by Perdita Finn
Silvi, the new weregirl, was settling right in. She was using a giant paint roller to decorate Woolee’s fingernails. They sparkled with a rainbow of pretty colors. Woolee gave her a mammoth hug when she was done.
“It looks like our new ghoul has made a friend,” Frankie noted happily.
The ghoulfriends headed outside together. The storm was coming closer. The sky was getting grayer and grayer. Lightning flashed in the distance. The wind was beginning to blow forcefully.
Draculaura was reminiscing. “It’s hard to believe that just a few short months ago, Monster High didn’t even exist.”
“Yeah,” agreed Frankie. “It’s strange to think that just last year I was hiding with Pops. I’d never even seen another monster. Now I can’t take two steps without bumping into—”
Just as she said that, Frankie tripped over a ghoul’s legs. The ghoul was sitting on the steps that led up to the main entrance hall. She was all by herself, quietly reading a book.
The shy ghoul had a fringe of streaked blue bangs and shoulder-length hair. But something about her outfit and mysterious expression made her seem to disappear in the shadows or blend in to the stonework—even in broad daylight.
“Oh my ghoul, I am so sorry! I didn’t see you there!” Frankie apologized. She felt terrible.
The ghoul shrugged. “Yeah, I get that a lot. When you’re the daughter of the Boogey Man, you kind of, well, fade into the shadows.”
Draculaura gave the ghoul a friendly smile. “You’re Twyla, right? What are you doing here all alone?”
“I like to hang out here during lunch.” But she didn’t meet Draculaura’s eyes when she spoke.
“All by yourself?” Frankie questioned. She was always on the lookout for monsters who needed a friend.
“Sure,” said Twyla softly. Her voice was like the creak of a door in the middle of the night. “I like my alone time,” she added.
Draculaura grinned. “Hey, I like alone time too. Come with us and we’ll be alone together.” She linked her arm around Twyla’s and headed toward the courtyard with her.
Music was booming. Ari Hauntington was letting loose and singing her heart out. In the Normie world, Ari was a pop sensation known as Tash, but here at Monster High she could be her spectral self…which was a ghost. Still, ghost or Normie, she was always singing!
Monsters cheered as Ari belted out one of her top hits.
“We love you!”
“Sing it, ghoul!”
Twyla was nervous. She wasn’t used to being around so many people.
“You can always be alone at an Ari concert,” shouted Draculaura, trying to reassure her. “Alone with the music!” She and Frankie waved their hands to the beat.
Monsters were singing along and dancing. Twyla looked overwhelmed by it all.
“I used to travel the world, performing song after song, but now I’m here at Monster High, right where I belong!” Ari sang. Her long purple hair fell in curls to her waist. She seemed to sing even better when she was just being herself.
The ghouls cheered. “Isn’t Ari just creeperific?” Draculaura asked Twyla.
But Twyla was already gone. She had vanished into the shadows.
“Guess she’s not a music fan,” said Draculaura.
“Maybe she’s just shy,” Frankie explained.
“Oooh, I feel terrible. We should throw her a party to apologize. Like a really big party, and invite the whole school—” Draculaura’s imagination was running away with her. She was getting very excited.
“Yeah,” interrupted Frankie. “Maybe hold off on those invitations, Draculaura.”
Meanwhile, Deuce was rocking out to the music with his friend Rayth. “Man, wonder what it’s like to be up onstage like that?” he thought out loud.
“Deuce!” shouted Rayth, getting a great idea. “We should totally start our own band!”
“Yes! Yes!” Deuce pumped his fist in the air. “I am liking this idea.”
Rayth turned to the skeletons dancing beside them. “Bonesy? Skelly? You in?”
They started wailing on air guitars. They were psyched!
“That’s the spirit!” exclaimed Rayth.
Silvi and Woolee and their friend Venus McFlytrap overheard the boys.
“I play a lot of instruments,” Silvi told Rayth.
“And I’ve loved music ever since I was a seedling,” added Venus. The daughter of the plant monster had a punk-rock look: one half of her head shaved, the other half a pink mane.
