MHAT
This ghoulish pair was quite the sight, and in a world full of monsters, it was quite hard to stand out, but they did. They walked side by side through the local mall. One of them was taller with hair as black as pitch glittering with streaks of gold and strands of turquoise. She walked elegantly, like the Egyptian princess she was. The other ghoul was slower and hunched over. Her skin was a cold, lifeless grey, but her silky hair was a shimmering ocean blue. She was a zombie, but one of the more stylish ones. They had been friends for a very long time. They rarely spent time apart.
Their friendship was built on reciprocity and fashion. Ghoulia, the zombie, had the brains while Cleo, the mummy, had the confidence and the articulation skills. Together, they were a pretty unstoppable pair with killer style. They were out shopping for outfits to wear to the big dance at their high school. Ghoulia was on her iCoffin calculating the best colors to wear to the dance while Cleo was blathering about how she needed to wow the others.
"It needs to have gold, obviously, but it needs to sparkle…like me." Cleo walked over to her favorite store window.
"Mmmmuhhhmmm…" Ghoulia replied. Being a zombie, she was unable to move her tongue quickly enough to form words. The zombies had created their own language instead. To the average ear it was a series of moans, but many monsters understood the zombie language fairly easily. However, not many could speak it.
Cleo nodded. "You're right Ghoulia! Maybe some sequins at the top with a turquoise belt to balance it out."
She eyed a decorative turquoise belt in the window. Just as she placed her palm against the window, it shattered with and explosive burst sending Cleo and Ghoulia flying back against the railings across the hall. Glass shards cut both the ghouls in several places, but none of the injuries were serious. When Cleo was able to open her eyes, she saw glass, clothing scraps, and bits of structural debris. Then her hearing came back and she was startled by the screams of other monsters throughout the mall.
She quickly turned to see her dear friend Ghoulia still had her eyes closed. Cleo feared the worst. Gently, she tapped Ghoulia's shoulder. Ghoulia opened her big blue eyes. Cleo breathed a sigh of relief as she carefully removed the debris off her body and pulled out some glass shards from her skin. As she gradually rose from the ground, using the railings to steady herself, she saw someone running toward them. With all the screaming, she thought it was simply another panicked monster. It was a monster all right, but not the kind she hoped would be running to their rescue.
"Ghoulia! You have to get up. They're attacking the mall!" Cleo screamed. Her heart was racing and her mind was in hyper drive. She was recalling information she had never needed until now. The monster she saw running toward them was easily recognizable in his orange camouflage uniform, his black barrette and backpack gun. He was a human, part of the organization of monster hunters known as MHAT or Monster Hunters And Trappers. She had never seen a MHAT soldier in person before…thank goodness, but they had had plenty of education about them at home and in school. She remembered some MHAT soldiers had attacked Boo York a few years ago, but were defeated by the ARM or Army of Robots and Monsters.
The MHAT soldier was getting closer and closer, but Ghoulia was moving very slowly. Cleo reached down and pulled Ghoulia up off the floor. The two ghouls began running away from the soldier. Ghoulia was moving slower than Cleo, but they still had quite some distance on him. Where would they go? When Cleo looked down she could see other monsters being chased by MHAT soldiers. She wondered what their chances were to escape. As they kept running, Cleo kept looking back to make sure Ghoulia was keeping up and that the soldier wasn't. But in that moment of looking back, Cleo missed the net flying directly at them.
The net was weighted and electrified. With a sudden shock, the net took down Cleo and Ghoulia. They screamed each time the net jolted.
"Leave us alone! You are the monAHHH!" Cleo shrieked in pain as the net shocked them once more.
Two soldiers approached the net. Cleo could see them both staring down at her and Ghoulia. The one who had been chasing them said something into a watch around his wrist, but Cleo couldn't make it out. That's when Cleo noticed her body was turning to sand. She had no idea what was happening! "Ghoulia!" She shouted. All she could do in that moment is worry for her friend. If she for some reason was turning to sand, maybe as a mummy defense, she worried about what they would do to her best friend. Then her vision went black. Had she turned into sand? Was she just a pile of sand on the tile floor of the mall?
When her vision returned, she was herself again lying on the chaise lounge in her own living room. Her father was looking over her.
