Monster High and Ben 10 do not belong to me.
This is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to people, organizations, religions, and places is just a coincidence.
Possible grammar problems.
Chapter 14: WEAVING YOUR DAYS BETWEEN DESIRES
It was early morning. Not more than an hour had passed since the sun began to rise over the horizon and bathed the city of Salem with its light. By this time the streets were not very busy, and most would choose to sleep late, it was summer after all, and going out in the sun so early in the morning was synonymous with suffering from the heat. Despite this, there was already activity in the city.
As a city that was mixed in terms of population, some of its most monstrous residents had varied schedules. It would be easy to find people on their way home from a long night of work, but there were also those just starting their day. A family man kissing his wife goodbye and leaving for work. A young cat woman with the orange hair was jogging through one of the many parks the city had. Stores were opening their doors and some were waiting impatiently to buy their coffee.
Despite the abnormality present in the city, everything was normal.
In a normal house, in a normal suburb, a girl with long, wavy brown hair was coloring a drawing of an outfit she designed herself. In her wolf ears were a pair of AirPods that served to cancel all the sound in her home while playing a song to inspire her designs.
Clawdeen Wolf bobbed her head to the music, humming as she painted, making sure to be extremely careful as she did so.
"Uuuh, uuuh!" was the sound that came from her lips as she closed her eyes and let herself be immersed in the song.
It was thanks to this that she was able to ignore all the outside sounds, the bustle of her home, and that pair of children who were tugging at a toy behind her.
"Needlee to say, ha mmmmh!" she sings, turning away from the drawing for a moment and tapping her nails on her work table, following the tempo of the song.
"Clawdeen! Are you awake?!" shouted a female voice from somewhere in that house. Both boys stopped fighting when they heard her and chose to slink out of the place. "Clawdeen?!"
"Callin' it quits now, baby hmm!"
"Clawdeen!" the scream was heard again.
"nananah baby Ima reck. Uhm mhmhm."
"Clawdeen! Clawdeen!" A figure entered the room, but Clawdeen didn't notice it at all until she shouted once more. "CLAWDEEEN!
"AAAAAAAH!" she shouted as she jumped out of her seat, knocking over the sheets she was working on by accident. "Oh no I've been working on that all night!"
In haste, she bent down to pick up the leaves, noticing in the process, the pair of gray sneakers that were only two steps away from her. The young woman looked at them for a few moments and then moved up, first seeing beige pants, then a light blue short-sleeved T-shirt, and finally the scowl of a middle-aged wolf woman. The older wolf woman's yellow eyes bore into the younger one's as they narrowed.
"Hehe, Hi, mom." She greeted nervously. "I was...uh...sorting my sheets!"
The expression her mother gave her was enough to let her know that she didn't believe her at all. The teenager knew that look, and with a nervous laugh decided to opt for telling the truth.
"Or maybe I didn't sleep all night because I was drawing."
"Go to the bathroom, wash your face and come down for breakfast." Was all her mother said before turning and leaving the room. As the woman was about to leave the same pair of children ran past which caused her to rush to the door and peek out. "Hey! Don't run down the hall!" she turned once again to her oldest daughter and pointed a finger at her. "And wake up your sister."
When the woman left the room, Clawdeen let out a sigh. Another day was beginning in her bustling home. He glanced toward one of the two beds there, noticing the bundle of blankets that seemed to move lightly, almost as if breathing.
Clawdeen rolled her eyes, waking up her younger sister was quite a difficult thing to do, so it would take her time. For the moment she chose to finish collecting her leaves.
Lifting a first set, a sheet with several rather unique designs was revealed. Designs that she had been inspired by a person she met.
The black dresses, pants and jackets with green lines similar to a computer board were there, along with different annotations. They were the drawings inspired by Upgrade, that alien she had met by accident together with her friends, but she didn't have time to think about that.
"Clawdeen! Did you wake your sister up yet!" her mother's shout brought her back to reality and she hurried to finish picking everything up and putting it on her desk under a book.
Following her mother's orders, Clawdeen approached the bed. With a neutral expression, she looked at the lump and, using her strength, pulled back the sheets.
"ghm..." a choked groan was heard. There, revealed by her older sister was a girl of perhaps fourteen, hair in curlers and reddish in color. The girl was asleep in an unconventional manner and drooling on her bed.
Clawdeen, in all her big sister's patience, lifted a foot and nudged her younger sister, causing her to groan again.
"Wake up already, Howleen." Clawdeen wasn't going to waste much time on her sister. It was best not to if she wanted to eat more than bread for breakfast. Thanks to her sense of smell she could smell the aroma of bacon being made and the crackling sound of it being set to fry in a pan.
Despite the love she had for all her siblings, this was survival of the fittest, so after two more failed attempts, she just went to retrieve a towel from her closet and marched off in the direction of the bathroom.
If the young woman had to describe her home in a simple way it would be... Bustling. Very noisy.
She barely set foot outside her room and had to step back, dodging two of her brothers who were running down the hallway in some kind of game she didn't know about.
"Howie! Don! Pair of dumbs, be careful!" she shouted at them, and almost in unison they turned their faces to stick their tongues out at her and continue running.
Clawdeen grunted at that. They were her "beloved" younger brothers, Howlston "Howie" Wolf, an eight-year-old blue-shirted boy. The other, Howldon "Don" Wolf, the clone of the first, or one of them at least. After all, those two little devils were part of the werewolf-shaped tornado. The Triplets.
After that first mishap, she continued on her way to the bathroom so she could wash her face. From another room, her older brother, Clawd, came out. The werewolf had wet hair, a sign that he hadn't been out of the shower long.
The two just gave each other a little wave and continued on their way.
"I'm passing!" Clawdeen turned her face, just in time to see an eight-year-old boy running in the direction of the bathroom, which was not a good sign for her.
"Rocks!" she shouted before following him, but her brother was faster than her, managing to get into the bathroom and close the door behind him. The young werewolf woman slammed the door angrily and yelled at her brother. "You little pest you better not use all the hot water!"
"I can't hear you!"
"AAAHG!" she growled over the top. "If you do that I'll hang you from the yard tree!"
And there was the last member of the chaotic trio and Clawdeen's worst nightmare. Howlmilton "Rocks" Wolf, his nickname came from how hard-headed he could be, both literally and figuratively speaking.
After about thirty minutes Clawdeen was finally able to take a shower, brush her teeth and leave the bathroom to go to breakfast.
When she came out she found a line of people had formed. Six young werewolf youths were waiting impatiently for their sister to come out of the bathroom. Clawdeen had barely set foot outside and the next one rushed in, in this case, another of her sisters. A girl with two braids and white pajamas.
Clawdeen walked past all her siblings. Each one was different from the last, even those who were twins and triplets.
"Don! Stop messing around!" she heard Howleen say, as one of the younger werewolves prodded her with a toy.
"Submit to ante lord Zed!" was the childish and fanciful reply he gave her.
After changing and going down to the kitchen. Clawdeen took a seat at the dining room table, two of her other siblings were there. The girl with the pigtails, her name was Pawla, the twelve-year-old girl who loved music. The other was Clawnor, also called Nino, a little thirteen-year-old Geek who was currently playing on a handheld console.
The young girl looked at the game for a few moments, she recognized the game as Pokemon. Her younger brother was a fan of video games and he loved that one in particular, she still remembered how he got when she accidentally deleted his game. Nino was calm and intelligent, but when he got angry he was scary. Something he surely got from his mother.
"We want to eat! We want to Eat!"
"We want to eat! We want to Eat!"
"We want to eat! We want to Eat!"
These were the chorus shouts he heard from the triplets as they made their presence known, followed by a very angry Howleen.
"I'm going to kill you triple pricks!" she growled angrily.
"Howleen! Don't insult your brothers!" was Mama Wolf's cry as she walked by with a basket full of laundry. Clawdeen was thankful she wasn't the one who had to do the laundry that day.
Before long the dining room was full. All of her siblings, including two twins only three years old who were in their mother's arms, were there. They were Weredith "Edith" Wolf, the girl, and Packlyn "Puck" Wolf, the boy.
