Monsterstreet #2

by J. H. Reynolds

  It was . . .

  Ava! Fisher realized. She must have eaten the bars and used her broom to fly to the top of Town Hall and turn on the storm siren!

  Overwhelmed by the sound, the monsters let go of him and covered their ears. They fell to the ground beside him in torment.

  Fisher spat out the Monsterbars and smiled, realizing that Ava had saved him and possibly the entire town.

  “Sorry, guys,” Fisher said to the monsters. “Gotta fly!”

  Fisher’s feet lifted off the ground once again. The monsters hissed and clawed at him as he floated over the iron gates, back toward town. He glanced over his shoulder and saw what looked like two tiny ghouls and a pair of painted blue legs stumbling out of the graveyard.

  I have to hurry, he thought. Before someone turns off the siren.

  The wind washed over Fisher like a strange, wondrous dream. From his view in the clouds, the houses in the neighborhood below looked like dollhouses stacked up next to each other.

  Soon, the storm siren stopped, just as he had feared it would. Fisher assumed a city official had turned it off, but he hoped Ava’s courageous act had bought him enough time to complete his mission.

  Once he arrived at the end of Maple Street, he saw candlelight flickering in his upstairs bedroom window. He flew down to the house and floated through the wall.

  His mom was sitting on the edge of his bed with her face buried in her hands, crying. He had never seen her like that. The pile of moving boxes sat in the corner, already filled with some of Fisher’s stuff. In front of her was the photograph of her family dressed up for Halloween—the photo Fisher had left behind in the attic.

  My mom must have gone up into the attic looking for me and found it, he thought.

  As soon as Fisher landed beside her, a ghostly chill filled the room.

  She looked up, as if sensing his presence.

  Right then, the candle on his nightstand snuffed out. Fisher could hear his mom breathing in the dark. A moment later, the candle on the nightstand flickered back to life—this time, the flame was purple. The room danced with eerie shadows.

  Fisher reached into his pocket and pulled out the crinkled sheet of paper his grandfather’s ghost had given to him. It appeared to his mom that the paper was floating through the air on its own.

  Her eyes were wide with wonder, horror, and confusion as it landed on top of the photograph.

  Cautiously, she unfolded the paper and examined it.

  Moonlight poured through the window and illuminated the back of the paper where Fisher’s grandfather had inscribed something with his finger. To his mom’s astonishment, a ghostly message materialized upon it:

  It wasn’t your fault, honey.

  We knew where you were the whole time.

  Sometimes, accidents just happen.

  It’s time to let go.

  Love,

  Dad

  PS Always remember . . .

  Hallie is for Halloween.

  She stared at the paper for a long moment, her hands trembling as she examined her father’s handwriting, which she hadn’t seen in thirty years. She searched for breath but found none. As tears dropped from her eyes, she hugged the paper to her chest as if it were a long-lost treasure.

  Fisher glanced out the window and saw the sky beginning to lighten. The sun was only a moment away from peeking over the horizon.

  Just then, Fisher heard the front door downstairs burst open.

  And footsteps running up the stairs.

  The monsters . . . he thought. They’re inside the house!

  24

  Transfiguration

  The monsters stomped up the stairs and pounded on the door to Fisher’s bedroom.

  “Run, Mom! Hurry!” he shouted, but she couldn’t hear him.

  He opened the window for her to escape, but she didn’t move. Her eyes were closed, as if she was lost in a trance. She didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the imminent attack of the monsters.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  The harder the monsters pummeled the door, the more the hinges began to creak.

  Fisher knew there wasn’t much time.

  He hovered in front of his mom to protect her, but he knew he was practically powerless in his ghost form.

  Just then, his mom’s chest began to glow, softly, like a sun being born. A kaleidoscope of light spread out from her heart and into her veins, spider-webbing throughout her entire body. She looked otherworldly.

  Then the magical light beamed out from her eyes, fingertips, and toes, scattering in all directions.

  The bewitched luminescence shot through the bedroom door and into the hearts of each monster standing on the other side. It injected into Fisher’s chest too, sending a rush of warmth over him. Lastly, the light zapped out the bedroom window and into the neighborhood, spreading to every pocket of town.

