Only Human

Chapter 4 - At a Loss

"What?!"

Mavis and Johnny had exclaimed at the same time as soon as Drac had shouted out. The man ran distraught to the window, his hands splayed on the glass and his nose pressed against it in disbelief. His expression of horror twisted into an even more terrified one as he saw the truth before his eyes. Hotel Transylvania now only remained a smoking husk of rubble and debris, with a few charred remains of its former glory hanging above in 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.

Drac whimpered in utter shock. "Wh-wh-what happened?!" he managed to stammer out.

Great thundering footsteps sounded in response. And then, 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, when she was only a small rodent smushed in the bars of her confining cage. Now, 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, speechless in his shock.

But Mavis knew what had to be done.

"Holy rabies..." she muttered at first, having come up next to Drac at the window and staring down below. "Holy RABIES!" she cried a bit louder, once it all hit her at once. Turning to Ericka, she began commanding. "Ericka, land the blimp. Johnny, hand me the ray. Hurry!"

"On it, Mavis," Ericka replied, heading to the control panel.

"Here, hon!" Johnny said, tossing Mavis the ray.

She shapeshifted into a bat and caught it in her feet, flying out of one of the gondola windows and zipping outside the blimp as fast as her wings could carry her. She aimed the ray at the giant guinea pig and fired.

The Monsterfication 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 house pet. By the time she gave a squeak and scurried away among the rubble, the blimp had finally landed.

Mavis could hear her father's anguished screaming as he was the first to run out of the gondola.

"MY HOTEL!!!!!"

The man ran right past his daughter, angrily stomping forth in a fit of uncontrolled rage, all the while hollering about his property.

"MY HOTEL MY HOTEL MY HOTEL, MY HOOOTTEEELLL!!!!"

The man screamed and screamed until his voice was hoarse, and all he could manage was a whimpering cry. The anger he had felt boiling inside him fizzled down, replaced by the utter shock that he'd felt just moments 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.