It was common for the dining room to be in chaos during the mornings, and all because of how big her family was. Her mother always kept the fights from escalating to a larger scale. She also took it upon herself to scold her many siblings whenever they tried to get ahead of the others and decided to raid the cupboard in order to eat.
Shouting, bickering, petty squabbles, it was all so commonplace to Clawdeen that it didn't bother him.
From someone outside the family, they looked like a very dysfunctional family, but it was quite the opposite. They loved each other with all their souls and everyone looked out for each other. For example, there was one occasion when some kids picked on Pawla, soon they had three little wolves trying to bite them. And of course, the ringleader behind that was Rocks.
Although there were already many of them there, there were still two people missing. His brother, Clawd, and his father.
Although she could already smell the delicious aroma of bacon approaching where she was. Soon a door opened and her father appeared accompanied by Clawd. They were both carrying several plates of different foods, mostly meat.
The children, and the not-so-children, grew impatient as they sniffed the delicious aroma. Of course, none of them dared to move, they could all feel their mother's eyes on each and every one of them. How was such a thing possible? Mother's secrets.
When their father put the first dishes on the table and sat down next to their mother, taking one of the three-year-old twins, a hunt for breakfast began.
Forks and knives, or even bare hands pounced on the food.
"Hey! That was mine!"
"I don't see your name on it!"
"Mom! Rocks is drooling on my plate!"
"Pass me the eggs?"
"Nino stop playing while you eat breakfast."
"Santa Maria... these kids are going to kill me..." Clawdeen looked up at her father, who was handing the little boy in his arms a small piece of bacon for him to chew on. His father, Clawrk Apollo Wolf was a werewolf of Hispanic descent, a big guy and one that could get scary, if he wasn't wearing a pink apron with white hearts stamped on it. The little guy in his hands started biting his hand and he looked at him a little confused. "Puck, Daddy's not food."
"He looks just like Clawdeen as a child." Her mother commented.
"Mom!" the young werewolf woman was annoyed at that comment. She wasn't like that at all.
Annoyed, she picked up a sausage and put it in her mouth, taking a big bite. And even if she didn't want to, she was unconsciously proving her mother right.
Such was the start of Clawdeen's day in her bustling home.
Maintaining such a large family was always a challenge for Clawdeen's parents.
By eight o'clock, all the breakfast was gone and each of the Wolf family's numerous children was scattered around the house. Each was enjoying the vacation in their own way, enjoying having no responsibilities and no chores to do.
Except for the two eldest sons. Clawdeen and Clawd.
The Wolf family, being so large, had to resort to various methods to earn money to support themselves. One of these was to have their own restaurant. It was not big by any means, it was a family restaurant, enough to serve about twenty people at a time.
Wooden walls and large glass windows allowed you to see out and that was next to your house. The advantage of having a house designed for many people is that the extra space was always used in other ways.
Clawdeen was wiping a table with a cloth while nearby Clawd was mopping the floor with a scouring pad. The two were the oldest siblings so whenever they could they help their parents keep things in order for when the customers arrived.
The sound of the little bell hanging over the door was heard, along with an energetic greeting.
"Hewwooooo!" Draculaura had arrived, a little early as they were not yet open. "Can I order tomato soup now?" she asked with a smirk.
Clawd let out a laugh at his girlfriend's behavior, while Clawdeen shook her head. Her friend sometimes took too many liberties.
"Lala, we're not open yet." Clawdeen scolded.
"Your dad let me in." She replied innocently. "He said something about us being family already."
While Clawd chose to approach his girlfriend and give her a kiss. Clawdeen chose to look away and return to her work, avoiding looking at the display of affection. Even though her best friend and her brother had been together for almost six months, it was still hard for her to accept. It wasn't that she didn't want either of them to be happy, not at all, it was just... weird to her.
That didn't make her a bad sister or friend, did it?
Right?
"Get a room." Clawdeen held back the urge to scold her younger sister for her bad attitude when she saw her walk by.
"Howleen!" despite wanting to scold her, her younger sister just ignored her and left.
Clawdeen kept her gaze fixed on his back, hoping that her psychic powers would stop her and make her return to apologize for her attitude. Of course that was not the case and the young werewolf woman walked away.
"She still doesn't like me." Draculaura said, approaching her best friend. Clawdeen tried not to make eye contact, she didn't want to respond to that.
"Just give her time. She has this silly idea that vampires and werewolves can't be together." Clawdeen replied, returning to her work of clearing the table while, the vampire, took a seat nearby.
For a few moments, there was silence. Some things were going through Clawdeen's head. Draculaura in turn just looked at her ICoffin, she seemed interested in what she was seeing.
"You know you don't need to come here every day." Clawdeen commented. She didn't mean it in a bad way, though.
Draculaura was aware of the wolf woman's family's difficulties in making ends meet. This was because there were many members in the family, omitting her older sister who no longer lived there.
The vampire had always been trying to help in one way or another. When Clawdeen was little, she was her babysitter and didn't charge her parents as they had been very kind to her.
She remembered how they met her. It was on a train when Clawdeen was a puppy just over four years old. They were moving from Brooklyn to a quieter place so they could better care for their growing family. By accident, little Clawd and Clawdeen had snuck into her private room on the train. She found them soon after, but instead of hostile behavior, she was friendly, even reading a fashion magazine with her and lending her brother a portable game console.
That was her first encounter and she treasured it very much. She also treasured the memory of Clawdia, her older sister, arriving with a frightened expression and spending about fifteen minutes apologizing to Draculaura for her and Clawd. Though that was a separate matter.
"I know, but I like this place. The homey touch. And the tomato soup, your mother knows how to cook excellent tomato soup."
"I know!" was Harriet's shout from somewhere.
They both shared a laugh at that. Her mother, as always, stopped her ear at any compliment to her.
"Besides, Dad told me he was coming to talk to your father today before he traveled." The vampire's voice dropped a little as she said the last, but she pulled herself together in an attempt not to worry her friend. Of course, Clawdeen was worried.
Draculaura's father was, for lack of better words, apathetic about the world. She remembered when they first met, it was a coincidence that they lived on the same street. In fact, if they walked out of the little restaurant and looked up the street they could see the vampire's house. It was hard to miss the mini gothic-style castle.
But back to the vampire's father, the fellow was rather apathetic, cold, and straight. An uptight snob in Clawdeen's words.
The same words she accidentally said one day while that man was behind her. Since then it's not that they have the best relationship. They never had it either. Clawdeen was fine with that, she didn't want to be friends with the creepiest, coldest guy she had ever met either.
Plus, he would be on the road, leaving Draculaura alone in that big house, so she used to spend a lot of time alone, well, with his many pets, or come over to his house to hang out. Anyone who neglects her daughter like that is on Clawdeen's blacklist.
"I still don't understand how your dad puts up with my dad. He makes really bad jokes."
"Years of practice, Miss Wolf."
Clawdeen jumped and let out "Fuck!" at the sound of a harsh, cold male voice. She then noticed the man standing behind Draculaura. Dimly, she noticed the man standing behind her friend.
Tall and extremely pale-skinned, blood-red eyes that pierced straight into his soul. His hair was neatly combed back, being as black as night, except for the white strands at his sideburns. Dressed in elegant black attire consisting of a long trench coat, a black vest with a red tie and a white shirt. Dress pants equally as black as the rest of his attire and black shoes that shined thanks to the polishing wax. Clawdeen could smell something else, the scent of blood. The man wasn't doing much to hide who he was.
The man screamed elegance and righteousness, but sent shivers down Clawdeen's spine, of course she would never admit it.
This man and Draculaura were poles apart. Where one saw black and elegant sobriety, on the other side he found bright pastel colors, with a predominance of pink. Where you saw an expression that would freeze the sun, in the girl you found a warm smile that would melt the arctic.
And they were both father and daughter.
Clawdeen didn't know who she was, but she didn't understand what Draculaura's mother saw in that sinister man.
"Dad! What did I tell you about showing up like this!"
