Author Note: This series was inspired by 2ndGearSage's own Loud House/Ghoul School crossover story. However, I don't really have anything romantic planned between the characters. It may happen, it may not. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. The first two chapters will be part Lincoln at Grimwood's/part an OC ghoul girl at the Loud House, and after that, I will alternate with each chapter. One chapter at Grimwood's, one chapter at Royal Woods.

New Arrivals

'What have I gotten myself into?' A white haired young man wondered as he gazed out the window of his taxi, driving through torrential rain along what was once a dirt road. His head was on his hand as he started to ponder his situation, in spite of his nervousness. A few days back, his school, Royal Woods Elementary, had received an offer from a place called "Grimwood's" to participate in a student exchange program. One student from their school would be sent to this finishing school he had never heard of, while one of their pupils would learn at his school for a few months. And somehow, he had gotten selected among all students, and he wasn't sure why. His grades were alright, but not that great, so it couldn't be academics. Maybe they just wanted to get rid of him? No, he wasn't a troublemaker, and they would want to make a good impression on this school. Then why? 'Well, I suppose I'll find out when I get there…' he thought to himself as the cab drove through the rain, thunder and lightning. 'At least I'll have a little break from my sisters. I mean, I love them all, but sometimes, we need a little time apart. I'm sure they'd agree. Besides, we're all just a call away.'

The rest of the drive took nearly a half hour, courtesy of the thunderstorm. The cab came to a stop in front of a large moat, circling a spooky old house that the young man could only imagine being haunted. "Is….this really our destination?" He asked the cabbie.

"You headed for Grimwood's?" The boy nodded. "Then this is where you get off." The young man gulped nervously as he handed the taxi driver some money before he stepped out of the car into the rain. He goes around the back to get his suitcases and, as soon as he got them out of the trunk, the cab sped off back down the road. He couldn't say he blamed the guy. This place gave him the creeps. He lugged his heavy cases along the wet ground for a few inches when he noticed there was no drawbridge across the moat. How was he going to get inside? Just as he thought that, the bridge came crashing down with the clattering of chains and a soft thwack as it hit the mud. "Not sure if I should call that lucky or not…." He muttered as he started to cross the drawbridge. He only stopped moving when he reached the door, long enough to wipe his feet. After the mud was off his feet, the front door into the manor house opened up...but no one was on the other side. "H...hello?" He called out, his knees knocking a little as he entered. The inside was as spooky as the outside, if not more so. There were cobwebs all over the place, the entry hall was dimly lit and filled with antique furniture. "Is...is anyone home?" He called again, his voice echoing in the empty room. His words did seem to attract the attention of a bat, which flew down for a closer look at him. He flinched at the sight of the bat and ducked down a little, trying to keep his distance. He was used to bats, since one of his sisters had a pet bat. That said, he never saw a purple bat before. The bat fluttered off around behind a curtain and, seconds later, a tall young woman emerged. She had long, lavender hair, soft purple skin, and was wearing a flowing purple dress. Her eyes were a captivating green.

"Why yes, we are." She said with a charming smile and a soft, soothing voice.

"Oh...hello. I'm Lincoln...Lincoln Loud." He introduced himself to the girl before him, holding out his hand. She looked at his hand and placed her hand in his. Lincoln looked at her hand for a second before he realized what she was expecting. He softly kissed her hand.

"My, such a gentleman. We've been expecting you, Lincoln. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sibella. Sibella Dracula." She responded.

"Dracula? A...any relation to the Count?" He joked nervously. He had expected her to laugh, or maybe roll her eyes. What he didn't expect was for her to nod.

"Why yes. He is my Daddy." She grins a bit, her fangs showing.

"Y….you're a vampire!?" His face turned pale at this revelation. He backs away from Sibella, whose smile didn't fade at his sudden fear. He kept backing up until he bumped into something. He glanced upward, seeing the pale face and large, poofy black and white hair of another girl behind him. What really caught his attention was the stitches across her forehead. He recoiled back from her, the tall young lady simply smiling at him. She was wearing a tattered green dress, a yellowish green shirt underneath, a blocky sandals on her feet. Her wrists were lined with stitches as well, and she had bolts in her neck.

