Mavis and Dracula immediately had an idea of what Johnny was talking about where Johnny's family was not aware of this particular Vampire ability.
"Dracula can erase people's minds and make them think what he wants them to think." Johnny said slowly to allow his parents time to process.
"You want us to forget you? NO! we can't do that!" Ann screamed tears forming in her eyes.
"Look at what has happened all around you. Look what the people are doing out there. They will not listen to reason. They will only listen to their fear of the unknown and the fear they have based only on stories." Johnny continued. "Monsters have lived peacefully hiding in the shadows. Now that people know of their existence they will never be safe again. How can we choose to ruin their lives like that for our own sake? This is our fault… we brought this onto them, and it is our responsibility to correct it." Johnny finished.
"Johnny, there must be another way." Mavis said
"No, Johnny is right; there is no other way without risking a complete and total war between our people." Drac sadly said.
"Why do we need to forget?!" Ann pleaded.
"We cannot risk another mishap where humans learn of our existence." Johnny said.
"You are still our son! Do not say "our existence" as if you are now separated from us!" Ann started to scream.
"Johnny, please, we cannot accept this. There must be a way for us to remember you, to still be able to see you!" Mike added.
With tears flowing down Johnny's cheeks he responds.
"TELL ME ANOTHER WAY! TELL ME THAT YOU CAN GUARANTEE OTHER HUMANS WILL NOT FIND OUT!" Johnny yells through tear choked words feeling is heart breaking into billions of pieces.
Mavis could not bear to watch the spectacle in front of her and she runs away.
"Mavis!" Johnny shouts.
Johnny runs after her leaving Johnny's mother, father and Dracula alone. Ann has her face pressed hard into Mike's chest sobbing while Mike holds her and rubs the back of her head.
"You know Johnny is correct. Humans will always fear us and will always react based on that fear blinding them to the truth that we are just people like them."
Drac reaches out his arm to console Ann but she shifts her body out of the way. Drac gets the point and with a sorrowful face, leave the two parents alone.
"Mavis wait up!" Johnny shouts.
Johnny follows her to a far corner of the dungeon where she sits with her back against the wall hugging her knees with her head resting on them.
"Mavis, what is wrong?" Johnny asks.
"I turned you into a Vampire, I am the one ripping you away from your family, it is all my fault!" Mavis says with her head still pushed into her knees muffling her voice.
"We both knew there were risks and we both knew that I was going to have to change into a Vampire to stay with you and have a family with you."
"I know but.." Mavis was about to say but was interrupted by Johnny.
"But nothing! Do you remember what I said to you at my parents before we told them about you?"
Mavis lifts her head and wipes some tears away from her eyes.
"Yes I remember. You.. you said that you would be happy as long as you could be with me."
"That has not changed. Mavis you know how much I love you." Johnny said.
"But you love your parents too and you are going to loose them forever!" Mavis cries.
"I know, but I prepared myself for that even before we went to my parents. Mavis, even if they can remember me, I will live long after they are gone, all of them. I will have to see them die one by one. But you know how I can manage that?"
Mavis knew the answer and was about to answer when Johnny said it first.
"Because we are zings, we were meant to be. Things are never easy in life. We have to make choices, and this is the choice I have come to grips with if it means I can spend the rest of my life with you."
Mavis leaps towards Johnny and tackles him to the floor hugging him.
"I love you Johnny." She says.
"I love you too Mavis. Come, we need to find your dad!"
Johnny takes Mavis by the hand and they begin searching for Drac. They find him up in the lobby of the hotel looking out through the now destroyed entrance seeing all the people attacking the barrier.
"Drac, I need to speak with you!" Johnny says.
"Johnny, how do you plan on making the entire world forget what has happened?" Mavis asks.
Johnny explains that he can record a video of Drac's hypnosis and send it out to the internet where everyone will soon watch it. He told them that he will write up exactly what Drac needs to say. He then explained that Drac will have to separately hypnotize his family so they return home and not even realize they ever left.
"What about… what did you call them… contact lenses…?" Drac said. "Remember how they prevented me from erasing your mind?" Drac asked.
"Don't worry, I have a plan." Johnny said.
Johnny spent the next thirty minutes writing up what Drac was going to need to say. He had gone through multiple iterations clearly making sure to get everything correct. While Johnny was busy writing, Drac and Mavis attempted to talk with Johnny's family.
"How can this be happening!? Ann said.
"Things never go the way we planned, but as Johnny has always said, "you just got to roll with it."" Mavis replied.
This managed to get a very slight smile to form in the corner of both Mike's and Ann's lips.
"You know how much Johnny loves you and I can say for certain this is the hardest thing he had ever had to do." Mavis continued.
"We know how much he loves us; we could see it in his eyes when he told us his plan. We also know how much he loves you. If we love him as any real parent should, we need to think about what is best for Johnny." Mike says while holding Ann and giving Mavis a smile of encouragement.
"I have never seen Johnny as happy as he is when he is with you." Ann manages to say.
