“ ‘Pranksy, Monster High’s most notorious graffitist, has struck again, and this time he’s made a very powerful enemy—Mr. Hack,’ ” Robecca read out loud. “ ‘Pranksy scrawled THEY WILL BE OUR DEMISE and THEY WILL BE THE END OF US on the floor in front of the Mad and Deranged Scientist Laboratory. And Mr. Hack has promised to fail Pranksy once his or her identity has been revealed. Stay tuned…. Oh, and don’t forget your umbrella. It looks like it’s going to rain again this afternoon.’ ”
Robecca stuffed her iCoffin in her pocket and then darted down the hall toward the dormitory.
The black-and-blue-haired ghoul was just about halfway up the rose-colored staircase when she found herself face-to-face with the always well-groomed Miss Flapper. With the long silk kimono clinging perfectly to her frame, the European dragon was rather breathtaking.
“Just the ghoul I was looking for,” Miss Flapper hissed slowly.
“You’re looking for me? Do you need something steamed? While I am of course happy to do it, I’m nowhere near as good as a real dry cleaner, especially right now, since my pressure gauge is acting up,” Robecca babbled while fiddling clumsily with one of her rivets.
“Steam something? I would never ask you such a thing. Actually, I was looking for you because I heard from Abbey Bominable that you’re an excellent Skultimate Roller Maze teacher. So I thought I might take you up on your offer for free lessons. Maybe afterward we could even grab a Croak-a-Cola at the Die-ner.”
Robecca smiled and racked her brain for an acceptable excuse, but she simply could not think of one.
“Gee whiz, that sounds swell. Really truly swell, but…” Robecca trailed off. “Unfortunately I am so bogged down with homework, I’ve had to suspend my Skultimate Roller Maze tutorials,” she continued as she inelegantly tried to pass the dragon on the stairs.
Now only a few inches from the delicate creature, Robecca once again smelled the familiar mixture of lilac and rose, prompting her pistons to stall. Uncomfortable and anxious, Robecca summoned all the water she had left in her boiler to push past the dainty dragon.
“Well, maybe next time,” Miss Flapper said with palpable disappointment.
“Toodles!” Robecca blurted out as she pushed aside the webbed curtain and zoomed down the dormitory hall before coming to a screeching halt. There, positioned just before her door, was Penny with a note tied tightly around her neck.
Oh dear, oh dear, Robecca thought. They’ve gotten to Penny!
Unable to face reading the note alone, Robecca immediately turned to go in search of Rochelle and Venus, whom she promptly found right behind her. As Robecca tried to explain what she had discovered, Rochelle and Venus interrupted her repeatedly to say they’d been looking for her everywhere so they could apologize for their Day of the Dad insensitivity.
“Oh, enough about Day of the Dad! Can we please stay focused on Penny?” Robecca hollered, pointing at the floor.
“Let’s get her inside,” Venus said as she picked up the sour-faced penguin and opened the door to the Chamber of Gore and Lore.
After removing the note and silently reading it to herself, Venus paused, prompting Rochelle to clear her throat theatrically. “Venus, you must read the note aloud. Honestly, look at poor Robecca. She’s on the verge of blowing a gasket!”
Venus nodded and then pursed her lips before finally reading the note. “ ‘Dear Robecca, I just wanted to see how you were doing. I’m leaving this note with Penny, but as she looks deeply annoyed by both Roux and Chewy, I’m going to put her in the hall for a little peace and quiet. Your friend, Cy.’ ”
“Oh, I’ve never been happier to hear from that one-eyed wonder in my life!” Robecca squealed as she engulfed Penny in a massive hug.
“Ve vould have taken his message, but ve vere just too tired,” a voice came from beneath Rochelle’s bed.
“Oh, come on! Not again,” Venus groaned as Rose and Blanche Van Sangre crept out from under Rochelle’s and Robecca’s beds.
“Boo-la-la! Why are you so obsessed with our room?” Rochelle inquired as she shook her head and tapped her fingers in frustration atop a nearby table.
“Ve vere asleep in the Libury, but Cleo and Toralei vere screaming so loudly, ve couldn’t get a moment’s rest,” Blanche said as she wiped sleep from her eyes.
