Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from Monster High, Ever After High, Disney Descendants, DC Super Hero Girls, and Project MC2 worlds which are trademarked by Mattel, Guru Studio, Disney, Dreamworks Animation's AwesomenessTV and MGA respectively. All characters are created and owned by Mattel, Disney and MGA and I do not claim any ownership over them or their story and it is not purported or believed to be part of the original story canon. This story is for entertainment only.

Episode 19:

What Lurks Behind

-Twyla-

Before the sunrise on Tuesday the twentieth of June, Twyla drifted through the hushed iron-gray tones of the shadows. She yawned as she nestled into a dark corner of the senior hallway.

This spot will give me the perfect view.

She extended her smoky spider-like shadow limbs and spun a web, careful not to touch them with her regular hands lest she undid her hard work. As she settled in the silence, she contemplated the behavior of her classmates since the death of Darling.

They were all far too willing to accept me as the killer; no one questioned it. Were they ever really my friends? No, we got along because we lived in the same quarters, forced here by our circumstances, I never had anything in common with them outside of that. So many queens, so many divas, and Billy…

She folded her normal arms and leaned back on her web. When did he get together with Darling, and why? They have nothing in common, and she's from a completely different world, she was snooty and so stuck-up. Why would he go to her when he had me?

A door down the hall opened to reveal her prey for the day. Her limbs extended over her torso and clung to the floor. She lowered herself and planted her hands as she crept into Mal's shadow.

She smirked to herself. Today is the day that I'll trap you in your lie Mal. I'll extract the truth for all to see.

Mal raised both fists and hammered against a dorm door as she sang, "Wakey wakey, Ula D!"

The door swung open to reveal a deathly pale blanket-bundled girl in the dark. She whined in a Romanian accent, "Why do we get up so early?"

Mal put her hands on her hips and laughed, "Because as seniors, we lead by example."

"Ugh, they already walked through the forest. Let's take it easy, use our summer to sleep during the day and get our work done at night. We already chopped most of the trees."

"Most, but not all, and one of those freshman controls plants, we need to do everything during the day, so I can see if she's sabotaging me." Mal reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Draculaura come on; let's pick out an outfit, go to chow and get to work."

Draculaura pulled out of her grasp, "You know… instead of working, we could have a summer pajama party. Let's be the cool seniors. It will keep the underclassman busy~" She cupped her hands under her chin and leaned forward with a smile.

"Yeah, and cool seniors don't earn boons."

"You don't know that."

Mal pointed towards a dresser against the wall, "I do."

"No, you don't," Draculaura tossed the blanket to the floor in a huff, her powder pink skin reflecting the light of the hall. She pouted as she rummaged through her outfits, "You're too busy being miss bossy pants, scaring freshman and getting students killed."

Mal scowled as she leaned against the wall, "You know that boogey monster best, you tell me why she did it."

Draculaura tossed another outfit into a floor pile as she slowed her search, "The thing is Mal, the fight should never have happened." She turned her gaze towards Mal, her plum-colored eyes shimmering with unshed tears, "I know its too late to do anything now but… everything has been so tense, everyone's scared, and I know that's how the underclassman are supposed to be, but one of their friends just died. And for what? So they would be too scared to question anything? This place is too awful."

She rushed towards Mal and gripped her arm, "Let's have a party; let's be the fun seniors."

Mal closed her eyes and sighed, "We can't afford it, not after everything Freddie did."

Draculaura lowered her head and shuffled back to her clothing pile as she silently selected an outfit.

Twyla chewed her cheek as she contemplated their words. Mal has something to prove. She's always trying to be better than Freddie. Cedar mentioned the same thing in the hallway that day. Perhaps she knew she wouldn't be able to beat Darling in a fair fight, so she cast a spell to kill her. I just need to observe her using a spell to confirm what her magical signature is.

Twyla shadowed Mal and Draculaura as they joined their classmates Raven, Kitty, Clawdeen, and Cedar. She lurked in their merged shadows as they left the chow hall and journeyed towards the forest.

