Seeing her wasn't a surprise to me, but her condition was shocking. Ghoulia was an undead zombie but never had she actually appeared dead. Her typical outfit was unkempt on her nearly skeletal frame, and her eyes were sunken into her pale, haggard face.
"Ghoulia!" Robecca unwittingly ran toward the zombie, her right leg limping until she reached her. "I thought..." She abruptly hugged the bedraggled ghoul.
Ghoulia was startled but returned the robot ghoul's embrace. She moaned in Zombie, "It feels like ages since I've last seen you."
I approached them as Robecca retracted herself.
"Five years, in fact," she said.
Ghoulia's brows furrowed. "Years?" She noticed me beside Robecca and took a step back. "Cleo?" Scrutiny appeared in her teal eyes. "Something is off about you."
I stiffened but forced a smile. "It's so great to see you, Ghoulia!" I reached my arms out to hug her, but she took another step back.
Robecca seemed to sense the sudden tension and laughed softly. "Don't worry, Ghoulia," she assured. "Something... happened to Cleo and she doesn't remember anything about herself. Luckily, she remembers other monsters from her unlife."
Ghoulia's eyes narrowed and she looked straight at me. "From what I see, this ghoul knows exactly who she is. Observing her for mere seconds gives enough away already."
I grimaced. The hostility in her eyes sent chills up my spine. Was it that obvious? I swallowed. Somehow, Ghoulia knew I wasn't who I appeared to be.
"Uh, hey," Holt cut in. "Great to see you, Ghoulia, but," he looked over toward the bookshelves, "we're here to find some book on mind reading." He glanced back at Ghoulia. "Know where we can find one in here?"
Ghoulia staggered back onto the staircase, dumbfounded. "He looks so old..."
He chuckled. "It's the lighting in here, isn't it?" He closed his eyes until his hair flared into a soft orange light.
The zombie ghoul let out an alarmed moan and fell back onto the railing.
Holt cursed and instantly snuffed out the light. "Whoa, hey—"
Robecca reached out to Ghoulia and grabbed her shoulders. "Ghoulia," her voice wavered, "relax. We just need help finding a book."
The zombie ghoul shook her head fiercely, her eyes wild and Zombie moans incoherent. "Never leave. Never leave. Have to fix... time... Time, time, time..." Her whole body trembled and she clutched her head with her hands.
I could hardly make out what she was saying. Fix time? Time... I swept my gaze around the room, my eyes settling on the time teleporter in the center of the lab. I made my way toward the raised platform. On it laid an array of tools and paper with notes scribbled on them. When I took a closer look, I noticed they were written in Ghoulia's handwriting. If she was here since the school crashed, working in the lab...
"She was trying to fix the past," I thought aloud. I turned back to the others. "Ghoulia was trying to manipulate the time teleporter," I told them as I walked back. "She wanted to change what happened so that it never did."
"Then the Queen cut the power surrounding the city," Robecca said, catching on. "So she couldn't get it to work."
"But I have to."
We gazed back at Ghoulia. She sat on the stair step and stared somberly at the ground.
"I can't leave," she moaned bitterly. "Not until I make it work. I have to... I have to..." She held her face in her hands, and her moans came out muffled, "I won't leave until I fix it." She sounded determined, but she wouldn't look back up at us.
I hesitantly reached my hand out. "Ghoulia..."
She snapped her gaze back up to me, her icy eyes clouded with a grave sadness. "Find your book," she moaned. "Then you must go." Ghoulia slowly rose and trudged back up the stairs.
"We're not just leaving you!" I said defiantly. "There are so many monsters back at the camp that miss you! Even Slo-Mo—"
But she wouldn't listen. I called out to her in desperation. My throat grew dry as I shouted her name, and soon I felt tears streaming down my face. Why wouldn't she turn around?
"Cleo."
I felt Robecca's metallic hand resting on my shoulder. I looked back at her; mournful regret filled her eyes.
"We can't help her."
Above ground, Operetta was tapping her foot impatiently, her arms crossed. "'Keep watch'," she muttered under her breath. "Yeah, right."
"Could you stop that, please?"
Operetta shifted her gaze down toward Jackson, who was sitting cross-legged on the grass.
"It's kind of distracting," he admitted, pointing at her foot. Operetta quit fidgeting, and the soft thumping of her foot on the ground ceased.
"Sorry," she grumbled. She sighed heavily and lowered herself onto the grass. She looked up at the gray sky, glad that she had chosen a cotton jacket over a leather one. It was too warm and she had been wearing it around her waist since they had descended the mountain. Operetta closed her eyes and tried to recall her unlife before she got herself into this. Her days in the city were pleasant, she loved her apartment, but each hour was dragged out and unchanging from the day before. Now—when something interesting had finally happened—she was told to keep watch. She dug her fingers into the dirt.
