Author's Note: Welcome to my longest chapter yet. I was going to split this but then I decided... nah. Enjoy!
Daybreak. Far from the city and beyond the mountain was the rebel encampment, a place a particular group of monsters called home. Monsters there built off the summer camp it once was, living in the multiple-room cabins.
Everything there was repaired as soon as possible and fixed up with whatever resources they could find. Bathrooms were limited but functional in a separate building between the two cabins. Behind the bathrooms was a manual clothes-cleaning station, where the monsters did their laundry by hand and hung them on a clothesline to dry. There was a dining pavilion and a smaller, closed building attached to it as the kitchen. There were a few other buildings spread about the camp as well.
Of course, there was a garden supplying fruit, vegetables, and anything else the monsters needed that could be grown. Meat and fish came in through those who'd venture into the city if they could get their claws on it.
Most food would last a good deal of time at the camp, even though it didn't have much electricity; most of it was for the fridge while the rest was stored up just in case certain monsters required it. Glass-encased candles and torches were used for light and a makeshift tool was used to move fans within rooms whenever it got too hot. If it was cold, monsters just had to bundle up.
The camp wasn't magnificent but it was home.
The monsters originally found the camp alongside a few normies: Clair, Chad, and even Lilith. They were the ones who mentioned a summer camp they had spent a week at that was both for normies and monsters. The humans were glad to have helped the monsters and had stayed with them for a long time. But one day, when the dome had passed over the sky, the normies traversed onto the human realm.
The camp was more monster territory than anything, so the buildings remained. There weren't any fences or walls, just a large expanse of dry grass stretching out around it. If one looked close enough, they'd see the grass touch the edge of the mountain far in the distance.
Right now, he was peering at the mountain, trying to catch where the grass met the snow. He sat at the edge of the camp on the dry, patchy grass, his legs spread out and his arms at his side, dressed in his remaining clean clothes. He'd been sitting there since dawn. Alone. It'd been hours now. The winter air pricked at his exposed skin, but he ignored it. He wasn't one to get cold easily, not anymore.
"Hey, Heath?"
"Yeah?" he replied, acknowledging the one who called his name, but not looking back to face who it was.
"I know you're waiting for Lagoona to come back with new recruits, but I was wondering if I could do something to help out."
Heath looked over his shoulder to see Deuce Gorgon, his snake mohawk lacking the flare it once did in high school. He looked tired—Deuce hadn't been doing much lately. Or so Heath thought.
He sighed. "I told you to stop preparing the meals. I can handle it."
Deuce frowned down at him. "I have to do something, dude."
"No way, Deuce, you have enough to do as it is," Heath warned, turning his head back to face the mountain. "You're going out on the search next week."
"But—"
"You volunteered to do it," Heath reminded the Gorgon.
What the monsters called "the search" was a task they had come up with when a group of their own went missing just a week ago. Just yesterday, one of their own went out to look but returned due to injury. Now, they devised a system: a certain monster would go out to look for them for two full days, returning to the camp before midnight on the second day. Deuce was about to put that system into action.
Deuce sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"Don't tire yourself out, dude," Heath told him. "Robecca got her gears all jacked up when she came back yesterday. You should be in prepared when you head out." He didn't hear a reply from the other monster, so he craned his head back, Deuce still behind him. "Go make yourself some breakfast and get some rest before Thursday."
Deuce looked down sheepishly. "Yeah, I already made breakfast."
"Good." Heath turned away. "Just go ahead and—"
"For everyone."
Heath whipped his head back to face him. As much as he appreciated Deuce's desire to cook for the other monsters as their unofficial chef, it took out a lot of his energy—not something he should be doing when he had such a big job next week.
Heath closed his eyes for a moment and let out a frustrated sigh. "Whatever, dude, just eat and go back to sleep."
Deuce nodded, and headed away from him, leaving him alone again.
Solidarity was a rarity for Heath. His peace ended the day Monster High fell. The normies helped the group of monsters a lot, but as soon as they vanished, he had acted frantically from fear, causing everyone to believe he had his head on straight. But he liked waking up early so that he could have some alone time, which was exactly what he was doing until he was interrupted. He remembered when he used to crave attention, but now monsters came to him instead of the other way around. It exhausted him. It surprised him when they decided to leave him in charge, but once he got things running around the camp, he realized how much everyone trusted him.
