Rated PG-13 to the end of the story
The Monkees began to shake from the electrical current running through their bodies.
"The voltage is increasing!" Dr. Mendoza told his captives, "Soon you four will fry! You will scream for mercy!"
Instead of screaming, however, Micky began to sing.
"Here we come...walking down the street..." Micky's sang quietly.
Doctor Mendoza looked to see Micky, then Peter join in the song.
"Getting the funniest looks from...everyone we meet." The two Monkees sang.
"Hey hey, we're the Monkees..." Mike sang, catching on to what his friends were doing.
The machine behind Dr. Mendoza began to make rumbling noises.
"What are you doing?" Dr. Mendoza demanded.
Davy now also joined in the song. "People say we Monkee around..."
There was a loud pop and smoke and sparks began to come out of the doctor's machine! The Monkees were using their ability to destroy electronic devices to overload Dr. Mendoza's machine!
"Stop it!" Dr. Mendoza shouted at the Monkees.
"We're too busy singing to put anybody down." The Monkees sang louder now in unison.
The evil doctor and his valet tried to shut down the machine, but were getting shocked by sparks of electricity. Unnoticed in all this, Boris had woken up and was glaring at his father.
"We're just tryin' to be friendly." The Monkees continued to sing, even louder this time. "Come and watch us sing and play..."
The machine gave up a loud boom and smoke and flames poured out from its top and sides, then the machine simply stopped. The Monkees were still strapped to their board, unharmed and still singing.
"And we've got something to say." The Monkees finished.
"Now I've got something to say!" Dr. Mendoza screamed, "Groot, kill them!"
"Yes, master." Groot smiled, pulling out his knife.
Just as Groot began to walk toward the helpless Monkees, Boris howled, pulled himself free of his straps, and fell upon Groot and the evil doctor. The three of them crashed to the floor.
The room was beginning to fill with smoke and the Monkees began to cough. Davy finally pulled a hand free and quickly freed himself and then his friends.
"Let's go!" Davy shouted, as he tried to avoid the ruckus on the floor near him.
The four men ran for the steps leading up out of the laboratory, followed by Dr. Mendoza and Groot who were trying to get away from Boris. As the Monkees reached the bottom step, they heard a growl above them.
Looking up, they saw Nadia standing there, but she was no longer the doctor's beautiful daughter. She was turning into a werewolf, her tattered white gown the only clue to her former identity. The werewolf had only infected, not killed Nadia.
The Monkees stared up at Nadia in horror. Her father, Groot and Boris did the same.
"Wait, Nadia!" Davy shouted, "We can help you!"
But Nadia wasn't paying attention to Davy or the other Monkees at all. She let out a scream and threw herself off the top step. The Monkees jumped to the sides of the steps and Nadia landed on Dr. Mendoza and Groot. Boris joined the fray and it was a tangle of bodies as Boris and Nadia tried to kill their father and his valet.
"C'mon!" Micky shouted and the Monkees once again started up the steps.
Mike was only on the bottom step when a hand grabbed his ankle and sent him down, almost knocking the other three Monkees over as well. He looked back to see that Groot had latched onto him, a look of madness on his face.
Mike kicked out with his other foot with all his might and hit Groot right in the face. Groot howled and let go of Mike, blood coming out of his broken nose. The other three Monkees pulled Mike to his feet and together they rushed up the steps and out of the laboratory.
They went down a short hallway and found themselves back in the main dining room with the small stage where they had first performed for the evil doctor. Running as fast as they could, the Monkees crossed the room and through another door which led them into the castle's foyer.
With a cry of joy, the Monkees ran to the front door, only to find it locked tight. They pounded and kicked at the heavy wooden door, but it would not budge.
"Let's rush it together." Peter suggested.
Just as the Monkees were about to hit the door, it opened up and the Monkees crashed into several policemen.
"Are we ever glad to see you!" Davy exclaimed.
"Are you boys alright?" One of the policemen asked.
"Yeah, but Dr. Mendoza and Groot are in a fight downstairs in the laboratory." Mike replied, pointing to the door leading back to the dining room. "Go across that room and there'll be another door leading downstairs."
The policemen drew their guns, then went through the door that Mike indicated. The Monkees looked at the open front door for a moment, but despite themselves they followed the policemen to see how...or if...this would end.
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Boris and Nadia chased their father and Groot up the laboratory steps and into the dining room. Just as the evil doctor and his valet was about to exit to the foyer, the police and the Monkees entered.
"Hold it right there, you two!" One of the policemen shouted. "You're under arrest!"
The eyes of Dr. Mendoza AND Groot turned red and fangs came out of their mouths. Groot was a ghoul after all! They hissed at the policemen and the policemen jumped back in fear; one dropped his gun and another even fainted at the sight.
"Get out of our way." Dr. Mendoza growled.
Just then, Boris and Nadia charged into the room and leapt upon the two men. The policemen and the Monkees shrank back toward the door leading to the foyer, unable to do anything but watch.
Doctor Mendoza and Groot got free and then ran toward the windows and climbed up onto the windowsill, pullng down the curtains in their haste. The first light of dawn was just beginning to break over the distant mountains.
"Help us! Please!" Dr. Mendoza shouted, as he and Groot frantically kicked Boris and Nadia away.
Suddenly, the sun broke over the mountains to shine through the windows. Immediately, Dr. Mendoza and Groot began to scream in pain.
"NO! Noooo!" They howled, as their skins began to smoke.
They tried to get away from the windows, but by then Boris and Nadia, taking advantage of the distraction, had climbed up onto the windowsill and shoved the two hard against the windows. The old windows cracked then gave way, and all four fell through them and down onto the jagged rocks and dead trees far below.