"It's not my fault if your friend couldn't hear me. I should be more alert."
"We're in a quiet city! No need to be so sneaky!"
"I disagree."
Staying out of that conversation was best. It was not uncommon for father and daughter's beliefs to clash and she preferred not to be drawn into it. Besides, it wasn't her fault! That guy was so quiet. Who the hell does he think he is? Batman?
Okay, that was a little offensive, but it got the point there.
"Drac! Stop bothering the girls and come give me a hug!" the Clawdeen Father appeared. Standing a little taller than the vampire, the werewolf made an attempt to put his arm around him, but when he thought he had succeeded, Draculaura was actually behind him.
"Let's avoid wasting any more time." He said calmly. The werewolf looked at his empty arms and then at the vampire. His friend was not at all amused. "Where's Viktor?"
"You're boring." Grumbled the man. "He's still not here. It's strange, he's not usually late for our meetings every Saturday."
"He seems more stressed than usual lately." Vampire commented. "I hear it's due to a new... tenant."
Clawdeen's ears pricked up when she heard that. She knew that her friends' fathers knew hers, yes, including Cleo's father. Which was strange since he never showed up at her "friend meetings" every Saturday.
She tried to figure out how they all knew each other. Each was radically opposed to the other. In every respect they were different.
She and her friends were also different, so I could more or less understand the kind of relationship they had. Although that didn't explain how they met. If she asked her father she would always answer "That vampire gave me a job when I got out of high school." And if she asked her mother, then she would say "Mr. Dracula helped us." She could never find out anything more than that. And if she tried to listen in on their conversations, she was punished.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened once again, revealing a rather tall human man, followed by a black and white-haired human girl who was having a little tussle with the high collar on her sweater. It was a strange sight to see someone in a sweater in the middle of summer, but not for that group of monsters.
"Viktor! You made it, you look fatter than last time." Clawdeen's father commented with a smile, getting Viktor to arch an eyebrow. "Uhg... you and fangs always so serious."
"Maybe you're just very immature." Was the man's reply. "Frankie, you can go with your friends. And stop tugging on the collar of your sweater, you'll tear it."
"I'd love to break it..." was the response the girl gave before walking away from her father.
"You're late Viktor, that's not normal for you." Was the vampire's comment. "Is it because of your new Tenant?"
"Tenant?" questioned the werewolf. "Have you someone living in your house? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's been a bit of a busy morning. Can we get right down to business?" he asked.
"My daughter says it's about a human." Continued the vampire, which took the werewolf by surprise. "You're taking a risk here, Viktor. I hope you know what you're doing."
"Trust me, it's better to keep an eye on this one, he's already proven himself to be someone... special."
"Could you stop being so cryptic and tell me?" asked the werewolf.
"No." Was the response he got from his two companions.
"We can leave this for later." The vampire changed his expression to a more serious one, which made the other two monsters tense. "It seems that a Dragon has come to Salem not long ago. This is in addition to the recent incidents of these… wandering monsters."
"A dragon?" the werewolf questioned in astonishment. "I thought everyone was... And what's wrong with you?" he questioned, noting that Viktor seemed nervous at the mention of "wandering monsters."
Viktor coughed, thus regaining his composure, and spoke.
"A dragon. That can only mean that they… Dracula, how bad is this?" Victor questioned.
Dracula just kept a serious expression.
A more secret plot was unfolding behind the world's back...
Meanwhile, at a table away from the three adult monsters, their three daughters were chatting. Or rather, Clawdeen was teasing Frankie about her current appearance.
"Hahaha! Now you understand what I live for in summer!" the wolf woman's laughter was not delicate, it was thunderous and bursting with amusement. "Next you'll tell me I'm exaggerating when I say I'm dying of heat because of my fur!"
"I get it... stop laughing!" was Frankie's unhappy response and she was being helped by Draculaura, who was trying to send some fresh air to her friend by using a menu. "Stupid sweater!"
"Your parents still have this idea that it's better to hide who they are when they leave home. They live in the last century." Clawdeen commented.
"You wax." The vampire pointed out.
"It's not the same! I don't do it to hide that I am. I do it because so much fur is uncomfortable."
"I hate this sweater!" Frankie couldn't take it anymore and hurried to take off the top of his attire, revealing underneath a black T-shirt with green line and a big ten on the chest.
"Hey, I think you need to tan a little more, green doesn't go with wheat anymore." Clawdeen joked once again, pointing out that, from a little below Frankie's collarbone, her skin was mint green, this furthermore also occurred on her arms.
Frankie just shot annoyed glances at her friend, Draculaura for her part found that shirt curious, it didn't look like something that belonged to her friend, so she decided to ask.
"Hey, Frankie, since when do you have those kind of shirts?"
The alluded one was a little confused at that question, so she lowered her gaze. Her expression became one of surprise.
"Oh no, did I mixed my shirt? I just took one from the laundry basket!" she exclaimed worriedly. "I hope Ben doesn't get mad..."
Hearing that name made Clawdeen stop her ears. Now that her friend was saying it, that shirt looked familiar, yes, it was the same one a certain No Alien was wearing the day the park was destroyed.
Ben Tennyson. That name might mean nothing to other people, but to the three of them, and to Cleo, who was more than certain to deny any relationship with this person, it did mean something. After all, they knew him as an alien and now... well, now he was different.
A month and a half after they met him, an event happened that to this day has not yet been clarified by anyone. Although they got answers from one of those responsible.
A week after what happened, Upgrade reappeared at Frankie's house and after she sent them a message telling them so, Draculaura didn't hesitate to drag Clawdeen to her friend's house. If Clawdeen was honest, she had expected anything, but what she found was a human boy claiming to be Upgrade.
The boy himself said he was Upgrade and had always been human, only changing forms.
Clawdeen didn't believe him at all. Who would? It was impossible. She swallowed her words. Oh, she put salt and ketchup on it and swallowed her words when that boy transformed in front of her eyes into a gorilla-like thing made out of Legos. How was that possible? She didn't know. Did that boy explain? He didn't know how a gorilla made of Legos was possible either. He just said it was his quirk and something about him not being able to work like he used to, but that was more of a discreet whisper to himself that she accidentally overheard.
After that, he just left. According to Frankie, he did that a lot. He came and went all the time, and they hardly spoke, even though her parents put strict rules on what he should and shouldn't do.
From what Frankie could tell them, Ben, as he said his name was, was still looking for that other black and red alien. According to her friend, he was quite reserved about it, he only said that it was something he had to take care of and then he could return home. The girl's parents would not give any more information either, since according to Frankie Ben had told them more things about himself, but he seemed not to want to share them with her, perhaps at the request of his parents.
If she was honest, Clawdeen wasn't sure whether or not she should trust him. She didn't see him very often, but he never failed to be kind, she even found him kind of cute, when he didn't open his mouth and say some horrible joke or pun.
Really, making jokes that bad had to be illegal. She still remembered a particularly bad one about trains and training.
They had tried to take him out at Draculaura's request, or rather insistence, she found the human quite amazing, though knowing the vampire she was sure to grow fond of him as she did of all people. That's how she was and that's how she was perfect.
But that adventure did not go as the vampire expected. Wanting to take him to the Maul, to lunch, and then to the movies, to see more than just Frankie's house and the sewers. Because yes, that was where he spent much of his day looking for that other alien he called "Malware".
She remembered that convincing him was not particularly difficult. In fact, he was quite cheerful and kept repeating how much he wanted to have a grape smoothie that did taste like grapes. Clawdeen didn't understand.
It was a normal outing with her friends, they had a good time, and went to see different stores. They stopped by to say hello to Lagoona at her summer job at Coffin Bean and even watched a movie. Everything was normal until they realized that at some point Ben had left. They spent the rest of the afternoon looking for him, thinking he was lost. When they all returned home, Frankie got a message saying that Ben was at home, watching an animated series on TV. They asked him where he had gone and he just said: "I went to the bathroom and when I came back I couldn't find you and I just left."
Maybe, just maybe, they had forgotten about him. Although Clawdeen was sure they hadn't. She remembered hearing a police siren, and as of that moment, she no longer remembered being with Ben.
