Sounds of Love

by dooder's nin

Party planning and scavenger hunts typically go well together unless it involves the dark and unknown creatures that lurk in the catacombs. The friends make some discoveries about the kind of life that dwell below, between each other, and why making a Hyde angry is never a good idea. Part of the Triangles and Tribulations series along with Sleeping Fire but may be read alone.

There was another quest for a good place to have a party, this time in the hopes of getting recognized by a television show for their party planning skills and musical talents. Or at least, that was what Cleo was hoping for and the others just followed her lead, not completely against the idea either. But that was before she had insisted that the auditorium of the school was just not enough, and neither was an outdoor performance spectacular enough. So Cleo gathered the girls to help her scope out potential subterranean areas as she had done with Clawdeen for Draculaura's Sweet 1600.

Since there was an emphasis on the music portion of the entertainment in this party in addition to whatever Cleo had in mind to supplement, or push to the forefront, the guys were recruited to help with the heavy lifting and set up. As it was, Deuce, Clawd, and Heath were getting pretty tired from lugging around the wagons with the equipment.

"Remind us again why we needed to bring all this stuff with us if we didn't even know where we were gonna set up in the first place." Heath said, flame hair flickering in the effort to keep up. "I mean…not that there's anything the Heathster can't handle. He he" he finished, earning a few well-deserved looks of practiced tolerance with his remarks.

Deuce and Clawd laughed, although they too would have preferred to have come along after their destination had been decided upon. But the two of them also knew how Cleo worked and that to have not come along would have made any later involvement nearly unbearable with her incessant commands and borderline-arrogant attitude as she supervised their actions. "Well, it would have gone easier if you could have convinced your cousin to not take off when he did. Good thing he makes enough noise to follow him in case his flashlight should get busted. Dude doesn't always pay attention." Deuce chuckled as Holt's voice could be heard up ahead echoing off the cavernous walls of the particular tunnel they were walking through. He likely was with the girls, serenading Frankie as they explored.

"It might be a blessing in disguise for him not to help." Clawd said, indicating the dented speakers in Heath's second wagon he was struggling with to pull. "I don't think the equipment could survive another bout of his anger issues. I don't understand why he got so upset with that guy at his last DJ gig." Clawd commented, grabbing the wagon Heath was struggling with, much to the elemental's relief. Picking up his pace to keep in stride with the others, Heath shrugged in response to Clawd's unspoken question.

"Hey it doesn't take much to set him off." Heath said, Deuce nodded his head in agreement since he had witnessed a few times when Jackson had transformed at a less than ideal time that had ignited, literally, Holt's irascible nature. "The guy could have insulted his music, his abilities, Frankie…Holt could have just had a rough night too. Hyde's aren't known for patience or thinking things through." Heath continued. "But it is a bummer that he trashed the joint up good. The guy shouldn't have tried to get his friends to gang up on him outside either in some attempt to get back at embarrassing him so bad – shouldn't make a Hyde mad and definitely don't make it a challenge…" Heath said, shuddering a little.

Deuce and Clawd both just nodded their heads, long ago given up on trying to understand how Jackson's more monstrous half behaved. He may not be a monster in the typical sense like a werewolf or gorgon, but Holt was alone among mankind and monsterkind. It was no wonder he and Jackson's family history was written into a gothic drama even if they were more normie than a typical monster. Then again, plenty of other monsters had some thriller or tragic story attached to their kind too, specifically for a few. But they were doing what they could to run with that and make their own life – or unlife as the case may be for some.

"Are you slow pokes ever gonna come over here and check this area out?" Clawdeen shouted out to them, causing them to huff and continue onward. Hopefully this would meet with Cleo's approval. Draculaura also was being particularly picky, but Clawdeen and Frankie as well as Ghoulia had reached the point where they were willing to make due. Gil and Lagoona were still at their swim team practice but had promised – at least Lagoona did in as much as Cleo left room for any sort of refusal.

"I think this might be closer to what we're looking for." Cleo remarked as she wandered around the strange layout. It was a circular opening, with a walkway completely ringing the outer wall with columns and arches reminiscent of Romanesque style architecture of early medieval churches, with a dome-shaped roof that echoed the sound that was funneled through the arched walkway. In the middle of the circular opening created by this design was another circular platform edged by columns that didn't reach the ceiling, instead having been placed as though they were decorative features with no pediment to hold. However, there was a gap between this floor and the wall's walkway of a few feet, which effectively isolated the other platform save for a few narrower connecting pathways that radiated outward. Overall, there was plenty of floor room for a party of a substantial size to occur. But the gap between the two floor platforms consisted of a large drop that ended in an underground body of water that the girls couldn't tell from their location if it connected with the river that Operetta was so found of traveling along.

"Aww yeah. This is perfect! It's got all the right acoustics to bounce those vibrations around." Holt yelled in his typical fashion, already starting to dance around to the music that only he could hear. "C'mon cuz'! Let's get to setting' up – give it a test run." He said, jumping over to where he had presumably decided on setting up his DJ table. "We don't need more than a few speakers to blast those beats out. Just gotta place them in the right spaces!" he said, holding up his hands as though planning things out in his mind, his head tilted to the side as he looked over the large room.

"Wait! I didn't say this was the right spot!" Cleo whined. But Draculaura seemed to be thrilled with the layout, admiring the water that reflected the firelight from the torches up above. The other girls seemed to be content so long as Draculaura was and Cleo could sense herself getting outvoted.

"There's got to be something else even better. This has to be perfect and you don't even know whether or not this'll work!" she argued with Holt, who continued moving around, having grown impatient with the other boys' lack of enthusiasm and speed in getting out his equipment. It didn't look like he was paying too much attention to what she was saying and she was determined to make his listen despite the warning looks from her boyfriend and the others. "Did you hear me? Holt! You listen to me! I'm telling you no and you must listen to me- I'm a princess…" she shouted, growing frustrated. The girls had already started talking among themselves about how to decorate, Dracularua and Clawdeen pulling Ghoulia into the center platform to look over the columns. Ghoulia had lain on the floor in the middle, staring up at the domed ceiling and moaning suggestions about possible lighting that they could use to create a pleasant atmosphere if reflected correctly off the water.

"Come on Cleo. With this room, you could make it like two or three party levels, with one on the water, this dance floor, and with the upper dome area for the ghost students." Frankie suggested over her shoulder as she stood on one of the narrower walkways looking down. "It sure looks like a big drop though."

"Exactly" Cleo said, nearly at the end of her attempts to restrain her pride. She stormed past Deuce and Clawd as they were rolling out the wires they had to see if it was enough to encircle the room. Heath had followed his cousin over to where Holt had been setting up a makeshift center until he had all of what he needed. The two of them were so alike when it was Holt out, although Jackson and Heath also seemed to share some similarities too. With that being the case, all Cleo got was a dismissive wave from Heath as Holt scurried about.

"Holt. You have to listen to me" she said, grabbing him by the shoulders to turn him to face him. "I don't care what you have to say. You are not in charge and you never will be - so when I say no, it means no!" she glared at him. "You are not the only dj around and I can find someone better if I have to! This must be perfect! I will have…" she started, only to be roughly grabbed and shoved against the wall.

"What did you just say to me?" Holt growled at her. "I know you didn't just dis me and my music." He threatened, his hair starting to blaze a little more in his anger.

"Dude!" Deuce shouted. "Lay off her!" he said from across the room, dropping what he had in his hands to race over to help his girlfriend. Sure, she had set herself up and his earlier conversation was likely an eerie prophecy, but he had to do something.

"No. She may be your girl, but if we go by her way of doin' things, then, there are other girls out there for ya' too!" Holt said, tightening his grip on Cleo's bandages and leaning in closer to her face. "No one tells a Hyde what he can and can't do! I am in control!" he said, releasing her with enough force that she slid down the wall. Deuce came over and helped a quieted Cleo back to her feet, Heath also attempting to reign in his cousin's potentially terrifying temper.

"Cuz', let it go." Heath said, putting a hand on Holt's shoulder in an attempt to get him focused back on what usually makes him happy and carefree. He was well aware he was just as carefree with his anger and its consequences, but he knew Jackson would not be amused to find he had taken that anger out on a friend. Holt brushed him off but did walk away from Cleo and Deuce. "Let it go?" Holt turned to his cousin, picking up one of the large speakers that had taken two of the guys to slowly lift into place with the ease of moving a simple chair. Heath involuntarily winced, expecting it to go flying at any moment but it seemed Holt was just focusing on finishing up building his sound stage.

"I can't 'let it go'. This is one of the very few things that makes me feel alive!" Holt continued to shout, aggressively plugging in and pulling apart the systems. The others continued to just stand their ground, wary of making any sudden moves before Holt had calmed down from his more hostile state and became the exuberant dj once again. Draculaura and Clawdeen were still on the edge of the circular platform, standing between two columns as they were caught mid-conversation when the spectacle started. Ghoulia had only dared to sit up fully, although her slow movements probably would have had something to do with that too.

"We get that man, we do" Clawd tried. Holt sneered at him as he turned back to pick up the other speaker he had near him to place higher up alongside its twin. "No. You. Don't…I don't need no pity party wolfy. Back off." He snapped at Clawd, his sister opening her mouth to come to her brother's aid but silenced by a small hand covering her mouth as Draculaura shook her head.

