Clawd woke up with a start the following day as if he had never truly fallen asleep. Being the alpha wolf of the pack, his senses always needed to be on alert even when he was vulnerable. An arm had slapped itself across his face in the middle of the night and he looked over and saw his sister sprawled out practically on top of him, arms and legs spread apart as if she had the whole space to herself. Rolling his eyes, he shoved her arm away as Clawdeen let out a very unattractive wolf snore through her mouth and rolled over to invade the space of whoever was on her other side. Now he understood Howleen's pain whenever they went camping and she had to share a tent with Clawdeen.
Sitting up, he yawned widely and looked around to make sure everyone was accounted for. Heath was also snoring unattractively, dirt streaked across his face from when he tossed and turned in his sleep. Abbey looked as if she had been sleeping against Heath at one point, but now had flopped onto her back with her right arm hanging limply off to the side. On Clawdeen's other side, Clawd saw that Frankie had indeed returned inland after the lightning storm had passed. Disturbed by Clawdeen's invasion of her sleeping space, she rolled over and curled herself up against Jackson. This in turn caused the half normie's eyes to crack open and he looked up to see Clawd.
"Morning," Jackson yawned, reaching around Frankie to feel for his glasses and put them on. "I've been dozing for awhile waiting for someone else to wake up."
"Well, don't get up too fast," Clawd grinned, eyeing Frankie resting next to him. Jackson looked down at her and smiled wistfully, his fingers idly tracing the stitches along her wrist, "Didn't plan to."
"What time do you think it is?" Clawd asked, standing to do a full body stretch.
"Going by the position of the sun," began Heath, Clawd looking at him in surprise that he had woken up as well, "I'd guess around noon-ish."
"Noon?!" Clawd dropped back to his knees and began shaking Clawdeen and Frankie awake. "Girls, get up! Get up now!"
"W-what?" Clawdeen lifted her head and blinked the sleep out of her eyes, sniffing the air for any trace of danger. She sighed when she found none, "Geez Clawd, what was that for?"
"What's happening?" Frankie asked blearily, sitting up to stretch as Jackson went over to Clawd.
"We slept in late," Jackson confirmed, looking at the sun beating down directly above them. "Really late."
"Which means Deuce could have come by with the boat earlier this morning and-"
"And we missed it!" Clawdeen finished, clasping at her forehead in despair. "I can't believe this!"
"Wait, let's not jump to conclusions," Frankie held her hands up trying to calm them. "We don't know anything for sure. Deuce and the others could be on their way right now-"
"Or we missed them!" Heath sided with Clawdeen, pacing the ground nervously.
"How do you know we missed them?"
"How do you know we didn't?"
"Okay, cut it out," Clawd said, pressing his fingers to his temples tiredly. "If we're gonna argue, let's do it on the shore where a rescue boat can see us." He knelt down next to Abbey and shook her, "C'mon Abbey, we gotta move." No response.
"Abbey?" Heath knelt on her other side and brushed her hair away from her face, her eyes closed and unflinching. "Abbey?" he repeated louder.
"Why isn't she waking up?" Jackson asked shakily, joining the others in crouching around the immobile yeti girl.
"She felt really faint yesterday…" Frankie's eyes widened in horror. "You don't think she's sick, do you?"
"Abbey, come on!" Clawdeen cried out after confirming her pulse was still beating, resisting the urge to smack her awake when Abbey's eyelids began to flutter slightly. Heath watched her struggle to return to consciousness, biting his lip as he debated with himself whether to tell them everything or not. But Abbey had made him promise not to…
"Mmm…" Abbey moaned faintly, unable to even lift her head to face everyone surrounding her, and it killed Heath to see her like this. Lying helplessly, her normally frozen icy skin beginning to liquify along her arms and forehead. Her stubborn nature kept her from asking for help, from letting the others know about her troubles, even when they were as serious as this. And Heath didn't need to debate with himself much longer. He knew what Abbey needed more than she did.
"You're right, Frankie. She is sick."
"Heath," Abbey managed to breathe out, her eyes widening as they met his saying Don't.