"Hi there. I'm Elsa Frankenteen." She said in a friendly voice.

"L...L...Lincoln Loud." He replied politely, but tinged with fear. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape route. To his fortune, there was a hallway to his left. "Er...would you excuse me a moment?"

"Of course." Elsa replied, just as Lincoln bolted down the hallway.

"Isn't he an excitable one?" Sibella commented with a smirk.

"Reminds me of our old gym coach." The young, reanimated girl agreed with a nod.

"Would you be so kind as to make sure he doesn't get lost or hurt himself, Elsa dear? I will go find Miss Grimwood." Elsa nods, the charming vampire changing into a bat as the flew off.

'Gotta get out of here!' Lincoln thought to himself as he ran for his life down the hall. It may have been his imagination, but this hallway seemed longer than it looked. And he could have swore he passed by the same table with a vase of dead flowers a few times already. However, he was too panicked to really think about it. Eventually, he came to the end of the hall, coming face to face with an old, wooden door. He fumbled with the handle for a moment because his hands were shaking so much, but he does manage to get it open enough for him to slip inside and shut it behind him. He found himself in what he assumed was the kitchen, judging by the long wooden counter, the hanging pots, pans and knives, the pot bellied stove with a cauldron sitting upon it and the large octopus in the butler's coat stirring something in the metal basin. 'Wait, octopus?' The middle son blinked as his senses returned and the strangeness of the scene hit him. And that wasn't all. A floating green hand was also assisting the man sized cephalopod, adding vegetables to the cauldron. Neither seemed to notice him yet, so he took his opportunity to escape. Lincoln spotted a dumbwaiter and quietly climbed inside, lowering himself down into goodness knows where. Things go very dark for a brief time as the little elevator descended into the shaft. He soon reached the bottom, opening the panel to exit the enclosed space.

"Tee hee. That was fun." Came a girlish voice from behind him. The white haired lad turned around in surprise, seeing a tall, pale, transparent girl float out after him. She was wearing a pale blue dress, and her white hair had a blue streak though it like a skunk tail. "Oh! You must be new here. I'm Phantasma!" She introduced herself energetically with a big smile.

"L...L...Lincoln Loud…" he stuttered before he ran away screaming "GHOST!".

"Was it something I said?" Phanty asked, her smile still on her lips.

Lincoln had no idea where he was going in the lower levels of Miss Grimwood's school. He wasn't even sure how long he had been running. All he knew was he needed to get away. However, this inattention cost him as he ended up tripping over something in his haste. He fell flat on his face on the cold, stone ground. He groaned in pain as he lifted himself from the ground, only to feel a great heat at his legs. He looked back to see a lizard like creature the size of a small dog. He was mostly light green with dark green spots, spikes and hair. However, he was glowing red right now, steam billowing from his mouth and snout. He scrambles away from the creature, terrified now. "S...sorry…." Lincoln hastily apologized, but the dragon didn't seem to want to hear it. He breathed a jet of fire at him, forcing the boy to forward roll away to avoid getting burned. In a desperate bid to get the fire breather away from him, he pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket and tossed to the ground to the creature's left. Fortunately, it got the dragon's attention, as he went for the candy instead of Lincoln, giving the lad a chance to book it down the corridor. He ran blindly for a few minutes before he started to slow down, both because he was getting tired and he thought he had lost the ill tempered reptile.

He gasped for air as he surveyed the walls around him. To his surprise, the walls had changed into someone like sandstone, with Egyptian hieroglyphics along them. "What in the world…?"

"Mister, are you ok?" A little girl's voice asked from nearby.

"Yeah….yeah. Just tired, lost and scared out of my mind…." He said, his focus more on the walls than the new voice.

"Oh...well, I can help with the lost part. Come with me." He could feel a small, cloth covered hand take his and start to lead him down the passage. Her hand kind of reminded him of Lola back home. He looked down at the child and gasped when he saw that the little girl, about half his size, was completely wrapped in bandages. Even her little dress was made of bandages. The only thing that wasn't wrapped were her eyes and her big red bow.