Mavis does not know what else to say. All she could do was to sit next to them, wrap her arms around them both, and rest her head on Ann's shoulder. Mike moved his arm off Ann and wrapped it around Mavis and the three stood there for a while. Drac was massively torn. He tried to think of the best way to handle the situation. Why did Johnny's family have to lose their memories? Perhaps only the brothers need to lose their memories while Ann and Mike could keep theirs? As painful as it was, he kept reaching the same conclusion. If any of them kept their memories, it will only cause issues down the lines where questions may be asked and the wrong answer is given. If there is enough reason to doubt the false truth Drac implants into their minds, the hypnosis may break. He could not risk that. After all he has seen from the Human's reactions, after all they have done to his kind, for everything they have but his daughter and family through, he simply could not risk it. No, Johnny was right; they all had to lose their memories... but did they have to think Johnny was dead?
Johnny walks up to Drac and hands him a piece of paper. Drac carefully reads it and looks up to Johnny.
"I do not know if this will work, but it is the best chance we have." Drac replies.
Johnny looks over and sees his Mom, Dad, and Mavis together. He walks up and joins the group given them the most affectionate hug he could give. No words needed to be spoken, as the look on everyone's faces told all that needed to be said. Johnny knew that his parents understood that what needed to be done was right, and that they only wanted the best for their son.
Johnny and Mavis break away from Ann and Mike's embrace and step away. Drac comes up, grabs Mikes hand with his right hand, and Ann's with his left.
"You have a truly amazing son. He has shown through both his actions, and the time we have spent with you and your children that humans can be accepting of monster kind. We have also learned that humanity is just not yet ready to learn of our existence. I have truly enjoyed our time together. I want you to know that I will always take care of your son." Drac says.
Mike nods his head in understanding while Ann simply looks at Drac with an empty face. Ann then embraces Drac in a hug.
"I know you and Mavis will always take care of my baby. I can rest easy knowing he will be happy. Every parent only wants what is best for their children and you have given that to Johnny." Ann says.
Drac breaks away from Ann and requests that she gather up all her family together. After a few minutes everyone is together. Ann and Mike hold back tears and finally nod at Drac. Drac nods back and proceeds.
"Look into my eyes. You will remember nothing of this time spent in Transylvania. You will remember nothing of the monsters you have met. You will return home and only have fond happy memories of your son Johnny who you will never see again but know that he is happy. You will destroy any evidence you have of our existence. You will remain here and do exactly as instructed until you return home." Drac finishes.
Johnny's family now remains motionless and staring into space. Johnny runs away unable to look at his family in such a state. Mavis and Drac go and find him. They find him in the ball room where Mavis had her 118th birthday. He was sitting on top of one of the flying tables still sitting on the ground.
"I wanted to introduce my brothers to flying table races… Johnny says while trailing off.
No one says anything for a few moments until Drac says.
"Johnny, we must proceed with your plan."
Johnny gets off the table and gets out his phone. He finds the recorder app and tells Drac he is ready. Both Johnny and Mavis close their eyes while Drac speaks into the camera.
"Everyone look deeply into my eyes. You will remember nothing of the last week. You will remember nothing of the existence of monsters. You will continue to believe they only exist in myth, legend and you imagination. You will not remember the location of this castle and you will not want to enter the forest surrounding it. You will destroy any evidence proving the existence of monsters. You will have the uncontrollable need to share this recording with your fellow humans. If those humans possess corrective lenses you will remove them and show them this recording. If any human believes monsters exist you will have the uncontrollable desire to show them this recording. You will have no knowledge of this recording except when you must show it to another human." Drac finishes.
"What about the people outside the barrier?" Mavis asks.
"Leave that up to me" Drac says.
Drac proceeds to gather up all the witches. They walk outside to the front of the castle. The witches encircle drac with their hands in contact with his body. They point their wands up into the sky and Dracula repeats the message he just recorded while keeping his eyes closed. The dome changes from green to bright red with the glowing intensity pulsating like a heartbeat. All the humans surrounding the barrier stop moving frozen in the exact state they were in when the dome's color changed. When Drac concludes the hypnosis the barrier changes back to green and all the people begin to disperse. While doing so they seem almost like zombies. Their faces blank and their movements slow but steady. Soon the area surrounding the castle is barren and silent.
Everyone walks back into the castle to wait.
Over the course of the next 5 days, a few humans still with memories of the castle's existence come to the barrier where Drac is forced to hypnotize them. The frequency at which this happens slows to a trickle and then none come looking. The barrier is then removed as Johnny scans the internet news. All reports on the existence of monsters stop. All the major TV broadcasts had shown the video of Drac's hypnosis for days repeating over and over again. No one remembered anything and continued on with their lives.
There was confusion as to why the hospital was damaged as it was, but the towns people wrote it off not putting too much worry into the manner. Johnny's family still remained silent as they were still under Drac's hypnosis. They were brought to the airport to board a direct flight back home. When they all entered their homes their faces and action return to normal. It was a beautiful day outside and they all went back to their normal lives knowing that Johnny was happy somewhere, but where that place is they do not know. Drac's final plan allowed Johnny's family to at least think Johnny is still alive and allow him to stay in contact worked. They still got post cards from Johnny once and a while and Johnny would learn of news from his family.
The castle was repaired and life returned to normal for the hotel's inhabitants. The memories of what happened would never leave their minds, but they hoped that one day Humanity would mature enough to accept them for who they are.
END!
I want to thank Sondaro for the idea of recording Drac's hypnosis to get everyone to forget.
I hope you enjoyed that story! Please leave a review!