"This," Heath reached down and lifted up the broken gem on Abbey's necklace for everyone to see, not relenting even when Abbey's hand grabbed his to stop it. Clawd and Jackson stared confusedly, but Frankie and Clawdeen understood immediately.
"How did we not notice?" Clawdeen wondered aloud, she and Frankie glancing at each other in shock and disappointment, as if they had failed Abbey as her beast ghoulfriends. "How could we not notice?"
"I'm confused," Clawd said, Jackson nodding beside him.
"That necklace maintains Abbey's snowy climate around her," Frankie explained gravely. "It's important for her keep it on at all times when she's not in the mountains. If it's broken and she's left out in the heat like this-!" She left the sentence hanging, but at this point the boys had gotten the message. Being shipwrecked, landing on this deserted island, having to make do until they were discovered and rescued, all of a sudden it was no longer just a setback in their vacation plans. It was an obstacle, a trial they now needed to overcome, a threat to Abbey's unlife and who knew who else's if they remained there much longer.
"We have to get off this island," Clawdeen said in a deadly serious tone, just before the remaining five of them sprinted down the dirt path shaded by dozens upon dozens of palm trees before emerging into the bright sunlight of the sea shore. A large portion of the debris from their wrecked motor sailboat had been washed away once the tide came in from the storm, leaving a mess of splintered wood. Nothing that even looked remotely salvageable.
"If they're not going to come to us on their own," Frankie panted from either running or anxiety, it was impossible to tell, "then we have to get them to come here." She glanced around at the now dried bits of wood on the sand, "Heath, think you can make a bonfire big enough to be seen from afar?"
"In my sleep," Heath boasted with a snort of laughter, and Frankie smiled as she and Clawdeen began to gather up the litter of wood. Then the fire elemental's face relaxed into worry, "But what about Abbey? I can't just leave her back there alone, what if something-?"
"I'm sure if there were any dangerous creatures on this island we would've seen them by now," Jackson said, yet glanced back into the trees warily. "I doubt anything besides the heat is going to hurt Abbey. But if it makes you feel better, we could probably take turns watching her."
"Yeah," Clawd said in an undertone, moving closer to Heath and Jackson and checking to make sure the ghouls were occupied. "Look guys, we may be here awhile. I'm talking like days, maybe, if things don't start looking unlively out on that horizon. And the most important thing we need to do is stick together. We need have each other's backs, and most importantly we gotta watch out for the ghouls. Abbey especially, but we gotta keep all of them safe in case-"
"What the heck do you mean 'gotta keep the ghouls safe'?" came Clawdeen's indignant cry. Clawd's shoulders stiffened as he turned to gaze sheepishly at his little sister and Frankie, both eyeing the three of them with disdain.
"I-I-well, what I meant was-"
"It sounded like you don't think we can take care of ourselves," Frankie reprimanded him, causing the tall muscular alpha wolf to cower at her glare.
"All Clawd meant was-"
"Who was it," Clawdeen cut Jackson off, strolling up to her brother and poking him in the chest, "who organized and put most of the shelter together last night?"
"You did." Clawd's ears drooped.
"And who was it who knew how to use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to revive you when we crash landed here?" Frankie's eyes flashed at Jackson, who actually took a step back.
"You did, but-"
"'But' nothing," Clawdeen rounded on him and Heath. "We're not a bunch of delicate flowers who can't do anything for ourselves. Sure Abbey's in bad shape, but she can't help what happened to her charm necklace. That doesn't make her completely incapable."
"It's not that we think you ghouls are weak or anything," Heath tried to explain. "It's just, you know, it's usually the guys' job to...look out...for...Clawd, help me out bro."
"You're on your own man, they're scaring me," Clawd held up his hands at the ghouls in surrender. "And not in a good way."
"Clawd," Frankie said, her face softening, "you're right. Clawdeen and Abbey and I do need you guys to protect us. But only because we all need to protect each other and have each other's backs. We're facing something a lot bigger than ourselves here, something we can't foresee the outcome to. If we're going to fight back against the odds, then we need to play to each of our strengths and make sure no monster is left behind."