As soon as the others had left, Operetta had talked to Jackson, who spent more time skimming through his newly acquired books than listening to her. The only time he contributed to the one-sided conversation was when Operetta asked about his separation with Holt, and Jackson stumbled over his words trying to explain until she dismissed the question entirely, and he huffed a relieved sigh.
The air grew silent, and Operetta begrudgingly opened her eyes. Jackson stared intently at the book in his lap.
The musical ghoul peered over the normie's shoulder. "Whatcha lookin' at there?" A frown creased her brows. "Thought you were finding books for science-y stuff back at camp," she said, "not some book on, what, statues?"
Jackson rolled his eyes. "It's a book on ancient relics," he explained. "I saw it and thought it'd be a nice change of pace. There's hardly any entertainment back at the camp, anyway."
"Well, there was that party the other night."
Jackson shrugged apathetically. "Eh."
"Mm," Operetta chided. "How come you stopped all your page flippin' then?"
Jackson brought his index finger to the center of the page. "This reminds me of something..."
Operetta squinted at the page, trying to make the words out. She gave up with a huff. "Jackson, I can't read gibberish."
"It's Greek," he noted. "It says 'Charm of Suffering' and 'Amulet of Ruin'. They're Egyptian talismans." He pointed at a sketch of a diamond-shaped stone and another beside it resembling a necklace. "Apparently they work together."
Operetta was taken aback. "You know Greek, Jackson?"
"No," he raised an eyebrow. "This book isn't that old." He pointed at the text. "It says right here. This word means 'suffering' and this one means 'ruin'."
The red-haired ghoul chuckled sheepishly. "Oh." Then she recomposed herself. "So what'a they remind you of?"
"Well," he frowned in thought. "I think it reminds me of what's happened these past few years..." His eyes scanned the page. "Someone must have used these two relics to separate the monster world from the human world. The description of the spell the amulet casts sounds just like the dome of light that appeared in the sky."
Operetta scrutinized the text. "So how does the charm work with it?"
The human furrowed his brows. "The amulet's spell can't work unless the charm's spell is cast—that's how they work together. It says the charm alone grants luck to its caster."
"Great," Operetta scoffed. "So whoever split the monsters and normies is now the luckiest monster in the world."
"Actually," Jackson cut in, "they're probably asleep. This states that the use of this charm is risky because, if cast for a selfish cause, the spell backfires and curses the caster into a deep sleep..." Jackson frowned, and his blue eyes narrowed. He thumbed through the pages.
"Whatcha lookin' for now?" the Phantom's daughter asked.
"I read somewhere about something that—Here." He pointed at a sketch of what appeared to be a man, his arms raised up in the air as his hands harshly clutched what seemed to be an entwined pair of snakes. "It's an idol of the Egyptian god of magic, Heka," he explained. "This god is associated with the Ka, the part of the soul the ancient Egyptians believed embodied personality; 'the person's entity' it says." He flipped to the next page. "If a group of people is 'inflicted by magic' it'll cleanse them of it altogether as if spells were never cast on them at all."
Operetta's eyebrows furrowed together. "I'm not following you."
Jackson looked up in thought. "Say a witch casts a permanent spell on a human family and turns them into frogs." He pointed at the page. "If this idol was used on them, they'd all be back to normal."
The ghoul tilted her head. "Back in their non-frog bodies?"
Jackson nodded. "Exactly." He closed the book and grinned. "It's amazing what ancient peoples believed, isn't it?"
Operetta raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe it?"
He grimaced "Well, not exactly. I mean, someone could've separated the worlds with the amulet and charm but I don't think this idol could magically fix magical spells cast on people." He tucked the book into his knapsack beside him. "The idol just makes it too... easy. There has to be more to it."
The musical ghoul let out a short laugh. "Like a curse?" She leaned across him and tugged the book back out of his knapsack. "Maybe you missed where it said it..." She held the book open in her lap.
Jackson let out an irritated sigh. "It wasn't specific," he explained. "It said something like—"
"Found it!" Operetta ran a lilac finger along the page. "Says here that 'no matter the intention, the use of this idol will burden its caster, damned to wander in darkness'..." She glanced back up at Jackson and scoffed. "That ain't ominous at all."
"I can't make out what it means though," he sighed exasperatedly. "The others are so much more straightforward," he complained. "The charm's curse is sleeping forever, the amulet's curse is memory loss—"
"Hold on," Operetta shut the book and dust swirled into the air, "did you just say memory loss? Like, amnesia-type memory loss?"
Jackson's eyebrows raised as the realization came to him. "Amnesia... You don't think that..?" He frowned thoughtfully. "The book said that the Amulet of Ruin was really strong... It's possible that casting the spell might've had her asleep for so long... The power was too much..."
