“Maybe we’ll find out at tonight’s meeting,” Robecca offered. “Although, am I the only one who thinks meeting in the woods after midnight sounds like the beginning of a scary movie?”
A full moon hung low in the sky, casting silver beams of light down through the thick conifur branches. Crickets chirping, bugs digging, and bats flapping turned the wooded area behind the school into a veritable symphony of sounds. Listening from their camouflaged post beneath a mass of fallen branches were Robecca, Rochelle, Venus, and Cy.
Venus, Rochelle, and Cy carefully monitored their watches, waiting dutifully for the hand to strike midnight and then 12:01 AM. Robecca, on the other hand, never one for time or timeliness, had fallen asleep while tucked beneath the prickly conifur branches. But as the ghoul had copper skin, she hardly had to worry about scratches.
“Robecca’s fast asleep,” Cy whispered to Rochelle and Venus. “And it’s almost time. Should I wake her?”
“Nah. Let her sleep. We already have five eyes and six ears, what’s another two more of each going to do?” Venus explained as she heard the familiar sound of feet sinking into piles of dried leaves.
First to arrive was Ghoulia’s mother, Mrs. Yelps, who in typical zombie fashion moved at an extremely slow pace. Next to appear on the scene was the well-coiffed duo Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, whose locks glistened beautifully in the moonlight. Trailing immediately behind the couple was Mr. Stein, whose limbs created quite a ruckus as he stomped through the forest. Seconds later, as if out of nowhere, Dracula appeared, dramatically throwing open his cape.
“What are you doing in a cape?” Mrs. Wolf giggled. “It’s a little cliché, don’t you think?”
“I know, but it was either this or my robe. As you know, I have very little black clothing in my wardrobe,” Mr. Dracula explained as Mr. De Nile approached in a dark black suit with a small sphinx cat perched on his shoulder.
“Seriously, Ramses? You brought your cat?” Mr. Stein scoffed.
“That’s Your Royal Highness to you,” Mr. De Nile replied arrogantly.
“More like Your Royal Heinous,” Mr. Stein joked under his breath.
“That is not funny,” Ramses blustered. “A lineage such as mine deserves better than your poor attempts at humor.”
“We don’t have much time,” Mr. Wolf pointed out as beams of red and blue light began to ricochet through the thick conifur trees.
“What’s happening?” Venus whispered to Cy and Rochelle.
But before either could answer, a blaring siren swept through the air, piercing the eardrums of everyone within a hundred-yard radius.
“Cover Robecca’s mouth!” Venus ordered Rochelle.
“But my hands are dirty!”
“Where am—” Robecca stammered as her eyes popped open.
Ever the vigilant friend to Robecca, Cy threw his soft white hand across her cold copper lips. Within seconds, Monster High was swarming with black-and-white scariff cars.
“Disband! Disband!” Mr. Wolf whispered as he grabbed his wife’s hand and dashed off into the woods.
As the lights and siren continued, Mr. De Nile, Mrs. Yelps, Mr. Stein, and Dracula quickly followed suit and disappeared into the grove of trees.
“Look, there’s Scariff Fred and Superintendent Petra,” Cy whispered, his hand still covering Robecca’s mouth.
“What could possibly bring Scariff Fred, Superintendent Petra, and all those officers out here at this hour?” Rochelle pondered while repeatedly rubbing her chin.
“Something important…” Venus muttered.
“By the looks of it, I think we’re about to find out,” Cy said as Scariff Fred and a battalion of officers stormed through the front doors of the school.
Blue and red lights flashed frenetically against the dark sky. Car radios crackled loudly, echoing through the windless night. Slowly pacing in front of the main entrance to Monster High was a group of three or four deputies who were all zombies.
“Can you imagine one of those zombies chasing down a criminal?” Venus asked, watching them sluggishly drag their feet.
“I think it’s safe to say the scariff puts werewolves and other more energetic monsters in charge of the chasing,” Cy responded.
“Is it possible the scariff has finally caught on to Miss Flapper? That he’s here to arrest her?” Robecca asked her friends hopefully.
“C’est possible,” Rochelle replied. “Or perhaps they are here because they found out where Headmistress Bloodgood is stashed away.”