"Holt…" Frankie tried, taking small steps toward him. "Holt, what are you doing?" she asked, watching his movements. It wasn't typical of him to quietly seethe in his rage by focusing on his work, having expected him to at least take a few swings at the walls to get out his anger. She could only assume that something big was coming and try to head it off.

"I'm gonna prove ya all wrong, yo!" Holt said, lacking the usual playful tone that accompanied the end of such an exclamation. He finished connecting the last wires and smiled an uneasy, mad, Hyde-like smile. "You want the best beats around. I'll give them to you – ha ha – I'll bring the house down!" he shouted, slamming a button down on his controls. Immediately music started blaring at top volume from each speaker, the loudest coming from the ones Holt had just set up. He had been absolutely right in his appraisal of the room's excellent sound qualities. The whole room seemed to vibrate and those vibrations bounced off each other, repeatedly doing so as the music blared. The others covered their ears as the music blared, Holt laughing as everything started to shake in time with the beat he had going. "This meet your higher standards your majesty?! Ha ha. Or should I try a little harder?!" Holt mockingly yelled over to Cleo.

Cleo had leaned into Deuce as she tried to shrink in on herself. All the others seemed to also be trying to do just that. Heath overcame this instinct to push Holt out of the way and slam the button down again to stop the music. Stones had already started to fall off of the edges of the floors, especially the narrower walkways. Even after the music was turned off, the shaking continued for a few moments as the sound waves continued to be dispersed. As soon as it stopped, the others shakily stood up from their crouched positions, taking in deep breaths to get their bearings.

"Holt that wasn't the smartest thing for you to do!" Heath screamed at him, his hearing not quite back to normal again yet. "We could have all gotten hurt! You too!" he said. Holt turned to face his cousin. "So?" he countered, coming down from his temper tantrum but still agitated.

"So?" Heath questioned, voice lowering as hearing returned. "So? What about Frankie?" Heath asked. Holt's eyes widened as his cousin's words seemed to sink in and he relaxed more, taking a step back from Heath's personal space. Heath nodded and put his hands on Holt's shoulders. He sighed, asking the blue-skinned boy, "You better now?" Holt nodded and rubbed a hand on his face as he took in just how crazed he had been and knowing that he would be facing some heated exchanges with his friends for a while. He seriously considered letting Jackson out like he normally did at this point to deal with the situation or to simply avoid it at all costs.

Unfortunately, Holt didn't get that opportunity as a voice from behind him spoke, causing him to wince. "Dude…not cool." Deuce said, hand still on the wall to stabilize himself. Clawd was also not looking too pleased as he and his sister were the ones with the most sensitive ears of the bunch. Heath gave him a sympathetic look but urged Holt to turn around and face his alter ego's best friend. Holt slowly turned to see Deuce looking about ready to "stonewall" him as he often said, but not before he got in a few choice words. However, Cleo put a hand on his arm and shook her head to stop him.

"Holt…I…I don't do this often, and that was incredibly stupid of you. But I can be a proper princess and realize that while I am the one with the most sophisticated sense of style in many areas…" Cleo said, not making direct eye-contact with Holt, "You were right in saying that I had no right in criticizing you like that just to…take something away from you because I wasn't getting my own way." She said, swallowing. "I really didn't dislike this room and I didn't have anything else in mind. I just…am used to being the one giving the final word and making the decisions…I…I'm sorry." She finally finished, getting around to the apology that everyone knew she was avoiding voicing for as long as she could. The others hadn't moved from their spots, still not trusting themselves to move just yet on the pathways, and watched the exchange from their positions.

Holt just gave a heavy sigh, hair still blazing in a way similar to Heath's as both were still amped up after everything. But Holt looked to Cleo and gave her a meaningful nod, conveying his acceptance of her apology. "Yeah…me too. I kinda get, carried away sometimes." He admitted. Deuce gave him a deadpan look. "Sometimes?" he asked, but Holt could only shrug in response.

"Okay. How about we just get back to settin' up, huh?" Heath said, wrapping an arm around his cousin in an attempt to move past the awkward tension between the group. He pulled Holt back over to his table. "Now we definitely know your sound system works in here." He said.

As everyone seemed to regain their bearing after having it literally shook out of them, they heard footsteps running towards them from the direction they had come from. Looking over, they saw Lagoona and Abbey enter into the room, panting as they slowed to a stop.

"Everybody alright?" Lagoona asked breathlessly. "I got out early and met up with Abbey to head here when suddenly the whole floor started shaking!" she exclaimed, Abbey nodding along emphatically in agreement.

"Yes. Was like beginning of avalanche." Abbey said. "Was worried that something bad might be happening." She said, making her way over to where Heath was with Holt. Both of them were looking around the room, taking in the sound equipment and deducing that this was the room the party was to be in. But curiosity over their apparent localized earthquake overcame the curiosity over party planning. "Anybody know what caused it?" Abbey asked, locking arms with her boyfriend.

The others all refrained from speaking, just pointing a finger at Holt who sheepishly smiled, in as much as he could look sheepish. Abbey rolled her eyes, used to having it be either one of the cousin's fault and not too shocked at this point since she had spent more time around them after officially becoming Heath's girlfriend.

"Well there's a surprise." Lagoona remarked, crossing her arms. Holt didn't bother giving a response as he worked on fixing the mess he had made of the wires to get the music playing again. This time it wasn't painful to listen to, wafting out from the speakers set up around the room at a gentler volume that naturally built up on each other in a way that the vibrations actually made a person feel the music too. The others likely had no doubt that this was what Holt had originally had in mind when he had thought of creating the perfect party space. Frankie had at that point rejoined the other girls on the middle platform, helping them with the design samples they had brought with them for decorations. The four of them were marking out where they would like for things to go when another large rumble was felt shaking the ground. All eyes immediately turned to Holt.

"Hey! I had nothin' to do with it this time!" Holt defended himself, arms up in a gesture of surrender. "This ain't my kind of rumble"

An eerie-sounding wail was heard from below as the floor started to shake even harder, jarring what had still been settling from Holt's earlier performance. It echoed up from below where a crash and stones falling and splashing into the water was heard as something obviously was moving around down there. Yet again, Clawdeen and Draculaura found themselves on the edge of the platform, Draculaura's foot slipping off the side as another shake caused her to lose her balance. Clawdeen reached out for her friend as she held onto the side of the column closest to her, holding them both from plummeting down into the unknown. A rush of water was heard as the unknown creature's entrance released more into the room from wherever it had come from, its swooshing sound mixing with the grunts and whines of the large animal.

"Draculaura!" Clawd shouted, trying to walk his way over to his girlfriend and sister from where he had been setting up the last of the sound equipment. He shakily made his way over, having grabbed Ghoulia from her spot on one of the walkways and pulled her to safety on the outer platform. The zombie let out a grateful moan and had been clinging to one of the columned arches that encircled the pathway when the two of them had watched their friends nearly fall. Once the werewolf had crossed to the second main floor, he increased his speed to grab ahold of his sister's waist, pulling the two of them back up onto the more secure floor. The three of them laid in a crumpled heap on the floor, Clawd making sure that Draculaura had indeed gotten back far enough from the edge. The two girls clung to him as though he could really keep them secure from the floor or ceiling falling apart. Clawd wrapped his arms around them, using himself as best as he could as a shield from falling debris, knowing full well that his sister would likely outright deny her reliance on him at that moment.

Lagoona was still by the entrance into the room that they had all used and was holding onto the doorframe to remain upright. Cleo and Deuce were still over by where she and Holt had their argument, he holding with one arm onto a less than solid looking support column and gripping Cleo to himself. She looked terrified of having to repeat this experience again. Heath and Abbey were in a similar position, although Heath had dropped them to the floor and was gripping onto one of the legs of the table he and Holt had secured to the floor just moments before. Holt didn't look as overly concerned as the others, apparently finding some amusement in the chaos until spotting Frankie's state. She was standing with arms wrapped around one of the columns on the circular platform as much as far as she could reach. She was very close to the walkway that would have brought her close to where Holt had set up, and he slowly attempted to get over to her like Clawd had done. He had nearly reached her when the shaking momentarily stopped, causing everyone to stand still to assess what was going on.

"Whoa. You woke somethin' up earlier." Lagoona commented, inching her way over to the side of the pathway. Peering over the low railway to look down to try and see what water creature might have been released, she was unable to really see much to tell whether or not they were in any danger.

Frankie pried herself off of the column to walk over to where Holt had been knocked to his hands and knees as he tried to get to her. "Everyone alright?" she asked, tightening up the stiches on her body that had started to loosen from all the repeated shaking. Receiving some muffled remarks about everyone's state, she heard once again another cracking sound. Although, this time it seemed like it was coming from above. Holt heard it too and stood up rapidly to look around. A few loose tiles suddenly fell from the ceiling, crashing next to Frankie who screamed as they knocked loose the stones of the walkway she was standing on, causing her to slip off and down into the waters below. Holt reached out to her, but he was knocked back to the ground as the walkway started to break apart and was pulled back by Heath and Abbey. They heard the splash as she hit the water and could see the faint light the sparks from her bolts created when wet, the only light other than the three remaining torches that Heath had lit upon entering the room.

