Freaky Friday (but on a Tuesday)

Chapter 7 - Air Gremlin

A/N: wanted to thank RainbowMar629 for the drawing of the transformed women that is with this chapter

***

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.