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A boy with black, shaggy hair, blue eyes, a pale complexion, pointy ears and fangs was standing in front of a mirror looking at his non-existent reflection.

He was wearing a black shirt with a black leather vest over it and black jeans, with black and red striped socks and red sneakers. He also had black fingerless gloves that went halfway up his forearms.

A now grown up Maven was having a pretend conversation with his dad.

"Dad, you said that when I turned 118, I could go out into the world like every other adult that gets to come and go from this hotel."

" 'But Mavey-Wavey, it's not safe! Bleh, bleh, bleh.' " he imitated, pretending it was his dad.

"Dad, 30 years ago, you promised." He said firmly, as he started walking up the wall, and onto the ceiling.

"I remember, we were both eating mice, and you specifically said that you gave me your word."

...

Dracula exited the elevator and started walking down the hallway. A bunch of shrunken heads were hanging from the hotel rooms saying 'Do Not Disturb' as he passed.

He stopped in front of one room and the shrunken head looked up at him.

"Oh, it's you. Glad you could make it." She said sarcastically.

"Is he up yet?" Dracula asked.

"Oh, he's up. He's up and ready to go. And by 'go,' I mean go. As in, go check the world out. What you gonna do? What you gonna say?"

"I got it covered. Please, relax. Just do your job."

Dracula threw open the door and walked in. "Good morning Mavey-Wavey! Happy Birthday my little mouse."

Maven's face appeared upside down in front of him. "Thank you, Dad. I know it's my birthday." Maven rolled his eyes.

"I have so much fun planned! Whoo-hoo! But first, we go catch some scorpions together, just the two of us!"

Maven jumped down from the ceiling and onto the floor. "Dad, please, let me speak. There's something we have to talk about."

"You want to go out into the world. You can." Dracula told him.

"Aha! I knew you were gonna say that. But Dad, you gave me your word, and you know that I know that a Dracula's word is sacred. That trust is the core of our...Wait, what?" Maven paused and looked at his dad, confused.

"I said you can go." Dracula repeated.

"You're just playing with me." Maven accused.

"No, no, no, no. You're old enough to drive a hearse now, you're old enough to make your own choices. You can go."

"Holy rabies! Holy rabies!" Maven exclaimed.

He hugged his dad, and sped into his closet. He reappeared holding a suitcase, wearing a floral shirt, and a straw hat.

He transformed into a bat, and started to fly out the window when Dracula stopped him.

"Woah, Woah, Woah. Wait a second, strongfangs. Where are you going?" He asked.

"Oh, well, I'm going to paradise, and this is just some stuff that I thought I would need." Maven explained

"Paradise?"

Maven turned back into himself. "Yeah, you know. It's that place out there where you and mom met."

Maven pulled out a postcard of Hawaii.

"Auntie Wanda says you two were just like, Zing!"

"I don't know from 'Zing'. Where did you find that card?"

"In one of your drawers." He admitted guiltily. "Why won't you ever tell me about how you met?"

"It's actually Hawaii." Dracula corrected him.

"Ha-what-what?"

"Look, son, I know you're excited, but everyone has gone to great lengths to come see you on your birthday." Dracula told Maven.

Maven sighed and turned toward the window. "I know, they always do." He transformed into bat and sat on his suitcase. "But aren't I getting a little old for these parties? I love them, but I really wanna see new things. Maybe meet somebody my age."

He started pouting.

"Come on. No, no, don't do that. Don't give me the pouty bat face." Dracula crumbled. "Okay, there is a human village just a little ways past the cemetery. You could go there and be back in like, 30 minutes or so. It should be plenty for your first time."

Maven sighed. "Well, it's not Ha-wee-wee, but I guess it's still technically out there. Okay, okay, okay." Mavis agreed.

He carried his suitcase back inside and got rid of the Hawaiian shirt and hat. He walked up to his Dad and threw his arms around him.

"Thanks for trusting me." He said.

"Of course, my little one. I gave you my word." Dracula patted his back.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Murray, Wanda, Wayne, Frank, Eunice, and Griffin entered the room.

"Hey guys." Maven greeted.

"You excited about tomorrow?" Frank asked.

"Not as excited as I am right now. You're not gonna believe this, but Dad is letting me go out on my own to see a human village!" He announced.

Everyone protested, and Eunice pushed her way through everyone. "Excuse me, Drac. Have you lost it?"

She pulled Maven into a hug. "Letting your own son out there with those horrible humans you always tell us about? That's why you built this place."

Eunice held Maven at arms length. "They hate us. They're vicious. And they're very loud!" She yelled loudly.

"Auntie Eunice, maybe they've changed. I'm just gonna fly down the street and see how it goes." Maven promised.

"Okay honey, be safe. Bring warm clothes and a sword." Wanda told him.

"And look out for pitchforks." Griffin warned.

"Don't you let anyone scoop your brains out either." Murray added.

"Maybe just stick to the shadows. It's more fun to just observe from under a house." Wayne said.

