“I think… I think I’m almost done,” Lagoona finally said.
“That’s funny,” Cleo replied with a laugh. “So am I! I just need to add one… more… thing… There! Perfect!”
“I can’t wait to see your board, Cleo!” Lagoona exclaimed. “I bet it’s fintastic.”
“Yes, it is,” Cleo replied with a satisfied smile as she adjusted a fabric scrap on her board. “And I’m sure yours is great too. Let’s show each other our boards at the same time. One…”
“Two…” Lagoona said.
“Three!” the ghoulfriends exclaimed simultaneously. Then they unveiled their inspiration boards.
“Oh, Cleo,” Lagoona breathed. “I don’t even know what to say except wow!”
Cleo beamed as Lagoona examined her board. Cleo had started with a muted color palate: sand, brick, and taupe. Lagoona was surprised by the unusual choices—Cleo’s style was much more bold and dramatic—until she realized that all those neutral colors made the jewel-tone accents really pop! With velvety black carpets and garnet-colored curtains, the room had a luxurious air of mystery. There were lots of cool details too: a three-foot-tall cat statue with glowing green eyes, a gauzy canopy surrounding the bed, and even a garland made of glittering faux scarab beetles.
“Where did you get so many cool ideas?” Lagoona asked Cleo.
Cleo shrugged. “Let’s just say I had a lot of time to decorate and redecorate and re-redecorate my tomb,” she said. “It helped pass the time while I was stuck in there. Here, check this out—”
“Candles?” Lagoona asked, nodding her head. “Very relaxing.”
“Even better,” Cleo said. “They’re flame-free, smoke-free, and drip-free! Twyla will love them—as soon as Frankie invents these candles I’ve dreamed up.”
Lagoona looked a little worried. “You mean they don’t even exist yet?” she asked.
“Well, no—not technically,” Cleo said, waving her hand in the air like it didn’t matter one bit. “But Frankie’s a science superstar. She can invent anything. Just wait until you see the Mad Science lab downstairs.”
“If it’s anything like the art studio, I know I’ll be impressed,” replied Lagoona.
“Okay then! Enough chatting,” Cleo announced. “Draculaura told me that Twyla’s room will be down this howlway, so I was thinking we can grab one of the luggage carts from downstairs and load it up with everything we need to start decorating. Then—”
“Uh, Cleo?” Lagoona interrupted. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
For a moment, Cleo looked confused. “Sheets, pillows, blanket, throw rugs, scarab garland, cat statue,” she recited as she glanced at her sketch. “No, everything’s accounted for. We’re ready to start decorating.”
“But what about my inspiration board?” Lagoona gently reminded her.
“Oh!” Cleo exclaimed. “I thought we’d already agreed to decorate using my ideas. You really seem to love my inspiration board, and I know that I really love it, so…”
Lagoona pushed her inspiration board closer to Cleo. “I’m really proud of my board,” she said. “Take a look.”
Lagoona peered over Cleo’s shoulder as Cleo examined her inspiration board. The room Lagoona had designed was the complete opposite of Cleo’s; it was bright and airy, with soothing shades of blue and green. There was an enormous mirror, framed by seashells, that made the small room seem bigger and more spacious. The beveled edges of the mirror cast a wavering reflection around the room, almost like rippling ocean waters. There was even a small lamp on the bedside table that cast dreamy, bubble-shaped projections across the walls as it slowly rotated.
“Well?” Lagoona asked when Cleo didn’t say anything. “What do you think?”
“It’s… so nice!” Cleo finally said. She smiled encouragingly at Lagoona. “Very you. I can tell you put a lot of thought into it!”
Lagoona’s face fell. “You don’t like it,” she said.
“No!” Cleo replied right away. “It’s seriously golden. It’s just so different from the room I designed. I mean, so different. I don’t know how we can combine two rooms that are practically the opposite of each other.”
“I guess,” Lagoona said, “that’s going to be our first challenge.”