The girls screamed out Frankie's name. Holt wrenched himself out of his cousin's grip and ignored his protests to not do anything stupid, diving down into the darkness to fish Frankie out of the water despite not knowing how far of a drop or what else might be down there.

"Lagoona!" Draculaura shouted over to her. "Do you think you can head down there with them?" she asked, reluctant to have another friend disappear but knowing that of their group, she might be the best suited to help. Lagoona shook her head and with a running start, also dove down.

---

Holt plummeted into the water, doing his best to search for Frankie in the dark. Coming back up for air, he dove down and looked for the tell-tale spark that would have alerted him to her location. Getting frustrated and more panicked, he chose to try and let his flame out under the water for even a brief glimpse of light to spot her. While not the smartest idea, as the thought seemed to pass through his mind, it seemed to be perfect timing as he unknowingly illuminated the face of the creature that had joined them. It had been so close to Holt and he hadn't even been aware of it. He involuntarily let out the breath he was holding, but it seemed he had spooked the creature enough for it to back away from him. He was relieved that it and all its sharp-looking teeth had gone in the opposite direction of him, but was more thrilled to find that he had also managed to spot Frankie floating nearby too. Holt's burst of flame was short-lived but he swam as quickly as he could to get to her and help direct her toward the surface. They both resurfaced, taking in gasping breaths and trying to find the wall to hold onto something. The creature must have also been making rapid movements, as the water was choppy and they were quickly forced in the direction that it had apparently come from, Holt dragging his hand over the side of the wall as they were pushed along. They couldn't see much, but they were positive that they weren't inside the circular room anymore.

Holt managed to eventually catch a hold of something and lifted Frankie further up out of the water, despite the shocks she kept sending his way every few seconds. It seemed he had found a small alcove within the wall, but neither of them could tell if this meant they were in another passageway that might reconnect with their friends.

Once Frankie was out of the water, Holt managed to pull himself out too and sat beside Frankie. Their space was limited and he wanted to be sure that no part of her would still be in the water as she tried to dry out. He adjusted their position, as the top of the carved out alcove was not very high, leaving them with just enough room to recline, Frankie laying on top of Holt to keep out of the water. The both of them were trying to catch their breath but also to keep as quiet as they could to not draw the attention of the creature, or creatures. Frankie seemed to be having a much harder time than usual when she would occasionally swim, likely having been completely submerged for longer than she would have liked and not being able to keep the bolts in her neck above water at all.

"You ok?" Holt asked her as he tried to readjust again so she could better relax against him. He felt her head under his chin nod. "What about you? How are you still you?" she asked him. Although they could faintly hear the music still drifting in to where they were, she knew it was no longer loud enough to keep up his transformation. Holt gave a shuddering laugh as he rubbed Frankie's arms to try and warm her back up as best as he could while also being soaked.

"Jackson bought a waterproof casing for our icoffin and my headphones…guy can be clever . Guess he had enough of me breaking our stuff…" he chuckled, jumping a little as she shocked him. "Not sure how long I get to be me though. I doubt it was meant to go swimmin' with." He said. Frankie snuggled up against his chest as he spoke to her, taking comfort in him being there for her. "I can't light things up in here with our…situation…but the Holtster can definitely heat things up a bit for ya'" he mumbled, beginning to catch his breath.

"Are you sure you're really ok?" Frankie asked. Holt just tightened his grip on her. " 'Course I'm good. I thought you'd trust me, Ms. Fine…" he said.

"It's not that I don't trust you, although you have been known to bend the truth and do some stupid things…"she trailed off, unspoken accusation that he may have inadvertently caused their predicament with his display of temper from earlier. "It's just…I can't control my shocks right now and I don't want to hurt you." She said. Holt laughed, Frankie's body shaking along with him as he warmed her up.

"Nah! I can handle how electrifying you are!" he teased. "'Sides. Ain't the first time you've shocked my systems…" he said, causing Frankie to smile and blush. Unfortunately, this caused her also to send a particularly large jolt through him.

"Oh! Holt! I'm so sorry" she whispered to him, trying to reach up and run her hand along his face. "I should be able to dry out soon, but until then…" she trailed off, dropping her head back onto Holt's chest and sighing as she felt drained.

"Frankie-Fine, what's up?" Holt asked, concerned at her abrupt pause in conversation. "Nothing…my charge is just a little drained from the water." She said.

"Anything we can do to fix that?" Holt said. Frankie shook her head, knowing that Holt could feel her answer even if she didn't speak. "Guess we gotta just wait here for a while until one of the others comes to find us then…we're stuck." He said, leaning his head back against the stone wall.

Frankie focused on trying to calm down enough so her charge could possibly self-regulate, doing so by just feeling how Holt's chest rose and fell with each breath he took. It was calming to her, even if his heartbeat seemed faster than it should have been. She had once asked him about that, noticing how slightly faster his heart seemed to beat even when resting with her than when it was her and Jackson snuggling. He had said something about how that's just how he was, his dad being similar. But still, she couldn't help but focus so much attention on her already present fascination with the way he and Jackson were so alive compared to other monsters and creatures. In her position, it seemed so loud too, a perfect match to his voice and personality.

"Holt, are you sure you're really ok?" she asked again. She heard and felt Holt give a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, Frankie. Why?" he asked. Frankie blushed again, sparking once more as she gripped onto Holt's jacket until it passed.

"I can't help but hear your heartbeat in this position. I know you said it's faster than Jackson's, but it's still really fast…I think." She said, biting her bottom lip in embarrassment of this awkward conversation. Holt laughed again. "You just have that effect on me I guess." He said. Frankie tugged on Holt's jacket to get him to be serious. "I'm serious Holt." She said. Holt rubbed her back as he tried to comfort his girlfriend.

"So am I. But I did just go for one heck of a swim, carryin' you up and outta the water. Plus, the shocks aren't keeping me from relaxin' too much with ya' as much as I'd like to." He said. Frankie felt disheartened at that. Sure, she knew that they had just been through a physically demanding experience, but she was ashamed that she was continuing to make things difficult for him. As though picking up on her distress, which he probably did by her shaking as she held in tears and was sparking a little, he rushed to console her.

"Hey! Hey!" he said. "It ain't nothin' I can't handle from ya'. I know ya' don't meant to hurt me, it's just outta control right now. Trust me, I know how that can be." Holt continued. "On a mushier note, you know it's okay for you to make my heart race like this…" he chuckled, getting a similar response from her.

"Hey, I got an idea… maybe" he whispered loudly, already annoyed by having to stay so still and quiet – it was like being stuck in that cage from that nearly-disastrous Halloween. "You said how when you and the girls went back to visit your grandfather, that they all worked together to give you back your spark, right?" he began, Frankie trying to follow his line of thinking. "So, maybe I can do the same sorta thing for you? Y'know, enough for you to feel better…" he suggested, shifting around a little as he fidgeted.

"Holt, I don't think I'm that bad off." Frankie said but Holt interrupted. "No. Let me help ya' Frankie. I may have gotten us into this mess so this is me making up for it with the time I still got before my headphones fry out completely." Holt said. "Just tell me what I need to do."

Frankie sighed. "I'm not sure what exactly the girls did. Just…everybody has that spark running through them that maintains their existence so I guess focus on that and what it's like when we're together…and I can pick up on that." Frankie reluctantly supplied. "But just listen to me. This isn't necessary. I'm not in danger of shorting out yet"

"Yeah…yet" Holt said. "I'm doin' it Frankie." Holt said, tightening his arms around her, shifting her around a little. "Because no one tells you what you can and can't do…" Frankie argued with him, spitting his words from earlier back at him as she was getting upset with his inability to just listen.

Immediately she felt him tense underneath her and his heartbeat pick up again, his breathing ragged. "Frankie…"he whispered, sounding as though she had just punched him. "Frankie. I'm sorry. I didn't mean…you gotta give me another chance." He said. Frankie chose not to respond, not sure what to say in her frustration at his repeated pleas for second chances that it didn't seem he always took based on some of his actions. Clearly he took her silence the wrong way if the way his pulse thrummed beneath her cheek was any indication. "Alright…I get it…but, just let me help you one more time." He said, sounding defeated.

"Holt." Frankie began, but it seemed like he had already started focusing on doing what she had been told that her friends did to help save her. Having been unconscious at that time, she wasn't sure what she should have expected. But it was like when she slept on her charging table as Holt managed to produce a short spark in his rare instance of concentration, making her wet bolts stabilize and stop sparking. She sighed as she felt much better, which Holt took to mean to stop, breathing heavily from his efforts.

"Better?" He asked. Frankie nodded against his chest. "Thank you Holt. It definitely helped." She admitted, snuggling back into his chest. "It must have been because we were so close that it worked the way it did." She said, meaning their literal position on top of one another. Going off what she was told, it had taken more than one person to make a difference and they had stood away from her as she stood in a charging chamber. But she realized just how that sounded too, as Holt's grip on her tightened and he let out a sad whine that she could feel echoing through her too. "No. Holt I didn't mean…" she began, trying to fend off a breakdown of his that might spiral into giving away to that creature where they were hiding.

