The ride back to the factory was incredibly unpleasant. The school bus hadn't been fun but at least there'd been windows to look through when Luca started getting queasy. In the back of the truck there was only the seams of light coming in around the door. The air was hot, dark, and close, and the ride bumpy, and Luca soon found himself feeling sick again.

They could hardly see each other in the dark, so Luca felt like he'd better warn his friend. "I think I'm gonna throw up," he said.

"Right." Alberto picked up his bucket and poured the contents over himself, even though he wasn't nearly dried out yet. "Use this."

"We were supposed to save that until we got there," Luca protested.

"We've still got yours," Alberto assured him. "We can share it."

Luca nodded and swallowed hard. He hated throwing up. It wasn't quite as bad on land, where it just went on the floor – underwater, where it mixed with the sea, was really horrible – but it still left that awful sour taste and raw feeling in his throat, and it still smelled. He spent the next few minutes trying desperately to keep it down, telling himself it wouldn't be very grateful to Louise to vomit up her pancakes, but in the end he couldn't help it. He bent over the bucket and retched.

Alberto patted him on the back. "You can use the water in your bucket to wash your mouth out," he suggested.

"Thank you," said Luca morosely. They could not possibly get home fast enough.

Eventually the truck began navigating more slowly and turning more often, moving around a car park rather than on a road. The light around the door went out as they passed into the shadow of the giant factory building. They slowed, then stopped, then the truck began making a beeping sound as it backed up. Luca and Alberto splashed themselves out of the second bucket, and Luca braced himself for having to apologize to Louise about the smell of vomit.

Then the first disaster happened. A voice called out, "Curtis? I thought that was you!"

The boys froze. That was the voice of the man called Bill Sullivan, Curtis' new boss. He wasn't supposed to be part of this plan yet. They weren't supposed to see him until they were indoors – and he wasn't supposed to meet Luca and Alberto at all.

"Oh, morning, Billy," said Curtis. "I'm, uh, just helping Louise pick up a few things."

The driver's side door opened. "This is Louise?" Bill asked.

"Yes, that's me," Louise confirmed.

"Bill Sullivan," the man said. "Curtis spent all of yesterday telling me about you. I was hoping I might meet you someday, and here you are."

"Louise Halverson," she replied. "I'm sure most of it was flattery."

"Not at all," Curtis said loyally.

"He told me you were scary," Bill went on, "but I was not prepared for just how terrifying you are! Those kids must've passed out when they saw you."

"No," Luca whispered, "but Rocco's mom said he cried a little."

This must have been not just a monster compliment, but the monster equivalent of flirting. Louise chuckled indulgently. "How old are you, Mr. Sullivan?"

"Twenty-three!" Bill replied. "They hired me right out of college. Top of my class."

"Well, I'm thirty-one," Louise told him, "so while I appreciate the compliment, I don't think it's gonna go where you seem to hope."

"I mean, you never know until you try it," Bill said.

Curtis interrupted then. "It's great that you two got to meet!" he said, clapping his hands. "I'm glad Bill could see in person what he's got to live up to. Which makes me wonder… what brings you here so early, Billy?"

"I figured I'd come early and go for a jog around the place," Bill replied. "Around the whole factory should be almost a mile. Care to join me?"

"No, thank you, we've got a busy day ahead," Louise said.

"Then let me help," Bill offered. "A workout's a workout, whether it's running or lifting! What do you need me to haul?"

Luca was getting really worried now. Were they going to be able to get rid of him, or would they have to start all over tomorrow?

"Why don't you take him downstairs to get the stuff, Louise?" Curtis said. "I'll watch the truck."

"Are you telling me to go be alone with him?" Louise asked.

"The man deserves a shot," Curtis said sweetly.

"The factory is big," Louise warned Bill. "Do you know where the locker rooms are?"

"Curtis showed me around yesterday. I'll be fine! And if I'm not, I have the scariest woman in the world to protect me."