As they each took turns nodding at each other in agreement, Clawd had to admit he envied Frankie's natural ability to motivate people. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was going to need to let the others help him out rather than trying to lead the pack by himself. Because that's what they were now, his pack. They may not all be family, but under the strange and potentially dangerous circumstances they all found themselves in, they were his responsibility. And he in turn was theirs.
Operetta sat on the beach of the Scaribbean outside their hotel, tuning in her guitar and tuning out the hushed frantic tones of the others in her company. Hushed tones that would more often than not turn into shouting matches, especially when Cleo de Nile was involved. She rolled her eyes, fiddling with the pick between her long nailed fingers and finding the string that laid out the first pitch. As she strummed quietly, she found the tune slipping into a song that was currently in progress, namely a song she and Holt Hyde had been collaborating on for the better part of six months. They didn't always agree on which music styles were superior to others, but Operetta had a lot of respect for the hot-tempered DJ's abilities, his instincts to create art that a monster could only truly be born with. Sure they'd made sweet music together during her short fling with him, but more often than not they both would be guilty of getting distracted in each other's company. In the end, the phantom really didn't think she was cut out to deal with the baggage that came with both Holt's alter ego condition with Jackson and his short temper causing him to fly off the handle too easily. He was still a great cohort in her rebellious musical funk, a funk that often caused her to alienate herself from others.
It all worked out for the best though, Operetta recalled with a half smile. Once Holt became taken with Frankie Stein and started seeing her, the inspiration came flowing out of him so fast that Operetta could hardly keep up, the tunes and mixes he came up with nothing short of what he called "electrifying." It reminded her of the way Deuce had confided in her his true feelings for Cleo and how he felt that the princess, who Operetta couldn't help seeing as a spoiled brat, had always brought out the best in him. Frankie was a sweet kind-hearted ghoul, but she had enough bite in her to keep Holt, and his mellow side Jackson, under control. And in turn, she brought out the best in Holt's imagination and creative spirit by simply lighting up his unlife, sometimes literally. In Operetta's eyes, it couldn't have been a better match.
Reaching the end of the stanza, and the end of their collaboration thus far, she let her hand fall limply away from the vibrating strings, the last note fading into the still afternoon air. She had hoped they would be able to, if not finish the song, make some more headway with this tricky bridge section that had often kept her up all night at the organ trying to make sense of it. But since Jackson had gotten lost on the sea, that meant no Holt either. She sighed deeply as the flurry of conversation from the others, no longer drowned out by her guitar, brought her sharply back to the horrible reality of their situation. Operetta often tried to not let pesky little hindrances like emotions cloud her hard-headed, sharp-witted view on life. But she had really warmed up to these ghouls she had come to call her friends, especially since joining the Skulltimate Roller Maze team. She didn't scare easily, but knowing there was a possibility some of her friends might never make it home gave her a chill she had been unable to shake for the past day.
"The guard is still on patrol," Cleo announced as if this was news to everyone, and was only half-heartedly acknowledged. Draculaura was sitting nervously in the sand, holding her phone tightly in her grasp as if expecting her father to call at any moment. Lagoona stood staring out at the sea like Operetta was, eyes blank and lips slightly parted, completely zoned out. Deuce was pacing as if his unlife depended on it, kicking up sand as he went, while Ghoulia sat at her laptop typing frantically. Not a single one of them seemed to know what to do with themselves, but that sure didn't stop Cleo from trying to make herself heard. Irate that no one seemed to care that she was speaking, she cleared her throat unnecessarily loudly. "They did, however, find remains of what looked like a motor sailboat!"
"They what?!" Deuce cried out, his pacing ceased at once as he grabbed Cleo by the shoulders. "They found...they found the boat?"
"They found the boat remains?" Lagoona asked fearfully, pressing her hands to her lips.
"They don't know for sure, but the way they described it sounds identical to the one we rode in on," Cleo went on.
"Cleo, you better not be makin' this up just for attention," Operetta finally said, whirling around to face her through narrow eyes. "Did the coast guard captain really say all that?"
