Chapter Text
They didn't know about the fire at first.
The statement kept coming back to Cleo's mind. She didn't really know why.
They didn't know about the fire at first.
They didn't know about the fire at first.
She wasn't sure whether to laugh and risk ruining her voice already broken from the screaming she did or cry and ruin her mascara. She simply just stared at the ceiling above her, her mind flipping between the memories before she shut her eyes and welcomed the darkness.
Everything had started off great, with Headless Headmistress Bloodgood announcing that there would be a party afterschool to celebrate the talented students at Monster High since the exam season was officially done. That Cleo could remember. She remembered it because after it had been announced, she heard a soft bang beside her as Clawdeen slammed her locker shut and scoffed.
Cleo had run a hand through her golden highlights. "Okay what's wrong now? Clawd? Howleen?"
"Forget about it." Clawdeen had tried to push the subject away but after a few minutes of coaxing from Cleo, she finally spoke, pushing her volumous hair away from her eyes. "Fine, then. It's about my brother and Draculaura."
Cleo had felt herself raise a thin arched eyebrow. "What about them?"
"Well, I feel like he keeps messing it up. He'll try and take her out on fancy dates...or help fix her car her dad got her last summer but...he just keeps doing things to upset her like getting mud all over her new shoes." Clawdeen leant against her locker and sighed, looking down almost in shame "I know it's nothing big or anything but I really don't want him to mess things up, she is one of my closest friends and I hate when she's upset." She looked around worried before she leaned closer to Cleo and whispered quietly. "Spectra says she's thinking about breaking up with him".
Cleo had shook her head and had given out a small laugh. "I love Spectra, but even she isn't always right. Draculaura loves him with her whole heart, especially after that Kieran Valentine thing."
She'd found Valentine a bit strange, personally. Even before he was exposed, she thought the way he acted was just one fake act anyways, like he had some dark secret to hide. She had to admit though, it was funny watching Toralei drag herself back into school after getting caked in mud thanks to Valentine holding her in front of him so he wouldn't get covered. It was unintentionally the only good thing he'd really done. Toralei swore at anyone who saw her never to breathe a word of it or she'd scratch their eyes out.
So, of course Cleo reminded her of it all the time.
"They'll be fine, don't worry about it. Besides, we can always just ask her at the party tonight. That's if your going?"
Clawdeen shrugged. "I don't know. I love parties as much as you do but, we only just did the exams. If i failed, i'm gonna feel so guilty for partying when I should be checking I've got everything right for my fashion evaluations later this year."
"Do you even hear yourself?" Cleo stared at her in disbelief. "Clawdeen, you have aced that exam. I just know you have. Your the best designer I know, heck, that everyone knows."
Clawdeen chuckled softly under her breath. "Your just saying that to make me feel better."
Cleo rolled her eyes, folded her arms and felt herself smirk. "Please, when do I say anything to make anyone feel better?"
Looking back on it, She shouldn't have let her ask her. A cool shiver ran through Cleo's body as she though about it and everything went cold and void. It wasn't meant to be any of Cleo's business anyways. She should have just told her they'd be fine, instead of saying that she'd help Clawdeen pull her over for a chat. Maybe she would have been more prepared in the first place. She would have had more time to notice.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, a cacophony of voices had filled the corridors. Students had chattered excitedly, eager to escape into the embrace of the night. But as the last rays of sunlight streamed through the windows, an ominous crack shattered the jovial atmosphere.
A small stage under Operetta's control was set up and being performed on and stage lights were up and running by the time Cleo had arrived. Most of the food had been eaten by that point and near the food table, Heath was trying to, unsuccessfully, flirt with Abbey before she eventually had enough and froze his lips together before wandering off to join Cupid by the candyfloss machine. Venus and Howleen were chatting happily to each other as Cleo passed them and she smiled as she watched the scenes of dressed up glittering monsters around her.
"You okay babe?" Deuce wrapped an arm around Cleo, startling her and one of the snakes on his head gave her a small kiss on the forehead. She hugged him back and took a drink from her cup, watching Clawdeen in a neon print dress huddled in a group with Jackson and Frankie scan the room for Draculaura. Frankie was busy chatting and signing happily to Jackson wearing what looking back might have been soundproof headphones, oblivious to Clawdeen ignoring them.
Cleo looked up at Deuce and smiled. "Yeah. Just, got some business to sort."
Deuce's smile faltered slightly and his body tensed under Cleo's arms. "Nothing to do with your dad or your sister right?"
