Dracula Night

I think Eric is the only one who gets quite so excited over Dracula Night. Maybe Dracula himself does, though I'd never guess it from the twice I've seen him, and I guess Bianca gets pretty excited, but those two are pretty crazy as it is. Last year, Bianca brought Dracula a human heart as a present... One that she'd been carrying around in her purse since December! This year, she brought Dracula his ex-wife, Mina, in a jar. I always forget how goopy vampires get when they're killed.

Still, even with all the weirdness, and there was plenty of weirdness, it was hard not to be excited about the whole thing. Eric's own enthusiasm was catching, and not just because of our bond. It makes me happy to see him so happy about something, even if that something is Dracula Night.

Don't get me wrong, the whole thing was lots of fun. I loved getting to see all our friends. It felt like everyone we knew was there for the reopening of Fangtasia, and I know it was appreciated. The club really looked great, and the Blood Bar I came up with really seemed like a big hit for the fangy guests. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves. I know how hard Eric and everyone else worked to have the club ready for tonight. It definitely paid off.

There were some awkward moments during the whole thing. Eric introduced me to Russell, the King of Mississippi who's trying to stir up trouble in the area, and his companion Talbot. They were... not immediately intimidating. Just real strange. Real, real strange, actually. I don't know what's with vampires thinking "you smell delicious" is an appropriate thing to say upon meeting someone. I guess it's better than smelling bad, but really, it's just impossible to have a normal conversation after that. I don't like those two anyway.

There were some issues between Eric and Roman and Bubba, which I didn't quite like. Eric and Roman really seemed like they were bullying Bubba, but Eric's emotions were all wrong for the situation. I still don't know what happened, but I couldn't stay mad at him over it when I think there was way more too the whole thing than meets the eye.

That's about when Dracula showed up and terrified everyone. He broke up the fight by threatening everyone with a stake, and when he was done, Bianca gave him her gift. Yuck. Roman got really upset over the jar of vampire goop, and while Eric was introducing me to Dracula, decided to stick his hands into it for a while. I have no idea why, but it made me a little sick. We all pretended not to notice.

Meeting Dracula was just unpleasant. He started off by asking if Eric kept his wife in a jar too, when he said he'd be introducing me, which wasn't really welcome. Eric said "not yet," and I'm not sure what that was supposed to mean. Dracula didn't seem to interested in me, except to ask why I was alive. I didn't like that question or any of the alternatives. I don't want to think about other vampires waiting until I'm "vintage" or something like that.

And what did Dracula mean Eric was waiting for? To kill me? To turn me? I don't like the first option, and know that's not on Eric's mind, and the second... we just don't talk about. We very carefully don't talk about it. I love Eric with all my heart, and I know my future is with him, but what that future holds for both of us... we don't talk about. At least not when it comes to long term plans. It'd just get too complicated.

Dracula left after that, off to go do whatever with Bianca, and Eric took me into his office to comfort me. The whole encounter flipped me out more than a little, and my vampire didn't hesitate to take my mind off of it in the way he does best. When I was sufficiently distracted, the party was over, which Eric didn't seem too disappointed about as he drove us home. His car was surrounded in toilet paper, no idea what that was about, but thankfully there wasn't any on the car. I think that would've dampened his mood.

All in all, it wasn't a bad Dracula Night. No one died, at least not at the party this year, so that was an improvement. Still, I'm glad the vampire holiday only comes once a year.

Dracula Night - Blood Bar

Dracula Night - Outfit

Dracula & Babies

I feel like I haven't written in my journal in forever!

Things have just been so busy. I've been helping Eric with his reopening of Fangtasia more than I thought I was even capable of, but he seems to trust me with it. I'm designing a sort of… well, I won't get into it yet! It'll be a bit of a surprise, but anyone who saw my Thanksgiving menu won't be too shocked! Roman's excited, and he and Jessica have been wonderful guinea pigs for my experiments. Eric's cautious but has been real good about trying my concoctions.

We also redecorated his office. Well, just decorated. It was pretty blank, but Alcide did a great job with it! Even though the vampires give him such a hard time, Fangtasia really does look great! I can't wait for everyone to see it on the opening, Dracula Night!

We bought some furniture for it at IKEA in Houston, and even spent the night there! The hotel was so nice, I was surprised Eric could get reservations on such short notice, but he just laughed. That vampire thinks I'm so naive. Maybe I am, because I was impressed. Eric always impresses me, though. I don't think that vampire will ever quit making me swoon…

Unfortunately, it hasn't all been good news. I've been meeting with Portia a ton lately, which is great because she's such a lovely woman, but it's been about Gran. I realized after finding some legal documents in Gran's recipe box that I never really settled her estate. I guess just the shock of it all, with the murder and then having to go and try to not get murdered myself, aside from the funeral, that sort of stuff just fell through the cracks. Everyone knows the farmhouse is mine anyway, but it really is better to have it all taken care of the legal way. Portia's been so understanding about the whole thing, and so kind to me! I invited her, MeeMaw, the twins, Luke, and everyone else she can possibly think to bring to my house for dinner one night, probably after the opening when all this has died down a little. I hope sooner, but Eric's just been so busy, and I want him to get to know everyone. He knows how much I love entertaining, even if he doesn't understand it at all. Maybe MeeMaw will even bring Stan so he'd have a friend too! I don't think that's really how vampires work, since it sounds like I'm arranging a playmate and all, but we'll see, I'm excited anyway. It's great to have friends when dealing with tough subjects.

Speaking of tough subjects, Tara threw me for a darn loop this week! We went to Walmart to shop for some stuff for her new place, her, me, and Maya. It was great to see the little one; she's getting so big! That little girl has a real special place in my heart, between being named after Gran and being Tara's daughter.

Anyway, we ran into Sam. I was excited, because I wanted to tell him about the bonding ceremony and tell him I wanted to get back to work, but I forgot about all that real quick when Tara started shouting in her head about Maya having Sam's smile! I cannot believe she didn't tell me Sam's the father! I was somewhere between shocked and darn furious, to say the least. Sam deserves a place in Maya's life. I know Tara's heart was real broken when things between her and Sam ended, but it's just not right. A girl needs both her parents in her life, and it's not like Sam's a bad man. He's a really great guy, and I know he'd want to support her however she'd let him. I just don't understand what she's thinking. I made her promise to tell him soon, and I hope she goes through with it. She really better. Sam's missed enough moments in Maya's life already.

I was blessed to experience a great moment in Wes's life this week too. Lacey and Jack had a wonderful Christening for him. It was beautiful, though pretty shocking to see so many vampires gathered in a church. They seemed pretty uncomfortable, for the most part. Especially Roman. He broke a pew. Eric seemed pretty at ease with the whole thing, even made fun of Roman, though I didn't appreciate his tone in talking about the church. Nixie sat near us, and she didn't seem to believe in it either. I scolded them both for acting out of line. No one had to believe anything, just be respectful of Lacey and Jack celebrating their son. It was a nice ceremony, I think. Short. The guy doing it hit on Claude. That was awkward, but Bianca scared him off. No one saw him after that.

Everyone seems to be having kids, settling into families. Even I'm sort of married now. Things are so great you can almost forget the building tension of the vampire politics in Shreveport at the moment. It's almost easy to ignore the complications that Dracula Night should bring. It's almost easy to forget that a homicidal vampire and his crazy companion are poking their noses into Area Five's business, that batshit crazy witches are going around cussing Louisiana's vampires and that the name Hallow keeps popping up in the context of disappearances in the area. I almost don't mind that a fairy ancestor is trying to get involved with my life, bringing along the fairy that helped kill my parents.

Almost.