“Those two have gone completely batty over the Hex Factor. It’s only a few days away, and they still can’t agree on a theme. Honestly, if I were Frankie or Draculaura, I would have tossed them out of the Frightingale Society after the way they have behaved,” Robecca commented with a judgmental air.
“No, this time zey veren’t fighting about the Hex Factor, zey vere hollering about how much zey hated ze rain, that it’s ruining zeir hair,” Rose explained as she grabbed hold of her sister’s arm.
After exchanging seemingly blank expressions with each other, Rose and Blanche exited the room without offering so much as a “sorry” or “thank you.”
“Well, I finally have something in common with Cleo and Toralei. I also hate the rain,” Venus confided to the others.
“What? How can an environmentalist hate the rain?” Robecca asked with a perplexed expression.
“It’s kind of hard to maintain a neat and tidy compost pile when the rain keeps washing everything away. I hate to admit it, but the back field is starting to look like a trash dump.” Venus sighed dejectedly.
“In that case, I think it might be wise for you and Lagoona to put the pile on hold until after the storm passes,” Rochelle suggested.
“Ugh, failure. It’s more exhausting than I thought it would be. I’m going to bed,” Venus complained as she crawled beneath her sheets.
Early the next morning Robecca popped out of bed screaming, “What time is it? What time is it?”
“Go back to bed,” Venus groaned from under her mummy-gauze and werewolf-fur sheets. “The sun isn’t even out yet.”
“Actually, Venus, the sun is out; it’s just hidden behind all these terrible black rain clouds. For once Robecca is actually on time,” Rochelle explained as their morning alarm clock started to beep.
“Did you hear that, Penny? I’m on time! Deary me! I’m so happy, I could do three laps around the school!”
“Cool your jets, Robecca,” Venus grumbled. “If you do three laps around the school, then you’ll miss breakfast and most likely be seriously late for Catacombing class.”
The three sleepy-eyed ghouls had only just sat down in the Creepateria when Lagoona came rushing up to their table with a muddy piece of paper in hand.
“Venus, I’ve been looking all over for you!” Lagoona said excitedly. “I went out to the compost pile this morning to spread some dirt over it, ya know, to contain things until after the storm passes. Only I didn’t even have a chance to do that because look what I found pinned to an old apple core,” she finished, handing Venus the filth-laden note.
“ ‘Ticktock, ticktock. Your freedom is about to disappear. They’re almost here,’ ” Venus said, reading the letter aloud.
“And Gil and Ghoulia just found notes in their lockers. I’ve got to say, this whole Pranksy thing is getting kind of creepy,” Lagoona confessed. “And not in a good way.”
“You can say that again,” Venus said as she discreetly sniffed the letter and then nodded to Robecca and Rochelle to convey the presence of perfume. “Come on, ghouls, Pranksy or no Pranksy, we’re going to be late for Catacombing if we don’t get a move on it.”
“We need to figure out whether the notes are about Miss Flapper or written by her,” Venus explained seriously to Rochelle and Robecca as they sifted carefully through soil at their digging station in Catacombing class.
“The fact that the notes, cats, and messages are increasing in number tells us that something is coming. That trouble is fast approaching,” Rochelle hypothesized as she pulled another antique key from the ground.
“Jeez Louise, how many keys did our forefathers need? They must have locked up everything,” Robecca said as
she played with the old rusted key.
“Maybe we should make jewelry out of them. They’re kind of ghoul,” Venus suggested, holding up a couple of keys to see how they would look.
“Wear something rusty? That’s less appealing than listening to Toralei and Cleo fight about the Hex Factor,” Robecca replied candidly.
“Speaking of which, the Hex Factor’s almost here, so I’m guessing we’re not participating,” Venus surmised.
“As far as I am concerned, clapping at the end of each act is a valid form of participation,” Rochelle stated sincerely.
“Ahhhhh! Help me! Help me!” Frankie Stein’s voice echoed through the tunnels, prompting all who heard it to run back to the classroom.
Standing in the middle of the room was Mr. Mummy, inspecting a letter covered in spider threads that had been found inside another doll of doom.