  A monstrous miracle! Fisher thought as his pale existence began to materialize back into flesh and blood once again.

  Suddenly . . .

  He could feel his arms and legs.

  He could taste and smell the pumpkin-scented air.

  He touched his chest and could feel his heart beating.

  He was alive!

  His mom opened her eyes and grinned at the sight of him.

  “Oh, Fisher!” she cried. “I’m so glad you’re all right!”

  She hugged him tightly, and he wrapped his arms around her. She felt soft against his skin.

  “I’m so sorry, Mom. About your family. I—I didn’t know,” he said.

  “It’s okay,” she replied. “Everything’s okay now. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, son.”

  He felt her warm tears dripping onto his forehead as they stood holding each other.

  Then there was a loud knock on the door.

  The monsters are still out there! Fisher thought, tensing in fright.

  A familiar voice spoke. . . .

  “Fisher? Is that you in there?”

  It was Champ . . . the real Champ.

  Fisher hurried to the door and opened it. There before him stood the Halloweeners, wearing their homemade costumes, looking just as they had the afternoon before.

  “Guys!” Fisher shouted, tackling them with a hug.

  “Where are we?” Pez asked, taking off his swamp creature mask and staring around in confusion.

  Fisher smiled. “It’s a long story.”

  Champ stuck his head out of the shirt of his tuxedo. “All I know is I’m huuunnngggrrry.”

  “Seriously?” Fisher questioned. “You just ate all the candy in town.”

  “Huh?” Champ replied, confused.

  “Mmmm. Candy sounds good,” Squirrel interjected. “I feel like I’ve been on one of my Mom’s all-vegetable diets for weeks.”

  “And I feel like I just ran a hundred miles,” Pez added. “Can I have some water?”

  Fisher examined their faces but saw no sign that they were joking.

  “You mean you guys really don’t remember anything?”

  Champ, Pez, and Squirrel looked at each other and shook their heads.

  “The last thing I remember is going to the witch’s house and seeing the candy cauldron. And then everything is black after that,” Squirrel said.

  “Yeah, and for some reason the ‘Monster Mash’ is stuck in my head,” Champ added.

  Fisher smirked knowingly.

  “Guys, this is my mom. Mom, these are the guys I was telling you about,” he said.

  They all waved to her, and she waved back, still stunned by everything.

  Pez scratched his chin, deep in thought. “You know, I do remember seeing Ava Highwater tricking Mrs. Sanderson, and—”

  “Ava!” Fisher shouted.

  He hurried past his mom, who sat down on the edge of his bed to look at her father’s message again. He went straight to his telescope and peered through it into the neighborhood.

  “That’s not possible,” Fisher whispered as the Halloweeners gathered around him.


  The neighborhood looked spotlessly clean, as if the chaos of the night before had all been a dream. Town Square looked immaculate too. And the high school. And Food Mart. And even the drive-in.

  For a moment, Fisher questioned if any of it had actually happened. He was afraid the Halloweeners might never believe him.

  But then he saw Ava.

  She was walking down the sidewalk holding her broom. She looked dazed, as if she couldn’t quite remember what had happened either. Fisher smiled, glad to know she was safe.

  He moved his telescope in the other direction to the far edge of the neighborhood, where Hidden Oaks Street dead-ended into the forest.

  The dilapidated mansion looked like a sleeping beast, guarding its secrets.

  Just then, the sun peeked over the horizon, and a golden beam of sunlight kissed the porch. And right before Fisher’s eyes, the cast-iron candy cauldron began to fade into a ghostly mist, until all at once it vanished.

  Fisher felt someone’s hand touch his shoulder.

  “Halloween magic,” his mom whispered in his ear.

  25

  Halloween Forever

  The next day, the Halloweeners held a special meeting in their tree house. Fisher, Champ, Squirrel, and Pez sat around the tree-stump table, eating pizza and looking over the town gazette.

  The headline read:

  Midnight Mayhem:

  Monsters Take Over Maple Street

  A collage of photos was printed along with the article detailing the extraordinary events of Halloween night. There was a photo of the swamp creature climbing on the water tower, another of the vegetarian vampire silhouetted in front of the drive-in movie screen, and even one of the invisible candysnatcher dancing in the high school gym with his borrowed cane, cape, and top hat.