"Yes!" Cleo cried angrily, glaring daggers at Operetta. "How on earth could you even suggest I would make something like this up?!"
"Oh I dunno, ya'll had no problem makin' stuff up when Holt almost got himself killed by those normies last Halloween!" Operetta shot at her, causing a severe dent in Cleo's pride by bringing up possibly her worst blunder.
"And you think I don't still feel absolutely awful about that?" the mummy bit out through gritted teeth, her eyes growing moist at the mere thought of it. Then she took a deep breath as if choosing her words carefully, finally settling on a simple "I'm telling the truth, Operetta."
"I believe you," Deuce said quietly, his arm resting comfortably around her waist. "I knew the boat couldn't have been strong enough once it was blown off course."
Ghoulia let out a series of inquisitorial groans, after which Cleo shook her head. "No, nothing about Clawd and the others yet." They heard a sniffle from Draculaura's direction but the vampire had her head bowed to hide her face from them, still staring at her phone.
"I know!" Cleo said suddenly in higher spirits, clapping her hands together, "Why don't we all get a big brunch in the hotel and then take a walk into the city?"
"Are you for real?" Lagoona said as if she'd lost her mind, Operetta turning around to stare back out at the water in a huff.
"We've done absolutely nothing except sit around worrying ever since we got here," Cleo elaborated, her arm coming up around Deuce in return. "I think we should do just a little something to take our minds off of it. Sight-seeing, shopping, Deuce will gladly carry all our bags-"
"I don't think so," Operetta said sulkily, putting her guitar back in the case and snapping it shut.
"Or we could just sit out here and waste a perfectly beautiful day on pins and needles about something that is completely out of our hands!" Her eyes narrowed, her shoulders heaving as she breathed heavily, Cleo stood tall and steadfast as she looked around at each of them. "I am just as scared as all of you are, I really am. So we'll spend this afternoon in town, take care of ourselves for awhile, then we'll come back here once the sun sets and figure out what to do next."
"I'd kind of feel guilty about having any fun with the other dudes lost out there," Deuce said, the snakes on his head wilting in sadness.
"Trust me, they would want us to be having some leisure time," Cleo said, patting his firm chest in comfort. "Draculaura?" she asked the vampire who still kept her face hidden, "What do you think, sweetie?"
Letting out another great sniff, Draculaura lifted her head and tucked her phone back into her beach bag. "I do think it's better than sitting out here all day," she finally said in a small voice, smiling wanly up at them.
"Well good," Cleo said satisfactorily, helping her to her feet. "Just for that, you can pick where we eat."
"We will be back in just a few hours, right?" Lagoona asked as they gathered their things and started to march back to the hotel. "I really want to catch the coast guard the moment they return."
"Of course," Cleo confirmed, leading the group up the beach, "I'll want to have a word with them as well." Only Operetta hung back. If she were a fire elemental, she was sure steam would be rising out of her ears that very moment. There were times she could tolerate her, and then there were times that she truly could not stand Cleo de Nile.
"So we made that whole spiel about how we're just as capable as they are, and then they send us off to find food?" Clawdeen growled as she and Frankie pushed their way through brambled bushes and low-hanging palm branches. "This is like those awful 'make me a sandwich' jokes you see all over the internet."
"Well, someone has to do it," Frankie pointed out, sucking in a sharp breath as her arm caught on a small thicket of thorns. "When's the last time any of us ate anything?"
"Now that I think about it, I could really go for a nice juicy steak right about now," Clawdeen sighed as she thought of her distant dream of a full meal fit for a werewolf. She looked over at Frankie who was examining her arm that had gotten snagged.
"Phew, it was just my shirt sleeve," Frankie said, flicking the torn fabric of her T-shirt aside. "The thread in my stitching is starting to fray, but nothing too serious."
"I don't get it," Clawdeen had to laugh. "Your limbs fly off left and right at Fearleading practice, but we get tossed and thrown around in a shipwreck and you're still in one piece?"
"Lucky, I guess," Frankie shrugged, feeling her neck seams and bolts and securing them tighter. "Besides, the last thing we need is me falling apart and having another problem on our hands."
