I've finished chapter 3! Don't expect updates this frequent normally. The cookie offer's still going, though...But read on, this is the chapter where things start happening!

Chapter 3

Randall

(She spun round and pumped the trigger for all it was worth at the presence, outlining it in pale pink water droplets. Her blood went cold.) Her heart went crazy, hammering desperately against her ribcage. In one swift movement, she pulled her new rounders bat from her bag and got into a defensive pose, back to the wall. She never took her eyes off the gecko-like lizard in front of her.

"Hello Randall." she whispered, not trusting herself to talk normally. The purple lizard didn't bother to reply as he lunged for the bat in her hand. She swung, and it connected with his shoulder with a satisfying crack, sending him flying backwards. "What do you want?" she hissed, sidestepping to the window.

Randall finally seemed to recover his voice. "I don't want a fight."

"I'm sure you don't."

"I'm only here to observe! You think I'd want to get any closer to you than necessary?"

"What if I don't want you to?"

Randall answered that by lunging again. Her bat smashed into his ribs. "Stay away from me!" she screamed. Her mother banged on the door. "Are you okay, Mary?" she called, sounding concerned. Randall, who had shaken the droplets off by then, vanished.

Mary, cursing, forced a cheery note into her voice as she called, "Yeah, I'm fine, just, um, singing!"

"Really?" her mother peeked into the room. "Well, just try to keep the noise down, okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"And move away from the window, I don't want you falling out."

Mary rolled her eyes. "I'm not three!"

"Mary Gibbs, you will do as you're told!"

Mary sighed and stepped reluctantly away from the open window. Immediately, she felt a rush of air and she knew Randall was gone. Her mother nodded, satisfied, and left. Her phone buzzed.

Is it too late to tell you to do your music practise?

-Tess

Grabbing the phone with shaking hands, she typed:

Yeah, it's way too late! And anyway, I have more

important news: Randall was here! In London! He's

following me!

-Boo

Then she flopped down on her bed, shaking.

###

Tessa heard the phone vibrate against her dressing table where she'd put it down seconds before. She picked it up and unlocked it, before reading the text. Her mood dropped. Randall? In the human world? What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in prison! Since he'd been banished, he had snuck back into Monstropolis and got himself arrested, but apparently he'd escaped.

Following Boo? That wasn't good news either. Tessa was employed to make sure that Boo had no more dealings with monsters, and though she always made an exception for Mike and Sulley, this was different. Her occupation was being threatened. She had to do something! She texted back:

You're coming back tomorrow, right? If he follows you

onto the plane, come over to mine as soon as you get

back. No, screw that, come over anyway.

-Tess

She hit send.

###

Randall did follow Mary onto the plane. She spent the entire journey in a state of high agitation, jumping at the slightest noise. Her parents kept glancing over, concerned, and a well-meaning women asked her if she wanted a sleeping pill. She politely declined, and her parents gave the unfortunate female strange looks.

By the time the plane touched down, Mary was twitching with paranoia. By the time she was in the car, she was exhausted, the panicky adrenaline wearing off. Despite all intentions, she felt herself drifting off to sleep. She woke up as the car pulled into the driveway hours later.

"Can I see Tessa now?" she asked. "She told me to visit her as soon as we got back."

Her father sighed. "It's late. Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"Tessa did say to see her as soon as we got back..."

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Oh go on then, but be quick about it."

"Thanks!" Mary sprinted across the road, dodged a car, and was at Tessa's house even as her parents and the driver yelled at her. Tessa opened the door almost immediately, and Mary stumbled inside. Tessa closed the door.

"Boo! Are you okay?"

Mary nodded. " 'M alive, at least." She gave a shaky laugh. "I'm probably overreacting."

Tessa shook her head. "You were right to tell me, this is exactly the sort of thing that concerns me. It's a massive security breach and I have no idea how they've managed to mess up this bad."

"Who's 'they'?"

"The MSSS, the Monstropolis security and secrecy service. Off-branches include the CDA, the MSS, and the HAS. The MSS, the Monster Secret Service, are the guys I work for. This shambles is probably the fault of the CDD, the Criminal Disciplinary Department, for not putting enough investment into prisons, and the HAS, Human Avoidance Scheme, for not putting enough importance on security around portals to this world."

"Are you sure it's shambles?"

"Oh, yes, definitely." They moved into the kitchen. "Cocoa?"

"Yes please. How is it shambles? Just a little security breach, surely?"

"Randall is a minor security breach, but what him escaping represents, is the shambles."

"Oh, right." A brief pause, then, "And what is that, exactly?"

"Just how easy it is for criminals to break out of prison, escape to this world and reconnect with each other. Gather together in groups to do whatever for X reason and not realising that they are putting the entire monster population at risk!" Tessa said, placing a steaming mug down in front of Mary.

"But criminals get banished, don't they?"

"Only for serious crimes, and to mostly unpopulated areas. Banishment is for when the crime is so bad that they can't be kept in Monstropolis any more, and then measures have to be taken to ensure that they stay away from humans. If it was so easy, that would be where most criminals would be sent. But it isn't."

"Oh."

"Exactly."

"But what about me? What am I supposed to do? How do we stop Randall following me?"

"And here we come to the main question. Sorting out the bigger things is my betters' responsibility, whereas Randall and how he concerns you is mine. The question is, is he still following you, or has he followed you enough? It could be that he was just using you to lead him to other people."

Mary thought for a second. "I didn't think of that. Was there anything I should have done to stop him then?"

"Nothing you could have been expected to do, don't worry." Tessa smiled. "Now finish your drink, your parents will be wondering what's keeping you. Don't worry, I have a plan."

It was only once she left that it occurred to Mary that Tessa probably wasn't actually that calm.