Back at Spookelton Castle, Snake looked out the window in disbelief. "How can it be dark in the middle of the afternoon?!"
"Shadow clouds, they're clouds that are black as the night sky. So, naturally, when they block out the sun, it's lights out." Rachel explained. "Typical Transylvanian weather. Well, in this part of Transylvania. So, what do you guys want to do? Check out the spa?"
Snake, Tarantula, Pirahna and Shark jolted with surprise.
"This place has a spa?!" Tarantula asked in disbelief.
"Yep, a dungeon spa. It may sound spooky. But it's actually pretty cool. They have monster-style facials, salons, hot stone massages, aromatherapy, y'know, that kind of stuff."
With excited looks, Shark, Pirahna, and Tarantula were about to say yes until Snake spoke up first.
"No, thanks. We're good." Unlike the others, Snake did not look excited.
"Aw, c'mon, Snake! After all we've been through, we could use a spa day!" said Shark.
Snake frowned at his friends. "Guys, we didn't come here on vacation. Someone is targeting us and we don't know who or why. So, we can't just go parading to some spa." He turned his glare to Rachel. "Especially with strangers."
"I'm not a stranger. I'm your bodyguard." Rachel insisted. "But I also want you guys to enjoy your time here. Not be locked up like a bunch of prisoners. I mean, you just got out of jail and you're entitled to your own freedom."
"Testify!" Pirahna shouted.
"Preach, sister! Preach!" Shark exclaimed.
"Alright, fine. How about you give us a tour of this place instead?" Snake suggested. "I've never before been inside a real haunted castle."
Rachel shrugged. "Works for me. Let the tour begin!"
Rachel and the animals ventured down the hall to their first stop. "So, here's the grand ballroom. It even has a snack bar." The junior witch opened the massive doors. Inside was a perfectly spooky ballroom. On the far left wall was the snack bar. "You guys want to eat something?"
Snake still didn't trust this human. But with all this crazy monster stuff going around, he needed a good snack. "What do they have at a monster snack bar?"
Rachel smiled. "Lots of stuff! Follow me." As Rachel led the way, the Bad Guys stayed very close to her in case some creepy ghost or monster pops out of nowhere. "Hey, Scott." Rachel greeted the snack vendor Scott, who happened to be a skeleton wearing a red t-shirt and a black baseball cap.
"What'll it be, Rach?" asked Scott.
"Uh..." Rachel looked at the menu. There were all kinds of choices when ordering monster food. Eyeball pizza, swamp smoothies, bone-chilling chili cheese fries. Finally, she made a decision. "I'll...have the fried griffin sandwich with a side of fright fries and a creepy cola." She looked at her friends, who looked unsure of what they want. "And four more orders of the same thing."
Suddenly, Moon and Kitty climbed up Rachel's shoulders and meowed together. They both rubbed their furry cheeks gainst Rachel's face, making her giggle. "And two saucers of milk, please."
"Coming up." Scott tapped away on the register and prepared the order. Minutes later, Rachel and the Bad Guys took their food to a table. They all watched Rachel take her seat, calmly unwrap her fried griffin sandwich, and actually take a bite of it. "Mmm!" Sounds of satisfaction came from her mouth.
Seeing her eat happily, the animals gave in and started eating as well.
"WOW! This is amazing!" Shark said with a full mouth.
"Yeah! It tastes just like chicken!" said Tarantula. "But BETTER!
Pirahna couldn't speak because he was too busy eating.
When Snake flicked his forked tongue to taste his sandwich, his eyes lit up like fireworks. "Whoa!" He swallowed his sandwich whole, savorying the delicious deep-fried flavor as the sandwich slithered down his throat. "That, was the best sandwich I've ever eaten!"
"I know right?" said the voice of Dr. Fangwell. She was holding a tray containing a bowl of soup, a cup of tea, and some soup crackers.
"Hey, doc!" Ravel waved to the lamia. "Care to join us?"
"I'd love to!" The doctor sat between Rachel and Snake, the reptile felt very uneasy now.