But it seemed as though there was more than one of those things swimming around, as large splashing was heard that immediately silenced her. Involuntarily, she pulled herself closer to Holt as she tried to hear from which direction that creature might be, but she couldn't tell over the sound of her electrical charge pulsing in her head and the pounding of Holt's heartbeat against her ear as they were both frightened. In the back of her mind, she was hoping that it might be Lagoona coming to get them, but knew that she wouldn't have made that much noise. She was incredibly grateful that Holt had managed to get them completely out of the water at least. They both seemed to think that if they kept quiet and still, it might pass them by. However, it seemed to be that this creature was incredibly determined and was getting closer.

"I don't think it can see us" Holt whispered to her as it passed them by again, waiting until it seemed a little farther away. "I tried to flame up under the water to light things up and I think it doesn't really like anything bright." He explained in as rushed and hushed a tone as he could.

"But it can probably hear us" Frankie whispered back, indicating to Holt that they should try to remain quiet for a little longer. But she couldn't just let him continue on with the impression she had inadvertently given him that they were over as a couple. She ran her hand over his chest as she snuggled up against him. She was rewarded with a little gasp from Holt as he registered her comforting touch, warming her a little more with his elemental abilities. She was about to say something else when she thought she heard the creature making its way back over.

"Don't even breathe loudly…"she said, both of them flinching back up as far as they could toward the wall. They couldn't see it, but they could definitely hear it getting closer. As it was nearing them, they both took a deep breath and held it in the hopes that they wouldn't get discovered, and possibly eaten. They waited anxiously as the creature finished poking around near them, its breath not too far from their faces. Holt was starting to stir underneath Frankie, unable to take as large a breath as her body allowed her too, but thankfully the creature decided to move on as it circled moved about the passage again. The two of them released the breath they had been holding, taking in gasps as quietly as they could. Still, Frankie moved in time with Holt's chest and she did her best to give his some room to take in a larger breath. Once they both had calmed down, Frankie resumed her position reclining against Holt, again placing her head on his chest. As much as she was afraid of what might happen, she found his presence to be a great comfort, especially being reassured by the sound of his heartbeat even if it was still fast from holding his breath.

"Let's hope it doesn't come back again too soon." Frankie mumbled into his chest, letting herself relax a little more as he loosened the tight grip he had on her when the creature had been so close nearby. "No..." she said, fumbling around in the dark to pull his arms back around her. "Don't let go Holt."

Holt hesitated, but pulled her closer to his body. "I won't. I promise." He said. They sat there in silence after that for a long period of time, Holt not having much to say in his depressed state and Frankie was not sure how to bring up what she wanted to say in their situation. She thought on it as she listened to Holt's breathing. She had nearly worked up the courage to try and explain things when Holt took a deeper breath as though to gather his courage. "Frankie, even after all this and everythin', can you still at least let me…uh oh…not know…" he started to say to her, but was cut off as his headphones started to make some snapping noises as they finally started to wear out from the water.

"Holt" Frankie said, knowing what was coming soon. Holt writhed as he typically did as the transformation took place. It was usually something that took a couple of seconds, but often needed a little more space as Holt's left leg slipped off the narrow ledge they were laying on, causing a splash. Frankie lifted her head up in a panic, convinced that that would surely get the creature's attention if it was still nearby. As expected, she heard it give out a creepy whine mixed with a growl and presumed it was heading back toward their direction. She pulled Holt's leg back out of the water and waited as Jackson reappeared.

"Huh? Wha?" he said, not bothering to whisper as he had no idea of where he was, why he was wet and in the dark, or who was on him for that matter.

"Shh!" Frankie hushed him. "Don't move!" she said, lifting her head up a little more. The water near them started to make waves high enough to reach them, alerting her to how close the creature was. Jackson was still confused at the situation, not having the benefit of memory for the past few hours since Cleo caught him in the hallway and sprung some loud music at him. That being the case, he wasn't able to be as calm as Frankie would have like. "Hold your breath!" she whispered in his hear before clamping her hands over his mouth and nose to prevent him from making any more noise as she repeated what she and Holt had done before. It seemed to take much longer for the creature to give up this time, whining as though it couldn't understand where its prey had gone in its certainty of Frankie and Jackson's location.

Jackson's grip on Frankie began to tighten as the seconds ticked by and his need to take in a decent amount of air grew. He had still been trying to catch his breath from his transformation when Frankie chose to act. Frankie had tried to move ever so slightly on top of him to keep him from moving around too much, even though she was well aware that all he was doing was trying to breathe. Once again she couldn't help in her position to notice how frantic he was, not understanding what he had woken up to. Like with Holt, she could hear his heart beating, slower at the start of holding their breath but getting faster and faster, until it seemed like it couldn't go any faster and then started to slow, causing her to panic a little and overlook her own discomfort. His grip on her started to loosen just as the creature let out another few whines and in its own frustration, made a large splash as it turned and swam away, Frankie hearing how quickly it seemed to move compared to the last times.

As soon as it was far enough away, not waiting for it to entirely leave the passage this time, she released her hold on Jackson's face. He didn't immediately suck in a breath as she had expected him to do like Holt, causing her to nearly hyperventilate at her inability to know what to do to help him. But his body seemed to catch on to what was happening and he sucked in as large a breath as possible, repeating that several times and nearly knocking Frankie off of him into the water. He swallowed a few times as his chest continued to heave as he tried to recover. Frankie gripped onto his shirt with both of her hands, keeping herself steady.

"What….was…that…for?" Jackson wheezed out, attempting to understand why his girlfriend nearly suffocated him to death. Frankie just shushed him, not sure if his loud breathing would alert the creature if it was still in the passage. "I…can't….be….quiet…"he continued, struggling. But it seemed like the creature had dived far enough below for it to not pick up on them in its own apparent quest.

Frankie rested her head back down onto Jackson's chest, not having much room anyway to pull away. She listened as his heart continued to pound. "I'm sorry. I didn't want us to be found. There's something else in here" She apologized and explained. Jackson didn't respond to that, likely not sure what to ask next. They stayed quiet until Frankie gasped and pushed her head further into Jackson's chest. A few seconds later, she did the same thing.

"What?" Jackson asked, still uncomfortable from his ordeal not more than a minute ago and definitely not ready to have to deal with another.

"I heard…Jackson…your heart stopped for a second a couple of times. It skipped." Frankie said, not moving her head from its position over his heart. "That can't be good. Was it because of me?" she asked, already sure of her answer.

"Well, yeah." Jackson said, reaching again with his arms to hold onto Frankie. "It's never a good idea for a person to hold their breath for too long without even taking in a gulp of air…you could've waited just another second. This is my body's way of recovering, like how your bolts spark when wet." He explained as best he could.

"But…are you going to be alright?" Frankie asked worriedly, hoping that their positions were not reversed and she would have to be monitoring Jackson like Holt had been taking care of her down here. She did enjoy being able to take care of him, but with the fact that they were still so close to the water with no other dry areas known to them to keep her from shorting out, she wasn't sure what she would be able to do for him.

"I should be fine in another minute." Jackson said, his breathing sounding less like heaving gasps. "But if you could explain why you decided to try and kill me, I'd appreciate it." He teasingly said to her in his typical humor, which did the trick to get her to calm down as she recognized he was okay enough for him to play around.

"Your alter ego had a bit of a temper tantrum with Cleo – not that she didn't deserve a good talking to – but the mini-earthquake he caused with the sound equipment got the attention of whatever was living down here and it decided to crash the party. I fell into the water and Holt rescued me." She explained as briefly as she could.

"Aw, Holt…" Jackson complained. "That guy can be such an idiot. I'm sorry. But, where is here exactly?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is being in the hallway when Cleo surprised me. I'm guessing it must have something to do with a party and all those flyers that were up all over the school for that countdown reality show." Jackson guessed.

"Yeah." Frankie said, amazed at how quickly Jackson had been able to piece a part of the story together from the little facts that he did know. She figured that he must have had a lot of practice with this particular mind game and sympathized with him, running a hand up to his cheek. "We're in the catacombs looking for a good spot. We were setting up when Cleo set Holt off." She said.

Jackson sighed. "That figures. The only time she actively seeks me out is to get to talk to Holt."

"That's not entirely true and you know it." Frankie responded, giggling a little. She was relieved that everything sounded back to normal with Jackson, his breathing lulling her into a relaxed state. She was also grateful that Jackson was able to have a quiet conversation, something that Holt wasn't the best at even in this predicament. "All our friends talk and hang around with you too." she said. "And we have to rely on them now to get out of here. I think Lagoona might be able to find us – she came down in time to see us fall in."

"Well, she would be the most able monster to figure out what kind of water creature this is and if we can find another way out." Jackson reasoned. "Do you think there's only one?" he asked. Frankie paused as she thought about that. "Holt said that he saw a large one in the room that we were setting up in, but I think that the one that keeps poking over at us is another one, maybe smaller based on the amount of splashing that I heard…" she said.

"How did he see it if we were underwater?" Jackson asked. Frankie shifted a little again in Jackson's hold, causing him to let out a little grunt as she elbowed him. Frankie just huffed a little. "He did something stupid – he said he ignited his flame as best he could for a brief moment when he was under the water." She responded, going back to just laying her hands flat on Jackson's chest since she didn't really know what else to do with them at this point, only grateful that everything had remained attached. Jackson gave a humorless chuckle. "Yeah. Sounds like him, although…I didn't know he could do that. That's actually pretty interesting if he might be willing to talk to me about…" he started to ramble, clearly going off in thought about any scientific implications that he might be able to deduce only to be stopped by a small whack on the chest by Frankie who had laughed at him.