Woolee, who didn’t talk a lot, nudged Silvi.
“And Woolee too!” Silvi said to the boys.
“Depends,” answered Rayth. “Can you ghouls do this?” He played some more air guitar, making all kinds of electronic noises.
The ghouls laughed and began strumming imaginary guitars too.
Deuce was impressed. “Wow! You’re good!”
“You are in!” Rayth shouted.
They all started air-jamming together—while the real music came from Ari singing on the stage.
No one noticed that overhead, the clouds were becoming thicker and darker. The storm was getting closer. Lightning flashed.
Chapter 4
A LIVE WIRE
Dracula was in the front of the classroom teaching his favorite subject—Humanology. Students were listening attentively. Clawdeen was doodling in her notebook. Webby, Draculaura’s pet spider, was sitting on the top of Dracula’s desk.
Dracula gestured toward Webby. “But while all of us monsters find spiders like Webby here to be charming and wonderful creatures…”
Webby blushed modestly and covered his face with one of his legs.
Dracula continued his lecture. “Still, it is important to remember that whenever humans see a spider, they do this…”
Dracula dramatically cleared his throat before demonstrating the usual human reaction to seeing a spider. He freaked out. He screamed, he ran around in circles, he waved his hands over his head. “AHHHHHHH!”
The students watched thoughtfully and took careful notes. They couldn’t believe it. How could anyone be frightened of Webby? Human beings were so strange.
Dracula stopped and composed himself. He smoothed his hair back into place. “Any questions?”
Deuce was scribbling away as fast as he could. He read over his notes. “Ahhhhh. Got it.”
“Very good.” Dracula said, nodding. “Then we’re moving on to our next Humanology subject.” He walked across the room and flicked off the light switch. “Darkness!”
Dracula turned the light back on. “Now, who can tell me what human beings think about the dark?”
Hands flew up in the air.
“I know! I know!” called Draculaura, jumping up and down in her seat.
“Oh yeah! Yeah!” Even Webby knew the answer.
Dracula surveyed the room of eager students. There was only one who didn’t have her hand up. “Clawdeen Wolf?”
Clawdeen blinked. She stammered. She was caught off guard. She hadn’t been paying attention. At all. She looked up from her sketch pad. “Huh? Oh—um—they think it’s clawesome? Because it is?”
“Absolutely wrong.” Dracula shook his head. “Humans are scared of the dark.”
The class burst out laughing. Moanica, who was sitting back in her seat with her feet up on her desk, snickered. How could humans be afraid of the dark?
“What’s to be scared of?” said Venus out loud. She was genuinely curious.
“Look out! There’s some darkness behind you!” Deuce guffawed. “Ahhh!”
Dracula waited a moment for the monsters to settle down. “Yes, yes, I know it’s peculiar, but it’s true. Humans cannot see in the dark like vampires and werewolves.”
Moanica, who had been disinterested until now, leaned forward in her seat. “Normies are afraid of the dark…” she said to herself. Her brow was furrowed. She was thinking hard. “Now that is interesting.”
Rayth raised his hand. “Professor Dracula? If the humans are so
scared, why don’t they just suck up a lightbulb like Gob?”
With that as a cue, Gob produced a lightbulb and gobbled it up. His whole blobby body glowed! The class burst out laughing—except for Draculaura.
“Listen up,” she told her friends. “You mansters and ghouls need to take this seriously. We must learn about humans so that one day we can live together happily.”
“Ha!” Moanica stood up in the back of the room. The Zomboyz followed her reluctantly—they were her minions, after all, and they were obedient. “I say we should learn about Normies so that we can get back at them for making us hide in the first place.” She put her hand on her hip defiantly.
“Moanica,” Dracula reprimanded her. “Please take your seat so that we can continue the lecture.”
But she ignored the teacher. “I’ve already heard plenty, Professor Dracula.” She rudely examined her fingernails, not even looking him in the eye. “And thank you for the lesson,” she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “It was…enlightening.” She strode right past Dracula and headed toward the classroom door. Embarrassed, the Zomboyz staggered after her.
