CHAPTER 1
Swamp gas darkened an endless sky. It stretched into the underworld of other worldly creatures and far into the depths of Hell. It's a perfect environment for budding young students: ghouls, ghosts, and vampires receive their training on how to perfectly scare a "fleshie" under balanced supervision.
"Alright class," a large magenta dragon, Mr. Burns, began lecture, "who can tell me how to turn a fleshie into a creature?" The dragon looked up from his podium, met with a group of flailing eager hands. "Yes, yes, you'll all get a turn." He positioned a claw under his chin, amused.
The young students were made up of monsters and mayhem from just about any horror movie a human has ever seen. A werewolf panted, wagging his tail, ready to jump out of his seat like a play crazed puppy.
"Yes, Wolfie?" The dragon teacher looked his way. In a gruff, growling voice, the eager pup smiled fangs and wet nose up in the air as happy could be.
"Why, I'd just bite them and turn them into a werewolf!" He howled, punctuating his heritage.
"Very good-!"
"Oh yeah, well biting them and turning them into a vampire slave is better, wolf breath!" Everyone turned to a vampire boy in the back. It was Thatch. The little blood sucker was the school bully one might say. His bangs hung out like a bat's wings, jet black with a white stripe in the shape of a V over his head. He was dark and clean cut for a 13 year old, the trademark vampire look.
He was intelligent, bold, and a real pain in the neck.
"How can you say one biting method is better than the other, Thatch?" A zombie girl replied back. Poor Wolfie glared in the vampire's direction and growled low.
"Biting is biting. The result is all that matters and his way is just as good as yours. As a matter of fact zombies also bite humans and turn them into zombie slaves." She crossed her pale green arms, clearly satisfied.
"Pfft…zombies." Thatch smiled fang to fang. This girl, he knew, had a weakness, and that was anything anti-zomibie or negative zombie propaganda. He heard a desk chair grind harshly against the floor. A shadow loomed over the brat.
Mantha had gotten up and nearly pressed her forehead against his, got close to his face in a threatening way that made everyone except Thatch back away.
"What about Zombies?"
"Oh please, yeah, you bite fleshies, let me guess, like this?" Thatch jumped out of his seat, raised the tunic of his cape and made his eyes roll up slightly. His voice dropped low and he began to slur, "brraiiiinnns…." Thatch plopped back to his desk and glared at her looking bored. Mantha stood up tall and proud, defiant as could be.
"Just so you know, Mister Big Shot, Zombies have been proudly, biting and eating the brains of humans for hundreds of years!"
"Big whoop." Thatch sat up and pointed at Ra. "Tell me this one, what's the difference between a mummy and a zombie?" He paused. "No? One is wrapped in toilet paper and the other smells like it needs to be!" A loud chattering laugh came from nearly everyone in class, except for Casper and Ra of course.
"You jerk!" She spat. The mummy, Ra just looked at Casper, a friendly ghost, who at this point, mouth was pinched in a grimace. 'Oh here we go again, Thatch.' the spook mentally groaned.
Thatch looked unfazed and snorted in contempt.
"It's as simple as this, when it comes to biting to take control, vampires are the best. Mostly me." He puffed his chest out proudly. "Yep, I'm gonna be a real prodigy!"
"You're gonna be a Halloween decoration above my dorm if you keep talking like that!" She threatened. She was fuming mad, just how Thatch liked.
"Now, now, I do applaud maiming and destruction, but we are in the middle of a lesson. And I'm teaching it. Mantha, back to your seat!" The dragon half lidded, snorted two rings of smoke, that smelled to the zombie girl, like heart burn.
Thatch huffed at the interruption.
Mantha chanced a glare across her shoulder and was instantly met with Thatch's retaliating grin. Sighing, the zombie rolled her eyes and opened her note book.
Later…
"Man, Thatch as really been a pain. Worse than usual. Especially to you, Mantha." Ra grinned. Good ol' Ra. He took everything at ease. Everything was cool for him, for the most part anyway. He held two thick weighted books between his arm, his bandages made for a makeshift book bag.
"I think he's just excited about the field trip." Casper shrugged. "He's been saying all week how he's going to 'paint the town red'." Usually friendly toward humans, the ghost preferred doing things the clean way. "I just hope that doesn't mean what I think it means."
"What do you mean, Casper?" Ra smiled.
Casper looked away, trying to find a delicate way to put it. "Well you know, he is a vampire and..."
"Oh just STOP it!" Mantha roared, walked in-between them and practically threw her locker open.
Ra backed off, his free hand in the air. "What's gotten into you? Worms?"
"I don't want to hear about that Thatch for the rest of the day! It's bad enough we have to spend a whole week with him and his idiot friends."
"Hey, it's Haunted Forest class." The mummy protested. "This is going to be easy pickings. We know how much fleshies like to go camping where they're more vulnerable." He laughed. "I don't know why."
"Come on, Mantha." Casper, sweet Casper, politely put a hand on her right shoulder. "This is going to be fun, and I know how much you've been looking forward to campfire food." He was right. Mountain pies filled with cabbage and spoiled pork. Rotten apple pie and foil wrapped brains cooked in heated fire coals. She smiled sweetly and her stomach growled. Mantha giggled and shrugged.
"Uh…guess that means it's time for lunch." Ra grinned, motioning toward the cafeteria.
The three of them headed out together, hoping the week would pass by quickly for the fun to begin. Mantha promised herself not to worry over the vampire. No, this was going to be the highlight of their year and she wouldn't allow him to ruin it.