“Wouldn’t that be the bee’s knees? Why, just the thought of seeing good old headless Headmistress Bloodgood makes my pistons pump!”
The sound of feet stomping preceded the throng of deputies exiting the main entrance. Two, then four, then six, then eight, then ten uniformed monsters stomped down the steps.
“Where’s Scariff Fre—” Venus was starting to ask when she spotted the scariff. Or precisely, she saw his ample belly, soon followed by the rest of him. Walking next to Scariff Fred was a lithe figure with bright orange hair and six hands, all of which were handcuffed behind her back.
“It’s the spider ghoul,” Cy mumbled at the sight of Wydowna.
“Does this mean Scariff Fred has figured out whom she’s working with?” Robecca asked.
“I don’t think so. If that were the case they would have arrested Miss Flapper too,” Venus stated as she watched Scariff Fred put Wydowna into the back of his car.
“Madame Flapper is a very smart woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if she used her wiles to put all the blame on Wydowna,” Rochelle said as she tapped her claws against a twig, creating a small pile of sawdust in the process.
One by one, the scariff cars pulled away from Monster High, once again leaving the school cloaked in the darkness of night. Unsure what to make of the evening, or what to do next, the quartet made their way back into the school.
“If only the bats could tell us what they saw,” Robecca muttered as she looked up at the small black creatures hunting for prey.
“I say we check out the attic,” Venus declared boldly.
“Mais, non! They didn’t take Madame Flapper, so it is highly probable that she is up there right now,” Rochelle pointed out logically.
“Yeah, destroying information,” Venus muttered while shaking her head in frustration.
Boom, splash, boom, splash! Dressed in an unflattering plastic robe and a shower cap, Miss Sue Nami turned the corner and bumped straight into the foursome.
“Non-adult entities, leaving the dormitory at night is strictly against school policy. And you know how I feel about school policy.”
“S’il ghoul plaît, Madame Sue Nami, you know how seriously I take rules. Dare I say, even more seriously than you? After all, I have an entire code of ethics, whereas you only have a few pages of school rules,” Rochelle expounded.
“Rochelle, I’m thinking now is not the best time to compete for who has the most rules,” Venus counseled the hardheaded ghoul.
“All four of you are to return to the dormitory this second,” Miss Sue Nami ordered.
“But it is impossible for us to get to the dormitory this second. We are going to need at least thirty to forty seconds to make it to our rooms,” Rochelle replied in her most matter-of-fact manner.
“If I didn’t have a more pressing matter to attend to, I would write you all up for detention!” Miss Sue Nami grumbled.
“You mean the spider ghoul in the attic?” Venus inquired.
“How do you know about her?” Miss Sue Nami asked, her eyes widening with curiosity.
“We followed the webs to the attic,” Venus answered.
“Smart, very smart,” Miss Sue Nami said as she broke into a dog shake. However, as the waterlogged woman was wearing both a shower cap and a plastic robe, it was nowhere near as dampening as usual.
“That photographer with all the attitude…” Miss Sue Nami grunted.
“CeeCee Thrue,” Cy chimed in.
“Yeah, that’s her,?
?? Miss Sue Nami said with a nod. “When she started developing the portraits, she noticed a pair of eyes peering out of the attic window. She notified the scariff immediately. And in light of Miss Flapper’s letter from the normies this afternoon, Scariff Fred decided not to take any chances, so he came right over and grabbed her.”
“Do you know what she was doing in the attic? Is it possible that it has something to do with Headmistress Bloodgood’s disappearance?” Rochelle asked.
“The scariff thinks she’s a normie spy,” Miss Sue Nami explained. “Now, for the last time, go back to the dormitory!”
“Okay, but where are you going?” Venus wondered.
“The scariff’s department to get more information.”
“Dressed like that? Boo-la-la,” Rochelle said as she shook her head at Miss Sue Nami’s robe and shower cap. “Surely there’s time for you to change into something more appropriate.”
“Watch it,” Miss Sue Nami grunted as she stomped away.
After bidding good night to Cy, the three ghouls headed to their room in the dormitory.
“I’m so tired I almost feel like a Van Sangre sister,” Robecca mumbled as she yawned.