Clawdeen wanted to lecture him for ruining the outing Draculaura had planned just so he could see more than just Frankie's house and the city's sewer system. Perhaps she had made him feel guilty since he promised to go out another time and this time using the car. Of course, first, he had to convince Frankie's parents that "I would not cause another incident that would be broadcast on national television." The bar was a little high.
At least they could use the car as long as he was there and Frankie was watching him. Or that would be the idea.
"Do you think he's going to be mad?" questioned Frankie, worried about how the boy might react. "I'm going to call him right now and apologize."
"You know, I don't think Ben would mind." Clawdeen commented with a smile. "It wouldn't bother me being a boy to have a pretty girl wear my clothes."
"Clawdeen is right, I do the same thing with Clawd's shirts." Draculaura added, getting Clawdeen to pout.
"Uhgg, now you get the details Lala. I don't want to know what you and my brother do."
Draculaura rolled her eyes, she knew Clawdeen still didn't quite accept that she was with her older brother, but it was already more of a recurring joke. Frankie on the other hand, in her innocence, didn't get it.
"But, we all already saw what the two of them do. They always kiss, what's wrong with knowing that?" the young, innocent monster got looks from her two friends. "What?"
"Remember I told you that you should explore the internet a little more?" questioned Clawdeen. "Well, you should. Not with Ben in the house, of course."
"Why?" This is when Clawdeen knew she stepped on a mine.
Frankie was innocent in many ways, although she was no stranger to reproduction, she was ignorant about how relationships could lead to certain indecent acts.
Clawdeen didn't know what to say. She didn't want to give her friend "the talk," so she looked at Draculaura, though she chose to play it cool and look the other way. In her mind, the werewolf woman yelled at her best friend that she was a traitor, but she alone got herself into this situation.
"Oh, look at the time! Customers will be arriving soon, I'll go see if my mother needs help!" making use of her responsibility as a poor excuse, Clawdeen managed to avoid going through an awkward situation and escape. Draculaura, however, was not so lucky.
"Draculaura, what does Clawdeen mean?" questioned Frankie cocking her head slightly.
By the middle of the day, Clawdeen was in her room again, it had been a while since her job helping with the restaurant was over. It was strange that they had many customers, her parents could handle the ones that came in at this hour so they didn't need her or her brother.
Unlike other girls her age, Clawdeen didn't waste her time with trifles. She didn't spend hours looking at her social networks and the latest trending show... Well, maybe she did, but only when she was looking to relax.
She loved to design. Spending hours drawing, cutting fabrics, and sewing them to create different types of outfits that she could wear or sell. It was not a profitable business, not yet, but she did receive some commissions from her classmates as she was very good at her job.
She did all this because she wanted to help her family. She wanted to earn enough money so they wouldn't have problems anymore. To buy a bigger house so she wouldn't have to share a room with her younger sister. Toys for all her siblings. She had good intentions. Fame too, oh yes, she wanted fame, but that would come with money.
Although, since it was summer vacation, she didn't have any pending commissions. Despite this, she never stopped thinking of new designs or reading fashion magazines for ideas. All this in order to create a new outfit to start the new school year and attract all eyes. This was her way of advertising herself.
"This isn't turning out the way it should..." she muttered as he nibbled on the pencil she was drawing with.
A half-designed outfit was there, without colors, but with firm outlines that differentiated the parts that made it up. A jacket, a shirt, and a skirt. Despite being a decent design, Clawdeen was aiming for perfection, so not achieving it filled her with frustration.
She got up and began to walk around her room, seeking somehow to obtain the blessing of the muses of art so she could continue her work. She sat on her bed crossing her legs. Then she began to play with her pencil and her lips. She looked out the window. She threw herself on the floor. But none of this helped her.
In the end, Clawdeen tried to find inspiration in her closet. There rested some outfits she had made herself.
"No, not this one either, uhg this one smells awful..." the increasingly frustrated girl ended up making a mess. A large pile of clothes formed behind her.
Perhaps someone would think that Clawdeen spent a lot on clothes, as she had too many, but that was not the case. Many of those clothes had three predominant colors, white, black, and different shades of pink. All of it once belonged to Draculaura.
Frustrated at not finding anything that could inspire her, the wolf woman began to put all those clothes away again. Of course, without arranging them as she should, she could do it later.
As she did so, she thought about how her friend had given her a lot of clothes since she met her. Draculaura wasn't the best when it came to saving money, she would buy everything she considered "cute" and ended up not wearing even a tiny part of what she bought, so she always ended up giving away a lot of clothes. It was not uncommon for the vampire to invite her to her home just to give her clothes, lots of clothes, and although Clawdeen was grateful for her friend's kindness, she did not feel comfortable accepting so much kindness.
Accepting outfits that cost more than a thousand dollars was difficult, and although Draculaura always denied that she did it out of pity, Clawdeen was aware that her friend was always worried about her financial situation. Besides, she always used that vile little teary-eyed tactic to force her to accept those gifts. Clawdeen cursed every time that happened, she should never have taught her to do that, it was too much power.
And of course, not everything her friend gave her was her size. Draculaura was much smaller than her. In every way. Clawdeen only apologized in her mind every time her friend got depressed about her lack of curves. Clawdeen wasn't to blame for that, it was her mother's genetics.
Once she had picked up all the mess she herself had caused, the young wolf woman sat down at her desk again. There was that drawing she couldn't finish and that frustrated her to stratospheric levels.
She needed to relax. Get away, even if just a little bit from all the problems she might have, and free her mind. That was a good way to get the creativity flowing and she knew a way to do that.
The sound of a skateboard's wheels spinning on the concrete of the approach could be heard like the growl of a wild animal.
With the grace and agility of a wolf, a girl in a purple cap, black leggings, and a white T-shirt was skating among the passersby.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" she heard said behind her.
Clawdeen turned her head for a moment, but ignored the shout and just continued.
Many would have chosen to be quiet. Watch a series. Sleep. But not Clawdeen. She had an animal nature, she wanted to be on the move all the time, to feel free while doing so, and so Skate-Boarding was her way of relaxing.
She strolled along the sidewalks of the city, mindful of crossing each street to avoid causing an accident, but that didn't stop her from inadvertently tripping some people. Those shouting away let her know it.
When she got to where she wanted to go, she took a deep breath. It was a park, not far from Riverfront, but at least this one wasn't destroyed and rebuilt overnight.
The place was busy. Teenagers or anyone who wanted to hang out were all over the place. And of course, as was customary, monsters and humans avoided each other as if they were in a rage.
The two were separated, almost perfectly dividing the park. They did not interact with each other, perhaps because it was better to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Of course Clawdeen couldn't care less what all those people were doing, she just went there to relax and have some fun. And of course, to look good while doing so.
She gracefully traversed the rink, easily dodging the other skaters, who were caught off guard, going as far as losing their balance because of how bold Clawdeen could be.
The young woman glided gracefully down the track, her first stop was the half had, she needed more speed. She skated until she reached the chasm and then used the inertia to descend quickly.
The speed was taken advantage of by the girl to do an Ollie. She took a jump with the skateboard doing a pop. To then continue towards the Spine of the track. In the semi-circle the young girl skated through the highest area, fiercely and boldly mastered it, passing very close to a group of boys who let out a shout of praise for her skill.
The young girl continued in the direction of a ramp where at the top were sitting two girls and a boy, who were just chatting. Clawdeen sharpened her gaze, the space she had was not much to do a great trick, but she was still going to try.
She kicked her right leg on the ground, managing to gain more momentum. The small acceleration was enough for her to skate to the top of the ramp. There she used the edge to slide with the bottom of her skateboard until she almost grazed the three young men and then stopped for a moment.
They watched her with wide eyes and she winked with a smile and then descended.
As Clawdeen was showing off and attracting attention, she managed to get someone passing by to stop and stare at her.
It was none other than Ben. The young man seemed to be somewhat pensive, and it was only because of the cheering he heard that he came over to look.
