Freaky Friday (but on a Tuesday)

Chapter 4 - A Monstrous Accident

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!