Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

25th Of October, 08:00

He took out his books from his locker, Jackson was waiting for another week at school. That would be the same as always. Pencil case in his left hand as he closed the locker. Looking at his iCoffin, he got a new message from Frankie. 

“Hi Jackson. Ready for Halloween this Saturday😸😸😸😸😸😸😸” 

Oh yeah. Halloween. Being half normie and half monster, in a literal sense. The memories related to it weren’t the best ones. Stuff like that is something he would rather not think about right now.

“Yeah, a bit” he texted.

He was about to leave for his class as something warm touched his shoulder. He turned his head around to spot his younger cousin right behind him. But thank god Manny wasn’t with him. 

Before Jackson knew what was going on, his pencil case was gone. Looking over to his locker, the ground, every place he could imagine. Like the case disappeared into thin air. Did Invisi-billy steal it? No, he’s too nice. He glanced at Heath. Who had the thing in his hand.

“Can I borrow a pen?” He asked.

Jackson sighed and nodded his head. “Sure, but do you promise to give it back to me after class?” He asked, taking back the pencil case and grabbed your typical yellow pencil and handed it to Heath. 

Heath put it in his pocket before walking away and giving Jackson a “thanks”. 

Straight away after Heath was out of his sight, the bell rang, and he headed to his own class. The room was somewhat about 4 minutes away, so he had nothing to worry about. He was in the same old Monster High corridors. Same students, same spider webs. Nothing ever changes. Except for Mr. Rotter carrying around an old projector that could only handle those old film tapes from the 50s, he was probably going to use it for his Dead Languages class.

Jackson got to his clawculus class and picked up his notebook. It was your regular typical math class. With papers flying left and right throughout the classroom, sounds of phones being typed on, and the typical teen gossip. It was the usual.

He wrote down the questions on the blackboard, he could easily do those in less than 40 minutes or so. As you can see, it’s pretty straightforward. A student approached him. 

“Jackson, can you help me with this question?” They asked.  

Jackson agreed, if he charged people for helping them with clawculus and mad science, he would be the second richest manster at school. 

“So when you…” He started to explain before he detected something hitting his back. 

He looked back to see some people in the back, laughing, and a crumpled paper ball was rolling down to his feet. This again? He just picked it up and added that to his backpack. Then he felt another one hit his back. He just tried to ignore what kept happening. Plus, he had none of his friends to go to right now. He didn’t want things to get worse, especially on a Monday. His eyes were on the clock. The lesson was soon over. Just a few more minutes, and the lesson will be soon over. Trying to focus his hearing on the clock ticking instead of the students. Jackson paid more attention to his math problems. The other students had already left for their seat. 

A myriad of crumpled papers and a few minutes later, he was out of the classroom. Back to his locker. Where he was ready for his next lesson, monstory. He hoped he wasn’t in the same class as the previous students. He opened his backpack and removed the papers from it. It was better to not think that much about it, that is just what happened being the only normie kid at school. To add, Heath hadn’t returned with his pen. As usual. Y’know, Heath may have some burning flaws, but he's trying his best. He had only burned 14 pencils the past week. Individual pens are better than a pencil case.

He was just about to leave before he heard a familiar voice. 

“Dude, who wrote this.” 

Jackson turned around to see Deuce standing there, holding one of the papers that was thrown at him. It was him drawn in a trashcan, with “normie trash” written right next to it

“Just some students in clawculus class, don’t worry about them.” Jackson explained, lightly sighing.

“Jackson, dude, if anything like this happens ever again to you. Just tell me. You’re my friend and someone shouldn’t bully you for being different at Monster High of all places” Deuce told him.

Jackson nodded his head, Deuce has told him that several times, it is sad that he needed to repeat it though, but at the same time. It wasn’t surprising. He prefers going to this instead of a  human school, monsters can be somewhat bad against normies. Though if you would ask the average normie on their opinion of monsters. It is bound to be negative. At least he was glad to have Deuce as his friend. He could never imagine being friends with someone who was popular at the old place. 

His phone vibrates, a new message from Frankie. 

“Oh also, i remember how i brought with me some magazines from home, and oh my ghoul the outfits in them are so cute😻😻😻”

It was one of those normie magazines, Jackson zoomed into those photos she sent. It had those typical outfits you would see at a normie halloween party, cat girls, sexy cat girls, the most popular fictional characters at the moment, vampires, more sexy cat girls. Plus some sexy corn. They were all okay, nothing extraordinary.

He had his finger stuck on the A key trying to write a decent response. They were just okay to him, hurting Frankie’s feelings is bad, but so is lying. What if his response came off as tone deaf? It was just a text message though. It couldn’t be THAT bad, right? 

“I like them” 

Deuce looked over his shoulder wondering what he was doing. Just to see his conversations with Frankie, which gave him an idea.

“You should ask her out on a date.” He said.

Jackson jumped before his face turned rosé pink. “I don't think that's a good idea. It has nothing to do with Holt, but I just don’t feel ready to date someone.” He said. 

“Dude, she’s Frankie. They’re one of the nicest ghouls at school. You don’t need to worry. Just ask her out.” Deuce tried to explain. 

“Maybe, I will think about it.” Jackson said. 

After those words left Jackson’s mouth, the bell rang once more. Luckily enough he was in the same class as Deuce. There were some perks with being friends with one of the popular guys. Together they headed to the classroom.

Jackson saw the same projector from a few hours ago, and Mr Rotter. This wasn’t a Dead Languages, did they go into the wrong classroom? Was there a sudden room change? 

But looking at the board it said “The History of Halloween”. So it was probably best to stay safe and just head to his seat. Before he knew it, Frankie and her friends came into the classroom. Then everyone else. Before he knew it the lesson had started. 

“Students, as you may now. This week is one of the scariest ones in a monster’s life. I am even surprised you all even survived the first few days of october. Because as we all know.” He said. 

“Humans love halloween because that's the best time of the year it is easiest to catch monsters” Most of the students said in an unenthusiastic uneven unison.

Mr Rotter nodded and smiled a little before turning his direction to the projector, everyone noticed the tape standing there. The teacher started the video that showed images of old photos of monsters being tied to stakes, clumped together in small cages with signs saying “freakshow” on it and more horrid imagery, if he was allowed to show the more mature stuff. The class would have been more like a ticket to hell. Once the photos were all shown, his attention was now on the class. Who you could probably guess how utterly excited yet scared they were. 

Yeah…. just check all the phones that were being used, the books and magazines being read, and the school supplies being played with. Plus Frankie. Jackson was looking down at his copy of Illustrated Mad Science and taking some notes. Cleo was too busy on her pinscream app making new outfits. Heath was burning up some paper clips. Someone was even taking nice delicate naps. 

Clutching his fist and almost pulverizing the chalk in his hand. Mr Rotter slammed his other hand. A few students looked at him with groans that could barely be heard to the students sitting next to them, and now the professor had a small grin on his face.

“Students. You need to pay attention. What did you learn from these images?” He asked, scanning the room for someone to answer the questions. “Miss De Nile?” 

Cleo lowered her phone and looked at the chalkboard. 

“That humans are dangerous...” She answered in a lackluster tone as she rolled her eyes. 

“Absolutely correct. If you still do not still believe me. I will show you this movie.” He said before he played an old movie showing all of the evil tactics halloween stemmed from. Costumes being used as mockery, trick and treat being used as bait. All that jazz. 

Nobody cared, no one was paying attention. Except poor Frankie. She felt betrayed by what those magazines told her. She put them away. It can’t be all real, right? The movie is decades old and things change? Right?

As class was over Jackson headed over to his locker. Head facing down to his feet and checking around if anyone would notice him. Trying to forget what happened. He was glad he stayed hidden, imagine if he got picked to answer a question. All the eyes would be on him, whatever he said would change their perspective on humans, now most people here trust him. But if he said anything, some would think his words were true, and would people still trust him? What would happen if the only place he felt safe was no longer for him? He didn’t want to become a homeschooled freak. Continuing to walk until he bumped into something. He looked up to see a 7ft and a half tall minotaur right in front of him. 

“Sorry…” Jackson said before turning the other way around.

“Now listen here normie, if you want to pass this hallway, you need to pay!” Manny said.

Now where was Rochelle when you needed her? Jackson reached into his pocket and took out his phone and headphones, went into his Spotify account and played using loud enough to make someone temporarily deaf. A burst of flames surrounded him as he turned into Holt.

“Who were you talking to? Jackson? Look at me, I’m not a normie. So let me pass.” He said, as he walked past Manny like nothing.

Meanwhile, Frankie was at her locker freaking out. That couldn’t all be true. They threw her magazines into their locker as a frown was formed on her face. But Deuce said nothing happens so maybe she shouldn’t worry. But Draculaura told her about why she needed to move. Though wasn’t that a century ago? Maybe she was just overreacting.

She was now walking around the hallway as a bunch of students began to run in the exact opposite direction. Frankie followed everyone else wondering what was going on. They ended up being outside where the whole school was toilet papered and egged. Someone threw a piece of paper at her. She opened it up and their eyes widened as she looked at the horrific drawing of a vampire, it felt uncomfortable to look at. It felt as if they were looking at an insult rather than a piece of “art”. All the features were extremely exaggerated. 

“Fuck, we didn't even hit the vampire.” A buff normie with his face covered with a bad Party City mask said before he jumped into the car where another buff normie said.

Frankie threw the drawing away before anyone else could see it and tried to find the rest of the ghouls. That task was impossible due to how every student that had ever walked the hallways of this school was now outside. But seeing an egg fly and a scream so recognizable later. They could guide themselves through the massive crowd. To see Cleos face turn red and her being covered in raw eggs. 

“It got in my HAIR, on my CLOTHES, in my FACE!” Cleo hyperventilated. 

“Cleo don’t worry, the changing rooms are open. I can get you a bottle of shampo-” Lagoona said before she got interrupted. 

“Shampoo isn’t enough to fix this!” Cleo said as she gave the normies a death stare, right before the car drove away from school grounds.

“Get ready for the worst halloween in your entire life bitches!” 

School was now over as Holt was at his house, and the first thing he saw when he entered his room was a note made by Jackson.