"You ask me, your stitching's the least of your worries," Clawdeen glanced her beast friend up and down. Frankie's face was a mess of streaked dirt from sleeping on the ground, brown mixed with mint green reminding Clawdeen of a grubby front lawn. Her T-shirt and skirt were wrinkled and torn, her black and white tresses tangled and frizzy, and her eyeliner and lipstick looked like Draculaura's did when Clawdeen forgot to supervise her.
"To be fair, you don't look much better," Frankie folded her arms, surveying the female werewolf's untamed afro of dark auburn hair, smudged eye makeup and ripped halter top, dirt covering the knees of her skinny capris.
"Yeah, but at least I don't have a boyfriend to look good for," Clawdeen said casually over her shoulder as she walked smugly ahead of Frankie into a sunny clearing devoid of shade.
"He's not my boyfriend," Frankie murmured, glancing around as if someone else could be listening in, her hand moving up to nervously twirl a strand of hair between her fingers.
"Oh okay," Clawdeen nodded in mock seriousness. "I'm sure that's why you guys picked the secluded corner booth when Draculaura saw you two together at the Diener last weekend."
Frankie tried to control herself but couldn't help letting a couple of sparks fly from her neck bolts. "It was a date. Just a date. You've been on dates, Clawdeen."
"Not usually with the same guy twice, especially after Clawd gets through talking to them," Clawdeen added, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, you and Jekyll and Hyde never technically broke up, did y-?"
"Hey, check these out!" Frankie called a little too enthusiastically, beyond thankful for the distraction of a type of bush she recognized. "These look edible."
"And good," Clawdeen admitted, picking at what she could see were mint leaves. "I put these in my tea, but never really thought of them for a meal."
"Then let's keep looking," Frankie walked briskly on ahead, desperate to keep the topic off of her and Jackson while Clawdeen shook her head at her departing figure as she grabbed branches of the sweet mint leaves off of the bush. If this was all they came back with, she was sure the large portion craving boys would not be happy. "Voltage!" came a cry from the trees up ahead.
"What?!" Clawdeen got up from the ground with the leaves in hand, unsure if Frankie's exclamation was in enthusiasm or dread. "What is it?!"
"I hit the jackpot!" Frankie said cheerfully, clapping like a child in a candy store. Sometimes Clawdeen forgot that Frankie was barely two years old, and other times it was painfully obvious. "I didn't think all islands had them, but this one does!" When Clawdeen reached where she stood, she saw the reason for her excitement. Coconut trees, at least four or five of them, stood clustered together creating a rather cool and breezy space of shade.
"We might wanna consider moving Abbey under here to keep cool," Clawdeen remarked, inhaling deeply as the breeze ruffled her fur. The leaves rustled above her as Frankie started to shake the brown trunk of the tree rapidly, bringing three coconuts careening to the ground at the werewolf's feet. "Wow, you're stronger than you look, ghoul."
"And look!" Frankie exclaimed again, pointing to a bush a little further ways down the path sporting bluish grey fruit. "I'm not sure what kind of berries these are but-"
"Who cares, let's bring 'em back to the guys so they quit complaining about how hungry they are," Clawdeen said hastily, adding handfuls of the berries to her mint leaf collection as Frankie scooped up the three coconuts she shook loose from the trees. Making their way back to the shore, Clawdeen walked up ahead to see how the guys were fairing with Heath's bonfire that would, hopefully, elicit an effective cry for help from the stranded group. What she didn't expect to see was what appeared in her line of vision when she emerged from the trees. "Whoa..."
"What?" Frankie asked, struggling to keep all three coconuts from rolling out of her arms.
"Don't look now, but all the guys have their shirts off." Clawdeen might not have had boys at the top of her high school priority list, but she wasn't completely rigid and had weaknesses like any other girl her age. Clawd she was used to, being a part of several of the top sports' teams at Monster High definitely left its consequences on him, but Heath and Jackson? That was a surprise. Apparently it was to Frankie as well, who had looked over Clawdeen's shoulder to see what she was staring at and let out an "Eep!" as the coconuts spilled to the ground.
