving her a human princess in ancient Egyptian clothing. She gasped in disbelief of herself. “What the - ?!”

Wanda’s fur then fell clean off from under her dress and off of her now-flattened human face, the only reminder of her former werewolf-appearance being the small bob that hung neatly around her ears.

Crystal shrieked in embarrassment as more and more of her bared figure became exposed, and she quickly yanked a tablecloth and wrapped it around herself like a makeshift dress before it could all be revealed.

Eunice, while petrified at what was happening, suddenly became a little more relaxed for just a quick minute when she saw her human self in the reflective surface of a nearby window. Her luscious black hair flowed beautifully, and her contours were spot on. “Oh!” she exclaimed, and quickly took a selfie. As she looked up to see her friends, the reality of the situation sunk in and she felt that same petrification again. Eunice, Mandy, Wanda, and Crystal were all humans now.

Four transformations were complete, and four voices screamed out in utter terror.

In the meantime, many miles up high in the air, Air Gremlin spurted and sputtered along haphazardly in the sky. Ericka stretched her neck out the window, the breeze blowing against her face in a pleasant manner. She chuckled a bit and then brought her head back inside.

“Wow, Mavis. Is this the plane you guys went on when you went to the Bermuda Triangle for the cruise?” She peered over to the seat next to her, but Mavis sat quietly. The girl didn’t seem as relaxed as she was. In fact, she seemed nervous. Her wide blue eyes darted from side to side, looking at everything on the plane with apprehension, and jerking at every little noise that came up.

“Mavis?”

“Huh, what?” She looked up at Ericka and with a shake of her head was able to regain her composure. “Oh, sorry, Ericka. It’s just… it’s really different traveling as a human on this plane versus being a monster. I can definitely see why Johnny was uncomfortable during that trip.” Mavis remembered how her husband had admitted his fear of Air Gremlin after they got off the plane. She really didn’t understand why at first, but now she saw quite clearly. How in the world is this plane even in the sky? she thought to herself, observing the rickety structure of the great machine. There was a strange, continuous buzzing sound that would cough every once in a while, as if an engine was having difficulty trying to function appropriately. Outside of the broken windows, the broken wings of the plane seemed to be held together only by the support of some duct tape. Even worse was the smell of smoke and burning metal that permeated the air.

Mavis could only shrink back down in her seat, arms hugging herself to perhaps offer some comfort.

Ericka patted a hand gently against her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mavis. I’m sure it will get better.”

But just then, the plane jerked around from side to side, up and down, and did several barrel rolls in the sky. Mavis yelped as she held on for dear life to the seat cushion to avoid being flung all over the place like some of the other monster passengers. The ones that were sent hurtling, however, didn’t seem to mind the ride at all. They screamed with glee, laughing and thrashing about with delight as they went careening from one end to the other and back again. All the rocking was making Mavis queasy, the plane and all in it seeming to still be jerking around even after the gremlin pilots had stopped their shenanigans. "Uhhhh," she groaned. "I think I'm going to be sick!" She felt bile rise up in her throat, and she quickly made for the bathroom where she heaved into the toilet bowl until the contents of her stomach were emptied.

It was several hours later that the airplane made a safe landing at an airport in South America. Mavis and Ericka got off and were able to retrieve their luggage from the carousel. As they prepared to head out to the curb to call a taxi, Mavis stopped short at the edge of the awning.

“What’s wrong?” Ericka asked.

Mavis ducked down further back under the awning and peered up uneasily to the sky. “It’s the sun,” she explained. “I completely forgot to bring any sun tanning lotion and - “

But Ericka put up a hand to stop her right there. “Mavis, you’re human. And - being that I was human myself - can assure you that you will not burn up in the sun. Come out and try it for yourself.”

Mavis took a deep breath. Ericka was right - if she was human then, logically, none of her vampire traits remained. Meaning, there should be no rational fear of the sun now since she was not at a risk of crumbling to dust, or smoking the way her dad had when he’d returned with Johnny from the airport for her 118th birthday all those years ago. With still a little fear, she began to cautiously step out, first testing a finger in the light and retreating; then testing out a hand and retreating; then two hands and a leg; until finally, she decided to step out with her whole body underneath the rays. She squinted a little, her eyes unaccustomed to the bright light of the star above. True to Ericka’s word, nothing happened. In fact, its warmth felt pleasant on her rosy skin.

Mavis smiled and marveled at the sensation.

“Woah.”

Ericka gave a small laugh. “Wow is right. You won’t believe how many times I’ve been saying that or at least thought it with this brand new monster body.” She then looked up and saw a taxi cab coming near them on the driveway. She pursed her lips to whistle for it, but before she could help it, flames very suddenly and unexpectedly shot right out of her mouth. The sight of the fiery air bursting out into the middle of the street startled the taxi cab driver, who shrieked in panic. He turned the wheel roughly to one side, causing the car to crash into another car on the road, which crashed into another, and another, and another, creating a domino-like effect of traffic backup.

Mavis and Ericka stared, stunned, at the mess that had occurred in a span of only less than ten seconds.

“Umm, sorry!” Ericka called out sheepishly when she had found her voice.

Mavis, recovering from the shock, quickly pulled Ericka aside. “Uh, Ericka?”

“Yeah?”

“Scratch that taxi idea. I think we’re going to have to start this journey off on foot and then maybe hop on a bus or something along the way. We’re certainly not going to catch anything here.” She gestured out, and the women could now see the line of cars starting to pile up behind the crash, the drivers beeping angrily.

Ericka nodded her head. “Right, right. Sorry! I promise you I didn’t do that on purpose. It was really strange, actually. It’s almost like it just… came out of me. I had no control.”

If Mavis had time, she would have pondered the thought further at that moment, maybe even seen something wrong with the fact that Ericka’s monster powers were acting up in the way they were, but as other witnesses of the accident were starting to point in their direction, she decided it was better if they moved quickly. “Well, we can try later to figure it out. Come on, let’s get moving!” 

With that, she grabbed Ericka by the hand and started sprinting away as fast as she could the opposite way.

Back at the hotel, zombie bellhops and witch maids had just finished their cleanup of the party. As a witch laid her apron atop a chair to go on break, Eunice peered out from beneath a tablecloth. She looked left and then right, ensuring that there was no one around before she called the all clear.

“Ok, girls, we’re good.”

She carefully crawled out, followed by Mandy, Crystal, and Wanda.

Crystal groaned with worry as they crept out of the ballroom and into the lobby. “We can’t let anyone see us like this. Especially Drac or Johnny. They’ll know something is up!”

“I agree,” Wanda put in. “It’s best to just avoid the whole situation until Mavis and Ericka get back. They did say they were going to find a cure, after all.”

“Yeah! And hopefully they’ll be back before the end of the day!” Mandy replied. “I’m really not liking this whole human thing happening here.”

“Well, I can’t say I am complaining all that much,” Eunice said, gazing at herself in her pocket mirror. “My hair looks great!”

Just at that moment, the group froze upon the sound of a door opening. At the other end of the lobby, Dracula came out of the stairwell. The girls gasped and then heard the ding of an elevator. They turned and saw Johnny stepping out. In a panic, they managed to duck right behind a baggage cart full of luggage before either one of them could see them.

The two men approached each other, meeting in the middle of the vast lobby.

“Have you seen the girls?” Drac asked.

“Have you seen the girls?” Johnny had also asked at the same time.

Dracula shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen Ericka since the reception. How the heck am I supposed to have a honeymoon without my wife?”

“Right? And how am I supposed to have date night without my wife?” Johnny said. “I’ve been trying to look for Mavis since the reception, and I haven’t been able to find her, either.”

As the men talked, the girls tried to make an escape again. Wanda pointed to one side. “Over there!” she whispered. They were about to step out when they stopped again, Wayne having come into the lobby with Griffin.

“Hey guys, has anyone seen Wanda? It’s feeding time for the pups.”

Quickly, Eunice pointed to the opposite side, preparing to go when she yanked the girls back behind the luggage cart again. Frank had just entered the lobby as well with Murray.

“Anybody seen Eunice?” he asked.

The other guys shook their heads.

“Does anyone know where any of the girls went?” Drac asked, a hint of impatience underlying his tone.

As if in answer, the luggage that was on the baggage cart, unstably stacked to begin with, suddenly toppled over and hit the floor with a loud BANG! The men immediately looked over to the source of the noise and were all equally startled at the four quivering human females crouching down behind it.

Frank’s eyes widened as he zeroed in on the tallest woman of them. “E-Eunice?” he asked tentatively.

“Uh… uh… “ she stuttered at first. “Yeah, it’s me! What do you think?” She struck a pose, making sure her hair looked great.

Frank’s jaw dropped. Then he smiled wide. “Wo-hoa!” he cried out. “Who knew human looked good on you!” In a gentlemanly gesture he took her hand and bent to plant a kiss on the back of it, Eunice blushing.

Johnny put his hands up. “Wait, wait, wait. If Eunice is a human… then, does that mean that they…?” He pointed to the other three women, who nodded solemnly.

“Heh heh, yeah,” Crystal responded, adjusting the makeshift tablecloth-dress around her body better. “It’s me, Crystal. Hey Griff.” She waved meekly to Griffin who rubbed his glasses to make sure he was seeing correctly.

Murray pointed at the Egyptian princess. “Ummm… Mandy?” he guessed.

“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “In the 5,000-year-old flesh.”

Wayne padded up to Wanda next. “Wanda? Is that you?”

The werewolf-turned-human rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh huh. Won’t be able to nurse the puppies until this is all fixed!”

Dracula’s head was reeling with all of this. He cleared his throat and spoke loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear. “Hold on, time out, girls and guys, wait a minute!”

All eyes turned their focus to him.

“Would somebody care to explain… how in the world did this happen?!”

Before anyone could open their mouth to answer, the sound of a news report blared from one of the hotel lobby’s TV screens.

“This just in, Breaking News from our International Desk…”

The screen changed to show CCTV footage of what looked to be an area with a heavy traffic backup. The news anchor began to speak in explanation. “This was the scene outside a local South American airport where an unidentified monster and her companion caused a massive pile-up of cars.”

Johnny peered closer at the screen and gaped in shock. “Mavis?” Then his eyes widened even more when he began to recognize the monster that was with her. “Wait a minute… Drac, that kind of looks like - “

“ERICKA!” Drac finished for him.

Next to them, Mandy nodded her head. “Yep. Ericka is a monster, Mavis is a human. There’s no point in keeping it a secret now.”

Several phone calls later, Dracula and Johnny still had no luck reaching out to the girls.

“Aw man, I can’t get through to them, Drac!” Johnny complained.

“I’m not having much luck here, either,” Drac muttered, hanging up yet again. “I don’t understand!” he cried out, flailing his arms out. “What in the world are they doing in South America?”

“Yeah, and why would they even want to go off and change themselves like that in the first place? Mavis is perfect the way she is.”

“As is my Ericka!” Dracula agreed. “I mean, come on, there’s not like any crazy mad scientists living in our basements or anything…” The Count then trailed off, coming to realize that there in fact was one person living in the hotel who met that exact description. And he was likely the one to know something of this mess. He grabbed Johnny by the arm and whisked him away, down the stairs that led to the Van Helsing’s chambers.

"Van Helsing!" Drac called out annoyingly. "What did you - do?"

The Count had stopped himself after assessing the state of the basement. Everything was a mess, as though a hurricane had swept through and scattered all in its path. Towards the center of the room there appeared to be a sort of makeshift army base, with a small fort and barbed wire on the edges. Having heard the newcomers arrive, Van Helsing poked his head out from behind the mini fort, his wisps of white hair hidden by a big military-style helmet. “Oh! Hello, guys!” he called, relieved that they weren’t whatever he was hiding from. Dracula immediately flew in front of him, getting up so close he was nearly nose to nose.

“What did you do to Ericka and my daughter?!”   the Count asked harshly.

"Shhh!" Van Helsing hissed back. "Keep your voice down…"

Dracula would have argued the matter, but a deep, menacing growl broke off his train of thought. He whipped his head to the shadows, and became aware of a glowing red pair of eyes staring right back at him. Suddenly, the creature attached to them leapt out at him and Van Helsing with a screeching roar of fury! The vampire managed to haul himself and the elder out of the way just as its massive hulk barreled through the makeshift little army base, trampling it to dust beneath its enormous feet.

“What is that?!” Drac demanded to know.