JJ: Clean our room Holt, cleaned it the last 2 times so it’s your turn now

Well. The room wasn’t that much of a mess. Just some clothes on the floor which he put away. And a trash bin filled with unsolved advanced math problems. Of course he wouldn’t remember doing those boring things. He tied up the trash bag and took it outside. As he threw it into the bigger trash can, his phone rang. It was Frankie.

“Hello Frankie fine” He answered the phone call as he headed back inside.

“Oh hi Holt. Did you see what happened to our school”

Holt walked back to their bedroom and took out some vinyls, David Booie, Red Hot Ghost Peppers, Bowling for Souls, The Scars, The Ghooul Fighters, Spookcesteral Moonovers In The Dark. There was even some R&B in there. Though he didn’t even listen to some of these, it just happens that he just stepped his foot into a record store, then Jackson would question who charged 20$ on their shared bank account. But hey, if Jackson can pay for his nerd stuff, he can pay for his music stuff. 

“I was there, I feel so bad for Cleo” he said as he played a random record.

“She refused to talk for the rest of the day. But she did send me a photo of her planning something on her computer.”

“A party?”

“No. She didn’t tell me what, she just told me that she might do it. But she needs more..  motivation.”

“What kind of motivation?”

“Well, she was already buying new clothes, so she’s already pretty motivated. I hope it’s nothing bad.”

“Anyway, are you planning something tonight Frankie? I’m a bit bored”

“Oh I need to work on my essay.”

“What subject?” he asked, sounding a bit bored. 

“It’s for my music class, we have to write about different music genres”

Holt’s eyes lit up. “Can I help?” 

“Sure! I was going to study with Operetta though.” 

“Are you visiting her house? I got some old vinyls and I don’t want them to get ruined if I somehow get lost and wake up as Jackson”

“Oh don’t worry. She’s already here.”  Frankie said.

“Okay. See you at 7?”

“Yeah! See you at 7.”

“Also. Before we end this convo. What genre are you doing?” Holt asked with a fiery passion burning though his voice

“Waltz”  she said with her tone of her voice shifting to a serious one.

Now that passion was now gone. That was unexpectedly mean for someone like her. 

Frankie laughed over the phone. Then another laughter was heard and that New Goreleans accent was heard.

“Don’t worry Holt, we are doing good ol’ rock.” Operetta said. 

Holt took a sigh of relief as he heard Operetta’s answer.

“Bye ” both of them said in unison before they ended the phone call.

Holt looked at the clock. It was almost time to leave. He packed his bag with the records and some other important stuff before he left a note for Jackson.

HH: I cleaned our room, and I also helped Frankie with her music project ;) 

Chapter Text

26th of October, Tuesday, 09:30

Walking towards his locker as EDM blasted throughout his headphones. Holt was just awaiting a regular school day. Despite what happened yesterday. Moving his head in sync to the rhythm and tapping his hands. But it went a bit off key when he heard two familiar voices.

“So when are we going to tell everyone else about what we saw?” 

Holt turned his attention to see Frankie and Operetta. His interest peaked a bit, so why not approach them?

“Well maybe after we change the candy because I think the only one who wants to eat it is Abbey.” Operetta answered.

Holt put his arms over their shoulders.

“Hi.” He said.

Frankie jumped a little before her bolts charged some electricity before releasing it. With the volts being transferred to Holt and Operetta. 

“Sorry! I just got a bit scared” Frankie apologized. 

“It’s alright Frankie Fine. But what were you two talking about?” Holt asked, lowering the volume of the song a little.

Operetta and Frankie looked at each other, their eyes all widened. 

“Well….” “Umm…” both of them said.

“We were at the candy store. The owner asked us if we could help them. And the money we got from helping was amazing. But you could only eat the old candy.” Frankie said. 

Holt believed what they said despite her shaky voice and the other obvious signs. If they were lying, what would they be lying about? 

Just like the chord in a rock song, the conversation topic changed too. 

“So how did the music project go?” Holt asked. 

“It went amazing, thanks for your help Holt.” Operetta told him right as the bell rang. 

The three of them parted their ways as the next lesson would begin. Which was… Mad Science. Ugh, usually Jackson does stuff like this but he just felt like being in charge this time, plus he could just read his notes. 

When he arrived in the classroom the rest of the gang was there. Deuce, Cleo, Heath, Abbey, and a few others. He sat down right next to his cousin and took out the notes Jackson left in their notebook, but it would take almost half a century to read it all. Holt looked at the chalkboard while turning his head to the side. 

“Alkynes”

Wow. Basic normie science. He looked around in the book to see Jackson’s notes. It was probably somewhere. 

“Holt, what are you looking for?” Heath asked.

“I’m trying to find what Jackson wrote about this subject. But everything he writes is so tiny!” Holt said, spinning his pencil around.

“Why won’t you just make Jackson in charge?” Abbey asked.

“Well. I just want to know what it’s like. And I fucking hate it. I will never do it again.” Holt groaned before laying his head on the desk.

His brain felt fried. Why couldn’t the few memories and facts they share be one of these sciency stuff. But thankfully for not being Jackson, the teacher didn’t pay attention. He could just vibe to the music instead. To his surprise though, the teacher caught him.

“Surprising seeing you here Mr Hyde. It’s always Jackson who attends my lessons.” The teacher said.

Holt’s attention was thrown at the teacher. Shit, now he needed to do something. He searched the whole damn book until he found a singular sentence that could help him. Eyes looked on those tiny letters until he found a singular thing he could use.

“Alcohol is a type of alkyne” Holt said quickly before heading back to his one man music jam. 

“Well correct, thank you for your basic knowledge Mr Hyde.” The teacher said. 

As a few more minutes passed the lesson was over and they all just walked around the hallway. Holt greeted people he saw. This day was probably way more decent than the previous one. Welp until Heath was suddenly back to being Heath.

“WOW GUYS! Look at that.” He yelled before running outside. 

“I need to grab my charger man.” Holt said. 

Heath was now outside though, and everyone else. So it felt like he needed to follow them. When he arrived outside there was a massive pumpkin patch filled with a scarecrow and several jack-o-lanterns. There was some candy in there too. 

“Who would leave all of this here?” Abbey questioned looking at Heath standing in the middle of the patch. 

Heath unwrapped one of the candies and plopped the black bath shaped hard piece into his mouth, before he spit it out with a disgusted look on his face. People looked at him and wondered what he ate. He threw a few at Clawd, Manny, and Abbey. All of them tasted it and it was.

“Dude, this is….” Clawd said.

“Black liquorice.” Manny followed.

“Salty too, I enjoy this.” Abbey said. While the other two got faces of disgust. 

“Who the fuck buys salty black liqource unless you’re from fucking Goreway.” Clawd said.

Heath pulled up the pumpkin with the revolting treats in it, there was a rope tied to it. The sound of something getting launched could be heard. Looking up at the sky to see a myriad of pumpkins flying towards him. Oh shit. He went into a defensive pose as Abbey ran right towards the makeshift pumpkin patch and made a shield with her ice powers to protect him. The day was saved. For them…

It became as silent as a library in a slasher movie, the only thing heard was the loud breathing until a scream came out of someone's mouth, Cleo’s mouth.

Covered in orange sludge from head to toe, her face more red than a Skullphora grave de rougé lipstick. Saying she was done with life was an enormous understatement. Nothing else left her mouth besides that scream, but based on those eyebrows and wide open eyes. It was best for her not to speak. For the better, Deuce guided away to the women's bathroom before he headed back to the gate. Where other things began to happen.

“Baby please don’t leave me here” Holt said clutching his phone as it reached zero.

The music stopped playing and the flame stopped burning. Now there was just an awkward Jackson standing in Holt’s place. So small, so timid in a situation like this. Like a hare in a hunting range trying to navigate between the tall grass of monsters. Hiding in a place like this was impossible when most people wanted some rabbit stew.

“Don’t mind me.” He said under his breath, sneaking around. 

Before he bumped into a familiar red t-shirt. Oh shit.

“I’m sorry Manny…” he said before his feet were no longer on the ground, instead Manny lifted him up so they could have eye contact at the exact same height.

“Well yeah you should be.” Manny told him. “Do you need to remember?”

And then those dreaded words left his mouth. 

“You’re half normie and we do not want to see someone like you at our school. So you better get out of here or you will wish you were never born.”

That was what he was told before he fell face first onto the ground and despite it just being grass, his hands got pretty scraped up. His glasses? Well they just got a minor crack in them that he noticed when he picked them up. Jackson turned his head around to see everyone else staring at him. All the things he heard was his own heartbeat and his heavy breathing. Trying to stand up but his legs are to shakey. Though he did get the balance to immediately run away after what happened. 

When he arrived at the library, he looked for a place to hide. It was a bit hard with a pair of broken glasses and eyes covered in tears, and just. Broke down.

At the same time Frankie tried to follow him until two guys behind her began to argue, she quickly removed their hand so it could find Jackson. While they went to look at whatever the mansters were doing. 

“Manny. We are friends but if I see you do stuff like this you are done with any of the sports teams!” Clawd told him.

“Yeah, we are best friends. But you can’t treat my cousin like that.” Heath added.

Manny stood there silent as all eyes were now on him. 

“It was an impulse I had.” Manny told both of them.

“An impulse to throw Jackson around like a ragdoll and then break his glasses like it was?” Frankie said.

Approaching all three of them before sending a small volt of electricity into Manny’s nose ring. There have been times she has been disappointed with her classmates, but this time. They were just angry, not in a “I want to stab you” way, just angry. 

As tension rose around all four of them, it would be no less than a few seconds before one of them would attack, nobody would know if it would be Manny, Clawd, or Heath. What if it was all 3 of them. The fire was burning and the claws were sharpened. Some students began to chant “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” right behind them, forming a circle. Frankie slowly backed away, running into the crowd trying to head inside. Though before Frankie could even blink it was a 2 on 1 fight. 

Pieces of cloth were ripped away, fur thrown on the ground like nothing. They were all surprised no screams came out of their mouths as everything continued. Clawd had his hands on Manny’s t-shirt, pulling it closer and closer until Manny needed to cover his snout or else his stomach would turn from the vile odor. 

“Do you even brush your teeth?“ he asked before punching him in his stomach.