The policemen and the Monkees rushed over to the windows, climbed up and then looked down to see what had happened.
Doctor Mendoza, Groot, Boris and Nadia lay dead at the bottom of the cliff. The evil doctor and his valet had tree branches piercing their hearts, and their skins were singed black from the sunlight and still smoking.
Above in the castle, no one spoke or moved for several seconds, the scene below them too horrible to comprehend.
"Rest in peace, Boris." Mike whispered softly.
"Hey, how long was I supposed to wait outside?" A loud voice demanded behind them.
Everybody nearly jumped out of their skins. Micky nearly fell out one of the broken windows, but was held back by his three friends. Turning, everyone saw it was Mr. Babbitt standing there, his hands on his hips.
"Mister Babbitt?" The Monkees exclaimed.
"Yeah, your ever-loving landlord." Babbitt replied. "You boys okay?"
"We're fine now, but what are you doing here?" Davy asked as he and the others jumped down into the room.
"That crazy doc's attempt to brainwash me didn't work too good." Babbitt replied, "A few hours after he took you four, I woke up and remembered what happened and went to the police."
"Thank you Mr. Babbitt." Peter said sincerely and the Monkees made to give their landlord a group hug.
"Now, don't get any ideas." Babbitt said quickly, stepping away, "Your rent is still due next week." He looked at the somber-looking policemen coming down from the windowsill. "What happened to that crazy doc and his assistant?" He asked them.
"They're dead Mr. Babbitt. They fell out of the window." A policeman answered, then looked at the Monkees, "Any idea who those other two people were?"
"Yeah, one looked like Frankenstein and the other a wolf man." Another policeman put in, shuddering.
"Actually, it was a wolf woman." Peter answered, "Her name was Nadia, and she was Dr. Mendoza's daughter. She was bitten by a werewolf."
"The other one was Boris," Mike said, "He was Dr. Mendoza's son, whom he experimented on trying to control his Marfan syndrome."
"And as you guys saw before, Dr. Mendoza and Groot were vampires." Micky finished.
"You kids are crazy." Babbitt said, shaking his head, "Talking about vampires, Frankenstein and werewolves."
"No Mr. Babbitt, it's true." The first policeman told him, "This is being kept from the news, but the reason Dr. Mendoza escaped from jail is because he turned one of his guards into a vampire who then freed him."
"Then the good doc showed his thanks by killing the guard." The second policeman continued, "We know all this because the dead guard had bite marks on his neck."
Babbitt swallowed and rubbed his own neck. "I think I'll wait outside again." He turned and left the room.
The Monkees enveloped each other in a group hug as a policeman called on his walkie-talkie for the rescue services. After several minutes, a rescue squad arrived and began the long arduous climb down the cliff to retrieve the four bodies.
As that was going on, other paramedics examined the Monkees and treated them for minor injuries while they told their story to the police. One of the paramedics, noticing the bright sunshine coming through the windows, remarked that it was unusual to see this much morning sunshine on this part of the mountain. As he was speaking, the rescuers started to bring up the bodies of Dr. Mendoza, Groot, Boris and Nadia.
The rescuers struggled to bring Boris' body, wrapped up in a shroud, back into the room, then brought Nadia's body, also wrapped in a shroud, up next.
"Where's Dr. Mendoza and Groot?" A policeman asked a rescuer.
"It's going to take longer to bring them back up here." The rescuer replied, "Nothing left of those two but bones."
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A few days later, Peter and Davy were asked to meet with Dr. Van Helsing, a specialist in the paranormal. He examined them thoroughly and ordered a series of blood tests. After several weeks of exams and tests, he determined that Peter and Davy were normal human beings and were in no danger of becoming a vampire or werewolf again.
Peter went to back to Dr. I Yank to get more antibiotics and to finish his root canal. The dentist had hired a new assistant named Valerie and after Peter's tooth was fixed the two began dating.
Groot's knife was sent to Scotland Yard in England for examination. It was determined that the knife was over one hundred years old, of English manufacture, and was of the type possibly used by Jack the Ripper to murder his victims. Still, with no known sample of Groot's writing and little other forensic evidence, (his bones were now little more than dust) Groot's claim was officially dismissed.
Epilogue
The procession of villagers quickly walked through the cemetery, not saying a word, and looking around them nervously. It had been many years since anyone from their community had been buried in this part of the cemetery and even during this rare sunny midday it was not a place even the most brave of them wanted to linger.
Behind the procession, several men carried the remains of Dr. Mendoza, Groot, Boris and Nadia. This was followed by a local minister, who solemnly clutched a prayer book and a silver cross in his hands. The villagers had decided to pool their resources to have the Mendozas and Groot buried here. Though word had spread quickly as to what had recently happened in the castle, the Mendoza family was still considered a part of the community. An auction of the late doctor's possessions was hoped to ultimately pay for this burial.
Finally, the procession arrived at an open underground crypt, with the relieved groundskeepers waiting for them. The name Mendoza was carved into the mantel above the crypt door. This was the Mendoza family crypt. But curiously, when the crypt had been opened a short while before, it was found to be empty.
As the minister read aloud from his prayer book, the groundskeepers placed the remains inside the crypt. It was a tight squeeze to get Boris' coffin inside, but soon the deed was done. The granite slab was slid back into place and a thick layer of cement was poured all around the edges. The villagers and the minister then made a hasty retreat out of the cemetery as the sun went behind the clouds once again and a slight rain began to fall.
That night, Dr. Mendoza's castle collapsed to the ground, crushing everything inside to dust, just like its evil owner.
The End
Chapter 11
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