Their voices slowly faded away, and Luca and Alberto began to relax a little – but there was now only silence, and it was impossible to tell from inside the truck to tell if Curtis were still outside. Maybe he was planning something to distract Sullivan and had run off to set it up. The thick, warm air and the smell of vomit inside the truck were becoming unbearable. Luca felt like he would burst into tears.

Then there was a clunk, and the back of the truck raised a bit so Curtis could peek in. Luca and Alberto should probably have stayed where they were, just in case there were anybody else outside, but Luca at least couldn't stand it any longer. He pulled the door open a little further, and wiggled through the gap.

"Whoa, hey," said Curtis. The truck had pulled up at a ledge that was almost, though not quite, level with the bed. Curtis helped Luca out, and then both of them got Alberto through. "That desperate to get out, are you?"

"It's terrible in there," said Luca apolgetically.

Curtis did not appear to have a nose, but he did make a sniffing sound. "Did somebody throw up?"

"It was me," Luca replied, and apologized again: "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Oh." Curtis made a face. "Guess we'll deal with that."

"Where's she taking him?" Alberto asked. He looked around, but it was impossible to tell which direction Louise and Sullivan had gone.

"I have no idea," Curtis replied. "Away from here, so I can get you two into the building. That's what matters."

He brought in another garbage bin, and Luca and Alberto climbed into it. This time they arranged a couple of cardboard boxes, full of empty soda cans, on top to conceal them, and Curtis set off. This was another dark and bumpy ride, but it wasn't nearly so hot and stuffy, so Luca could keep a better handle on his stomach. His teeth just rattled a bit as Curtis wheeled them through the building.

One of the soda cans had a few drops left inside it, and as they rumbled along, the liquid leaked out through a corner of the box and began dripping on Luca's arm. It was gross and sticky and he wanted to lick it off, but he knew it was old and probably dirty, so he just had to leave it there. That made his arm the only part of his body that wasn't starting to dry off. The disappearance of their tails gave them more room in the bottom of the bin, but when they got where they were going, they were going to need to get wet again in case anybody saw them. Luca hoped Curtis had thought of that.

It turned out that he had. He stopped, and the top opened. "Water coming!" he said to the boys, and sprayed some in with the hose from a janitor's closet. It was cold and unpleasant, but it was enough to trigger a transformation.

Curtis went a little further and took an elevator down, then parked the bin in a hallway and opened the top a little. "Boys?" he asked. "I'm gonna go grab the paperwork I need so I can gave it ready when this place opens, and for that, I need to, uh, you know, borrow some keys. I'm gonna put 'em back. Just wait right here, okay?"

They nodded. "We won't go anywhere," Alberto promised.

The lid closed again, and they heard Curtis' footsteps walking away.

He seemed to be gone a very long time, but maybe that was just because there was nothing in the bin to tell how much time was passing – it was just dark and wet. Luca nibbled at the skin around his claws and Alberto picked at his gills. The sound of somebody approaching made them both perk up, but then they heard a woman's voice singing to herself in Spanish, and realized it was not Curtis. The two boys hunkered down and tried not to breathe too loudly.

Then the second disaster happened.

"Oh, mira!" the woman said aloud to nobody. "Right in the middle of the hallway!"

Luca crossed his fingers as best his webbing would allow, and desperately hoped she wasn't talking about their bin.

"All wet, too!" she grumbled, and opened the top. Luca's heart nearly stopped. He and Alberto stayed very still as a questing tentacle moved the soggy boxes and cans around, but fortunately retreated without touching either of them. "This is a hazard, is what it is," the woman said, and to the boys' horror, she started wheeling the bin away.

Luca grabbed at Alberto in a panic. What were they gonna do now? They couldn't just let her take them away, but if they shouted for her to stop, she would open the bin and find them, and then she might recognize them as yesterday's troublemakers. They didn't seem to have any choice but to just sit there and hope she would leave them someplace they could find their way back from.

Then she started down a flight of stairs. Curtis had taken the elevator, but this woman didn't know she had passengers she ought to be gentle with – she just let it bump down step by step, while Luca and Alberto were thrown around inside and covered with more sticky soda pop, and did their best not to make a sound.