The boy didn't have his black and green t-shirt with him, instead, this one was only white and it was a bit too big for him. After all, Frankie had mistakenly taken his shirt which forced him to wear borrowed clothes. And even though it was a skinny shirt from the dryer, it was still too big for Ben.
He was knowledgeable about skateboarding, he had his own board after all, and he could say with complete certainty that the girl there was very good.
The young man couldn't recognize that it was Clawdeen, he just chose to get closer to keep watching, he couldn't remember when was the last time he had stopped to watch someone skateboarding.
"I dare you to go and push her." He heard some boys near him say. When he heard it he was surprised and worried, and without him being able to do anything he saw how one of them threw himself toward that girl.
Ben could do nothing to stop him, he just watched as that fool headed toward the poor girl.
Clawdeen, unaware of this continued to gain more spectators and in turn, moved faster. That speed and the sound of people talking over her filled her with excitement and adrenaline. This was what she wanted. The recognition that in turn came with the money.
So many things she could do with both of them. So big were her dreams... but because she was dreaming she fell victim to the human who was heading straight for her.
Clawdeen failed to react. It was just a little push, shoulder to shoulder, but because she was distracted she was unable to recover. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, losing her cap and skateboard in the process, the was just continued forward without it.
The girl groaned as she hit the cold ground. She stared up at the sky, sky blue with a few clouds. She saw a silhouette pass by her. It was that human who had pushed her. He had a smug smile. He was laughing at her.
"Sorry doggy, I didn't see you." Said the human in a mocking tone and which elicited laughter from his friends.
Clawdeen sat up, keeping herself seated on the ground, and followed that human with her eyes. She watched angrily and let out a grunt as she went towards her group, heard them laugh, and congratulate the boy for doing that. If it wasn't for her ending up in big trouble, she'll go over to them and break their skates over their heads.
Frustrated, annoyed, and wanting to break something, the girl just stood up and went to her Skateboard and grabbed it. Her afternoon ruined, now she just wanted to go home.
She looked around for her cap but didn't see it until the sound of someone coughing behind her made her turn around. She encountered another human, a bad sign, though this human was a different one. She hadn't expected to meet Ben there, nor had she expected the boy to be holding her cap in one of his hands.
"So, that's how werewolves do it?" he said in a joking, friendly tone.
She said nothing, merely walked over and held out her hand for him to give her back her cap, which he did.
"You were amazing. You have to teach me how to do that. Omitting the falling part."
"How funny." She replied. She didn't take the comment the wrong way, she knew Ben was sarcastic most of the time.
"I try to please my fans." Was his response, but his smile gave way to a more serious expression. "Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself?"
"No, but I want to hurt someone." She said looking towards those annoying human teenagers. Ben looked toward them as well. He memorized their faces. He wasn't a vindictive person, he was taught not to be, but a little prank wasn't revenge.
He memorized their faces. Yes, they would eventually receive a shower of rotten eggs.
"Let's get out of here, I saw a tree with good shade to sit in." Clawdeen hesitated a bit. The two of them were the center of attention at that instant and not for the reason Clawdeen would like. A human and a Monster interacting peacefully was odd. For a pair of teenagers to do so was... even more so.
She agreed, just to get away from all those stares. They both left the runway, opting to continue that little conversation under the shade of a tree.
She leaned back by the log, while Ben sat up and crossed his legs, choosing to face the skate park.
They did not initiate a conversation. Clawdeen was somewhat unsure whether or not to do so, but she was curious.
"What are you doing here, Frankie's parents let you out of the attic?" she questioned. "And what's with that shirt?"
"I'm not one of Viktor's experiments." He replied with a certain sarcastic touch. Clawdeen merely laughed at him. "I needed to get out, take a walk. See if I could find Frankie to give me my shirt back. And this one Viveka gave me, she says Viktor doesn't fit anymore after Frankie tried to do laundry."
"Don't you like she wearing your clothes? I thought guys loved to see a pretty girl with their shirt on." She glared at him. Since Ben was living at Frankie's, Clawdeen couldn't help but be worried, after all, Ben might be weird, but he was still a boy.
"Well, not when that's your only shirt." Was his reply. Clawdeen just didn't look at him. She knew Ben didn't have much with him and that included clothes.
They both remained silent for a few moments. Clawdeen wasn't sure how to converse with him. After all they barely had chats when they saw him, and there was always Draculaura to harass him with questions about him, questions that Ben was happy to answer, and always ending with "It's just that I'm amazing." Yes, his ego was almost as big as Cleo's.
Clawdeen had to accept that she didn't quite trust the boy, he had his secrets, it was quite clear to her and she didn't like that. She understood that he wouldn't open up like that to her or her friends, but since that night in the park, she had a lot of questions.
"What's wrong?" the werewolf woman noticed that he was looking at her too. "I got something on my face? Uhg I was up all night looking in the sewers for that idiot, but that nothing got stuck on me." She saw him pull out his phone and use it as a hand mirror to look at himself. "That idiot." It was the way he referred to the other alien.
"Who is he?" she questioned, getting the boy to put aside his phone and look at her. "That alien, who is he? You seemed to know him and you keep looking for him."
The boy seemed to hesitate whether or not to open his mouth, so Clawdeen insisted.
"You promised you were going to explain it to me, remember? That night on the Riverfront."
"Did I do that?" he replied, Clawdeen could detect lies with some ease, his wolf ears could hear when the heartbeat was racing, but that wasn't the case with Ben, he genuinely didn't remember.
"You did, I don't like lies or broken promises, speak up. That guy almost hurt my friends, I want to know why."
Clawdeen could sense the discomfort in the human, he tried to avoid eye contact at all costs. Was it something so bad that he couldn't tell her? Still, a promise was a promise and if he didn't keep it, her trust in him would only diminish.
"All right. I think I can tell you a thing or two. But you can't tell anyone."
"Why? is it so bad?"
"No. I mean, yes. It's complicated. Malware and I have history." Clawdeen was confused to hear that. History? What kind of history could they both have?
She remembered the way they were facing each other, they were not friends, that was obvious. But they almost seemed to want to kill each other. What kind of history could they have to come to that one outcome?
"But I have one condition. I'll tell you what I can, if you buy me a smoothie."
"What?" she questioned arching an eyebrow. "A... smoothie?"
"You have those here don't you? I've been in this dimension for a month and haven't had time to go take one."
The girl was a little confused but readily agreed. It was a hot day, and after having been skateboarding she could use something to cool off.
"That's fine, as long as you answer my questions. I know a good place. Let's go to the Maul."
"It's that place Draculaura was so insistent on taking me, isn't it? I haven't been there since they took me that time."
"You never told us where you went."
"It's... another long story." Clawdeen once again arched an eyebrow as she watched him get flustered. What was he hiding? "Whatever, I'm dying for a smoothie, let's hurry up!"
The boy moved ahead of her, forcing her to quicken her pace, but as she did so she noticed something strange. Ben had just said... "This dimension?".
"Hey! What are you waiting for!" she heard Ben say more than ten meters away from her.
There weren't many places in town where monsters were welcome in a good way, unless it was a place run by a monster. Clawdeen took Ben to one of those, or, rather, to the biggest monster mall in town. The Maul. To be precise, she took him to Coffin Bean.
"Maybe... mango? No, no, no. Guava? No... Orange! No... Hey, Clawdeen, what flavor would you choose?"
"Whichever one. You've had fifteen, make up your mind already." She said impatiently.
And as she said, Ben had spent the last fifteen minutes reading the menu, always repeating the same three flavors over and over again. Clawdeen didn't know if she should just buy whichever one it was and take him to sit down, whatever it took to avoid all the stares they were getting. How was it possible that he didn't realize they were the center of attention?
"What do you think, Lagoona?" questioned the human looking at the person who was attending to them, who was none other than Lagoona.
The girl kept a smile on her face, Clawdeen didn't know if it was just because she was kind and patient or because she had to do it with every customer. Whatever the reality was, she didn't envy her friend.
"I'd recommend the mango one, but if you're looking for something more tropical the guava is perfect." The saltwater monster girl was polite in her response, almost seeming to enjoy how silly the boy was. "I could also mix the flavors if you want."
