The Bad Guys and the Jocklin sisters followed Rachel and Sasha to the castle infirmary. There was a reception desk next to a door. Rachel rang the bell on the desk. "Hello? Dr. Fangwell?"
A beautiful woman with fair skin and long, black hair held back in a low ponytail popped up from behind the desk. "Yeeees?" She smoothed out her white lab coat and adjusted her round glasses. Her eyes were a deep green color. "Oh! Hello, Rachel." The doctor smiled. "Mr. Pirahna is feeling much better now!" Her voice was sweet as honey.
"Thanks, Doc." Rachel said politely. "But now, we have a friend here who fell into some snapping monster plants. She may have sprained her arm." She gestured to Diane.
Dr. Fangwell gasped. "Oh, dear! Well, don't worry! I'm on it!"
The Bad Guys watched the doctor leave her desk to open the door. But when she opened it, they all screamed.
"WHOA!" Wolf hollered. He couldn't help himself. Dr. Fangwell had the upper half of a human, but from the waist down she had a long, green snake tail that was seven meters long.
The doctor blinked at the visibly stunned Bad Guys. "Is everything alright?"
Seeing the animals too shocked to speak, Sasha answered for them. "It's their first time seeing a lamia."
"Oh! I see!" Dr. Fangwell laughed. "You folks don't have to worry about me. I'm as harmless as a baby bat!" she smiled, showing her fanged teeth. "I mean, I am poisonous. But other than that, I'm harmless!" she casually mentioned.
The Bad Guys did not feel any better. Until Pirahna nonchalantly walked out of the doctor's office holding a small plastic jar. "Yeah, guys. No big deal."
"Pirahna!" Wolf and his friends scooped up their fish friend and hugged him. "Are you alright?" Shark asked as they set their fish friend down.
"I sure am!" Pirahna said with a big toothy smile. "I'm one hundred percent gas free! All thanks to these babies!" He held up the jar of red gummy cubes.
"What are those?" asked Wolf.
"Gut Gummies." Dr. Fangwell, adjusting her glasses. "Guaranteed to satisfy the most upset stomach and curb all gas problems. Now, where's my next patient?"
Rachel helped the uneasy Diane to the doctor. "Step into my office, dear, and we'll get you all fixed up!" She was about to close the door when Diane stopped it with her foot. "Huh?"
Diane looked at the lamia with a very untrustyworthy look. "I'll only go in if they go in too." She thumbed over to the Bad Guys.
"Oh! Of course! They came come in. It's always good to have loved ones close by for support." Dr. Fangwell said, welcoming the other animals into her office. "Have a seat on the bench and we'll get started."
Diane sat on the bench as the Bad Guys looked around the room. It looked like a normal doctor's office, but there were some weird things as well. Unknown plants hanging on the wall, several types of skulls laying on the bookshelf. Shelves with jars filled with all kind of different who-knows-what in them. In the corner there was a cauldron sitting on a fire boiling something that smelled funky.
Dr. Fangwell's office was strange, but not as strange as the doctor herself. The animals just stared as the lamia slithered toward Diane with a spray bottle of glowing blue liquid. "Okay, ma'am. Let's see that arm." Dr. Fangwell pressed a button on her glasses frame. The lenses turned black, making her see Diane's bones. "Yep, that's a sprained arm alright. This will take care of that." Dr. Fangwell sprayed Diane's arm with the blue potion. The fox's arm glowed blue as Diane felt the pain going away!
"It...it's gone!" Diane stretched out her arm and flexed her fingers. "The pain is really gone!"
"Now, let's get all those prickles off of you." Using her tail, Dr. Fangwell grabbed some chalk wih her tail and drew a circle with a magic pattern within it on the floor. "Just stand in the middle of this circle please."
Diane got up and stood in the middle of the circle. Dr. Fangwell tapped the circle with her tail, making it glow yellow. All the thorns, vines, and prickles on Diane's body blew off of her. Even the cuts and bruises on her body were gone!
Dr. Fangwell gave the fox a thumbs up. "There! All done!" She reached into her coat pocket. "This calls for some lollipops!"