"You need to think about something else right now. Like being quiet and listening for that creature again. Or Lagoona. " She said. Jackson shifted a little underneath her, readjusting her on top of him so that he could pull her face closer to his. She blushed a little at the position, but Jackson remained quiet like she asked. They stayed that way a few minutes more before he asked a question.

"Hey Frankie…um…"he hesitatingly started, "I may not remember what Holt does, but I can kinda recall what he was feeling as he transformed. He says he can do the same for me too, but…well, is everything really ok between him and you. Us?" Jackson asked. "I can't be sure, but he seemed almost, broken." He said.

Frankie sighed. "Yeah, well, we did talk a little." She admitted. "But we can talk about that after we get out of here." She stalled. She felt Jackson sigh beneath her. "We're not going anywhere right now Frankie. Please?" he tried again.

"I got so frustrated with him not listening and just acting out. He asked for a second chance, but I…" she said, trailing off into a sigh. "I know he must mean well when he does those stupid things and he practically always apologizes but…"she said, unsure of where to go with her musings on how she wanted to talk with Holt to Jackson. "He wanted to keep talking but I thought it best to just take a break." She said, her irritation making a slight comeback although she really couldn't keep it up with the efforts Holt had made to make sure she knew how he was sorry and tried to help her out.

"T-take a break?" Jackson stuttered out. "Frankie? What do you mean?" he mumbled, his heartbeat picking up again in her ears. She realized that he and Holt had reached the same conclusion.

"I meant it literally – I stopped talking with him. I couldn't find the right words to say to him so I just stopped talking. So of course when I did try to talk to him, his headphones shorted out before I could explain things – that waterproofing was a good idea Jackson." She said, hoping to discourage any further thoughts about that with a compliment on the end. Jackson didn't say anything immediately, choosing instead to hold onto Frankie tighter. She could tell that she had damaged his ability to trust their relationship status, especially given the amount it took for her to finally get out of the "paused" state she had put them in. She decided to give him some encouragement, placing her hand flat on his chest to maneuver herself up a little more, and found his lips in the dark to give his a meaningful kiss. He responded in kind, deepening it, his heartbeat under her hand letting her know that he enjoyed being with her very much.

They broke away briefly, Frankie having to concentrate on the sparks that were emitting from her to keep them from harming Jackson. It seemed it was finally her turn to be breathless as Jackson pulled her into another kiss, the two of them silently enjoying each other's company despite their situation. She was sure that he could hear her charge start to echo off the walls as easily as she could feel his fast heartbeat race under her fingers. "I love you Jackson. I'm not planning on leaving you." She whispered to him. He held her tightly. "That's good, because I'm madly in love with you too." he said, causing her to giggle. They continued for a few more kisses, Jackson reluctant to let her go but content now, choosing to remain silent in the dark as they held each other.

---

"Oooh, I hope that Frankie wasn't shorted out!" Draculaura said as she clung to Clawd, waiting for Lagoona to come back with them. Heath had pulled out the glow sticks that had been packed in with some of the other decorations that they had brought down with them, tossing a couple down to her when she resurfaced saying she couldn't see anything. She had managed to quickly discover that the creature that had entered was looking for something, and that its massive sharp-looking teeth were more for looks than anything. If she, as Lagoona was able to discover from careful approaches to the nearly-blind animal, had actually bit down with them, it probably would have been her end too, like how a bee can lose its stinger and die. But such drastic measures weren't needed for her to discover this, as she was able to practically hypnotize it with the rest of the glow sticks that she had the others toss down. From there, she was able to keep it calm long enough for Clawdeen and Abbey to find Jane hanging out in the catacombs so that they could determine what the creature wanted.

"I'm sure that Holt managed to get to her in time." Clawd answered, rubbing an arm comfortingly down her back. "Once he's set his mind to something, you know nothing gets in his way…literally."

"So long as he didn't transform back into Jackson too soon." Heath muttered, earning a smack to the arm from Deuce. "Ow! Hey!" he exclaimed, rubbing his arm.

"Dude. That's not helping." The gorgon said as he sat next to the elemental on the edge of the walkway, leaning against the railing. They had been waiting to hear something from Lagoona, to come back with more information. They had learned the larger creature had created a couple of new passages that Holt and Frankie might have gotten pulled into.

The large, Shonisaurus-looking creature had communicated with Jane that she was looking for her child that had heard the loud music and had gotten curious. Unfortunately, the mother didn't have much more to say on that matter, not for lack of effort on Jane's behalf. She had managed to convince it not to follow Lagoona so that the sea monster could more easily move around in her search for her friends, now armed with the technique for keeping the child creature calm should she come across it. That left everyone back in the circular room with the creature as it did the equivalent of pacing along the bottom, putting everyone on edge.

"I'm sure that they are alright. I assure you that the mother does not intend to harm anyone here." Jane said, in her comfort zone while speaking to animals, but unsure of how to convey the same sense of ease with her friends. "Lagoona should be back shortly."

"Yeah, but then how are we gonna get them out if Frankie can't get in the water again?" Clawdeen remarked, swinging her legs as she dangled them. "Do you think the kid might be big enough, and able, to carry them on their back or somethin'?" she asked of Jane.

"Yes. Will be like riding on yak through snowstorm." Abbey supplied, earning a grimacing smile from Jane as she tried to respond to what Abbey clearly thought was helpful input.

"Yes. Well…"Jane stammered. Cleo rolled her eyes and interjected into the conversation from where she was leaning against the wall behind Deuce, not inclined to get too close to the edge. "Abbey, it's not something they can saddle. It might try to eat them or something if they get too close."

"Oh no" Jane said, eyes widening. "Well, maybe. Yes. It's probably very scared and if it finds them it might be a little rough with them. But I'm sure Lagoona will be able to lead it out here so I can explain everything to the two of them." She said, wringing her hands nervously. "I'm sure the mother will be more than happy to help once she's reunited with her baby."

"Yeah, sure. But that doesn't help with the problem of getting them up from the water to where we are." Heath said, flinching as Deuce made to smack him again. Thankfully for him, Abbey was standing behind him and caught his hand, giving him a look and shaking her head.

"He is right and you know it." She said. "We need to figure out way to get them up." She said, releasing Deuce's hand and motioning to Cleo to help her look around.

"Well, there had to be something built in to bring monsters from the upper level to what was the floor." Cleo said, grabbing one of the torches off the wall to carry with her. Abbey nodded, looking to Heath to get him to help out. Heath sighed but acquiesced, using the railing to get back into a standing position. As much as he loved to help out for Abbey, the others could see that there were times where he wasn't as enthusiastic. The possibility of falling down into the waters with a semi-aggressive, large, creature was not all that thrilling to Heath, but he was willing to risk it for his girlfriend and his cousin and his girlfriend. The three of them were slowly moving around the outer rim walkway, looking for anything that might help.

"Feel free to join in at any time" Cleo called back over her shoulder to the others who were still sitting by the railing. Deuce shook his head, knowing that her statement was more or less directed at him, getting up to join her, Heath and Abbey.

"We could look around too I suppose." Draculaura said, although she looked reluctant to get too far away from Clawd's side with her recent brush with the same fate that Frankie and Holt had experienced.

"I can't believe it's takin' so long to find the two of them." Clawdeen said, standing up and brushing off the dirt on her skirt. The others also had some dust on them from the shaking of the room, but it seemed that it wasn't too much of a bother to anybody. "Holt should have been makin' enough noise for the two of them. Even if Frankie isn't doing so well right now, shouldn't he have been yelling to us?" she asked the others.

Her brother just shrugged his shoulders as he walked with Draculaura, hand in hand to the middle platform to look around. "Maybe they're just too far away for his efforts." He suggested. Draculaura laughed. "I don't think it's possible for Holt…maybe it's not Holt and Frankie were looking for now but Frankie and Jackson." She said, biting her bottom lip as she thought about it.

"That would be one heck of a situation to wake up to." Deuce said to her, shouting a little to cover the distance between the two groups. "But the dude probably has had a number of those kinds of things happen to him because of Holt."

"Still, we might want to try and speed things up a bit if he transformed back into Jackson. He's a normie guys." Heath said. "Granted, a tough normie with some monster heritage, but if he transformed back in the middle of that lake, then he might have had a few problems. Frankie too." Heath said, putting more effort into his search. He handed the torch back to the girls and let his hair and hands flame up so he could split up from them. Deuce let him take off, his snakes hissing at the close contact they'd had with his unpredictable flame. He started to look on the floor as though there might be a clue to a way down there. "Maybe there's like, a trapdoor or somethin'" he said, continuing his search.

"Ooh, that actually makes a lot of sense." Draculaura said. "If these floors were connected at one point, then to go down to the lower area would have required a staircase in the floor." She said, picking up on Heath's idea and looking around the floor of the platform she, Clawdeen and Clawd were standing on.

"Oh! Here comes the little one!" Jane's voice interrupted, the others seemingly having forgotten that she was still standing there with how quiet she had been. "And there's Lagoona!"

Lagoona resurfaced as the smaller creature came out into the room from the passage made by the opening in the wall. Immediately it and the mother swam toward each other, obviously happy to be together again. They created large waves which the others could see gave Lagoon having a hard time staying above water to talk to the others.

