Okay, this story idea has been bouncing around in my head for some time and I just had to write it. :)

Vampirina belongs to Disney. I own nothing.

Friends To The Bone

Bridget struggled to get away from the older boys as they dragged her to the janitor closet. "Let go!" She pleaded.

"No way. We're going to get your scared reaction on camera," said one of the boys.

"It'll be epic!" His companion said as they made it to the closet. "Ready?"

"Ready!" The first boy said and they shoved Bridget into the closet and she tried to backtrack, but they locked her in and set off their trap, which was a fake, robotic skeleton that cackled and his eyes flashed and his bones shook like crazy.

The end result: Bridget screamed in terror and the boys opened the door, catching her frightened face and scream of terror on video and laughing in her face.

When the school day ended, the bespectacled girl followed Vampirina and Poppy to Vampirina's home as the young vampire had invited them over to play before Poppy's and Bridget's parents got home. They set their backpacks in the kitchen by the entryway, but made sure they were out of the walkway. Chef Remy smiled when he saw the three. "Ah, I knew you three would be arriving," he said and pulled out a large dish that had delicious snacks on it. "Snacks, courtesy of moi."

"Thanks, Chef Remy," Vampirina said.

"Yeah, thanks," Poppy said with a smile. The skeleton chef had taken to having snacks ready for when the girls came over after school and it was something the girls always appreciated.

"Hey, let's go find Wolfie," Vampirina said.

"Yeah, maybe we can teach him a new trick," said Poppy. She then noticed Bridget was sitting at the table looking at her math book, but she seemed…depressed. "Bridget, are you okay?" She asked.

"You haven't really said a word all day," Vampirina said, looking worried. "Did…Did Poppy and I do something wrong?"

Bridget shook her head. "No, I'm fine," she said, but her voice was small. Chef Remy cocked a brow bone, picking up the change in the young girl's behavior.

"Are you sure?" Poppy asked and then her eyes widened. "Bridget, this isn't about earlier, is it?"

Again, their friend shook her head. "I'm fine," she repeated.

Vampirina gave Poppy a worried look and the brown-haired girl returned it. "Why don't you join us outside?" She suggested gently.

"No thanks," Bridget said, giving her friends a small smile. "You guys go ahead."

"Well, okay," Vee said. "But if you change your mind, you're welcome to join us."

"Thanks," said the bespectacled girl.

After Poppy and Vampirina went outside, Chef Remy decided to find out what had Bridget so down. It wasn't like her to be so lethargic. She didn't even seem hungry for a snack, which was also unusual. Making up his mind, he went over to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

Not expecting that and still a bit shook up over her earlier scare, Bridget let out a shriek of fear and nearly leapt three feet out of her chair, literally. But two hands caught her in mid-air. "Good Heavens, Bridget, I didn't mean to startle you," she heard a familiar voice say and she turned to see Chef Remy was behind her and she sighed in relief.

"Oh, it's just you, Chef Remy," she said, looking mostly relieved.

"Bridget, what is troubling you, mon ami?" He asked, gently setting her back into her chair and pulling up another chair to sit by her. "You're not yourself, chere."

She turned away. "I'm okay," she said, but her voice was still small.

Shaking his head, Remy gently picked her up and placed her in his lap. "Chere, what was Poppy talking about earlier? What happened?" He asked, gently probing for answers.

He felt the young girl begin shaking and she seemed to be trying not to cry and he lifted her up so that her arms wrapped around his neck and her head was resting on his shoulder as if she was a smaller child. Bridget suddenly burst into tears, clinging to him as she cried. Immediately, Remy began rocking her and trying to soothe her. "Oh, chere, it's alright," he cooed, holding her. "Shh, let it out and then you can tell moi what's wrong."

It was a while before Bridget finally ran out of tears and she took off her glasses, which were all spotted from her crying. Gently taking them in his free hand, Remy cleaned her glasses on his apron and gave them back to her. "Thank you," she said softly as she put them back on and looked sheepish. "Sorry about…um…crying all over your shoulder."

"It's alright," he said gently. "Now, why don't you tell me what's got you 'down in the dumps', as I've heard Poppy say."

The young girl looked down before taking a deep breath. "Some bullies pushed me into a janitor closet today and they had rigged it up to be really scary," she said. "And…they filmed it and…and laughed at me."

Knowing that Bridget got spooked easily, Remy could plainly see that the mean prank did more than scare the girl, it hurt her self-esteem, especially with the boys laughing at her unmercifully. "Shame on those boys," he said after a moment. "Scaring you like that. Don't they know you startle easily?"

