Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I know you know this, but just to be perfectly clear”, Vlarad the vampire said and looked around to his friends that had gathered in his laboratory. “You breathe in, then you stick your head into the bucket of ectoplasm, and then scream the address into the-”

“Pukebarfyuck slime”, Tom interrupted. He already looked like he was going to be sick. Oh no, he was not looking forward to this. But unfortunately there was no quicker way to travel, not even when you had a vampire, a werewolf, a still immortal former mummy, a zombie and …whatever Dada actually was. Plus Mimi, of course, only she could not carry Tom for longer than a minute tops.

Still, even with undead friends that could run or fly a few hundred kilometres in twenty minutes were slow compared to the green slime in the buckets in front of them. At least as long as the sun was up and Vlarad could not transport him - and then the others would have to have taken the buckets anyway. 

“I’m coming with you this time, at least”, Mimi tried to console him. She really was the only one who had close to no speed limit. She could’ve gone everywhere almost as quickly as with the ectoplasm, had even been able to go from Germany to Egypt in mere seconds. But she had decided to stay and travel with Tom this time… 

“Are you quite sure I should come along?”, Käthe Röschenberg asked. She had tried to stay as far away from ectoplasm as possible, ever since she had quit working for the European witch court to take care of her adopted grandson.

“Gran, I really think you could be helpful”, Tom said apologetically.

They were about to travel to Romania where the vampires had used the power vacuum after their former prince had gone to jail, to fight among themselves for dominance. And while Tom hoped that Vlarad, as a vampire himself and their former general, could bring peace to his kin, Tom knew that sometimes what it really took was a resolute grandma. And Käthe Röschenberg was not only used to dealing with the undead, she was also the most resolute person Tom had ever met.

Käthe sighed and nodded. “I guess I owe you this one, Vlarad.”

Tom knew she was hinting at the time where Vlarad had risked almost certain death to save her and Tom - and possibly the world.

“You do not owe me anything, dear Käthe. But your presence is appreciated.”

There was a moment of silence in which Käthe only smiled at the vampire and took position in front of her own bucket.

So the vampire changed into command mode again. “You all know where we want to go?”, Vlarad asked and everyone around him nodded. “Welf, will you take Wombie along?” 

The werewolf nodded and took the zombie’s hand. 

The vampire steeled himself for the uncomfortable feeling of travelling by ectoplasma. “Well, then …” He took a deep breath, plunged his head into the slime and yelled the address.  And then he felt himself transported.

Chapter Text

The first thing Vlarad noticed when he opened his eyes was that he felt sick. Nothing unusual when travelling this way, although normally he had more self-control and wouldn’t let the feeling have a visual effect on him.

The second thing he noticed was that the sun was shining down on him. It hurt. A lot. Even more than his stomach at the moment. But Vlarad didn’t see any flames on his skin or clothes.

No, they couldn’t have travelled through the dimensions. He had made sure they had picked the right type of ectoplasm, the one only used for travelling in their home dimension. But then the sun should have already killed him. And yet, with each passing second he sat on the ground, trying to compose himself, he only felt pain, not the feeling of dying. And he had died before, after all, he could tell.

“Where are we?”, he heard a familiar voice. Right, all of his friends, his family were here, too.

“This is most certainly not the castle in the Carpathians”, Vlarad stated and got up, albeit a little shaky on his legs. He knew for sure they were not where they should be. There were too many houses around them, and none of them looked like the old castle where Vlarad had once served as highest ranking general under an arrogant vampire prince - until he deserted the army to strive for peace. This was not the castle that was now without an owner, with lots of wanna-be princes and princesses fighting for it - and in need of Vlarad and his friends to stop them from killing one another, permanently this time. This was very much not where they were supposed to be.

“Vlarad! The sun!” 

“Believe me, Tom, I noticed it.” The vampire arched a brow at the young man he had grown to love like a son.

“But … are we back in Baker Street?” 

“No, this is certainly not the Victorian era London we visited once before. And unfortunately I do not believe myself to be entirely immune against the sun either. Though we cannot be in our world, either. Else I would be a mere heap of dust.”

“Okay, good … then you won’t mind if I sit here and whine and moan for a minute longer?” 

Vlarad did mind. But in their innumerable adventures he had learned that there was close to nothing that could stop Tom anyway. And it wasn’t as if Vlarad himself didn’t understand the need to wallow in self-pity for feeling as crappy as one did after using ectoplasm. 

He let Tom be for the moment and looked after his other friends, seeing all of them struggling more than usual, trying not to barf. Also Welf looked annoyed - but then again this was possibly his default mood anyway.

As no immediate action was needed, Vlarad took a few steps back, until the cool shadow of one of the buildings around them took him in completely, and the pain of sunlight stopped. This was new, too. Usually even a simple shadow was too bright to keep him from burning. Wherever they were, this was a world they had not yet visited.

“Does everyone still know who they are?”, he asked. Back when he and Tom had travelled to a world where Sherlock Holmes had been real, the others had looked like themselves - except for Wombie who had been very much alive back then -, but they had only been people from that other world. Lookalikes, but not their friends. This time they had travelled together, though, so Vlarad didn’t really expect any of them to not be themselves.