Heath didn't think he changed much in the past years, which was partially true. The fire elemental had become more focused, controlling his flames so much so that his hair hadn't caught fire in years—there was just nothing to be excited about nowadays. Also, why light his hair when he could concentrate his energy on a finger? But, sometimes, his self-control would cause him grief. His dad would've been proud.
Many monsters were impressed with his repression and how much more attentive he had become, but Heath didn't see much of a change because he didn't feel different at all. Sure, he was controlled and alert, but underneath his mindful and slightly stoic exterior, he was still the same Heath. Not as clumsy as he once was but still the same goofy Heath whenever it came down to it.
These monsters had always been classmates but now they were like family—that was enough for Heath. He lost his parents like everyone else, bringing them all closer, not to mention that they lived together day and night. Even though he knew the rest of the world was unaffected by the things the Queen had done—besides the magical realm-separation dome, which Heath believed was the Queen's doing—the monsters here were affected by what she did because it was what they cared about.
They weren't going to stand for it.
Then again, there was the disappearance of the legendary, more ancient monsters, which included the second generation's parents. But that happened before the Queen came to power. The entire monster world was affected by that but they moved past it, ushering a new era not much different from the last one—there were no normies, after all.
"Hey." Another voice interrupted Heath's thoughts.
"What?" he asked, turning to look over his shoulder. There stood Gory Fangtell and Bram Devein, wearing the most proper clothing they could find at the camp and a black umbrella held up between the two of them. Even though Gory and Bram stuck more to their own kind, the vampire queen, Elissabat, was lost beneath the rubble of Monster High, so they decided to stay with this group of monsters.
But sometimes, because he was the "camp manager", Heath would pass by the rooms at night and Gory's room would be empty. He'd follow a trail of blood to Bram's room and overhear the two talking, and sometimes crying, about how they let their unlives slip away. Sometimes their voices would sound slurred and dreary like they were drunk. Heath always let them have their time instead of interfering. They had an opportunity to move on, have an unlife, but they'd come too far to turn back.
"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?" Gory asked, her jet-black hair tangled and messy like she had just woken up. Even her glasses were crooked.
"Everyone's heading to the dining pavilion," Bram said beside her.
"They're awake already?" Heath whined.
"Not everyone, but mostly everyone," Gory clarified, already starting to walk away from Heath and dragging the umbrella away from her blond boyfriend.
"Deuce cooked it," Bram said dryly, a vague attempt at trying to convince him to join them.
Heath turned away and sighed, standing up from his seated position.
The two vampires smiled at his actions, Bram linking arms with Gory as they headed toward the dining pavilion.
Heath groaned under his breath and followed after them. It was a short walk to the dining pavilion—a short walk everywhere in the camp, really. It wasn't small, the buildings were just spacious, save the bedrooms, which could be considered spacious as well but only because they hardly had anything other than a bed and a dresser.
Heath had made it halfway to the dining pavilion when a ghoul's soft voice reached his ears.
"We're back!"
Heath smiled at the sound of Iris' voice. "Well," he mused, looking at Iris' bright green eye, "three days and you're still cheerful as ever. I don't know what we'd do without you."
Iris smiled. "I don't know what I'd do without me either," she teased. Heath couldn't help but smile. Iris, like most of the rebels, had become like family. He was glad she came back safely.
Lagoona, Rochelle, Venus, and a group of monsters walked behind Iris. Heath counted twelve heads, but he couldn't see all the ones in the back. The twins, and Operetta and... Johnny Spirit. Heath didn't want to focus on the ghost, recalling how embarrassingly terrified he was of him in high school. Heath recognized everyone there, but as his eyes scanned the group, he caught sight of a familiar white-haired ghoul. Heath's breath caught in his throat, a mix of apprehension and felicity washing over him. He heard someone gasp but paid no mind to it.
"Oh my ghoul," Iris said.
Heath's eyes still tried to catch those of the ghoul he hadn't seen in years.
"Heath!" Lagoona cried out.
He jerked his head toward the sea monster, her expression uneasy and her eyes full of surprise. A smile attempted to take over her lips. Heath glanced at the faces of the other ghouls next to her, all equally surprised. "What's the big—?"
That was when he smelled smoke. "Oh sh—!"
There was a sudden commotion when we had all made it to the camp. I couldn't tell what it was from where I stood behind the rest of the monsters. But when I peered over their heads, I noticed a small plume of smoke rising in the air. I poked Operetta's shoulder in front of me.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Heath's hair's on fire," she said while glancing back at me. "Dunno what's the big deal 'bout it."
