“They do. Unless you’re a vegetarian or a non-vampire and you want to eat something other than blood,” Draculaura said quietly.
“Darling…” Dracula sighed. “Ramoanah and I are terribly sorry about last night’s meal. In all the excitement, I simply forgot to tell the kitchen we would need to provide choices for our non-traditional guests.”
“You forgot?” Draculaura said. “You forgot I’m a vegetarian? And you forgot that I—and Elissabat, our vampire queen!—would be bringing along some of our non-vampire fiends?”
“I forgot to mention that you were a vegetarian,” Dracula replied. “I forgot that I had never told Ramoanah about it,” he added. “And yes, I simply forgot to think about the needs of our non-vampire fiends. I am very sorry.” His gaze met Draculaura’s. “Ramoanah was so embarrassed.”
“She was?” Draculaura said, narrowing her eyes.
“She was. And other than that one oversight, I hope that you and your friends have felt comfortable the rest of the weekend,” Dracula said. “We have gone to great lengths to welcome your friends to Transylvania in true vampire style.”
“Yeah,” Draculaura agreed reluctantly. “Everything has been really lovely. It’s just…”
Dracula waited. After a long moment, he said, “Just?”
“It’s just that I get the feeling Ramoanah and her family don’t like me very much,” Draculaura whispered.
Draculaura waited for her dad to disagree, to tell her she was crazy for even thinking such a silly thing. But he didn’t. He sat, stroking his chin. Finally, he said, “Ramoanah’s family is very traditional.”
“You think?” Draculaura said, rolling her eyes.
Her dad chuckled. “They come from a long line of conservative vampires who have spent many years believing that their way is the right way.” Draculaura began to cut in, but her father put up a hand to stop her. “I know you may be thinking that makes this relationship between Ramoanah and me a strange one. A less-than-perfect match. But away from her family, Ramoanah is very different. She understands my mission in the Boo World, even if it is not the path she would have chosen for herself. At the beginning of our relationship, after falling in love at first bite, we did not see eye to eye. And there are still many times when she finds it hard to swallow our way of life. But she is coming around. She is warming up slowly. Though we may not agree on everything, we do have great respect and love for each other.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t take three hundred years for her to warm up to me.”
“You know, Draculaura, that our family is different from many of our kind. Just as we have come to embrace and understand other monster cultures, we must also learn to appreciate some traditional vampire customs. Ramoanah’s family has different beliefs, and I hope that you will respect them for who they are.”
“Of course I will,” Draculaura promised. “But I think it’s only fair that you tell her she has to do the same with me! She hasn’t even tried to get to know me!”
Dracula closed his eyes. A familiar, playful smile appeared on his face, and Draculaura was pleased to see a bit of the father she was used to at home. “You are very outgoing, Draculaura. It’s one of the things I most admire about you. You’re welcoming and generous with your friendship, and you always have a positive outlook on life. Your way of looking at the world does not come as easily to some people.”
“Are you telling me Ramoanah is shy…or just mean?”
Her dad smiled. “Shy, yes. And though she is not mean, as you put it, it can be hard to crack her exterior. But when you do…well, I can tell you it’s well worth the effort it takes to get to know her.” His smile grew wider.
“Okay, okay!” Draculaura laughed. “I don’t need to hear you get all gooey about your fiancée.” She took a deep breath, then said, “Dad, is everything going to change?”
He nodded. “Much will change, yes. It’s just been the two of us for many years, dear. And I treasure that time we’ve had together, as father and daughter. But we have room for others in our lives. Think of how much your world expanded when you met your friends at Monster High. There is an endless supply of love in our hearts—they grow and change as we welcome new people into our world.”
Dracula reached across the desk and took his daughter’s hand in his own. “We will not lose the life we had before, after I am married. The next sixteen hundred years will be even better—because with Ramoanah in our family, we will develop new traditions. She will introduce us to many new things that will improve us in ways we can’t imagine.”
Draculaura wasn’t so sure about that…but what she was sure about was how much her dad obviously loved his bride-to-be. The look on his face told her everything she needed to know: Her dad was in love.