"I-I-oh my," Frankie put a dazed hand to her face. "I mean it makes sense, being second string on the Casketball team he needs to stay in shape but...who knew?"
Clawdeen didn't need to look at Frankie to know who she had her eyes on. "I don't get you, ghoul," she shook her head. "He's really cute, in a nerdy kinda way. Definitely your speed. Those toned abs are just an added bonus." She heard Frankie sigh and turned to see the stitched monster winding a finger tightly around a black and white hair strand before slowly meeting her friend's gaze. "Talk to me."
"You know how you feel about guys, how you don't feel like you're ready to make a serious commitment like that yet?" Frankie asked timidly, and Clawdeen nodded. "I look at Cleo and Deuce, and Clawd and Draculaura. I see what they have and I want that, I really do, but...how do I know when it's time? How do I know I made the right choice?" All of a sudden, Clawdeen felt bad for teasing Frankie about her obvious feelings for Jackson. In the end, she and Frankie weren't so different when it came to guys and relationships. She watched Frankie lower her head, picking at her arm seams absentmindedly. "I don't want to screw this up again. I can't do that to Jackson, or Holt. He doesn't deserve that, not someone like me who's klutzing her way through life just trying to figure everything out."
"Hey," Clawdeen said sharply but not unkindly, forcing Frankie's fingers away from her seams so she didn't accidentally undo them and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You don't need years of life experience to know what it feels like to really care about someone. You just...know it. You're only monster and you're gonna make mistakes. Some of them are gonna hurt really bad. But always go with your gut feeling, 'cause it's usually right."
Frankie looked up at Clawdeen and smiled, "You know, my mom said that exact same thing the night before my first day at Monster High."
"Moms know everything, it's like a sixth sense," Clawdeen chuckled. "And speaking of sensing things...Heath and Abbey?"
"Oh you know it," Frankie giggled behind her hand, "Abbey hasn't said anything, but you can just tell it's getting close to official."
"If it hasn't already," Clawdeen laughed just as Heath's yell pierced through the silence.
"Hey, where's those ghouls with the food?!"
"It's like we went for Chinese takeout or something," Clawdeen rolled her eyes indignantly as Frankie scooped up the fallen coconuts and followed her to the shore. A large bonfire was ignited as close to the water as possible, flames leaping high from a pile of every bit of splintered wood the boys could find on the coast.
"I made fire!" Heath called dramatically to the sky, thumping his fists against his bare chest.
"On a daily basis," Jackson added sarcastically, and Frankie laughed.
"Coconuts and leaves, the meal of champions!" Clawd spread his arms wide in mock celebration, his hairy chest glistening with sweat.
Clawdeen growled and tossed a branch in his face, "You don't like it, you get the food next time!"
"I can deal, it's not long term," Clawd held up his hands in surrender, trying to crack open the coconut on his knee and failing. "Hey Heath, gimme your head for a second."
"Ha ha, that's hilarious!" Heath fake laughed as Jackson slapped Clawd a high five.
"I'm gonna go bring a spread to Abbey," Clawdeen said, gathering up a portion of the food. "Anyone check on her lately?"
"She's awake, but kinda zoning in and out," Heath replied, his smile fading a bit.
"We found this really cool shaded area under the coconut trees," Frankie said as Clawdeen left to move inland. "Maybe we should relocate over there for Abbey's health."
"Good idea," Clawd nodded, shoving a handful of leaves into his mouth, "We'll do that after we eat."
"Heath, wait a minute!" Jackson cried out, grabbing his cousin's hand that held a handful of the bluish grey berries, "Did you swallow any of these?" Heath shook his head, his cheeks bulged full of berries. "Spit them out!"
"What's wrong?" Frankie asked as Heath spit noisily into the fire.
"Where did you find these?" Jackson asked frantically, scooping up more berries and tossing them into the fire.
"Over by the coconuts, why?"
"They're poisonous, that's why!" Jackson yelled, and Frankie recoiled at his tone. "Anyone else eat them?"
