[ Chapter 7 ]
"Hey ghouls, did you hear?" Rhaechel said, suddenly appearing next to Spyro.
"Heard what, casketcase?" Spyro said, a little freaked out that the alien ghoul had appeared out of nowhere without making any sound.
"About your cousin," Rhaechel grabbed Spyro's folded arm, rocking her from side to side. The alien ghoul's eyes flicked as if she knew some big secret. "They say she's cracked the case!"
"What case?" Spyro slapped Rhaechel's hand away. She still rocked a bit even though Rhaechel had let her go.
"Oh my walking FUO!" Rhaechel's eyes widened. "You ghouls don't know about the case? Everyone knows about the case! How do you two not know about the case?"
"WHATEVER!" Spyro's eyes widened and darted straight to Rhaechel. She flinched just a bit. "What is this case?"
"Alright," Rhaechel took a deep breath. "So: there's this one case going around the school about this, like, missing statue or whatever. And no one really knows what happened…or whatever! But there are, like, a thousand billion clues – okay not really, only about one to four to whatever, but who cares, right? Right, so moving on! Anyway, every monster whose every monster in school have been saying for, like, the past two weeks or whatever that all of this is Heath Burns fault and that he's the one who took it, or burnt it, or…something! But the point is that everyone's going around saying he is got rid of it and so they're putting all the blame on him like it's his fault – poor guy, right? Am I right? I think I'm right, poor guy. And so the Headless Headmistress Bloodgood threatened that if Heath doesn't own-up to what he did or whatever that she's, like totally, gonna throw him out of school – isn't that, like, totally crazy? And, oh my walking FUO, the crazy thing is: no one if trying to defend Heath or anything, that is until, like, your super awesome cousin came along!"
"Okay…and?" Spyro said, beginning to tap her foot. Risa watched as Rhaechel took another deep breath, as if she needed to breathe – which she didn't.
"Well: so your cousin, super awesome and totally cool, Spectra freaking V, took on his case and, like totally, defended his honor and trying to help him, or whatever! Isn't that? I think it's great! It's great, right? Right? Isn't it? And so, this morning she totally got all cool and detective-like and called all these upperclassmen up to the Headless Headmistress's office or head quarters, or whatever! And so…and so…and so…"
"And so?" Spyro narrowed her eyes, no longer really interested.
"And so: I don't know! It's just going around that the case got solved! Isn't that cool? It's totally cool! Your cousin is so totally majorly cool!" Rhaechel, still talking super fast.
"Whatever." Spyro's extremely pale green eyes rolled. She floated alongside Risa as she began to walk, Rhaechel followed. "She's seriously not even that cool."
"Are you kidding?" Rhaechel said with too much excitement. "She runs the morning news – MH True Monster Stories, plus she's, like, the coolest school detective, she's founder, editor, and chief of the Ghostly Gossip blog, and if that's not enough, she was given a column in the school paper and everyone writes to it! I mean, seriously, hello, have you even heard of Oh My Oracle?"
"Shut up," Spyro snapped again, suddenly stopped and smashing her fist against the purple lockers. Risa and Rhaechel gasped.
Spyro didn't just punch her fist against a locker, but instead against an actual monster.
Jeepers, Spyro! Risa's text came off as frantic. Why do you have to be such a crazy hothead?
"Huh?" Spyro said, turning her head to who she'd just punched. It's been a short ghoul, although her legs had been fairly long. She, like that ghoul from the diner last week, had goat legs with a lot of fur, except this ghoul's had begun just below her knee and went all the way down her calf. It even covered her hooves just a bit. Her skin had been a vanilla white and she's been wearing some crazy outfit that consisted of a dark blue dress with white polka dots, a white shirt underneath that shirt, black long-top converse, silly green and white stripped stockings, a thin pull-over button-up hand-knitted red sweater, and a bright orange headband. Spyro stared at the ghoul, her head tilted and eyebrow lifted.
What had she just crashed her fist into?
The ghoul stood, fixed her straighten hair with white gloved fingers. She tucked the strands that were sticking out behind her floppy goat ears. Spyro watched silently as the ghoul rubbed dust from her stripped stockings and thin sweater.
"Um…you OK?" she finally asked.
"NO!" the goat girl suddenly shouted, finally looking up to the ghost ghoul. Spyro flinched back.
"Well…um…are you going to be OK?" Spyro looked away, avoiding the ghoul's face. Tears had been forming at her wide, round and innocent eyes and her pale pink lips had been frowning while her peach blushed cheeks had been puffed up as if she'd been some type of blow fish.
Her right eye had been purple-black.