“Gigi, my guinea pig!” Van Hesling explained, firing out a net toward the humongous rodent. It caught around her ankles, causing the beast to fall on its side. “I turned her into a monster too, but as it turns out, the ray is highly unstable!”

The guinea pig got back up on its feet, snarled, and swung its tail out in Johnny’s direction. Drac sprang to action, catching it before it collided with his son-in-law. Van Helsing yelled above the monster’s screeching.

“Apparently, the transformation will keep mutating and won’t stop until the subject becomes a mindless, ravenous, BEAST!”

“Keeps mutating?” Drac questioned. The guinea pig overpowered his grip on her tail, and she was able to swing up off of her, slamming the count against the back wall of the basement. Oh, no, he thought. Ericka!

He ducked as the guinea pig swung her tail at him again. Drac looked around for anything that might be able to stop or sedate it. Then, he got an idea.

"Johnny!" he cried, gesturing frantically toward the piping that was behind him. Johnny immediately understood.

"You got it, Drac!" He then turned his attention to Gigi, waving his arms out above his head wildly and calling out to her. "Yoo-hoo! Hey, over here you giant purple-furred hamster thingy!"

The feral monster rodent barked out at the redhead and began galloping toward him at full speed. Johnny managed to duck out of the way just as Drac dropped a large pipe from the ceiling. Gigi stormed inside, and Dracula quickly surrounded both ends with more piping, encasing the large beast in a little inescapable maze, the pet finally contained.

Drac landed next to Johnny, gasping loudly. “Johnny! This is worse than I thought. We must find them - we need to get them both back to normal before it’s too late!”

“How are we even going to get there, Drac?” Johnny asked with worry.

"I can help with that!" Van Helsing piped in.

Drac gave him an annoyed glare. "Haven't you done enough already?"

The old man shrugged. "Fine then. It would take you days to catch flights to South America. Too many stops in between, and let's face it, Gremlin Air is not always reliable when it comes to transportation."

Drac was about to argue this point too, but then remembered how his friends' wives were also human. There was no way they would be able to tolerate the bumpy ride that the gremlin pilots maneuvered. He sighed in defeat and crossed his arms as he faced Van Helsing. "So… what did you have in mind?"

Van Helsing grinned and, with the simple push of a button, a rumbling noise was heard coming from outside. Drac and Johnny curiously followed the old man outside and gaped as they saw an enormous blimp emerge from the clouds. Its gears whirred, a steady stream of smoke billowing out. The pair could only stare up at it in awe.

"I've been waiting for the day when we'd have to use her!" Van Helsing said giddily. "Now," he continued, giving Drac a stern look, "you had better make sure nothing happens to it. It’s as prized of a possession to me as The Legacy was, got it?"

Drac nodded. “Yes, okay, as long as it gets us there faster.” He turned from the old man, put his fingers in his mouth, and let out a shrill whistle. “All right, everyone on board! Let’s move it! We haven’t got all day or all night!”

Johnny ran inside and retrieved Frank, Eunice, Wayne, Wanda, the wolf pups, Griffin, Crystal, Murray, and Mandy, and they all piled inside and got themselves comfortable within the gondola. Suddenly, the redhead felt a small tug on his pants, and a small voice spoke up.

“Um, Poppa? Is it okay if we come along too?”

Johnny looked down and did a double-took on the two little ones who were standing before him. “Dennis? Winnie??”

Sure enough, the children were there, but they were not the same as he’d seen them last. Dennis was fangless, and Winnie was only distinguishable by her pink dress with the skull image on the front. She had no fur and a flat face, because she and his son were now human, too!

“Woah!” Johnny exclaimed. “Kids, what happened?”

Dennis rubbed his head, trying to remember. “I think we were hypnotized somehow, and then Winnie and I went to get a funny green drink in the ballroom…” Next to him, Winnie nodded, recalling a strange bubbly feeling in her stomach. Before she had known it, her dark gray fur had fallen clean off, her pointed ears had shrunken down, and her reflection off of the ballroom windowpanes was that of a small young girl!

Johnny furrowed his brows. “Aww…” Then he waved his hand over at the gondola. “Well, hop aboard, guys! Looks like you’ll be needing to come along for the ride, too.”

“Yay!” the pair shouted out at the same time. They were excited to be joining in on the trip. Johnny watched them go.

“You know, Dennis, I think you still look cute!” the formerly werewolf-girl said.

Dennis blushed, nice and red, as he looked at his now-human friend. “Thanks Winnie… so do you.”

The girl smiled wider, her pigtails bouncing atop her shoulders as they retreated to join the others, who were just as surprised to see them as humans.

Once they were all in, Drac was about to step inside to take the wheel when Johnny stopped him.

"Woah, Drac, I hope you're not about to travel in that."

Drac looked down to his black getup and cape, confused. "What? It's what I always wear."

"Exactly!" Johnny said. "We're going on an expedition - a jungle one at that! And since we're leading this mission, we need to be dressed for the part!"

Before Drac could comprehend what was happening, Johnny suddenly whipped out his backpack, pulled out two matching uniforms, and thrust them on himself and Drac in a couple of quick motions. When the Count looked at Johnny, he saw that the redhead now had a kaki safari outfit and hat on. He glanced down at himself and saw that he was also sporting something similar.

"See? Now we're ready. And we're twinsies!" He gave Drac a side hug, to which the Count lightly shoved him away.

"Alright, enough. We've got a very serious journey ahead of us, so let’s get going!"

Dracula got in front of the captain’s wheel and launched the big airship into the sky, taking one last long look at the hotel as he did so, and hoping with all his heart that everything would go back to normal by the time he and the others returned to it.

Later on that very day, Mavis and Ericka were able to catch a local bus and had made their way to the Amazonian jungle. They were now at the edge of the grand rainforest, on their way to find the exact location of the crystal.

But, only after about ten minutes of walking, Mavis found herself exhausted and drenched in sweat under the blaring heat of the sun. Ericka peered over to her companion, taking note of her condition.

“Uh, Mavis? I think it might be better to switch you out of those clothes and into something more comfortable.”

Mavis, gasping out for breath, tried to make herself sound a little more alert and enthusiastic as she responded. “Oh, that’s okay, Ericka. I think I’m fine.”

“You sure? I think I have something that may work better.”

Mavis nodded. She took a few more steps but, unable to bear it anymore, heaved herself down on a nearby stone. She wiped the sweat off her brow and looked up at Ericka.

“Okay. I think I’ve changed my mind.”

Ericka smiled kindly at her, sifted into her backpack, and brought out a small pile of clothes that she handed to Mavis.

“Here. Try this. It helped me when I was trekking.”

Mavis went behind a tree and slowly changed out of her classic black attire. The outfit she came out with was beige and leathered with straps and gear. None of it was heavy on her, however, and despite it being slightly bigger on her body - Ericka’s human frame being a little taller - she had to admit it was fairly snug. A pair of thick black boots on her feet also made for a faster walk since she would not have to stop every once in a while to adjust them like she had to with her favorite red sneakers.

“Not bad,” Mavis admitted. “Not bad at all.”

“Great!” Ericka replied. “Let’s go!”

Mavis didn’t know how her husband did it.

He had been all over the world - Paris, New York, Moscow, Barcelona, Beijing, Tokyo - and yet he was never exhausted of his travels. She in the meantime could only manage so much. Her stamina seemed to drop with every step she took among the expanse of foliage, mountains, and valleys that stretched for miles and miles. She narrowly avoided falling through the gap of a rickety bridge, barely managed to prevent tripping over a fallen tree branch, and almost stumbled clean off of a cliffside on a more slippery trail.

As the day continued to wear on, she just couldn’t seem to make it anymore - the combination of the hot sun and the strenuous walk was finally starting to take a toll, and she was very thirsty.

“How are you able to tolerate all of this?” she finally blurted out to Ericka, who had been managing to always keep a few paces ahead of Mavis, not looking the least bit exhausted whatsoever.

“Well, it might be because of the power drink I had on the bus ride over here,” Ericka replied nonchalantly. “One can of that, and it will keep you energized for hours.” She stopped in her tracks, and reached to pull out another can from Mavis’s backpack. “I have another, if you want it.”

“Yes, please!” Mavis replied, instantly popping the lid open and chugging the whole drink down in one great big gulp. She didn’t feel anything at first, and was about to voice this to Ericka, when the effects kicked in almost immediately. Her limbs tingled and her heart began thumping wildly inside her chest.

The next moment Mavis was on a full explosion of coffee-buzzed energy. Her pace picked up considerably, almost to a run, as she began to notice every little thing around her.

“Woah! Wow! This jungle is so amazing! Are you seeing all of this, Ericka? It’s wonderful! Look at all these trees!” She ran up to one and promptly hugged it. Then, she ran over to another section. “And all these flowers!” She ran her fingers through a small patch on the ground. “And all these birds, and ants, and insects and… and… I’M ALIVE!!” She whooped with glee, and sprang about like a hyperactive puppy who was just given free reign of the yard.

The high didn’t last very long though. A little while later, Mavis was back to being exhausted. And, a whole new problem had arisen. Curiously attracted by the two foreigners hiking through the jungle, a small swarm of mosquitos had begun to flit over to her and Ericka, buzzing around their ears incessantly like the pests they were.

One landed on Mavis, and bit her. She yelped, and slapped at it. “Ugh, mosquitos! Even as a vampire, I never really liked them.”

“And I can’t say I blame you,” Ericka agreed. “Of course, they can’t bite into me now, since I’ve got thick monster hide…”

As if the mosquitoes understood, they immediately converged on Mavis. The girl yelped and swatted fiercely at them until she couldn’t keep up. They were everywhere! Her legs, her arms, her face. Ericka jumped in to help, pulling out a can of bug spray from the backpack. She shook as fast as she could, watching Mavis get pelted by the many proboscises of the pesky little insects. Then, she took the can, faced it in the direction of the bugs and sprayed.

The mosquitoes retreated quickly as the insecticide burned through them, and they flew off, buzzing angrily in their wake. Mavis coughed and looked gratefully up at Ericka. “Thank you, so much! They were all over the place! What did you use, anyway?”

Ericka gladly showed her the can. “Mosquito repellent. Always great to have around when you’re going to be out and about in the great outdoors for a good while.”

Mavis nodded. “Good to know.” She got up to continue on their path, but suddenly felt a little dizzy, like the jungle around her was spinning before her eyes. Ericka had sprayed a lot of fumes, and it seemed like its potency was affecting her delicate human senses. She tried to call out for Ericka and let her know of her impending fall, but it was too late. With a flash she collapsed into unconsciousness.

The Van Helsing blimp treaded along in the sky.

Dracula was able to captain the airship and navigate his way with Johnny by his side holding a map of the world. Right now, they were about to exit the European continent and begin covering the massive expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. In the back of the blimp’s gondola, the other humans and monsters remained onboard, marveling at all the different contraptions that were on it and wondering what they all did.

Out of all of them, the wolf pups were the ones that caused the most trouble on board. One was playing among the bear traps, evading the snap of the metal jaws by just a hair each time. Another dozen were swinging happily along on a pendulum. The smallest pup, Sunny, was nibbling on a grenade like it was a chew toy. Wayne tried to step up and control the mass, a job he normally left for his wife, but as she was human at the moment, he decided to cut her a break.

“Waldo, get down from there! Willy, we don’t play with that! Wanye, you’ll get yourself hurt with that!” Just then a harpoon flew right past the werewolf’s nose and into the wall behind them. Wayne growled, and looked in the direction of where it was fired.

“Wesley, what did I tell you about - “

But when he looked, he saw that it wasn’t his most mischievous pup that had fired the weapon. It was Mandy! She looked sheepishly at him, the weapon still in her hands.

“Heh, oops! Sorry about that, Wayne. I picked this up to move it somewhere out of their reach, but I accidentally pulled the trigger instead.”

Taking the opportunity, one of the wolf pups jumped up and snatched the harpoon launcher from her hands, firing it yet again. This time, it flew up to the front of the blimp, where it landed against the dashboard with a sharp thud, startling Johnny who gave a short yelp.

Dracula gave a sigh. “Johnny, hold on to the wheel for a moment,” he commanded.

With the redhead holding the wheel, Drac turned around and, using his magic, set everything straight in the blimp. Boxes that were moved promptly went back to their spots, weapons were stowed away, and all of the wolf pups were put back into their place.

“Okay guys, let’s not have any more trouble,” he said, speaking firmly. “This blimp belongs to my wife too, you know, and I don’t want it to get messed up!”