As she exited, she clicked off the lights, and the whole room went dark. Except for the green glow from Gob’s stomach.
“Whoa!”
“What’s going on?”
“Is class over?” someone whispered.
“No!” answered Dracula, confused. Why had Moanica left? What a strange student she was, even for a monster!
Chapter 5
WATT’S UP?
Moanica sauntered down the hallway, flanked by a couple of hollow-eyed Zomboyz. Their green shirts matched the green streak in her hair. She was up to something!
“I just got an idea!” she whispered to the Zomboyz.
She lurked in the doorway of the art room. Clawdeen’s mom was instructing a group of monsters in painting. A couple of Zomboyz were in the back of the room dabbing at canvasses with their paintbrushes. Moanica motioned for them to follow her, and they did. Mrs. Wolf was surprised. There had never been a student this disrespectful at Monster High!
Moanica marched from classroom to classroom, from the reception desk to the Creepeteria, collecting her army of obedient Zomboyz. The moment she snapped her fingers, they put down their lunch trays and followed her.
In the library, they frightened away all the other students by blasting music on giant loudspeakers. Moanica pointed here and there. She directed the Zomboyz to begin collecting books. They brought her stacks and stacks of them—all about electricity. They staggered under huge, toppling towers of books.
Moanica sat in a rolling chair, and they pushed her up and down the aisles so she could look for exactly what she wanted. She tossed books over her shoulder, and the Zomboyz caught them.
In a shadowy corner of the library, a ghoul peeked over the top of her book. It was Twyla! At first, she was annoyed by all the noise, but then she became suspicious. What was Moanica up to?
Moanica had spread out a map on one of the tables. She was studying it. She spotted something and a big grin spread across her face.
Her next stop was the Mad Science lab. The classroom was empty when she went in. Experiments and projects were spread out across desks and tables. But the first thing that caught Moanica’s eye was Frankie’s special battery. She was about to pick it up to examine it when she stopped. Was it dangerous? Maybe. She motioned to a Zomboy to get it for her.
Zap! The Zomboy’s fingers touched the battery and he flew backward, jolted by a blast of electricity.
Moanica smiled. This was exactly what she was looking for.
Frankie was coming into the lab to do some more work on her project when she spotted Moanica and the Zomboyz. What were they doing in there? She stepped backward into the shadows before they saw her. They were up to something. But what?
With a gleeful smirk on her face, Moanica sailed past Frankie down the hallway, followed by her Zomboyz. Frankie watched them. It was never a good sign when Moanica and the Zomboyz gathered together like that, and Frankie was worried they might be up to trouble.
Moanica was ordering the Zomboyz around. She handed a pile of books to one boy. “You, read all these. You, gather some of these,” she said to another. “You, get me a Mummy Mocha!”
Twyla appeared beside Frankie. “What do you think they’re up to?”
“I don’t know…Wait, who said that?”
Twyla emerged from the shadows. “Hey, you want me to keep an eye on those Zomboyz for you? I could see what they’re planning.”
Frankie thought about it. “As class president, this is my responsibility. But thank—”
But Twyla had vanished into thin air! She wasn’t there anymore.
“Twyla?” Frankie called as she looked around, confused.
Twyla moved ever so slightly. She was right in front of Frankie, and Frankie hadn’t even seen her!
Frankie jumped, startled. “Gah! Okay, you are really good at that.”
Twyla shrugged shyly, secretly pleased by Frankie’s compliment. When your main talent is disappearing, most people don’t really notice it.
Frankie was thinking. “Maybe you should keep an eye on them. But you let me know as soon as you find anything. Whatever she’s up to, I’ll deal with it.”
Twyla nodded.
“I’ve got a feeling something big is on the horizon,” Frankie mused.
A huge boom interrupted her thoughts. Both Frankie and Twyla jumped this time.
“Was that thunder?” exclaimed Frankie.
Just then they spotted a cymbal careening down the stairwell. Embarrassed laughter followed close behind. “Sorry,” apologized Deuce. He pointed at the instruments rolling in front of him as he ran to catch them. “Runaway drum kit.”