“Well I do, but I had beef for breakfast” Clawd said before punching him back, making him trip over. 

“Do you want another serving?” Heath asked before lighting a small fire. 

At the sidelines Draculaura and Clawdeen were standing, One of them overly concerned and one just rolling her eyes.

“Don’t worry, he has been in worse fights before” Clawdeen said.

Out of nowhere Abbey appeared behind them. “It’s normal, reminds me of yak fights at home” she said right as Manny kicked Heath in the face. Everyone stood in shock as something dropped from his mouth directly before he coughed out some blood. 

“Abbey, is losing teeth normal?” 

“Uncommon.” She said moving her hand lightly. 

Even after everything the fight still continued. Until a loud voice broke everyone’s attention. 

“ENOUGH STUDENTS”

Oh shit. Bloodgood was here. As her footsteps got closer and closer to everyone, the three of them turned around with their hearts beating so hard it almost fell out of their body. Good for her.

“All 3 of you to my office now” she commanded.

“Yes Headmistress Bloodgood” all three of them said almost in sync. Following them to her office.

11.00am

Frankie was walking around the halls with their hand still disattached. Maybe it had already found Jackson. Why couldn’t school end already, it was not even noon yet and so much crap had happened. 

Her being on the empty second floor with the only other sound being the tapping of their shoes. Trying to hear other sounds but it was just them there. Plus some finger tapping from her loose hand. She began to run towards the sound to see it was right next to the door of the library. 

“Of course he would go there.” Frankie said before putting back their hand. 

She stepped into the library, every part of her view now covered in the endless hallways with books that haven’t even been touched in millenia. Hallways formed like a maze with the tall umber colored bookshelves being more confusing than guiding. Frankie tried to listen for him, trying to find any sign of life. However nothing could be heard or smelled if you didn’t count the smell of the old books. 

It felt like she was running around in circles. But Jackson was her friend so why would they give up. She took another step that echoed throughout the building. To hear something crumble. A piece of paper. Franke picked the paper and read what was on it. “Holt, we are screwed.” Oh… well, Jackson definitely wrote that to say at least. Frankie put it in her handbag and as they did, they heard something else than their own thoughts. Some crying. She headed towards the sound to find the library computers. The crying got louder and louder until she looked under a desk to see Jackson hiding there.

“Jackson!” Frankie said.

They bent down trying to hug him but she was pushed away. Jackson looked at her trying to adjust his broken glasses. 

"please I just want to be left alone.” Jackson said, turning around.  

“I know this week has been really hard but Jackson, you do not need to worr-” Frankie replied before being interrupted.

“then why does no one want me here?” Jackson asked.

It went silent once again, no more crying, no more high heels tapping on the stone floor. Just silence. Frankie looked at Jackson with a frown on their face. With thousands of responses in their mind but none felt right to say. 

“Dude. Everyone wants you here.” A third person said.

Frankie turned around to see Deuce who put his hand on Jackson’s shoulder.

“no, they don’t want me. everyone else wants Holt.” Jackson said as he crawled out of the desk and stood up. “And I understand why. I’m this tiny normie nerd and Holt is this cool m-” 

Deuce put his hand on his shoulder again. “Jackson, do you think Clawd and Heath don’t want you?”  He asked.

“yeah, why wouldn’t they?” Jackson sighed.

“Dude, they got into a fight for you! I am pretty sure Heath lost a tooth just from that fight.” 

“really?” 

“Yes Jackson, it was a bit brutal though,” Frankie said. 

“Bloodgood had to break up the fight and now all 3 of them are in the office.” Deuce said as he took out something from his pocket.

“Why would clawd attack a team member? he loves his team.” Jackson said, still looking down at the ground.

“Dude, he’s Clawd. Do I need to explain?” Deuce replied before putting something in Jackson’s hands. “I also think you need this.” 

Jackson felt what was in his hand, it was his charger. He immediately began to charge his phone.

“Thanks Deuce, but how did you get into my locker?” 

As Deuce was trying to answer the question. There was an announcement on all of the speakers around the school. 

“May every student be at the ensemble hall now”

All 3 of them just followed the message and headed there. As everyone else. But there were still a few questions that lingered in their heads. While walking down the stairs, Jackson looked up at Deuce before opening his mouth. 

“Shouldn’t you be with Cleo?” 

“Well, I followed her to the ladies restroom but then I let her friends take care of her. There is no way in hell I am going into that place.” 

Well, not an awful answer. As the three got closer and closer to the ensemble hall. The more students appeared. Everyone seemed too interested in their own thing to notice them. Except for Cleo who confidently walked up to her boyfriend before grabbing him by his biceps.

“Deuce there are you.” She said before walking away with him.

Both Frankie and Jackson waved goodbye before Frankie noticed her friends and approached them. Now, Jackson was alone again as he reached the entrance of the hall and went to the first empty seats he could spot.
He sat down and checked his phone, it had a small crack on it but he could deal with it after all the crap he went through. It had charged a bit at least, and a call from Heath? It still felt so surreal, seeing his cousin turn on his best friend for someone like him. Was he stuck in a weird realistic dream? He continued to ponder for a while until someone rubbed their fist onto their head. A bit shook, he turned around to see two pretty injured guys, and Gil. They didn’t say anything to each other, they just waved before they watched Bloodgood enter the stage.

“So, students, the past two days there have been some humans who have vandalized some schools and attacked a few of our students. I have gotten a few calls from some worried parents, so paired with everything. I and the school administrators have come to the conclusion that every student should stay away from the human town. I will also add because they have figured out how to get here. During the weekend we will make sure that every one of you stays indoors. I understand your disappointment. But it is for your own safety.”  

A crowd of groans and “what” began to come out from the students as everyone began to talk to their seatmate about the rules. Except for Frankie who just had their hand raised up in the air. Bloodgood looked around in the audience before spotting them. 

“Mx Stein. Do you have anything important to say?” She asked.

Frankie nodded her head as they stood up and began to walk towards the stage. With each footstep their heart began to beat faster and faster. The moment they reached the stage and grabbed the mic, she took a huge breath.

“Hi.” 

“HI FRANKIE!” Heath said back.

Frankie smiled back at him before starting their speech, albeit with a shaky voice. 

“So, I know everyone has been scared recently with everything that has been going on and with the school's new curfew. And it shouldn’t be like this. A few days ago, me and my friends visited the catacombs. Where we saw this wonderful play about halloween. Just a few centuries ago Halloween was a holiday that both humans and monsters celebrated together. It was meant to show our kindness and love for each other. I don’t know when it became a tradition to hunt us down and attack our school. But this needs to stop. We can take back Halloween if we try! There is no need to be afraid! We can do this! ” She said before putting back the microphone.

It was silent for a few seconds, before one person clapped, then another one, then everyone was clapping. Chanting their name in a hectic choir. They stood up, but soon the word Frankie went into other things. Things she didn’t even intend at first. 

“Frankie Stein!”

“Frankie! Frankie!” 

“Take back halloween!”
“Halloween will be ours!”

Definitely didn’t intend on the final part. Though it couldn't be that bad… right? 

Chapter Text

13:30/1:00 pm,

Cleo was in class before her phone rang. She quickly exited the room to check who it was. It was her dad, who wanted to facetime her. Seemed semi important. She answered the call to see him sitting in their golden caravanish car. 

“Cleo.”

“ Yes father.” She said,

“We are currently stuck in traffic, so we are not going to pick you up today. ” He told her

“It is alright, I was thinking about going home to Deuce’s place anyway.” 

Nefera appeared on the phone call, OBVIOUSLY there to show her deep love for her younger sister. 

“Are you going there to do the kissy kissy under one of the statues?” She asked, barely keeping the laughter inside her.

Cleo groaned and rolled her eyes. “Nefera, I have a better relationship with Deuce than any of your previous exes by a mile.”

“At least I’m not going for a basic gorgon.” Nefera said while filing her nails. 

“Ladies, please stop. We are discussing something important. Remember what you told me what happened yesterday with that attack. Well, remember what I told you yesterday” Ramses said.

“Yes father.” Cleo said, sitting down on a bench.

“Well, after I read about the new curfew in the E-Mail the headmistress sent to me, I also learned about a speech your classmate had. So I think it is time to execute our plan Cleo.”

Cleo nodded. Maybe it wasn’t that much of a bad idea. As soon as the video call ended. She began to send out messages talking about her little plan, telling them to meet after school, behind the school. Just to do some vandalizing. Nothing else

15:30/3:30pm

School had ended. Cleo was standing on top of a foundation with a few other students. Not that mainly, mainly Heath, Clawd, Manny was supposed to be here but he got chased away for some reason. After that, Toralei. She probably eavesdropped on her. Yes she did have her in her contacts. However it was to bug her! Not for important things, okay bugging her is important but this is way more important.

Cleo began her small speech.

“So, it is time to take back halloween.” She said,

“Let’s make sure these normies will never see their senior prom!” She added.

A concerned look was now on everyone else's faces. Cleo quickly noticed this.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant going to the dress bootiques there and steal all the dresses.” Well, it wasn’t that bad. It did make sense. Everyone else nodded their head in unison. 

It wasn’t a plan everyone agreed on though. A group of monsters stood right behind everyone else. All of them noticed their presence and turned around, to see a group of people looking at them in disappointment, consisting of Frankie, Deuce, Jackson, Abbey, Operetta, Lagoona, and Draculaura. Frankie approached Cleo, both of them stared into each other's eyes, the latter just put on a light smirk on her face while the former started the conversation.

“This wasn’t what I meant when I said we should take back halloween Cleo.” Frankie said.

Cleo still had a smirk on her face as she went down from the fountain, walking towards them with full confidence in her posture and attitude. 

“Well Frankie. I just want the best for us, and I think the normies should get a taste of their own medicine.” 

As the two continued to argue. Deuce decided to step in and speak his opinion. 

“Cleo, babe, I love you. But you know that not all normies are bad. Maybe we shouldn’t try to make us seem like the bad guys.” 

“I love you too Deuce, but sometimes you can’t go the nic-” She said lightly touching his face. 

Sadly the second biggest annoyance in her life came when Toralei approached Jackson. She slowly moved her index finger on his shoulder to the palm of his hand before holding his hand.