“What does it say?” Venus asked Draculaura.
“ ‘How can you sit here and dig through the past while they destroy the future?’ ” Draculaura responded. “But that’s not all. Just as she opened it, a stone came crashing down from the ceiling. It only missed her by an inch. I don’t care what anyone says. These dolls bring bad luck. I mean, look what just happened to Frankie.”
“Boys and ghouls, I have some business to attend to with the headmistress. Therefore, I have no choice but to dismiss class early. Please pack up your tools and head for the elevator,” Mr. Mummy said, directing his students.
“Dolls cannot bring bad luck,” Rochelle whispered intently to her ghoulfriends. “The stone falling was nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.”
“Whether they bring bad luck or not, at least someone’s starting to realize this isn’t a prank,” Venus muttered with relief.
Using what Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus could only imagine was her ghostly nature, Spectra managed to “overhear” Mr. Mummy’s conversation with the headmistress and Miss Sue Nami. After weeks of dismissing the notes and cats as nothing more than pranks, they had come to realize that Monster High was in actual danger. But since they didn’t know who the notes were warning them about or who had written them, they hadn’t a clue as to the proper course of action.
Within minutes of hearing this, Spectra updated her blog, declaring that there was in fact no Pranksy and that the school was currently facing great peril. The blog post dramatically altered the mood in the halls, filling students and staff members alike with all-consuming anxiety about the future.
The stressful atmosphere only intensified when monster after monster discovered dolls of doom in their lockers, each containing an ominous note warning of the mysterious they. But worst of all, the dolls were now universally accepted to be messengers of bad luck. And whether real or imagined, those who received the dolls felt terrible things were occurring to them immediately after coming into contact with the coarsely carved figurines.
“Ahhh!” Cleo screeched as she threw a doll of doom at Deuce. “Get rid of it!”
“What? No! I don’t want to touch it! Don’t you remember what happened last time? No more than two hours after holding a doll of doom, I accidentally turned that bird to stone,” Deuce responded, ducking as the doll flew past him.
“You’re complaining about turning a bird into stone? One day after I found that doll in the Creepateria, I ripped my favorite gauze leggings! Do you even understand how important gauze is to a mummy? It’s like fur to a werewolf or fangs to a vampire!”
“Ouch!” Draculaura whimpered as she tried to remove a large splinter she received while handling the rough wooden doll of doom. “Two seconds after touching it, and I’m already in pain.”
“Boo-la-la, everyone is becoming hysterical. They’ve lost the ability to rationally see what’s happening,” Rochelle said as she shook her head.
“I’m more worried about the steady increase of dolls. It feels like they’re building up to something,” Venus whispered to Rochelle and Robecca as they made their way down the corridor to G-ogre-phy.
“Yes, and I only wish we knew what. Then we might have a chance to stop it,” Rochelle said somberly.
“Deary me! Deary me!” Robecca blathered nervously as small bursts of steam escaped her ears.
“Non-adult entities, I would like to have a minute of your time in private.” Miss Sue Nami splashed into view and motioned for the trio to follow her.
“While we would be more than happy to speak with you, we do not wish to be late for G-ogre-phy. Tardiness is against the rules and, as you know, I take rules very seriously, Miss Sue Nami,” Rochelle proclaimed earnestly, much to the Deputy of Disaster’s delight.
“I respect your rule-abiding nature and will personally explain your tardiness to your teacher. Now follow me,” Miss Sue Nami grunted, heading toward the Study Howl.
Miss Sue Nami looked nervously around the room, scanning every nook and cranny for possible eavesdroppers.
“I need some information,” Miss Sue Nami said in an abnormally quiet voice.
“Unfortunately, Miss Sue Nami, we do not have solid evidence as to who is behind the notes, cats, and dolls, but to be frank, we do have our suspicions about a certain someone,” Rochelle interjected, before giving the soggy woman a chance to even ask her question.
“As you are aware, I no longer believe this to be the work of a prankster. And therefore I have started investigating,” Miss Sue Nami leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. “Headmistress Bloodgood might have wholeheartedly believed Miss Flapper when she claimed to be under a spell last semester, but I didn’t. You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool the Deputy of Disaster.”