“Sorry, Drac!” all the voices in the back chorused at the same time.

The Count adjusted the safari hat better on his head and turned back to grab the wheel again.

“Wow,” Johnny commented, looking around to the back of the blimp. “It’s crazy how much arsenal Van Helsing has!”

Dracula shrugged. “Well, he and Ericka used to be monster hunters. Doesn’t really surprise me too much. To see it all here at once is what does. ” Drac remembered all those times a century ago when Van Helsing was younger and still had a capably functioning human body. He would chase the vampire and his friends endlessly throughout the land, never resting, and always toting along some strange contraption that in the end never served its purpose of eliminating him. He cast the memories away from his mind as a more pleasant thought surfaced. “At least that’s all in the past now.”

Johnny smiled. “That’s what the power of the zing will do, Drac!”

Dracula chuckled. “You’re telling me?” A swooning sigh took hold of the vampire and he thought of how enamored he had been when first meeting his bride. She was perfect, just one hundred percent absolutely perfect, an angel in white. To lose his zing was a nightmare that he did not want to relive again. One was more than enough.

The smile that was on the Count’s face slowly faded away from his lips and was replaced with a worrisome look. "I… just hope that she's okay."

Johnny came forward and put a reassuring hand on Drac’s shoulder. "Chill, Drac. It'll all be good. We'll find Mavis and Ericka before you know it, and we’re going to be home in no time!"

Usually Johnny’s optimism would make Drac roll his eyes, but this time it served as a comfort. He gave a small grin and sharp nod in return, and with renewed confidence took hold of the wheel.

And from there, they traveled.

Over Transylvania, across the Atlantic and through the thick clouds that overhung the dense jungles of South America's Brazil. They passed over a waterfall that opened up to more lush greenery. The passengers aboard the blimp all gaped in wonder.

“Wow, Drac, that place down there is huge!” Frank commented. “How are we ever going to find them in there?”

Johnny placed a finger on his chin and thought. “I think I may have an idea…” He grabbed a cloak for Drac to protect him from the sun and put on a pair of goggles over his own eyes. He turned to the Count. “Drac, I think we’re going to have to take this search down to the ground! Whattya say?”

Dracula gave a nod. “I think this blimp has just the right tool for the job.”

Suddenly, they all appeared in a giant jeep that was able to fit everyone, and they all burst out of the back of the blimp. Everyone screamed as they fell from the sky, but Johnny hit a button, and a parachute came out of the jeep. The vehicle landed safely on the ground, and the redhead pumped the gas pedal to go.

“Woo-hoo!” he exclaimed. “So what’s the plan, Drac?”

Dracula turned into a bat, and perked his larger ears to listen out all around the landscape like echolocation for any signs of Ericka or Mavis. He immediately picked up their voices, coming from the Southern side of the Amazon, a seeming one hundred miles or so away. If they hurried, they would be able to catch up to them before the sun went down.

Dracula shapeshifted back into his humanoid form and took a seat next to Johnny again. He pointed. “That way!”

Johnny gave him a thumbs up. “Hold on everyone!” he cried, pumping up the speed up even more.

In the backseat Dennis and Winnie cheered. “Yay!” the little boy exclaimed. “We’re going to save Mommy and Nana Ericka!”

“That we are, Denisovich! My little Devil Dog,” Drac cooed. “Now, let’s go!”

The jeep sped forward, sending a blast of dust into the air behind it that was the only indication of where the rag tag group of humans and monsters were going.

As Drac had figured, things were really not going quite well for Mavis and Ericka. Ericka had remained tracking the crystal on the Monsterfication ray, while carrying Mavis who was still recovering from her fainting spell. A few minutes later, she began to awaken. She groaned, and rubbed at her eyes.

“Hey, Mavis! Everything okay?”

“Ughh… I think so,” Mavis replied a little slurred. “What happened?”

“Um, well…” Ericka started, “I may have sprayed you with a little too much mosquito repellent. I was so focused on getting them off you, that I kind of forgot that it’s not always the best to breathe in. Sorry about that.”

Mavis sat up. “It’s fine, I’m good now.” She then became aware of her surroundings. Or rather, she became aware of the lack of surroundings. Everything seemed to be covered in a cloudy mist that made it impossible to see anything else.

“Ericka, where are we?”

The monster woman pointed to the ray. “I’ve been following the signal. It’s been pointing me in this direction as far as I can see.”

“Really?” Mavis took the ray and examined the tracking feature on it. All seemed well, but then it began to glitch unexpectedly. “Huh?” she questioned, and then suddenly, it showed the direction towards the ray - in the opposite direction!

“Oh, no!” Mavis exclaimed. “I think we’ve been heading the wrong way!”

“What?” Ericka stared at the tracking device. “But… how can that be… that doesn’t make any sense!”

She took another step, and yelped when she felt the ground give way beneath her. She took a step back on solid footing again, and took a better look as to where she was now that some of the thick mist had begun to clear away. As it turned out, she and Mavis were traveling on top of a mountain!

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered. “You know, maybe it's this elevation that’s made this ray’s tracking go haywire!”

“I don’t know…” Mavis said. “But I think we should definitely get back to lower ground. All this height right now is making me a little nervous.”

“Right,” Ericka replied. She tried to take a few steps down the rocky ridge, but it was proving to be a challenge. A fierce gust of wind suddenly blew through, making her lose her footing entirely. Mavis and Ericka tumbled off the rock face and out into the open air, the women shrieking as they fell from hundreds of feet. Through the chaotic fall, Mavis could make out something that could be critical in saving them.

“Ericka!” she cried. “You have wings!”

“Oh!” the woman shouted back, looking behind as best she could toward her back. Sure enough, a large pair of leathery bat-like wings protruded out from behind her shoulder blades. She desperately tried to flap them, moving her back and shoulders in great effort, but it was of no use. They didn’t seem to be working, and she grew frustrated and scared.

“Ericka, calm down for a minute!” Mavis called. “Look, I’m going to very very quickly teach you how to fly - the same way my dad taught me!” She pointed to her nose. “Can you wiggle your nose?” Mavis demonstrated. Ericka was able to copy her.

“All right, now wiggle your toes!”

Ericka obeyed the command, wiggling her toes.

“Okay, great! Now flap! Flap, flap, flap!!”

Ericka did as she said, scrunching her eyes closed and focusing intently. Nothing felt different, but when she opened her eyes, the outcome was exactly as Mavis had promised - she was flying! Hovering midair just like a bird.

“W-woah! I did it!” Ericka cheered. She flapped around a few times with a laugh and then swooped down to catch Mavis before she collided with the ground.

The girl stared at her dad’s wife, bewildered that things had worked out. “You’re flying!”

“Ha! You call this flying?” Ericka huffed with pride. “This is flying!”

She put Mavis securely on her back and soared high up into the air with an easy grace, as if she had been doing this for years. The fluffy white clouds rolled by in all directions around them, and Mavis let out a delighted gasp as they moved past each one at such a high speed it felt like they were weightless.

"This...  is... incredible!" she exclaimed, spreading her arms out and enjoying the adrenaline that raced through her. She picked up the ray, and eyed the tracker. 

"Crystal Cave, here we come!"

With a swoop, Ericka angled herself in the direction that the tracker was leading, and the two of them went soaring off into the sky together.

Night fell upon the Amazonian jungle, carpeting everything in a blanket of darkness.

Mavis and Ericka had covered good ground for the day, and had set up a small camp at the base of a few massive boulders to rest for a few hours before continuing for the remainder of the trek. Presently, a fire was burning between them. It provided a steady heat and an ample amount of light to see by, casting long shadows created by their bodies over the rugged forest floor. Mavis sat with her legs tucked neatly underneath her, munching contentedly on some trout that was caught in the nearby stream earlier in the day.

"Not bad," Mavis commented between mouthfuls of the tender fish. "It tastes great!"

Ericka shrugged. "I may have dabbled in a bit of cooking while aboard The Legacy. One has to occupy the mind with something if you're going to be living aboard a ship for pretty much your whole life."

Mavis considered her words, then nodded thoughtfully. "I can see what you mean. I got a little bored after I had explored everywhere inside of the hotel when I was younger. I even tried to sneak out a couple of times just so I could see what lay beyond the haunted forest and Land of Undead. Didn't quite work out, though. My dad would always catch me right before I even went out the front door." She chuckled as she remembered how after he caught her and brought her back to her room, he'd smother her in hugs and kisses until he himself felt calmness and reassurance.

Ericka raised a hand. "I'm guilty, too," she admitted. "Once - I think I was maybe about sixteen or seventeen - I took a lifeboat and jumped off of the ship when it was my great-grandfather's nap time. I got a few good miles out from the boat before he was even aware that I was missing. He came looking for me with searchlights and everything, and tugged me out of the water back onto the ship. We got into a really big argument that night. He kept trying to tell me that we had to be the ones to 'find and destroy Dracula,' not just me by myself."

She shook her head, and suddenly became aware of what she had just said. She turned to Mavis. "Oh uh… sorry, I - "

"I get it," Mavis snapped, putting a hand up. "You don't have to explain."

Things remained in a thick silence for a moment before Ericka spoke up again. "I understand why your dad built the hotel. It was to keep people like us out. The persecutors. The hunters. The ones who don't even give monsters a chance…"

Mavis sighed heavily. "He built the hotel for my mom. He wanted to make sure that by keeping me safe, he was keeping a part of her safe. Since, well, you know…"

Mavis trailed off, averting her gaze. She could feel the beginning of tears prick at her eyes. "She um... I never actually knew her. But uh… she still means a lot to me."

There was another pause and then Ericka spoke. "I'm so sorry, Mavis. I never knew my mother either, or my father. And my great-grandfather was never really the best guardian, looking back at it now. He never once told me about them, and only cared that I knew about how to be a monster hunter just like him."

She scooted closer to Mavis and put an arm around her shoulder. "I can't even begin to imagine what your dad went through when it happened to your mother. But, I'm going to tell you something he told me when we had our first date on the cruise ship."

Mavis looked up at her curiously.

"You have to honor the past, it's true. But, we also get to make our own future. And right now, we can make something new together. And if there's anyone who deserves to have love again, I think we can both agree that it's your dad for sure."

Mavis smiled weakly at her, feeling a pang of guilt build inside of her chest. The truth was, that Ericka had only been looking out of her during this whole adventure thus far. And adventure that, had it not been by a lie she told, they never would have been on in the first place. Perhaps it really was best to forgive the actions of the past and forget them to make a better tomorrow. But, Mavis knew she would have to take the first step. And what better way to do it than here, alone in the jungle with her where there would be no distractions.

Mavis rubbed a hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe her nerves before she spoke.

"Um… Ericka? Look, there's um… there's something I need to tell you."

Ericka gazed at her. "What is it, Mavis?" she said, softly.

"Well, uh… see, the truth is that… that…" She fumbled for words. How could she tell her what she'd done? How would Ericka take it? How would her father take it once he came around to finding out? "See, the thing is that, the whole law with the Vampire Council and not being able to come into ownership of the hotel, it's actually not - "

But the loud roar of an engine suddenly cut her off. Blasting out of the foliage with brilliant lights and a deafening screech of tires came a large jeep that careened around the bend in front of them before slowing as the car skidded to an abrupt stop dangerously close to where they sat. Dust from the ground was kicked up into the air, and Mavis shielded her eyes against it, squinting to see who occupied the vehicle.

Then from the shadows Mavis was surprised to see Dracula come bounding forward, easily spotting his wife. "Ericka!" he exclaimed, enveloping the woman in a hug.

"Drac!" she responded happily, gripping him tightly as he smooched her repeatedly. "I'm so glad you're okay!" he said between kisses.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she giggled.

As the pair reunited, Johnny leaped out of the jeep and happily approached Mavis. "Hey, hon!" he called out. "What's up?"

"What's up? I should be asking you that!" Mavis exclaimed. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"She's not the only one, Mavis," a new voice rang out behind her husband's. Mavis looked over and saw four human females coming up to them. They looked vaguely familiar, and then it came to her.

"Aunt Eunice? Aunt Wanda? Crystal? Mandy?" she gaped.

"And us, too, Momma!" Dennis said, running up to her with Winnie by his side.

Mavis's jaw dropped. "You're, you're - "

"Human?" Mandy finished. "Yeah, we noticed."

"Yeah, but actually it's not so bad. A big improvement in my case!" Eunice said, fluffing her hair and taking yet another selfie. The other girls rolled their eyes. Mavis was confused.

