“Life doesn’t always afford us perfect situations or easy decisions. Sometimes we need to make hard calls. Tough calls. Choices that will protect the future. ASOME is our only chance. Time is running out. Please tell Scariff Fred that you support reaching out to ASOME. Otherwise, there’s sure to be more abductions of beautiful young ghouls just like these two,” Miss Flapper said as she pushed a button, prompting a screen to pop up. “Here is a montage of a few of our favorite memories of Cleo and Toralei.”
However, instead of Cleo and Toralei, a friendly-looking normie with a thick mustache, dressed in a suit and tie, appeared on screen.
“Who’s that normie?” Superintendent Petra screeched.
“Hello, my name is Darren Mazin, and I am the mayor of the town next to Salem,” the man said as though he were answering Superintendent Petra’s question. “A young man came to see me today about a rumor that we were planning to build a wall to separate us normies from you monsters. Well, I am here today to tell you that nothing could be farther from the truth. As a matter of fact, at the last town council meeting we voted to extend an invite to our monster neighbors for our Fall Festival.”
“I don’t understand!” Superintendent Petra screamed. Her eyes darted around the Study Howl until she spotted Ramses de Nile.
“You told us that you met with the normie mayor. That you saw the plans for the wall?” Scariff Fred said as he approached the now stressed-looking mummy.
“I am royalty! A scaraoh! I am only protecting my history, my legacy!” Ramses de Nile hollered in response.
“But you’re a member of the Society of United Monsters?” Robecca screamed at she stood up in the crowd.
“I was, but then my sister Neferia helped me realize that ASOME is right. Traditions must be continued! Family legacies must thrive!”
“If my father were here today, I can only imagine how disappointed he would be to hear this, how disappointed he would be in you,” Robecca stated honestly.
“Trust me, your father made his disappointment more than clear to me,” Ramses answered.
“He knew? Is that why he’s no longer here? Where is he? What did you do with him?” Robecca screamed.
“This is absolutely shocking!” Miss Flapper cried out dramatically as she threw her hands in the air.
“Oh, can it, Sylphia! We wouldn’t even be in this situation if you had pulled off the Whisper like you were supposed to,” Tab Bee hissed as only a werecat can.
“Well, at least I didn’t kidnap my own child,” Miss Flapper shot back.
“No, you just kidnapped our former intern after failing to properly control her,” Ramses de Nile growled.
“Oh, please! Wydowna’s having a grand time in the old maze with Bloodgood and your divas! It’s not like she’s suffering!”
“First, I want to thank you guys for basically interrogating each other. It makes my job a whole lot easier. But now I am going to have to take you three downtown with me,” Scariff Fred interjected as he motioned for one of his deputies to handcuff Miss Flapper, Ramses, and Tab Bee.
“Royalty in jail! Never!” Ramses screamed as he stormed out of the Study Howl with Miss Flapper and Tab Bee hot on his tail.
“Well, now we know why he wasn’t on that list in the attic. He no longer considered himself a member of the Society of United Monsters. He had reverted to ASOME,” Venus said as she shook her head at the scene that had just unfolded.
“What do you think he did with my father?” Robecca asked softly.
“Maybe he’s in the old maze with the others,” Cy suggested.
“Where is the old maze?” Robecca asked. “I’ve never even heard of it.”
“Beneath the new one,” Miss Sue Nami grunted, before lowering her head in shame. “I owe you non-adult entities an apology. You were right… again.”
“No need for apologies. Just help us find Headmistress Bloodgood and the others,” Rochelle replied.
“Speaking of apologies,” Skelita interrupted, tears streaming down her black-and-white face. “Lo siento. I am so sorry. We didn’t know. We thought Senorita Flapper was our friend, our mentor. I considered her an older sister.…”
“I am deeply ashamed by our behavior. We blindly followed that woman, never once stopping to question her actions or motivations. But, ghouls, you must believe us. We had no idea what she was up to,” Jinafire offered solemnly, her head lowered to conceal her tears.