"Would you do that? Then I want a large smoothie of all three flavors."
"Finally!" thought Clawdeen, exhausted by how indecisive her companion was. "Lagoona, really, forgive this fool, he's dumb."
"Hey!" complained Ben, but his complaint was ignored. "Dweeb".
"Not at all, it's a pleasure to attend to my friends." Clawdeen noticed something strange in Lagoona's gaze, she seemed to be looking more at Ben than her, but downplayed it. "Sooo… are you… Dating?"
"Ha! No. I just found him crying for a smoothie."
"Hey, that's not true."
"So you don't want me to pay for your smoothie?"
"I was crying for a smoothie."
Lagoona gave a small laugh at that and Clawdeen could tell that she seemed a little more relaxed, for some reason.
"I'll have your orders ready in a moment, please have a seat."
With their order ready, they both went to a table away from all the others so they could talk without prying ears being able to hear them. It also helped that pop music was playing loudly on the speakers.
Clawdeen folded her arms and looked at Ben, who leaned back by his chair, looking expectantly over to where Lagoona was preparing her order. The wolf woman arched an eyebrow, she wasn't sure if he was looking at Lagoona or his order, it was clear he had somewhat odd priorities.
"Well?" she began. "Are you going to tell me about this guy, Malware or what?"
"I actually would have preferred to wait for the smoothie." Was his response.
From one moment to the next something changed in Ben. Clawdeen noticed it. That look in his eyes took a complete turn, his body language became tenser and he leaned toward her.
Clawdeen swallowed for an instant. It was strange. Not strange because it was something weird. Rather, she felt like she was looking at something other than a seventeen-year-old boy.
"Before I tell you anything, you have to promise me one thing. You will not tell anyone about this."
"Sorry? she blinked at such a request. not tell anyone? Although if she was honest, she wasn't going to tell anyone either, it was just her curiosity speaking for her. She wanted answers as to why all that happened. "You can rest easy, I don't want the men in black at my door either." Her retort caused Ben to chuckle.
"If you only knew." That was not at all reassuring to Clawdeen, or she could discern whether he was joking or not. "Then what are you waiting for? Shoot."
Clawdeen thought about it for a few moments. Her first question was supposed to give her enough information to be able to ask more questions and find out more about the boy. He was quite open and that made her a little suspicious. Would he lie? Would he be vague with his answers? She needed to test him.
"First question. How did you get that watch?" Clawdeen was hoping for a vague answer, something that wouldn't give him much information, after all that thing had to be a huge secret if no one had ever heard of it.
She did not expect the smile he gave her. A smile that seemed to show how fond he was of the memories that flashed through her mind.
"It all started at summer camp when I was ten years old."
Several minutes later, Clawdeen was deep in thought, while Ben was enjoying his smoothie and was distracted looking out the windows of the cafeteria where they were. She was trying to process the information the human had just given her. She had to admit that she hadn't expected him to be so open with her, it was almost as if he didn't care at all about hiding it, he didn't even bother to speak softly! It was perhaps fortunate that the other customers preferred to stay away from them. Sometimes being accompanied by a human had its advantages. Although Lagoona kept glancing at them for some reason. Her friend was not discreet, every now and then she could notice how their eyes turned towards them.
She focused her gaze on him. Again, he wasn't focused on her at all, he seemed to prefer looking out the window. Ben was someone strange. And he almost didn't seem to be like someone her age, she knew many who would love to be on a date with her. And a matchhead who wouldn't stop paying compliments to try to earn a kiss from her. Was she supposed to feel insulted that she wasn't noticed by Ben?
She tried to find some lie in the young man's words, but she couldn't do it. He had told her a fabulous story of how he, as a mere boy of ten, traveled the country with his grandfather and cousin being some kind of shape-shifting superhero. That couldn't be real! And if it was, why was it never talked about? It didn't make sense. It had to be a lie. It had to be.
Her thoughts were interrupted when he heard the boy's voice ask.
"And what about you?" Clawdeen was confused to hear that.
"With me?"
"Yeah. Since when do you Skateboard?" he asked pointing to the skateboard Clawdeen was carrying.
For an instant, she hesitated to answer. She had no reason to, but Ben was open with her and answered her first question. It was only fair that she should answer now, wasn't it?
"We're playing twenty questions?" she questioned with a teasing tone. "I've been doing it since we moved here when I was a kid. It's a way to de-stress me."
Ben nodded, processing that bit of information from the wolf woman.
"You moved to this town? Where are you from?" he asked again with genuine curiosity.
"Hey, it was my turn to ask. Don't cheat." Scolded the werewolf woman. Ben for his part threw up his hands as if in surrender. "I'm from Brooklyn, New York."
"The big city? Sweet. I'm from Tennessy."
Clawdeen could refute that. One of the reasons they were no longer there was because of the living environment and the insecurity that the Big Apple could present. That environment was not optimal for a family like theirs.
"So, Malware. what's your history with him?" Clawdeen noticed that again the air around Ben took a turn, this time it seemed more uncomfortable. She heard the boy's heart quicken as if he were fearful of something.
"I don't want to go into details. He took something from me and I did the same to him." For the first time in their entire conversation, the boy's smile was gone. He looked subdued, almost regretful about something. She questioned whether asking about it was the right thing to do. "But if you care about him, you can rest assured, I'll make sure that idiot doesn't hurt anyone."
The casual smile returned to the young man. Clawdeen could understand his situation a little, him having problems he didn't want to discuss with anyone. Even she had secrets and problems that no one else should know about.
The conversation thus stopped. No one said anything.
For Clawdeen it was strange. She wasn't sure what she had expected from that conversation, but it wasn't how she had imagined it. Ben was someone kind, despite being a human. Perhaps she could afford to trust him after all that little impromptu meeting was enough to take her mind off the problems her family faced.
"Hey, you want to see something cool?"
"Something cool?" she questioned, unsure what the boy might be referring to.
"You like skateboarding, don't you? I have a board too. What do you say if we use it?"
Somewhere in the woods near the town of Salem, Clawdeen, and Ben were walking. The werewolf woman was a few steps behind the boy, questioning why she had followed him to that place.
After Ben offered to show her his skateboard, Clawdeen out of sheer curiosity said yes, which led them to Frankie's house. Or, rather, to break into Frankie's house.
Although Ben was a tenant of the family, he had not been given keys, so the boy improvised when it came to getting in and out. Whether or not what he was doing was illegal was up for debate, but the human didn't seem to care.
First, they went to the backyard of the house and made sure no neighbors could see them. Then Ben transformed into a kind of blue and black humanoid covered by a robe and as if he were a ghost he went through the kitchen door.
Clawdeen had to admit that Ben was kind of cool. He had some pretty mad skills, plus he had a car that in his own words was a super advanced ship. That gave him a lot of points for coolness. That was one of the reasons she had agreed to this. But it made her wonder, how many transformations did the kid have.
When he returned with her, the human was quite mysterious about what it was he came in looking for. He hadn't come out with a board, instead, he had something like a frisbee and although she asked him about it, he just told her that it was better to be away from people.
And that's how they ended up in the middle of the forest. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move on the girl's part, Ben still didn't have her confidence, but curiosity was greater.
Before long Clawdeen noticed that the trees were no longer so numerous and a clearing opened up for them both. She looked at the place for a few moments, it looked a little familiar, had she been there before?
The girl then noticed that her companion had stopped and was holding that strange circular object in her hand.
She looked at him a bit puzzled, what was he doing?
"Are you ready for this?" he questioned looking over his shoulder at her, but before she could give him an answer, she saw him run forward, throwing as he did so that object he had with him.
Clawdeen was someone who knew about pop culture and science fiction. It was hard not to when you grew up in a family like hers. Each of her siblings had their own tastes and personalities, which led them to prefer some things over others. And for her, there was no better science fiction movie than Back to the future.
It was a classic she had seen as a child on a family movie night, her father had a large collection of old movies and that one was almost on a pedestal.