"Wait, but, I don't actually understand. How did this happen to you guys?"

"Yes, that is what I would like to know, too," Drac replied. He turned to his wife. "Ericka, sweetheart, why did you go off and turn yourself into a monster?"

She sighed. "Well, it was because of the vampire Council's law. That no human can come into ownership of a monster-owned property. I don't think I'm going to put your life at risk because of it. All those consequences Mavis told me about…" She shuddered to even think about it.

Drac furrowed his brow. "The Council? What does the vampire Council have to do with any of this, Mavis?" He turned to his daughter. "I'm not understanding."

"Yeah, neither am I," Johnny said just as confused. "Who are they?"

The jungle grew silent as all eyes bore in on Mavis. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uh, well, the Vampire Council is a real group of vampires who oversee any matters related to us."

"It's true," Dracula pitched in. "I was called away on leave with them for a good two years."

Mavis nodded, remembering how she had to watch the hotel during that duration of time with her Aunt Lydia by her side. "Yes, that's right."

Dracula crossed his arms. "But that still doesn't explain the law that Ericka just described, that I can tell you does not exist."

Ericka paled next to him. "W-what?"

"I know the vampire law like the back of my hand. Every loophole and subsection I have memorized. And there is no such rule."

Dracula gave his daughter a pointed look. "Care to elaborate a little more?"

Mavis shifted uncomfortably under his intense stare. The other monsters and humans were starting to come into understanding of the situation. Eunice scoffed.

"Sounds like someone was trying to do an intervention," she muttered.

Ericka's mind reeled as it began to click in her head too. "You… you just didn't want me at the hotel at all…"

"So you lied to her, Mavis?" Dracula challenged. "That's how you thought this was all going to work out?"

Mavis felt anger boiling inside of her. "What was I supposed to do?" she yelled out at her father. "It's not like YOUhaven't lied before! You've done it plenty of times! And what did you say it was it all for? To try and protect me!"

She kicked a flaming log from the fire, the embers flying to the side boulder and flickering out. She gestured out. "Well, dad, here was my attempt at protecting you… from her!" Mavis pointed angrily at Ericka.

"What are you talking about?" Drac demanded.

"Maybe if you weren't so blinded by love, you'd see that this is all just part of one big elaborate plan! Just like the cruise!" Mavis spat. "We were all fooled once before, and it nearly cost us all our lives… but I refuse to let it happen again!"

Dracula could only stare at his daughter as she continued.

"I heard you both at the wedding reception. She was telling you that you'd finally be able to 'rest in peace'! What do you think that is supposed to mean?"

Distressed, Ericka turned her back to Mavis and buried her face in her hands. Dracula pinched the bridge of his nose as he realized which conversation his daughter was talking about.

"Mavis," he said slowly, "I didn't want to tell you this like this, but I have no choice but to right now." He looked at her. "We were talking about possibly retiring and leaving the hotel to you and Johnny!"

Mavis froze upon hearing this.

"W-what?"

"We were going to retire, and leave the hotel to you and Johnny at some point so that way I won't be so stressed all the time, and I can finally 'rest in peace' and all my 'worries will go away' once I am 'out of here.'"

The vampiress-turned-human was speechless.

Dracula opened his mouth to say more, but the sound of his wife starting to sob next to him drew his attention away from his daughter. He rubbed his hand on her back soothingly. "Ericka? Please don't cry, sweetheart, I know what happened and I'm sorry that it did."

"It's just… " she hiccuped between sobs. "It's just that here I was, thinking that I was fitting in, making friends at the hotel and really getting to know everyone without having to worry…" She blew her nose in a tissue. "And to think that it was all for NOTHING!"

A rage suddenly overtook Ericka. Her eyes blazed red in ferocity as a transformation began to change her. Her teeth grew longer and even sharper. Her claws extended into talons, her body morphing into something much larger, taller, scarier than before. She addressed Mavis with fury lacing every word.

"You will never accept me as part of your family! NEVER! So I may as well stop trying!"

With that Ericka stormed out into the darkness of the jungle, roaring angrily and decimating everything in her path.

"Ericka, wait!" Dracula called out desperately. He turned around to face Mavis.

"Mavis, this it your fault! Ericka only wanted to move on from her past and be accepted into our family. And now, because of this, I could lose her forever!"

Mavis began to get tearful again. "Dad," she began shakily, "I'm so sor - "

"Mavis, you said that you didn't want to see me get heartbroken again," he interrupted. "But now what you did is only about to make that possible. Heck, you know I wasn't the biggest fan of Johnny and his crazy behavior at first, but we grew to get along just fine!" He paused for a second, throwing a glance over at the redhead. "No offense, by the way."

"Ah, none taken, Drac," Johnny said understandably.

Drac then looked back at his daughter. "Why can't you learn to get along with and accept Ericka?" With a disappointed shake of his head, he shapeshifted into a bat and pursued his wife in the direction she had gone.

Nobody had anything to say for a moment. Mavis let the tears fall freely from her eyes, feeling helpless. She had only succeeded in possibly messing up her and her father's relationship, all because of her own selfishness. Johnny hugged his wife to calm her down.

"There, there, It's alright, Mavis. What you did really wasn't cool, but just give Drac a minute to chill. Right now, we've gotta get on our way to find the crystal!"

Mavis nodded, wiping the last of the water from her eyes. "You're right," she croaked, then more firmly added, "to the jeep!"

The group all leaped back inside the car - with Johnny taking the wheel and Mavis by his side - and then they all sped away through the jungle just as a fearsome thunderstorm was going by. Johnny quickly explained the situation to Mavis.

“If we don’t get to the Crystal Cave in time, Ericka’s going to keep transforming!”

“Keep transforming?” Mavis echoed in surprise.

“Yeah! Van Helsing said it will keep happening until she becomes a mindless beast, and then there won’t even be anything left of Ericka!”

Mavis gasped.

She looked down at the tracker, seeing which direction they should travel it. She pointed. “Over there! Follow the river!”

Johnny swerved the jeep, everyone inside holding on tightly as he did so. Torrential rain continued to pour down as the vehicle sped onward.

Suddenly, Johnny noticed a gap along the cliffside that they were traveling on. He looked around, not seeing anywhere else that they could drive in the jungle that would not delay them. Thinking quickly, he looked at the jeep’s dashboard. There were plenty more little buttons and dials than there would be on a normal car, given that it belonged to a monster hunter. Surely something on there would be able to help them now.

Then, his eyes found a button with an icon that looked like a boat. He pushed it and hoped that it would do what he thought it would do. Please work, please work! he thought desperately, and to the others shouted, “All right, everybody hang on!”

The jeep was driven off of the cliffside, monsters and humans alike shrieking as they free-fell from the sky and down into the water below. The vehicle sunk below the surface for a brief moment, before bubbling back up. Johnny looked down to the sides of the car, realizing that the wheels had turned into small boat propellers that were keeping it afloat.

“Woah!” Johnny exclaimed. “I think I’m gonna have to ask Van Helsing if I can keep this really cool jeep!” he smiled, stepped on the gas, and accelerated through the river rapids.

With little difficulty, Dracula was able to find Ericka. His vampire vision enabled him to track her footsteps in the dark. Plus, with the trail of destruction she was leaving behind, it was rather easy. He then saw her, lumbering through the vegetation and growling under her breath.

“Ericka!” he called out, flying out in front of her. “Ericka, stop!”

She snarled for a minute, and then her eyes focused in on the little black bat fluttering before her face. Through the haze of her anger, she recognized her husband.

“Drac!”

“Yes, Ericka! Thank goodness you’re still here!” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Look, I’m really sorry about Mavis - “

The mention of his daughter’s name sent Ericka into a frenzy. She snarled out again, roaring out her frustration into the air. Flames fired out of her mouth, the heat grazing Drac’s wings as he ducked and dodged to avoid them burning him.

“Woah! Ericka! Darling, calm down!”

He ducked again to avoid a vicious swipe from her claws, and then heard his phone ring. “Sorry, sweetheart!” he called. “Just give me one quick minute to answer this call!”

Drac flew over to a nearby tree, turned himself back to his humanoid form and answered. Johnny was on the other end.

“Hey, Drac, good news!” he said excitedly. “We found the Crystal Cave, and we’re about to head inside to find the actual crystal!”

Drac grinned. “That’s great!”

“Yeah!” Johnny agreed. “I’m sending you the location now so you guys can meet us there.”

A moment later, a map popped up on his phone screen. “Don’t worry, Johnny,” he assured his son-in-law. “I’ll make sure to get her there.”

“You sure?” he asked. “Is she close by?”

Dracula was about to answer, when a blast of fire very suddenly and very violently burned clean through the top half of the tree that he was perched on. He gave a nervous gulp, feeling the top few strands of his hair singe slightly.

“Eh heh… pretty close.”

The Count hung up the call and descended down to the jungle floor, picking up a large boulder as he did so. He balanced the great rock above his head and tried to get a good aim on Ericka.

“I’m sorry about this, honeybat!” he shouted out, before hauling the boulder at her.

It merely thumped against the side of her head as lightly as a pebble would, but it was enough to capture her attention. She whipped around to face him, cocking her head. Dracula smiled as pleasantly as he could and tried to speak casually.

“Eh, heh, sweetheart! There you are! How are you today? Listen, I know you’re upset honeyfangs, but we need to get you back over to the Crystal Cave so we can make it all better. Do you understand me?”

Ericka only roared in response and barreled after him in a fury. He turned heel and leapt up into the sky, transforming into a bat and flying away as fast as he could to the cave with her on his tail.

“Okay, I guess we can talk later!” he cried.

Johnny pocketed his phone as soon as he had hung up from talking to Drac. The rapids had slowed down to a calmer stretch of water, leading up to an eerie looking cave that very strongly resembled the face of a skeleton. Lightning splitting across the sky made the place seem even more ominous. Mavis looked down at the beeping tracker, illuminating her face in the dark. There was no doubt where they should go. There was one path, and it was straight in.

“We’re getting closer,” she whispered, almost to herself. Worry pricked at her as she suddenly remembered the warning words Van Helsing had told her and Ericka before they even embarked on the journey: “ ... then you will you have to enter the cave of the REFLECTION! Escape is impossible! For in your reflection, the guardians shall awaken, and you will soon be faced with an unspeakable EVIL!!!”

“NO!” she shouted, scrunching her eyes shut and covering her ears with her hands. Concerned looks were sent her way.

“Woah, hon…” Johnny said. “Are you okay?”

“W-what?” Mavis looked up, feeling a little embarrassed at her actions. “Oh, yes, everything is fine, Johnny. I’m good.”

But no sooner were the words out of Mavis’s mouth than did things take a dramatic turn. The jeep suddenly fell down a massive waterfall! Everyone screamed out in fear, the sheer drop seeming to go on endlessly, before the vehicle fell at the bottom with a great big SPLASH! Water cascaded over everyone, drenching clothes and hair to a soaked tee. The boat continued to sail through, dozens of boiling lava fountains erupting in small volcanic bursts as Johnny steered sharply right and left back and again to avoid crossing their paths. The boat bumped against one of the molten rock structures, causing Mandy to fly out.

“Ahh! Mandy!” Crystal screeched, and she leaned forward supported by Griffin to catch her friend. She yelped when she saw a small flame atop Mandy’s Egyptian crown, and she quickly blew it out before it singed the rest of her clothes. Another one of the lava blasts fired through the bottom of the boat, narrowly missing Wanda as it gushed upward right between her legs. Water began seeping in, and Wayne, thinking quickly, blocked the leak using Dennis, Winnie, and Sunny. 

Suddenly, from the rocky ceiling above, sharp stalactites dropped down on them, stabbing the jeep with a great rippping sound through metal. Eunice scoffed as one went right through her hair, messing up her do. But still, the jeep pushed through and was able to make it across all the dangers to the other side. Everyone on board breathed a collective sigh of relief… that was until Dennis began to whimper.

“Mommy, I feel something wet in my pants,” he said worriedly to Mavis.

“Yeah, me too!” Winnie said to Wanda. Discomfort was written clearly across little puppy Sunny’s face too.

Then, the three were shot up into the air in a geyser as the leak they were blocking came loose. The jeep immediately began to fill with the cold water from the river at a rapid pace.

“Oh no, we’re going down!” Mavis cried as they began to sink.

Frantic voices spoke all over one another as the humans and monsters on board began to clamber desperately atop one another, hoping to not meet their watery end in the depths of the dark lagoon.