Operetta nodded in agreement. "And nobody else used Egyptian relics like—"
The ground beneath the two trembled. They looked behind themselves and saw a gravestone quiver until the patch of land beneath it escalated from the ground to reveal a tall cage. The quaking ceased and the barred door opened to reveal Cleo de Nile.
Jackson eagerly got onto his feet, but Operetta spoke before he had the chance.
"Hey, y'all," the ghoul called as she rose to greet them. "How was the lab? Find what y'all were lookin' for?"
The earth rumbled as the cage sunk underground until the gravestone was level with the terrain once more. The three monsters were silent and stared at the ground with glazed eyes.
Operetta frowned in concern, surprised at their forlorn expressions. "What's gotcha down?" she laughed lightly, hoping to bring up their spirits. "It looks like y'all lost your school crest or somethin'."
Jackson took hesitant steps toward them.
"Cleo," he acknowledged. "I know you have amnesia but," he held the book out in front of her, "does any of this look familiar to you?" He pointed at the page. "Do you think this is how you lost your memories?"
Cleo's cyan eyes scanned the page and suddenly widened. She bit her lip and looked to the side.
"Um, maybe," she squeaked. Her eyebrows arched. "I mean, look here," she pointed toward the page, "it says this amulet separated the monster and human worlds." She attempted to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "I don't think I'm the kind of monster who'd want that to happen."
Operetta narrowed her eyes at the ghoul. Something was off. The musical ghoul opened her mouth to question Cleo, but reluctantly shut it when she saw two blue figures in the distance.
"Bad news, ghouls."
I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Lagoona call out to us. She and Abbey rushed across the lawn. I swiftly abandoned Jackson and jogged over to her.
A grimace pulled at her lips. "We couldn't find the lantern." She looked over to the rest of us and her frown deepened. "What's the matter?" She turned her green eyes toward me. "Something wrong?"
I looked down. "Nothing," I replied solemnly. I glanced at the group and moved ahead. "This is enough. Let's get going."
-.-.-.-
We had made it considerably far from the school when it started raining. Lagoona suggested we'd stop at Bloodgood's house since it was closer. Brisk water streamed down to the earth and my neck habitually twitched as I walked. Cleo de Nile didn't have neck bolts. My head throbbed with the thought of how real my situation was, and my chest ached with a desire to fix it.
I rushed to the house as soon as I saw it. I hurriedly twisted the slippery knob and hopped inside as the others did the same.
Jackson looked just as relieved as I felt, and instantly sat down on the nearest chair but only Lagoona seemed pleased with the rain. We were all soaked, and our hair hung heavily from our heads. Operetta seethed as she stomped in, and her face twisted into an irritated grimace. I had never seen her hair without the effects of hairspray. Holt looked almost as frustrated, and hastily brushed water droplets off his dark leather jacket. Robecca winced as her joints creaked when she sat down on an armchair. I sat on the couch beside Abbey, who sourly ran her fingers through her hair and flicked off some water.
Lagoona scooted on the couch beside me. "So what's the plan, Cleo?" she asked.
I brought my hand to my mouth and coughed. "Plan?"
The sea ghoul tilted her head from side to side. "What's the mission you got in your head?"
"Oh, right..." I scanned the group, and my eyes met each one of theirs. They looked back at me plaintively, beads of water trickled down their faces. Their exhausted breaths rang louder than the rain pattering at the windowpanes. I exhaled and closed my eyes.
"There was never a mission."
Lagoona laughed lightly in disbelief. "What?"
"It was just an excuse," I couldn't bring myself to look at her. "I need help, so I have to do this."
I heard Lagoona laugh again. "Why didn't you say that in the first place, love?"
My eyes snapped open. She looked amused and shook her head.
"We all would've helped you, Cleo," Lagoona said. "No matter what."
"I don't see why we wouldn't," Robecca added.
"Well," Holt began, "I had to come 'cause—Ow!"
Operetta snickered as Holt winced from her jab. She rolled her head in my direction. "Just tell us what to do now, darlin'."
I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I relaxed on the couch and scanned the group, all drenched and exhausted. "Maybe we should take a break," I said. "I think we all need it."
"Sounds good to me..." Holt flopped down on the floor.
The rest of us were less abrupt and dried off before we got comfortable. Eventually, I fell asleep.
-.-.-.-
I was the first wake up. I watched as the rain hit the windowpane, lazier and lazier as time passed. Until it ceased. The others woke soon after.
"Yo," Holt slurred out from the carpeted floor. "The rain stopped."
"It's about time we eat, then," Lagoona stood up and moved toward the front door. "I'll get the food from the garage."