"What happened?" Cleo exclaimed.
"There was an attack at the mall. I used an ancient amulet to have the ones I love return to me." Her father explained. "I am worried, though, your sister has not returned."
"Nefera! No, daddy…Ghoulia too. She was trapped. We were both trapped, but now I'm here! And she might be…" Cleo cried, tears streaming down her flawless face. She couldn't believe that in one evening she may have lost both her best friend and her sister.
Chapter 1
I woke up early. My heart was fluttering. Even though we had been dating for weeks, I still could hardly wait to see him each day in school. I thought I had to be the luckiest ghoul in school. He was tall, athletic, and had a light blue furry body. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend. I had to thank Toralei too. She introduced me to him when I first started at Monster High, and we hit it off right away! Of course I am talking about the dashingly handsome Pawl Pounces, werecat of my dreams!
I took a shower, styled my hair, did my make up, and brushed my fur. I put on one of my most purrfect outfits and ran down the stairs passed my mother who was watching TV. As I headed out the door, my mom shouted something to me, but Pawl was already waiting in his car, so naturally I didn't rush back inside to ask her what she said.
"Hi Pawl." I smiled as I hopped into his car. I stared at his big beautiful yellow-brown eyes.
"Hey kitten," he leaned over and kissed my cheek. It still gave me the tingles all over when he did that. "Did you hear about something happening at the mall yesterday?"
"No. Maybe that was what my mom was trying to tell me when I ran out. What happened?" I asked.
Pawl began driving to Monster High. "I guess it was attacked and pretty much destroyed."
"What?" I gasped. I couldn't believe it. Who would do that? At first I thought it could have been a monster that couldn't control their gifts. Many monsters had some special abilities, and sometimes they weren't always easy to control.
"They're saying it was the MHAT soldiers." Said Pawl.
"The who now?"
"Remember those professional monster hunters we always hear about? The ones that attacked Boo York a few years ago?" He hinted.
"Right. The men in the orange uniforms?" I questioned.
"Yes. They're professional monster hunters from the human world. I guess they captured a lot of innocent monsters at the mall. Scary, right?"
I couldn't believe what Pawl was saying. It seemed unreal! We never felt unsafe around here. The only famous thing in this town was Monster High and that was mostly among the people already living here. What purpose would it serve these monster hunters to take peaceful monsters from the monster world? We haven't caused any problems in the human world for generations.
Walking into Monster High, it was clear that the atmosphere was not the same. Normally all the ghouls and mansters were at their lockers talking before the first bell. Today they were fairly quiet and huddled in whispering groups. Pawl and I looked at each other. I think we both felt the heaviness in the air. We decided to walk over to Toralei, Purrsephone and Meowlody.
"I guess everyone is a little shaken up, huh?" I whispered.
"It's scary. We almost went to the mall yesterday." Toralei said. Purrsephone and Meowlody nodded solemnly.
Then, down the hall we heard cries and sobbing. The five of us ran over. It was Cleo de Nile. She was crying hysterically on her knees. Her boyfriend Deuce was rubbing her shoulders. All her friends were also crying. I noticed them all sniffling and tears falling down their faces.
"What's going on?" I asked my ghost friend Spectra who knew all the best gossip. I noticed she had misty eyes too.
"Ghoulia Yelps was taken by the monster hunters." She sniffled.
We all gasped! We knew Ghoulia Yelps, the zombie. She was one of the nicest ghouls at Monster High. She was always willing to help with homework. I had one class with her. Toralei knelt down near Cleo. I was shocked because they did not always see eye to eye, but this went well beyond petty squabbles.
"Cleo, I'm so sorry. I'll help you any way I can." Toralei shed a tear. That ghoul never cried.
"Thank you, Toralei." Cleo wiped away her tears smudging her mascara. "I have to tell you…" she sniffed. "They may have taken Nefera too."
"What!" Toralei growled. "Oh. Cleo. This calls for payback!" She swung her fist in the air.
"They took Nefera too?" Cleo's cute little vampire friend Draculaura gasped. "Toralei is right. You know how I feel about revenge, but we cannot let this happen."
"Attention all students of Monster High. Report to the screamatorium immediately. Do not dawdle because some rooms and hallways will be locked down without hesitation in the next fifteen minutes." Headmistress Bloodgood announced over the intercom.