“I can’t swim! I’m afraid of sharks!” Eunice cried.

“Hey watch it, that’s my face!” Wayne yelped.

“Ouch!” Wanda said.

“You’re stepping on me!” Griffin called out.

“Oh my!” Mandy gasped.

“Ow, stop it!” Frank snapped. 

A collective scream resonated against the cave walls as they accepted their fate.

Only, the boat had stopped.

Everyone hushed and looked down. The jeep had made it to the shore!

Mavis looked at the tracker. It was beeping wildly now, a bright red beam on the ray.

“We’ve found it!” she declared.

The humans and monsters crawled off the boat a little shaken and grateful to be on solid ground. They approached a small opening on the furthest end of the cave that seemed to be a tunnel that led further in. Johnny came forward with a flashlight.

“All right, guys,” he announced. “I’m goin’ in…”

But before he could crouch down, Mavis put her arm in front of him. Her gaze was intense.

“No, Johnny. Let me .”

The entrance was narrow.

Mavis squeezed through the small opening with some difficulty, but was able to make it through to what felt like another large space. She couldn’t see anything at first - a pitch blackness was all that greeted her eyes and, without her vampire night vision, it was impossible to make anything out. Taking her flashlight, she flipped the switch. Its light shone against a small stack of jagged crystals a few feet away from her. It then proceeded to shine to another stack of crystals, which shone against another, and another. A domino effect was being produced before Mavis’s very eyes, illuminating until it so clearly revealed a magnificent cavern full of crystals, imposing yet beautiful. The place could have stretched as far back as miles, though it was impossible to tell, with so many reflective surfaces refracting off of each other.

“Woah,” Mavis breathed out in amazement. Johnny, the monsters, and the rest of the humans followed in shortly after. Their reactions mirrored hers perfectly. Everyone oohed and ahhed at the dazzling cave.

“Okay guys,” she said, “the crystal surely has to be in here somewhere. We should be able to find it as long we focus and stick together.”

She turned around to see if everyone understood, but she was surprised to find that they had all disappeared! Only Johnny was left, and he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Mavis. They probably split up so that we can find the crystal faster!”

Mavis didn’t feel so convinced at first, with how vast and easily lost one could probably get inside the cave, but she eventually conceded. “Okay.”

True to her concern, however, in another part of the cave out of earshot, the humans and monsters began to get themselves lost. Walking through the Crystal Cave was like walking through a funhouse with a bunch of mirrors! The echoing that resonated off the walls didn’t help anyone feel better either - it was spooky, and unnerving.

“Mavis?” Mandy called. “Where are you?”

“Mandy?” Wanda answered with uncertainty. “Was that you?”

“Frank? Where did you go?” Eunice asked.

“I’m right here!” Frank answered. “Where are you?”

“Okay, guys, let's all just calm down,” Mandy assured. “Nobody panic.”

“Guys,” Crystal wavered. “I’m getting a little freaked out!”

“Well, so am I!” Murray called out.

“Murray?” Griffin questioned.

“Is that you?” Wayne asked. “Hey, guys, I think I found Murray!” He gained hope for a moment, but then it was gone just as quickly. “Oh, wait, nevermind. It’s just a pointy rock.” He flicked it aside with his paw.

“Guys, I’m really really freaking out now!” Crystal practically hyperventilated.

“We should all stay in one place!” Frank shouted.

“Frank?!” Eunice called out with worry.

“Where am I?!” Murray wailed.

“Uhhh, what’s happening?!” Mandy cried out in panic.

“Someone, please find me!”

“What do we do?”

“Where are we?!”

“Heeeelllpp!”

“Oh, we’re LOOOSSTT!!!”

Unaware of the chaos that was happening to their friends, Mavis and Johnny searched through a section of the Crystal Cave. There were so many gems, it seemed almost impossible to determine which one would be the right one.

“I’ll check over here, Johnny,” Mavis said, pointing to a crystal corridor a few paces away. “You can check over there.”

“Got it!” he responded cheerily, and went off to look.

As Mavis walked down the crystal hallway, she remained alert.

I mean, I guess it doesn’t seem so bad, Mavis thought. I think Van Helsing was just trying to be dramatic again when he was talking about this place. What exactly was it that he said? ‘... then you will you have to enter the cave of the REFLECTION! Escape is impossible! For in your reflection, the guardians shall awaken, and you will soon be faced with an unspeakable EVIL!!!’ Oh yeah, right.

She suddenly stopped short at a dead end. Her reflections were all around her, distorted greatly by the bent mirror-like rocks. “Woah,” she said aloud. “It’s a little weird to see my reflection…”

She walked closer, taking a good look at herself. It was truly the first time Mavis was able to see herself. As a vampire, everyone knew that it was an impossible feat, given that they never showed up in mirrors, no matter how big or small. She looked herself over, from head to toe, realizing just how disheveled and tired she looked from the journey. Stray leaves were in her dark black hair. Dirt caked her traveling outfit. It was a mess.

“Hey, Mavis?” Johnny said, walking into the corridor where she had gone. He was holding an armful of random crystals of all shapes and sizes. “Do you think it’s any one of these crystals? Or should I keep looking for another?”

Mavis walked out of the darkness. But… something about her seemed off. Her eyes seemed distant and bloodshot, and her gait was a bit sluggish and seemingly unsteady. She looked up at him slowly, and frowned.

“Johnny, do you really think I would know? Huh? Does it look like I’m an expert in crystals? Does it look like I’m a gemologist? WELL?!”

Johnny flinched and took a step back, taken by her sudden anger. It wasn’t like Mavis at all to be using such a harsh tone of voice with him. Heck, she almost never got mad at him!

“Oh… gee, hon, I’m sorry. I guess I’ll keep looking.”

Mavis shook her head furiously. “No. No, you might as well give up. Let’s face it, we aren’t going to find this ridiculous crystal. So we might as well just gather everyone up and just get the heck out of here!”

Johnny’s jaw dropped.

Back in the corridor, the real Mavis picked up a few crystals and was examining them closely to see if any of them could be it. She decided on one of them, and tried to place it in the ray. But its shape was too bulky to fit inside of it.

“Ugh. It doesn’t seem to work,” she complained.

“Well, if that doesn’t fit, we should just get out of here,” a voice in her head answered her. “We’ve already tried searching for a while now, so we should just leave!”

“No!” Mavis countered. “We can’t give up that easily! It has to be here somewhere. We just have to keep looking…”

The voice in her head laughed. “Come on, who are you kidding? We’re just wasting time.”

Mavis grew frustrated, but just then Johnny ran inside out of breath, the crystals still in his arms. He skidded to a stop when he saw her.

“Mavis?” he questioned. “Wait, didn’t I just see you out there?”

“What?” Mavis asked. “No, I’ve been here this whole time, what are you talking about?”

Suddenly, strong arms gripped Mavis from behind and held her fast.

“I thought I told you that we have to LEAVE!” the being bellowed.

Mavis shrieked in fear, and tried to struggle to free herself.

“Oh my gosh, I’ll save you, Mavis!” Johnny cried out. He dumped the crystals on the ground and charged toward her, but was soon gripped by another pair of strong arms behind his back.

“I don’t think so!” a voice behind him taunted.

Mavis gasped at seeing her husband in danger. With a great adrenaline-driven shove, she released herself from her enemy’s hold and swung blindly behind her to knock them off balance. It worked, and she heard them fall to the ground in a heap. She then ran toward Johnny and karate-kicked his attacker with a fierce yell, knocking them away. They also fell down, motionless.

“Johnny, are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said, looking at his body.

Mavis rolled the attacker over and gasped when she recognized the unconscious face. It was her! She ran over to her attacker, and saw that it was also her!

Johnny took notice too.

“Woah, Mavis! Where did these freaky clones of you come out of?”

Mavis’s eyes lit up as she came to realize what had just happened. She grabbed her husband by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.

“It’s the curse!” she cried.

“The curse? What curse?”

“Van Helsing’s warning!” she explained. “He said something about some guardians to the crystal coming to life in our reflections! I had no idea what he meant at first, but now…” She trailed off, looking down at her unconscious clones sprawled on the crystal floor. That negative voice in her head wasn’t her thoughts at all… it was one of them!

“Mavis, your reflections in the crystals - they've somehow come alive and are trying to stop us from getting the crystal!” Johnny concluded.

“Yesss,” a hissing voice answered Johnny. He and Mavis gasped as they saw another evil Mavis step out from behind the crystals, followed by four more who all wore the same darkened expressions. “And you’ll never get your hands on the crystal!”

Just then, Mavis and Johnny heard screams from the other parts of the cave.

“Mavis - no!”

“Stop!”

“What are you doing? AHHH!”

“Nooooo!”

Johnny and Mavis’s eyes widened. Mavis’s clones had generated throughout the whole Crystal Cave… and they were attacking their friends!

Ericka continued to chase after Dracula.

The vampire bat flapped as fast as he could while also trying to keep watch of the directions his phone gave him to the Crystal Cave. It was no easy feat, as he had to avoid flying trees and rocks swinging at him in a blind rage from behind. He finally reached the end of the jungle, where the space opened up to a wide valley. He paused to catch his breath and spoke into his voice command GPS.

“Okay, which way now?”

The GPS answered in a creepy, tense voice. “Turn right! Here! Now! You imbecile!”

Ericka suddenly burst out of the foliage and leaped down into the valley after him. He picked up his pace as the roaring beast that had become his wife remained only a few short, terrifying paces from him. A stream of flames burst out and caught him by the wing. The Count yelped, but pressed onward. There was no time to stop now.

Another burning sensation caught him on the back, but this was not of Ericka’s cause. He looked up, and began seeing the sky light up, turning the dark blue hue into streaks of orange and red. Dawn was breaking, and the first light of the sun’s rays were beginning to shine through. He crouched down in the safety of the shade and flew the last several meters.

“Here! You Moron! You’ve reached your destination!” the GPS voice called out.

Dracula swept across the last leg of the valley and leapt inside of an open space to avoid Ericka’s swiping claws. He caught his breath, wiping the sweat of his brow with a wing, before daring to pop his head out.

“Okay, love guts,” he said as calmly as he could. “Just wait right outside here for me. I’ll be back in a moment, I promise!”

Her response was a fierce roar, and a pounding against the rock face of the valley as her husband disappeared from view. Dracula failed to notice that she morphed again, the monster transformation still continuing to work its way through her body, making her bigger, more ferocious, and badder. Her rage encompassed her senses, driving away any thoughts of logic or safety and replacing them all with a desire to get revenge for how she was wronged. Ericka was ready to attack. 

And when she did, she would make sure she would win.

As soon as Drac stepped foot inside the Crystal Cave, he could immediately sense something was wrong in the atmosphere.

Of course, he hadn’t expected anyone to greet him right away at the entrance, but the longer he kept trekking inside, he found it strange to not see any one of them. To lose a group that big - six humans, five monsters, a dhampir, and nearly a dozen or so wolf pups - was highly unusual.

“Guys? Mavis? Johnny?”

“Drac?”

The vampire whipped around at the sound of a voice. It sounded like - 

“Murray?” he asked tentatively.

Suddenly, he heard another shriek that sounded like a lot like Eunice. Eunice running away from something. Or could it be, someone?

“Eunice?” he called.

Another scream echoed in the cave, a voice shouting “get away from me!!”

“Why are you doing this?” yet another called, sounding an awful lot like Frank.

Drac grew more uncomfortable. He thought he could hear Griffin and the werewolves, but he wasn’t sure. He picked up his pace and kept an eye out, nervous. Not watching where he was going, he accidentally bumped into someone in front of him. It was Mavis!

“Oh, Mavy! I’m so glad I found you,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Mavis didn’t share in his happiness. “The mission is called off, Dad. We couldn’t find the crystal, so we’re all just leaving now. You may as well turn around and go back to where you came from,” she replied with a stern voice, pushing Drac away from wandering the cave anymore.

“Woah, woah, wait a minute!” he cried in bewilderment. “What are you talking about abandoning the mission? You can’t be serious.”

“Does it look like I’m joking?” she snapped. “Now, GO!”

This time, she pushed him so hard that he fell on the ground, cracking the gemmed floor beneath. He stared up at her, appalled.

He was about to get back up on his feet when hands from all around him hauled him up and began to carry him away by force. “Hey, what the - let go of me!”

“Nope, sorry, no can do!” the reply came from one of his captors. He glanced up and was stunned.

“Mavis?!”