“And maybe we could use the help of a certain DJ too?” She asked.

Jackson looked around at everyone. Some expressions stayed neutral while some desperately told him now. Anyway, he took out his phone and just put a little reminder. 

“If something bad happens, please transform back into me.

-JJ”

“sorry” Was his last words before he started playing a song, looking at Deuce and Frankie. 

A burst of flames formed around him as Holt appeared. Looking at the phone. He was in disbelief. Who could summon him with shit like this? 

“The newest Panic! at The Morgue album? Really Jackson?! You should know they have gotten worse since Ryan Roth left.” He said as he put the phone down in his pocket. “Anyway, what are we doing? Vandalizing the normie school? Should I get my spray paint!?”

A small giggle came from Operetta before she walked to the middle of all this mess. Hoping to catch everyone else’s attention by clapping her hands. It sorta did, not everyone paid attention to her but some is better than none.

“Well Cleo, how will you find your way in the catacombs without me?” She asked.

“Well, we will find our way anyways.” Cleo said, crossing her arms. “Anyway, it is time to go.” She said before heading away to the catacombs with the rest of her gang (+Holt) following her.

The other 6 watched them head away knowing a mess was going to be made. They all looked at each other. They discussed for a few minutes over what to do. Maybe they should leave, maybe they should stay.  Maybe stay here and ignore the mess they will most likely cause. After a few rounds they agreed on going. Plus as Operetta said. She is the one who knows the catacombs. Also Heath was with them and he was Heath. 

They wandered throughout the deep dark paths, the sound of water dripping and spiders crawling on their webs. All of them stayed tightly together with Operetta leading everyone with a lantern in her left hand. They could almost find no trace of any other people. 

“Hey Lagoona.” Draculaura said. 

“Yeah.” Lagoona responded.

“Shouldn’t you have swim practice by now?” Draculaura asked.

“It was cancelled today, and Gil went home early today.” Lagoona answered.

“I see.” Draculaura said.

The wandering continued until a foul odor filled up the hallway. One that could only be described as a rotten durian mixed with egg farts. They covered their noses while trying to search for the origin of the smell. Which actually was a rotten egg laying on the ground. Smelling a bit burnt too. Deuce lightly touched the eggshell before sniffing his fingers.

“They were here alright” He said before adjusting the beanie on their head. 

Abbey looked down on him while they continued to be guided through the building. 

“Deuce, what is up with the hat?” She asked ,while ducking under a rocky doorframe.

“Oh the beanie. Jackson told me in case a human sees us it is good to hide some of our monster traits. Poor guy probably has some experience from that.” Deuce said. 

“Hey, maybe we should do a little makeover before we exit?” Draculaura  asked, with sparkles in her eyes.

“Not here, sorry sweetie.” Operetta answered. 

Draculaura sighed.

Operetta stopped right in front of a wall and moved the lantern above her head and looked up. They were at the exit. The water drain covering the opening was removed… Well time to just climb up.
All of them surprisingly fit into the tiny drain before exiting it too. They were in front of the normie school. It was like a monster high but boring. In their eyes too were also the silhouettes of 5 people all standing in a row. The other 6 slowly headed towards them hoping they wouldn’t be humans. Draculaura took the risk and spoke.

“Squirrel” She said 

Touching the shoulder of one person. He turned around with a pair of bright eyes staring back at her, a grin on his face formed before moving his hand slowly towards her.

“Where?” He asked back, moving and jumping around. 

Frankie put on a flashlight on her phone to see it was a very excited turned disappointed Clawd, and 4 other people stood in shock looking at the roof of the school. Everybody seemed interested to see what happened. Graffiti of skulls and fangs were drawn there. Some glanced at Holt, yet his mouth was wide open, his hand clutching the bag. Were they all late?

All of them had their own theories as to what happened. However, they were lost as they heard the sound of sirens. Fuck, the cops have arrived. They had just parked right next to the building and rolled down the window. A flashlight shined upon the monsters. With a smirk now on the sheriff’s face as he took out the walkie-talkie and started it.

“We got a good one” He said to the other end.

“Though one just looks like a buff guy wearing a beanie and sunglasses at 5pm. Weird.” He added

Light glaring into their eyes, hearing more cars pull up, the sounds of more sirens from miles away could be heard by a certain werewolf. Looking around to see some of his friends frozen in fear. No hesitation could be found in his voice as Clawd yelled for everyone to

“RUN!”

Well, they didn’t have a choice other than to flee. So everyone went in to hide different directions trying to confuse the cops who just continued driving. Following them just a few meters behind. If a few split up, the cops would too. Running out of stamina and them getting closer by each second. All 10 had to get a bit creative and hide or disguise themselves in some peculiar ways. 

Like what cop would be so stupid to drive past a boutique. Look through the window, see a really pink and short clothing mannequin standing inside a shop and not think it was Draculaura? Or what cop would casually pass by the local theatre and NOT notice Operetta standing there in front of a huge poster for Phantom of the Opera. Including how someone was so stupid to ignore the apparent sound of boats being turned over with a certain fish girl hiding in it. Along with Holt standing right next to a house currently abla- we will get back to that

About 30 minutes or so had passed. With Cleo magically being able to escape from them to see the rest of her friends in front of a random house. Many of them being out of breath or still scared. Cleo released a deep breath before hugging Deuce. 

“Note to self, never run away from the cops while wearing high heels.” 

Toralei rolled her eyes, until she noticed that in the corner of it, the house right behind them, the lights were on. She snuck over without making a sound and pressed the doorbell, later returning like it was nothing. Ears facing forward as she just listened to Operetta explaining her way back to their world. With no one questioning where Holt was.

Sadly that conversation was cut short, the door behind them opened. A chilling voice went through everybody’s spine. “Why are you guys standing there?” He asked. 

Heads slowly turned towards it to see a person standing with only the shadow of his stature being shown.  The door fully opened and there he was, standing menacingly.  Smiling with a wide grin. Why can’t they just be left alone??

“YOUR COSTUMES LOOK AMAZING!” A brown haired normie said out loud, then looking at Abbey in awe. 

“Those stilts look so realistic. How did you get them to look like that?” 

Abbey looked confused, what does he mean by “stilts”. Has it been years since humans last saw a 240cm tall yeti? Wait until they see her cousin, and she isn’t even a yeti. 

“You guys are going to freeze outside. Come in, the party inside!” He said inviting them.

They all walked inside to see a massive halloween party going on. ON A FUCKING TUSEDAY! These normies are truly weirder than them. But hey free snacks and drinks. The music was decent too. Nobody seemed to question them. A boy even approached Draculaura asking her if she wanted to dance together. Clawd just gave him a death stare. Another person asked if they wanted some punch. Going into a karate pose Clawd looked down at the glass, it was a red drink…

Frankie, Lagoona, and Operetta were all standing in a corner. Frankie’s back hairs stood up seeing the decorations. They leaned over to Operetta to ask her if it was real. Operetta lightly chuckled.

“Frankie, don’t worry. They are made from paper and plastic.” She said. 

“Were you guys also forced to go here?” A raspy female voice asked.

Lagoona looked over her shoulder to see a goth girl with the most bored expression on her face. Holding some random energy drink. “Want some? It is watermelon and “finger lime” flavored.” She asked. 

“Finger lime? It has been years since I had it. It is impossible to find it here in 

Oregon.” She said, grabbing it from the goth girl and took a sip. It tasted alright. More watermelon than finger lime.

“The name is Clair by the way. Where are you from?” She asked Lagoona.

“Oh I am from the great s-” 

“Australia.” Operetta whispered into her ears. 

“Australia! Also my name is Lagoona.” She told Clair.

“How do you know so much about human culture?” Frankie whispered to Operetta.

“Well, my dad spent his time at the French opera. So he just met a bunch of people from different parts of the world.” She whispered back.

Clair pointed at the brown haired guy dancing around a circle. Telling the 3 of them that the guy is called Chad. He is her friend, Clair was forced to go there.

Heath and Abbey were closely knit together with Heath shoving chips down his throat. And him drinking like his body weight worth of pepsi max. Abbey grabbed a bag of chips that had a burning skull logo on it, she took one of the unnaturally red chips and put it in her mouth. It was spicy. Better hide this from Heath. 

Someone decided to play battle horns from the upper floor. It was the buff humans from yesterday. Now unmasked. Damn, they were ugly. Though they needed to listen to them. 

“Everyone, introducing the daughter of the fearest monster hunter in the land. Here she comes. Lilith Van Hellscream!” 

A fair skinned girl walked out from a room with an awful pompadour styled hair, according to Cleo. And an awful leopard patterned dress suit. According to Cleo, again.

“Welcome everyone. I love everyone's costumes.” She said before eyeing the monsters. A smirk formed as she slowly stepped down. Lightly touching Deuce’s chin then going back like it was nothing.

“So our plan has been really successful. I heard from a little bird that the monsters vandalized OUR school.” She said in a cocky attitude. “So everyone knows what that means. That we are closer and closer to showing the monsters the true meaning of halloween.” Lilith said.

Almost everyone cheered before they continued the party. Music now up to 100. Everyone acted like it was normal. Or tried to act that way. Heath was just having a bit too much fun. He had another pepsi max in his hand, while taking a sip someone came up to him. It was a normie girl who seemed quite innocent. Wearing a typical nurse outfit stained with fake blood, she also wore a purple wig.

“Hi, I really like your costume. What is your name?” 

Heath turned around and looked at her, he didn’t mean to be stereotypical. But normies are pretty short. Yeah, the only one he properly knew was Jackson who is 5’6. But most mansters are above 6ft, including himself. Though only a few humans here barely passed that. But at least they had good snacks. 

“The name is Heath, Heath b-” He said, he then looked over the girls shoulder to see Deuce shaking his head.

“Well nice to meet you Heath. Are you a new student?” She asked.

“Yes I am.” He said.

Anxiousness fell upon the other monsters praying that he wouldn't mess things up. 

“Can I get your number?” She asked.

Heath nodded his head before grabbing the girls phone and put his number into it. Meanwhile everyone else just stood there. They did nothing. Some just excused themselves to the bathroom trying to avoid watching the mess that was probably going to go down.