"What kind of soup is that?" asked Rachel. "It smells awesome."
Dr. Fangwell smiled. "It's my favorite; cream of vulture." She unpacked her crackers and dumped hem into her soup.
The Bad Guys felt a little awkward as Rachel and Dr. Fangwell ate. "So, um..." Snake began. "What kind of monster were you again?"
His friends flinched from the sudden question, but Dr. Fangwell was happy to answer. "A lamia. We're a very rare breed of monser. There's only one thousand of us in the entire world."
"Only a thousand?!" Shark gasped.
"Yes, our species have been quite scarce for a long time, it can't be helped. But it's okay." Dr. Fangwell tapped her finger on the table while looking a her food. "Y'know, I'm going to have some mice with this soup. Be right back." She got up and slithered back to the snack bar.
Rachel noticed the odd look on Snake's face. "You okay, Snake?"
"Yeah! You haven't touched touched your fries!" Shark pointed out. "This is the longest you've gone without gulping down a whole meal!"
Snake noticed this and quickly swallowed all of his fries and drink. They were very tasty, but he still felt sad about something. "Rachel, my whole life, people treated me like a big, scary monster. So, now, that I've meet a real monster that resemble me, why do I feel so...so, um..."
"Conflicted?" answered Rachel. Snake nodded. "There's nothing wrong with the way you feel, Snake. I mean, sure, some people think being a monster is bad. But sometimes, it's okay to be a monster. Because you get to choose what kind of monster you want to be. Take me for example, I'm a human and I study witchcraft. People used to hunt witches and burn them at the stake for that kind of stuff because they thought it was a bad thing. But Sasha and I want to be good witches, witches who want to be wise and strong to protect the people we love. We're witches. And we know some people will never accept us. But some people will and that's all that matters."
Just then, Madame Spook flew into he ballroom with Diane in her arms. The fox was now beat red, her fur matted with sweat. "Where's Dr. Fangwell?! Diane needs help!"
"Diane!" Tarantula shouted.
Dr. Fangwell dropped her bowl of dead mice. "Get her to my office! NOW!"
Rachel, Madame Spook, and the Bad Guys waited outside Dr. Fangwell's office. "So, Diane was in the woods and some bug bit her?" asked Shark.
Pirahna was getting nervous. The moment he heard his stomach gurgle, he began munching on a handful of gut gummies. "I'm gonna need more of these!"
"If it makes any of you feel better, Dr. Fangwell is bound and determined to help Diane get better." Madame Spook said as she paced around.
Snake frowned. "You're one to talk, floating in circles like that."
"Guys!" Sasha and Wolf came in with Mr. Horseman's head in Wolf's paws.
"We went to Esmerelda's house, but couldn't find her!" Sasha said. "And her house was completely ransacked!" Lucky mewed sadly as his ears folded down.
"My body must have gotten her!" shouted Mr. Horseman, causing Snake, Pirahna, Tarantula, and Shark to scream.
"Talking pumpkin!" Shark yelped.
"Relax, guys. He's just the head of the Headless Horseman." said Sasha.
"That does NOT make us feel any better!" snapped Snake.
Wolf put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loud enough to silence everyone. "Guys! We need to keep it together!"
Just then, loud thumping was heard. Everyone jumped. The loud thumping continued. It sounded like a combination of creaks, stomps, and howls. "What is that?!" asked Tarantula.
"It must be coming from the music hall!" said Madame Spook. She lead the way as the Jocklin sisters and the Bad Guys followed her. When they came to the music hall and went inside, the Bad Guys were taken aback by what they saw.
On the stage were three human girls wearing ghoulish glitter glam outfits playing rock music. One had brown hair and played drums, one had red hair and wore glasses as she played guitar, and the other had bluish skin and played a skull-shaped guitar. The loud thumping was coming from them.
"Oh! It's just the Ghouls Girls!" Madame Spook said in relief. Rachel and Sasha were relieved as well. But the stunned Bad Guys watched as the humans performed.