"Ooh! Ooh! Do I get one too, Doc?!" asked Pirahna.
"Certainly! Everyone can have one! What flavors do you like?" Dr. Fangwell took out three different colored lollipops. One red, one purple, one green. "I have blood, poison berry, and snail slime."
Wolf and the others cringed from the nasty flavored candies. "Uh, n-no thanks, we're good." said Wolf.
Once Diane was all better, Rachel and Sasha lead their animal guests upstairs to their room. "I'm glad you're feeling better, governor." said Rachel. "And you too, Mr. Pirahna."
Shark nervously looked around to make sure they encounered no spooky weirdness that might jump out and scare them half to death. "So, uh, what's this room like that we're sleeping in?"
"Don't worry, there's plenty of room for you guys." Sasha answered. They arrived to their bedroom.
"I don't think that's what he meant, sis." Rachel said.
Sasha gave her sister a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
"Seriously?" said Rachel, folding her arms.
Sasha blinked. "Oh! Right! Right!" She smiled to the Bad Guys. "No worries! We'll make sure nothing scary keeps you up all night!" she said with a laugh.
But the Bad Guys did not feel reassured. Especially when the large wooden door opened and they saw Madame Spook floating in the middle of the bedroom. Sure, there were six beds, each one the right size for the right animal. There was even a set of pajamas placed on each bed. But on the walls were portraits of creepy monsters that seemed to look at the Bad Guys. Cobwebs hung in the corners. And the animals couldn't help but feel that something in the shadows was watching them.
"Ah! There you are!" Madame Spook greeted her uneasy guests. "I have your room all ready! I made it dark, drafty, and dusty just for you!"
Snake frowned. "Oh, wow. You really shouldn't have."
Madame Spook beamed. "It was nothing, really!" she said, somehow oblivious to Snake's obvious sarcasm. "I also added some spooks and scares to keep you entertained!"
Before any animals could say anything, Rachel spoke up. "Well, you certainly outdid yourself, Madame S!" she said cheerfully. "Why don't you take a well-deserved break and we'll help our guests settle in?"
"Indeed! Thank you, girls! Goodnight, everyone!" And Madame Spook vanished.
"Sorry about that, you guys." Sasha said. "Madame Spook means well. But she has a hard time understanding what normal people want. But don't sweat it, we'll take care of everything."
"Uh, can we wait outside the room?" asked Wolf. Everyone can see his paws shaking.
"You don't have to be afraid, Wolf. The spooks around here just like to haunt for fun." Sasha assured the wolf. "They won't hurt you."
Wolf just scoffed. "What? Come on! I'm not afraid!" He tried to play it cool and lean next to the closet door, which cracked open and a giant mummy popped right out! The mummy roared as he stretched his arms out, his eyes glowing red.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Wolf screamed and ran to the other side of the room. His friends screamed as well. Shark even fainted on the floor.
Sasha sighed and swung open the closet door, revealing the large mummy giggling to himself. "Alright, alright. Very funny. Now, get out!" Shrugging, the mummy shuffled out of the closet and left the bedroom. "Rachel, check under the bed. I'll get the moving portraits."
Rachel gave a thumbs up and checked under one of the beds. "Sorry, but these guys aren't fond of spooks."
Everyone gasped when a small purple creature with green eyes crawled out from under the bed. All he had was a round body and a pair of arms.
"That goes for all of you!" Rachel called out for any other spooks to hear. "This is a spook free room!"
Moments later, bats flew out from the master bathroom and more monsters came out from under the beds! They all groaned with disappointment as they left the room.
"I'll get Shark some water." Diane went into the master bathroom. A yelp was heard.
"What is it?!" asked Wolf, afraid to find out.
Diane came out of the bathroom with a big frown. "This happened!" She held up her paws. They were covered in gooey, green slime. Wolf couldn't help but gag.
After Sasha fixed the sink to pour out water instead of slime, Shark was revived and everything was just about suitable for the animal guests. The Jocklin sisters had just finished cleaning up the dust and cobwebs, which was a cinch thanks to their magic. "There! All nice and neat and ready for a peaceful night!" Sasha said. "And it only took a few minutes!"