Heath gave back the girl's phone before texting Holt.

“Holt, where are you? I am at this normie party and this cute normie girl just asked me for her number.” He sent the text message. Before feeling a hairy hand on his shoulder. Clawd had a facial expression you couldn’t truly describe as the moment. But his words explained everything.

“Heath, your hair is on FUCKING FIRE!” 

Welp. He put down his phone to see everyone staring at him, everyone in the room. Faces in either awe, terror, or anger. Lilith quickly approached him with that annoying smirk on her face. Moving her hand above his head to see if it wasn’t just special effects. It was warm. She grabbed his shoulder.

“And it seems like some monsters snuck into our par-” 

“Hey.” Someone behind her said. 

Lilith looked behind her to see a 7’8 tall yeti behind her. With those massive canines and that ice cold stare. Was that feminine appearance just a costume? 

“W-what is it?” She asked mildly, stuttering. Damn, the daughter of Van Hellscream acting like THIS. 

“You mess with Heath, you mess with Abbey. Now leave him alone!” She told her. 

Lilith just stood there stuck. Hair rising and heart beating. She was just 2ft taller than her. Why is she scared? It is easy to punch her in the stomach.

“Well w-what are you going to do..?” She asked. 

“This.” She said.

Abbey used her ice powers to first put down Heath’s flame. Then aimed at her legs. Making her literally frozen to the ground. Gasps filled the room as Lagoona exited the bathroom. The humans close to her decided to touch her skin to check if the scales were actually real. She felt a sting on her back. Turning around to see that someone had actually taken one away from her. She slapped their hands before calling him a cunt.

Every human in the room began to check everyone's costumes to see if they were fake or not. Draculaura avoided it all by hiding under the table, plus Operetta and Cleo. Both of them just looked human enough to not be investigated, despite one being literally purple. Her friends though. They were stuck in a horrid position. People touched them, grabbing their body like doll parts. They freaked out when Frankie’s hand was detached. Deuce was a bit safe, though people questioned him wearing a beanie and sunglasses inside AND late at night. So someone removed the hat, and they passed out. Nobody thought he had real snakes on his head instead of hair. Who would have guessed.

A guy approached him trying to remove his sunglasses. Deuce tried to push them away.

“Dude, do you really want to know what happens if you remove my sunglasses?” He asked. 

Well, not a singular thought was found in that person's mind. Snatching away the glasses like it was nothing. Before he got petrified by him. Deuce closed his eyes before taking his sunglasses back. 

It was probably time to leave. They were almost out of the house. When out of nowhere, sirens were heard.

A fire, warmth. The bright red color contrasts with the navy blue night sky. It was the only light by a mile...

Holt had lost the group. He was all alone in this human town. He had a random feeling of deja vú while looking at the copy and pasted buildings. The exact same trees on the sidewalks. It was almost scary. He checked his phone for a message from anyone. No notifications though. Not from his friends nor his family. He heard some police sirens, damn. They were closed. Holt ran as fast as he could, in the opposite direction. Thank god it was 9pm on a tuesday. No one is going out for a night walk. Or throwing a halloween part.
As he stopped to catch his breath he noticed something from. Something that wasn’t just the dim street lights. Maybe his friends were there. 

Light rock ballads playing as he just admired the beautiful starglazed sky. It was relaxing. No cops, no dangerous humans. Just him, that light, and that bright light. He felt free. As he got closer and closer to the bright light. It began to shine brighter. It felt less like a bonfire and more like a house fire…

When he finally arrived at the light. He was right, the house was ablaze. He checked if there was someone in there. He noticed a singular room had the lights on. Without thinking he smacked the door down and ran inside. He was half-fire elemental. So, he probably had some fire immunity. Though he has never seen Heath walk into a fire. He mostly starts fires. 

The fire had almost taken over the first floor. He didn’t stop. It just hurt him a tiny bit. He ran upstairs as the fire engulfed the stairs. Trying to find the room. He opened every door on the second floor to see it was empty. He went into a purple colored room, it seemed to belong to a child. It was the only room with the light on. Holt walked around the room trying to find a person. Some sobbing was heard, some crying was heard.
Holt tried to locate the crying before looking under the bed. Where a girl was hiding. Eyes covered in tears and holding a plushie. 

“Hey, where are your parents?” He asked, bending down.

The girl looked at him and cried a bit more. Of course. He was half monster. Her parents probably told her horror stories about people like him. Holt reached his hand out.

“I am not here to hurt you.” He told her.

The girl continued crying as she crawled out of the bed. She barely seemed past 7 years old. Poor kid. Holt picked up the girl before running downstairs. The fire had gotten worse. But they still made it to the exit. 

As he put the girl back on the ground. She decided to speak. “Thank you mister.” 

“You can just call me Holt. But what ha-” He said before hearing a person scream.

Right on the other side of the street was a woman screaming into the phone looking at him. 

“OFFICER! THERE'S A MONSTER RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!” She yelled.

Holt looked down at the girl before telling her goodbye. It was time for him to run again. The girl waved back at him before he disappeared into the jet black night. He checked his phone to see a message from his cousin, though he didn’t have the time to read it. He put his phone back in his pocket as he noticed that some cop cars were driving towards him. Continuing to run until he tripped like the bimbo in a horror movie. Hands getting even more scraped up. Looking up to see a cop car right next to him. With a cop stepping out from the car as Holt stood up again. Trying to flee before getting tased, paralyzing him. 

Right as he was handcuffed he noticed his classmates heading outside from a house. All 10 0f them were looking at him.

“HOLT!” Frankie shouted.

“Frankie fine, you promise not to leave me right?!” He asked before the cops shoved him into the car. 

Frankie stared and ran away in horror as the car drove away. 

Chapter Text

6:00 am, wednesday, 28th of October

“Welp, how did I end up here” Jackson thought sitting in a cold cell. 

The last thing he remembered was him telling Deuce and Frankie that he was sorry. Now, he is in a cell. But it seemed more like something more like he was stuck at a police station than jail. He was the only one there. There was an imp He was completely alone, just him, and the web covered roof. Maybe Holt was caught vandalizing and taken here. But where is everyone else? Could this just be a bad dream?

He sat on the hard bed sulking. Hearing some talking from the other side. 

“Yes miss. We have filed the report for the missing child.” 

Missing child… lets just hope it was related to someone else.  His scalp felt a bit itchy. While Jackson began to scratch his hair he felt the itchiness moving to his hand. It had a spider on it. A yelp left his mouth that caught the attention of the cop.

“I am sorry but something is coming from one of the… criminals.” 

Shit, shit, shit. He was in big trouble. began to shake away the spider from his hand. When it was gone the footsteps were so fucking close. He began to panic. Jackson sat there begging for something good to happen.

“What are you doing here?” The voice asked.

Jackson looked up to see a tanned white man with a beard looking at him. He was wearing a cop uniform. There was no name tag on him. But he was too stressed to even care about it. The sheriff moved his head to the side as he reached into his pocket. Was he reaching for a gun!? Why was he approaching the door? He is now opening the door? The sheriff walked into the cell and grabbed Jackson’s arm. Jackson was thrown out of the cell as the cop adjusted his glasses. Before taking him to the kitchen and forcing him to sit down. 

"What’s your name?” He asked as he poured a cup of coffee. 

“Jackson.” He said, anxiously sitting in the chair. 

“Well Jackson, how did you end up here?” He asked.

Jackson was handed a cup of coffee. He took a sip and it was piping hot, almost burning his tongue. What should he answer? Though when he looked at the face of the cop, he got some really uncomfortable feelings from him. Like he had seen him before. He was probably the guy who arrested Holt.

“I remember taking a night walk and suddenly this monster attacked me and then threw me in the cell.” He lied, like you could hear the shakiness in his voice. “He also stole my phone.” He added.

The cop took a sip of his coffee before putting it on the counter.

“What did the monster look like?” 

“He was about 6ft tall, with blue skin, and red hair.” 

“Just like that arsonist.” 

ARSONIST. WAS HOLT ACCUSED OF BURNING DOWN A HOUSE. An-y-way, a new rule was added between them. Avoid everything with music if you aren't alone. 

“Yeah, that arsonist, he did it.” Jackson said.

The Sheriff left the room and demanded that Jackson would come with him. Jackson followed him, slouching his back together and looking around. Making sure it was just him and that guy. It seemed to only be him and the sheriff. Thank god. He walked into a room filled with confiscated items. He walked over to a desk where there was a box with a date on it. It was from yesterday. Jackson grabbed the box to check what was inside to see his phone, which he quickly put in his pocket. Holt’s headphones were also in there. Though magically whenever he transforms into him they just teleport to him. Hey, who told you the monster world had perfect logic. 

Walking out of the police station to have his eyes first glance at a wanted poster of Holt. He didn’t even want to read what was written on it, and thank god he didn’t get a chance. Jackson was thrown into the passenger seat of a car. He put on the seatbelt as the Sheriff jumped into the driver's seat and began to drive away throughout the suburban neighborhood. 

“Should I turn on the rad-” He said.

Jackson slapped his eyes with fear in his eyes. Slowly shaking his head. 

“I don’t like music.” He said.

The Sheriff looked a bit confused. But he didn’t question anything. He just kept driving. Jackson took a sigh of relief as he looked out through the window. Hoping for something decent to happen.

9:20am

Frankie was walking up the stairs towards the school library. Checking her phone over and over again. Waiting for Ghoulia to respond to them. Luckily one of the teachers was sick so they weren’t missing a lesson. When she reached the library they headed towards the computer section. Where they noticed a short figured zombie sitting in front of a PC. Frankie headed towards her noticing an article on the laptop.

“Child gone missing in house fire, monster suspected of arson.” 

Their heart dropped. This can’t be real. Holt would never do anything like that! 

“Uhuuuh.” Ghoulia moaned.

“You got onto the human web? Do you have any other articles?” Frankie asked.

Ghoulia moved to another tab showing an article from The New Salem Times. It was an interview with a brown haired man with a mustache talking about how he caught a monster, and how proud he was of catching “it.” They broke down, Frankie couldn’t just handle it. Tears began to flow down her face. Forgetting that Deuce might havw killed a man.