  “I can’t believe we did all of this—and all in one night,” Pez said, observing another photo of his monster-fied self lapping water from a fire hydrant like a dog.

  “Yeah, thank goodness no one knows it was us,” Squirrel added as he gazed at a picture of himself devouring a pumpkin at Old Joe’s Pumpkin Farm. “My parents would kill me if they knew we were the ones who sabotaged the festival.”

  “You saved us, Fish. You saved the whole town,” Champ said.

  “I’m just glad my mom said we don’t have to move again. She’s taking a full-time job at the high school,” Fisher said.

  “Heck yeah!” Champ cheered. “Now we can camp out in the tree house every Friday night for the rest of the year!”

  Fisher glanced at Pez, noticing he was deep in thought.

  “You all right, Pez?”

  Pez nodded.

  “I’ve just been thinking—we all have monsters inside us that we have to face, right? Maybe sometimes it takes the help of friends to overcome them,” Pez said.

  “What are you talking about?” Champ asked, suspicious of Pez’s mature persona.

  “Well, even though I don’t remember anything, I still feel different after what we went through. I woke up this morning and wasn’t afraid of the water anymore. I even told my dad I’m going to try out for the swim team.”

  “I think I know what you mean,” Champ affirmed. “For some unexplainable reason, I told my family that I’m going on their hike with them on Saturday. And they actually seemed like they were glad that I was going to come. It was like I wasn’t invisible to them, even if just for once.”

  They all looked to Squirrel to see if he had anything meaningful to add.

  “I . . .” Squirrel searched for something interesting to confess. “I ate a hamburger yesterday. And I didn’t make my bed this morning.”

  The guys stared at him in disbelief. Champ laughed and patted Squirrel’s shoulder.

  “Oh, you’re a wild man now, Squirrel,” Champ teased. “Next thing you know, you’ll be eating beef jerky and meatball sandwiches and not even tucking in your shirt!”

  Sunlight filled the tree house as the boys’ laughter echoed out over the graveyard.

  Then the Halloweeners looked at each other and smiled at Fisher.

  “You ready to take the oath?” Pez asked.

  Fisher’s eyes widened. It was the moment he had been waiting for. The moment he’d thought would never come.

  “I’m ready,” Fisher said. “But under one condition.”

  “What’s that?” Pez asked.

  “I’ll become a Halloweener only if Ava can become one too,” Fisher said.

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “Ava?” Squirrel asked incredulously. “As in . . . Ava Highwater?”

  Fisher nodded. “Without her, we’d probably all be dead right now.”

  They all squinted, as if trying to process what Fisher was saying.

  “You are talking about the leader of the Pumpkinheads?” Champ asked.

  “Yeah. Only she’s not a Pumpkinhead anymore. She belongs with us.”

  Champ, Squirrel, and Pez looked at each other. They knew they owed Fisher big-time, and if he was making a special request to let Ava join the club, well . . .

  “All right, we’ll let her in,” Pez said, and the others reluctantly grunted in agreement. “But only if she’ll help us win the Halloween Games next year.”

  “I promise you guys won’t regret this,” Fisher said excitedly.

  “We already do,” Champ assured him dryly, then smirked.

  At their invitation, Fisher held up his right hand and put his left hand on the Halloweener Diary, then took the sacred oath every Halloweener in the history of Halloweeners had taken before him. It was so secret that he was told never to write it down or tell a soul.

  Pez, Squirrel, and Champ then taught him the secret handshake . . .

  And the ancient password . . .

  And they even held his arm up like a champion boxer and declared him “Fisher—the Halloween King!”

  Fisher was an official Halloweener.

  For the first time, he noticed the faded photographs of past Halloweeners hanging on the western wall of the tree house. He smiled when he saw the one of his mom and several other kids sitting in that very same tree house thirty years before.

  Beneath it were written the words:

  Best Friends Forever

  Fisher looked around at Champ, Pez, and Squirrel. He realized in that moment that someday, he might feel the same way about them too.

  Right then, there was a knock on the floor door. The guys looked around at each other questioningly.