Everyone was silent. I thought back to the sarcophagus we left at Abbey's cave. My mind reeled at the thought of Cleo trapped in there. I exhaled deeply. I could spend my unlife in Cleo's body, and that was okay, but there's no way I would turn my back on my friends. Even if I couldn't fix the biggest problems of this world, I knew that, someday, I would be truly happy in it.
A scream pierced the silence.
Abbey jumped to her feet the second Operetta frantically ran out the den and opened the front door. Holt hastily pushed past her and Jackson followed. Operetta didn't bother being irritated and rushed out behind them.
Cool metal gripped my wrist. "Come on!" Robecca eyes were filled with fear as she hurriedly helped me to my feet. She hovered out the opening as I numbly ambled after her.
Humid air engulfed my senses as I stepped onto the moist dirt. I followed the hiss of Robecca's boots until I saw everyone pacing aimlessly about the yard. Where did that scream come from?
I took a step back. Maybe I could try searching for whoever screamed somewhere else. I turned my back to the others and made my way to the stables. A soft humming noise filled my ears. I took cautious steps toward it until I realized it was the sound of an engine. The noise grew louder as I moved past the stables and saw a sleek black motorcycle; an identical one right beside it.
I almost slipped as I scurried back to the others. "There's—!"
Another scream sounded, and we immediately ran to the source.
The area wasn't wooded, so it was easy to see what lay before us. I glimpsed over the heads of the other monsters and saw Lagoona until she was yanked out of sight. A vampire in a black uniform dragged her toward him.
Lagoona gripped a can of food in each hand as she struggled against him. There was ferocity in her eyes. "Let me go!" The sea ghoul's voice trembled and she futilely threw a can.
The vampire snickered. "Oh, I don't know." He clutched Lagoona's wrists above her head and she struggled against his chest, desperately trying to free herself. "You're very pretty."
"Hey!" Operetta opened her mouth to let out a scream, but instead, she stiffened. The others attempted to move but suddenly ended up in the same predicament.
The vampire's blue eyes met mine and lips morphed into a sly grin. "Looks like you've escaped your death sentence."
I took a step toward him but I was stopped short like all the others. There was only one other vampire I knew who could control enough to immobilize monsters, but last I heard he had lost his powers. My breath caught in my throat and I could feel my palms start to sweat. All I could do now was watch.
The vampire tightened his grip on Lagoona and she let out a strained yelp.
"You shouldn't waste time like that, Adrian."
Valentine.
His eyes blazed red. Was this all it took for him to control us? He strode up to Adrian with an impatient look on his face. There was a steely look in his eyes and faint excitement in his voice when he caught my gaze. "Well, look what we have here..." He took slow steps toward me. "You weren't supposed to have left the palace, darlin'."
Adrian's grip on Lagoona loosened. "Forget about her."
Valentine scoffed. "Like you'll forget about the sea ghoul? You're wasting your time."
The other vampire scowled. "We gotta find the rebel camp, don't we?" Adrian allowed himself a wry smile and nestled her neck. "Smells good for a fish."
Valentine turned to face him. "We'll never find out where the rebel camp is if you..." He reached out his free hand and violently snatched Lagoona from him. "Ghouls are not toys!" he yelled, and Lagoona settled in his grip.
"Fine." Adrian stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned on his heel.
Valentine scurried after him. "You're not taking her?"
"There's no point," Adrian halfheartedly kicked at the ground. "You're too..." He sighed. "We're not gonna find the rebel camp, are we?" He glanced over at us. "Stop your hypnosis on them." He eyed me knowingly for a few seconds, and I could feel an anxious chill crawl up my spine. But he ignored me and turned around. "Let's get moving."
Valentine paused, still holding onto Lagoona's wrist. "Remember who's in charge here..."
Adrian let out a laugh. "Oh, that's rich." He glanced over his shoulder. "You barely follow the rules yourself. You don't think I know? The Queen would sure be interested in hearing all the times you've ignored her. All she cares about is her reputation," he seethed. "As long as she takes credit for the good stuff, right?"
Valentine stood still and silence passed. Then his fangs seized Lagoona's neck. She cried out. I tried to run to her, but all I could do was watch. She struggled until she barely could; then finally, Valentine released her and she collapsed onto the ground.
"Remember," he said, as he licked his lips, "who's in charge."
Adrian let out something resembling a laugh. "Maybe we can get the Queen to order us to do something, huh?"
Valentine sounded annoyed. "Unlikely." He walked out of view a second later and I could hear the faint sound of revving motors until the noise faded away completely.
I inhaled sharply when I regained control of my movements. "Lagoona!" I rushed to her side and the others crowded around me.
Operetta pressed her hand to her neck. "Barely there, but still breathin'." She looked at the rest of us. "She'll be okay."