“Ouhouh.” Ghoulia grunted.

Tapping a tab over and over again to show a cat with very big eyes and wonky feet. Touching Frankie’s shoulder. Frankie looked up at Ghoulia with water filled eyes and glanced at the screen. To see the funky looking cat with big eyes and wonky feet. She smiled a bit.

Both of them heard two people approaching them, though they didn’t pay that much attention. The cat couldn’t be ignored. Until they heard the two people speaking.

“Frankie, thereyou are!” Draculaura said

“We have been looking around the entire school looking for y- what’s up with the cat?” Clawdeen asked. 

Draculaura peeked over Clawdeens shoulder to see what she was pointing at. 

“Aww, it is so cute, I need to show Cleo this.” She said before she took a photo.

They both looked at Frankie and tried to comfort her. Hugging them, patting their back. They didn’t want to speak at the moment. Just wanting their emotions to roll out of them. She felt useless, everything they tried to do right now ended HORRIBLY. 

Their crying covered up them hearing other people entering the library. A suspicious amount if you didn’t think they were grabbing a book for their english project. All of them were admiring the cat. They then also went to comfort Frankie after that. Which made sense because it felt like she had 40 weighted blankets over her. Frankie opened her eyes to see her friends next to her. She stood up and looked at the cat again. It was pretty cute.

Deuce was acting normal, strangely. Despite ummm, you know what. He was on his phone texting someone. Frankie was pondering what he was doing and decided to take a little sneak peak. One of the snakes on his head noticed what they were trying to do and hissed at them, Frankie sent a small shock to the snake that was also sent to Deuce.

He jumped lightly, his phone slipped away from his hands. However he was able to catch it in time and continued typing.

“Deuce, who are you texting?” Frankie asked.

“I’m texting Gil.” He answered.

Everyone in the room began to pay attention to what Ghoulia was doing on the PC instead. Who removed the tab of the cat to show the exact article Frankie freaked out over. All of them looked at the article in horror. It showed a mugshot of Holt  looking a bit roughed up. Then Ghoulia began to scroll down, showing the rest of the article.

Yesterday at 11:30pm, a monster going by the name of Holt Hyde was caught burning down a house at [redacted] street in New Salem, Oregon. The main witness Miss [redacted] said she saw the fire from her window. When she went outside to see the entire house up in flames with the monster standing in front of it, holding the neighbors 6 year old girl. 

“I was horrified, seeing that standing there holding a child. He looked completely horrified when I called the cops and tried to run away. Last thing I remember was me trying to comfort the child but she refused to speak. I took her to my house to stay over the night. But now she is missing again!” 

The police are trying to investigate the case of the missing child. But this hasn’t been the only monster related case that has happened yesterday. Previously a video was shared online of a bunch of monsters interrupting a halloween party. Authorities have yet to find their identity.

It was then interrupted by an ad.   

Everyone was frozen after reading the article. Almost everyone was there. The video probably went viral. It felt like a bullet went through Frankie’s heart. They had truly messed up, it was her fault. If they hadn’t been so curious about a stupid normie holiday nothing would have happened. They just wanted to disappear. She had done nothing right. The rest of them were thinking about the consequences. Everyone with their different reactions. Cleo felt like she had this massive weight of guilt on her back. She knew that continuing was her only choice or her father would be immensely disappointed. But seeing all of her friends all worried, was this truly the right choice? 

“Hey Deuce, didn’t you turn someone into stone?” Clawdeen asked.

The tension was put on him. A staring contest between him, his snakes, and everyone else. He knew what he did was wrong, he still feels guilty. It was the first time he ever did it to a human. Mostly it was towards Heath but he would usually just go back to his old self back in a matter of hours. 

Speaking of Heath. He stormed into a library a bit doozy, then he was jumping up and down like it was christmas. 

“Guys, you wont believe what happened!” He shouted. Shaking his hand up and down like he was generating energy. 

Heath seemed to have his phone there. Completely turned off though.  

“What is it?” Operetta asked. 

“Well when I was at the dentist, my phone just continued ringing. So my mom turned it off. Then when I was in the car, I turned it on again and I had like 500 messages!” He said. 

Everyone there groaned in unison. The night was still in their head like a really awful movie scene that was buried into your brain. But nobody was mad at him for what he did. He was just, Heath. Clawd approached his friend and looked him straight into those fire colored eyes.

“You gave a normie girl your number-” 

“AHAHAH!” Ghoulia yelps, turning her attention away from the computer. 

Clawdeen listened to her explanation, her eyes widened together with her ears standing up. With the more her words spread, the more worried everyone became. 

“What do you mean by being able to find our location, Ghoulia..?” Cleo asked.

Another stone of hopelessness fell on Frankie’s back. What if the school was found and they blew it up. What if they died, and poor Jackson now stuck in the human world. Let’s just hope things don't get worse.

The Sheriff was driving Jackson to what seemed to be a mall. It was gigantic too. Panic struck through his body thinking about even leaving the car. Fuck no, why was he parking? Cold sweat was going down from his forehead as his heartbeat started to beat faster and faster. Frantically looking around to see if anyone is staring at him. 

WHY A MALL?! There was probably music playing there at about 300 decibels inside there. IfhewenttheremaybehewouldhearsomemusicandhewouldturnintoHoltandhewouldbeforc-

“Jackson is everything alright?” The Sheriff asked.

“I don’t do well in crowded spaces. So can I please stay here..?” He asked, looking at The Sheriff and then back on the car floor. Shaking his body a little. He could sense The Sheriff’s eyes piercing down on his body. That coffee filled breath sweeping into his nose. Then he heard the car door open. The sound of cars passing by and people talking and dogs barking took over his mind. 

“What is your prescription?” 

Oh, that was it? No one was looking at him. Just a simple question. Maybe he was just overreacting. Yeah, that sounded good. But what if he wasn't?! Jackson tried to take a few deep breaths before answering the question, and asking for a pair of soundproof headphones. Now he was once again all alone. Looking out of the window of the police car. A deep sigh left his mouth. 

There was a radio guide on top of the driver's seat. Why not check it out? Looking at it and then the time on his phone. The news was on. At least he could listen to it. He turned on the radio and turned off the audio, before changing to radio 3. After that he put the volume on about 20% There was a quick jingle before the program started.

"It is time for the 9.30 news with [redacted] and [redacted]. Starting with our latest story. Monsters have been spotted in a small town in Oregon. A video of them crashing a party went viral on social media since it was uploaded 12 hours ago. Some of the comments include, “Are you sure they aren't just hyper realistic costumes.” “Seems Like A Really Well Planned Prank, Hard To Believe Monsters Actually Exist.” “that male gorgon can HMU if you know what I mean.” “yo it is real, i never believed this would actually happened!” “So… when are we grabbing the pitchforks” “WHY ARE THEY HAVING A PARTY ON A FUCKING TUSEDAY”   A masculine voice read out.

Deuce is taken, weirdo.

“Most of the reactions to the video are either just denial or surprise as you can see. The last reported monster being spotted was around 100 years ago. So I am not surprised why people think this is fake. How about you [redacted]” A female voice spoke.

“If they truly were real monsters. I am questioning their motives. Why are they here? To take revenge, to scare us. To kidnap our kids.” 

“Yeah more on that later on. But we are actually having an interview with the girl who recorded the video during lunch time. So tune in then. Now, it is time to play…” 

Jackson turned off the radio, his heart was beating even more now. THe local news. The internet. PEOPLE SIMPING OVER DEUCE! Okay he understands the latter a bit but umm. He was just about to break down in both ways. Just to turn into a massive clump of nothing and then disappear. Everything is his fault. Why was he cursed to be like this? 

Before he knew it, The Sheriff was there. With a new pair of glasses for him. Though the frame was a bit too blueish for him. But at least they were not broken. Jackson looked out the window to see them drive away from the mall and onto the highway. He felt his phone vibrate over and over again, though no questions were wanted to be asked. He just turned it on “do not disturb”. He had a feeling he knew where he was taken, it would just be another fish out of water situation. 

A typical normie school, filled with typical normie kids, doing typical normie stuff. The monotone colored lockers with basic normie items. It felt like drinking flat sparkling water. Though it feels like an insult to compare monster high to sparkling water. Stepping through the corridors, noticing as long as he fit in. Nobody would care about him. No one looked at him, no one talked about him. When he glanced at everyone around him, the blue light from the phones piercing their eyes seemed way more important than the scrawny, nerdy, new kid. He felt safe. For the first time, okay maybe if you exclude the whole “I am the descendant of Jekyll and Hyde” thingy. 

He felt relaxed, smiling casually and waved at people. He checked his phone again. 20+ messages. From his friends, asking how he was doing, if he had read the articles, he didn't respond to any of them. He put it in his pocket as he headed towards the locker he was given, at the moment.

This was a feeling he would just have for a few more seconds, literally. 8 seconds after 2 jocks slammed their fists into the lockers. A few cm away from his skull. They glared right into his eyes as they began to shake him up and down. Probably asking for his lunch money.

“So nerd, you seem to know a lot about monsters don't you?” One of them asked.

“No, why would you think that?” Jackson answered with his voice quivering.

“Well, you suddenly come here directly after that monster attack!” The second one said.

“It was just a sheer coincidence!” Jackson lied and squealed.

“A coinci- what?” 

A 4th person joined. It was the goth girl from the Tuesday halloween party. Groaning and rolling her eyes as she stood behind them. She looked them straight in their eyes. Jackson was confused over how little fear she had to just confront them. He could barely do it to a Minotaur. 

“So I learned from the principal that Baby Mother Reading Hour is done at the exact same time as the chess team. So they get to borrow the gym hall, and the football team has to do your practice inside.” She said.

The jocks dropped Jackson directly on the stone floor and ran away. As Jackson’s tailbone hurt like satan before standing up. He was alone again, or not fully. Just with this random normie girl who seemed somewhat nice. But no one was looking at him at least. He looked down at his feet as his phone went off again. A call from Frankie. No, he just couldn’t answer it now, maybe later. 

Looking anxiously around. Jackson quickly learned Claire didn’t want to harm him. Maybe he was just a bit anxious.

“So, you new here?” She asked.