  Fisher opened the door, and Ava appeared.

  “Hi, guys,” Ava said. “Thanks for the invitation, Fisher.”

  Champ’s jaw dropped, and he and the others looked to Fisher for an explanation. “You invited her here before we agreed to let her join the club?”

  “I knew you guys would make the right decision,” Fisher said with a smirk.

  Champ sighed, and the boys made Ava swear the oath right there on the spot. Then Champ put his hand out over the Halloweener emblem at the center of the tree-stump table.

  Squirrel slapped his hand on top of Champ’s.

  Pez put his on top of Squirrel’s.

  Fisher on top of Pez’s.

  And Ava on top of Fisher’s.

  Then together, they spoke their sacred motto aloud: “Once a Halloweener . . . always a Halloweener. . . . Till death and beyond!”

  Acknowledgments

  “I am a part of all that I have met.”

  —Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  There are quite a few people to acknowledge here in this book of the Monsterstreet series:

  First of all, my Mom, Dad, Sis—everything I am is because of you, and words can never express the depth of my gratefulness. I can only hope to honor you with the life I live and the works I create.

  All my family: Granddad, Grandmom, Pappa Hugg, Mamma Hugg, Lilla, Meemaw, Nanny, GG, Grandmother Hugghins, Marilyn, Steve, Haddie, Jude, Beckett, Uncle Hal, Aunt Cathy, Nicole, Dylan, Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Greg, Sam, Jake, Trey, Uncle Johnny, Aunt Glynis, J
erod, Chad, Aunt Jodie, Uncle Terry, Natalie, Mitchell, Anna, David, Hannah, David Nevin, Joy, Lukas, Teresa, and Aunt Jan.

  Teachers, coaches, mentors, colleagues, and students: Jeanie Johnson, David Vardeman, Pat Vaughn, Lee Carter, Robert Darden, Kevin Reynolds, Ray Bradbury, R.L. Stine, Rikki Coke (Wiethorn), Peggy Jezek, Kathi Couch, Jill Osborne Wilkinson, Marla Jaynes, Karen Deaconson, Su Milam, Karen Copeland, Corrie Dixon, Nancy Evans Hutto, Pam Dominik, Jean Garner, Randy Crawford, Pat Zachry, Eddie Sherman, Scott Copeland, Heidi Kunkel, Brian Boyd, Sherry Rogers, Lisa Osborne, Wes Evans, Betsy Barry, Karen Hix, Sherron Boyd, Mrs. Kahn, Mrs. Turk, Mrs. Schroeder, Mrs. Battle, Mrs. McCracken, Nancy Frame Chiles, Mrs. Adkins, Kim Pearson, Mrs. Harvey, Elaine Spence, Barbara Fulmer, Julie Schrotel, Barbara Belk, Mrs. Reynolds, Vanessa Diffenbaugh, Elisabeth McKetta, Bryan Delaney, Talaya Delaney, Wendy Allman, John Belew, Vicki Klaras, Gery Greer and Bob Ruddick, Greg Garrett, Chris Seay, Sealy and Matt Yates, David Crowder, Cecile Goyette, Kirby Kim, Mike Simpson, Quinlan Lee, Clay Butler, Mary Darden, Derek Smith, Brian Elliot, Rachel Moore, Naymond Keathley, Steve Sadler, Jimmy and Janet Dorrell, Glenn Blalock, Katie Cook, SJ Murray, Greg Chan, Lorri Shackelford, Tim Fleischer, Byron Weathersbee, Chuck Walker, John Durham, Ron Durham, Bob Johns, Kyle Lake, Kevin Roe, Barby Williams, Nancy Parrish, Joani Livingston, Madeleine Barnett, Diane McDaniel, Beth Hair, Laura Cubos, Sarah Holland, Christe Hancock, Cheryl Cooper, Jeni Smith, Traci Marlin, Jeremy Ferrerro, Maurice and Gloria Walker, Charlotte McDonald, Dana Gietzen, Leighanne Parrish, Heather Helton, Corrie Cubos, all the librarians, teachers, secretaries, students, custodians, and principals at Midway ISD, Waco ISD, Riesel ISD, and Connally ISD, all my apprentices at Moonsung Writing Camp and Camp Imagination, and to my hometown community of Woodway, Texas.