Cleo silently cursed Nefera and her dad in her head. While she knew Nefera was likely never going to get along with anyone she decided to date, it would have been nice for her to put some effort in instead of telling her that Deuce was a 'useless loser' after meeting him for the first time once they were in private. Her dad wasn't exactly any better but he could tell that Deuce made her happy, so he tended to drop the subject quicker than Nefera did and mainly just ignored Deuce's existance as much as he could.
Unless they were talking about power and status, that took a whole lot longer to drop.
At least she had a boyfriend, unlike Nefera who was still stuck in her 'rich model in Milan' ways despite very few people actually being willing to talk to her. Cleo almost pitied her.
Almost
Cleo placed a hand on the side of his face. "No, no, nothing like that. Besides," She gave a small kiss on his forehead and the snakes on his head wriggled happily. "We're Cleo and Deuce. Nothing gets between us." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and he squeezed back, before she saw Clawdeen beckon her over with Draculaura at her side.
"Duty calls, one minute Deuce." She whispered and sadly, let go of his hand, marching over to where Clawdeen and Draculaura were stood, pushing through a large crowd huddled together watching something. She ignored the crowd and shoved through, even though people had started to run anyways.
"So, ladies-"
Then she heard someone scream.
At first, it was just a faint whisper, like the rustling of ancient parchment. But in an instant, it escalated into a deafening roar as flames erupted, consuming the temporary beams of the future gardening department with an insatiable hunger. Panic erupted like a wildfire, sending shockwaves through the crowd as stage lights gave up on holding themselves up and dropped, smashing and sending shards of sharp glass in random directions. A scream tore at Cleo's throat but it was choked off by the smoke billowing from the side of the doors and she clutched at her throat, her breath creaking and slowly strangling her. Teary eyed from the smoke, her vision blurred as different shaped figures pounded and scraped at the walls and with trembling hands, she pulled herself to where the nearest fire extinguisher should have been but it was too late. In the span of a few heartbeats, the flames had engulfed the doors, cutting off any chance of escape.
"Why the hell aren't those sprinklers working?!" Someone Cleo thought might be Deuce yelled.
There was a banging sound in the far corner of the room and someone yelled. "There not on! Someone's short circuited the switch-"
They were interrupted as sparks began to fly from the lights above their head and Operetta dived out of the way as another string of small stage lights dropped, landing in the centre of the stage and scratching the side of her face.
"What's happening?" Venus panicked, trying to shield herself and Howleen away from the blasts of shrapnel to no avail, cutting through her vines and creating a large gash on her arm, narrowly missing Heath who was searching for Abbey, covering his mouth with the inside of his jacket.
"Abbey?! Abbey!" He coughed and sank against the wall. Abbey whipped around quickly and opened her mouth to speak but didn't get to as Manny in an attempt to break out, charged straight into her in confusion and she fell to the ground and went limp. Cupid doubled over near her as she tried to wade her way through the thick smoke to grab Abbey and wheezed something that only came out as squeaky croaks, clutching the table cloth on the table before the cloth fell along with her.
"Quick, the window!" Someone yelled, pointing to the elongated large paned windows and there was a sharp breaking sound and gasps as people pushed out as the glass broke and streams of cold air filtered inside. Cleo felt like she was drowning, sinking and her body was going limp, surrounded by white flames so she crawled, with every last inch of energy she had left to the window, gasping deeply when the air hit her lungs and her body rocked with the sudden exposure and her lungs wracked with sobs. Foam dripped from her mouth and her lips were cracked. She felt her body with the last of it's already declining energy flip over and she could vaguely see the blurred outlines of where the rising smoke was now hitting the indigo sky. Dirt under her fingernails, She reached out weakly as if she could touch it, like there was something tangible amid the chaos, but there was nothing left. The fire had burned it all. Police sirens faded in and out in the background behind her.
Flames still licked white hot at the skeletal frame of the structure and Cleo was helplessly forced to watch as sheets of papers, set ablaze by the relentless inferno, floated like crimson leaves in the air, and rested on the ground beside her. High pitch ringing filled her ears but everything was numb. She couldn't move, frozen into place by fear and tiredness. A dull heavyness overtook her limbs and as darkness enveloped the ruined school, Cleo closed her eyes to avoid the oppressive weight of the smoke and the embers watching her and everything began to fade.
Like a film, the memories cut short. Cleo opened her eyes but the burning school was no more. A cream ceiling with a chipped fan looked down on her and she absentmindedly traced the scratch at the side of her face from a shrapnel of glass. It would heal, she was told, unlike some of the other injures people had seen. She sat up carefully, using her arms to pull herself up off the cheap fabric of the bed she was laying on. Beside her, her phone on full charge and a large cyan suitcase in the corner, still packed tight with clothing incase they had to make a quick escape.