Draculaura prattled on a million words per minute, "-and of course we need to order some pink sails, nothing would be cuter than pink sails-"

"I am not going to stare at pink sails for the next four years," Mal countered as they stopped in front of the large rickety wooden door of the shack that overlooked the boat racecourse.

"That's exactly why we should make the sails pink! I mean, it's the ship we get to sail home on, why wouldn't you want it to be fabulous."

Raven laughed, "I can't imagine a welcoming committee back home; that's for sure."

Mal chuckled as she pushed the rolling door open, "Back in Auradon, everyone was already suspicious of us villain kids. If I sail up in a ship with big pink sails, they might think I'm trying to kidnap a princess of something."

Raven stepped through the door and turned on the light, "Suspicious of you? Ha, I'm the daughter of the Evil Queen, I'm the one who'd be thrown in mirror prison, no questions asked."

Mal folded her arms and hip-bumped Raven as she entered, "Then I'd break the glass."

Raven gave a soft smile, "Aw, thanks."

"As for the sails," Mal turned towards Draculaura, "No pink."

Draculaura complained and spoke of other design elements for the ship as Twyla examined the area. Her eyes widened as the shadows of the cannon factory merged with theirs, and she could discern the floor layout.

To the right of the door was a vast array of sand cannon molds with cooling iron inside. Clawdeen inspected a few before she jumped back, swinging her arms as she shrieked.

Mal didn't look up from a ship sketch on a table, "Don't touch it."

Clawdeen growled, "I didn't. I just walked right into a giant spider web."

Raven's eyes widened as she swiveled around, "Where?"

Clawdeen gestured towards a wooden modeling box that sat on a table to the right of the cooling molds, "Around there, you can see a few web strands."

Raven held out her hands as her body emitted a faint glow, "Let's see how far this web goes."

She waved her arm in a wide arc and cast the spell over the room. Light burst forth when it connected with the web and ricocheted. Twyla gasped as the light slammed into the shadows and ejected her into the light.

Everyone in the room gasped as she rose from the floor.

Mal narrowed her eyes as she stepped forward, "I thought I felt eyes on my back."

Twyla wiped the dust off her skirt as she scanned the room, "I'm investigating the truth."

Cedar quipped, "If the truth is what you seek, then why do you hide, seems pretty sketchy to me."

Twyla shrugged as she circled them, her eyes ever searching, "I already tried asking politely."

Kitty tapped her teeth, "You should at least leave a smile; there's an etiquette to invisibility, you know."

Twyla quirked a brow, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Shadows will always be shady, Kitty," Mal snorted, "But there is one thing this shadow needs to do."

"And what's that," Twyla smirked when she spotted the soft magenta shimmer on the ground.

"You need to be part of the boat race. Its tradition for everyone to participate."

Twyla made her way towards the door, "Just put me on your team, and I'll show up the day of the race, don't worry."

She didn't stay for a reply as she slid back into shadow. I can cross Raven off my list, not that she was ever on it but still, magenta. What an interesting color. I wonder if siblings have similar signatures. Not that it matters, Evie wasn't in the hallway when Darling died, although both Kitty and Mal were. What was Kitty saying about invisible etiquette? At least leave a smile… I doubt Billy has ever used such a system, and if I recall correctly, he was in the hall that day as well.

-Frankie-

Several weeks later, it was time for the seniors to pick teams for the annual boat race.

Frankie stood outside with her classmates waiting to be picked for a team.

Mal prowled up and down the freshman, "Hmmm, five freshmen and six seniors, Freddie didn't really try to recruit when she left huh?"

Clawdeen put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, "That's because Freddie brought in five times as much treasure. She was cruising for coins, I heard she knocked two years off her time when she brought them in."

Mal shrieked, "What?! But that's impossible, minimum sentence at sea is four years. What kind of treasure did she bring that knocked off two! Hex, it took killing an entire senior class and nabbing two tons' worth of treasure just for her to earn a great boon."

Clawdeen shrugged, "Don't know. Just telling you what I heard. Now pick already, I can't wait to beat you in a boat race."

Mal smirked as she started team picks. The final line up had Mal with Li Mei, Faybelle, Twyla (who was strangely not present), Petra and Glimmer, the younger cousin of the ghost Spectra.