"Guys, guys. He can handle it." Frank cut in. "He's a Dracula for Pete's sake. But seriously watch out for fire. Fire bad."

Maven told a deep breath and walked up onto the window sill. He turned back to all the monsters.

"Bye everyone!" He waved, before jumping out of the window.

...

Maven fell down the wall of the hotel and transformed into a bat just before he hit the ground. He flew above a lake, dragging his wing into the water before flying high above the tree line.

...

Frank stood by the windowsill watching. "Drac, I can't believe how calm you are about him leaving. I'm proud of you."

He didn't receive a response, so he turned around and saw that Dracula was gone.

"Drac? Drac? Where did Drac go?"

...

Dracula panted heavily as he flapped his wings. He landed on a tree branch and frantically looked around for Maven.

"Whoo-hoo!"

Dracula looked up and saw Maven fly above him passing the cemetery.

Dracula flew ahead of him and spotted the human village. He landed in the street and slipped into an alleyway just before Maven arrived.

...

Maven landed on the roof of one of the houses and looked down at the scenery with excitement. He walked down the wall and into the center of the village.

"Uh...hello? Anybody out there?" He called.

The village remained dead silent. Maven spotted a window that had some lady mannequins wearing 1800 style dresses. Maven eagerly went over and pressed his hands to the glass.

Suddenly, someone came up to the window display holding a torch and waved it in front of his face.

"Vampire!" He yelled.

One of the mannequins turned out to be a person and they turned to face Maven as well.

"Bite toes!"

Maven jumped back from the window in surprise. "Oh, hi humans." He greeted.

Dracula waved his hand and used his magic to turn off all the street lamps.

"Everything okay? My name is Maven Dracula, and I..."

Another human came around the corner and pointed a pitchfork at him. "Burn clothes!"

"Burn my clothes? Really? Um..." Maven moved his hair out of his eyes nervously.

"Vampire!"

A hoard of humans came around another corner holding torches and pitchforks.

"We take your candy!" They groaned.

"I'm friendly, I really am!" Maven reassured them.

"Candy!"

"Calm down now. I just wanted to say hi." Maven said.

Behind him, one of the humans fell down and his head and his mask popped off, revealing that it was a zombie in disguise.

Dracula gasped and swiftly moved between the zombies, grabbed the head and placed it back on its body, and out the mask back on just as Maven turned around.

"Please, I've never hurt anyone." He promised. "I'm homeschooled."

One of the 'humans' shoved garlic bread in his face.

"Is that garlic?"

Another waved his torch in Maven's face, and another accidentally stabbed the person next to him in the head with a pitchfork, causing him to fall down and light all the other 'humans' on fire.

"Holy rabies, you're on fire. Can I do anything? Can I help you?" Maven asked.

They just kept growling at him.

Maven frowned and realization set in. "Dad was right."

Dracula perked up at this.

"Dad was right." He muttered, before turning into a bat and flying away.

Dracula appeared in the center of the burning crowd. "It worked. Now my boy will be safe forever." He sighed happily.

The zombies groaned behind him, and he turned to face them.

"Alright, everybody, get back to work." He ordered.

The zombies proceeded to take down the fake village, as Dracula transformed into a bat and flew back to the hotel.

In the distance, two figures were looking at the scene below from the shadows of the forest.

...

Dracula approached Maven's bedroom door. The shrunken head that hung on his door noticed him.

"Where you been? Why you sneaking around?" She asked.

"Shh. Quiet!" He hissed.

Dracula knocked on the door. "Maven, have you returned so soon?"

"Oh. Come in, Dad." Maven said from the other side of the door.

Dracula entered and saw Maven sitting on his bed, looking upset.

"How'd it go? How was the big world? How was it out there?" He asked.

"It was okay, dad." Maven replied sadly.

"What? What's the matter?"

Maven turned to face his dad. "Dad, you were right. Humans are awful. They were everything you said. They wanted to bite my toes."

"Your toes?"

"And they had garlic, on bread." He stood up.

"What? Look at me, I'm getting goosebumps, I'm so scared." Dracula pretended.

Maven stared forlornly out his window and Dracula came up behind him.

"I'm so sorry, son. I hate that you had to see that." Dracula pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry I doubted you." Maven apologized. "I'll never leave here again."

Dracula smiled. "Okay. Okay. Look, Daddy's going to make you the bestest birthday ever. Look what I brought you..."

Dracula released Maven and held up a plate of pancakes with worms in them.

"Your worm cakes. Don't be sad anymore. Remember, this is the year we open Mommy's present for you." He reminded him.

"What did she get me?" Maven asked.

Dracula shrugged. "We'll see. She said never to open until you're 118. We've waited this long."

Dracula handed Maven the plate and started walking out of the room. "You eat your worm cakes. You come down whenever you're ready honey."

He closed the door and let out a sigh of relief.

"What did you do?" The shrunken head accused.

"What I had to." He responded.

"Mm-Hmm."

"He'll thank me one day."

"Yeah, that's what the guy who shrunk my head said."

Dracula stuffed a cloth in her mouth to shut her up and walked away.

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