"Yes, which is why they wanted to get it on video," she explained. "They…They thought it was really funny, but it wasn't. That skeleton was really scary."

"What did it look like?" The kind chef asked.

"I don't know. It was too dark," she said. "But I heard bones rattling really loudly and cackling like…like an evil villain, and his eyes lit up really scarily."

She suddenly clung to Remy. "I was so scared that when they opened the door, I ran out and ran to class," she said. "But…it's been stuck in my head all day."

The one thing the skeleton chef didn't like was when someone caused one of his friends grief like this and he was feeling particularly upset at the two boys that had thoughtlessly frightened one of the human children he was fond of. "Now, now. You don't worry about that anymore, mon ami," he said, giving her ponytail a gentle, playful tug. "Why don't you go outside with Vee and Poppy? Give yourself a break from your schoolwork."

Bridget had to admit that sounded good. "Okay," she said and looked up at him. "Thanks for listening, Chef Remy."

"Anytime, chere," he said with a fond smile.

But deep inside his skull, he was forming a plan to teach the bullies a lesson.

The next day, Remy donned on a human disguise that he had been working on for some time and he followed the girls to school, slipping inside and spying the janitor's closet. He hid inside as he waited patiently, spying the fake skeleton hanging from the door that had no doubt scared Bridget the day before. His plan now coming together, the skeleton chef waited patiently. Thankfully, it wasn't long before he heard the young girl pleading to be let go.

"No way, scaredy cat. Our video yesterday got a lot of hits," said one bully.

"You're a star, crybaby," said the second bully as they pushed her into the closet again and locked it.

Bridget whimpered, but then felt a gentle hand cover her mouth. She would have panicked, but a familiar voice spoke in her ear. "Bridget, it's me, chere," it said.

She looked and saw Chef Remy dressed in a long trench coat, a wide-brimmed hat, large boots, and brown gloves. He smiled at her and motioned to the back of the closet, pushing a small door aside. "Go right through there," he said. "It leads to your classroom."

She looked nervous and he smiled. "Don't worry, it's a short tunnel," he said, gently reaching in and pushing the other door open to show her that the opening was actually by Mr. Gore's desk. "Go on and have a good day at school."

Bridget nodded. "Thanks, Remy," she said and slipped through the crawlspace, making it to her classroom safely. Seeing this, Remy now turned his attention to the door, shedding his disguise and ready to scare the pants off the two bullies.

Just as they opened the door, Remy let out a spooky cry and shook his bones. "Hey! I didn't say turn on the dumb skeleton!" One bully said.

"I didn't do it!" His friend protested and they looked up to see their skeleton was simply hanging there, motionless. But the sounds continued. Confused, they looked in and went wide-eyed at Remy let loose his loudest, scariest cry and rattled his bones louder.

"LEAVE!" He thundered loudly, his accent making the word echo in the closet.

"RUN!" The second boy screamed and they ran until they ran into a teacher, who heard them scream.

"What is going on here?" She asked, looking at the two.

"There's a monster!" The first boy said.

"In the janitor's closet!" Said the second one.

His job done, Chef Remy put his disguise back on and slipped out quietly, but paused at a large plant and hid behind it to watch the teacher investigate the closet. She was in and out in a moment, holding up the fake plastic skeleton that was now laughing like a maniac, rattling, and all that stuff. She looked at the boys. "So it was you two who pushed Bridget into that closet," she said, looking displeased. "To the principal's office. Both of you."

The bullies obeyed without a word and Remy smiled, nodding before he slipped out of the building, heading back to the B&B to get lunch started and some snacks for the girls.

That afternoon, the three girls came running in and Poppy and Vee grabbed some snacks with a thank you to Chef Remy and took off for Vee's room to play. Bridget paused and told them she'd catch up with them in a bit.

She went over to Remy and smiled up at him. "Chef Remy, thank you for helping me earlier," she said.

"You're welcome, mon ami," he said and felt her gently tug his arm. Kneeling down, he saw why as Bridget hugged him happily and he returned the hug. "If those bullies bother you again, you can come to me. You can come to me for anything, Bridget. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay," she said and giggled when bony fingers wiggled playfully into her neck before she was scooped up into the arms of the friendly skeleton and taken upstairs to Vee's room. Bridget smiled up at him. "Merci, mon ami," she said, pronouncing the words perfectly.

Chef Remy beamed. "You're welcome, chere," he said, ruffling her hair gently before she hugged him again and went to join her friends, giving the skeleton one last grateful smile.

While he was a skeleton, he was also her friend and a good friend that she was glad to have.

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418