"Why I WOULD be OK? Look at what you DIDto my EYE!" the ghoul said, snorting back snot that threatened to fall from her small pointed nose.
"It's your own fault…watch where you're walking…" Spyro didn't dare look.
The goat ghoul's frown started to deepen and twitch as she snorted back more snot. Tears escaped her dark eyes and ran down her intensely bright red cheeks. "Watch where I'm going? But…but…this was your fault because you…" the goat ghoul didn't finish her sentence. Instead she lowered her face to her hands and continued to cry, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"Oh Mary Shelley's ghost, would you calm down!" Spyro said, suddenly angry. She got a tight grip on the goat ghoul's wrist and dragged her from the scene of crowding people. Everyone watched as they jogged-walked off. Rhaechel and Risa exchanged a glance and decided to run along too. They exited the scene, turning one of the corners as they followed Spyro and the still crying goat ghoul.
"Let me go!" she said through her tears and wheezing.
"Shut up." Spyro barked, continuing to run. Rhaechel sighed. Spyro glared at her. "Let go, alien-freak."
"That's enough, don't you think?" Rhaechel said, her fully black eyes full of worry and concern as her grip tightened on Spyro's wrist.
They had all stopped running now. "Shut up!" Spyro's eye widened with rage. "No one asked you."
"You're scaring her." Rhaechel said, flicking her eyes over to the goat ghoul.
Spyro glanced back at her. She'd been cowering as far away as she could get to Spyro, although she'd still been tightly grabbing her wrist. She lowered her eyes, biting her lips as tears continued to fall from her eyes.
Spyro suddenly gave the ghoul a cold glare. Then, she gave Rhaechel a kick to the stomach, causing her to fall back and clutch her stomach. Risa watched as Spyro swung open the ghoul's bathroom door and shoved the crying goat ghoul inside. "What, you just gonna stand there? Block the door!"
Risa jumped and did what she was told, afraid to talk about. What had been wrong with her ghost friend?
Spyro sighed loudly when the door closed. "Seriously…you just had to be the one standing in the way. Really…you're screwing with my street cred; I'm gonna be public enemy number one when I walk out of here…and to think I was trying to just lie low this year."
"W-What?" the goat ghoul asked, cowering in the corner of the bathroom, under one of the sinks, as if she'd truly been hiding.
Spyro suddenly smashed one of the mirrors, causing it to shatter with her fist. "First Spectra ruins my day and now you…seriously…"
"I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, please don't hurt me! I'm sorry!" the ghost ghoul flinched, beginning to shake as she pressed her knees to her chest.
Spyro lifted herself to the sink farthest away from the scared ghoul. "I'm not going to hurt you…god…I'm not even that violent. I don't beat up monsters on a regular basis or whatever if that's what you're thinking…"
"O-O-Ok! I believe you, I swear!" the goat ghoul said, shutting her eyes tightly.
Spyro sighed again. "Seriously…"
"I-I-I'm s-sorry for being i-in that w-w-way." The goat ghoul stuttered quietly.
"Hey," Spyro said, imagining that in this situation, if she'd been a bit older, she would've pulled out a cigarette and lighter like all the cool characters did in all the movies she'd seen do. "What's your name anyway? I keep hearing people bring you up, that one goat girl or whatever…"
"I-It's…i-i-it's…m-my name is M-Mia." The goat ghoul answered.
"Mia…huh?" Spyro replied, glancing over at the fidgeting goat ghoul.
"Y-Y-Yes…"
"Tell me something," Spyro leaned back against the broken mirror, knowing that the still following shards wouldn't cut her. They just went right through her since she made her back transparent. She had no reason to be worried, they'd just fall right through her and into the sink. "Do you know Risa?"
"…Risa who?" the goat ghoul asked, becoming not as afraid as she saw that Spyro was more or less harmless.
"Risa…Risa…Stir-loose-ton….Kush-she-ton…ie? Ka-wa-saki? Maybe, I think?" Spyro said, thinking aloud. She never bothered to try to remember Risa's last name, it'd been too complicated.
"Risa Sturluson-Kishitani," the goat ghoul said, leaning over so that she could peek up at the ghost ghoul with pale white sometimes transparent and sometimes not transparent skin. "Yeah, I know her – well, I did anyway. We were friend a long time ago, we entered this one baking-thing together."
"Good, maybe she can be of help then." Spyro said, jumping from the sink. She went over to the door and snatched it open, causing Risa to fall back suddenly. The headless ghoul wearing an all full-faced black biker helmet looked up at her, rubbing her now sore hip. Spyro nodded her head to the cowering goat ghoul in the back. "Get in here, I don't do damage control."