  Friends and collaborators: Nathan “Waylon” Jennings, Craig Cunningham, Blake Graham, Susannah Lipsey, Hallie Day, Ali Rodman Wallace, Jered Wilkerson, Brian McDaniel, Meghan Stanley Lynd, Suzanne Hoag Steece, the Jennings family, the Rodman family, the Carter family, all the families of the “Red River Gang,” the Cackleberries, the Geib family, Neva Walker and family, Rinky and Hugh Sanders, Clay Rodman, Steven Fischer, Dustin Boyd, Jeff Vander Woude, Randy Stephens, Allen Ferguson, Scott Lynd, Josh Zachry, Scott Crawford, Jourdan Gibson Stewart, Crystal Carter, Kristi Kangas Miller, Taylor Christian, Deanna Dyer Williams, Matt Jennings, Laurie McCool Henderson, Trey Witcher, Genny Pattillo Davis, Brady Williams, Brook Williams Henry, Michael Henry, Jamie Jennings, Jordan Jones, Adrianna Bell Walker, Sarah Rogers Combs, Kayleigh Cunningham, Rich and Megan Roush, Adam Chop, Kimberly Garth Batson, Luke Stanton, Kevin Brown, Britt Knighton, George Cowden, Jenny and Ryan Jamison, Julie Hamilton, Kyle and Emily Knighton, Ray Small, Jeremy Combs, Mike Trozzo, Allan Marshall, Coleman Hampton, Kent Rabalais, Laura Aldridge, Mikel Hatfield Porter, Edith Reitmeier, Ben Geib, Ashley Vandiver Dalton, Tamarah Johnson, Amanda Hutchison Thompson, Morgan McKenzie Williams, Robbie Phillips, Shane Wilson, J.R. Fleming, Andy Dollerson, Terry Anderson, Mary Anzalone, Chris Ermoian, Chris Erlanson, Greg Peters, Doreen Ravenscroft, Brooke Larue Miceli, Emily Spradling Freeman, Brittany Braden Rowan, Kim Evans Young, Kellis Gilleland Webb, Lindsay Crawford, April Carroll Mureen, Rebekah Croft Georges, Amanda Finnell Brown, Kristen Rash Di Campli, Clint Sherman, Big Shane Smith, Little Shane Smith, Allen Childs, Brandon Hodges, Justin Martin, Eric Lovett, Cody Fredenberg, Tierre Simmons, Bear King, Brady Lillard, Charlie Collier, Aaron Hattier, Keith Jordan, Greg Weghorst, Seth Payne, BJ Carr, Andria Mullins Scarbrough, Lindsey Kelley Palumbo, Cayce Connell Bellinger, David Maness, Ryan Smith, Marc Uptmore, Kelly Maddux McCarver, Robyn Klatt Areheart, Emily Hoyt Crew, Matt Etter, Logan Walter, Jessica Talley, JT Carpenter, Ryan Michaelis, Audrey Malone Andrews, Amy Achor Blankson, Chad Conine, Hart Robinson, Wade Washmon, Clay Gibson, Barrett Hall, Chad Lemons, Les Strech, Marcus Dracos, Tyler Ellis, Taylor Rudd, James Yarborough, Scott Robison, Bert Vandiver, Clark Richardson, Luke Blount, Allan Gipe, Daniel Fahlenkamp, Ben Hogan, Chris Porter, Reid Johnson, Ryan Stanton, Brian Reis, Ty Sprague, Eric Ellis, Jeremy Gann, Jeff Sadler, Ryan Pryor, Jared Ray, Dustin Dickerson, Reed Collins, Ben Marx, Sammy Rajaratnam, Art Wellborn, Cory Ferguson, Jonathan King, Jim King, Anthony Edwards, Craig Nash, Dillon Meek, Jonathan Stringer, the Bode and Moore families, Jackie and Denver Mills, the Warrior Poets, the Wild Hearts, the Barbaric Yawps, the Bangarang Brothers, and all the Sacred Circle guys (CARPE DIEM).