Even though a life with Ramoanah as her stepmomster still worried her, Draculaura knew she couldn’t possibly squash her father’s happiness by sharing more of her fears. Whatever secret Ramoanah was hiding, whatever she thought about Draculaura, didn’t matter. Her dad deserved love. She would just have to figure out how to make it work.
Draculaura was grateful that her dad had made her feel better about her biggest worry: He wouldn’t stop loving her just because he loved Ramoanah. He had a space for both of them, and, hopefully, Ramoanah would eventually find a place for Draculaura in her heart too. Draculaura was determined to never give up hope that someday, Ramoanah would come around. She hoped that eventually—one, ten, or a thousand years from now—she and Ramoanah would figure out how to be friends.
“I assure you, Ramoanah cares about you more than you realize,” Dracula said. “She is trying.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Draculaura stood and blew her father a kiss. “I guess it helps to hear you say that. And you know I’m happy for you, right?”
“I do,” he said with a smile. “You are such a sweet ghoul. I’m proud to call you my daughter.”
Draculaura left her father’s borrowed study feeling better than she had before. She hurried back to the suite to tell the other ghouls all about her conversation with her dad. But when she got there, she found it empty. There was a huge fruit basket with a note attached. Draculaura’s stomach rumbled at the sight of all the delicious, juicy fruit. She took a bite out of an apple and opened the note. It said:
Enjoy your lunch. Someone had the most voltageous food delivered to our room! Can you believe it? There was an enormous steak for Clawdeen (she devoured it in about two bites), a huge bag of fast food for Ghoulia, a tray of kebabs for Cleo (plus a bushel of grapes for dessert and even a butler to feed them to her!), and a WHOLE CHEESE SCREECHZA for me!
Back soon!
—Frankie
“Frankie?” Draculaura called out, wandering from room to room. “Clawdeen?”
She checked every wing of their suite and found them all empty. Only Count Fabulous remained, perched high up in the corner of her coffin room.
Puzzled, she rang for Fangsly. “Yes, Miss Draculaura?” the butler said, appearing at the door of their suite just moments later.
“Did you bring us all this delicious food?” she asked. “You’re too sweet! Do you want to share some fruit with me?”
“The food was not from me, miss,” Fangsly replied. “And no, thank you. I prefer my food to be…bloodier.”
“Oh,” Draculaura said, wrinkling her nose. “If you didn’t send it up, who left all our favorite foods for us, then?”
“I am not at liberty to say.” Fangsly shook his head.
“Come on, Fangsly. You can tell me—I thought we were getting to be fiends!”
Fangsly’s lip curled up in something resembling a smile. “I’m sorry, miss. But I do hope the snack is to your liking.”
“It’s delicious!” Draculaura sighed and bit into a juicy peach. “The other thing I’m wondering is, have you seen my ghoulfriends?”
“I have.”
“Great!” Draculaura said. “Where are they?”
“They left the hotel a short while ago, Miss Drac
ulaura. Lady Ramoanah ordered a carriage for them.” He looked apologetic when he said, “Your friends are gone.”
Gone?
Where ARE they?!
Fangsly refuses to tell me anything more, and, believe me, I asked him about a hundred times.
What if Ramoanah put my ghoulfriends on the train back to Monster High? She wouldn’t have done that, would she?
I called Dad, and he told me to stop overreacting. He says he doesn’t know where they are either, but he told me I don’t need to get so worked up about it.
Worked up about it?! Hmmmm, why would I worry? Let’s see: My soon-to-be stepmomster, who doesn’t like my ghoulfriends or me, just put my beasties in a carriage and sent them off somewhere on the day before her fancy, traditional vampire wedding. I think it’s fair that I’m freaking out just a little bit, don’t you, Diary?!
Okay, I’m gonna go enjoy this fangtastic fruit basket that someone sent up for us and play with Count Fabulous. Making him look adorable always makes me feel better.
Smooches,
Draculaura
The afternoon dragged on. Hours later, there was still no sign of any of Draculaura’s ghoulfriends at the Chateau.