"Are...you ok?" Lincoln asked in concern.

"I'm fine, thank you." she replied in an adorable voice, looking up at him and smiling sweetly.

"But...all the bandages…."

"I'm a mummy." She explained in a manner that suggested this was the most normal thing in the world. Lincoln had to admit, he had no idea how to react. He was holding hands with a little mummy. On the other hand, she was extraordinarily cute and she was helping him besides. A part of him was scared, but another felt he should be protecting her, not running from her. Probably the big brother in him. "I'm Tanis, by the way."

"I'm Lincoln. Lincoln Loud."

"Oh! You're the boy Miss Grimwood is expecting! How did you get down here?" Tanis inquired curiously.

"I...kinda ran here…." He explained briefly. "After I met a few girls upstairs."

"You met the others already? Great! But why did you run?"

"I….was scared." He admitted, feeling pretty guilty. "I wasn't expecting to meet a vampire, a ghost and the like...and I got scared….I guess I owe them a big apology." To his surprise, Tanis giggled a little.

"Awwww, don't worry about it, Lincoln. It happens. Our old gym teacher, Shaggy, was scared of us too, at first. He even ran away from me."

'Wow. And my sisters call me a scaredy cat.' Lincoln thought.

"We understand. We are the daughters of monsters, after all. Being scary comes with the territory." Tanis continued to explain. "But you don't need to worry. We're all really nice here."

"Even that fire breathing dragon?" Lincoln asked, looking back down the corridor.

"You met Matches too? Yeah, he can be kinda cranky sometimes, especially if his fire goes out, but give him time. He'll come around." After a few minutes of wandering through the tomb like passages, Tanis led the human boy back up to the main level. Lincoln felt rather glad to see the old, dusty wood again, after he had gotten so lost. As the little mummy started bringing him back to the entry hall, something dropped onto Lincoln from above.

"Aaah!" Lincoln cried as he fell to the ground. Tanis turned quickly, then started giggling. Sitting on the white haired lad's back was a light brown werewolf girl with puffy red hair, wearing a ratty blue dress and a light blue bow around her neck. She was snickering a bit as she climbed off of him.

"Sorry, pal, but I couldn't resist. The look on your face was priceless." She said in a growly sort of voice.

"It's fine…" Lincoln groaned, the two girls helping him to his feet.

"Winnie, you are too much, sometimes." Tanis said through her giggles.

"Oh, I'm just playing, Tanis. And thanks for being such a good sport, mister…."

"Loud. Lincoln Loud." Lincoln said as he regained his senses after his fall.

"Ah. There you are." Lincoln looked up to see Elsa Frankenteen walking toward them. "Looks like you found the others too. Good! Miss Grimwood is waiting for us."

"Lead the way, Elsa." Lincoln said. "And...I'm sorry for running like that…."

"Think nothing of it." The franken-girl waved off his apology with a chuckle. "Everyone we've met who weren't monsters ran from us the first time we met. Even old Colonel Calloway and the cadets were scared of us at first." Elsa's words did ease his mind a little, but not his conscience. When they finally arrived at the entry hall, Sibella and Phantasma were the only ones there, chatting among themselves. They both looked pleased to see the others had found Lincoln.

"Fang-tastic. We were getting a little worried, Lincoln." Sibella said with a smile.

"I didn't to make you worry. I'm sorry about that...and I'm sorry for getting so scared of you."

"Oh, that! Don't give it a second thought." The bombastic phantom gal said with a giggle.

"It's really not that big a deal." Sibella agreed.

"No, it really is, at least to me." Lincoln said, surprising the group of ghoul girls. "Instead of giving you girls a chance, all I saw was the fact that you were monsters. I know better than that. I would have missed out on a chance to get to know some nice girls by letting my fears get the better of me…"

"Ah, it's ok, Lincoln!" Winnie said, giving him a hearty slap on the back.

"We forgive you." Tanis said, giving him arm a small hug. "Right girls?" There was a general murmur of agreement and nodding of heads from Sibella, Elsa and Phantasma.