She remembered seeing the self-fitting slippers on Marty Mcfly's feet, or the hologram of the shark that gave the poor protagonist a good scare. While both were interesting, Clawdeen had always wanted to see one thing in real life.
"Woooojoooo!" Ben soared into the air, surpassing ten meters in height. All this thanks to what was under his feet.
"No... way..." clawdeen's eyes were open as was her mouth. Before her, the biggest sci-fi item soared drooling through the air.
Over her head, Ben maneuvered like a master of the craft. A frontside spun him through the air and then followed up with a kickflip, sending the skateboard spinning three hundred and sixty degrees under his feet.
The boy continued to show off his skills to the astonished Clawdeen. The young girl couldn't believe her eyes! It had to be a dream! It had to be!
Of course, it wasn't and when Ben descended and stopped in front of her with an arrogant smile, the wolf woman could only articulate a simple sentence.
"You have... an anti-gravity board..." Ben found amusement in the surprised face of his monstrous companion. He found it amusing when things like that happened. "You have... a freacking anti-gravity skateboard!"
"Alien technology is the best." Was his response.
"I... I can't believe it." The young girl couldn't tear her eyes away from the sci-fi device. Her inner child was screaming for her to ride it and make her childhood dream come true.
"I know, right? I've always wanted one ever since I saw Back To The Future." The boy took the board in his two hands and it compacted down to form that strange frisbee again.
Clawdeen didn't answer him, she was more focused on trying to take in everything she had just seen, was Ben cooler than she ever thought he was? It was weird and she didn't trust him much, but hell, the kid was awesome! She had to admit that!
But more importantly, could she ride that board?
As if the boy read her thoughts, he extended the object toward her, which surprised and confused her.
"Want to give it a try?"
The wolf woman's ears pricked up and her pupils dilated with excitement. Was this a dream?
"Really?" she asked uncertainly. "You would let me...?"
"Sure, I brought you here for that." Was his reply. "Just let me give you a quick tutorial."
She wasn't sure when it happened, but from one moment to the next Clawdeen was standing on the anti-gravity board, with Ben giving her some pointers on how to control it.
"Let's do this slowly, okay?" The girl swallowed saliva and nodded. She was still glued to the ground, but adrenaline was already pumping through her body. She was excited. "Use both feet to press down on the sensors. Do it slowly, that will make the board start levitating."
She nodded. She took a deep breath looked at her feet and began to apply pressure.
She lost her balance at first, and almost fell backward, but Ben managed to hold her by her hands to prevent it.
"I... got it." She said, ignoring the contact they both had. "I think so."
"You're doing well. Now the basic controls. If you lean forward, you accelerate. If you lean back, you brake. Left. Right. Got it?"
Clawdeen nodded, though she wasn't sure what she should try first.
"Sounds easy..."
Ben released her hands and let her do it on her own. Despite being the first time the werewolf woman had used such a device, she seemed to be able to control it. At least until she accidentally leaned too far and ended up accelerating and crashing straight into some trees.
"Are you okay?" the human questioned.
"Y-Yes..." she replied, though sore, the werewolf woman was quick to stand up and pick up the tablet again. That object, she was going to master it whatever it took.
Although Clawdeen underestimated the artifact and the difficulty it presented in mastering it.
It was almost seven o'clock in the evening when Clawdeen dropped on her back on the ground, completely exhausted and panting.
Nearby was Ben, who was distracted looking at his phone. His expression was thoughtful and as if he missed what he was looking at on the screen. Clawdeen noticed, but said nothing about it.
"How come you're so good?" he questioned. "This is hard!"
"I'm natural with it." Was the answer she got. "and I'm awesome."
The young woman looked at the human and could only grunt under her breath, then lay back down on the forest floor. Her eyes took in the sky, twilight was taking over, mixing warm colors, like yellows, reds, and oranges, with cooler colors, like violets and blues. How long had she been trying and failing?
"We'd better get back." Ben reached over to pick up her board and then held out his hand to help her to her feet. That action took Clawdeen a little by surprise, which Ben noticed. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, I'm still getting weird about this interacting with a human." She apologized, taking his hand.
"Can I ask you a question? This whole human/monster thing, how bad is it?" Clawdeen arched an eyebrow at that question. It was an odd question to ask, but noticing that the boy looked serious, she decided to give him an answer just as seriously.
"I'd say pretty much. If you're a monster you've got it tough." She kicked a little at the leaves beneath her feet. "You saw it in the park. Just because you're Monster you're already a target for harassment. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing special." Clawdeen just arched an eyebrow, Ben was odd. "I have other things to do. Shall we continue this tomorrow?"
"What? Tomorrow?"
"Yes. You want to learn how to use this thing, don't you?" he asked waving the compact form of his board. "Let's continue tomorrow. I have to...you know." Ben gestured with his hands. He was trying to say he was going into the sewers again.
"Look for that idiot who trashed the park. Okay, I get it." Clawdeen wasn't able to hide her smile. Ben was starting to grow on her more and more. "If you find him, kick his ass for me, okay?"
"Don't mention that." The boy gave him a friendly smile and raised his fist. Clawdeen looked at him for a few moments, which confused Ben. "What's the matter? Don't you fist bump here?"
The girl let out a giggle at the nonsense the human was saying and after squeezing out a tear, she bumped fist with him, causing him to smile even more.
"Are we friends now?" he questioned.
"Maybe. As long as you let me use your board."
"Hey, how interested. I'll let you have it as long as you buy me smoothies."
"Who is the interested now?"
Both young men shared a laugh as they left the place.
Clawdeen returned home at almost nine o'clock in the evening. Stopping in front of her home, she stomped on one end of her skateboard and tossed it into her hand, then walked to the door and went inside.
All the lights were off, a sign that her siblings were probably sleeping, so she entered as quietly as possible.
Crossing through the restaurant and on her way to the door leading to the stairs to the second floor, she noticed a light filtering in from the kitchen. Carefully she approached to verify who it was, whether it was one of her brothers bingeing on food, or some invader who was going to learn the hard way not to enter other people's homes.
What she saw there was her mother. She was sitting at a small table and reading various scattered papers while having a telephone conversation.
"This is really hard Sidney, we're almost out of money this month." Clawdeen leaned by the wall, making sure her mother was unaware of her presence.
"But Harriet, I'm sure with the restaurant they make quite a bit of money." She heard the woman her mother was talking to say. "Plus your husband works with Dracula, right? They should have some extra money."
"The restaurant may be a reliable source of income, but not for us. My children are many and each one needs something different. Nino needs new glasses and Pawla needs orthodontics."
"What about your eldest daughter. Wasn't she sending you money?" questioned the voice again. "If you're in so much trouble you should ask her for help."
"I can't ask my daughter for money. What kind of mother would I be if I did? I'm happy that she can live on her own, that's enough."
"Oh, Harriet."
"I know, I'm being foolish, but I don't want to depend on my children. Clawd and Clawdeen already have a lot on their minds with their studies and helping us with the restaurant. If they find out, they'll be very worried." Clawdeen looked down at that.
One of the reasons she put so much effort into her designs and commissioned work was for her family. She wanted them to have something better than what they had. And she wasn't the only one. Clawd was too.
Both were the older siblings, without Clawdia here they were to help their parents in any way they could.
If only she could do more.
Pushing those thoughts away, she backed toward the front door and made as much noise as possible to encourage her approaching mother.
The woman hurried to hide all those bills that needed to be paid and looked toward the kitchen door, where she saw her daughter enter.
"Mom, I'm back. I ran into a friend and that's why it took me so long, who are you talking to?"
"Oh just with Sidney, you know, the human teacher."
"The redhead who lives across the street? Tell her I said hello." The girl walked over to the refrigerator and slyly looked down at the beads, there were a lot of them, and this worried her. "Is there anything to eat? I'm starving."
"I think there's some flan. Help yourself to some and then go take a bath, you look like you've just done a marathon through the woods."
"Something like that." Was her reply.