Draculaura killed time by dressing her pet bat in every single outfit she had packed for him—his cute little tuxedo, a frilly satin suit, and the soft pink fur cape with matching earmuffs. But even playing dress-up with Count Fabulous didn’t make her feel much better. She couldn’t stop worrying about where Ramoanah had sent her fiends.
After the fruit basket was gone and Count Fabulous had escaped to his perch in the corner of her room, Draculaura wandered down to the lobby. She bumped into Elissabat and her crew, who persuaded her to sit for an on-camera interview with one of the Hauntlywood producers. Viperine worked her makeup magic and made sure Draculaura looked perfect before they asked her any questions, and they had a whole bunch of snacks for her to munch on while she was waiting for them to get the lights set up. They asked her a ton of fun questions about Monster High and her fiends, and they wanted her to describe her perfect wedding. It was actually sort of fun (though she could only imagine how upset Cleo would be when she found out she’d missed her chance to shine).
When she’d finished her interview, she and Elissabat went for a walk on the Chateau grounds. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and Draculaura got to soak in some of the beautiful views she missed from her childhood. When the last of the afternoon light was shining behind the mountains, it almost made them look like they were glowing purple and silver.
As she and Elissabat returned to the lobby after their walk, they bumped into Alexander. He was with Ramoanah’s mom. “Hello again,” Draculaura said cheerfully.
Alexander smiled formally at Elissabat, but when he looked at Draculaura, his lips curled into the same sneer she had seen at breakfast earlier. Draculaura couldn’t help herself—she turned away and rolled her eyes. He was just so snobbish! Luckily, Alexander didn’t notice. Instead, he said to Draculaura, “Got rid of the filth, did you?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
Alexander laughed and drawled, “That wolf and all the other nasty creatures you dragged along to Transylvania, of course.” He nodded at Elissabat, adding, “Our extraordinary vampire queen is much more appropriate company for you.”
“You can’t talk about my ghoulfriends like that!” Draculaura exclaimed. Alexander just laughed.
Elissabat stepped forward and hissed, “You are totally out of line.”
“Defending the trash, then, are you?” sneered Alexander, speaking quietly. Surely, he knew he was being very disrespectful!
“Draculaura and her ghoulfriends are better monsters than you’ll ever be, Alexander. You should feel lucky you have the honor of walking down the aisle beside her tomorrow. She can show you something about being a good person.”
Alexander laughed coldly. “Walk beside her? I think not. As soon as I realized how much time she”—he flicked his eyes toward Draculaura—“spends with freaks, I told my aunt I didn’t want to be paired with her at the wedding tomorrow. Ramoanah knows that if she wants me to be a part of the wedding, she will need to find someone other than Draculaura to be her maid of horror. I refuse.”
Draculaura sucked in her breath. Elissabat pulled her arm. “Ignore him,” she said, tugging her into the lobby.
“He’s horrible!” Draculaura gasped through tears. “The whole family—they’re all awful. Every last one of them!”
“They’re not used to your way of unlife,” Elissabat pointed out. “In many ways, you are better off than Ramoanah’s family. You acknowledge that there’s a world outside Transylvania. Most vampires do not. Still, you must remember that your way of unlife is very different from theirs. Many of our kind do not understand why the Boo World is appealing. But they will come around. In time.” She smiled. “At least, I hope they will. That is something I’m working on now that I’m the leader of this world. You have a head start, Draculaura. Vampires are slow to change. But eventually, everyone will have to come around. Vampires can’t ignore the Boo World forever. This is my duty as the queen.”
Before they could discuss it further, the lobby doors flew open. Cleo, Clawdeen, Frankie, and Ghoulia burst into the lobby. They were all laughing. “Where have you—” Draculaura began. But her words caught in her throat when she saw that Ramoanah was lingering in the doorway behind them. “Been?” she squeaked.
Ramoanah pulled her cape over her face, spun, and turned into a bat. She flew off into the night air before Draculaura even had a chance to say hello.
