Chapter 20: Bittersweet Memories

Casper followed Thatch, staying invisible so he wouldn't get caught. He even kept a safe distance behind Thatch and Slither simply because he was worried he'll back caught. He watched asThatch gently guided his sleepy friend along, having to almost pull him down into the basement of the school, where the incinerator was. It was cold and quiet down here too, so the vampire was almost dragging his serpent friend across the stone floor just so he could place Slither before the incinerator.

Casper watched curiously as Thatch opened the large grated front of the incinerator, letting the flames be exposed to the cool air in the room. Thatch flinched back at the intense heat that spewed from the metal machine, but he didn't let that slow him. The vampire then helped Slither get a bit closer to the flames so he could warm up faster.

"There." The vampire said happily as he sat beside his cold friend. "I didn't realize it was so cold in Dr. Burns classroom." He noted as he looked around the creepy basement filled with tons of trash bags. Casper flinched back, staying keep in the shadows. He knew he couldn't be seen, but for a moment his heart jumped at the thought of being caught, though Casper almost wished it didn't follow.

It was gross down here, but it was the only place Thatch was able to find an open flame he could get Slither to in times like these. Casper would figure it wasn't the first time Thatch had to do this, he knew the path too well and treated this like a common occurrence. Casper silently wished the school would at least add some carpeted rugs in the hallways or something, it'll make it easier on Slither's scales.

"Hmmn, freezing when he isn't spewing fire. The school is always freezin'," Slither sleepily said, yawning as he rubbed his tired eyes. "Cold-blooded, no robes- ugh… That was awful, everyone was staring at me." Slither actually spoke, not just whispered or grumbled like was ever so common. Thatch nodded contently and stared into the flames, resting beside the gray monster. Thatch was briefly worried about being late to their class, but then again it was just gym. "Bet Casper will be here any moment," Slither mumbled softly, trying his best to smile at the vampire.

"Oh I got a feeling he's already watching and waiting for my permission to come out, isn't that right marshmallow!?" Thatch called out into the dark room, his violet eyes narrowing as he ever so carefully listened. He seemed to just know Casper would follow, the ghost was so adorably clingy, needy for attention and as always, concerned about other students like Slither. And of course, he was right.

After a few moments, Casper guiltily appeared, slowly floating over to the two with his head hanging and nervously fiddling with his hands. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay… Slither?" Casper gently spoke. The serpent monster turned his head away from the ghost, just resting before the flames like a cat in a nice cozy warm in winter.

"I'm fine…" Slither muttered after a long silent moment, stretching out- his rattlesnake-like tail moving out from under his robes. It wiggles gently as he rested before the fire, slowly warming up. "Thanks for worrying."

"Wow, uh…" Casper looked to Thatch. It was weird to be hearing Slither actually talk so much- and so willingly. Casper had fully expected to be brushed off. Thatch seemed to understand Casper's confusion.

"Oh, Slither gets talkative when he's cold or sleepy… It's worse when it's both. That's actually how we became friends." Thatch grinned a bit as he watched Slither. Clearly, Thatch had such fond memories of the time, which only made Casper increasingly curious.

"Really?" Casper moved, sitting down beside Thatch on his other side. He kept peering over at Slither, but not daring to get close to the snake-like monster.

"Yeah, we met before school started. I was exploring the Underworld stores for school supplies when I found his dumb snake butt asleep in some alley." Thatch laughed. Slither huffed briefly raising his head to look at the vampire. "Oh don't huff at me, you're the fool for going out with no jacket. That area of town gets cold, and unlike your area of the city there are no safe spots."

"It sucked." Slither defended simply. "I thought all places in the Underworld had spots with heat lamps."

"No, that's just in the serpent area." Thatch chuckled lightly, seeming rather content to be beside his dear friend Slither, and his beloved Casper. This simply couldn't get any better for the vampire. Slither rolled his eyes and looked back towards the flames, starting to feel a bit better.

"Wait, so what happened after you found him?" Casper pressed, gently smiling. He wanted to know all the details honestly. Thatch's life just seemed so interesting. Thatch hummed in thought, looking to Slither who just shrugged.