“We know, chéries,” Rochelle replied kindly. “Madame Flapper is a very charismatic woman with a very charismatic wardrobe—falling under her spell is easy, especially when you are new to a place and looking for guidance.”
“How can you be so understanding? We supported a woman who tried to ruin Monster High,” Skelita babbled while dabbing her eyes.
“Yeah, but you ghouls didn’t know that,” Venus added. “Plus, you’re hardly alone in having trusted Miss Flapper. She almost destroyed Monster High with the Whisper, and yet she was still able to convince the entire school that she was trustworthy!”
“In other words, don’t lose any steam over it! We know you’re good ghouls with good hearts, and frankly that’s all that matters,” Robecca explained, before offering the two distraught ghouls a genuine smile.
“Non-adult entities, I hate to break up this scarepy session, but need I remind you that Headmistress Bloodgood and the other ghouls still need rescuing?” Miss Sue Nami barked as she broke into a head-to-toe shake, sending drops of water every which way.
“Might we be of assistance in rescuing the others?” Jinafire asked, lifting her head for the first time.
“Thanks, but I think we got this,” Robecca answered as she turned and looked at her friends—Rochelle, Venus, and Cy.
finding a way down to the old maze was no easy task, as it had been long sealed off. In fact, after hours and hours of struggling and failing to locate the manner in which Miss Flapper, Tab Bee, and Ramses had entered, it was decided that they would simply have to burrow into the old maze using a mechanical drill from Grind ’n’ Gears.
“Drills and chills! Am I the only one worried that we might accidentally tunnel straight into Headmistress Bloodgood, Wydowna, Cleo, or Toralei?” Robecca asked with steam pouring out of her ears.
“Non-adult entity, for the last time, do not talk while I drill,” Miss Sue Nami said as she manned the large metal contraption in the middle of one of the maze’s many paths.
“Madame Sue Nami has assured me that this operation is safe. For as you know, safety is always my first priority,” Rochelle calmed Robecca. “Now, might it be that you’re feeling extra anxious right now because you’re worried about your father?”
“My father?” Robecca repeated.
“Yes, I imagine you are frightened that he might not be in there,” Rochelle responded.
“It’s just that with Ramses de Nile, Tab Bee, and Miss Flapper having disappeared back to the Old World, if he isn’t in here, we’ll have no leads. I may never find out where he is,” Robecca fretted.
“Scariff Fred said he has two of his best deputies on Miss Flapper, Ramses de Nile, and Tab Bee’s trails. I’m sure they’ll eventually catch them,” Venus reassured Robecca as Miss Sue Nami paused for one of her infamous water-spraying shakes.
“How’s it looking, Miss Sue Nami?” Cy asked as he wiped droplets of water off his cheeks.
“Just about through,” Miss Sue Nami responded, and then resumed drilling.
And indeed she was. Within minutes, Cy, Robecca, Rochelle, Venus, and Miss Sue Nami were lowering themselves through a root-filled hole into what looked like an abyss of vines, both dead and alive.
“This is what happens when monsters ignore their gardening duties, when they turn their backs on their plants,” Venus said as she shook her head.
“I am highly concerned about what might be living within these vines,” Rochelle said as she used her flashlight to investigate. “Rats? Snakes? An underground hybrid?”
“Snats?” Robecca chimed i
n.
“Pardonnez-moi?”
“That’s what we could call the hybrid. Snats! Or rakes!” Robecca offered enthusiastically.
“Non-adult entities, I hate to rain on this parade of faulty science, but there is absolutely no way that snakes and rats could crossbreed, as snakes eat rats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now that is not to say that there couldn’t be snakes and rats residing separately, that is absolutely possible.”
“Great,” Venus moaned sarcastically as Miss Sue Nami started to pull back the vines so that the group could move forward.