"Heath?" No way was the guy I saw Heath. He wasn't, he didn't look—
Operetta grinned. I bet my thoughts showed clearly on my face. "I know right? Five years done him good." Oh my ghoul. "His voice sounds smoother too, dontcha think?"
"Well, deeper, I guess," I responded charily, really unsure what to make of this.
"Mm, that too. And he's taller," Operetta said, turning her head forward again.
I decided to turn right and walk around the group of monsters I had arrived with, bumping into Abbey as I walked out.
"Abbey," I called to her softly. She glanced over at me and I continued, "That's Heath. Can you believe it?"
She didn't seem as giddy as I was. She seemed a little uneasy. "No," she said, shrugging me off and looking in front of her.
I was confused with her lack of enthusiasm—I mean, it's been five years and it's Abbey but come on something. Then I noticed her bite her lip as she stood on her tiptoes looking over the heads of the other monsters. I smiled to myself. She was totally excited.
I walked around the other monsters and made my way to the front of the group. Iris was trying not to smile as Rochelle's hand was raised to her mouth and Lagoona started laughing, Venus giggling beside her. Heath looked frantic and embarrassed, a look that confirmed my suspicions that, yes, this monster was indeed Heath.
"Lagoona?" I asked the monster to my left. "Um, why is Heath's hair being on fire making you laugh? Why does everyone look so surprised?"
Lagoona put a webbed hand on her chest to stop her laughter. "He... he just hasn't done that in years," she giggled.
"Years?" I questioned, completely stunned.
Lagoona nodded, becoming more serious. "He's really learned to control himself," she stated. "It really shocked us seeing this just now." She glanced back at Venus. "But now it's clearer than water as to why!" she giggled and Venus smiled and rolled her eyes, looking back at Heath.
I did the same and saw the flames on Heath's head begin to die down. He stared off toward the group and ran a hand through his hair, tiny flames still flickering about in it. I followed his gaze to... Abbey. She was still peering over the heads of the other monsters until her eyes abruptly widened and she stood still for a second. I glanced back at Heath, a soft smile starting to form on his face. I looked back to Abbey, only to see her hastily duck back down behind the group. Heath's face fell and he stood there for a moment, his hand still in his hair, now fire-free.
"Heath?" Lagoona called, the fire elemental swiftly turning his attention to her.
"Yeah?" he replied, clearing his throat as he regained his composure; still looking away.
Lagoona giggled. I guessed she knew what Heath was so worked up about. "We have good news," she began. "We found Cleo!" Really? They found her—Wait.
Heath broke his gaze and swiveled his head over in my direction, his eyes locking with mine. I swallowed. Now I understood why Abbey got so nervous making eye contact with him. His eyes widened and he abruptly clutched the sides of his head with his hands.
"Damnit! And I just told Deuce to go to sleep!" he burst out in frustration.
Lagoona gasped. "That's right, she needs to see Deuce."
Deuce, Cleo's boyfriend, was here, which wasn't a big deal except for the itty bitty issue of a lab experiment ghoul being trapped in her body. No big.
I tried to sound excited. "Deuce! Seeing him sounds volta—I mean, um, great. It sounds great." My cheeks grew hot, embarrassed at my slip up. Luckily, no one seemed to notice.
"You're gonna have to see him later," Heath said as he approached me. Huh. He did get taller. "I, uh, sent him to bed kinda early. I think he stayed up late yesterday."
"Again?" Rochelle piped in, clearly frustrated.
Heath nodded. "I can't control that guy."
"Did I hear y'all right?" Operetta made her way to the front with the rest of us, standing beside Rochelle. "Deuce is here?" she asked. Rochelle nodded and Operetta clapped her hands together. "Killer! Now, I got another question..." she said, putting a hand on her hip. "Have the past five years been good to the rest of the guys? Please don't tell me it's just flame brain here."
Heath looked like he was trying to be offended, which seemed to be a hard task considering his face had turned bright red. Then a grin slowly spread across his face. "Smoking, aren't I?"
Operetta ignored him. "Glad to see you haven't changed," she muttered. "Is everyone here eating?" she asked, baffled.
I glanced over to see a roof held up by thick, brick pillars where monsters enjoyed breakfast seated on an abundance of picnic tables. On one smaller side was the place where monsters were served food—like a creepateria, except this food looked much more... tolerable.
"Yeah, everyone's eating breakfast," Heath told her.
"Breakfast? Just how early did we leave?" I heard a werecat sister hiss.