Just when Luca thought he couldn't take it anymore, they reached the bottom and went through another door. Now they were on level ground again, but they had no idea where they'd ended up. How were they going to find Curtis again?

"They left this in the middle of the hallway!" the woman announced. "Dripping water all up and down the floor! Somebody could slip and crack their head open." She brought the bin to a halt. "I've got to have a word with the day staff."

Another person took the bin and started turning it around. "Oof, this is a heavy one!" said a man's voice. "What's in here? A dead body?"

This was spoken as if it were a joke, but a long silence followed. Were they considering it?

"Do we have to look?" the woman asked plaintively. "Let's just dump it and not cause any trouble."

"That just means somebody else will find it," the man said. "Then we'll be in trouble for not looking."

"It's probably just the water," said the woman.

The lid opened.

Luca and Alberto didn't have any better ideas, so they linked hands and threw themselves against the side of the bin to knock it over. Wet boxes spilled out, empty soda cans bouncing across the floor. The two monsters, both of them wearing aprons and hats with the factory logo on them, cried out in surprise. The boys picked themselves up and ran for their lives.

They didn't have a destination in mind besides away from the people who might report them to Mr. Waternoose, so they just dashed down the hall, following the trail of drips left by the water in the garbage bin, and into a stairwell. This did not go any further down, so they headed up. On the floor above, they checked the hallway, and found that they were only a few doors down from a washroom, so they ran in there to make sure they were good and wet.

"Now what?" asked Alberto.

"We gotta find Curtis," said Luca. "How many flights of stairs did she take us down?"

"I dunno… maybe three?" Alberto guessed. Both boys had been too worried about all the bumping and the possibility of getting hurt and making a noise – neither had counted.

They peeked out of the door again. There was nobody in the hallway. Luca wondered what time it was… Louise and Curtis had said it was important to get everything set up before there were many people around. They had to hurry.

They darted across to the stairwell again, and climbed the next two flights. There, they peeked out again, and then quickly shut the door when they saw movement – yellow and blue furry creatures coming around a corner. The boys ducked down to be out of sight through the narrow window as the monsters went by.

Then for the first time, something lucky happened.

"I'm not lost," said a familiar drawl.

"You are so lost," replied the voice of Louise. "If you're not lost, which floor are we on?"

"Basement number two!" Bill Sullivan replied proudly.

"Yeah, there's a sign right there by the stairwell doors," said Louise.

The boys exchanged a glance, and Luca smiled hopefully. If they could alert Louise that they were here, she could get them back on track… but they'd have to do it without Sullivan seeing them. How were they going to do that?

"But we are on the right floor," Sullivan pointed out. "From here… I think we go left."

"Lead the way, Prince Alarming," said Louise. Footsteps moved on.

Luca and Alberto peeked through the window again, and saw the two monsters disappearing around a corner. Moving as quietly as possible, they scurried after them as far as that corner, and there took another look. Louise was now leaning against a row of lockers, while Sullivan examined a directory. This was the first time they'd actually gotten a good look at him. He turned out to be a broad-shouldered, blue-furred creature with a thick tail, arms that came to past his knees, and a single large horn on his forehead.

Maybe they could get Louise's attention while his back was turned. Luca reached out from behind the wall and waved, but she was watching Sullivan, and didn't see him. He didn't dare cry out, and the longer he was visible, the more likely Sullivan would turn around. After a few seconds, he had to duck back into their hiding place.

That was when a different door banged open, and bare feet slapped on the floor as a third individual came running in.

"Louise!" Curtis' voice called out. "I lost the…" he paused, realizing Sullivan was still there. "I lost the stuff."

"What?" asked Louise. "How?"

"I don't know! I just turned my back for a second and they were gone!"

Sullivan was confused. "Weren't we getting your stuff?"

"No, it was… the… it was the other stuff," said Curtis awkwardly.

There was a pause. "I feel like I missed something," Sullivan observed.

"Give us a minute," Louise said to him. She grabbed Curtis and the two of them retreated into a doorway a couple of yards away, where they held a hushed conversation. Sullivan just stood there, too far away to hear them but watching carefully. The suspicious expression on his face got worse and worse, the longer Louise and Curtis discussed their problem.

