Zing! (Complete)

Chapter 7: Finally a Family

Lis went up to her room to get a swimsuit from her travel bag. She tore through the bag, throwing her cloths around the room. Where is it?! The room was now carpeted in clothing but no swimsuit to be seen. I must have left it. Then Lis remembered that Mavis was almost her exact body build. She left her room and knocked on Mavis's room door.

Mavis opened the door a moment later, already in her swimsuit. "Hey, Lis! Was my dad mad about you drooling on his suit?"

"Very funny, Mavis. And no, he wasn't mad. Do you have a swimsuit I could borrow? I left mine at home."

"Sure. Come on in." Mavis stepped to the side and led Lis to her closet. She pulled out a black swimsuit exactly like the one she was wearing. "Here you go." Lis was startled when after a moment Mavis said, "So you like my dad..."

Elisabeth's breath caught in her chest. "I-I uhh... Alright you caught me. How did you know?"

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. It wasn't hard to figure out, though. You sat by him the entire time we were at those boring activities. Anyone could tell that you like him except maybe him. You know he likes you back."

"Really. Count Dracula likes ME? The girl who br..." I can't tell her there is a human in the hotel! Dracula would kill me! "...drooled on his shoulder." Nice save, I guess.

Mavis laughed. "He doesn't know I heard him but he didn't mind having you sleep on his shoulder. He thinks you're really pretty when you sleep."

I know. I heard. "So what if I like him. His one true love will always be you. It's the same for my mom and dad." Mavis's eyes began to tear a little when Lis said the word mom. "It's alright honey," said Lis hugging the girl to her. "My parents are both dead. You're lucky to have your dad, and he's lucky to have you. Here." Lis pulled the little vile of vanilla sent from her pocket. "This is made of vampire essence. It's the tears of a joyous vampire that give it a vanilla aroma. My mother made it to remind herself of my father whenever he went on a business trip. My mother gave it to me. Now I give it to you. Happy birthday."

"That's not until tomorrow. But thank you none the less." Mavis stopped crying and laid her head on Elisabeth's shoulder for a few minutes. Then they both sat on the bed. After a minute of silence Mavis spoke, "You know, I always thought this would be what having a mom would be like. Someone to console me. I wouldn't mind if you became my mom."

This startled Lis at first. She had been thought of as a sister before but never a mom. A tear of joy rolled from her eye, the first in a long time. "And you're what I always thought a daughter would be like. I would love to be your mom, Mavis." Lis hugged Mavis tight again. They stayed like this for a while more before Lis had to go change or they would be late.

They walked down the corridors together, talking about random stuff all the way. Almost everybody had shown up for this activity. Most monsters sat at the tables eating but some had their feet in the water while others were doing water yoga. There was a table with 2 empty seats for Lis and Mavis. Johnny, the mummy, and Frankenstein's bride were all sitting there as Johnny talked about all his adventures.

"Johnny, you've been to the Taj Mahal?" asked the bride as they sat down.

She's kind of loud. "I've been to the Taj Mahal. It's very pretty. I'd love to go again but there was a lot more humans then i expected. I got lucky that people often just think I'm albino because of my skin and hair."

"Come on. No monster's been to the Taj," said the mummy catching the beetles that were trying to escape from his plate on his fork.

"Man, I wish I could go there." Mavis was really excited.

"How did you deal with the mobs?"

"Yeah, it does get pretty crazy in the summer. But, you know, you just got to roll."

"And went in the winter so everyone was a home not wanting to trudge through all the snow." Lis grabbed a pen and a napkin and wrote on it. Then she passed it to Mavis beside her, who smiled widely with a hopeful expression on her face. Then Lis mouthed, 'I really will take you to see it someday.'

"He just rolls," said Frankenstein, who had just sat down a moment ago without the attention of Lis. "That's cool that he rolls."

"Yes, yes, cool," interjected Dracula. He turned to Mavis. "Look, love droppings, I brought you a bagel with your favorite, scream cheese."

The cream cheese looking stuff on the bagel was screaming. "Holy rabies. Thanks, Dad. Johnny, try some scream cheese, it's awesome."

"Oh, cool." The cheese screamed again. "But I'm scream cheese intolerant. So, polite pass."

"Yes, of course you are. Johnny, can we party-plan talk for a minute?" Dracula took Johnny by the hand and led him away.

Mavis turned to Lis. "Will you try some?"

"Why not?" Lis broke a small piece of the bagel and ate it. "It's delicious." It really is.

"So, Elisabeth, wasn't it?" Frankenstein's bride said. "You've been to the Taj Mahal. Where else have you been?"

"Not many places. He's younger but he's a constant traveler he's been just about everywhere. I prefer to stay where I am if I can. But the outside world requires me to move and change my name every so many years. Not much fun."

Out of stuff to talk about the group moved to the pool's edge and dipped their feet in the lukewarm water.