Cleo shrugged, her lips curling into a secretive smile. “We had a little project.”
“What kind of project?” Draculaura prodded.
Clawdeen and Frankie exchanged a look. “Ramoanah had something she wanted our help with.” Frankie giggled.
Draculaura gaped at them. Ramoanah wanted their help? She had refused all of Draculaura’s offers, but now she was including her ghoulfriends in the wedding preparations? How strange. What did Ramoanah have hiding under her wings?
Ghoulia leaned toward Draculaura and muttered, “Ramoanah is actually quite engaging.”*
“It’s true,” Frankie agreed. “She’s not as bad as we thought. I think she might be coming around.”
“Well, ghouls, this day is a wrap,” Cleo said suddenly, yawning. “We have got to get our beauty rest for tomorrow. This wedding is going to be epic.”
As she followed her ghoulfriends to their room and watched everyone get ready for bed, Draculaura realized she was now more confused than ever. Not one of the ghouls would tell her anything about where they had been all day or why Ramoanah had wanted their help. Draculaura knew she should be happy that her stepmomster had—apparently—been kind to her beast ghoulfriends, but instead, she just felt left out. Again. As she drifted off to sleep, there was only one thing Draculaura felt sure of: Weddings rot.
Today’s the day.
I can’t believe how excited (and yes, a little nervous too) I was for Dad and Ramoanah’s wedding just a few days ago. Now, with only a few hours left until I get a new stepmomster, I couldn’t be any less excited.
When my fiends got back to the Chateau with Ramoanah last night (where WERE they??), I felt so left out. Maybe Dad’s right—maybe Ramoanah is trying to be more accepting of our way of life. But why would she invite my ghoulfriends to help her with wedding stuff when there is nothing I want more than to help too?!
Is it just me? Is it possible that Ramoanah just doesn’t like me?
Honestly, I don’t even know if she still wants me to be her maid of horror. When Alexander told me he wasn’t going to walk down the aisle with me, it definitely bit. He and I were supposed to be partners, but I guess I’m on my own. Or maybe Ramoanah found someone else to be her maid of horror so she wouldn’t have to lose Alexander in the wedding party. I’ll find out soon enough.
I would give anything to have Clawd here with me.
S
igh. How am I supposed to enjoy the wedding when I’m feeling so worried and hurt about everything that’s happened since we arrived? Weddings are supposed to be happy…but at the moment, I’m feeling anything but.
Smooches, even though I’m not even in the mood ,
Draculaura
While all the ghouls got ready for the wedding the next day, Draculaura tried her hardest to act like everything was okay. She helped Frankie with her dress, found the perfect new necklace for Cleo in the Chateau’s jewelry store, and styled Clawdeen’s hair in the most amazing updo. But deep down, she was feeling rotten.
The wedding was to be held at a castle near the Chateau. Late in the afternoon, the ghouls piled into an enormous carriage that would take them—along with Elissabat, some of Draculaura’s closest family fiends, and the Hauntlywood crew—from the Chateau to the ceremony. All the way there, everyone laughed and chatted and oohed over the views of the mountains. Everyone, that is, except Draculaura. She just sat and stared out the curtained window, worrying. She tried to act like everything was normal whenever the Hauntlywood cameras were on her, but even that was difficult.
That morning, she had received word from Fangsly that she was supposed to join the rest of the wedding party in the castle dungeons before the ceremony. There, she would wait with the bride, groom, and wedding party until the public ceremony began. In vampire custom, the bride and groom always spent the moments before their vows together, celebrating privately with their families before standing before the rest of the guests.
As the carriage bumped over the drawbridge in front of the three-thousand-year-old castle, Draculaura could see that the grounds had been decorated so beautifully that it almost felt as if they were stepping into a fairy tale. She took in a deep breath, wishing she really were stepping into a fairy tale…one with a happy ending.
When they stepped out of the carriage, she kissed her ghoulfriends on their cheeks and told them she’d find them after the wedding.
Monster High Diaries: Draculaura and the New Stepmomster Page 5