Finally, they returned and Louise gave him a pained smile. "Mr. Sullivan," she began.

"You two weren't happy to see me, were you?" Sullivan asked.

"We, uh… not exactly," said Curtis.

Sullivan took a step closer. "You're up to something," he observed. "What's going on?"

"I'm afraid that's none of your business, Mr. Sullivan," said Louise.

"Maybe not," he said, "but since it's going on in his factory, it might be Mr. Waternoose's business." He came closer. "What are you hoping to cart away? Something big and expensive, I'm guessing by the truck. Something you can't be seen with, seeing as it's so early in the morning."

Louise and Curtis were both quite furry, and at this, both of them fluffed up like frightened cats. Sullivan folded his arms across his chest and looked at them sternly. He was not trying to threaten them physically, though he was quite large, but the idea of involving Waternoose was more than scary enough.

This was exactly what Luca had been afraid of. Curtis and Louise had been so nice to them, and now because they were trying to help, Sullivan was going to tell Waternoose and get them all in even more trouble! He couldn't stand it. If this were the third disaster, it was all Luca's own fault as he ran to stand in between the two friendly monsters and the frightening one.

"Don't tell Mr. Waternoose, please!" he said. "We're just trying to get home!"

Sullivan blinked twice, then just stared at him in evident incomprehension. Alberto hurried up to join him, glaring defiantly at this creature several times his size. That just made Sullivan look even more surprised.

"Are… wait, are these the spies everybody was on about yesterday?" he asked.

"We're not spies!" said Alberto. "We're…"

Before he could finish, there was a sound from the stairwell. Voices and footsteps were approaching. It was impossible to hear what they were saying, but Luca grabbed Alberto's arm again as he thought of the terrible possibility that the custodians had come looking for them.

Curtis was worried, too. He pulled out a set of keys – the ones he'd 'borrowed' earlier? – and unlocked a door, then shooed Luca and Alberto inside it and ran in after them. Louise moved in front of the door.

The sound of footsteps, or at least the slapping of tentacles, approached… and then went right on by. There were some wordless greeting noises exchanged between this passing individual and Louise and Sullivan, but nobody seemed to find anybody else's presence remarkable. Nobody noted the wet footprints the boys had left on the floor. The other person moved on, and Louise opened the door.

"They're gone," she said.

Curtis breathed out, and herded the boys back into the hallway. "It would have been just my luck if today was that one day Borisov missed his keys," he said. "I mean, I don't make a habit of borrowing them," he added quickly, to Sullivan, "but I know people who do. It's a thing in the department. When we need something and we don't want to have to explain why… you know."

Sullivan raised a bushy eyebrow at him, but then shook his head. "That's not… what is going on here?"

"Do you promise not to tell Waternoose?" asked Louise. "I'm not asking for me. I'm asking for these kids. They need to go home. I don't care what happens to me anymore, but it's my fault they're trapped here and if I don't get them back, they could be killed."

"Mr. Waternoose says he has to get rid of us so we don't tell anybody that humans aren't really toxic," Luca explained. "Then anybody will be able to get their own screams instead of buying from him."

"Slow down, slow down," said Sullivan. "Start at the beginning."

"Are you going to tell Waternoose?" Louise insisted.

"That depends on what you tell me," Sullivan replied. "If you can convince me that you're not up to anything illegal, then no, but I haven't even started working here yet and I don't want to get involved in any shady business."

"You don't have to," sighed Curtis. "The whole idea was that you'd have plausible deniability."

"What?"

In the end, they had to creep back into the little room, which was full of stored filing boxes, and tell the story yet again from the beginning. Sullivan looked intensely skeptical of the whole thing, which did not improve as the tale progressed – until the moment when Alberto got dry enough to transform. Louise and Curtis were used to this by now and only mildly startled, but Sullivan had no warning and nobody else had thought to mention it. The result was very nearly the fourth disaster.

