Reborn

Chapter 2 - Under the Surface

By the time Ericka had trotted back upstairs of the ship's secret chamber and exited out onto the deck, she had reigned in her emotions and came to the conclusion that Dracula had used some sort of hypnotic power to make her feel distracted by him.

She caught sight of the vampire a short distance away, completely oblivious to his surroundings as he strolled along happily throughout the ship's deck with a swoon-like smile on his face. Then, she saw there was an emergency flare on the wall nearby and got an idea.

As she took down the flare and fired, the Blob monster had joined Drac in his strut, and took the shot instead. Because of his Jell-O like composition, the flare exploding inside him did not do anything to harm the monster. He hardly noticed.

Next, Ericka tried to cut loose the ties of a lifeboat so that it could fall atop of Dracula's head. This failed to work as well, however, because Drac danced himself out of the way and it fell on top of Blobby once again.

When this didn't work, Ericka tried operating a crane that was lifting supplies throughout the boat. She swung the crane and its heavy supplies in hopes to hit Drac, but it was the Blob who was careened off of the ship instead. The vampire had distracted himself with the sight of dolphins leaping in the ocean some distance away from the ship.

Ericka grew even more frustrated at the sight of the Blob somehow bouncing back onto the ship and continuing the dance with Drac, as if nothing at all had happened. This was an embarrassment! Three opportunities to eliminate Dracula, or at least hurt him, and none of them had worked!

She observed with a scowl on her face as the Count joined his friends in the pool area and began some form of monster-volleyball game. Then, an idea came to her head, and she grinned a menacing grin.

As the last round of the ball game was happening, she called attention to everyone who was on deck using a microphone.

"Hey there, monsters!"

Immediately everyone perked an ear and listened.

"We're arriving at our first destination - the underwater volcano! Everyone, grab your scuba gear and get ready to explore the wonders of the sea!"

Then, looking particularly at Drac, she added, "especially you - Count Dracula..."

The man's face lit in surprise, then he seemed to shrink under her flirty gaze.

***

Deep-sea diving was not really Ericka's idea of fun, but it sure was for the monsters. For her, it would make the task of eliminating Dracula all the more challenging. She didn't have as much mobility, due to wanting to remain inside her fish-shaped submarine, and maneuvering her way in the water had to be done more carefully.

The monsters however, didn't seem to pay any mind, and were busy exploring various sights in the reef, mainly the lava pools and marine life that were around.

She spotted the vampire she was after and pedaled her sub toward him. He was with who looked to be his grandson, a small red-headed little boy, and the two were riding around atop a great white shark like it was a horse. The pair dismounted a short time later, joined by a small werewolf pup, the vampire's daughter, and his son-in-law. All of them looked to be having fun, mimicking seahorse movements and swimming along together.

From within her submarine, Ericka couldn't help but feel a little enamored by the sight. It really was adorable to see such a strong bond between them. Suddenly, she felt as though some sort of memory came to mind. She was standing, stock-still within some sort of studio. She could see an unusual man with a sort of hunched back sitting about ten or so feet away, working on what looked to be a painting - or a portrait perhaps, given how he kept glancing up at her and back down. He glanced to the side in one of those instances, as if referencing another figure, and that's when she became aware of a hand along the small of her back. She peeked sideways and was stunned to see Dracula next to her. He gave a sideways glance to her, lips upturning in a small kind smile. His eyes then peeked down to her arms, and she curiously looked down to see what was there that caught his interest. With surprise, she saw that it was an infant.

Gasping, Ericka was flung out of the memory as her thumb had involuntarily triggered the release of the submarine's harpoons, shooting themselves directly at Drac. They zipped by, but missed the vampire entirely, hitting the backs of some passing manta rays instead. Hundreds of fish swam by in the next instant, leading the monsters' gaze to travel toward Ericka's fish-submarine. She tried to steer it away in time, but Dracula grabbed hold of the tail and gestured for his daughter to snap a picture of him with it.

Hoping not to blow her cover, Ericka breathed in a huge gulp of air and escaped quickly back toward the cruise ship from the submarine's escape hatch.

***

Ericka was walking by, dry, and back on the deck a little shortly after the whole underwater escapade. She was confused, if anything, by the strange sight that crossed her mind in that one instance underwater and couldn't make sense of it. It felt like a memory, but again it didn't. A portrait with Dracula and an infant child was some kind of fever dream that just randomly felt like something that her mind decided to conjure up just for kicks. It wasn't funny to her, however.

Voices around the corner caught Ericka's attention.

"So, Drac, are you going to make a move on the captain?"

Someone was talking about her and Dracula. Interested, she stopped to listen, finding that Dracula was involved in this conversation, and that his friends were trying to get him to go on a date with her. She didn't really want it at first, but then thought of it in a different light. That would be perfect. It was a chance to have Dracula all alone without really raising any eyebrows.

She made her presence known to the monsters, and their faces lit up. "Okay, Drac," the invisible man whispered, "now's your chance!"

He shoved the vampire in front of her. The Count took a second to start speaking, but when he did, it was rather unusual what he said.

"YOUR-DELICIOUS-NECK-WRAPPINGS-ARE-IN-A-NICE-COFFIN-WOULD-YOU-LIKE-TO-SEE-MY-PARTS?!"

The monsters raised their eyebrows in surprise at the strange gibberish, but it unfazed Ericka, other than the giggle that wanted to come out of her. As much as she hated to admit it, he was goofy in a charming sort of way.

"Yes, I'd love to go out with you."

Dracula was stunned. He couldn't believe her response. "What?" he asked.

"Cantina at midnight. Don't be late," Ericka said coolly, and then left him before her own excitement could show through.