Raven had chosen Rosabella, Evie, Frankie, Apple, and Ashlynn.

Clawdeen had Rochelle, Abbey, Farrah, Heath and Deuce.

Kitty chose Justine, Lagoona, Billy and Lizzie.

Cedar selected Venus, Blondie, Robecca, and Hunter.

Lastly Draculaura chose Cleo, Ghoulia, Crecha and Porter.

Frankie followed her teammates towards an open spot by the water as Raven informed Rosabella about the racecourse. Frankie's mind drifted to the group conversation in the classroom with Ghoulia the night prior.

Ghoulia held up the Losbreken written note and groaned informatively.

Cleo furrowed her brow, "I haven't a clue what that means, Ghoulia."

Ghoulia closed her eyes and shook her head as she waved the note.

Cleo scoffed, "Great, it couldn't be as simple as translating, it had to be a puzzle too."

Farrah asked, "What did it say."

"Alive beneath your feet and guarding every door, they fit right in and hide within the floor. When you go after the four, you'll be marked and caught. They know when you know about things you should not," Cleo recited in a bored tone.

"That certainly sounds monstrous," Farrah shuddered.

Ghoulia tapped the floor with her foot as she groaned.

Frankie tilted her head, "Oh?" She turned towards Farrah, "Ghoulia says that the only thing on the floor is the tiles, so whatever is alive must be underneath them. Although, how you can tell if something is living underneath the floor is beyond me."

Farrah shrugged, "A simple detection spell."

Everyone in the room stared at her. Farrah sighed, "I guess I just volunteered to look for it."

"Hello, Frankie are you in there?" Raven teased.

Frankie's bolts sparked as she returned to reality, "Ah, yeah sorry. What were you saying?"

Raven chuckled as she shook her head, "I was asking what position you'd like to be in. I want to avoid getting you wet."

Frankie laughed, "Oh, yeah, getting splashed causes major shortages. Can I sit up front?"

"Sure, you'll be with Evie."

Frankie turned towards Evie and started to smile but faltered when she noticed Evie's disheveled appearance.

Evie's eyes were sunken and dark as she focused her gaze, "Hey Frankie."

"Oh my ghoul, you look awful. What happened?"

Evie winced as she clutched her chest, "I'm hideous?"

"What? No, its just… your hair…," Frankie gestured towards Evie, "Have you not gotten any sleep?"

Evie covered her mouth with her hands, "I look that bad?"

"I… its just… where's your mirror?"

Evie lowered her head and mumbled, "Faybelle borrowed it."

Frankie furrowed her brow, "You let Faybelle borrow your mirror?"

A splash of cold rush through Frankie. She shivered as Porter Geiss flew past.

Apple rubbed her arms as her breath came out in visible pants, "You would think I'd be used to ghost by now, but nope gets me every time."

Raven clapped her hands, "Come on guys, we've got to practice. Rowing a boat isn't easy and we have to prepare for attacks."

Apple smiled, "I've got the perfect strategy for combating some of the other magic users. Electric fields can be tuned to magical frequencies and sometimes cancel spells." She held her hands out, "Frankie's tuning bolts should allow us to generate a spell cancellation field as needed."

Evie fussed with her hair as she explained, "Unless you have a recharge pack, using Frankie's electricity would only drain her."

"Um, I'm standing right here," Frankie held up her hand, "and wouldn't it be better to focus on amplifying our spellcasters?"

Ashlynn hummed thoughtfully, "Apple and I can really only summon rescue animals, so that's a last resort. Raven, what if you cast a spell on the boat to cheat. Cheating's pretty evil so it should steer us to victory while you cast other spells."

Rosabella put her hands on her hips, "I am honestly a little perturbed by how intense these races get. Why can't anything be done for fun in this school?"

Evie grumbled, "Because the stakes are a matter of life and death."

Frankie peered at Evie and examined her face. Were Darling and Evie really close? Is that why she is still in mourning mode? Golly, I didn't even notice. I'll have to talk with her about it later, include her in on the living tile search.