"Did the little one see them at all?" Abbey asked of Jane who closed her eyes and concentrated on communicating again with the mother and now, the child. Scrunching her face up as she tried to get a clear answer, she sighed and opened her eyes to look at Abbey as she answered.

"Give them a minute. They weren't separated for very long, but her child is still pretty young and isn't thinking beyond the refrain of "I'm so happy to see you mommy."" She said, looking back down at the frolicking water creatures.

"How are you doin' Lagoona?" Clawdeen shouted down to their friend. Lagoona swam over to the middle platform's wall, holding on as the creatures continued to churn the waters without meaning to make it difficult to their helper.

"Well, it was slow-goings in the dark, but I managed to swim into this guy and convince him to not try to take a bite out of me." Lagoona said. "That's got to be a positive." She remarked, watching the mother and son brush against each other. Clawdeen laughed at Lagoona's response, finding her attempts to keep out of the way of the creatures comical.

"Well, we're workin' on finding a way to get you back up here" Clawdeen shouted back down to her. Heath leaned over the edge of the railing to get a better look at what was going on and to try and see if his cousin and Frankie were also with her. He was disappointed to find only that the creatures had progressed from nuzzling each other to performing tricks that had them jumping out of the water occasionally and had Lagoona scrambling to get out of their way, even if she also found it sweet.

"Any sign of Frankie and Holt?!" Heath shouted down to Lagoona. He had been confident that the two of them had found some sort of hidey-hole to hold onto, but the nagging worry that they could have drowned or have been tossed about by the smaller of the creatures was starting to rise to the surface. By the looks on the others' faces, it seemed like they were pulled out of their amusement of watching the creatures to be rapidly brought back to their worries.

"Not yet." Lagoona said. "Jane, can you ask them again?" she directed her question to the quiet monster who nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. As she was doing that, Lagoona adjusted her grip a little only for the rock she had been leaning heavily on to shift, causing her to submerge again.

"Lagoona!" Draculaura shouted in concern for her friend when she didn't immediately reemerge. She was well aware of the fact that Lagoona would be fine if she stayed under, but the vampire was still on edge. Clawd pulled her closer to him in case she should get to close to the edge again in her concern. But, as expected, Lagoona resurfaced shortly with a smile on her face.

"I think I found a way to get up top again mates!" she gleefully shouted to them. "It looks like there is an opening to a corridor with a staircase. It must go all the way to the top where you three are standing" she said to Dracularua, Clawdeen, and Clawd. The three of them immediately started to look around on the floor for any irregularly shaped stones or other signs of a trapdoor.

"I found it!" Clawdeen triumphantly yelled out, her brother coming over to help her lift the lid off. Once they had gotten it off completely, shifting aside the heavy stone to keep it uncovered, they could see the beginnings of a staircase. "Heath!" Clawdeen shouted over to the elemental in the direction she had last seen him standing, but he had apparently sprinted over to where they were faster than she had thought. Turning around to try and find him, she was startled when he was practically right behind her.

"Ah! Heath!" she said, growling a little at him. Heath's eyes widened as he took in her startled state, holding his hand up in surrender. "What? I didn't do anything." He defended himself. Clawdeen huffed, not amused by Abbey's laughter at what had happened. "Yeah, yeah. So you keep sayin'" she said, poking him in the shoulder. "Do you think you could lead the way so we can see if these stairs reach the bottom?" she asked him. Heath gave a smug smile.

"Of course, ladies." He said, comically grabbing at Clawdeen's hand to lift it to his lips as thought to kiss it. She pulled away roughly and crossed her arms. At this point Abbey had made her way over to them too, Cleo and Deuce still on the outer pathway.

"Dude, just go. Before Clawdeen tosses you off." Deuce said. Heath shrugged and let his hair flame up again. He started to walk down, but Abbey reached out a hand to his shoulder to stop him. "Wait. I come." She said, leaving no room for argument. Heath sighed and descended down the dark corridor, Abbey holding on to his shoulder right behind him. It was narrow and Heath's flame was able to light up several feet in front of them. This was a fortunate thing as they soon learned, since a few stairs were missing in different places, but Abbey was able to freeze together a temporary ice replacement to make it an otherwise perfect solution to their problem of getting everyone back up. Once Lagoona was able to let them know where Abbey needed to make another door by knocking from the outside, they had just about everything ready for after they found their missing friends.

"Oh! The little one just told me that he was searching for something in the passage. He thought he was able to find it a few times, but he could never quite figure out where it was." Jane said once the creatures seemed to be less rambunctious.

"I bet we can figure out what it was." Clawd remarked as Heath and Abbey climbed out of the corridor, Abbey taking Heath's offered hand as he turned to help her out. "Probably for the best that they didn't make any noise then, since the kid might've wanted to play…" he commented.

"Alright then. If he can tell me which way to go, I can swim on over to the two of them" Lagoona said to Jane who again focused on asking the creatures her question.

"But we still don't have a way to get them back here without making Frankie have to get all wet again." Draculaura said, trying to figure out how to solve that problem. Cleo shrugged and looked to Deuce for any suggestions, but he too didn't seem to have anything to contribute.

"What if I make tiny ice-burg? Float on that back here if can be quick." Abbey suggested, tapping her finger to her chin as she thought. "Might work, yes?" she asked of her friends. Heath smiled and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. Receiving nods from her friends she shrug off Heath's arm so as to not accidentally freeze him too, and shot a blast of her icy powers into the water to create an ice-burg the size of a small raft. Lagoona swam over to it, shivering as her hands touched it, and experimentally gave it a push. It held together alright and she gave a thumbs up to her friends to let them know that this plan was working.

"Okay. He said that they are definitely in the passage they came out of. He had doubled-back to look for his mother when he heard a lot of splashing around. My best guess is that the two of them must have found a spot to get out of the water a good deal inside the passage, possibly one or two turns in." Jane said, giving vague guiding directions to Lagoona who just rolled her eyes and swam off slowly back into the passage with the additional glow sticks that Cleo had the foresight to toss down onto the ice-raft for her.

---

It took a few minutes of swimming around, but Abbey's raft seemed to hold up for the most part, only shrinking a little in size from contact with the warmer water. She stopped a few times to try and hear her friends moving around or talking at least. She came to a split in the passage, taking her chances and going with her first choice. A few strokes in, she thought she could hear a soft murmur of voices. Deciding that was the best clue she'd had yet, she followed it to find her friends locked in a heated kiss, not having noticed her arrival. She opened her mouth wide in surprise, noting that it was indeed Jackson and Frankie, Holt no longer with them. Stifling her giggles, she decided it was time to intervene.

"Ahem." Her cough sounded in the dark, immediately breaking apart Frankie and Jackson. "Sorry to break you two up, but I think I found a way to get you two sucker fish out of here." Lagoona's accented voice floated over to Frankie and Jackson, a small orange light from one of the glow sticks illuminating part of her face.

"L-Lagoona!" Frankie stammered out as she blushed, causing a few sparks to come from her still somewhat damp bolts. Lagoona winced in sympathy as they were carried into Jackson who grimaced. Frankie looked back to her boyfriend as best as she could, apologizing to him. Lagoona chuckled a little as Jackson tried to calm down Frankie who looked incredibly flustered.

"Come on. Hope on, Frankie. Jackson." She said, pushing the ice-raft over to them so that Jackson could maneuver Frankie off of him and onto the raft.

"I'm not so sure it's big enough for the both of us." Jackson said. "Abbey made it wide enough, I think, but it probably will only hold up under one person's weight." Jackson assessed the raft, doing his best in the little light that the glow sticks offered.

"We can't just leave you here to wait. What if that thing comes back?" Frankie protested, resting on the raft on her hands and knees to keep balance.

"Not to worry about that." Lagoona said. "I managed to get the two of them back together again and Jane's calmed them down enough to keep 'em there for a while." Frankie still didn't look very convinced, but still eager to get back to dry land again.

"And I don't have to wait Frankie. I can get in the water." Jackson said, pushing the raft away from the wall's edge to ease himself into the water. "I'll just hold on and swim back with Lagoona. We can push you back." He said, doing just what he said. Lagoona scooted a little away from where she was holding the raft to let Jackson grab a hold of it. He placed his phone onto the raft next to Frankie to keep it out of the water.

"Oh right. It still works." Frankie said, picking it up to use as a flashlight. "Why didn't we think of that before?" she asked, shaking her head. Jackson chuckled. "Probably because we were hiding and making a phone call would have given us away. Plus, Holt may be more fire elemental than me, but that doesn't mean he always has any bright ideas." He said, swimming alongside Lagoona. It took them a few minutes longer than Lagoona had taken to get to them, having to readjust every now and then to make sure Frankie wasn't going to fall off. But they managed to get back to their friends quick enough, who greeted them cheerfully as they spotted them.

"Hey Jackson!" Heath shouted out to him. "Couldn't think of a better way to wake up, huh?" he teased to his cousin, not all that surprised that it was him out again and not Holt. He received an unamused look as Jackson struggled to swim in his clothes and shoes while maneuvering the raft closer to where Lagoona directed them. Once they were close enough, Deuce helped Frankie step off the raft, it melting as soon as she got off, and into the staircase corridor without having to actually get wet again, essentially lifting her up off the raft to place her on the stair above him.