"Relax, Meowlody," Purrsephone coaxed.
"We're all tired and hungry from the walk," Venus stated, "so I guess we should go ahead and eat with the others." Then she glanced over at Meowlody. "And we left at five this morning," she told her smugly.
We agreed with Venus and followed Heath, Lagoona, and to the dining area. We grabbed some plates and silverware and waited in line until we got our meals. We all sat at conjoined tables together, Heath looking surprisingly calm sitting next to Johnny—I didn't forget how scared of him he used to be. Lagoona sat on the other side of Heath and Venus sat beside her. I sat between Abbey and Operetta, in front of Heath. The rest of the ghouls sat further down the table, with Meowlody and Purrsephone at the end.
"Cleo's memory is kinda fuzzy," Lagoona told Heath. "She remembers people but not much of her life."
Heath turned his attention toward me. "You do remember Deuce, right?" he asked.
I nodded.
"So do I!" Viperine exclaimed beside Operetta. "When can I see my cousin?"
"Soon," Heath assured her.
"Hold on a second," Operetta said on my right, "Cleo has amnesia?"
"It's getting better," I told her.
"So you know who I am?"
"Of corpse!"
She seemed to take that as enough of an answer and continued eating.
"How'd you find her?" Heath asked.
"Oh, I know," Iris interjected shyly from the other end of the table. She got up from her spot and filled Heath in about how I woke up in a sarcophagus and everything after that, informing all the other monsters that didn't know about my predicament as well.
"So Abbey found her?" Heath noted, glancing at the frozen ghoul on my left who looked really focused on her meal.
"Yeah," Iris said, returning to her seat.
Abbey continued shoveling servings into her mouth, Heath trying to get a response from her.
"Heath," Lagoona broke in, "mind if I show them where they can stay while they're here?"
Heath cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. We have enough rooms."
"I'll be sure to show them when they're done eating," she said.
I had finished, so I looked around the dining area—I heard someone mention it was called the "dining pavilion". I recognized a lot of faces. It was a lot easier to recognize the ghouls over the guys. Who knew they could change so much within five years?
My heart almost burst when I saw Draculaura. She hadn't been lost like Clawdeen thought! Robecca came to sit beside her; she looked like she was limping. I also saw Gory and Bram. They didn't look any different, but I noticed they were the only couple there. I also noticed Slo-Mo amble in and take a seat.
Then I saw Jackson walk in. I almost didn't recognize him. He looked the same, but older and his hair was clean cut. He still wore glasses and yellow, and he looked taller even though he still walked with a slouch.
Toralei walked in soon after, her tail swaying jovially. Her hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail. She had a sort of skip to her walk; she looked really happy. I wondered why. Toralei took a seat next to Jackson once they had gotten their meals, and they chatted excitedly to one another. Soon, other monsters joined them.
"Since when did they become so popular?" I murmured, curious.
"You missed out."
I almost jumped out of my seat at the voice behind me.
"Hey cous'," Heath said, acknowledging the monster behind me.
Wait, his cousin? I looked back to where Jackson was sitting, still talking with a group of monsters.
Operetta looked over her shoulder. "Been a while friend o' mine. Years been good to you, I see."
I shifted around on the bench.
"Good to see you, too, buddy," Holt said.
Wait.
I glanced back over at Jackson, then Holt. Lagoona laughed when she noticed.
"Told you you'd be in for a surprise!" she giggled.
"They're separated?" I whispered over to her.
She nodded. "It's a long story," she said simply.
Lagoona was right. If I thought seeing Jackson was a surprise, Holt was a whole other story. He was recognizable up close, yet older. He clearly hadn't been doing the same things as Jackson had these past five years. Lagoona mentioned Jackson being like a scientist, so I assumed Holt did the opposite around here. But I noticed both of them didn't have the eyebrow piercing they had when they were younger.
His clothes were much simpler than they were in high school, and his fiery hair seemed almost shaggy. But what surprised me most about him was his lack of headphones. I knew he had become separated from Jackson, but Holt loved having his music with him. I really wanted to know what happened.
"You guys just get here?" he asked.
"Yeah," Venus replied.
Holt nodded, and then looked down at me. "What happened to Cleo?" How was I supposed to know?—Wait. I really should be used to being called by Cleo's name and not my own.
Abbey turned around and filled him in as quickly as she could.
He shrugged. "Okay, good." His lack of enthusiastic yells was bothering me. What happened?