Jackson slightly nodded his head.

“Yeah, my name is Jackson.”

“My name is Claire. Did you hear about what happened yesterday?” She asked as she walked away

“Uhh no. Did something bad happen?” He asked, looking around a few extra times.

Claire began to walk away, with Jackson a few steps behind her. Checking her phone from time to time, hopefully to check her schedule. She stopped by her locker where Chad was standing. He seemed to be listening to some music, with his head moving up and down. Slightly tapping the locker wall in a 4/4 beat. 

“Well the popular kid decided to have a Halloween party yesterday. I was forced to go there. But she wanted to celebrate how they vandalized the monster school at the outskirts of town. Suddenly my friend Chad opens the door and let these 9 teens in, thinking they were wearing costumes. Turned out they were monsters all along and someone recorded them.” She briefly explained as she opened her locker.

Jackson just stood there. Awkward as ever. Trying to process the info, that wasn’t even done.

“And then it turned out a final monster was accused of arson, he is currently on the run.” 

A poster was flashed right before their eyes. Of Holt. Who seemed to be happy to be a part of a mugshot. With a price bounty under it too.

“Yeah this guy. Currently looking for him.” Lilith said.  

Both of them looked at it. Jackson tried to stay cool looking at it.

“Wait, he’s kinda cute.” Claire said.

The other two looked at her in disgust. Why him of all monsters existing?

Chapter Text

Wednesday, part 2

Back at monster high. Ghoulia was still at the library checking and reloading sites. This was awful. Heath was looking over her shoulder with his eyes wide open and a frown on his face. All the comments, those social media posts. Ghoulia went through window to window, folder to folder, app to app. Clawd was standing outside the library guarding it to make sure no one else would enter. With Frankie just standing in the corner. Shaking, if there only was a way to go back in time.

“A LAWYER?” Heath asked.

Ghoulia nodded her head.

“Where will we get the money though? I burned out my savings last week !” Heath added.

Ghoulia scratched the side of her head. Trying to figure out something. Frankie overheard the conversation and stepped in. 

“Maybe Cleo can help?” She suggested. 

Cleo had already left for her class, and she would not be likely to answer a call at this moment. Second, most of them who were in their friend group who even looked somewhat normie-esq were at the party. So that made it even worse when it came to getting a human lawyer. To add, a monster lawyer probably wouldn’t want to enter the human world that easily.

If only there was someone who knew a bunch about normies and could easily pass as one but not be recognizable. Thoughts flew around the room just as Heath chugged his energy drink. A few of the students looked at him, but it was too late to question. Ghoulia side eyed him as she googled some basic stuff like

“How to get a lawyer if you're under 18, Oregon" 
“What counts as arson in Oregon” 
“Average cost of a lawyer in Oregon”

Out of nowhere like a light bulb was shining on top of Frankie’s head. They stood up and ran away from the library without a notice. Slamming the door right behind them before she yelled.

“I HAVE AN IDEA!” 

The normie school Jackson was stuck at just had their lunch period start. Jackson checked his pockets and they were really empty, so big and empty he could reach his feet. Wait, maybe he just needed new pants. 

The kept himself close to Claire. Covering his ears with those soundproof headphones he was allowed to keep. Being in a place where you at least looked like everyone was nice, but knowing damn well one wrong move could make you a weirdo was horrid. The hierarchy here was more noticeable than the one at monster high. There was no way in hell Jackson and Deuce’s friendship could happen in this school. However there were probably students similar to him.

Jackson continued to follow Claire into the cafeteria and sat down at a table. Trying to make as little noise or motion as possible.

“Hey are you not going to eat something?” Claire asked.

“I forgot to bring my own lunch, and I’m out of money.” He said.

“Well my parents packed me a bag of chips if you want some.” Claire said as she took it out and handed it to him. She sighed.

“I’m still thinking about the party. Yes, one kid was turned into stone but he was annoying and no one liked him. But the monsters, they were so cool you know.” 

“Well I guess that too.” Jackson said before he began to munch into the chips.

“Did you hear that one girl at the party got one of the monster's phone number!?” Chad said as he sat down.

  DonttellmeitwasHeath donttellmeitwasHeath donttellmeitwasHeath

“It was that guy who got fire hair!” 

Fuck , bet his friends are screwed now. It’s soon before the news gets worldwide. Now everyone will know monsters exist and there will be a witch hunt and all his friends will die! 

“Hey is everything alright?” Chad asked.

“Uh yes. It’s my first day here.” He said as he looked at his phone.

“It’s alright Jackson. I heard that girl got interviewed by the NBC news. So the school is going to broadcast it right before school ends.” 

Even worse. Jackson stood up and excused himself to the bathroom. When he arrived there, He made sure it was empty before he could do anything. After he watched a student leave one of the stalls. He picked another one and slammed the door shut.

“Heath! This is serious (DO NOT CALL ME!), the girl who got your number is getting interviewed by the normie national news channel. it is going to air around 14:50! At the moment, I’m somehow safe. -Jackson” 

He pressed send and exited the toilet. To see Claire standing right in front of the door with an all dead serious look. Jackson gulped.

“Hey, do you want to come visit my house after school? My parents are out of town.” 

Jackson took a sigh of relief before he nodded his head.

The other monsters had just finished their lesson when Heath felt something on his phone. As he read the message he was sent his hair was all ablaze as he ran towards Frankie. Violently shaking the phone right in front of their face before they grabbed it.

“Jackson! He’s safe!” Frankie said, reading the first part. Then she got the third. “OH NO! OH NO NO!” They then added.

“Should I ask for Ghoulias help?” Heath asked.

“Uhhhuh.”  She said

Well she wasn’t that far behind at least. She looked at the message on the phone and then at the time. 4:45. About 5 minutes left.

“Ohhuoh.” She said before walking to the library again. 

“Okay! We will get everyone.” Both Health and Frankie said.

Now the main gang was here all waiting for Ghoulia to turn on the screen. But she opened the wifi category on settings. Turned it on, turned it off, and changed wifi. Reloaded page over and over again. Checked if it was a software issue and a program needed to be deleted. Then literally at the final second. They got in.

“So here we are with young [Redacted] who goes to New Salem High School here to interview us!” 

“Well it’s nice to be here.”

“So, have you read the conspiracy theories related to the accident?”

“No, most people have actually asked if I have the phone number for the male gorgon.”

Everyone in the room looked at Deuce. Some shrugged, some were filled with rage. However the ranting could come out when the interview was over.

“Well some people online say this either was a faked video? Do you believe that?” 

“Oh not at all, I wish you were there to see it. This one guy straight up turned into stone. After the monsters left because their friend got arrested. There was a goth girl who tried to stand up for the monsters. Going “well at least they made the party funny!” No they didn’t.” 

“So another theory is that monsters are trying to start a war of some sorts now when we know monsters are real. Do you think that is a likelihood?” 

“Maybe. Though I think it was just some teens trying to cause trouble. You never know what will happen with those “things.” you know.” 

Okay so now the entire USA has seen that. At least it was just spoken words and not the video.

“Now here comes the viral video that got over 9 million views on Twitter.” 

Fuck. 

It was time for all of them to live the rest of their lives in the catacombs shunned away from society. Both human and monster kind. Cleo was espeically pissed.

"HOW DARE THESE NORMIES ATTACK OUR SCHOOL! FALSEY ACCUSE HOLT! AND THEN WANT TO SPOOK UP MY DEUCE! CAN'T THEY JUST PICK AND CHOOSE?!" She said, slamming her hand flat onto one of the desks.

School had ended and Jackson followed Claire home. They were both sitting on her bed as Jackson looked at his phone to see that there were no new messages. Understandable after that interview. Claire looked at the wall and then at Jackson. 

“Hey you were really nice for standing up for those monsters.” Jackson mumbled.

Claire was somehow able to understand what he said and smiled a little. “Well that was the best I could do. They are just like us, just a bit different from us. That is why I also believe that guy is innocent. It was just really rotten luck.” She said as she stood up.

“Hey, do you want some instant ramen?” She asked.

“Well sure.”

Claire headed towards the kitchen and Jackson tried to not show any emotion at all over what she said. Though a few tears were shedded. He laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Maybe he could tell her the secret, she doesn’t seem like a liar. Would it be good for him to tell Frankie about her? He didn’t have that much time to think however. When the door opened. Claire dropped her phone and the earphones detached from the phone. Music began to blast directly from it. 

Claire picked it up and put it down next to the tray of noodles. She looked over at him prior to her opening her mouth shouting a few faint words.

“You’re Him…”

Chapter Text

Thursday, 7 o’clock, Jacksons POV

The morning after last night's events was quiet. Jackson was sipping his cup of tea, while Clair made an interesting sandwich with butter and sugar. The sound of pouring water and the clock ticking was the only thing you could hear in that room. 

Was last night just an illusion, a fever dream? The nerdy white boy is also a “killer” on the run. She believes the other humans are just accusing him because they hate monsters. However, the silence couldn’t stay until school,  what if someone blasted music and something horrible happened to both of them? 

 “Are you a shapeshifter or something like that?” Clair asked.

“You know about Jekyll and Hyde?” Jackson mumbled.

“The story of that scientist and his alter ego. I remember reading that book a while ago. Are you saying you are related to him?” Clair said.

“Well, yeah…” Jackson said.

Clair could barely understand what Jackson was saying. But somehow it made sense. She poured some coffee into her cup before she added her sugar. She sat down on the other side of the table. 

“And that other guy is like your Hyde?” Clair assumed.

“Holt, he isn’t evil or crazy. He is just the opposite of me. I didn’t even know that he was me for a long while. But I am sure he didn’t commit the crime.” Jackson said. 

“Can’t I just ask him about it?” 

Jackson was silent for a few seconds, looking around to see if any of the windows would cause some sort of destruction. He was looking at the light shining through the windows. He stood up before approaching the windows and covering them up. There was a slight glimpse of pain in his eyes. He reached out for his phone which was barely at 9%. He then started playing some music.

“Oh hi goth lady, thanks for the noodles you gave me yesterday!” Holt said.