“Actually, getting up early in the morning has nothing to do with fooling people,” Rochelle corrected the waterlogged woman.
“Rochelle, it’s a figure of speech,” Venus explained, and then motioned for Miss Sue Nami to continue.
“Well, seeing as you non-adult entities are currently living next door to that crafty-eyed clotheshorse, I thought you might have seen something.”
“Seen something? No. Heard something? Yes,” Venus replied.
“What do you mean?” Miss Sue Nami asked impatiently.
“Shortly into the semester we heard someone crawl across our ceiling and jump down into Miss Flapper’s room. And then we heard her angrily tell off the visitor for coming to see her and putting her plan in jeopardy,” Venus explained.
“What did she say the plan was?”
“She didn’t,” Rochelle responded, “which is why I think it’s wise we follow her movements a bit more closely,” Rochelle added while Miss Sue Nami jumped up from the table, nodded her head, and stormed out of the room, leaving many a puddle in her wake.
tucked snugly behind a large wooden planter’s box at Ms. Kindergrubber’s Garden for Grub, Robecca ran her smooth copper fingers through the grass. The soft strands tickled her hand, instantly distracting the young ghoul. No longer focused on watching Miss Flapper through the weathered wooden slats, Robecca daydreamed of curling up on the lush lawn for a quiet nap. It was an odd thought, seeing as how Robecca, unlike the Van Sangre sisters, did not much care for sleeping in public places, or anywhere other than her bed, for that matter.
But so inviting were the silky stalks, she completely forgot about Miss Flapper, who was currently gathering small white daisies in a wicker basket.
It was a rather idyllic scene: A beautiful young dragon picking flowers in a wonderfully lush garden. Except for the part about the three young ghouls carefully monitoring her every move for any sign of impropriety.
“I can’t believe she’s picking flowers. Who actually does that?” Venus whispered seconds after scurrying over to Rochelle.
“Évidemment, Madame Flapper does, but I suspect many other monsters do as well, especially those with gardens,” Rochelle replied while Venus simultaneously rolled her eyes and shook her head at the preternaturally literal gargoyle.
“Rusty gears!” Robecca hissed, having only just looked up from the grass. �
�The Winged Wonder is on the move,” she continued, pointing to Miss Flapper sashaying gracefully toward the garden’s main gate.
“Winged Wonder? I thought we decided her code name was Red Robin?” Venus questioned Robecca.
“Why are you two so insistent on having a code name for her? She has a perfectly good real name, which everyone remembers,” Rochelle pointed out logically.
“Rochelle, why don’t we just cut off the snail’s tail while we’re at it?” Robecca snapped.
“And before you say it, yes, we know snails don’t actually have tails! Robecca’s just trying to say that having a code name makes the mission a little more fun, and it helps us forget that we are once again chasing Miss Flapper as our school faces some kind of… something!” Venus huffed.
“Very well then. I vote for Curiously Couture,” Rochelle remarked with an approving nod, clearly pleased with her choice.
“Jeepers, the name debate is going to have to wait. We need to move,” Robecca whispered as Miss Flapper exited the indoor garden seconds before the trio discreetly scampered after her into the school’s main building.
As the academic day had only just ended an hour before, the corridors were still lively with monsters making their way to after-school clubs. Most surprisingly, even with the rampant anxiety coursing through the halls, students dutifully tended to their activities: everything from Skultimate Roller Maze practice to preparing for the Hex Factor Talon Show, which was now just about here.
After kicking a couple of crumpled notes out of the way, Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus continued trailing Miss Flapper, using a group of trolls as cover.
In the days since the white cats, ominous notes, and dolls of doom had started appearing all over campus, the trolls’ workload had increased exponentially. The bulky beasts had always looked less than spooktacular with their greasy locks and dirty smudges, yet now they appeared ragged and worn down in a way they never had before. As a matter of fact, so tremendous was their labor that there had even been rumors of a troll strike. Fortunately, Miss Sue Nami had suppressed their growing desire to unionize by promising to throw an epic two-day Troll Appreciation Feast filled with everything from ghoulash to pus pastries.
Ghoulfriends Just Want to Have Fun Page 8