"Thanks Deuce." Frankie said, sending him a grateful smile. She then slowly made her way up the stairs, taking one of the glow sticks to look out for the missing stairs as the others had shouted down to her. Lagoona and Jackson pushed the raft away and Lagoona climbed into the corridor following Frankie. Deuce held out his hand to Jackson, who took it and slowly climbed out of the water.

"You have Holt to thank for this, dude." Deuce told him, choosing to follow behind him in case he needed any help. Jackson sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair to keep his bangs out of his eyes.

"So I heard." He said, slipping a little on one of Abbey's steps as he turned to try and face Deuce. The gorgon helped to right him, although with the limited space in the passage, Jackson wasn't in danger of going anywhere other than into the wall. "Thanks…did he do anything else particularly stupid?" he asked.

"He threatened my girl, dude." Deuce said, unable to keep his displeasure out of his voice even though he knew that Jackson couldn't really be held responsible for Holt's actions. Still, the gorgon needed to get his frustration out somehow and it seemed his hissing snakes agreed that he needed to talk. Jackson visibly winced, stopping his climb so he could talk in private with his friend.

"Deuce, I'm so sorry. You know how he is. I'm sure he wouldn't have, he couldn't have done anything to…to…" Jackson stammered out, trying to find the right words to say to his friend to make up for what his alter ego did. His frustration with his inability to remember what was said and appropriately apologize was evident on his face and Deuce sighed, his own frustration leaving him.

"I know dude. I'm not happy about it. But Cleo and he talked briefly before he and Frankie went for a swim." Deuce said. "Cleo deeply insulted him too, but if she was willing to apologize and move on, then I guess I am too. But make sure to tell him that I won't be putting up with anything as stupidly dangerous as what he did again without taking the glasses off." He said, pushing Jackson to continue walking up the stairs. Jackson nodded and swallowed thickly.

"I can tell him…" he said, continuing to climb, "…but he's not so great at listening to me."

"Yeah, I think we all got that." Deuce said, giving Jackson a friendly pat on the back as they exited the corridor to questioning looks from the others.

"You two sure took your time." Clawdeen said. "Everything ok?" she asked. Jackson nodded, adjusting his glasses. Deuce also nodded and everyone headed towards crossing back over to the outer rim walkway.

"So, this still the spot for the party?" Draculaura asked. Seeing the looks on the others' faces, she nervously smiled. "What? It's what we came down here for anyway, right?..." she trailed off, playing with the edge of her skirt.

"Jane?" Cleo asked, turning to their shy friend who was still playing around with the creatures. At her name, she looked up and walked over to the rest of the group.

"Do you think you could see if these creatures would mind having a party in here? You can even tell them that they can come if they're willing to put on a show like they did before." Cleo said in a mixture of both compassion and her usual attitude of making things seem like an enormous gift on her part. Jane was able to pick up on that, but rather than call her out on that, she gave a nervous smile and said, "I can ask them about that for you." The others had no doubt that Jane might phrase things a little differently, but they were rewarded with a smile from Jane as the creatures leapt out of the water again in their acrobatic motions.

"Now that they know what's going on, they'd be willing to have more company." Jane said. "Would you mind if I came, just to…you know…"she trailed off as she attempted to receive an invitation.

"Of course not! You can keep them company too!" Abbey interceded on Cleo's behalf, although the mummy didn't look overly pleased that the yeti had answered for her. Jane let a huge smile cross her face at that though, and Cleo couldn't find it within herself to say anything else to their friend.

"Well then, I think we should get back to setting up." Cleo said, motioning with her hand in her typical fashion.

"Can you wait a little bit before you turn the music on and let Holt back out?" Jackson asked, wringing out the bottom of his soaking wet shirt. He envied Lagoona's apparent ability to have clothes that don't stay soaking wet for more than a couple of minutes after leaving the water. He chalked it up to it just being absorbed by her skin, but wasn't so sure trying to use his fire elemental abilities to warm himself was such a good idea at the moment.

"Not a problem." Cleo said, not entirely eager to have to have another awkward conversation with him too soon. "We can go get the other decorations and start sending out the location to everybody." She said, walking away to head back upstairs with Draculaura, Clawdeen, and Lagoona. Heath looked over his cousin's soaking wet appearance and just laughed. Jackson chose to try and ignore him, but Heath was not exactly someone who could be easily overlooked.

"Come here." Heath said, motioning for Jackson to come stand over by him. Jackson looked warily at the elemental, not sure what he was up to. Heath sighed, "Do you want to get dry or what?" he asked him. Frankie spoke up from her position of being looked over by Abbey, who was helping tighten any remaining loose stiches. "It's what Holt did for me." She said. "Besides, he's your cousin. What's he gonna do?" she asked him, hoping to get him to relax.

"Exactly. There's plenty he can and has done" Jackson grumbled, not so sure his cousin wouldn't find it hilarious to just toss him back into the water again. Heath actually looked slightly offended at that.

"C'mon. I'm just trying to help." He said, walking over to grab a hold of Jackson. In response, Jackson attempted to twist out of his hold, repeating his insistence to just be left alone but failing to get Heath to listen. Heath managed to latch onto him and Jackson winced, expecting to get singed or burned at any moment once he was locked into his cousin's hold. But his grimace turned into shocked relief as his cousin's hold seemed to actually do what he had intended, warming up and drying off his cousin a little bit.

"Huh? Thanks Heath." Jackson said, turning his head to thank his cousin. Heath gave him a small smile. "You don't have to sound so shocked about it y'know." Heath said, still holding onto Jackson. "By the way, you can tell Holt that while he was brave for Frankie…that was also pretty stupid for him too." Heath said, causing Jackson to roll his eyes and sigh again. "I know, I know. He was particularly difficult and stupid today – I get it." Jackson huffed, blowing his now damp hair out of his face.

Heath let go of Jackson at this point, causing Jackson to let out an involuntary whine at the loss of the heat. "Aww. Why'd you stop?" Jackson asked, resuming his shivering. Heath pointed over to Frankie, who had her arms wrapped around her too, although she didn't seem nearly as cold as Jackson had been and still was. Jackson nodded as Heath walked over to Frankie, opening his arms wide in a comical gesture. "C'mon. You know you can't resist…" Heath teased, Frankie rolling her eyes as Abbey chuckled at his good-natured mock flirting. She had been concerned at first when they had gotten together when he continued to do that to other girls, but had come to realize that was how he tried to keep himself from getting too nervous around girls and flaming up.

Frankie walked into Heath's waiting arms and leaned into him, soaking up the warmth he generated with closed eyes and a small sigh. "Careful cuz', I might just steal your girl if she keeps swooning like this." Heath said laughing. Frankie declined to open her eyes, but smacked Heath on the back, Abbey giving him a small smack to the side of the head too.

"Oww…hey!" Heath said. "This could be considered abuse you know!" He said to the two girls, but smiled at them nevertheless. Abbey shifted her attention from her boyfriend to Jackson. "Why did you not simply warm yourself up?" she asked, referring to his own marginal fire elemental abilities that had become more prominent over the past few months. Jackson shrugged in response, still holding his arms around him as he shivered. "I haven't quite figured that part out yet." He said. "At least, not without creating a flame too." he said. Abbey nodded, accepting that answer.

"Well, he was keeping plenty warm while they were waiting with some activity."Lagoona teased, causing Jackson to blush and glare at her. "Thank you Lagoona…" he said in a sarcastic tone. Frankie also blushed, pushing away from Heath despite the lack of warmth to walk over to her boyfriend.

"Oooh" Clawdeen smirked at the two of them. "Frankie, we're gonna have to get details later." She said. Frankie rapidly shook her head no while Jackson looked like that was the most horrifying thing ever suggested to him, causing the others to laugh at their friends having been caught in an intimate yet embarrassing moment.

"Okay, okay." Clawd said, saving the two of them. "Can we get to finishing up so we can actually have that party, or what?" he said, encouraging the others to get back to their original task. A few hours later and everything seemed to be more or less set up. Cleo stood back to inspect their work, making adjustments here and there to have things meet with her approval. Several times she had Deuce rearrange things, only for him to have to return them to where they had originally been placed. Although it did annoy him, it did seem as though everybody had been able to get over the excitement from earlier and focus their enthusiasm into something else they enjoyed.

"There! That should do it." Cleo said, looking around once more and nodding her head. She grasped onto Deuce's arm, leaning into him contentedly. "All we need now is to wait for the party to begin. We've got all the right kinds of lights for the water party area and for the ceiling, all the right foods and streamers…"she rambled on, convinced that they could win that countdown.

"Yeah! It looks fangtastic!" Draculaura added, Ghoulia moaning along in agreement. The zombie then checked her watch and as quickly as she was able to, motioned to get Cleo's attention, moaning a few more times. Cleo's eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh my Ra! I completely forgot the time! Our little adventure from earlier sucked up all the time!" she panicked, as the guests should be arriving within the next twenty minutes.

"Don't worry Cleo. You made it look great." Frankie encouraged her friend. "But I might have to miss the beginning of the party" she said, indicating the frazzled state she looked to be in from her unexpected swim. "I need to go get changed and maybe get a little more charge in me first. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise." She said, walking past her and Deuce as she spoke, waving to the others. Sighing but unable to really argue with Frankie's comments, Cleo waved along with the others.