“Please don’t say their names,” Venus moaned. “I am too exhausted to even think about those two.”
“Ghoulfriends, I am sorry to tell you, but fatigue is a well-known reason for underachievement, which does not bode well for our quiz in Catacombing tomorrow,” Rochelle worried.
“We have bigger issues than a test, Rochelle,” Venus explained as she grabbed hold of the doorknob to the Chamber of Gore and Lore.
“Like what?” a soft voice whispered in the darkness.
Stepping out of the shadows was the always-ravishing Miss Flapper. Dressed in powder-blue pajamas, the European dragon somehow still managed to look elegant.
“Um,” Robecca mumbled nervously, steam pouring out of her nostrils, “Penny was recently diagnosed with rusted gears. She’s going to need major surgery at Grind ’n’ Gears.”
“Yeah, we’re all super worried,” Venus fibbed, nervously playing with her vines.
“Well then, bonsoir, Madame Flapper,” Rochelle blurted out in an attempt to end the conversation.
“I’m so sorry to hear about Penny. But just one more thing before you go, ghouls. What are you doing out at such a late hour?” Miss Flapper asked with a tense smile.
“We needed a snack,” Venus mumbled.
“But the Creepateria’s closed,” Miss Flapper responded with growing intensity.
“Yes, but I keep roasted nuts and seeds in my locker, so we went downstairs for an impromptu picnic,” Venus babbled unconvincingly as she pushed open the door to their dormitory room and pulled Rochelle and Robecca in after her.
“Good night!” Robecca called out as the door to the Chamber of Gore and Lore slammed shut.
By the time Monster High’s first bell rang the following morning, the whole school was abuzz with nerves over the purported normie spy in the attic.
“Normie spies in our school! They’re turning us into fools! Normie spies in our school! They’re turning us into fools!” the pumpkin heads sang as they bounced down the busy hall.
“How is it possible that they turned one of our own against us? That the normies convinced a monster to spy on another monster! That’s just wrong!” Lagoona groused to Frankie and Draculaura with a furrowed brow.
“All I can say is Salem is in trouble, like high-voltage trouble,” Frankie announced seriously.
“What if the normies refuse to let me have my iron shakes? Without them… oh, I can’t even bear to think about it,” Draculaura trailed off as everyone’s iCoffins dinged.
LISTEN UP, GHOULS AND GUYS. I JUST HEARD THAT THE SPIDER CREATURE FOUND IN THE ATTIC IS NOT A NORMIE SPY AFTER ALL. THE EIGHT-ARMED GHOUL GOES BY THE NAME WYDOWNA SPIDER AND CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN HIDING IN THE ATTIC SO SHE COULD EAVESDROP ON CLASSES TO LEARN. WHEN ASKED WHY SHE DIDN’T JUST APPLY TO THE SCHOOL LIKE OTHER MONSTERS, SHE SAID SHE HAD BEEN TOLD THAT MONSTER HIGH WAS NOT ACCEPTING ANY NEW STUDENTS.
P.S. CRACK AND SHIELD DAY IS NOW ONLY THREE DAYS AWAY, SO GET READY, GET SET, AND START STRETCHING!
While Spectra’s blog post calmed the bubbling hysteria in the hallways, there was no denying that everyone was more than a little apprehensive of Wydowna. The simple fact that she had been hiding, spying on them from the air vents, left the students feeling ill at ease and unusually unfriendly.
So much so that when the scariff returned her to Monster High, few outside of Frankie and Draculaura would even smile at the ghoul, let alone speak to her. And when it came to housing in the dormitory, Miss Sue Nami decided it best she be given a single room. However, without roommates, the acting headmistress recognized that she might need some assistance and so she asked Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus to show Wydowna around. This suited the trio fine since they were eager to gather information on the ghoul.
“So you were just living in the attic and listening to our classes?” Venus asked Wydowna as she, Robecca, and Rochelle made their way down the main hall toward the elevator to the Catacombs.
“What can I say? I like to study,” Wydowna answered with a tight smile.
“And yet we saw no textbooks or notebooks in the attic?” Rochelle asked in an interrogatory tone.
“You’ve been to the attic?” Wydowna asked, clearly startled.