Miss Sue Nami, followed by Venus, Rochelle, Robecca, and Cy, started through the labyrinth-like setting, all the while each of them hoping the same thing: that Miss Flapper had been telling the truth when she mentioned the old maze, that it wasn’t a ploy to throw them off the right path.
“Deary me, I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t think anyone’s down here. Not even any snakes, rats, or hybrids!” Robecca yelped to Cy.
“But if they’re not down here, where are they?” Cy asked.
“That’s the problem. We have no idea,” Venus grumbled.
“Stop whining, non-adult entities. You haven’t come this far, battled this much, to give up before the mission is complete. Now, we can turn around like quitters or we can search every corner of the old maze until we are certain that ma’am and the others aren’t down here,” Miss Sue Nami barked.
“Madame is most correct. We have fought very hard to get to this point and now we must persevere until we find them, until we bring them home,” Rochelle responded.
Covered in a wide variety of splinters and scratches, the group trudged forward, pushing through dried-up hedges and tangle upon tangle of overgrown vines.
“There’s something up ahead,” Miss Sue Nami called out to the others. “A clearing.”
There, among the dried brown hedges and wildly growing vines, was a circular dirt patch, which bordered on an old metal door covered in soil, dried leaves, and spider webs.
“It looks like no one’s opened this door in years,” Venus mumbled at the sight of it.
“Sadly, I agree,” Rochelle seconded.
“Rusty gears! What a disappointment!” Robecca squealed, and then kicked at the door, her copper boot banging loudly against the metal.
“Chérie,” Rochelle started to reply, when a knocking sound emanated from the door.
“Did I just imagine that?” Robecca yelped as she looked to the others.
“No!” Venus screeched happily as she ran toward the door. “Robecca? What do you say you give this thing a quick steam cleaning?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Robecca replied as her nostrils flared and steam began pouring out.
Once the lock was clean, Venus assessed it, even trying to use her vines to open it.
“Allow me,” Rochelle said as she wiped her claws against her shirt.
But after fiddling with the lock for a few minutes, the granite ghoul sighed loudly.
“Zut! I am not making any headway!”
“Move out of the way, non-adult entities,” Miss Sue Nami announced as she ran full speed toward the door.
But even after the wall of water smashed against the metal door, the lock remained in place.
“I think I have an idea. It’s far-fetched, but you never know,” Cy offered.
“Run at it again?” Miss Sue Nami suggested.
“No,” Cy said as he turned and looked at Robecca. “What did you do with that key we found in the catacombs? The one you said might unlock the mystery to finding your father.”
Robecca slowly pulled out a chain from under her shirt, on which hung the rusted key.
“I held on to it like you told me, so I always remember to keep the faith,” Robecca explained.
“The odds are not in our favor,” Rochelle added. “But I certainly am hoping that we defy the statistics.”
Robecca slowly walked up to the door and removed her necklace.
“Please be in here, Father,” Robecca whispered as she inserted the key into the lock.
Never had the faint sound of a lock clicking seemed so loud and thunderous.
“I’m speechless,” Rochelle mumbled as the heavy metal door creaked open.
“Absolutely shocked, but in the best possible way,” Venus added, and then winked at Robecca, who was first to enter the space.
Behind the door was a small but charming room decorated as if it were the inside of a genie’s bottle, with purple satin walls, large gold pillows, and strands of beads dangling from the ceiling.
“Thank heavens you found us!” Cleo moaned as she walked toward Robecca, Cy, Rochelle, Miss Sue Nami, and Venus clad in an elegant hand-woven gown. “Not that it’s been all bad. Check out what Wydowna made me. I mean, I have to tell you, she’s more talented than Moanatella Ghostier and Calvin Cry’in combined.”
“It’s true. And now we feel super bad that we were so mean to the spider ghoul. She’s actually pretty cool. Obviously not as cool as me, but then again that’s impossible,” Toralei admitted as she flounced across the room in a spooktacular lace dress.
