Hotel Transylvania - Demon's Heart 2 - Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 – The last attempt – part 3

"It's beautiful... but where's Dracula's mysterious castle?" A man said, speaking to the Monster Hunters.

They muttered something to each other and then one put on a pair of sunglasses, on a cloudy day, no less, and began to speak, "We'll send a drone to inspect the area. The satellite photos don't lie, there was a castle on that island, and the fact that it has disappeared confirms our hypothesis..." and then he took off his glasses with a crime-film-like move, "There's something magical in this place." He concluded with a tone of superiority.

"Good!" Exclaimed another man in his team, while another one recorded everything with his bulky shoulder-camera and the other was holding the telescopic microphone-pole.

"What a bunch of idiots ... but in the end their television program is fun to watch," The red-haired girl said without fear of getting heard by them, "They make me realize how lucky I am to have a brain."

Mavis and Jonathan chuckled discreetly.

The four men did not hear her, or perhaps they pretended not to, and from a bulky box they drew an eight-bladed multi-copter with a moving camera.

One of those guys gripped the receiver with integrated monitor and, while the others continued to record him, he raised the drone into the air, directing it towards the castle and starting to get aerial shots.

"Are you getting the images?" The pilot asked.

"Yes Carl, I get them perfectly, and I have compared your images with those of the satellite." A fellow said, sitting on the ground and equipped with a notebook. Jonathan and Mavis gulped, "Perfect match." The man with the computer continued, deadpan, "I'm sorry guys, no haunted castle here, just a quirk of nature." he concluded, generating disappointment among the people, the only two who breathed a sigh of relief being Jonny, Mavis, and Drac, who was not so far away from the group, hidden behind the trunk of a large tree in his human form.

The old vampire turned, ready to go back to the castle, victorious, but when he looked up he was petrified. Just a few steps from him was a human, short and a little chubby, who wore a khaki safari suit. He watched Drac silently and stunned. The man took off his French colonial helmet and brought it to his chest, "You... you..." he began to say, while Drac was preparing to hypnotize him, "You are that Dracula at the monsters festival, the one who participated in the role play! Do you remember me? I'm your fellow Dracula, blah, blah, blah... the one who had the idea of the cloaks! "

"R-role-playing?" Dracula asked, confused.

"Yes, come on, how do you call it? You play the great Count Dracula and you have a mission to overcome, considering that you can't stay under the sun. However, you don't go out of your character, right? You even brought your costume up in here; you're more of a vampire fan than me! "The man concluded, giving Drac's two pats on the back, who drew a big sigh of relief within himself.

The Count had a slight smile, "You are disappointed too for not finding what you were looking for?"

The human shrugged, "Honestly? No, I'm happy. I still spend time imagining that, somewhere, the immortal Count continues his life, maybe surrounded by all sorts of monster... Bah! Don't mind my fantasies. I think it's time to go. I have a tavern in the city, would you like to come with me? I'll offer you a drink. "

"Well... maybe another time, okay?" The vampire replied cordially.

"Ok, Will I see you for Halloween? There will be a big party in the town, the best of the year!" Then he held out his hand, "I'm Marius, of the tavern 'The drunken Count'."

The vampire shook his hand, "I'm Vladimir, of the Hotel Transylvania." But just after his presentation he widened his eyes. He was used to greeting monsters in this way, but not humans.

"Hotel Transylvania you said? Never heard of it, but it sounds good!" He replied, and then looked around, "I should be going, I don't want to be walking in a haunted forest alone. See you!" He concluded, running toward the rest of his group, and Dracula took the opportunity to hide himself better. He had been lucky once; better not to take the risk again.

There were only a dozen people, including the red-haired girl.

No one breathed, until an old lady with a peasant dress turned to the girl, "You are not going with them?" She asked in a croaking and acute voice.

"I think I'll go back with you." She replied with a smile, but the woman frowned slightly.