“No! Um, of course not,” Robecca jumped in. “Rochelle meant to say that we heard that there weren’t any books and stuff in the attic.”
“I don’t need to read or write anything down. I remember everything I hear and see. Spiders have very good memories, you know,” Wydowna explained.
“What a shame,” Robecca blurted out, prompting Venus and Rochelle to look at her quizzically. “Oh, I only meant that with six arms you’d be a great note taker. Not like me; I’m always steaming up my papers by accident.”
Venus pushed the button to summon the elevator to the Catacombs, just as Cleo and Toralei sauntered up.
“I never thought I’d say this, but what are you ghouls doing hanging out with her?” Toralei asked before motioning in Wydowna’s direction.
“Pardonnez-moi?”
“You ghouls are super scratchy and annoying, but she’s even worse… she’s feral,” Toralei said, scowling at Wydowna.
“She’s not feral!” Venus snapped.
“Well, she was squatting in a building; that sounds pretty feral to me,” Toralei hissed.
“Me too,” Cleo added before pulling at Toralei’s arm. “Someone needs a clawdicure. Like ASAP!”
“Whatever, gauze head,” Toralei retorted as the elevator doors opened.
“We’ll wait,” Venus said as the golden doors closed.
“Sorry about them,” Robecca muttered to Wydowna. “They’re a bit batty… and catty… and, occasionally, even downright ratty!”
“It’s okay; every school has a few ghouls like that,” Wydowna said with a smile.
“Did your last school?” Venus inquired while doing her best to feign casualness.
“Of course.”
“And where was your last school?” Venus continued.
“Um, um,” Wydowna stuttered. “You wouldn’t know it. It’s in the Old World.”
“You came all the way over here from the Old World?” Rochelle asked incredulously.
“What can I say? Monster High has a very good reputation,” Wydowna mumbled quietly.
“And you weren’t afraid to come here on your own?” Robecca asked.
“No, not at all. I’m actually pretty used to being alone, since it’s always been just me and my mom.…”
“What about your dad?” Robecca asked as thoughts of her own father passed through her mind.
“My mom, Arachne, was a normie until Athena turned her into a black widow.… And black widows don’t really like to keep guys around, so I never had a chance to get to know my father.”
“But I imagine you and your maman are very close sinc
e it’s just the two of you,” Rochelle added.
“Yeah, but she’s super busy. I don’t get to see her that much. It’s okay, because I have Shoo and she’s great company. Well, except that she can’t talk.”
“And thank heavens for that,” Venus muttered, remembering that Shoo watched her tiptoe out of the attic.
“Excuse me?” Wydowna replied.
“Oh, I just meant that talking pets would be such a headache, more annoying than a case of root rot, if you know what I mean,” Venus blathered nervously as the group stepped onto the elevator to the Catacombs.
Later that evening in the Creepateria, Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus whispered quietly to each other over dinner. Wydowna, exhausted after her first full day of actually attending classes, had decided to go straight to bed.
“Wydowna seems so nice. It’s hard to believe she’s caught up with Miss Flapper and all this other stuff,” Robecca said as she pushed her casketdilla around on her plate.
“I know what you mean. But the facts are the facts. She’s working with Miss Flapper and this secret group. They took Headmistress Bloodgood and they’re blaming it on the normies. So no matter how nice she may seem, there’s obviously more to her,” Venus declared before taking a bite of her casketdilla.
“I think we must be as kind as possible with Wydowna in order to earn her trust,” Rochelle suggested.
“Agreed,” Venus replied.
“Now then, do you think it inappropriate if I ask her to weave something for me?” Rochelle asked seriously.
“Rochelle,” Venus droned as she shook her head.
“I take it that’s a no,” Rochelle said as she bowed her head, slightly ashamed. “She’s just so talented!”
For once, it was not the shrieks of Robecca thinking she was late that stirred Venus and Rochelle in the middle of the night. Instead it was the sound of a muffled voice coming through the wall. And though it was nearly impossible to decipher the words, it was clear that it was Miss Flapper and that she was angry. One by one, the trio tiptoed across the room and pressed their copper, stone, and green ears to the wall. And though they tried with all their might to hear what Miss Flapper was saying, it was too garbled to make out more than the occasional word.