Sullivan jumped up with a terrified holler that sounded more like a roar. Louise tried to put both hands over his mouth, while Curtis threw himself between Sullivan and the boys – Luca, too, had begun to transform – in case things got violent. They didn't, but Louise took several seconds to stop Sullivan shouting, and eventually had to knock him over and pin him to the ground. "Stop it! I said stop it!" she insisted.

There was no way that had gone unheard, and sure enough the door went click and began to open.

Curtis grabbed the boys and dragged them behind the door, so that when some unseen person looked in, all they saw was Sullivan on the floor with Louise sitting on him.

"What was…" the intruder started to ask, then stopped himself. "Never mind. Sorry. Carry on," he said, and shut the door in a hurry.

Everybody breathed out, and Louise climbed off Sullivan with an apology.

"We're running out of time," Curtis said, stepping out from behind the door. "People are arriving and we need everything to be in place by then."

"We're sorry for scaring you, Sir," said Luca.

Sullivan looked him over warily. "You two can just… do that?"

"Yeah, when we dry off," said Alberto.

"It's not voluntary," Luca told him.

Sullivan nodded slowly. "Yeah, you can't stay here. If Waternoose doesn't get you somebody will, and if the truth about humans gets out…" he grimaced. "The entire economy will collapse."

"So you'll help?" Luca asked hopefully.

The blue monster still looked uncertain about it.

"If you do, I'll go out with you," said Louise.

That made Sullivan perk up. "I haven't asked you out yet."

"You were working up to it," she noted. "If you'll help, I'll join you for dinner and drinks at a place and time of your choosing. If we're caught in the act, Curtis and I will both say you had no idea what was going on. You deny everything, and we'll back you up. Even in court."

"Even in court?" Curtis protested. He and Louise looked at each other for a moment, and then he sighed and gave a reluctant nod. "Even in court."

"It means that much to you?" asked Sullivan.

"It does," said Louise.

Sullivan thought for a moment. "Winsor's Chophouse? Tonight at seven?"

Louise groaned. "That's where Steve keeps trying to take me."

"You don't like it?"

"I've never actually been there," she admitted.

"Well, whoever Steve is, I'll make sure to rub it in his face that I took you first!" said Sullivan.

Things now seemed to be back on track, but it was clear that they'd lost an awful lot of time. Curtis finished filling in his paperwork, one form to say that he'd made a error on his review request and needed to withdraw it, and another to give them the door they were 'supposed' to have submitted. He decided not to return his borrowed keys right away for fear of being caught, and instead headed up to get the forms on the top of the day's pile.

Meanwhile, Louise had to figure out how to smuggle the boys up to the scare floor now that there were people moving around in the factory. Alberto tried to climb into a filing box but he was far too big. She and Luca were contemplating taping multiple boxes together to form a portable hiding place, but Sullivan offered something else.

"What about those carts for the scream canisters?" he suggested. "They hold twelve, so we can put a bunch around the edge and leave the middle open, and they can climb in there."

Louise was doubtful. "It'll be tight," she said.

"We can do it!" Alberto said.

"We can try," said Luca.

Sullivan found a cart and canisters, and they set it up for the boys to climb in. It was an awful squish, and they couldn't have done it in sea monster form with their tails for extra volume. There was light, though, even after Louise draped a piece of cloth over the top to hide the hole in the middle. That had to be the end of her role, though, because she could not be caught in the factory. Under their original plan, Curtis would have come back down to get it, but now he was busy setting things up on the scare floor. It would have to be Sullivan.

"Can I have a kiss for good luck?" he asked Louise, pointing to his cheek.

"Don't push your luck," she replied with a smile. "You might earn one if the restaurant's good."

"We'll order the lobster," said Sullivan. "I'm not taking any chances."

Hidden in the canisters, Alberto rolled his eyes. "Bleah," he muttered.

"Sssh," Luca told him.

Sullivan wheeled them back into an elevator, and they headed up. This was a much smoother ride than the garbage bin, and not nearly so uncomfortable. The space between the canisters meant that air could circulate and it didn't get so hot and stuffy. Rather than feeling sick, Luca was twitchy. His arms and legs wanted to move, and didn't have space to.

