Chapter 4: A Night With The Oberlin Family

Zoe wished Tristo farewell, scurrying off quickly before Vera could notice the two together. Tristo stood before the Oberlin house, a quaint little suburban home. Tristo knew everything about Vera and her family, but it didn't make him any less nervous. He approached the door and knocked gingerly. Vera answered, her snakes coiled up in hair rollers. She had a deadpan look on her face, with a t-shirt and gym shorts stuck with cat hair all over. Tristo did his best to still avert his eyes from her.

"Hey Vera-"

"Tristo… in all honesty I forgot you were staying here."

"I see, well I could go back to the school…"

"It's fine. Come inside."

Tristo nods and walks into their home. Vera shut the door behind them.

"Our father is aware of the arrangement, he has already gone to bed however. You can meet him in the morning for breakfast. Valerie is looking for black market deals online, so I would recommend leaving her be. You'll be in our guest room, upstairs past Valerie and I."

"Thanks Vera."

"Sure. Just don't tell anyone you've seen me like this or I will turn you to stone."

"So you can do it!"

"Maybe. But do me a favor and look me in my eyes from now on."

Tristo obeys, and with a flash of red, he begins to turn to stone. Tristo goes to speak, but his mouth is frozen as he turns to stone with a shocked expression. Vera snickers to herself. She walks over to the fridge, pulling out a blue vial of liquid. With a dropper, Vera puts one drop on the bridge of his nose. The stone begins to crumble away, with Tristo coughing a few rocks from his mouth. Vera looks at him with a smirk.

"I just had to make sure it would work." Vera said, bending over and staring at him as if to study him.

"Please don't do that to me again."

"Don't give me a reason to. Now, I'm noticing a lack of bags."

"Yeah, I really only have this and the uniform that Principal Giant Spider got for me. I've been cleaning them in the locker room showers."

Vera crosses her arms and looks at him with a mix of disgust and slight surprise.

"Well we have a washer and dryer, but you really need to get some new clothes."

"I know. Thanks again, for letting me stay here." Tristo said, already trying to sweep the petrification under the rug. He wanted to be on Vera's good side after all.

"Don't mention it. Really. To anyone."

"I got it."

A figure makes their way down the stairs yawning. Tristo looks up and immediately recognizes Vicky as being one of the original playable characters in Monster Prom. He hadn't yet seen any of the four, but now he was certain they must all be around too. There was some static discharge around the bolts in her neck as she spoke, and she wore very cozy and fuzzy pajamas.

"Vera… why'd you get up… oh who is this?"

"Vicky, this is Tristo, the new human student. I know you've been busy with robotics club and the like, so you may not have heard of him."

"I did, but I thought the others were screwing with me!" Vicky says with a chuckle. "Hey Tristo! I'm Vicky, I do a lot of engineering and robotics stuff. It's nice to meet you."

She bounded down the steps, and shook Tristo's hand with excitement. Tristo could feel his arm hair stand a bit on end as she did. He gave her a warm smile, and met her energy as best as he could.

"Nice to meet you too Vicky."

Vera crossed her arms, and had a small pouty expression.

"What she has forgotten to mention is she is also my girlfriend."

Vicky scratches her head bashfully with a nervous smile. Tristo also gets amused by this interaction as well.

"Yeah I asked her out for Monster Prom last year and the rest is history. She supports my studies and encourages me to invent things.

"And Vicky goes out of her way to make sure I know I'm cared for, and half the things she invents are to make my life easier."

Tristo stares at the two with happiness that these two monsters have each other. Enamored by the way they continue to talk about and compliment one another. Tristo knew what he was about to say next was going to ruin the whole interaction. But he couldn't let it go by.

"Vicky would you say Vera grounds you?" Tristo said, a grin creeping onto his lips. Vicky lets out a snort and static discharge from her bolts. An adorable snorty laugh followed by an unimpressed look from Vera. Vicky jams her elbow into Vera's side slightly.

"Come on Vera, it was a little funny."

"If I hear another joke like that from Tristo, you will be punished, as your contract you signed allows."

"Speaking of which… could I see that contract-" Tristo began, but Vera cut him off.

"Anyway, we'll have to begin preparing for next week's Monster Prom. I suggest you go to bed now Tristo, the Oberlins wake up bright and early for breakfast."

"Monster Prom is next week?!" Tristo asked, surprised. The two nodded to him.

"Oh you've got to go Tristo, something crazy always happens." Vicky said, a buzzing excitement in her voice. "In fact I'm thinking about a disco ball that also does a laser show…"

Vicky begins to mutter off ideas, as Vera begins to drag her upstairs by her arm. "Now look what you've done, it'll be impossible to settle her for bed. She'll be talking about her ideas for the next hour." Vera said, rubbing her head with her free hand.

"Sorry Vera." Tristo said, a meek smile as Vera began to drag Vicky away to bed.

"Don't worry about it. Word of advice though. Make sure you don't go alone if you can help it, Spooky Academy can be very unforgiving to loners at Prom."

"Noted. I'll go ahead and find my way to my room now."

Tristo makes his way up to the small room provided by the Oberlin family. It was full of misshapen quilts and old boxes. Inside was a twin-sized bed on a simple wooden frame. Tristo lied down comfortably for the first time this week and stared up at the ceiling. For the first moment, he could conceive having an actual life here.

I think I'm finally starting to feel normal. Tomorrow Zoe and I will talk to the Coven, if anyone knows what's happened, it'll be them. At the very least maybe I could get them to teach me magic so I can survive better in this world. And maybe Zoe will… no not gonna think about that right now Tristo. Hopefully the Coven won't be on some grand adventure where the world is at stake tomorrow...

Tristo covers himself with one of the nearby quilts, and closes his eyes, slipping away into the sleepy void.