All three identical heads whipped around, glaring with cold, reddened eyes. They hissed at Drac, and he broke free of their grasp with renewed strength. They tumbled to the floor for a moment, before getting up. When they came at him again, he was ready. A snap of his fingers imprisoned them in an unbreakable magical spell that froze them in time, and he confronted them. “Where is Mavis? My real daughter?”

They growled, and then unexpectedly burst out laughing. “Why don’t you turn the corner and find out!” one sneered nastily.

His attention was diverted from the three Mavis doppelgangers by screams from deeper within the cave. Dracula ran inside, and was taken aback by the scene that lay unfolded before him: Hundreds upon hundreds of evil-looking Mavis’s were attempting to lay siege on his family! Dracula did not waste any time, with a ferocious roar, he ran headfirst into the battle, claws and fangs extended. He punched at a clone that was racing after Murray. He kicked at another that was trying to attack Crystal. He stopped a couple more that were after Dennis and Winnie.

“Thanks, Papa Drac!” the boy called up to his Vampa.

Drac moved on and leapt at the next one who seemed to be closing in on Johnny. Tackling her to the ground, he snarled and was about to swipe her away when she spoke.

“No, wait, Dad, it’s me! The real me!”

Dracula froze and smiled. “Mavis!” He gave her a quick hug and checked to make sure that she wasn't hurt. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just like what Van Helsing said!” Mavis explained, and then ducked another one of her clones that had jumped toward them. Dracula grabbed the doppelganger by the shirt and threw her far away from them. She landed against a dozens other evil Mavis’s and knocked them all over like bowling pins.

Mavis quickly continued before they got attacked again. “My reflections have come alive and are trying to stop us from getting the crystal!”

A roar bellowed from outside in response, and the inside of the Crystal Cave began to tremble all around them. The walls were being beaten in from the side that Dracula had come in through, the pounding of a giant mighty fist from Ericka repeatedly smashing the stone with a deafening boom each time. The crystal stalactites from above their heads rained down on everyone below like dangerous icicles. The cavern felt like an earthquake, and Mavis and Drac lost their footing multiple times as they tried to stay upright. Finally, a ray of sunlight shone through a large crack in the wall that extended all the way to the roof of the cavern. An angry red eye peered through, the pupil slitting as soon as it landed on Mavis. All her life, Mavis had never been one to be scared. She had seen it all at the hotel - from great fanged fire-breathing dragons to the most terrifying demons. But there was something about seeing Ericka as a monster, so lost in rage and bloodlust, that chilled her to the bone and shook her to the core.

She bellowed out again, and continued swiping at the wall, the crystals now becoming a hailstorm of sharp rock shards. Mavis gasped as she saw one heading right down toward her father.

“Dad, look out!” she screamed, and pushed him aside right as the boulder of gemstone rock landed on the ground where a second too late it would have no doubt crushed him.

The situation wasn’t any better for the others.

Crystal ran, getting her tablecloth of a dress caught when a crystal shard pinned it firmly to the ground. She screamed in a panic, and, with the help of Dennis and Winnie, was able to rip the material away and free herself.

Mandy tried to flee as well, but the instability of the ground and its slippery gem surface made it almost impossible for her to move anywhere else besides only a few feet at a time. A wall of crystal was about to collapse on top of her, and Murray gasped when he took notice. Unwrapping some of his bandages, he waved it over his head like a lasso and then tossed it out at her. It came around her at the waist, and he was able to pull her against him just as the wall smashed down.

Wayne in the meantime was trying his best to keep track of all his wolf pups. It was very difficult to count them, however, since they kept moving around so much and never stood still. “Wendy, Wally, Wilma, Wyatt…”

Wanda rushed up to him with another armful of pups. “Is that all of them?”

Wayne shook his head. “I don’t even think we’re close to half!”

Meanwhile, Frank and Eunice ran away from a falling avalanche of gemstone rocks. A huge piece fell, the thud causing Frank’s upper half and lower half to come apart. His legs ran on while his torso bounced along next to his wife, who was covering her head with her hands.

“If I let my hair get ruined, I’ll never forgive myself!” she screeched to her husband.

Mavis and Drac continued running also, but a sudden kick in the ribs from an angry Mavis clone winded Mavis and sent her flying across the slippery ground. “Ahh, Dad!” she cried out.

“Mavis!” He tried to get to her, but another two Mavis clones tripped him too!

Mavis landed against a wall, the sheer force of the impact taking the breath away from her lungs and breaking the said wall. It cracked, long lines stretching like tree branches on the surface, until it gave way like a dam. More debris flew her way, but Mavis knew she wouldn’t be able to outrun it. Luckily, Dracula, shapeshifted into a bat, flew down and swooped her up, bringing her high up and away from the shambles that decimated the area. A sandy dust blew around their face, causing them both to cough significantly. Then Mavis saw something shiny through the haze. She pointed it out with excitement.

“Dad, look!”

Dracula saw and gasped. “The crystal!”

Indeed, there it was! As red, as brilliant, and as precious as ever, sitting upon a stone pillar. Mavis handed Drac the Monsterfication Ray.

“Quick, Dad, let’s go!” she cried.

“Yes, honeybat, but what about all the other evil versions of you?” Drac asked.

He pointed with a wing and saw that he was right. Now that the crystal’s location was revealed, all her clones were converging in front of it, determined to keep them out. But Mavis herself was even more determined to get it. “Don’t worry, Dad,” Mavis assured. “We can do this!”

“Okay,” Drac said, still a little unsure, but trusting his daughter. He puffed out his chest and furrowed his brow with a smirk. “Here we go!”

And so the pair, father and daughter, human and vampire, charged straight into the mass.

The Mavis clones tried to spring at them, but they were easily knocked over.

Hordes of them flew up into the air as Dracula and Mavis barreled through, and then landed one on top of the other in a sort of teetering tower that keeled over. The rest of the awful doppelgangers closed in, but Mavis and Drac leapt triumphantly over their heads and up to the stone pillar with the gem. The vampire ripped it from its place, and it pulsated to life upon touch. The Mavis clones beneath shrieked in anger, and then something else began to happen. It started out with one of them at first, when a brilliant light began shining through from her black-nailed fingertips, up her arms, and then throughout her entire body. She became translucent, and then vanished entirely with a poof! And the very same thing was happening to the other evil clones.

Poof!

Poof!

Poof!

One by one, they all crumbled to dust, their only remnants being a couple of black ashes on the ground. Drac’s friends noticed too.

“Woo-hoo! They’re gone!” Murray cheered, speaking for all of them.

But the victory was short-lived. Everyone suddenly remembered the ferocious monster that was Ericka outside the cave when she roared powerfully. A fist against the cave wall crumbled more of the back wall, the morning sun blaring through. A ray caught Drac on the shoulder, and he fell from the air with a cry, taking Mavis and the Monsterfication Ray to the ground with him. But, despite the setback, Dracula was not about to give up on his wife. He clutched the ray in his hands and set off towards her.

“Dad, no, don’t! Let me!” Mavis cried, but it was too late.

“No! I have to do this!” Drac insisted. “Ericka saved me once, now it’s time I repay her the favor!”

The determined vampire bolted through as the wall that separated the Crystal Cave from the outdoors was starting to become no more. More rays of sunlight streamed through, each one striking Drac on his exposed skin, causing him to wince and gasp out loudly in pain. His body was smoking, brilliant red welts forming from where the beams touched his pale flesh.  But none of that mattered, Drac knew he could handle it. He just had to get to her.

Just a little farther…

As Drac pushed himself forward, Ericka let out another rage-driven smash against the cavern wall, causing it to fall away completely this time. The sun, once bringing warmth and safety to Mavis, mercilessly bore down all its power upon the Count.

And Dracula just couldn’t take it anymore.

He fell to his knees, the ray clattering to the ground in front of him as he tried to shield himself, allowing his hands to take the brunt of the burning as he placed them over his head. He was to burn to a crisp, a failure, as his wife would succumb to the monstrous virus that had overtaken her system.

But just as he thought all hope was lost, a great looming shadow fell over him. He opened his eyes, and saw Frank!

“I saw you get burnt once,” the Stein said, referring to the time Drac had flown out to go get Johnny from Air Transylvania. “And I’m not about to let it happen again!”

Drac smiled gratefully up at his friend, and got his confidence back. Using his vampire vision, he quickly scanned the cave, and found a great stone ledge where he could mount himself upon to get just the right aim at Ericka. He pointed it out to Frank. “There!” he said. “I need to get up there!”

“No problem, Drac! We’ve got you covered!” Frank ran alongside the vampire, using his hulking shadow to protect his friend.

Eunice noticed what her husband was doing, and called order to the other humans and monsters around her. “Hey! What the heck are we standing around here for? We gotta help Drac! Go, go, go!”

The call to action was answered as they all came together and functioned as well as a team of the best trained soldiers, passing the shady protection from one to the next. When Frank covered as much space as he could next to Drac, Wayne, the wolf pups, Dennis, and Winnie stepped up, all in a neat row. Johnny leapt forward and used his kaki safari jacket to block out more of the sun than his thin frame could.

“Okay, Crystal,” Wayne called out. “You’re up now!”

“Got it!” she answered back. “Ready Wanda?”

Wanda, who was hoisting her upward on her shoulder, nodded. “Yes. But just hold still up there, sweetie!”

“I’m trying!” Crystal responded. The two women cast their shadows towards Drac, and he ducked under them.

Euncie clambered on top of another crystal piece. Her large do was able to cast a protective shadow for Drac, and he shapeshifted into a bat to fly over to where she was.

“Okay, Murray,” she called up to the other crystal pillar. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah!” he answered with a big thumbs up. He turned to Mandy, who he was holding onto by the waist. “Are you ready?”

“Absolutely!” she replied.

Murray lassoed his bandages onto a crystal shard on the ceiling and tugged it to make sure it held fast. Then, with a firm hold on his girlfriend, he swung himself on the bandage like a vine, an exact replica of Tarzan and Jane in the jungle. They whooped in delight as Drac flew alongside their shadows and finally landed on the stone ledge where he needed to be.

Wasting no time, Drac turned back into his humanoid form, switched on the Monsterficaiton ray, and aimed it right at Ericka, who had shoved her head inside and peered inward at the cave with an expression that seemed to be a mix of disgust and indignation. The Count looked at her with worry.

“Oh, please, Ericka, don’t let it be too late!” he whispered. With that, he sent a blast of the ray’s powerful green energy at her. It hit her squarely between the eyes, encompassing Ericka completely in a thrash of electric currents that would likely have killed any ordinary human being. It carried on for a moment more, before all went silent, even her roaring had ceased. But when the lights died down, and visibility was clear once again, nothing had changed. The monster-fied Ericka blinked once or twice in surprise at what had happened and then let out an angry bellow.

Drac’s face fell in devastation. It hadn’t worked. All this work, all this effort to find the crystal, and it really was too late.

Ericka shoved the rest of her body inside, causing the cavern to rock about and sending Drac falling down from his ledge and back to the ground next to Mavis. The girl saw the look of plain hopelessness on his face. He was losing his zing again, just like he did the night that Castle Lubov was burned to ashes by the angry human mob.

But Mavis refused to let it be this way.

“No, Dad!” she yelled to him. “It can’t be too late! It just can’t be!”

The vampiress-turned-human scaled up the crystals in swift, desperate strides until she came up to the ledge. Ericka saw this and swiped at the ledge with her massive tail, causing a break in the stalagmite. It gave way, the shattered pieces fell apart like glass, sending the girl tumbling through the air with a scream. But before she hit the ground, Ericka caught her and held onto Mavis with a steadfast, crushing grip. Flames begging to be released billowed in her throat as her angry red gaze zeroed in on the one woman who had caused her so much pain.

Mavis almost struggled to breath as she felt her ribs being compressed in Ericka’s hold, but she managed to push her words out.

“Ericka,” she wheezed, “you have to listen to me!”

A roar of fury erupted from her throat.

"YOU WANTED ME TO BE THE VILLAIN. SO, HERE I AM!!!" She bared her fangs and squeezed even tighter. Mavis was certain that the next thing she'd hear would be bones breaking, or that she'd see flames shooting straight toward her body. Her human heart beat erratically as she fought the urge to give in to her fear.  With resoluteness, she spoke. "No, Ericka! This is NOT who you are! You're not evil! I know that's what I forced myself to believe, and that’s what I made you believe too. But it was so wrong of me to keep thinking like that!"

Ericka still seethed, but was not continuing to crush her in her grip, so Mavis continued talking as quickly and as soothingly as she could.