Back at the Boogey Mansion, Frankie, Clawdeen, and Draculaura had just one more ghost to catch. With fewer ghosts cluttering the room, it should’ve been easier, but the ghost seemed programmed to fly even faster now that there weren’t quite so many obstacles. After dozens of flying leaps—and just as many hard landings on the cold floor—Clawdeen finally transformed into a wolf and tackled the ghost. When she did, Frankie and Draculaura were ready! The moment Clawdeen approached, clutching the squirmy ghost in her paws, they eased off the lid so she could shove it back in the box. Just as quickly, Draculaura and Frankie slammed the lid back on to prevent any of the other ghosts from escaping.
“Phew!” Draculaura exclaimed as she sank to the floor in relief and exhaustion. “I was starting to wonder if we’d ever manage to catch all of them!”
“Great work, ghouls,” Frankie said. “That took some serious teamwork. And Clawdeen—wow! I had no idea you had such voltageous ghost-wrangling skills!”
Clawdeen laughed. “Ghoul, you’ve met my little brothers!” she replied. “They could teach a master class on wrestling!”
“Did you notice it’s getting warmer in here already?” asked Draculaura.
Frankie nodded. “Pretty incredible, isn’t it? From what I can figure, there are hidden sensors placed randomly around the room. They noticed when we came in, which triggered the drop in temperature… and the ghosts.”
Clawdeen whistled to show how impressed she was. “That’s a lot of effort, just to scare the Normies,” she said. “The Boogeys must be really, really shy.”
“Yeah,” Frankie agreed. “It’s obvious they want to be left alone.”
Her words hung in the air.
Draculaura shifted uncomfortably. “Do you think… maybe… we shouldn’t have come?” she asked in a low voice.
A long moment passed before anyone answered her.
“Maybe,” Frankie finally replied. “Maybe it was wrong for us to come over uninvited.”
“But the door opened,” Clawdeen pointed out. “When you knock on a door and it opens, that’s usually a sign that you should, you know, go inside.”
“Yeah, usually,” Frankie said. “But now I’m thinking that might’ve been part of the Boogeys’ pranks to scare the Normies. Or they rethought inviting us in.”
“I don’t know if we did the right thing or the wrong thing,” Draculaura finally said. “But I do think that the best thing now would be to leave.”
“Leave?” Frankie and Clawdeen repeated at the same time.
Draculaura nodded. “I know Twyla contacted us. And I know she’s really interested in coming to Monster High,” she said. “But we’ve been in the Boogey Mansion for—what? An hour already? And there’s been no sign of Twyla?”
“No sign,” Frankie confirmed with a sigh. “None.”
“Ghouls, it’s time to reevaluate. I think if Twyla was here or wanted to be found, she’d come out to say hi. Maybe we’re missing something?” asked Draculaura.
No one answered, which was all the answer she needed.
“We should go back to school and meet up with Cleo and Lagoona,” Frankie decided. “Maybe we can figure out some way to fix your phone and hear the rest of Twyla’s message. That might be the key to solving this puzzle.”
“I agree,” Clawdeen said. “Besides, remember what Mr. D. said? The last thing we should do is mess with Twyla and her dad’s privacy. And I think we might’ve clobbered their privacy by now.”
“It’s unanimous, then,” Draculaura said as Frankie pulled her to her feet. “Uh… I don’t remember there being so many doors to this room when we came in.”
“We probably didn’t notice them in all the excitement,” Frankie sensibly pointed out. “But the g
ood news is: three doors, three ghouls.”
“You think we should split up?” Clawdeen asked in surprise.
“Just a little,” Frankie replied. “We’ll each take a different door and explore the howlway right outside of it to see if there’s anything we recognize. You know: paintings, decorations, things like that.”
“I don’t want us to get separated,” Clawdeen said.
“None of us want that,” Draculaura assured her. “But I think Frankie’s right. The sooner we get out of here, the better. And the fastest way to figure out which door leads out—”
“Is to split up,” Clawdeen finished for her. “I get it. But don’t go too far, please. Last thing we need is another rescue mission!”
“We won’t,” Frankie promised. “I’ll take the blue door.”
“I’ll take the red one,” Draculaura spoke up.
“Then I’ll take the green one,” Clawdeen said.