"You can't leave though Jackson." Cleo whipped her head around to plead with the boy. "I need to have Holt DJ the party." She begged. Jackson rolled his eyes at her request.

"Really? I thought you might have wanted me to do that for you." He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm enough to make Deuce and Heath chuckle, although Cleo didn't look like she was appreciating his wit. "Relax Cleo. We can trigger Holt in a few minutes. Let me have a drink first though, okay? He really took a lot out of me with his antics – I hear I owe you an apology too." he said, grabbing a bottle of water and finishing half of it in a couple of gulps.

Cleo waved her hand dismissively. "We've moved on. But seriously Jackson. Holt needed to be prepping like ten minutes ago." She said, trying to get Jackson to hurry things up a bit. Deuce was painfully aware of how finicky his girlfriend could be, especially as she began to tug on his arm in her panicked state. "Dude" Deuce called over to Jackson as he was finishing up his water. Jackson picked up on what his friend was trying to say and sighed, tossing the bottle out. "Fine" he grumbled. "Just once I'd like to get invited to a party of some sort…" he said, walking over to the sound table.

"Heath, which one was Holt planning on playing first?" Jackson asked his cousin, assuming that as Holt's more-or-less partner he would know which buttons he should press first, although it wasn't as though he couldn't figure out how to work the equipment. He had tried to help once and apparently had messed things up and Holt had come out displeased, making the party atmosphere a little tense for a little while. Heath got up from where he was sitting at one of the tables that they had set up to help Jackson out. A few button movements later and the music began drifting through the room again, with Holt back at the controls. But Holt didn't seem as enthusiastic as normal. Fearing that he may not have done as Holt had asked, Heath decided to try to talk to his cousin shortly after the party had started.

While his close friends may have noticed his more despondent state, it didn't seem as though the guests had judging by the wild dance moves and happy faces that were to be seen around the room. The creatures seemed at first not to care for what was going on, but Jane's close presence had evidently eased their worries and they appeared to enjoy the way the music reverberated off the walls and the low, gentle lighting that had been set up closer to the water. The students who were more aquatic also seemed to be immensely pleased with the inclusion of a pool party, supplemented by the acrobatics of the creatures every now and then. The ghosts were also enjoying the floating lights Ghoulia had fashioned, dancing among them as gracefully as those on the dance floor. It seemed that the film crew that had come to judge their school party was also enthused, having congratulated Cleo on her efforts and asked about her bold decision to incorporate so many aspects – especially live creatures for the guests to interact with. Cleo had smiled and laughed during the whole interview, giving Deuce an enormous hug and kiss once it was over in her ecstatic state. A lull in the upbeat music to allow for some slow dances gave Heath his opportunity to talk to Holt. He had hoped that Frankie would be back by now, but it seemed she was having a harder time convincing her parents to let her return than she had thought.

"Hey cuz'…" Heath said, climbing around the barrier that his equipment had made to stand next to him. "Is everything alright?" he asked, pulling Holt farther away from the table as the next song started to give them some privacy. Holt looked to Heath with large eyes that Heath swore were tearing up. "Holt, what's wrong?" he asked again.

"Frankie dumped me again man." He admitted, hanging his head. "I keep on messin' up…what am I supposed to do now?" he implored his cousin. "She ain't even here for me to talk to."

Heath was taken aback by this news. It certainly hadn't seemed that way if what Lagoona had gossiped with them about was true – or at least when it was concerning Jackson and her. "Holt, I don't think she wants to be separated from you…why would you think that?" Heath asked, trying to understand his cousin's thought process. Holt just shrugged off Heath's hand from his shoulder. "It doesn't matter now anyway…I gotta get back to the music." Holt said, effectively dismissing any further conversation. Heath nodded, realizing his cousin wasn't going to say anything else, probably in an effort to keep himself from getting worked up again. Deuce had early on spoken with him, and although Heath couldn't hear their conversation, the message was pretty clear and Holt had been doing everything to honor his promise to be good.

The party dragged on for another couple of hours before Frankie finally showed up, not looking all that different from her usual outfit and style. But considering that there was only time left for a few more songs, the girls had reasoned that she had done everything she could just to get back here.

"Hey guys." Frankie said as she joined Draculaura, Calwdeen and Cleo out on the dance floor. "Sorry it took me so long. My dad wasn't too keen on letting me out of the house without checking everything over twice to make sure I hadn't gotten anything zapped or loose." She said, shrugging as she danced.

"We figured, but at least you can dance with us for a little while. It's a shame you missed so much of it though." Draculaura said as Clawd came up and pulled her out of the group with an apology to the girls, resulting in a giggling Draculaura and a gagging Clawdeen. Frankie laughed along with Cleo.

"So how did your interview go?" Frankie asked Cleo, who gave her a smug smile. "I ruled it of course" the mummy responded, holding her hand in her typical fashion. Frankie laughed and rolled her eyes. "I know that. But do you know what spot we might be?" she asked her friend. Cleo shrugged before responding. "Well, I don't think we actually won, but I was assured we made the top five." She said, smiling. Frankie also let out a huge smile. "Oh! Voltageous!" she exclaimed, giving her friend a hug. "I knew we could do it." The girls danced the rest of the last songs played, Frankie wandering around over to the snack table as people were heading out to see if there was anything left for her to munch on. Unsurprisingly, Heath was there and she waved to him, getting his attention off of Abbey. He dropped his plate and raced over to her, causing her to pull back a little to avoid having him crash into her.

"Whoa, Heath! Where's the fire?" she tried to joke with him, but it didn't seem as though he was in a particularly joking mood.

"Frankie. I need to talk with you." He said, pulling her back over to where he and Abbey had been sitting. Sitting her down next to Abbey, she curiously regarded her friends. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking between the two of them.

"Look…Holt's not doin' so hot." Heath began. "I talked with him earlier to find out what was wrong and he said you dumped him." He continued, Frankie groaning and burying her face in her hands at her continued boyfriend problems. "C'mon Frankie. You gotta give him another chance – he really loves you. He's heartbroken over there. And what about Jackson? You can't break up with Holt and still try to keep dating Jackson…it just, won't work…" Heath tried to argue with her, attempting to persuade her to take back his cousin.

"Heath, stop." She said, waving her hands about franticly. "Holt and I were talking down in the tunnel and I was getting frustrated and didn't know what to say. We were trying to keep quiet too and I told him that we should just take a break." She said, rushing to fend off the certain argument that Heath was going to make as he opened his mouth to speak. Even Abbey seemed as though she wanted to interject. "But I meant our conversation, so we could think about what we were really saying to each other and to not draw that creature's attention. I didn't mean our relationship. I explained word-for-word the same conversation to Jackson and he assumed that we had broken up too. Ugh! Why do they do that?!" Frankie growled in frustration. "I was able to talk things through with Jackson and I'll talk to Holt too. Don't worry Heath." Frankie said, rising from her seat. "And thanks for looking out for him." She smiled at Heath, Abbey reaching over to snuggle against her boyfriend for his actions.

Heath smiled back and returned his attention to Abbey as Frankie walked away. By now the music had been lowered, Holt having pulled on his backup headphones to keep himself out, signaling to anyone who stayed that the party was ending. All of Frankie's friends were leaving, Heath and Abbey being slower than the rest as they walked out hand-in-hand, looking back to make sure that Frankie would be alright but wanting to also give them some privacy. She could see that Heath hadn't been exaggerating about Holt's emotional state, since he was still fiddling around with his equipment and sighing, not even noticing that Frankie had arrived. Normally he was the last one at a party, with either Heath, Operetta or Deuce helping him load up his stuff again. But it didn't look as though that was why he had chosen to stay behind.

Frankie walked up to where he was sitting, back to her and head in his hands. "Holt?" she said in a gentle voice. He either didn't hear her or didn't know how to face her, so she placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. He immediately jerked upward at her touch, wiping around to see who was still here and had caught him moping. Seeing that it was Frankie, he opened his mouth to say something but produced only a few stammered syllables that made her think more of Jackson.

"You know…I got to the party awfully late. I never did get to have a slow dance." She said, hoping he would pick up on her suggestion. He looked as though he wanted to smile but was too hesitant, as though he would push her away if he couldn't keep himself from being overly outgoing. Frankie walked over one of the walkways to get to the dance floor, turning around and holding out her hand. "Think you can help me out with that?" she asked.

Holt practically sprinted over to her, completely forgetting to actually turn the music back up so that they could hear it better from where she had dragged him. Frankie laughed at his eager, puppy-like look, drawing herself up as close as she could to him and resting her head on his chest as she started to sway.

"But Frankie…I forgot to put the song on. All that I've got is my headphones and you can't hear that." He said, but reluctant to let her go in case she should change her mind. Frankie just sighed, snuggling up against her boyfriend. "No…I've got the beat I need to hear." She said, resting a hand on his chest and feeling how his heartbeat picked up again. "I'm happy to be your girlfriend" She said, his arms tightening around her as he registered the fact that she wasn't leaving him. "I love you." She said. She could hear his heartbeat racing now as he laughed happily. He lifted her head up so she could look at him, his smile beaming at her. "I love you too Frankie." He said, leaning in to give her a kiss. They swayed for a few minutes more, content to just be with one another, the creatures letting out their whines that echoed across the chamber. It had sounded odd before, but now they knew that those were the sounds of love.