"Go now, it's ok." The old lady insisted, her gaze was strange and penetrating.

The girl was puzzled for a moment, but when she saw the look of the woman, who seemed to start worrying, she widened her eyes and walked away in the same direction as the rest of the group.

"Is your hypnosis beginning to misfire, Sebastiana?" A man dissed, making fun of the old lady, the joke making other people chuckle too, but they seemed to want to hold back the laughter.

"Don't mess with me." She replied, annoyed.

"Sebastiana? Donna Sebastiana? Is that you?" Dracula asked, getting out from his hiding place.

The old woman turned to him and smiled, "You're a sharp monster, full of resources. Yet, few believed that you could do it."

"And so, it was all your doing? Don't you think you exaggerated by taking this unnecessary risk?" The Count said.

"We had everything under control, and, judging by what we saw, you too..." Another man replied.

"The threat has passed, why don't you show me who you really are?" Drac continued.

Those people looked at each other, then turning back to Dracula with Jonathan and Mavis beside him.

"Y-you are all monsters?" Jonny stammered.

"All members of the 'Order of the Dragon'." The vampire confirmed.

The old lady approached the boy, eyeing him, and that intimidated him. He was almost scared.

"Yeah, I remember you, we've met before, more than once ..." She said, her voice having changed, now much softer, like that of a young girl, totally unsuitable to the appearance of that old lady.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. He did not remember having already met her, but the voice was not new to him.

Then the skin of her face and hands began to fall, as if becoming increasingly soft, until it tears and pour like melted wax, only the skeleton remaining spotless.

That '70s horror film scene made Jonathan's stomach flip, but he could not look away from the skull. In fact, unlike the other living skeletons that he had met at the hotel, this one was full of carvings and colorful designs, typical of Mexican sugar skulls.

The skeleton smirked at the human "Do you recognize me now?" She jokingly asked, slipping off the peasant dress that hid her true garments, a long, black robe with a hood that the skeleton lady pulled over her head, concealing her face into the shadows.

Now the human did recognize her, she was that woman Nazghul, who rode the black dragon that he had met after the clash with Camazotz, "Now I remember! You are the Grim Reaper who wanted to kill me!" He exclaimed, worried.

"Reaper? Yes, to be exact I am the first reaper. My name is Donna Sebastiana, but many call me Santa Muerte." The black specter said, holding out her skeletal hand, with drawn roses and brambles, to the boy, but he stood there, hesitant, "Fear not, I know you humans believe we reapers are bearers of death, but in reality we appear next to the souls of those who don't accept their death to help them to leave this world before anger corrupts them, turning them into violent ghosts. "

The human was persuaded and shook the bony and cold hand, "When we met the first time you had a scary voice, I'm sorry for running off." The boy said, embarrassed.

"My bad, I should really clear my voice... you know, we were warned that a demon had been sighted and we were all very upset." Sebastiana said, with a reassuring smile.

"Can we talk inside? I would like to take a bath, I smell like a human." A man with green dress and red beard complained as he lit a pipe.

"Yes, of course ..." Drac replied. His voice was cold and distant and, although he managed to be outwardly calm, those who knew him could understand that deep inside he was not calm at all.

The vampire snapped his fingers and the earth began to shake. From the lake rose the stone golems, restoring the bridge in a moment, but they were quite distant, so the Count whistled and made signs with his hands to guide the movements of the golems and move the bridge right under them. The nearest golem got to his feet and raised his hands, coming up to the new hotel guests.

Everybody went up and then the golem lowered them, bringing them towards the bridge.

Dracula lead the group, while Mavis and Jonathan hung back, slightly separated from the rest.

"Mavy? Do you know who these guys are?" He asked, softly.

The young vampiress sighed, "It will be nighttime soon. That means that a mob of monsters as there has never been before will come to the hotel. Let's go to my room to rest and I'll explain everything to you before tings get messy." Mavis replied, as worried as her father was.