Chapter Five O Kimberly, Where Art Thou?
The next morning found Kim at her locker, which she had located without trouble. Monsters passing by spoke to her, and she answered with a friendly smile. Finally she got a moment's peace to open the locker. As she got her Home Ick book, she glanced at the upper shelf and noticed it was different. Something was there now that wasn't there yesterday.
Frankie and Draculaura were coming to join Kim and walk with her to class. They caught sight of her just as she opened the door. They saw her reach in a take out something; a small golden statue of Ra with an emerald in his hands.
"D, what's that Kim's holding?" asked Frankie, "It looks like something of Cleo's."
The petite vampire narrowed her gray eyes. "I think it is! What is it doing in Kim's locker?"
"I dunno... what does it do?" asked the green-skinned girl.
"I couldn't say, but-" they saw Kim's puzzled expression, then she reached up and touched the jewel.
"KIM!" shouted Frankie, "BE CAREFUL!"
There was a BZZZT! and the normie girl vanished, statue and all.
The two friends ran up to the left-open locker and looked around. There was no sign of Kim.
"Well, now we know," said Frankie. "Any idea where she went?"
"None at all!" Draculaura whipped out her iCoffin. "I'll text Cleo."
"And I'll text Ms. Bloodgood," said Frankie.
Ten minutes later, everyone was assembled at the locker that was missing a user.
"No ma'am," said Cleo, "I have no idea how it got in there. It was in my locker yesterday, and I had just noticed it was gone when I got the text to come here."
"Can it move on its own?" Ms. Bloodgood asked, taking off her head and putting it in the locker to look around.
"No ma'am, not to my knowledge," was the answer.
"How does it work?" asked Clawdeen.
"You hold it up, think of where you want to be, then touch the jewel," answered Cleo.
"We saw her do that," commented Frankie, "But she didn't know what it was; I could tell by her expression. What would happen if you didn't have a destination?"
Cleo thought a moment, then shrugged. "You'd go to a random place, I guess."
"Is there some way to trace it?" asked Bloodgood, reattaching her head.
"No, Ma'am," said Cleo with a frown.
The Headless Headmistress sighed. "Thank you, Cleo. I believe you, and you're not in trouble." Unlike her sister Nefera, Cleo had gone through a change of heart and become a better monster. That was a fact Bloodgood knew well, as it had saved her a lot of grief.
Cleo gave her own sigh, this one of relief.
"Do you have any ideas, Ghoulia?" asked Draculaura.
The zombie-girl shook her head. "Uuuhhhhh..."
"We know you're a monster of science," said Cleo, "But maybe you should study magic as well."
Ghoulia gave a snort of disdain and crossed her arms.
"I'm going to go make an announcement," said Ms. Bloodgood, "Don't worry, ghouls, we'll figure this out."
"Thank you, ma'am," said Draculaura.
A minute later the loudspeakers woke up. "ATTENTION, STUDENTS OF MONSTER HIGH! DUE TO AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT, OUR NORMIE GUEST FEARLEADER, KIM POSSIBLE, HAS VANISHED. EVERYONE LOOK AROUND WHERE YOU ARE AND SEE IF YOU CAN FIND HER. IF YOU DO, SEND HER TO MY OFFICE, OR IF SHE CAN'T MOVE FOR SOME REASON, LET ME KNOW. THAT IS ALL."
Draculaura was on the verge of crying, and Clawdeen put an arm around her best friend. "Don't worry, she'll be okay. She's probably on her way to Ms. Bloodgood's office right now." They were walking toward the classroom.
"I hope so," the unhappy vampire muttered.
"If only we had been a little quicker," said Frankie.
"Don't blame yourself, Frankie," said Cleo, "Let ME do it."
Everyone stopped and looked at the beautiful mummy-girl, who smiled. "Just kidding! It's the fault of whoever put it in her locker."
"There's an idea!" said Frankie, neck bolts sparking, "Clawdeen, could you sniff around the locker and see if there's a scent other than Kim's?"
"I can sure try!" said the Werewolf. She turned and headed back to Kim's locker.
But when they got there, they found the school's Cursed-todian there, cleaning up.
"What happened?" asked Draculaura.
"Somebody dropped a rotten gargoyle egg here," he replied, as he wiped up the last of it and moved off, anxious to get rid of the foul-smelling remains.
Clawdeen tried to find a scent, but shook her head. "The egg stench and cleaner is covering up anything else."
"What rotten luck!" said Draculaura, and everyone winced.
'Uuuhhhh..." moaned Ghoulia with a shrug.
"Yes, it was a good idea," said Cleo, "I wish it had panned out. I need to get that statue back."