"Did you eat already, Holt?" Heath asked.
Holt nodded. "I just came to tell you that the fire in the kitchen isn't dying out. I could use some help."
Heath gave a quick nod of his head and rose up from his seat to follow Holt to the building attached to the dining pavilion.
"Why not be using water?" Abbey asked Lagoona.
"Fire elemental thing," Lagoona stated. "They're sorta fire-proof but since Heath is full fire elemental and completely in control nowadays, he can soothe external fires, too," she told her. "Just calm them down."
"But what of earlier?" Abbey asked. "His hair lit up on fire."
Lagoona grinned. "We all know why that happened, love."
Abbey blushed and started playing with the fork on her plate.
"If you guys are done with your meals," Venus called, "I can take the plates over to the bin. We reuse them." We complied and the plant monster took our plates.
"Is it just me," Honey said, "or do the guys look really good since when we last saw them?"
"Not just you," Viperine said. "Time is a blessing."
"You can say that again," Operetta said.
"Getting tired of me already?" Johnny teased.
Operetta rolled her eyes. "Just be glad you came along, ghost boy," she teased back.
"But don't you think it's weird," Purrsephone began, "that Holt was with us for over a minute and he acted so... not Holt?"
The rest of us nodded.
"He seemed fine the last time I saw him," Operetta said. "It was before everything, but he was alright."
"Huh," Lagoona broke in. "I guess he has changed since then. I never really noticed."
"Was it whatever separated them?" I asked.
"No, I don't think so," Venus said as she walked back to our table. "I think it was everything that happened while you were asleep," she told me.
I nodded. The wrecked world had taken its toll on everyone.
"You're right!" Lagoona exclaimed. "We all stuck together, but Holt wasn't as close to anyone here as the rest of us were."
"And Jackson didn't spend very much time with him," Rochelle said. "They avoided each other."
"Alright, I'm back," Heath said as he came back over to us, sitting across from me. "Hey..." he said while looking down at the table, "where's my plate?"
"Sorry," Venus squeaked beside Lagoona.
Heath glared at her. "I wasn't done."
"You looked done!" she retorted.
"You should at least ask while I'm—"
"Heath," Lagoona interrupted; he quickly quieted and she continued, "could I show them their rooms now?"
Heath nodded in response.
"Hey wait," Purrsephone called, "we wanna talk to Toralei."
"Yeah," Meowlody said across from her.
Lagoona waved them off and the werecat sisters scurried over to their old friend, her green eyes wide and her face a mix of joy and surprise. Jackson and the others just looked uncomfortable.
"Um, you ghouls are looking good after, uh, everything," Heath remarked.
Operetta shrugged as she stood up. "I know."
"It's been a long time," Heath was looking at Abbey again, who was once again being unresponsive. Then he looked over at me. "You don't look much different, Cleo."
"My body was preserved," I replied automatically. Also, this body is thousands of years old already.
"Right, right," he mumbled.
"Are you two done?" Lagoona called out to the twins.
They ignored her and continued hammering Toralei with questions.
"Were you here this whole time?"
"Why'd you grow your hair out?"
"Ponytail? Really?"
"What's up with the nerd?"
"Did he always look so good?"
"Purrsephone!"
"I'm just saying!"
"If you ghouls don't come here," Lagoona warned, "you won't have anywhere to sleep tonight."
The twins reluctantly split from Toralei and came over to us.
Lagoona smiled, satisfied. "Follow me."
Lagoona led us to three buildings. Two big ones with a small one in between; the large ones made from wood and the small one made from brick. The small brick one was the bathroom, split from the left for guys and the right for ghouls. The building to the left was the guys' rooms, so Lagoona showed Johnny where he would be staying before she showed us ours in the ghouls' building on the right. Lagoona called it the ghouls' cabin. It was just a long hallway with doors leading left and right. The building didn't have much of a foundation so there was some grass seeping through the wooden floor planks. The rooms all looked the same but the flooring seemed to be better there than in the hallway, so no grass peeped through the floors. There was one window in each of them.
Lagoona led me to my room at the end of the corridor. She informed me that there were spare clothes in the dresser in case I needed them and that the "laundromat" (which she clarified that it wasn't much of one) was just an area behind the bathrooms in case I needed to wash my clothes. The only spare shoes in my room were a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of sandals. Lagoona opened a drawer and set a small clock on the dresser that apparently ran on batteries small enough to sneak out of the city with. She told me lunch hour was at noon, dinner was at six, breakfast would be at seven-thirty tomorrow, and Heath checked on all the rooms before midnight on a regular day. Lagoona also explained there wasn't any air conditioning, so I'd have to cope with that. Then she left—probably to fill in the other ghouls.
