“Anyway, when I opened the package, I found this large ball of spider threads, inside of which was a letter,” Cleo explained as she unfolded a piece of paper and started to read it out loud. “ ‘We have taken your headmistress, and we will not return her until you are properly secured behind a locked wall. We do not wish to encroach on your land. We will happily allow you to keep all land currently inside the Salem city limits. However, we no longer feel safe living so close to creatures such as yourselves.’ That’s all it says.”
Miss Sue Nami barreled onto the stage, water spraying everywhere, and grabbed the letter from Cleo’s hand. As the Deputy of Disaster scanned the note and slowly absorbed the shocking information, the Vampitheater erupted into hysterical chatter.
“It’s the normies! They are the normies!”
“It’s not Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus! It’s the normies!”
“The normies are going to lock us up like animals, controlling our every move!”
“I don’t believe this normie nonsense for one second. There hasn’t been a major incident in the last half century between normies and monsters. There was that one with the dance, I guess, but that’s it! So why would the normies suddenly take such a hostile stance? The answer is, they wouldn’t,” Venus whispered to Rochelle, Robecca, and Cy.
“You’re right, but the question remains why does someone want us to think it’s the normies?”
“Did you notice what Toralei said? That the note was covered in spiderwebs?” Robecca pointed out. “We need to follow the threads. There’s something to all this webbing.”
As Robecca, Rochelle, Venus, and Cy stealthily snuck out of the increasingly agitated Vampitheater crowd, a shadow-drenched figure followed closely behind them. Once in the corridor, Venus motioned for Rochelle, Robecca, and Cy to follow her into the Mad and Deranged Scientist Laboratory for a bit of privacy.
“This whole normie nonsense is clearly about using our fears to control us. Deep down all monsters worry about normies. It’s almost instinctual,” Robecca mumbled as she took a seat on one of the lab benches. A slight steam erased the wrinkles from her pajama pants.
“I agree,” Cy added. “All Cyclopes are raised to be weary of normies—not because they’ll hurt us, but because they don’t understand us.”
A soft voice came from the doorway. “Excuse me? There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Spectra?” Venus said with obvious surprise.
“It-it has to do with my anonymous source,” Spectra stammered reticently as she floated forward, her nightdress fluttering.
“You mean Toralei?” Venus interjected.
“Toralei? What are you talking about?” Spectra responded. “I’ve known Toralei for years, and trust me, I would never use her as an anonymous source. She’ll say anything about anyone at anytime just to make herself feel superior.”
“If it wasn’t Toralei, then who was it?” Rochelle pressed Spectra.
“The monster was wearing a mask, but her delicate frame combined with one long red hair on her outfit led me to believe it was…” Spectra trailed off.
“Miss Flapper,” Rochelle said with a sigh.
“That’s the only reason I ran the piece. I thought my anonymous source was a teacher,” Spectra explained, absolutely brimming with guilt.
“I understand,” Robecca muttered, offering Spectra a compassionate smile.
“But that’s not all…. I followed her… to the attic.”
“The attic?” Rochelle repeated with surprise.
“Eek! What did you see?” Robecca asked impatiently.
“Well, at first I couldn’t see anything. The whole place was covered in spiderwebs,” Spectra prattled nervously.
“But?” Venus asked eagerly.
“But after cutting through layer upon layer of webs, I came upon some kind of office with a strange chart ranking monsters and the minutes from a secret meeting—I say ‘secret’ because everyone who attended was referred to by a code name. There was even a copy of Headmistress Bloodgood’s schedule,” Spectra said before pausing uncomfortably. “In the corner…”
“Deary me! What was in the corner?” Robecca exploded, steam pouring out her ears.
“A… a… a… spider.”
“All that buildup for a little-bitty spider?” Venus huffed with palpable annoyance.
“I never said it was little,” Spectra continued. “As a matter of fact, I’d say she was at least my height, if not taller.”
“Hold on a second. Are you saying that there’s a descendant of Arachne at Monster High?” Venus questioned Spectra with a confounded expression.
“Yes, I believe so,” Spectra responded quietly, nodding her head.
“A descendant of Arachne has been living in the attic this whole time,” Robecca mumbled to herself, clearly shocked by the news.
“Well, at least we know who visited Miss Flapper,” Venus said to Robecca and Rochelle.
“No wonder we never saw any spiders. There was only one—one really big one,” Robecca said with steam pouring out of her nostrils.
“Robecca, s’il ghoul plaît, don’t oversteam yourself,” Rochelle cautioned while putting her cold granite hand on Robecca’s shoulder.
“What did the spider say when she saw you?” Venus inquired.
“She was asleep in her web,” Spectra replied. “I was so afraid my chains might wake her, but luckily they didn’t.”
“Pardonnez-moi, but did you say there was a copy of Headmistress Bloodgood’s schedule up there?” Rochelle asked Spectra.
“I did. Of course, at the time I didn’t think anything of it, but as soon as I heard Headmistress Bloodgood had been kidnapped, I knew I needed to tell someone,” Spectra offered quietly, still in awe from the shocking turn of events.
“But why us?” Robecca asked, her steam sputtering to a stop.
“I figured if you guys could stop a whisper, you’re definitely Monster High’s best bet at finding Headmistress Bloodgood.”
“Deary me!” Robecca squealed. “Are we really her best bet? No offense to any of us, but that’s a bit frightening.”
“I know what you mean,” Venus offered with a sigh. “And, I really wanted to just enjoy this sleepover!”
“Ghouls, you need to get it together, because it’s not that we’re just Headmistress Bloodgood’s best bet; we’re her only bet,” Rochelle stated solemnly.
To be continued…
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 www.gittydaneshvari.com.
ALSO BY
GITTY DANESHVARI
Ghoulfriends Forever
School of Fear
School of Fear: Class Is NOT Dismissed!
School of Fear: The Final Exam
Don’t miss the first book!
And keep a lurk out for the ghoulfriends’ next adventure,
who’s that ghoulfriend?
coming in fall 2013!
Contents
Welcome
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen<
br />
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
Also by Gitty Daneshvari
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 Mattel, Inc. All rights reserved.
MONSTER HIGH and associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from Mattel, Inc.
Spot art by Chuck Gonzales
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
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www.hachettebookgroup.com
First e-book edition: April 2013
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
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ISBN 978-0-316-22252-5
Ghoulfriends Just Want to Have Fun Page 11