Risa nod, taking Spyro's hand as she offered it to help her up. After Risa slide past Spyro, she gave Rhaechel a blank narrowed gaze, demanding she now watch the door. Rhaechel understood, got up, and with a somehow unpleased and pouty face, took her stance in front of the white door with the ghoul's restroom picture-sign. She stood as still as a British guard as Spyro closed the door again.
Well, are you alright? Are you injured anywhere? Risa texted and then sat on her ankles and held up the phone for the still somewhat shaking goat ghoul to see.
Mia shook her head, causing her straighten creamy platinum blonde hair to fall from her shoulder. "No, I'm not injured. I'm ok." She tried to smile.
That's good, I'm glad you're not hurt – well, expect for the eye… Risa put her vanilla colored hand to Mia's shoulder, trying to comfort her. If she had face, she would've offered a comforting smile.
"So, like, what should we now?" Spyro asked, towering over them with her arms crossed.
Should we go to the Nurse's office? Risa showed the phone first to Mia and then to Spyro. Spyro shrugged slothfully, as if lifting and letting her shoulders fall had took such a great effort.
"Do we really need to go to the Nurse's office?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"First, you'll need to go to my office." Another voice appeared on the scene.
All three ghouls head's turned to see the Headless Headmistress entering the bathroom. The door screeched, groaning in protect as she opened it wider.
Oh no! It's Headless Headmistress Bloodgood! Risa texted.
"Great…" Spyro sighed, glancing down at the goat ghoul who remained utterly silent in panic.
"Ladies, to my office, now."
Well…at least the detention won't affect my plans on Friday. I could just serve my detention and then still go to the Selena Gorez concert. Risa said through text, shrugging her shoulder.
"You're actually going to go to that detention? Lame." Spyro said as she slurped her Dragon noodle soup up from her silver spoon.
You're not going?
"Of course she isn't," Skullisa said, joining them at the table. "She's a…delinquent. A wannbe rebel."
Spyro ignored her, as if she hadn't said a word and continued to slurp her soup. Rhaechel, on the other hand, finished chewing her Shell Soup (w/ scallops and clams), suddenly said: "Do you really think Spyro's like that? I don't, I don't, I don't! What makes you think that? Huh, huh, huh?"
"Have you even seen her? I mean really, look at her, she's so…gangster-like. Scary, am I right?" Skullisa said mockingly, putting her chin to her palm.
Spyro, suddenly angry all over again, stole Skullisa's Insect Soup with gnats, mosquitoes, and flees, stood, pulled off Skullisa's black hood, and dumped the Insect Soup all over her head. She then processed to grab her costumed Monster High backpack that every student received at the beginning of the school year (little people actually used them) and then stalked off. Skullisa, with her black eyeliner now running down the white bone of her cheeks, let out a loud yell, one of which could be compared to one of Cleo De Nile's yells in terms of volume, and lifted from her seat.
"OH. MY. REAPERRR!" she said, her tears mixing with her black liner. "Get BACK here you…STUPID PHANTOM!"
Rhaechel sat there frozen, her hand still over her mouth as she watched Skullisa run off and out of the Creepateria. She listened as laughter grew from all directions. "Oh my walking FUO…what just happened?"
Well, you know how Spyro can be… Risa texted. She's…well…
"Yeah, I know, but…still, oh my god…She can be so cruel sometimes."
Do you really think? Risa asked, now questioning her judgment about her floating ghost ghoulfriend.
"Of course I think that, did you see what she did to that one ghoul?" Rhaechel asked as she lifted from her seat. She grabbed the rest of the napkins, ran on the other side of the table, and began to clean. Risa was silent for a moment.
But you know that was just an accident, right? You saw what happened, didn't you? Risa lifted from the table, ran around it, and dropped to her knees to show Rhaechel her text.
"Yeah…I guess I did, but still…maybe it wasn't an accident and Spyro just, like totally, wanted to vent her frustration and since I wasn't close enough for her to punch me, she punched someone else…" Rhaechel turned away from Risa, continuing to clean.
You're joking, right? Risa crawled to the other side of Rhaechel and showed her the text. Spyro wouldn't hit you, why would she? And I don't think she's like that. She wouldn't just go hitting monsters just because she's mad…she's isn't that hot-tempered or whatever. It was an accident.
"Well, I don't know…it sounds like you're only trying to convince yourself." Rhaechel said, standing up and grabbing her backpack from the wooden table. "I don't know about you, but she totally seems like 'that type'."
That type? What type? Risa quickly texted and lifting up her phone for Rhaechel to see, but she'd already begun walking off. She threw her napkins away and, like the other ghouls, exited from the Creepateria. Risa stood there, concerned.