"It was really horrible what I did - lying to you, lying to the one person my dad found love with again and accepted into our family, and to his hotel. I was so caught up with what happened in the past, that I didn’t see you for who you were now. The kind, caring, and loving person who just wants to be there for my dad and find acceptance. And if you don't forgive me for it, I completely understand. It’s my fault that I didn’t realize this about you any sooner. If you eat me right here right now, and you stay a monster permanently, this is all on me, no doubt about it. But I need to tell you this before anything else happens..." 

Mavis paused to draw in a deep breath. She closed her eyes, tilting her head up as some loose tears began to stream silently down her cheeks, hoping beyond hope that she would not die right there and then. Her family watched from down below, holding their breaths in anticipation as they watched the curious exchange between the human Mavis and the monster Ericka.

Then, as calmly as possible, Mavis continued.

"Ericka… my mother was a really special person that I never had a real chance to meet or grow up with… but…. But just because you’re my dad's second zing shouldn't make you any less of a person. It’s wrong.” She shook her head and opened her eyes to stare the woman right in her glowing red ones. “Yes, you’re human. Yes, you used to be a Van Helsing monster hunter… but more than any of that, you are also my Mom!"

Something clicked within Ericka.

Suddenly, her brilliant red eyes reverted back to normal. They were no longer filled with the burning hatred from before. They were soft, and kind, and full of compassion for the girl who was in her grasp. Mavis could see it too. She was back to herself, in her mind at the least. Now, it was only a matter of getting her back down to size.

“Mavis,” she breathed out. Then she yanked the girl toward her in a great big hug.

Mavis gave a little oof as her small body was squished tight against the monster woman’s chest. She smiled with contentment and returned the hug.

“Yes,” she replied. “I’m here, Mom. I’m here.”

Down below, Drac smiled in satisfaction as his two girls finally hugged it out. Johnny came up alongside him and swung an arm around his shoulders for a side hug. Drac rolled his eyes in annoyance at first, but then returned his son-in-law's hug with a little smirk playing on his lips. Then, the vampire lifted the ray and fired it at Ericka. The beam pulsed with a glowing green color and successfully began to shrink Ericka, reverting her monstrous features back into her regular human form. 

She and Mavis were still locked in their hug when the last of the green light had drained away. The evidence of the exhausting day was clear in the torn clothes and dark circles beneath both of their eyes. But the only thing that mattered to them was the fact that they had each other now. Drac came up to his girls and wrapped his arms around their shoulders, drawing them in close.

“Thank goodness you're both okay," he murmured softly.

Johnny couldn't contain himself any longer. "Awww, come on everyone!" he called to the others. "Group hug!"

Mavis and Ericka laughed as they were squeezed in from all sides, each of their arms - furry, bandaged, stitched, invisible, or just plain human - wrapped around them. The love was real, and the joy was mutual.

They'd made it through another adventure together, and now they could finally start heading home.

It was a long trek back to the blimp without the jeep, but with the insanity of the night's events, everyone could agree that it was easy enough.

It also took a few trips to successfully bring them all back up to the blimp. Mavis was transformed back into her vampire-self first and, with her dad’s help in their bat forms, they had to grab everyone one by one to make the flight up to the gondola until finally they were safely on board and out of the rest of the jungle's dangers. Voices buzzed in excitement as Mavis approached the center of the ship with the Monsterfication ray in hand. She turned it on, switching the ray to its ‘Make Monster’ setting and looked up.

“Okay,” she said. “Are we ready?”

Eunice, Wanda, Crystal, Mandy, Dennis, and Winnie all lined up in front of her without a moment to spare. 

“Fire away Mavis!” Mandy assured.

Mavis lifted the beam, but was stopped abruptly when Eunice screamed out, “WAAAIT!!” The woman puffed up her hair again, snapped one last quick selfie, and then pocketed her phone. “Okay, okay, now you can go ahead!”

Mavis just laughed to herself in spite of her aunt and zapped the four women and two children. The red beam enveloped them and successfully turned them back into their regular monster selves. Mandy got her bandages back. Crystal was nowhere to be seen, save for her glasses. Wanda and Winnie regrew all of their deep, gray fur. Dennis’s fangs popped back out. And Eunice’s stitches were back in their place. At last, all was returned to the way it was.

“Wooo-hooo!” Murray cried out in joy. He took Mandy by the hand, twirled her around once, and reeled her in so they were hip to hip. “Now there’s my hot date!” Mandy giggled, and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Mom!” the wolf pups all cried, swarming Wanda with licks and nuzzles all over. The mother werewolf laughed and embraced her many children, Wayne smiling at the reunion.

“Yay, we’re back!” Dennis and Winnie cheered, the happy children giving each other high-fives and running off to play.

“Crystal!” Griffin exclaimed, coming up to his invisible girlfriend. “I gotta say, you looked pretty good as a human.”

Crystal's glasses bobbed up and down as she nodded. “Yeah, but it’s a lot easier to get around when you’re invisible. Plus, you don’t have to worry about all these extra clothes.” With that, she grabbed the hem of her temporary tablecloth dress and tugged the garment off, tossing it to the side of the blimp floor.

Griffin was glad that she could not see the high blush that rose in his cheeks. “Yes, I hear you on that,” was all he said in agreement.

Only Eunice remained a little bit sad at the transformation back. Frank noticed, and put a reassuring hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey,” he said. “You’ve still got stitches in all the right places.”

Eunice smiled. “Awww, Fraaaank…” She grabbed him by the necktie and yanked him toward her, peppering his face with kisses and leaving bright red lipstick marks in her wake. The blushing Stein’s face grew a darker shade of blue as a lovestruck grin spread across his face.

Toward the front of the ship, at the blimp’s steering wheel, Dracula was guiding the great zeppelin across the sky and back home. Ericka was by his side, reeling over everything that had happened.

“I was really a 300-foot giant monster?” she asked, for the third time.

“Yes, darling. It was quite scary actually,” Dracula admitted.

Ericka stared at him in surprise. “You? Afraid? I thought the Lord of Darkness would practically be immune to fear!”

“Not the way it was,” he said with a shudder as he remembered her ferocity. Then he relaxed and gave her a smile. “At least I have you all back to normal,” he said with relief.

“Yeah…” Ericka replied, a little bit pensive. “You know, it was pretty fun being a monster, actually. I wonder…” she picked up the Monsterfication ray and examined the gem at the end of it. “Maybe my great-grandfather could make some kind of adjustment where I can be monster, but still have my personality. Not have it go all haywire like it did.”

She looked up at him to see how he would consider the thought, but Dracula was shaking his head. “No, no, sweetheart. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

"Come on, honey, not even the fangs? Those are pretty cool. You can at least make me a vampire, right?"

Drac chuckled. "I might consider it in the future. But for now, I'd like to enjoy my adorable little human wife for just a little while longer."

Ericka giggled. "Hey, I'm not that little!"

Drac laughed. "Whatever you say, my love." She raised an eyebrow at him but did not argue the matter any further as he had leaned in to kiss her, smooching her soft pink lips. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck lovingly. 

Mavis watched from a little further inside the blimp, strangely satisfied to see her father and Ericka together and so content. Johnny put a comforting hand on her shoulder for reassurance.

"Go on, hon," he encouraged, gesturing to the pair. "They're all alone. Now's your chance."

Mavis took a deep breath and nodded. Her husband was right. It was time to tie up all of the loose ends.

She walked up to them, fidgeting with her fingers and keeping her gaze averted until one of them took notice of her. Ericka broke away from their little bubble of affection first, and saw the girl. She pushed Drac and his puckered lips back before he could steal another kiss.

“Drac!” she giggled. “Stop it! Really, Mavis is here and she wants to talk.”

“Oh, whoops! Sorry!” Drac apologized, then he turned his attention fully toward Mavis. “Hey, honeybat!" he said brightly.

"Hi Dad, hi Ericka," she said, nodding to each of them, her voice barely audible. She bit her lip nervously as she tried to think of how to start this conversation. A touchy topic that she knew was still very fresh in their minds, but had to be addressed regardless if they ever wanted to make progress.

"Um… back there…. at the Crystal Cave…” she started hesitantly, “What I said to you, Ericka… I hope you didn't think it was just a big load of bat-poop… because it wasn't." She dared to look up at them and gauge their reaction before continuing. They both remained silent, expressions unreadable. She pressed on.

“I really did mean what I said. I meant it from the bottom of my heart. Stake it, and hope to die,” she added, making the motions with her hands. “You are part of my family Ericka. Our family,” Mavis said, gesturing out to the monsters on board who were chatting among each other. “And… I’m sorry that it took me so long to actually realize it.”

Mavis dropped her gaze and looked down at her shoes. Ericka leaned forward to grab her hand, drawing her attention back up. She gave a soft smile.

“It’s okay, Mavis. I know that this change is a bit difficult. It’s difficult for me, too. Of course, I never want to be a monster-hunter again, but before your Dad” - she reached out and with her other hand and clamped it around his - “it was all I ever knew. Now, I’m not even sure what the future holds for us. But, whatever happens, I promise that we will always have each other and our family.”

“And the hotel!” Drac added, squeezing her hand.

Ericka giggled. “Yes, and the hotel.”

Mavis smiled, and upon hearing Ericka’s words, remembered something important. A subject that had been briefly mentioned in passing when Mavis’s lie unraveled in front of everyone around the campfire. “Yeah, about the hotel…”

Drac and Ericka looked at her curiously as she began speaking. They could tell by her tone that something wanted to say something important, though they didn't know what. She continued.

“There’s… something I want to ask you. Look, I uh, I know that a lot has happened these past few days. But I was hoping, if you guys still had the thought in mind, that since you’re, you know, married and all now, I think the hotel is… is… “ 

Mavis’s eyes widened as she, for the first time since entering back to Transylvania, looked out of the window. And what she saw made her gape in horror. “Is, DESTROYED!!”

“What?!” Drac cried. He raced over to the gondola window and to his terror saw that what Mavis had said was indeed true. Hotel Transylvania now only remained a smoking husk of rubble and debris, a few charred remains of its former glory hanging above the blackened landscape. The building itself was nothing more than a pile of bricks and ash, completely and utterly destroyed. It didn’t matter; all he could do was stare at the sight with shock and dread on his face, unable to process anything else at this moment.

The monsters ran up to the window and gasped at the mess before them. 

“Woah! What happened?” Johnny asked.

Thundering footsteps sounded in response. Out of the smoke, silhouetted by the dim firelight of some of the flames that licked below, came Van Helsing’s pet guinea pig, Gigi. She was much much bigger than the last time Drac had laid eyes on her, her fur even more matted, her horns even longer, and her sharp teeth jutting out menacingly from her jaw. Her red eyes glowed threateningly as she tossed her head back and let out an earth-shattering roar into the night sky, shaking everything from the inside of the blimp’s gondola and sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Then, as if nothing had happened, she nibbled at a broken piece of the hotel as though it were a mere chew toy meant to entertain her.

Dracula was still dumbfounded.

“My… my… my HOTEL!!!!!” he bellowed. His puzzled shock quickly turned into a boiling rage. In an instant, he shapeshifted into a bat, grabbed the Monsterfication ray, and zipped outside the blimp as fast as his little bat wings could carry him. He aimed the ray at the giant guinea pig, all the while ranting about his property.

“MY HOTEL MY HOTEL MY HOTEL, MY HOOOTTEEELLL!!!!”

The Monsterficaiton ray’s beam zapped Gigi, turning her from the giant beast she was right back into her diminutive little rodent state. Without all her additional monster features, the creature was nothing more than a regular little housepet. She gave a squeak and scurried away among the rocks.

Dracula in the meantime landed in his humanoid form in front of the remains. The anger had fizzled down, replaced again by that shock he had felt earlier. “My hotel…” he whispered.

His hotel - his most prized possession, his most cherished work, his life-long dream, his sanctuary from the outside world and home for him and his friends and family - it was completely gone. He looked among the mess, trying to distinguish all of the broken pieces. A splintered desk phone lay on the ground, torn clean in two with the curling cord hanging loosely from it. A doorknob ripped from its frame, the knob itself crushed to a useless pile of metal. A calling bell smashed beyond recognition in the wreckage. Destroyed. Ruined. Gone. Just like that. His home was no more.

Behind him, the blimp had landed. Drac’s Mavis, Johnny, Ericka, and the rest of the monsters piled out but approached the grounds with slow, cautious steps. They were just as stunned to see what had happened as well and took it all in.