"Ah. You finally arrived." Lincoln turned his head toward the sound of the soft, motherly voice coming from their right. A middle aged woman with black hair, a pink dress, and a red cape, bandana and shoes was walking toward them, a big smile on her face. "You must be Lincoln Loud."

"I am, ma'am." He replied.

"I am Miss Grimwood, headmistress of the Grimwood Finishing School. A pleasure to meet you at last." She walked over to Lincoln, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We have much to discuss, Mr Loud. If you would be so kind as to accompany me to my office. You can get better acquainted with my girls later."

"Y...yes ma'am. See you later, girls." He waved to the five girl ghouls, who waved back to him, watching as Miss Grimwood escorted him through the house to her office. Well, it was more a study than an office. Very cozy, with a nice, if dusty, desk, a large wooden chair, a large fireplace, and walls lined with bookshelves. The headmistress made herself comfortable behind her desk, beckoning the eleven year old to take the cushioned seat opposite her. Lincoln nodded softly as he sat down.

"Now then, I am sure you have a great many questions. Well, ask away, Mr Loud."

"Thank you, Miss Grimwood. I think my first question would be why I was chosen, out of all the students? I mean, I don't have the best grade even in my class or…" he started, but Miss Grimwood held up her hand.

"I had many reasons for choosing you, Lincoln. You see, until recently, we were called the 'Grimwood Finishing School of Girls', a private school for monster girls of some of the most famous monsters of all time. Here, they learn all the essentials to becoming a productive member of monster society. However, times are changing, and with them, I began to notice that two major social elements were missing from the Girls' education. Social interactions with the opposing gender, and social interactions with humans."

"So I'm pretty much killing two birds with one stone?" Lincoln asked.

"Precisely. But, I had to find just the right boy. A mature young man, with a moral compass, a good mind and heart, and is used to living among many girls. And judging from what I've heard from your teachers and your little speech down there, Mr Loud, that sounds like you to a T." Lincoln couldn't help but blush a bit at that. "This is, of course, an experimental idea for us. It will take some adjusting, for us and for you. But should it succeed, it will drastically improve human/monster relations in the future."

"I just hope the exchange student will be alright…" Lincoln said, suddenly feeling very concerned. "I have no idea how my classmates will react to a monster girl, even a nice one…"

"I'm sure she'll do just fine." Miss Grimwood said with a smile.

Back at the Loud House, Mr and Mrs Loud had gathered the teen girls together in the living room, in preparation to meet the exchange student they would be housing for the duration of the program. "Ok, girls. The student from Miss Grimwood's will be here any minute." Rita said, moving about the living room, fussing over every little thing, trying to make sure everything was perfect.

"While she is here, kids, we want you to make sure she feels right at home. Like she were a member of the family." Lynn Sr instructed.

"No matter how different she may or may not be." Rita added.

"Mom, Dad, you can relax." Lori said, smiling at them. "You can count on us to make sure our guest feels welcome." Just then, there was a knock on the door. "That must be her." Rita and Lynn Sr rushed over to answer it, their ten daughters all crowding behind them for a first look at their new house guest. After a quick, calming breath, the Loud parents opened the door.

"Hello, and welcome to the Loud Hou…." They started to say in unison, but their words froze in their throats when they saw who was standing on the other end of the door. A pale green, cute looking zombie girl, about Lincoln's age. Her black hair was clean, but unkempt. She had stitches around her shoulders, knees and around her neck. She was wearing a torn and tattered t shirt, a knee length, threadbare plaid skirt, one knee high sock and two worn out shoes. She smiles up at them, carrying two suitcases with her.

"Hiya. My name is Zanya!" She said in a cheery manner. Almost every member of the Loud Family was too stunned to say anything. The only one who wasn't was Lucy, who squeezed her way through her sisters and parents, a small smile on her face as she held a hand out to Zanya.

"Hello. I'm Lucy Loud. Welcome to Royal Woods." She said in her usual monotone voice.