"No," Clawd answered and Frankie shook her head, then gasped. "Clawdeen! She took some to Abbey!" Colorful words erupted from both Clawd's and Heath's mouths as they all leapt up from the sand and sprinted up the path to their makeshift shelter. They arrived just in time to see Clawdeen, sitting next to a barely awake Abbey, pop one of the berries into her mouth.
"Spit it out!" Heath bellowed, whacking Clawdeen hard on the back as if that would help anything. To his credit, it did cause Clawdeen to cough up the berry, "What the heck, Heath?!"
"They're poisonous," Clawd explained, and Clawdeen's eyes widened. "Did you eat any?"
"No, that was the only one," Clawdeen said, looking quickly over at Abbey. "You?"
"Only leaves," Abbey said weakly, sitting propped up on her elbow and nibbling on some of the greenery, "Am not very hungry."
"Get rid of them, get rid of them all," Jackson ordered, kicking the remaining bunch of fruit into the grass behind them.
"I'm sorry," Frankie's voice broke, her hands over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. It was my idea to gather them, I should've known-"
"It's not your fault, Frankie," Clawd assured her, "Any one of us could've made that mistake, not just you."
"How did you know anyway?" Heath asked Jackson, then the answer dawned on him before the half normie could respond and they recited together "Ten summers at Camp Chippewa."
"We learned to identify all the different kinds of harmful berries," Jackson clarified, pushing his glasses up his nose before turning to Frankie, who still looked shaken. "I'm sorry I yelled," he said, moving closer and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I was just scared, I wasn't blaming you. You didn't know." Frankie nodded and smiled up at him, covering his hand with her own.
"Well there goes one of our three food sources," Clawdeen said glumly, crossing her hands over her bent knees in defeat.
"Where the fish?" came Abbey's quiet inquiry, and Heath looked down at her quizzically. "You no go out in ocean and catch fish?"
"Nah, we sent the ghouls to get the food," Heath answered.
"Boys get food, too," Abbey said in blunt exasperation of Heath's attitude towards boys' and girls' roles. "Now shoo, go get fish."
"We do have a bonfire to cook them on," Clawd pointed out, standing up to head back to the shore. "C'mon guys, let's go catch some dinner."
"I don't think I'm gonna be very good at this," Heath said warily, squeezing Abbey's hand before he got up to follow Clawd.
"Me neither," Clawd said. "Guess we're gonna have to learn to be good at it if we wanna eat tonight."
Clawdeen watched them go, still struck dumb from what had just happened, how they could have all died had they eaten the poisonous fruit. Here she thought finding dangerous beasts or crawly creatures with ill intentions were the worst thing they had to fear on this island. Now she knew that danger on this particular island could come in the most unlikely of forms, and left her with a gut feeling that maybe they weren't all as safe here as they thought.
"Well, I don't know about you all, but for me that was just what the witch doctor ordered," Cleo said in exhilaration, sporting a brand new outfit from Abercreepy and Witch accented in her signature gold. Traipsing along the beach in her sore stiletto-heeled feet, she fought to stay the epitome of Egyptian royalty in stance and walk even though her feet were killing her.
"I do feel a bit happier," Draculaura chirped between Ghoulia and Operetta, also breaking in a new dress in her signature pink and black.
"I'm not happy," Operetta grumbled under her breath. "Bought a new guitar pick, but I'm not happy about it." Ghoulia let out a fluttery moan that only slightly sounded like a laugh.
Lagoona, who had run straight for the coast guard upon their return, came rushing back up to them in her new forest green swimsuit and matching mesh skirt. "The search team of zombies isn't back yet."
"It's almost nightfall!" Cleo exclaimed, gesturing out to the horizon, "What's keeping them?"
"I dunno, but they haven't found anything apart from the boat wreckage earlier," Lagoona shook her head. Ghoulia moaned again.