Then, a couple of the broken stone slabs shifted. All eyes immediately turned to the source of the noise, and they saw Tinkles and the hotel dogs rise out of the rubble. Tinkles barked happily when he saw Drac, and then lolled his tongue out, dropping what he had been holding inside his mouth. It fell to the ground in a clatter of metal, and then got itself upright. It was Van Helsing! He was covered in dog slobber, and a little less than pleased to be so. He grimaced and shook himself, fixing the little military helmet that was still on his head. Looking up at the Count, Van Helsing spoke before the vampire could say anything to him.

"I can assure you, Dracula, that this is not my doing! It was Gigi! She broke free of the piping that you guys left her in, and just went on a rampage all throughout after that! It was impossible to stop her, so we had to evacuate everyone from the hotel before they wound up getting caught in…” He paused awkwardly, and gestured out to the destruction. “This.”

Dracula shook his head. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to tell Van Helsing what it felt like to lose such a valuable piece of himself with the loss of his hotel. He wanted to say that this was exactly the kind of thing he would expect when leaving Van Helsing in charge. But he didn’t say anything. He simply did not have the energy to. So instead, he sighed, closing his eyes and slumping his shoulders in defeat. It was over. Ericka walked to her husband, wrapping her arm around him and holding him close, his sadness washing over her as well like a tidal wave.

Mavis stared long and hard at her father, pitying him immensely. The hotel had been her home, too. She remembered how hard he had worked with his construction team to get it right, remembered how she and her father would take flights as bats while it was being built to see its progress. And she would always remember that first day that it opened. Mavis herself got to cut the ribbon, her dad hugging her little shoulders as his friends happily entered to see what he had made for them. She also remembered how many times her father, unaware of Mavis having listened, would approach her mother’s portrait and whisper his promises to her of the hotel, promising to keep their daughter safe along with any monster that needed the security. But now it seemed that it was no more. She took a step forward, stepping on an object underneath her foot. She looked down, picked it up, and with a gasp realized what it was. The sight of it made her regain a little bit of confidence despite the devastation surrounding them.

Maybe, she thought, it doesn’t have to end this way.

When she had regained her senses, Mavis calmly approached her father and Ericka. She spoke softly to him. “Dad… I’m really sorry about what happened.” He turned to look at her, and her heart broke at the sight of tears welling in his eyes. Still, she continued talking. “But… maybe I can fix it for you.”

She held out the object in her hands, and Dracula looked at it. It was the key of the hotel, long and thick with a bat-shaped head at one end and the square-like ridges that would go into the keyhole on the other.

Dracula looked back up at her, distress clear on his face.

“But Mavy,” he began. “The hotel, it’s okay honeybat, I can rebuild it myself, it’s not a problem - “

“No, Dad,” Mavis interrupted firmly. She planted her feet on the ground and stared her father straight in the eyes. “You’re married again. You’ve run this hotel and have handled its ups and downs for so, so long. And if it’s anyone who deserves a break, it’s you.” She held up the key, running her fingers along it. "You built it once, Dad. Now please, let me rebuild it for you."

Dracula stared at her, his expression filled with mixed emotions. A part of him wanted to refuse the offer. He had been the owner of the hotel, and as owner, it was his responsibility to take care of it. But another part, a bigger part that had been slowly but surely growing inside him since Ericka had first even become his girlfriend, felt compelled to accept. Mavis, his daughter, was more than ready to take over the duties if she herself felt ready. She had proven on many occasions to love working there and helping the guests and staff be happy. And, with her actions today that solidified her trust with Ericka, he knew that she could be the one to take over.

After some time, he finally nodded, smiling sadly. He then reached over to gently grab his daughter’s shoulder. “Okay,” he said, voice still wavering slightly from the emotion. “If you really think that you can handle everything… Then go ahead. Build the hotel for me. Just… promise me something."

Mavis nodded quickly. "Of course, Dad. Anything."

He paused, searching her face carefully. "Rebuild the hotel the way you want to. It's yours now. You and Johnny's. And I promise that I'll love it no matter how it turns out."

"Are you sure?" Mavis asked.

Drac smiled warmly. "It's time for a new chapter... in both our lives." Ericka intertwined her fingers with Drac’s, and Johnny came up to copy the action with Mavis. With the hotel key in her hand, she and her husband as owners, and Drac and Ericka about to set off to enjoy their retirement, Mavis felt lighter than she ever did before. A new sense of excitement spread throughout her body, bringing a smile to her face. This was her future now. One where she knew her father would be safe, where she and Ericka would have peace, and, most importantly, one where they all were happy together.

And she couldn't wait to get it started.

True to her promise, Mavis worked diligently that next year.

She consulted with Beelzebub, the goblin-like monster creature who had served as the lead foreman on the Hotel Transylvania project when it was first being built. He still even had the blueprints of it, explaining that it had been one of his most favorite projects to work on in his entire 569 years of life.

Mavis thanked him, hired the zombie construction men that she needed, and immediately set them to work. No nail was left unhammered. No window was left un-paned. Every surface was cleaned, polished, and reupholstered. There were new carpets, new drapes, new curtains. Every item of furniture was refinished. The walls were redone. The ceilings were rebuilt. The floors were waxed, polished, and swept, and the doors were repainted. The kitchen and all of its tools were completely refurbished. All of these renovations, and many more, were completed in what felt like almost no time at all. And yet, the reality of the amount of months that it had taken became oh so apparent to Mavis when all of her friends and family were invited to come to the grand re-opening day for the hotel. With the original Hotel Transylvania having been destroyed, her father’s friends had departed to their own separate homes - whether it was in Egypt (like Murray and Mandy) or a cozy den in Budapest (like Wayne, Wanda, and their many wolf pup children), leaving her only in the company of her husband Johnny, their son Dennis, and their giant monster-dog Tinkles. It was such an emotional experience to hear from them again, and to actually see them entering through the front doors as they had over a century ago brought forth a pang of nostalgia that made her almost want to cry at the fond memory.

She greeted Frank and Eunice as they got out of their shipping crates and put their body parts back together.

She waved to Murray and Mandy as they swept inside with a small sand tornado and their luggage.

She welcomed Wayne, Wanda, and a good majority of the wolf pups (even though they were mostly busy playing and being rambunctious among themselves).

She almost missed the arrival of Griffin and Crystal, but when two pairs of bobbing glasses said hello to her, she knew exactly who they were and happily greeted them back.

Everyone seemed to be taking well to the changes that she and Johnny decided to make. For one, there was a much more openness to the whole place. Walkways and escalators extended out, making sure people could easily get anywhere they wished to go without needing much assistance. There was a fitness center where every person would have free use of the treadmill and stationary bikes, as well as any other exercise equipment. A health spa was added, filled with hot springs, massage chairs, saunas, and even a Jacuzzi for guests to unwind. The place had a certain charm to it, a sense of homeyness that made everyone feel like they belonged no matter where they came from or who they were - human or monster.

But, as Mavis stood outside the reloving front doors, she couldn’t help but feel a slight hint of sadness. The two people that she had been hoping to see were nowhere in sight.

Dracula and Ericka.

Mavis sighed.

It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been keeping in touch. She had been able to speak to them on the phone or through video calls. As far as she knew, they had been going on a world-wide excursion, exploring so many different countries and sending photos of themselves of their travels (or at least of Ericka, as Drac could not show up in them). But, as of the past few months, their photos had ceased, and they had not been doing their regular calls. She hardly heard from them besides an occasional text message here and there. The texts never revealed anything much, except for a friendly tone and a quick tell of how they were doing. Mavis had a feeling something was amiss, but she did not question it. If anything, she knew that they were probably just enjoying their time together. But it had already been a few hours since the doors of the new hotel had opened, and they still were not there. She looked at her phone again. The last message from her father confirmed that they would be coming. So where were they?

She heard the revolving doors turn behind her, and saw her little son Dennis step out and join her.

“Hi, Momma!” he said cheerily.

Mavis smiled. “Hey, buddy! Are you having fun in the new hotel?”

Dennis nodded. “Uh-huh!” Then he looked out to the roadway on the bridge. “Momma, do you know if Papa Drac and Nana Ericka are coming?”

Mavis bit her lip and looked out as well. “Well, they said they would be here. They might just be running late.”

“Oh,” came Dennis’s soft reply. “I hope they get here soon.”

“They will, sweetie,” Mavis said with more assurance than she felt. She kissed his forehead and then scooted him along. “Why don’t you go play with your friend Winnie while you wait? You haven’t seen her in a while!”

She pointed indoors through the glass where Winnie the werewolf pup was excitedly waving over to Dennis. The boy grinned at her and took off. “Okay!” he said. “See you later, Momma!”

“See you!” she replied with a small wave as he disappeared from view. She sighed yet again, hoping for some sort of sign that they’d be coming soon.

Then, as though the universe had heard her plea, she heard the sound of a rickety vehicle making its way over the bridge. It came out of the fog, and she recognized it as a hearse. Her father’s hearse. Mavis beamed when it came up on the driveway and she saw for sure who it was.

"Dad! Ericka!"

"Mavis!" they both cried out at the same time. 

They met halfway in a three way embrace before pulling back to look into each other's eyes.

“I’m so glad you guys are here!” Mavis exclaimed. “I got worried when you guys stopped calling for so long.”

Ericka blushed and Drac turned a little sheepish, reactions that Mavis hadn’t quite expected from them. “Yes, eh, you deserve an explanation for that,” Dracula admitted. “But first, we want you to meet someone that will probably tell more about the reason for our absence. They have been eager to meet their big sister.”

Big sister? Before Mavis could question, Ericka opened the back door of the hearse and presented a small bundle in her arms towards her. Mavis’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the tiny face staring up at her with wide blue eyes. A baby. And not just any baby... it was her sibling.

“Ohh…” was all Mavis could say at the moment. She was enraptured by the little one before her, taking in every detail of its features. It had dark, jet black hair like her father's, but that curled in little wisps like Ericka's, framing the face. Its skin was a creamy white in color, and it had full cherubic cheeks that were flushed pink with excitement. Mavis reached out and lightly brushed the baby with her finger. “What’s the name?”

“Mayra,” Ericka answered. “She’s a girl.”

Mayra cooed happily at the sound of her name, and reached a chubby little hand out toward Mavis. She latched onto her sister’s index finger, making the most adorable noises. Mavis laughed softly. Her baby sister was absolutely precious.

“We were going to tell you,” Drac began to say. “But we just wanted to make it a surprise for when we came to the hotel.”

Mavis nodded. “Well, I am surprised for sure!”

Drac smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Now, come. I want to take a look at this new hotel. As far as I can see, it looks like you haven't changed anything!"

Mavis laughed. "Oh no, Dad, that's just from the outside. You just wait until the inside. Johnny had lots of great of ideas that I think you'll like!"

Dracula groaned. “Why am I already worried?”

Next to him, Ericka giggled. “Oh come on, Mr. Cranky Fangs. If we’re going to stay here, we might as well see what’s here!”

Mavis stopped short upon hearing this. She whirled around to face them, making sure to be careful with Mayra in her arms. “Wait… you guys are going to live here?”

Dracula shrugged. “Sure, why not? We lived in the hotel before. And if we’re going to settle down and raise a family, I would like to be near my Mavy, Johnny, Denisovich, and all our other friends.”

Mayra babbled in seeming agreement, looking up at Mavis with her irresistible smile and big blue orbs.

How could Mavis say no? That is, if no was even an option. 

“Of course you guys can live here!” Mavis said enthusiastically, hugging the baby close to her chest. “I just thought that since you were retired, you'd go and settle down in a smaller castle somewhere else."

"What? And miss all the fun here at the hotel?" Ericka asked incredulously. "Nah. Wouldn't dream of it. Right, Drac?"

Her husband wrapped an arm around her shoulder and nuzzled his nose against hers as he nodded. "Right."

Mavis smiled brightly, still holding Mayra close to her. "Alright then!" She gestured a hand out as best she could toward the revolving front doors. "I welcome you to the new Hotel Transylvania!"

Drac and Ericka gave a little cheer and followed her inside.

Mavis felt like her heart was bursting with joy. Everything felt perfect in their lives. Her father was proud of her. She had no quarrel with Ericka. Her baby sister was a darling little dhampir. All was well, and they knew it. They were exactly where they belonged, and were deserving of it. The future looked bright for all three of them.

And Mavis couldn't ask for anything more than that.

THE END