Chapter 5

We felt defeated as we walked with sloped shoulders back through the tunnels to Monster High. Our ears were still ringing from that painful noise. Something was wrong with Kiyomi, and Billy was out of his mind with worry for Scarah. He kept mumbling about how he should have stayed with her. We were all a little worried when we noticed we were the first team to return. I was just thankful that our whole team had returned.

"Do you see that?" Billy whispered to us. He was still ahead of us.

"I do." I tried whispering, but with my slight loss of hearing, it was hard to tell if I really was whispering.

There was some sort of moving orb of light in the distance. We, of course, assumed it was one of the others flagging us down with a flashlight. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief. If they were here before us, then maybe they didn't get attacked like we did. Billy picked up his pace. He must have been hoping to see Scarah behind that light.

"We're back!" Billy shouted. He was still carrying Kiyomi who lifted her head out of the crevice of Billy's arms.

"Billy, no." Kiyomi said, but not in a worried tone, just in a very factual way. "It's not her."

"I'm so glad you are all safe." Said a voice we weren't expecting to hear. There stood the headless headmistress. Her dark purple eyes communicated warmth, worry, and anger all at once. "Now, do you mind telling us what you were thinking?"

Behind her stood the imposing purple general. He had a very stiff face for a man created from slime. He looked down on us with his arms crossed. I thought for sure he would berate us like he probably would one of his soldiers.

"How is she?" General De Sludge asked. He took Kiyomi from Billy's arms and handed her off to one of the other soldiers behind him. "It looks like she's inhaled some of the solidifying agent," he said as he handed her over.

"Roger, sir. We'll use the extraction pump A-Sap!" The soldier who took Kiyomi replied and then dashed off with her. We couldn't see where he went, but it didn't look like he climbed the ladder to the ghoul's room.

"Do you know how dangerous those men are?" The general once again turned his attention on us. "They have created machines, chemicals, and weapons all designed to target monsters. Your friend is lucky to be alive!" His voice grew louder. I knew his words were definitely making me feel awful. Howleen even whimpered.

"You are to report to your rooms. You may wash up, but then you are to stay put." Headmistress Bloodgood ordered.

"Don't worry. We stationed two more guards to monitor the dorms. Don't any of you think about leaving again!" The general warned.

We walked passed them with our heads hanging. We knew that what we did was dangerous before we did it, but now we knew how right they were about the danger. Kiyomi could have been in worse shape, and Howleen almost got captured. Pawl reached for my hand. I held his tight. We were so lucky to be back together. We both looked at Billy.

"She'll be okay." I said to him. I knew he must be sick with worry about Scarah.

"Thanks, Prowla, but you saw what happened out there. We're lucky. I just hope Scarah and the others are just as lucky. How could I have let this happen?" Billy shook his head.

"None of this is your fault, man." Pawl insisted.

Just as we were climbing up the ladder leading to the ghoul's bathroom, we heard moaning and panting. Some of the others were coming back. We jumped down off the ladder and headed back over to where the headmistress and the soldiers were standing.

"Reow! We need a medic!" Toralei was shouting. She was carrying someone in her arms.

"Us too! He needs help!" Purrsephone urged.

"He's too heavy for us!" Meowlody added.

It became clearer that Toralei was carrying Spectra while Purrsephone and Meowlody were working together to carry Porter. The same yellow gas that turned Kiyomi solid must have hit them. Spectra and Porter were handed off to two other soldiers and they rushed passed us through a tunnel we hadn't noticed before. At that, Toralei fell to her knees in hysterical tears and we heard the headmistress and the general lecturing them in a similar fashion to how they had lectured us.

"I'll never do it again. I swear!" I heard Toralei plead. "It was not fun."

"Now go back to the dorms. Wash up, and go straight to bed." We heard the headmistress repeat.

Toralei walked over to us, a changed ghoul. She did not look pleased with herself at all. For once she seemed unsatisfied with mischief and adventure.

"What happened to you?" I asked as gently as possible.

"Those nasty humans turned Spectra and Porter solid. Then they caught my best ghoul friends in a net. I almost…" Her voice cracked. "We almost lost each other." Toralei hugged Purrsephone and Meowlody. The three of them sobbed. I knew what they were feeling. When I saw Howleen being pulled away by that chain it was like I could see a part of me being taken away. Now I wondered how much worse I would have felt if it was Pawl who was being taken away from me. I rubbed Toralei's back.

"I'm so glad you ghouls are here now." Toralei pulled me into their hug and we all cried together.

"What's taking Clawd and Clawdeen so long?" Howleen anxiously paced the width of the tunnel.

"Don't worry, pup." Toralei said between sniffles. "I've had it out with your big sis before. She's a fighter. She's coming back."

"Yeah, your brother and sister are some of the fiercest monsters we know. They'll both be back before you know it." Pawl added.

"Thanks guys, but I'd feel much betta if they were hear." Howleen wrapped her arms around her body.

That's when we heard a voice like an angel. We were all thrilled to hear the voice, but not the words.

"They got 'em!" Clawdeen's voice blasted down the tunnels.

Billy was the first to truly understand what her words could mean. Scarah was on Clawdeen's team. He ran down the tunnel, turned invisible, and shoved passed the headmistress. He reappeared right in front of her flashlight and grabbed Clawdeen who was panting.

"Who do they have?" Billy asked. It was strange to hear the normally calm and collected Billy now almost crazed. We watched him as he shook Clawdeen for the answer.

"All of them." Clawdeen's voice cracked. We could hear her crying uncontrollably. Howleen rushed over to comfort her sister.

I squeezed Pawl in a hug and cried on his chest. What were we thinking? How could we risk our friends? Why didn't we see any of this coming?

"Relax. Miss Wolf, you have to calm down and share what you know. It's the only way we'll be able to retrieve your friends." We heard the general. His voice changed. He was sympathetic and patient with her.

"It was totally quiet," Clawdeen began. "We thought everything was safe. We thought maybe they were all inside. We didn't know. Sirena went ova the wall to take a closa look, but she neva came back. Catrine and I decided to climb the wall. We couldn't just leave Sirena…" Her voice trailed. "Then from outta no where these metal claws pop out of the wall grabbing Catrine…" She faltered. "I tried to save her, really, I did, but then I heard Scarah screaming at the bottom of the wall. Catrine told me to save Scarah. I didn't want to leave her, but we saw two of the men in orange chasin' after Scarah, so I jumped down from the wall and attacked one of the men. We fought for a while. He was puttin' up a good fight, but I knocked him out. Once I knew he wasn't a threat, I went to look for Scarah, but she was gone and so was the man in orange. I looked up at the wall to see how Catrine was doing, but she was gone too and all the claws were back inside the wall. I though I wouldn't be help to them if I got captured too, so I ran back here to get help."

Clawdeen's story was the worst of them all. I couldn't imagine feeling so helpless.

"Private," the general spoke to a vampire soldier. "Escort this young werewolf and the rest of the students to the dorms."

The vampire soldier nodded. "Yes, sir." He helped Clawdeen and Billy passed the other soldiers and walked in our direction. "Time to go. You all need to wash up and relax after such a difficult day."

"What about Clawd?" Clawdeen looked up.

"There were more of you?" The vampire soldier seemed surprised. He rushed over to the general. They had a brief interaction, and then he rushed back over. "We're sending out a search and rescue team in a few minutes. We'll get your brother, and hopefully the rest of the monsters that are trapped at Scare Block 5."