"No Ghoulia, no news is definitely not good news, not in this case!" Cleo stopped her feet from wandering aimlessly. Royalty does not pace, they stand their ground no matter what. Considering their remaining options, Cleo realized that the time might have indeed come to take matters into their own hands. "Alright, here is what we're going to do," she announced to the group, Deuce and Draculaura actually leaning forward. "I am going to talk the coast guard into securing us three boats. We will split into pairs and each take a boat out on the water-"
"Wait a gol' darn second," Operetta snapped her compact shut where she had been checking her face to distract herself from Cleo's rambling and looked her dead on. "Are you suggestin' we split up to search for them?"
"Precisely," Cleo gave her a curt nod. "We'll cover more ground, we'll search the exact location they were lost in-"
"And we'll run the risk of losin' even more people on this vacation," Operetta finished in a low dangerous tone, causing Draculaura to let out a soft whimper. "Is that what you want, your highness?"
"You have been bound and determined to override every decision I've made ever since we got here," Cleo advanced toward her speaking in an equally low, cruel sounding tone. "Pray tell, what do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest we let the guard do their job and wait for Lagoona's folks to get here and search for themselves," Operetta took a few steps towards the princess as well. "Instead of barkin' orders like you know exactly what in the heck you're doin' when in reality you don't have a clue."
"I am doing the best I can, just like you are and just like everyone here is," Cleo hissed at her. "There are too many risks in simply waiting for Lagoona's parents to arrive. If the others managed to survive, they'll be starved and dehydrated in another two or three days!"
"There's too many risks if we strike out on our own, too!" Operetta shot back. "It's hurricane season! What if another storm hits while we're out on the boats?! What if it's Ghoulia or Deuce that gets shipwrecked next time?!"
"What are the odds another storm of that caliber will strike?!"
"Pretty good odds!"
"Oh my Ra, you are impossibly infuriating!"
"At least I'm a decent monster who doesn't command attention-"
"Someone has to!"
"-or be willin' to risk anyone's unlife here when we don't even know if this whole entire blasted search is in vain or not!"
"Dudes!" Deuce finally roared out, physically forcing his girlfriend and Operetta apart before they began literally tearing each other's throats out. Then he looked around and realized, for the first time, that he was the only 'dude' there. "Uh - lady dudes," he corrected no less firmly. "You both need to stop this now."
"Why, so we can do exactly as she says, like we always do?!" Operetta flung at him angrily.
"No, that's why." The gorgon nodded his head over both of their shoulders, and Cleo and Operetta turned to see where he was looking. Unbeknownst and completely unheard by either of them in the heat of their fight, Draculaura had burst into tears. Ghoulia had her arms wrapped around her as the tiny vampire wept openly, tears flowing down her face and staining the front of her brand new frock.
"I'm taking the poor dear back to the hotel," Lagoona said gently, taking Draculaura by the hand and guiding her in the direction of the hotel with Ghoulia at her side. She glared back over her shoulder at the feuding pair, "The both of you need to take a breather and realize we're all on the same page here. Especially you." To Operetta's shock, Lagoona's glare bore directly into hers before she turned her attention back to Draculaura.
"Ghoulia, why don't you go on ahead and get a hot bath running for her in the jacuzzi?" Lagoona said to the zombie, who fished the suite card key out of her handbag before skulking slowly towards the hotel lobby.
"I'm sorry," Draculaura's breath hitched as she tried to speak, "I don't know what came over me back there."
"I do," Lagoona stroked her pink-streaked pigtails gently, "I know exactly what came over you." With a great shudder, Draculaura's face crumpled as another torrent of tears flooded out, dripping steadily from her chin.
"I might never see Clawd again!" she sobbed, failing to stem the flood of tears with her hands. "Or Clawdeen, or Frankie, or any of them! I've tried so hard to be strong and tell myself that it will all be fine, but I just-" Lagoona said nothing but reached out and embraced her, holding her securely as Draculaura unleashed her pain and fear in full force onto her shoulder.
"You just need someone to lean on," Lagoona finished softly in her ear, rubbing her back. Not one of them could possibly blame her one bit for feeling the way she did, with no way of finding the lost group and things falling apart in their own ranks. And although Lagoona would never admit it aloud, especially not now to her heartbroken friend, the sea monster wished with all her heart that at that very moment Gil was there to hold her as close as possible and tell her everything would be alright.