"That's probably about the attack." Clawdeen suggested.
Deuce helped Cleo off the floor and we all headed to the screamatorium. I felt Pawl grab my paw. I held his tightly too. This was getting scary. It was too close to home. When we entered the screamatorium, there were already a bunch of students sitting in the seats. Some of them crying, some of them looking around nervously. When Cleo walked in, many of them got up and hugged her saying things like "sorry" and "let me know how I can help."
Pawl and I sat with Toralei and the werecat pride in our usual seats two rows behind Cleo and her friends. There were a lot of werecats at Monster High. We weren't all best friends, but we were pretty close. Pawl was to my right, but one of my absolute best friends, Catrine, was to my left.
"Do you have any idea what is going on?" Catrine whispered in her sweet scarisian accent.
"Did you hear about the attack at the mall?"
"No, I did not." She shook her head.
"I guess monster hunters attacked the mall and captured some monsters, including Ghoulia Yelps and Cleo's sister Nefera." I explained in a hushed voice.
"Sacre boo!" She covered her mouth in shock.
"Attention students," Headmistress Bloodgood took the stage and tapped the microphone. "As many of you are aware, the New Salem mall was attacked yesterday by a skilled group of aggressive monster hunters. To add to the terrible news, several of our current and former students, their family members, and our dear friends have been captured. This attack was carried out by a professional society of monster hunters known as the Monster Hunters And Trappers. We call them MHAT. They are typically outfitted in orange camouflage with black hats. They are highly dangerous and possess harmful and sometimes deadly weapons. With that said, I would like to present General Grime De Sludge leader of the ARM troops." Headmistress Bloodgood sat on a chair that had been placed on the stage.
From behind the curtain came a behemoth of a monster. He had slimy purple skin that seemed to be oozing and dripping. Despite his grotesque appearance he seemed sturdy and confident.
"Good Morning Monster High students. I am General Grime. I am the leader of the Army of Robots and Monsters in this area. I want you all to be aware of a few things. Number one, last night, after the attack, troops came to Monster High with demon dogs and searched every inch of this place, including the catacombs. From that search we yielded two important facts. There is a passageway from the human world to the monster world within the catacombs directly under Monster High."
Everyone in the audience was shocked, even Bloodgood's head popped off her shoulders in surprise.
"Not to fear. We believe that is how the MHAT men first entered our world, but we believe they've found another more convenient way of traveling from their world to ours. With that said, we currently have a trap set up at the passageway in the catacombs as well as an entire brigade of ARM guards and demon dogs watching nonstop. Because of the structure of Monster High and its location, we believe this is the best shelter for the students of New Salem. We are instructing all students to remain inside the halls of Monster High until otherwise notified. Your teachers, and your parents who live locally have agreed to supervise you and provide you with necessities. We have guards stationed at every door and passageway of the school. Do not be alarmed. We do this as a safety precaution. Finally, if you have lost someone in the attack yesterday, rest assured that our robot intelligence tells us that all captured monsters are alive and in a heavily guarded fortress. We are working on freeing them." General Grime quickly walked off stage and disappeared behind the curtain as chatter erupted.
"All students are to collect their necessities from their lockers if they are able to, and then report to the dorm tower for room assignments." Bloodgood announced on the microphone. "If you are currently a resident student, you will find your rooms may have one or two extra beds. Please make your new roommates feel welcome. Be safe. I will be in the south tower with the other teachers if you need us." She put the microphone down and left.
We all got out of our seats and headed to our lockers. Unfortunately, my locker was inaccessible. They closed off and locked down the hallway where my locker was. With a sigh, Pawl and I followed Toralei to the dorm tower. I had only been there once before to visit Toralei, so I had forgotten how to get there. I remembered it was a pretty fun place with a game room and a café. Although, I was sure no one would be in the mood for games.
"How can they say we're safe when the passageway is in the catacombs right under the school?" Cleo shouted. Her anger made sense. Her fear made even more sense.
"He said there are guards there and all around the school." Frankie Stein said. She was one of the kindest ghouls at Monster High. She was a cheerleader, and she was the founder of the welcome wagon at Monster High. The welcome wagon greeted new students, brought them on a tour of the school, signed them up for the sport or club of their choice, and hooked them up with a mentor.