The three ghouls separated, each one disappearing behind a different door. In less than five minutes, Frankie was back. “Hello?” she called as she entered the ghost room once again.
The green door creaked as Clawdeen opened it. “I thought I heard you,” she said to Frankie. “Did you see anything that looked familiar?”
Frankie shook her head. “Nope,” she replied.
“It’s like this whole house is designed to mix you up!” Clawdeen said. “The pyramids in Egypt were pretty confusing, but the Boogey Mansion is even trickier.”
“And you know that’s no accident,” Frankie said.
“I guess not,” Clawdeen said. “I wonder what’s taking Draculaura so long.”
“I don’t know, but maybe we should go find out,” Frankie said.
Clawdeen and Frankie walked over to the red door. The polished brass handle gleamed in the dim light as Clawdeen opened the door.
“Draculaura?” Frankie called. “You there?”
Silence.
Frankie and Clawdeen exchanged a troubled glance.
“Come back, Draculaura!” Clawdeen said as loudly as she dared. “Do you see anything we passed before?” Still there was no response. “Drac, if this is a joke… it’s not funny, so come out now please!” It was no use. Their ghoulfriend was nowhere to be seen! Clawdeen was starting to wonder if Draculaura could even hear them when Frankie tapped her arm.
“Do you recognize any of that?” whispered Frankie as she pointed down the hallway.
Clawdeen tilted her head as she peered into the gloom. There was a life-size, stuffed black bear in a ferocious pose, looming over the hall with a menacing grimace on its face. And there was a suit of tarnished armor with a mask that faintly reflected the light—or was the light coming from within the mask?
Clawdeen wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. Either way, though, she had the distinct feeling that she hadn’t seen any of that stuff on her way in. She looked at Frankie and shook her head.
“I don’t, either,” Frankie replied. Then she pulled Clawdeen back into the ghost room.
“What is going on?” Clawdeen exclaimed. “How can none of those howlways look familiar?”
“Like you said before: Twyla and her dad thought of everything,” Frankie said. “It’s possible that even the decorations change as strangers move through the house. That kind of stuff would really spook any Normies who were trespassing.”
“Then it’s a good thing we aren’t Normies. But still, that’s going to make it about a thousand times harder to find our way out,” said Clawdeen. “And what about Draculaura? I’m starting to get really worried!”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine,” Frankie tried to assure her. “The Boogeys aren’t trying to hurt anybody. They just want to scare Normies to make them stay away. I bet Draculaura just wandered a little farther than she intended. I’m sure we’ll be able to find her.”
Clawdeen tried to smile, but Frankie could tell she was still worried. “As soon as we find her, let’s use the Monster Mapolague to transport ourselves back to Monster High,” Clawdeen suggested. “The Boogey Mansion is like a maze. I’m starting to think that the farther in we go, the harder it will be to get out.”
“I think you’re right,” Frankie replied. “And in that case, we’d better find Draculaura fast!”
CHAPTER 7
Back at Monster High, Lagoona and Cleo were still trying to reach a compromise on Twyla’s new room.
“Let’s start over, this time from the ground up,” Lagoona suggested.
Cleo sighed so deeply that her gold-streaked bangs fluttered. “Well, in terms of pure luxury, like I already said, the velvet carpets I picked are the only way to go,” she said.
“Okay,” Lagoona said as she started a list. “Velvet carpets. How about these blue ones? They’re made from recycled fibers!”
Cleo shook her head. “No, no, you’ve got to go with black,” she replied.
“Black velvet carpets,” Lagoona said. “Now, for sheets and blankets, how about this one I picked for my inspiration board? It’s so light and airy and eco-friendly! I think Twyla would love it!”
“Right… except it’s going to clash terribly,” Cleo replied, scrunching up her nose. “Those blankets will be all wrong with the carpets.”
Lagoona put down her pen. “So what sort of blankets won’t clash with the carpets you picked?” she asked.
Cleo tapped her inspiration board. “Definitely these garnet silk ones with the gold trim,” she said.
“What about these flowy curtains I picked?” Lagoona tried again. “They’re sheer enough that the sunshine will stream through the windows and fill Twyla’s room with light!”