"Now, then, while I don't think I'll have any trouble with you, Mr Loud, I will still need to go over some basic rules. Our humble school does share many of the same rules as traditional public school: attend your classes when they are scheduled, don't fight, don't disrupt the class. However, we also have some special rules of our own. First: do not leave the Grimwood School property without permission, and do not go outside at night. It's for your own safety, dear."

"I understand. I don't know what's around here." Lincoln responded with a nod.

"Precisely. Second: use of spells and hexes against your fellow students, Matches, or Grimwood property is expressly prohibited outside of classroom exercises."

"I...don't think that'll be a problem, Miss Grimwood. I can't even use magic." At that, the headmistress smirked at him.

"I think you would be surprised, Lincoln. Anyway, third, any and all guests will need to be approved by myself before visitations will be permitted. After an incident with a witch named Revolta, we've needed to increase security measures around the school. Anyone who tries to sneak in, I will know and they will regret it. And finally, Sundays will be a free day for all students. You can use it as an opportunity to rest, catch up with your homework, or even return home for a visit if you wish. Just be sure to let me know before you leave anywhere, dear."

"I will, Miss Grimwood."

"Fabulous. Now, are there any other questions you'd like to ask?" Lincoln thought for a moment, then he remembered he had brought his laptop with him.

"Will I have access to the internet here?"

"I'm afraid not, Lincoln." She explained, shaking her head. "We don't even have computers here as of yet. Your phone should still function, however, so you can call your friends and family. However, I must insist you leave it in your room during class hours." Lincoln felt a little disappointed by this, but he still had a few games on his laptop that he could play without internet access.

"Also, back home, I lived with ten sisters…"

"My, that is quite a family." Miss Grimwood commented in surprise.

"...it is. And it makes mornings very difficult with everyone needing the bathroom at the same time. Is there some system or schedule in place?" The middle aged headmistress had to consider this a moment, her fingernail tapping her lip.

"A very good question. At the moment, don't have anything in place, but with only eight other students, two of which not even requiring the use of the shower, and three restrooms, we can make something work."

"And...that fire breathing dragon...Matches I think his name was. I...kinda got off on the wrong foot with him earlier…is there anything you can recommend to get back in his good graces? And chocolate isn't harmful to him, is it?" Lincoln asked, remembering his encounter with the puppy sized dragon earlier.

"Ah, my dear Matches. He can be a handful. I am afraid he does tend to hold a grudge, but he'll get over it with time. And yes, he can have chocolate, but he shouldn't. It really packs on the pounds, and Matches is getting round enough as it stands." She snickers a bit, knowing if the little dragon was around, he'd be growling from embarrassment.

"Hehe. Thanks for the information, Miss Grimwood...oh, one last question." Lincoln said, having nearly forgotten an important question. "What kind of classes can I expect here, apart from the standard reading, writing and arithmetic?"

"Well, there are history classes, science…" The motherly head of the school said, raising a finger as she listed each class. "...art, gym, home economics, spellcraft, potions; you know, all the essentials."

"Of course...thank you again, Miss Grimwood."

"My pleasure, young man. Now, if you are ready, my helping hand will lead you to your room. Once you are unpacked and settled, perhaps you could meet the rest of the girls. There is still some time left in the day, after all." Lincoln raised an eyebrow and looked down at his watch. To his surprise, it was only seven o'clock. Given how dark it was outside, he assumed it was much later. Then again, it was storming outside. "And if you ever need anything, or have any concerns, Lincoln, don't hesitate to come calling. My door is always open."

"I'll remember that. Have a good evening, Miss Grimwood." Lincoln said, smiling to her as he rose from his chair.

"Same to you. Tata." She waved to him as he left her study. "Such a nice boy." She commented to herself, standing up and walking to the window. "The first male student to be permitted into Grimwood's since it's conception...and a human too. It is quite a leap, but it's an important one." She reminded herself as she watched forked lightning streak across the sky. "Humans and monsters have, for too long, been intolerant to one another...not without reason, of course. But perhaps this exchange program can be the first baby steps to bringing about a world where we may all coexist in peace." She continued to simply observe the storm outside, thinking to herself 'I can hope, at least.'