And indeed, they all seemed to remember who they were. And while Tom was still down on the ground, trying to get a grip on his stomach, the immortal members of their found family began to use their senses to find out more about their surroundings.

Welf with his better-than-human nose and Dada with her sharp eyes tried to look for any clue as to where they were, while Vlarad and Hop-Tep felt for signs of magic. Mimi stayed next to her boyfriend and his grandma, handing Tom his water bottle from his backpack and making sure Käthe was alright, while Wombie the zombie tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, until Hop-Tep’s human boyfriend took charge and found a hidden spot nearby where the zombie could take refuge.

In vain, it turned out, as Hop-Tep soon stated: “There is more magic here than anywhere I have ever been.”

“More than even at the Hell Ride”, Vlarad agreed, thinking back to the sports event where magical beings competed with one another, in front of an audience of equally magical beings.”

“I smell a variety of creatures”, Welf agreed. “Some magical, some … I can’t even begin to describe. Certainly nothing we have ever encountered.”

It was Käthe, who, finally on her feet, first accepted their new situation. “I think that means we don’t need to be as careful here. Now then … on we go. Best get on exploring where we have landed and how we can get home. After all, my flowers need watering soon.”

Chapter Text

It seemed people in this world were used to strangers turning up from nowhere and looking lost? 

On the first few hundred metres of their walk, they encountered several people willing to help them and point out the way to the Dining Hall, where they were supposed to be able to claim free food - they had to keep Tom from going there straight away when he heard about the list of desserts -, to the Sick Bay - “Are you sure you have not just died?” - or the place where they could get housing. For free. What the hell was this place? 

“Can we get food first?”, Tom asked, after they had walked down yet another street.

“Not long ago you complained about feeling sick”, Vlarad reminded him. 

“That was before I heard about all those different pastries!”

The vampire sighed, but it was Käthe who replied. “We really should get some housing first. After all, we don’t know how long we’ll be here. We need a roof over our heads and we need to get this all sorted out. They have free stuff here, which is fine, but we might need to pay for the ingredients for the ectoplasm back, so perhaps we even need to find ourselves jobs.” Not that this would be much of an issue, after all most of them had skills that surpassed any human’s capabilities. Surely there would be something of value they could do here?

Käthe went on: “So, even if we end up being gone in a few hours, we should first get settled.”

“Still not in favour of flatmates”, Dada reminded them.

“We really also don’t wanna be door to door with you at the moment”, Mimi muttered, still very much audible. After Dada and Welf had gotten together … Well, a werewolf and a wild cat could be very loud, no matter if they were fighting … or else. 

Tom looked at his arm and saw the red dots there. His ghost nav was intact here. Which meant he could still summon his friends in a matter of seconds, no matter how far apart they would be living. “Then I guess, if it is allowed, we should get more than one house? Hop-Tep and his friend in one, Welf and Dada in another one, Gran and me-”

“And me!” 

“Yes, of course, Mimi. And … maybe Wombie, too?” After all, he could not let the zombie live on his own. Wombie was a loyal friend, but not exactly a very independent person.”

“Hm!”

“Yes, Wombie, of course, Odor can come live with us as well. I would never have you live without your plush rabbit.” 

“And I will claim a house of my own”, Vlarad stated. “After all, I will need some space for a laboratory.”

Tom nodded. “But we’ll meet on a daily basis, right?” 

Vlarad placed a hand on his shoulder. “And with telepathy we are only one thought away. This is not the end of our community, Tom. Only a way to make the best of our situation.” 

It still felt strange. To all of them. While Hop-Tep had already moved out of their Ghost Train and Käthe had always had her own home, most of them hadn’t been apart from one another for years, some even centuries. Not really, anyway.

And still it was also a natural development, in a way. People found love, and wanted to have some space of their own. And here, for a while, they could have it, without having to worry about money.

For a moment Tom caught himself wondering if it would really be a bad thing if they had to stay here, for good. Vlarad could survive the sun, there was free food, it seemed there was a lot to explore here, especially magic-wise. And really, with almost all of them here, there was nothing they really needed to go back home for, was there?

But maybe he should wait to see what this world was like to live in, before he voiced his thoughts. For the moment all they could do was get a temporary home and then find out where the hell they were anyway. And Tom was looking forward to that. Finally this seems to be one adventure where neither of them would get close to dying - neither for the first nor for the final time.

Chapter Text

When Tom saw the flying house that Vlarad had chosen - as well as the fridge full of blood and blood surrogates -, he knew that it would be hard not to feel at home here - not to feel so much at home that they didn’t want to leave anymore.

But what about Welf? Sure, a home of his own with Dada, perhaps even children - could undead creatures like them get children? - was nice, but Welf had an emotional connection to their Ghost Train that ran deeper than Tom had ever seen anywhere else. A man who got almost murderous at the thought of changing a light bulb … 

Maybe there was some way to transport the Ghost Train here? It seemed this world was close to perfect - but it still lacked entertainment. Huh, maybe he should go and ask the authorities if that was in any way possible. And if it was, it was time to bring up the topic of staying here. Perhaps even for good.