Chapter 7
Billy, now dressed in his hipster skater fashion, went invisible and headed right back into the tunnel through the ghouls room. He could still hear chatter from the tunnel, so he was careful to be quiet. Right away, he noticed that Headmistress Bloodgood was still standing in the tunnel with a soldier he did not recognize. He could hear that they were talking about the ghosts. The soldier seemed to be comforting her and assuring her that the ghost students would be just fine. He was explaining how the gas used by the MHAT worked.
Billy gently snuck closer and closer until he was standing right beside them. He was a bit nervous that the headmistress would catch him, but he managed to sneak right by them unnoticed. He figured that the general and some of the soldiers had likely gone on the search and rescue mission. All he would have to do is wait to see how they returned, but he had a feeling they left this tunnel and were going to return to this tunnel. After all, why would Bloodgood be waiting around?
Billy felt like he had been waiting hours listening to the worried prattling of the headmistress. In actuality it had only been about fifteen minutes when there was a rustle in the shrubs just outside the tunnel. Billy crossed his fingers that just maybe it would be Scarah. She was taking up most of his thoughts. It wasn't Scarah, but it was a mummy soldier of the ARM. He was carrying a very limp looking Twyla in his arms.
Billy could see that the soldier had some sort of glowing blue amulet that he was pressing to her forehead. Headmistress Bloodgood did not hesitate to approach the soldier. With worry written all over her face, she removed her head and wiped the tears that stained her cheeks.
"Will she be okay?" Bloodgood asked, placing her head back on her shoulders.
"This is the pendant of healing. It will restore her to good health. She just needs to rest." The mummy soldier replied. He handed Twyla off to the soldier who had been waiting with Bloodgood. "Take her to the infirmary with the other students and get some extra troops. There are some soldiers down."
Billy couldn't help but gasp out loud. If the soldiers were taken down, then what chance did they have? Then, he reminded himself of why he was down there. We have the tunnel, he thought. That would be their advantage. Now, they just had to find it.
Unseen and unheard, Billy snuck back up into the dorm tower. Instead of reappearing in front of Cleo and the others, he decided to talk to the others who had come on the scouting mission. They would understand the dangers better than the others. They would know the worth of returning to Scare Block 5.
Billy snuck into Toralei's dorm room because he noticed the door was open, and he could hear monsters talking inside. He saw Toralei sitting on her bed. She had the top bunk of the bunk bed. Below her, Purrsephone and Meowlody were lying down on their bed. Across from them, Pawl, Prowla, Howleen, and Clawdeen were all sitting on the couch.
"Do you think there is any way we can even defeat them?" Clawdeen asked the group.
"I'm not sure, but I feel like we have to." Prowla responded. "If we don't, what happens to our friends?"
"…And family…" Howleen faltered. She was majorly worried about her brother.
"I say we fight fire with fire. What's their weakness? Meeooww." Toralei licked her paw.
"The tunnel." Billy appeared in front of them.
"I thought I smelled someone else in hear." Clawdeen sniffed. "What about the tunnel?"
"I think their weakness is that secret tunnel." Billy suggested. "If we can sneak in through that tunnel, then that's how they'll be defeated."
"I don't know…" Pawl thought. "We were pretty sneaky this last time, and they were still ready."
"A distraction!" Purrsephone and Meowlody both jumped up from their bed.
"And this is why you ghouls are my beasties. They're right." Toralei purred. "If we send out a group to distract them at the wall, then the rest of us can sneak in, and that's how we'll win." Toralei grinned. This was the type of well-planned and sneaky revenge she lived for.
"I'm not tryin' to be miss goody-two-boos, but don't ya think we should let the professional soldiers handle it?" Clawdeen wondered.
"Normally, Clawdeen, I would be right there with you, but these are our friends. I feel like we need to do this." Prowla said. She was normally very shy with ghouls she didn't know, but things were different at Monster High. Things were different now. She felt like she couldn't keep quiet.