"Well…"

Thatch sighed heavily, holding a list his mother had written for him. He had been told to go to the Underworld house and get his supplies for school, then stay at the house until the ship came to take him to school the next day. He was sad his mother wasn't there, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. His mother would never leave the safety of the castle- not now and not for a very long time, Thatch already knew that.

The vampire read the list for about the dozenth time as he entered the shopping area of the Underworld. Shops lined the twisting streets, candy shops with bloodworms and gummy eyes, bookstores full of old dusty books to the demanded school books. Thatch felt nervous shopping alone. He hadn't been without his mother since… Ever. But he knew what he had to do- make her proud and be the best vampire he could be. The vampire kept reading the list over and over as he walked down the street, his eyes briefly lifting up to look at the store signs.

He was already a screwup- being sent to this dumb Scare School because he was a failure of a vampire… Well, he didn't want to be. He would be the biggest, scariest vampire there was- whoa what was that?

Thatch stopped walking, staring down a small, thin alley he had almost passed. Right at the entrance was… something. It was curled up, a green tail coiled around a thin gray body. Thatch glanced around nervously. No one seemed to even glance at whatever that thing was, just going along their normal day.

Did monsters not help other monsters here? The vampire looked back at the curled… thing and took a deep breath. Well, maybe he could do once last kind deed before he swore to be the most horrifying vampire ever. Thatch stepped into the alley and gently nudged the green scaly tail with his new shoes he had just gotten for school, and to his surprise, the mass curled up tighter on itself. Ok, at least it wasn't dead.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Thatch frowned and nudged the mass again. When he got no answer he sighed and carefully circled the mass, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He decided the gray half of this thing had to be the upper half, right? So the vampire kneeled down and gently rested a hand on what he thought was its back. "Hey, you. Come on, you got to get up." He spoke, shaking the monster. This time he finally earned something- a soft whine.

The mass moved and whatever it was uncoiled. Thatch was now able to see a more humanoid upper torso- if one could call it that. Gray skin, light gray hair with dark gray eyes- geez so much gray. He was surprised the scales weren't gray as well.

The creature didn't speak, just rubbing his tired eyes with his long tentacle-like arms before he almost fell back down to the cold ground, too tired to stay up. Thatch had managed to catch his upper body and let the fellow monster rest his head on his lap instead of the hard ground.

"Oh bloodbats," he whispered. The gray skin was cold to the touch, utterly freezing. "Are you ok? You're so cold- are you ill? My house isn't far… Come on." He decided on his own, not even waiting for an answer as he instructed the creature, trying to pull the monster up again. He placed his arm around the other's chest, having the gray monster toss one of his arms over his shoulders. Thatch groaned, struggling to stand and help the very weak monster lift itself up. "Oh, you need to lose some weight." He angrily whispered as he started to lead the other out…

It had to be the longest walk in Thatch's life. He had to stop multiple times to just catch his breath- for the other kept falling forward, making Thatch rush and barely catch him every time. He was starting to wonder why he bothered to help the other when he finally reached his Underworld home- a simple one-story building. While simple and dark on the outside he enjoyed the inside which had tons of comfortable furniture and books for days.

Thatch led the freezing serpent monster into the front room and set him on the rug before the fireplace. He then got a nice fire going, putting a kettle over the flames to make some nice hot tea to try to warm his not exactly expect guest up. He always glanced back at the weird creature, half expecting to be attacked at any moment- but it never came.

The child-sized monster just rested on the soft rug and had his eyes open now, staring at the flames. He wasn't coiled up, instead, he stretched out before the fire as he tried to absorb all the heat. He didn't even react when the kettle let out that annoying high pitched whistle.

Thatch made himself and the creature a nice hot cup of tea, though he didn't know how the other could hold anything with those weird hands. "Uh, here?" He offered the cup out. Much to Thatch's surprise, the other was able to move now, and he found it fascinating how the monster held the cup, just wrapping the strange tentacle around it, then having the thinner end of his hand actually coil around the handle.