Clair stood there in shock, yesterday wasn’t just a weird dream. Jackson was Holt. Holt is Jackson. This must mean that he can’t be an arsonist. Right? Clair had seen movies where there was always one nice kind person who had a secret evil persona. But this didn’t seem like the case. The few glimpses of Holt that had caught her eye made her think he was more of a troublemaker and less of a criminal. Monsters are just like humans, right? And most humans had good in them.

****

9:30 am, Frankie’s POV

Frankie was walking down the hallway. It was quiet despite the fact they could barely pass through everything without having to sever their body. Whispers from the other students flew around her ears while they tried to find her way to her classroom. 

“Did you see what was posted yesterday?”

“Apparently several students have been forced to stay home,”

“These stupid normies I will find them and then beat them into fucking shr-“

Frankie noticed how the courtyard was covered with an enormous ruined pumpkin batch. With red slime all over it the spelling 

Y O U A R E N E X T

Everything in Frankie’s mind went still at that moment. This wasn’t a prank, this was a threat. They grabbed her phone and called the gang immediately. Outside of her fingers, her body was locked, their legs, their arms, their head. The heart was beating and that locked expression. What could you even do in a situation like this besides… nothing? 

Well, everyone else arrived, the majority of them in the same state of shock as Frankie.

“Hey Frankie, I am sorry,” Heath said

Outside of the few words Heath said, no one spoke. It wasn’t the right time to speak. She headed inside and heard the commotion of several monsters cheering for something. They were standing in front of the grand staircase. With Cleo holding a speech.

“Don’t you think these normies have gone too far? Blaming us for all of their problems. For the past week, they have been treating us like we are the plague! Blaming us for the crimes they refuse to admit because unlike us. They aren’t monsters! So they decided to put a bounty on an innocent teenager instead of making a child disappear, while he didn’t. Ever since they pulled their first little “prank”, with those pumpkins. We have felt nothing but fear and worry. And ever since some normies decided to record us just existing, some monsters have not been able to leave their house, and some have been harassed in real life and on social media. I think we should make them feel the same, this year we are going to take back Halloween, we are going to make Halloween ours. Who is with me?” 

Everyone who heard that speech chanted her name. That or “let’s take halloween back!” . It felt so surreal, they went from unity to violence in a few days. Frankie felt the blame on their shoulders. Maybe looking at some cute cat photos could help. Frankie opened Instaghoul, she did see a cute cat. Which was followed by a posting going.

“THE NORMIES ARE OUT TO KILL US!” 

Frankie wished Jackson was here, he was probably scared. She knew he was most likely safe. But he was all alone.

*******

11.23 am, Jackson’s POV

Clair was at school, and she had given Jackson a list of what to do while she was gone.

1. It is best to not leave the house while I am gone. If you do get hungry, there are some snacks in the cupboard.
2. If you hear music from the outside, just hide in the windowless bathroom near the bedroom
3. If someone knocks on the door, don’t open it.
4. Only answer messages from me and your friends.

It seemed like a decent list. Jackson decided to stay in Clair’s bedroom, reading through her science textbook. It was a bit different than the mad science one, that was for sure. There was nothing talking about necromancy or werewolf biology. Well, normies don’t encounter that on a day-to-day basis. Jackson looked through some of the other books she had. Some were school books, others were literature. Jackson started to feel nostalgic for something he had never experienced. His mind began to wander to the thought of what his life would be like if he wasn’t the great-grandson of Dr Jekyll. What if he was just a regular normie? He would still be bullied. But the bullying would only be due to him being weird. Not in the half normie half-monster type of weird, more in the “socially awkward depressed nerd” type of weird.

He needed to think about something else. Times were already dire and he needed to think about something else! He wondered what the TV was like here. Jackson went into the living room, covered the windows, and then turned on the TV. Out of some magical act of misfortune. The first program he saw was a news segment.

“Ever since the confirmation of monsters, and the suspect of the disappearance of [redacted] being one. There has been talk all over the world on what to do with them. Some want them to become a part of our society, while others want them to be nothing more than fiction. The Governor of Oregon is going to have a press conference about this issue. And as you may have guessed, there are several protests which stand on both sides.”

Jackson knew it was his fault, if he had just said no to Manny NONE OF THIS WOULD’VE HAPPENED. Some part of his mind wanted him to look away from this trainwreck he had started, the other part didn’t. Sadly the former was a part of the remote. He looked at the signs they were holding.

“They are out to harm”

“SAY NO TO EVIL CREATURES”

“NO UNITY BETWEEN US AND VILE CREATURS!” 

“DANGER SHOULD BE NOTHING MORE THAN FICTION”

The ones arguing that all of Jackson’s friends and family should just return to their gothic novels of origin. Jackson wanted to argue against them. He wanted to scream “NO! THAT’S WRONG!”. Jackson knew that Holt’s reputation would be just used against him. There was no point of fighting them. He would just be useless against a mob. There was an interview with one of the protests on the anti-monster side.

“You see, those monsters have never done anything good expect to be cheap scares in our horror stories. They are let loose out of their caves and suddenly a house has burned down and they cause nothing but problems. I do not want these creatures near the most vulnerable of our society.” Said the interviewee

“Miss, what do you work as?”

“I work with the elderly, and I have two kids myself. The same age as the victim. How am I going to explain to them, that the same creature that took someone that might have been their friend is going to stay in the same town as them! If they do get to stay, they will just demand more and more stuff that they don’t need. We can not make this become a reality!” the interviewee said

Jackson felt an odd blend, the same blend of when you take all the colors in a pallet and it just becomes gray. He felt it all, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, anxiousness. He was about the grab the remote when he heard a familiar voice.

“ Well the only monsters we have seen have acted like regular teens. They just have their own quirks. I think many are overreacting,”

It was Clair! Did she skip school to go protest? 

“Weren’t you one of the students who saw the incident happen right in front of you?” The reporter asked

“Yes, I got to talk too three of them. They were a bit awkward, but who can blame them,” Clair said

Jackson felt some relief hearing her talk. But he couldn’t bare looking at it anymore. He changed it to the Science Channel. He could just watch that for some time. Maybe for an hour or so.

***********

3.30 pm, Frankie’s POV

Frankie had been summoned to the catacombs. She got a message from Operatta saying something was urgent. And that they also needed her makeup bag. When Frankie reached the catacombs. She noticed a whole mob of students carrying bags filled with something. 

“Operetta, what is going on?” Frankie asked

“They are going to snoop around town,” Operetta answered

“But, won’t they get caught?” Frankie asked

“That is what the makeup is for, so don’t worry. The rest of the ghouls brought some. But we do have one problem,” Operetta said

“Frankie! You’re here!” A voice said,

That voice belonged to Cleo. Who walked towards both of them. Her outfit was different, she looked more “normie-like”. She was wearing a yellow shirt with a black cat on it, and a pair of jeans. Her hair was in a messy bun. The most odd part was her makeup, she had removed her eyeliner and eyeshadow to replace it with something that had more neutral tones and wasn’t as flashy.

“Why do you look like that?” Frankie asked

“Well, since that little incident. I decided it would be best if we all dressed up as regular normies,” Cleo answered

“And that is why you needed my makeup?” Frankie asked

“EXACTLY! Let’s give you a makeover,” Cleo told them,

Cleo grabbed Frankie’s hand and headed over to a little makeup and clothing booth. Where… no, was that Draculara? That couldn’t be. In front of them was a short pale white girl standing, wearing this pastel purple oversized hoodie, and a black skirt. Clawdeen looked the same. Frankie was a bit baffled, she looked at the other students in the catacombs and tried to figure out who was who. Deuce was just pulling the old beanie trick again, just with different colors this time. But for safety he also wore a leather jacket. Lagoona looked more like those normie surfer girls Frankie found in one of her magazines. Her hair was the same, but she had this sepia-brown foundation on her. And she was also wearing some very baggy clothing. Venus looked the same except for the foundation change and her wearing a black shirt and a pair of black jeans. Ghoulia was wearing a dark brown wig, she was also wearing some “normie” foundation. After all that spying, Frankie looked at Cleo.

“How come you aren’t dressed like a normie?” Frankie asked

“Well, some of us have been put on “ Heath Watch ”, so we are stuck guarding the school,” Clawdeen answered

“Heath watch?” Frankie asked

“Cleo realized that allowing Heath to roam New Salem would end in disaster. Like last time, we should just be glad he and Manny didn’t enter a porcelain store while we were there, right guys? Clawdeen explained and looked at both of them.

As her glare reached their eyes. They both got an anxious smile before nodding in unison.

“Nothing like that has NEVER happened before, we promise!” Heath said

“PROMISE!” Manny said

“Hey, how much do we own that store?” Heath whispered

“About 50 grand,” Manny whispered loudly back.

Clawdeen looked at them one more time and sighed before taking out some clothes.

“I take back what I said about that,” Clawdeen said,

Now, in front of Frankie, Cleo was holding up an outfit. In her left hand 

was a checkered vest which was sown over a black shirt, and in her right hand was there a long black pleated skirt. After that, Clawdeen grabbed a pair of nylon leggings. Frankie grabbed the clothes and saw a changing room, so they changed their clothes. When Frankie had finished changing, Draculara guided them to the makeup booth and applied some to her. When Frankie got to see the final results. She really looked like a normie. It was creepy, her scars were gone, her green skin was gone. The only thing left was the bolts in her neck. What could cover that? Over the mirror, she noticed that Deuce was holding a pair of headphones. That brand looked really similar.

“Doesn’t Holt wear the same type of headphones?” Frankie asked

“Yes, he brought a matching pair just for you, he just forgot to give them to you, so Jackson gave them. Right before we went to New Salem,” Deuce sighed slightly as he said the final words. 

Frankie grabbed the headphones, they were wondering what both of them were doing right now. 

“Hey Frankie, we are about to leave!” Cleo said

“Cleo, do you think it is a good idea to have Deuce with us? The normies are going crazy for them,” Clawdeen asked

“Don’t worry Clawdeen, I made it so he looks a tad bit unrecognizable in that makeup!” Draculara answered

Frankie then noticed how everyone wearing their normie costumes, and Operetta were leaving. Frankie stood up and followed them for how long. Then they reached a manhole and climbed out of it. What they felt afterwards was the autumn wind and the sight of a dusk covering New Salem.