"Yeah, Cleo, didn't you see that big mean werewolf guard?" Draculaura pointed back at the very muscular werewolf who happened to be growling right behind me. I was guessing he wasn't fond of babysitting a bunch of high school teenagers. That was probably not in his job description.
"Cleo, I'm sure we're here because it really is safer than anywhere else right now." Lagoona Blue chimed in. I recognized her accent.
"I'm sure you're all right." She shook her head. "I just keep seeing what happened to Ghoulia in my head. I'm afraid for her, and I'm afraid for us."
"Make sense to be scared." A thickly accented voice spoke. "We trapped here, so if we need run, we cannot. But we together, and together we make best team." It was Abbey Bominable who spoke up. She was always straightforward. You had to love it.
"I say we sneak out and save Ghoulia and Nefera ourselves. We'd just need to find out where they are…" Toralei suggested. She always seemed to be up to no good.
"First, Toralei, how do you think we're going to find out where they are…ask General Grime? I don't think he's just going to fill us in. And second, they said it was heavily guarded. Even if all of us went, we don't know what tricks and traps these guys have up their sleeves." Clawdeen barked.
"Clawdeen's right, Cleo. Normally, I'd be down to stone cold stare down these creeps, but I wouldn't want to risk anyone else being caught." Deuce said.
Many of us wandered into the game room. It was large and had lots of couches and sitting space. It was an interesting collection of ghouls and mansters. We weren't all best friends, but we all knew each other some way or another. Mostly, at this moment, we all hoped for some way to save our friends. On the largest couch sat Cleo, Deuce, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Frankie, Lagoona, Gil Webber, Abbey, and Heath Burns. Hovering next to them was Spectra, Porter, and Kiyomi, three ghost friends. Sitting on the couch across from mine was Robecca, Venus, Rochelle, Garrott, Operetta, Johnny Spirit, Scarah, Invisi Billy, and Honey Swamp. Sitting next to me on the sectional sofa was obviously Pawl, Catrine, Toralei, Purrsephone, Meowlody, Catty Noir, Iris, Manny Taur, and Amanita. Finally, along the large fireplace hearth sat Neighthan, Sirena, Bonita, Avea, Jinafire, Skelita, Isi, Elissabat, Battly Cooper, Gigi, Jane, Lorna, Twyla, Howleen, Viperine and Posea. Just as we settled down, four more mansters came to join, but they were out of breath.
"Where were you Clawd?" Draculaura asked. Clawd was Draculaura's boyfriend and brother of Clawdeen and Howleen. He played casketball with Pawl.
"Dude, we snuck behind the curtain!" Finnegan exclaimed. Finnegan was an adventure crazed merman.
"Are you crazy?" Clawdeen shouted.
"No. But we are if we do nothing, Clawdeen." Clawd told his sister.
"They have more than just your sister." Jackson Jekyll said.
"I know," said Cleo. "They have our Ghoulia too." She sobbed.
"No…I meant…" Jackson was interrupted.
"Clawdeen, Howleen… they have Clawdia." Clawd faltered.
Both of his younger sisters jumped to their feet. "How do you know that for sure?" Clawdeen demanded. She needed to know about her big sister.
"We heard them talking about it." Clawd pursed his lips.
"Dude, they have a ton of monsters, but they're not lying. They confirmed that they're all still alive." Finnegan said.
"Duuuuug…" SloMo moaned and held up his iCoffin.
"That's right. I almost forgot! Ghoulia managed to sneak her iCoffin in. It's not working completely, but she's been able to send texts to SloMo.
Cleo jumped up and embraced SloMo in a hug. Something she would probably never do under normal circumstances, but this revelation called for a hug. It also made the proposition of rescuing Ghoulia, Nefera, and now Clawdia all the more realistic.
"I think we might be able to help too." An unfamiliar voice emerged from the doorway. There stood four ghouls. One was a pink and frosty slime ghoul. Another was a well-wrapped mummy ghoul. The third was a scaly green gorgon with dark shades, and next to her was an icy blue frost creature. "My name is Sammy De Sludge, and I might know a thing or two that could help you and your friends."