"I think I know how we can actually use the ARM soldiers to help us with our plan." Billy said.
"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then I think that just might work." Pawl nodded.
Out in the game room, most of the monsters were still gathered together around SloMo keeping up with the latest news from Ghoulia. A few other monsters had joined in the conversation as well. It was clearly not the ideal time to be at Monster High, but there were many students there at the moment due the monster exchange program and visiting artists program. But they all felt pride in their school and knew there was no question that they needed to help their fellow monsters.
Everyone seemed to be in the middle of conversations when Billy and the others entered the game room. All the talking stopped and many of the monsters were staring at them. Draculaura immediately jumped up and skipped toward Clawdeen. She couldn't contain her happiness.
"Clawd is fine!" Draculaura gushed. "Ghoulia just told us! They are all near each other."
"She said they're actually being treated well by those nasty humans." Cleo added.
"Ghoulia thinks they're scientists. She thinks they're observing them right now." Frankie said.
"Uuuugghhh oooo." SloMo chuckled.
"SloMo says they can't be doing a very good job observing if Ghoulia is managing to sneak in all this texting time." Gil laughed.
"Scarah is fine too, Billy." Iris Clops smiled. The little green Cyclops ghoul was very close to Scarah and Billy.
Billy thanked her and with that news, he was able to breathe normally once again.
"We should really let you know that everyone is fine." Neighthan announced. "Twyla is the only one Ghoulia said she hasn't seen."
"Oh no!" Howleen clapped her paws over her mouth.
"Wait," Billy said. "She's here. I forgot to tell you. The soldiers recued her. I saw them bring her in. She's in the infirmary with the ghosts."
Howleen wacked Billy's arm wishing he had told her before she began panicking.
"So what is news on tunnel?" Abbey asked.
"It might be the only way we'll win." Clawdeen answered. "But it's gotta be well-planned or we're all gonna end up in a cell block."
"And we need to use the ARM to our advantage." Added Pawl.
"But how?" Cleo wondered. "If we they know anything about our plan, there's no way they'll let us go through with it."
"We don't tell them about our plan, princess. We make them think it's their plan." Toralei meowed as she took a seat near Cleo. Cleo and Toralei frequently bickered to be the center of attention.
"What you meaning, kitty cat?" Abbey asked.
"What she means is that for us to be successful using the tunnel…" Prowla began, but then got interrupted by an excited monster.
"Brilliant!" Robecca shouted. "We need the ARM soldiers to distract the MHAT men at the wall so we can all come in through the tunnel!"
"I see." Rochelle nodded. "If zee soldier are at zee wall, then they will not be at zee tunnel entrance."
"Just like Ghoulia said!" Venus smiled. "She knew when the others were at the wall because all the men were running out. That would leave almost no one to protect the inside."
"Dudes, how are we going to get the ARM soldiers to do anything we say?" Deuce was a little confused. Those soldiers were not going to have anything to do with high school monsters.
"I think you may be missing the craft of this plan. We will not actually be planning to use the ARM soldiers, rather, we will be using them to plan." Jinafire tried to explain, but she knew sometimes her explanations were not clear enough for the mansters of Monster High.
"I think what she means is leave it to us." Hera Glyphyx smirked from her seat next to some of the daughters of the soldiers.
"All we have to do is find out when our dads plan to go to the wall, then we'll know when to go through the tunnel." Sammy said.
"Makes sense. Y'all gather the information. We plan our sneak attack. I'm lovin' this plan!" Operetta cheered.
"That means we need to come up with a plan that won't fail. Everyone will have a job." Cleo announced.
"Some of us will need to be offense." Pawl suggested.
"Some of us will need to find and free our friends." Draculaura added.
"All of us will need to play a part." Frankie insisted.
"SloMo, ask Ghoulia how we can open the cells." Gil commanded.
SloMo nodded. The plan was underway.