“We’re starting a band!” Rayth explained. He held his bass over his head.
Silvi, Venus, and Woolee traipsed past them carrying guitars and triangles and bongos.
Twyla’s eyes met Frankie’s, and they both laughed.
Frankie raised an eyebrow. They had bigger problems to deal with!
Chapter 6
LIGHTNING BOLT!
Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed, cutting jagged stitches in the sky. Rain pelted down on Monster High. The storm had begun. Werewolf pups howled throughout the castle.
Frankie looked out the window of the tower room where the ghouls were hanging out. She was thinking about her battery project and all that electrical energy loose in the world. She could just see the hulking shadow of the town’s abandoned power station off in the distance—the same power station she’d hid in not so long ago. It harnessed energy. How could she do the same thing with her battery?
The other ghouls were lounging around in the loft together telling scary stories. They’d finished their drinks and their snacks. They were in a cozy circle. Clawdeen hugged a fluffy pillow. Cleo leaned in, captivated. Ari held up a flashlight to her face to make it spookier as she told her story. “And she heard a noise,” she continued breathlessly. “As she was walking down a dark tunnel, what she saw wasn’t a ghost at all. It…was…a…HUMAN!”
The ghouls gasped and shivered, terrified. Webby shrieked and leaped into the air, his legs flying in eight different directions.
“Aahhhh!” screeched Clawdeen. Then she burst out laughing with relief. A human. That was all. That didn’t have to be so frightening.
“You got me!” Cleo laughed, catching her breath.
“That was really scary,” Lagoona agreed. Her eyes were still wide.
Clawdeen noticed Frankie by the window. “Come on,” she called to her. “Let’s play Truth or Scare!”
Frankie grabbed a pillow and joined her friends. This was one of her favorite games.
“Okay, Truth or Scare,” she began. “Um.…” She looked around the circle of her ghoulfriends. Who would she choose? “Cleo,” she decided.
Cleo took a deep breath. No way did mummies give up their secrets that easily. “Scare,” she chose.
> Frankie bit her lip, thinking. What was the funniest “scare” she could think of? “You have to kiss Webby!”
Cleo groaned. Webby giggled and puckered up his tiny lips. He gave a happy little trill. Disgusted, Cleo picked him up and gave him a quick peck. Webby fell over, swooning with delight and making gurgling noises. All the ghouls burst out laughing.
Draculaura jumped in. “Clawdeen, you’re next. Truth or Scare?”
Clawdeen stared at Webby. Yikes! She didn’t want to have to do something worse than kiss a pet spider. “Um, I’m gonna go with truth,” she decided.
Draculaura clapped. “I know! What’s your biggest dream? What do you want to do when we don’t have to hide from the humans?”
Clawdeen held her pillow closer, thinking. Did she dare tell everyone? She had to! That was the game. “When I was a werepup,” she told the others, “we lived in a dark, dingy den. There was no style, no art. But then Monster High found me. And I discovered how good it made me feel to be creative and to create for others too.”
Clawdeen held up her sketch pad. In addition to her fashion designs, it was filled with the most wonderful watercolors about life at Monster High! But there were also drawings of a beautiful glass building filled with models wearing the latest styles. This was Clawdeen’s vision. That’s what she was always working on.
“So my dream is to open a salon,” she continued. “A place for everybody. Humans and monsters alike. And I want to be the head stylist that makes them all say…aroooo!” She howled like the weregirl she was.
Wow! Her ghoulfriends applauded her vision and her honesty.
“Clawdeen, that’s a spooktacular idea,” said Frankie. “You should do it.”
Clawdeen blushed. “Yeah, maybe someday.”
“Or right now!” Draculaura had an idea!
“Now? What, like now now?” Clawdeen didn’t understand.
Draculaura’s eyes were sparkling with excitement. “Think about it. Opening a salon for monster style is the perfect next step to revealing ourselves to humans. We could all work there and get to know them, and they’ll just think we’re in costume.”