The elevator arrived with a ding. They bumped over the threshold of the scare floor, and Sullivan called out greetings to other employees.

"Morning, new meat," somebody said.

"Morning – Stuart, right?" Sullivan said cheerfully. "I wanted to get started early this morning. Lieberman is filing some paperwork, so he asked me to bring the first cart up." He parked it next to some equipment, and raised the cloth to check on Luca and Alberto. They nodded to him, and he removed a canister from the far side, where nobody would see them, to put it in the device. "How you doing in there?" he whispered to the kids, clanking the canisters to cover the sound.

"We're good," said Luca, his heart pounding. This was it. They were going home. He looked at Alberto, who was also getting squirmy. He was wiggling his toes, and when he met Luca's eyes, he grinned.

"We're almost there," he whispered.

"Sorry I'm late!" Curtis called out, his feet pattering on the floor as he ran into the room. "I got my stuff filed!"

"You're in plenty of time, I'm just early," said Sullivan cheerfully.

Curtis went around the back of the cart and pretended to check the scream canister while he made sure the boys were there. "Your door is coming," he whispered. "I put it second in the queue today. I figured first was too obvious."

"Thank you," said Luca. "Is Louise okay?"

"She's still downstairs. Maureen's gonna check in on her," Curtis promised.

From their hiding place it was possible to peek between the canisters and get an idea of what was going on in the room. Everybody was getting ready for the day: monsters were running around, shuffling through paperwork and adjusting equipment. The bigger, more intimidating ones like Sullivan were taking off glasses and jackets, and doing stretches and practice growls. One was putting in a set of glowing contact lenses. Another was brushing its fangs.

The clock on the wall ticked over to 9:30 AM, and a signal blared to announce that the workday was starting. The lights went down and machinery started up. Curtis approached Sullivan with a folder.

"Six-year-old girl," he said. "Scared of loud noises – right up your alley."

"Hell yeah." Sullivan grinned and cleared his throat. "Make sure we've got water on tap. I'm gonna be hoarse later."

While Luca and Alberto watched from their hiding place, a door was lowered into place. This one was unfamiliar, but it had a child's drawings taped to it, and a series of marks on the frame to show how somebody had grown. The machine connected to it, and a light came on. Curtis opened the door, and Sullivan charged in to roar at the sleeping child inside. Luca's chest tightened as the shrieked in terror. Was there something about this world that meant monsters couldn't use normal electricity like the humans did? They had to use screams?

That didn't seem to have occurred to Sullivan. He strode back out of the door with a grin on his face and his chest puffed out. "Valedictorian of the scaring class!" he declared.

"Not bad for a rookie," said Curtis. "Check the intake while you're over there, would you? It was leaking last week."

Sullivan inspected it. "Nope, looks good." He winked at the boys and mouthed the words you're up next. Luca felt all his muscles tense. When that door opened, he and Alberto had to run.

"Great," Curtis said, and the equipment disengaged to let the door return to storage. "Next one, nine-year-old boy, nonverbal. Scared of eels and the dark. I remember this one. Louise used to find that just looming was very effective."

"Well, we'll see what he does with me," Sullivan said cheerfully.

The door descended and slotted into place. It was fairly nondescript – hopefully it really was Rocco's. Sullivan moved to one side, positioning himself so that the others in the room wouldn't see Luca and Alberto crawl out of their hiding places and crouch in front of the closet door. Luca could almost hear Rocco breathing as he slept on the other side. He was going to get a scare, but hopefully he'd be relieved they were okay. He clenched his fists, ready to run.

Then the final disaster happened.

The lights went out. There was a whining sound as machinery shut down, and startled exclamations and groans from the various monsters. The main door of the scare floor rattled shut, leaving them in darkness lit only by the red exit signs… until a flashlight came on. Luca and Alberto peeked out from behind Sullivan to find their worst nightmares approaching them.

Waternoose was coming. Harry was right behind him.

"You see, Dad?" the monster boy asked, with a proud smile. "I told you they'd come back!"