My room was the same size as the others with wooden walls and wooden floors like the rest. Little glass covered candles hung all over the room for light, unlike in the hallway. There was a twin size mattress in the left corner on a metal frame that lacked sheets and blankets, so I scoured the dresser. I found some, but they didn't match, and I cringed at the color clash once I put them on. I guess blue plaid and orange didn't look that bad together, just weird. There was also a pillow in the dresser, so I put that on the bed too.
I didn't know what to do, so I lay on the bed, staring at the wooden dresser, its white paint faded and chipped off. When I checked it for clothes they weren't all that bad, just simpler than what we'd wear back at Monster High.
I didn't know what to think about the situation anymore. Right now I was just going through the motions, trying not to think about how bad it was that I wasn't in my own body.
A knock sounded on my door.
"Come in..?" I called out cautiously.
The door swung open, Holt standing in the hallway. I was really confused as to why Holt Hyde wanted to visit Cleo de Nile until:
"I brought someone who wanted to see you."
Deuce appeared beside him, his tired face soon overtaken with joy.
"You're here," he said quietly.
He stood frozen in the doorway until Holt nudged him in the room and shut the door, leaving Deuce alone with me. I felt really uncomfortable. It was great to see Deuce, he looked a bit older and just as good as the rest of the guys, but he thought I was his long-lost ghoulfriend and not one of his beasties.
So...
Awkward.
It was completely silent in my room.
He cleared his throat. "Holt told me you had amnesia..?"
I nodded. "But I remember you."
He smiled and sighed, relieved. "That's great," he said, approaching where I sat on my bed.
I pulled back a bit and his face fell. I'm glad his sunglasses covered his eyes—I didn't like seeing him upset.
"Sorry," he said, crestfallen, "it must be a lot to take in," he sat next to me on the edge of the bed, "being asleep and then waking up to all this with hardly any memory."
I smiled. It was nice that Deuce was concerned about me. He was probably the first one that understood the situation I was in. Well, besides the whole body-swap thing, that is.
He grinned when he noticed me smiling. He reached out for my hands but stopped himself. "Do you mind?" he asked warily.
Frankie Stein shouldn't... But Cleo should, and that's who I was trapped in right now. I nodded and he smiled, gently grasping my hands.
"Wow," he breathed, "you haven't changed a bit, Cleo," he said, softly rubbing circles on my hands with his thumbs. I hated to admit that I was enjoying it.
"You look..." I began. What was could I say that didn't sound suggestive? "...older," I finally said.
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do." He looked down at himself. "But I look good, right?"
I nodded and he grinned.
"You look tired," I remarked.
He sighed. "Yeah, I haven't been getting much sleep lately."
"Why?"
"I guess I'm kinda nervous. I have a thing coming up."
"What kind of thing?"
"It's called the search," he told me. "A group of us went missing about a week ago and we've been trying to find them."
"Who's missing?"
"Uh, I don't know if you'll remember but," he started slowly, "Jinafire Long, Jane Boolittle, and Clawd Wolf."
So that's what happened to Clawd. At least I knew that he and Draculaura weren't gone. Poor Clawdeen... She's been so worried about them.
"Do you think the Queen has them imprisoned?" I asked.
He shook his head. "We sent them the other way, the opposite side of the camp. It was full of normie stuff but now it's empty, 'cause of that magical dome thing that split the universes or whatever. We wanted to find out what's out there. That's why we sent out a group."
I nodded solemnly, taking in the possibility that they weren't faring well.
"Can we talk about something else?" Deuce asked carefully.
I smiled, relieved that he wanted to avoid the grim topic. "Do you still cook?" I asked. Deuce was the best student in home ick, so I hoped he did.
He nodded. "Yeah. I cooked the breakfast this morning, actually."
"Really? It was fangtastic!" I praised.
He glanced away bashfully. "Thanks." Then he turned back to me, gripping my hands gently when he stopped rubbing them with his thumbs. "If you ever need anything, Cleo," he said earnestly, "I'm here."
My body relaxed at his words but my mind was going berserk. This was a tough situation but, his ghoulfriend or not, I trusted Deuce. I was glad he'd be there for me.
But just how much longer can I keep this up?