'What's that noise from the cellar stairs?
We thought we heard footsteps, but there's nobody there.
An attic floor creeps and a zombie moans.
The cooler the sounds, the more haunted the home.
A howl in the wind and a sudden slam,
put it all together and that's our jam!
Creepy beat! A creepy beat!
Nothing like a good scare to get you up on your feet!
A creepy beat, creepy beat.
Shake, shimmy, shiver, awooo! A creepy beat!'
Madame Spook as well as the junior witches swayed to the music. Even the Bad Guys were bopping to the beat! It's like the Ghoul Girls' music put all their worries to rest.
'All around you'll find,
Music comes alive!
Creepy beat! A creepy beat!
Nothing like a good scare to get you up on your feet!
A creepy beat, creepy beat.
Shake, shimmy, shiver, awooo! A creepy beat!'
Shake, shimmy, shiver, awooo! A creepy beat!'
Their audience of eight cheered and clapped, surprising the Ghoul Girls. "Spooktacular as always, Ghoul Girls!" said Madame Spook as she and the Jocklin sisters walked onto the stage.
"Yeah! You guys were great!" said Rachel.
"Thanks, Rachel!" said the girl with the skull shaped guitar. The Bad Guys noticed her bluish skin and bat wing pigtails, as well as the pointy teeth that poked out of her smile. Was she a monster too?
The other guitarist, who had red hair and wore glasses saw some shadowy figures in the farthest part of the room. "Uh, are there other mosters watching us?" she asked nervously. It was hard to see the figures clearly. One was large with a wide frame, another one was long and thin like a serpent, the other one was small but with big, sharp teeth, and the last one seemed...werewolf shaped.
Sasha smiled. "Not exactly. We have some new friends with us. How would you like to meet them?"
"Sure!" said the drum player.
Sasha turned to her friends. "Come on over, guys!"
The shadowy figures seemed uncertain. "You sure about that?" said Wolf's voice. "You're gonna hear a scream."
"Come on, Mr. Sensitive." Sasha said with a chuckle. "We'll help you break the ice."
On that note, the Bad Guys stepped out of the darkness and joined the others on stage. The bluish girl smiled in a friendly manner, but the drummer girl gasped and the bespectacled girl screamed so loud, it made even Wolf wince. "There. See what I said?" Wolf cleaned out the scream's loudness from his ear.
"I know you! You're The Bad Guys!" said the drummer girl. The Bad Guys waited for the prejudice to come, but for some reason, the girl was smiling. "I saw your performance t the Gala For Goodness!" She took out her phone and showed them the video of the animals performing at the Gala For Goodness. "You guys were amazing!"
"Oh, yeah! I remember you guys!" said the bespectacled redhead. "I would dance to your song every day!"
"I can't believe you're actually here in Transylvania!" said the blue-skinned girl. "I'm Vee. And these are my friends, Poppy and Bridget."
The Bad Guys were surprised again. These three young human were not scared of them?! They didn't know how many more surprises they could take in this place!
"Uh, nice to meet you." Wolf said. "Loved your song!" He tapped his head. "That's gonna be in there all day."
Pirahna gasped. "Hey, Wolf! Maybe you can show them how to howl!"
"Oh, yeah!" said Shark.
"Now we're talking!" said Tarantula.
Snake laughed. "C'mon! Go for it!"
Wolf frowned. "Guys, you know I don't howl anymore." he said seriously.
Suddenly, a spear came flying just inches above Wolf's head and struck the wall. Wolf's heart nearly stopped, his eyes ridicuously wide. He slowly turned around and saw someone standing in the doorway. In one of their hands was an axe. In their other hand was a sword! But that wasn't what everyone was gawking at.
The murderous maniac had no head! Just a glowing green hole where his neck was suppose to be! Despite having no head, a ghoulish, blood-curdling laugh was heard from the decapitated body.
"It's my body!" shouted Mr. Horseman. "And it's gone mad!"