"We need to get to class," said Frankie, "We'll meet up and check with Ms. Bloodgood every hour."
The group moved off, paying no attention to Toralei at her locker, who smirked to herself.
As they were about to separate and go their own ways, Draculaura stopped and snapped her fingers. "I know what to do!" She pulled out her iCoffin and hit a speed dial button.
"Hello?" came a young male voice.
"Wade?" said the vampire, and everyone looked over her shoulder.
"Draculaura? Is something wrong? Where's Kim?" he asked.
"That's the problem. We don't know," she replied, and proceeded to tell him what had happened.
"Oookayyy..." he said, "A statue that lets people transport themselves. That's a weird artifact to have."
"I BEG YOUR PARDON!" interjected Cleo, glaring at the small screen. "I'll have you know it's been in my family since..."
"Cleo, be indignant later," Clawdeen interrupted, "We have more important things to do."
"I was hoping you would have some way to track her," said the vampire.
"Yes, I can home in on her Kimmunicator," he replied, and his pudgy fingers flew over the keyboard in front of him. He looked at an off-camera monitor. "Hm. Nothing. It's not showing up."
"Oh, no," said Frankie.
"I'm not giving up yet," he told them, "Let me try some things and get back to you."
"Thank you, Wade, we'll be waiting to hear," nodded Draculaura.
KP/MH KP/MH KP/MH
At the end of the period, Ms. Bloodgood called a halt to classes and held an emergency assembly in the Vampitheater. Before it started, the gang went to the Headless Headmistress, who was on stage.
"I called her tech guy, Wade," said Draculaura, "He said he was going to do what he can and get back to me."
"I see. I was hoping to keep this an internal matter, but it couldn't be helped. You did the right thing," she replied.
Just then D's phone rang. "Any luck?" she asked as soon as he appeared on the screen.
"Not yet," he told her, "But I'm not completely out of options. Give me a bit longer."
A hand reached out and took the vampire's phone.
"Wade, I'm Ms. Bloodgood, the Headmistress. I want you to know I'm sorry this happened, and we will do everything we can to find her and get her back safely."
"Thank you, Ma'am," he nodded, "Maybe you would be the one to ask. I can have Ron and Rufus come and help look."
"No, don't do that, at least not yet," she replied, "We don't need a second norm- human to worry about right now."
"All right, you know better than me," he said, "But I will send him if we don't find her pretty quick." He signed off.
"Take your seats, please," she told them, and went out onto the stage.
"Everyone, we have to find her," she said, "A normie disappearing in Monster High will look very bad to everyone. And when you consider how famous Kim Possible is, it could have repercussions for monsters all over the world."
She had worked up a list and sent teachers and students out to check every nook and cranny in the school and outside it.
The friends filed out together, and with a mischievous smirk Frankie stepped beside her zombie friend.
"Hey, Ghoulia," she said, nudging the shorter girl, "Let's go get struck by lightning and get your super-speed back. Then it would take no time to find her."
Everyone stopped and stared at the green-skinned girl.
"Uhh uhh!" said Ghoulia, holding up her hands in a 'stop' gesture and shaking her head forcefully. She moved a pace away from Frankie.
"Don't even joke about that!" said Draculaura.
"Yeah, gillfriend, we almost lost you!" said Lagoona.
"It was too close," said Clawdeen, "I never want that to happen again."
"Really! Frankie, what WERE you thinking?" asked Cleo.
"It was just a joke..." said the patchwork girl.
Abbey shook her head, making snow fall faster. "Was poor effort. You too important to us."
"Really?" asked Frankie, surprised.
"Absolutely," confirmed the yeti, "Now think no more of it, and let us go find normie."
There was some grumbling from other students about wasting time looking for a normie, but they were thorough. Hours later they re-assembled and reported no luck at all.
"All right, thank you very much. I'm canceling classes for the rest of the day," the tall, elegant woman said.
There was cheering and the room cleared out in record time, except for Frankie, Draculaura, Cleo, Clawdeen, Ghoulia, and Spectra. Clawd would have stayed, but had to take Howleen to an appointment with the vet. Deuce's mom had called and ordered him home without explanation, and Lagoona needed some time in the water.
The remaining ghouls joined their headmistress on the stage. Just then Draculaura's phone rang.
"Good news, I hope?" she asked.
"Actually, yeah, kinda sorta," he replied. "I used a signal relay in Kim's car to boost reception, and I think I found her."
Everyone reacted with smiles and relief.
"So where is she?" asked Frankie.
"She is apparently somewhere UNDER the school," he said, "About two hundred feet down."
Everyone exchanged a look. "The Catacombs!"