“It’s not that I don’t like them,” Cleo began. “It’s just that they’re all wrong for everything else in my room. I mean, Twyla’s room.”
“Let me guess: They’re going to clash terribly,” Lagoona said in a dull voice.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Cleo replied.
“But Cleo, are you really saying that it’s impossible to combine ideas from both our inspiration boards?” Lagoona asked. “I think the room you designed looks fintastic—but I’m pretty proud of my own designs too.”
Cleo glanced over at Lagoona’s inspiration board. “Well, maybe we could use your… no. Or how about your… no, that wouldn’t work, either…” she said.
After Cleo’s voice trailed off, there was a long silence.
“If we can’t find any compromise, maybe we need to start over,” Lagoona finally said brightly.
“Sure,” Cleo said with a shrug. “Instead of starting from the ground up, let’s start from the ceiling down.”
But Lagoona shook her head. “That’s not exactly what I meant,” she replied. “I mean start over completely—from scratch.”
“What? Why?” Cleo exclaimed. She held up her inspiration board. “I’ve already designed the perfect room! I’d love to live in a room like this!”
“Cleo, that’s exactly the problem!” Lagoona replied. “I feel the same way about the room I designed. Don’t you see?”
“See what?” Cleo asked.
“We both designed the perfect rooms—for ourselves,” Lagoona explained. “Of course I’d feel at home in my room; it’s inspired by the Great Barrier Reef. And unless I’m totally wrong here, I’m guessing that your room is inspired by the pyramid style from back home. Am I right?”
Cleo stared at the inspiration boards. “Yes,” she said. “You’re totally right.”
“We made the same mistake,” Lagoona said, and then she started to laugh. “We designed our dream rooms, not Twyla’s!”
After a moment, Cleo started to laugh too. “Well, I guess I’ll be ready whenever I want to redecorate,” she said. “But how do we design a room for Twyla when we don’t know anything about her?”
“Good point,” Lagoona replied. “We’ll probably have to scrap everything and start over from the very beginning. But before we do that…”
“Go on,” Cleo encouraged her.
&nbs
p; “We might need to do a little research of our own,” Lagoona continued. “Why don’t we head down the Hill to the Boogey Mansion? After all, the best way to make sure Monster High feels like home to Twyla is to know what home means to her.”
Cleo slowly nodded her head. “Agreed,” she said. “A little recon could tell us a lot about Twyla, and I only saw her home for a second the first time around.”
A few minutes later, the two ghouls started walking down Monster Hill toward the Boogey Mansion. The unusual-looking house towered above them, blocking the sun.
“One thing’s for sure: Twyla and her dad love windows… and doors,” Lagoona joked.
Cleo raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think Mr. D. is going to let us add any windows to her room,” she said. “We’re talking decorate—not renovate.”
“Look! That door is open,” Lagoona said, pointing. “Should we go inside?”
“Might as well,” Cleo replied with a shrug. “I’m sure our ghoulfriends are already in there just fanging out with Twyla and her dad.”
“Maybe we’ll run into them!” Lagoona said as they stepped inside the cavernous, gloomy hallway.
Cleo raised an eyebrow as she looked around. “I hate to admit it, but now that I’m taking a better look around, I think both of our color palettes were wrong,” she said. “I guess I was just hoping Twyla was a jewel-tones type of ghoul.”
“And I’m guessing bright and breezy beach style isn’t her thing, either,” added Lagoona. “But the color scheme here is pretty cool in its own way, don’t you think?”
“Sure. I like all the silver and gray and purple,” Cleo said. “I mean it’s not exactly my regal style, but I can appreciate it.”
“It’s kind of like living in a shadow,” Lagoona said. “What do you think about those big marble columns over there?”
“Ooh! There’s an idea! I bet we could make some like them out of papier-mâché. But we’d have to ask Clawdeen’s mom for some help. She teaches art at Monster High,” Cleo said. “Maybe we could place them on either side of Twyla’s door?”
“And check out all the candelabras!” Lagoona exclaimed.
Monster High: Monster Rescue: Track Down Twyla! Page 4