“Um, actually it isn’t, because I’m way cooler than you are. I’m royalty, in case you forgot.”
“So? I’m a celebutante.”
“Ghouls, sorry to interrupt, but is there anybody else here?” Robecca asked nervously, wringing her copper hands together.
“Of course, Headmistress Bloodgood and Wydowna are trying to break down the other door, the one that exits into the catacombs,” Cleo answered.
“Wydy? Heady? Come in here, we’ve been rescued! And you’ll never believe by whom! Those ghouls who used to drive me crazy, the wet lady, and the boy with the big eye,” Toralei cried into the other room.
“Wow, those are some pretty colorful descriptions of us,” Venus said with a laugh.
“Wydy? Heady?” Rochelle repeated back.
“Like I said, we’ve really bonded,” Toralei explained.
“While I am very pleased to hear that, I would very much like to encourage you to find new nicknames for them both. I am sorry to say that Heady and Wydy are not very becoming,” Rochelle advised Toralei.
Wydowna and Headmistress Bloodgood, who was also clad in a webbed creation, walked into the room and immediately broke into the biggest smiles possible.
“My ghouls! I knew you would find us!” Headmistress Bloodgood exclaimed.
“What about me, ma’am? Didn’t you think I would find you?” Miss Sue Nami inquired.
“Not really, but only because I knew you would be terribly busy running the school,” Headmistress Bloodgood responded diplomatically.
“Wydowna, how are you holding up?” Cy asked, and then motioned toward Cleo and Toralei, who were both checking their makeup in a nearby mirror.
“You know, it’s a funny thing, but once you get to know them you realize that they don’t mean half the things they say. And, well, that makes it a whole lot easier to be ghoulfriends,” Wydowna explained candidly.
“Robecca, dear, you needn’t worry anymore,” Headmistress Bloodgood said as she looked at the downcast ghoul. “We are all safe and sound.”
“Yes, but is anybody else in here?” Robecca asked as steam started to pour out of her eyes.
“What do you mean? Like our pets?” Cleo chimed in.
Rochelle and Venus instantly engulfed Robecca in their arms, holding tight, trying with all their might to absorb her disappointment.
“We won’t give up!” Venus whispered in her friend’s ear. “Not until we find him.”
“Really?” Robecca blubbered.
“Really. We’re ghoulfriends forever, remember?” Rochelle added.
“Yes, ghoulfriends forever,” Robecca repeated back with a smile.
awash in frustration and confusion over her father’s betrayal to not only her but Monster High, Cleo decided that there was only one thing to do—turn his tomb into an extra closet. And though Ramses had written Cleo a letter
apologizing for being led astray and promising to return to face his former friends and partners at the Society of United Monsters, Cleo continued with her renovations.
In the midst of packing her father’s seemingly endless supply of finely tailored gauze suits, Cleo came across a mechanical box with hexagonal panels. Intrigued, she immediately started tapping and prodding the strange contraption. Almost instantly a panel popped open revealing a picture of a normie, attached to which was a thin blue envelope. Tucked neatly inside the blue paper was a map, only instead of leading to a pot of gold or a specific location, it led to a man: Hexiciah Steam.
Sensing an opportunity to not only right her father’s wrongs, but possibly facilitate a family reunion for a ghoulfriend, Cleo quickly delivered the box to Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a child Gitty Daneshvari talked and talked and talked. Whether yammering at her sister through a closed door or bombarding her parents with questions while they attempted to sleep, she absolutely refused to stop chattering until finally there was no one left to listen. In need of an outlet for her thoughts, Gitty began writing, and she hasn’t stopped since. Gitty is also the author of the middle-grade series School of Fear.
She currently lives in New York City with her highly literate English bulldog, Harriet. And yes, she still talks too much.
Visit her at gittydaneshvari.com.
For more great reads and free samplers, visit
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ALSO BY
GITTY DANESHVARI
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School of Fear: The Final Exam
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