"Are you sure there's no more scary stuff in here?" Tarantula asked. "Wolf's fur is still puffy!"
"No, it's not!" snapped Wolf as he was getting changed. He was wearing his complimentary raven black pajama bottoms that Madame Spook provided for him, but he didn't have his shirt on yet. Everyone saw that his fur was still frizzed from that mummy scare and those monsters under the bed.
Rachel looked around. "I think we've covered every-"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
A chorus of ghostly howls and cackles echoed from outside the room, followed by the sound of clanking chains. Everyone screamed, especially Wolf.
"Dang it!" Rachel marched to the door and opened it. The hallway was filled with chain-rattling ghosts. She sighed as she slammed the door behind her to tell the spooks to quiet down and leave the guests alone.
Sasha looked over and saw Wolf shaking with fright. He was so scared, his fur stood up like he had been electrocuted. "Hey, don't worry, Wolf. It's just a few ghosts doing their job. Rachel will take care of it." She helped him to his bed. "Let's see if we can do something about this fur." She took out her wand and gave it a wave, turning it into a hairbrush. She took his arm and started brushing.
Wolf yelped and pulled his arm back. "No! Don't do that!" he said quickly.
Sasha started to grin. "You're not ticklish, are you?"
"No!" Wolf snapped.
Sasha laughed. "You are such a bad liar!" She moved her hands to his stomach and started tickling him there. Wolf burst with laughter as he fell over, his leg shaking as Sasha tickled his stomach.
The Bad Guys laughed too. But not Diane. "Alright! That's enough!" Diane snapped, making Sasha stop. "Enough games! I want to know exactly why you're dragging us into this insanity in the first place!"
"Okay, okay, I understand." Sasha said after a sigh. "You see, Rachel and I were taking our lesson in clairvoyant magic by Esmerelda, she's the best fortune teller in Transylvania. So, Rachel and I were reading tea leaves and this is what we saw." Sasha took out her phone and showed them the pictures of the Haunted Hand sign and the wolf shaped sign in their teacups. "Then, Esmerelda deduced that our signs were linked. So, she did a little fortune telling of her own and predicted that you guys were in serious danger!"
"I see." Diane folded her arms. "And where do we find this Esmerelda? I think we should have a little talk with her before we do anything else."
"No, can do." Rachel said as he flew back into the room, overhearing everything. "Esmerelda had already went home to sign for a new spell book she ordered. I tried calling her, but she wouldn't answer."
Just then, a knock came at the door. Rachel opened it and the animals gasped. In walked a person wearing a white, short sleeved chef coat and a pair of long, black pants with matching shoes. But instead of a face, all they could see was a floating pair of glasses. He was an invisible man. "Ghoul evening! You must be our guests! I'm Henry Yipes, the castle chef." He waved, despite the fact that no one can see his arm. "I brought you some menus to help you decide on what to have for dinner tonight."
Snake began to perk up. "Dinner?!" He snatched a menu and skimmed through it.
"Snake! This isn't the time to think about food!" Diane chided.
"Look, I already get it. This is serious." Snake replied. "But how can we think straight with empty stomachs? Besides, it's my birthday! Gotta have something special to eat!"
Wolf let out a laugh. "Well, look at you, playing the birthday card again! I am so proud of you! Anyway, Diane, Snake's got a good point. Besides, I'm starving!" He looked at the menu. "Yeesh! Slime souffle?!"
Sasha leaned close to Wolf and looked at the menu. "You should try the terror steak tacos. They're really good!"
Wolf raised an eyebrow, smiling at Sasha. "Oh, really?" His nose picked up a heavenly scent coming from Sasha. "Is that lavender perfume with honey?"
Sasha's eyes lit up. "It is! How'd you know?" she asked, amazed.
"Sharp sense of smell." Wolf said with a shrug. "It's a wolf thing."
As everyone else began choosing what to have for dinner. Diane didn't order a thing. She just kept glaring at Wolf and Sasha, noticing how they were smiling at each other and getting along so well.
Diane didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.