The wolf woman bit her lips as she pretended to look for the flan in the refrigerator. She was worried now, what was she going to do, how could she help her family? She needed to finish that design and move on to the next one and then turn them into a reality. She needed to do it. She had to do it.
"Clawdeen, could you pour some for me too? I think I need to eat something sweet." Her mother asked.
So Clawdeen did, served on a small plate for herself and another for her mother, and sat down beside the woman.
Harriet took a taste of the dessert and let out a moan of ecstasy at the sweet taste.
"This time your father did great with this. Ah, he's a great cook." Clawdeen forced a smile, she knew her mother was just being loud in front of her.
"That's right, not like you, you cook very badly." Joked the young woman, getting a dirty look from her mother.
"Remind me not to feed you again."
"I'll scavenge like a stray dog." She joked again. This time, laughing and her mother soon followed with an honest laugh.
"If you do that, you'd ruin your beautiful fur." The woman rubbed her daughter's hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "What do you say we eat all the flan?"
"Really? Dad won't be mad?"
"We just need to throw a steak at him to make him forget." Joked the woman this time.
Clawdeen allowed herself a smile.
Even though the situation they were going through was not the best, she admired how her mother stood her ground. She wished she could become as strong a person as her mother.
In another part of town. Ben was walking with his hands in his pants pockets. The night was quite cool, so he was wearing a white sweatshirt with green lines and a ten on the left chest.
He was in deep thought. It had been more than a month since he ended up in that strange and unique world. His whole situation was strange. He still couldn't remember how he ended up wandering in space or what he was doing before. He only remembered talking to Kai and then everything was white.
This was not the only thing that worried him. Not at all. Malware was out there, somewhere, and in over a month it hadn't shown a trace. That was not good. He knew Malware and as unstable as his mind was he was a very smart villain, which made him very dangerous. Malware planned, he didn't mind waiting six years to get his revenge, if he gave him more time to prepare, who knew what he might do in a world without Plumbers Malware would wreak havoc before he could stop it.
Aside from Malware, he had the problem that he had no place to live. Yes, he lived next door to Frankie's family, but it was rather temporary and he would rather not stay close in case Malware decided to show up. He would hate to paint a target on the people who helped him. On top of that, he lived in the attic of the house, a place they had previously used to host a voodoo doll created by Frankie. How did that work? He had no idea, magic was his cousin's forte.
Be that as it may, he didn't want to be a problem, so he has been secretly looking for a place to stay that didn't have the strict rules that Frankie's parents imposed on him. Some of them in his personal opinion were ridiculous. He wasn't going to try to spy on Frankie. He wasn't that pervert, Michael Morningstar. He noticed her, yes, but nothing more.
The sound of sliding doors opening and the characteristic "tlin" sound was heard and he looked around. He was in a 24/7 store, he had gone there because he wanted to buy a snack to help keep him going all night while he searched for Malware.
As he moved forward, he noticed that the person behind the counter was a monster, although he looked at him for a moment, he soon returned his gaze to his cell phone, as if he didn't care about his presence there.
Ben headed towards the snack area, he wanted something cheap. He barely had any money that Frankie's father gave him in exchange for letting him examine his car. Ben in a normal situation wouldn't take a bribe like that, well, as long as he wasn't a collectible figure of sumo slammers, but that wasn't a normal situation.
As he was checking, the sound of the door was heard again and out of sheer curiosity, he looked up. There he saw a girl, he couldn't tell for sure as she was wearing a rather large sweatshirt and her hood hid her face. Something suspicious if he was honest.
He watched her walk to another part, he wasn't sure whether or not he should keep an eye on that person, but he chose not to, if she stole something he would just go and stop her.
He returned his attention to the snacks, defining himself by two bags of potato chips, and then went to one of the coolers crammed with different soft drinks. Pepsi, Coke, Fanta, a whole range of carbonated drinks stood gloriously before his eyes. There was even a black and green canned drink called Monster, and since his favorite color was present in the design, he decided to drink it.
"That's seven fifty." He heard that cashier say so apathetic towards the world. Turning his head, there he saw that hooded person again.
He noticed that it was a girl, from his place he can saw how her chest was marked, but he did not look too much, it was an accident that he noticed that. Of course it was.
Thinking that the night would be quiet, he prepared to go to the cashier and pay for his purchase, but the door opened again. There, a person with a mountain pass covering his face was holding a gun.
"Everybody down on the ground! This is an assault!" he shouted.
Ben in one swift movement backed up, managing to get one of the gondolas as cover.
Wasting no time, he activated the watch on his wrist and struck the core when it was exposed.
"Let go of me!" shouted the girl in the hood, trying to free herself from the thief's grip.
"Give me your damn wallet!"
"Let go of me!" he shouted and a powerful gust of wind shook his attire, dropping his hood.
That girl was none other than Cleo. The young Egyptian princess felt how the surrounding temperature had suddenly dropped. She was even able to see the steam coming out of her mouth.
She saw how that thief had transformed into an icicle of ice, except for the hand with which he was holding her.
She looked at this in surprise and then exchanged glances with the cashier, who was just as surprised as she was. The girl also saw her reflection in the metal of the cash register, her face was exposed, so she broke free from the robber's grip and hurried to flee the scene.
The cashier watched in confusion, not understanding what the hell had just happened until calm footsteps approached him and then he saw a new entity. Covered by a blue and black robe and with his face behind a hood, there stood a strange monster.
This monster bent down and picked up something. That object that Cleo had tried to buy and left behind when she ran away.
"I want to take this and all this." As if behind him wasn't a frozen thief, he set down in front of the cashier two bags of potato chips and a can of monster. "Oh, and this is already paid?" he asked, showing the incredulous monster the extra item he had just picked up.
That strange object that was now in his hands was none other than a small night light that could be used so that children could sleep with a small light illuminating their night.
I felt a little bit identified with Clawdeen as I was writing. I mean, I'm not from a big family, but money problems are the order of the day.
This is one of those weird chapters, I wanted to give a little taste of what the future of this story will be. I mean, I want this arc to be about Clawdeen. I want her in the spotlight since the character development I'm going to give her is kind of heavy.
On the other hand, Clawdeen, Draculaura, and Frankie's parents have known each other for a long time, there is also Cleo's father, but I decided not to include him, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would show up at a simple family restaurant. They have a subplot that, let's be honest, is obvious if you read the previous version and the previous chapter.
Continuing. That little glimpse of Frankie and Ben's relationship is not a couple of things, more of a roomie thing, something that could certainly happen by accident. Make no mistake, the romance is in process and no, there's nothing going on between Clawdeen and Ben either. For now, who knows later?
Most of the ideas I got from the deep lore of Monster High, watching the series, or movies. The scene of Clawdeen skateboarding was taken from the new movie. And about the relationship between each character and their respective father was taken from the books. I need a vacation... I've read too much. Overdone? Yeah, maybe. What do you guys think? It gives insight into more of the characters or at least I think so.
There's also Ben being that energetic guy and sticking his energy on Clawdeen when the two of them are together. I feel like they would be like best friends, they're both hard heads and very loud. And now they have a secret too!
Finally, it is worth noting that the girl at the end is indeed Cleo, what the hell was Cleo doing in a 24/7 store buying a night light? Well... you'll see.
The next 2 chapters will maybe be Cleo and Draculaura, I want everyone to have more or less an idea of what each one goes through. Maybe, I don't know, maybe I'll save those ideas for later when it's time to develop Queen Bee and Pinkie Pie.
I don't know what else to explain, it was all pretty obvious, so I'll just skip to the bad news.
I will soon start my second year of college. Long live me. Until I get everything in order I think I will have to leave the story somewhat abandoned. I don't think it will take me more than a month, maybe by the third week of March I will have something new written. I want you to see the things I write, I have about 1000 entries on my phone and they are all for this story. I'm excited to read the reviews and see how many of you put it in favorites and stuff like that. Not to mention the messages or those who chat with me and help me to give order to the ideas.
Well, that would be all. Thanks for reading and see you later.
PS: the song Clawdeen listens to is Sunflower - Post Malone. Yeah, was watching Spider-Man Into Spiderverse as I wrote that part.