Thatch fell silent, forgetting to drink his tea as he watched his guest drink his warm drink ever so eagerly. That seemed to do the trick before the other actually sat up now, and managed to stay up. The serpent looked at his empty cup, then held it out to Thatch. Without question Thatch just handed his own drink over to the other and took the empty cup in return.

"Whoa… I thought for sure you were a goner." Thatch muttered.

"Nah, just got cold." The thing finally spoke. "I couldn't find a heat lamp."

"A heat lamp?"

"In my part of town, there are tons… I couldn't find any near the stores. I just needed to get my school supplies." He mumbled. Thatch perked up.

"School supplies? You mean Scare School?"

"Yes," he sighed heavily. "Please don't make fun of me for it. I know I'm a failure of a monster."

"N-No, I mean uh, I'll be going to Scare School too. The ship will be picking me up tomorrow here. How about you stay with me tonight and we can leave together tomorrow?" Honestly, Thatch just didn't want to be alone, no matter how comfortable this house was. He just wasn't ready to be alone for an entire night. "You can stay by the fire while I get our supplies."

"Are you sure?"

"Well yeah, course!" Thatch said happily and stood up. "I need to get mine anyways- oh wait how rude. I"m Thatch Manora. Who are you?"

"... Huh?"

"Your name. I'm Thatch, and you are…"

"I don't have a name… Call me… serpent thing. Everyone does."

"I couldn't do that." Thatch recoiled. He could just imagine the unhappy look his mother would have if she found out he called someone that. "Surely your parents call you something."

"I don't have parents." The thing said simply, sipping on his new cup of tea much slower than the one before. He stretched out his tail, slight rattling the rattle as he felt better.

"Oh well… Sorry about that." Thatch muttered. "I guess we can give you a name. Got anything you want to be called?" Thatch grinned. The gray-eyed monster shook his head and Thatch sighed. The other soon to be student was no help. "How about," Thatch drew out as he looked the other over. "Slither? That sounds scary and cool. I think it suits you."

"Slither." The other repeated carefully, then nodded. "I like it."

"Well then Slither, it's great to meet you. I can't wait for us to become great friends!" Thatch laughed softly, resting a hand on Slither's shoulder, earning a small smile from his new found friend.

"You named Slither?" Casper smiled, nuzzling the vampire oh so fondly. Thatch flushed at the affection and turned his head away.

"Well yeah, he needed something and uh… I thought it suited him, right Slither?"

"Yeah." The serpent monster nodded, sitting up. He was looking much better now, back to normal it seemed. Casper just couldn't help but to giggle and kiss the vampire's cheek. He couldn't believe after all this time he was just missing the softer side of Thatch- it was just there and he never looked hard enough to find it.

"During the holidays Slither stays at my Underworld home and I go back to mom. Last holiday I managed to get mom to agree to meet Slither… It didn't go well. I forgot mom hates snakes." Thatch weakly smiled. Slither huffed angrily, rattling his tail annoyedly. "Hey I'm sorry, at least you're ok." Thatch laughed lightly, holding his hands up innocently.

Casper looked concerned but Thatch quickly comforted the ghost. "He just stayed in my room like you did, nice and safe." He assured the ghost. "Now, we should get to the gym before we're late." He decided as he got up, stretching and dusting his clothes off. He then held his hand out to Casper, who took it even if he just floated to his feet. Being a ghost was so nice honestly.

Slither fixed his robes up and shook himself dust free. He silently started to lean the way, and Casper slowed down and carefully watched Slither. He honestly never slowed down to see how Slither dealt with stairs, and despite the robe, he was determined to see how he got up then. From a standard view it looked like Slither was just gliding up them, but when Casper took in the small details, the wrinkles and movements in the robes he could almost imagine that green tail moving back and forth on each step, pushing him forward. Thatch was following right behind Slither but stopped when he saw Casper hadn't moved a single step.

"Hey come on marshmallow, we got to go." He softly laughed. Casper flushed and quickly flew over to Thatch, grabbing his hand gently. "Better," the vampire hummed softly and continued to climb up the stairs with his two favorite people in the whole school.