This motel sucked.
She stretched her arms and checked her bandages were still in place before she slipped a pair of fluffy slippers on and quietly crept into the kitchen area of the room.
It was dark and cramped, with a good degrouting needed in the bathroom at least and the kitchen smelt of cigarettes and burnt bacon. The curtains inside her room were a pale yellow colour and hung awkwardly at the door, while the owners had tried to stuff too much furniture in one space, so anyone stepping inside had to dodge several tables and chairs if they wanted to move around safely. Cleo hadn't been able to see the inside of Nefera's room but based off of her sister's reaction, it wasn't much better than the kitchen.
Cleo took one step inside and could already hear her voice. "Took you long enough."
Cleo ignored Nefera as she reached inside the fridge and searched for something to eat, spying Nefera from the corner of her eye. She was curled up on a squashed grey couch in the corner of the dark room, pink curlers tight in her hair, reading one of her magazines from Milan, wearing an extreme amount of perfume to cover up the bad smell. She'd repainted her fingernails twice within the space of ten minutes and was waiting for her toenails to dry as she propped her feet up on one of the many pointless chairs. "Honestly, why couldn't daddy have just moved us to a better room, this one is disgusting!"
Cleo ignored her again and pulled out some fresh orange juice from the fridge and poured some into a glass. After taking a sip, she finally spoke, voice still raspy. "Is daddy still away?"
That was the whole reason they were in this motel in the first place; it was the cheapest and quickest one Ramses could find after the fire. Cleo didn't remember much of the aftermath (only a few various sounds and stinging of her injuries and eyes from the smoke) except that she and Nefera were now bundled in a room together and they weren't to leave unless they were told to by him. Cleo had watched as he shoved some money into Nefera's hand before he left, face dragged down in the darkness of the dim lights, and told her to look after Cleo until he got back. He explained that he had some serious business to fix, and not the antique kind.
Nefera had rather done the opposite. She spent most of the time ignoring Cleo and petting Azure, who had crept into the safety of her suitcase because the owners of the motel insisted on 'No pets' with big bold red lettered signs everywhere they could put them.
(The money she was given she mainly spent on new fashion accessories she'd ordered from Egypt, however, she tossed Cleo a few dollars last night for her to "buy some caviar for us to eat or something". Nefera didn't realise room service didn't exist here. It was funny watching her attempt to eat spicy noodles from a nearby Chinese takeaway and complain about how it's 'cheapness would ruin her skin'. It was the only real fun Cleo had had in the last few days. Jinafire long's tastes seemed to have rubbed off onto her.)
Nefera's gaze soften slightly and she put her magazine down. "Yeah, he is. He better come back soon though, I am not spending another day in here with you."
Cleo scoffed as she took another sip. "Likewise."
A few moments of silence trickled out between the two of them before Cleo broke it. "Have you heard any news yet?"
Nefera stared at her like she'd just been slapped. "I just told you, daddy hasn't-"
"Not from dad. Just, in general."
"Oh." Nefera paused. "You want to see how your freaky friends are doing? Or your loser boyfriend?"
Cleo turned her back on her and faced the window at the side of the room door, where between the closed shutters she could see cracks of daylight creeping in. She could vaguely see the outline of two people in the distance arguing underneath a faded neon sign. "Well if your not going to be helpful-"
"Ugh, fine!" Nefera grumbled and waved her hands to make sure the polish was dry before opening up her phone. "I just wanna know what I'm checking, no big deal Cleo."
'Even Toralei would be an improvement at this point' Cleo thought.
At least she would know where someone else was.
"Switch that thingy on a sec," Nefera waved her arm in the direction of the Tv, a large grey box collecting dust on a battered coffee table "I'm still searching, oh my Ra, the wifi here is terrible."
Cleo rolled her eyes and shuffled through the furniture. The wifi was four bars.
As she switched it on, a news channel popped up from a dot of light in the centre of the screen with the words "Good Morning Salem" in bold red letters against a white backdrop, while small text raced past at the bottom. Cleo settled on a chair opposite Nefera and sipped the rest of her orange juice before the text faded to display an woman Cleo estimated was in her early fifties wearing a lilac suit with faded blonde hair. Around her neck hung a set of chunky pearl necklaces to match with her earrings and her gummy smile was enhanced by the dark shade of red lipstick she was wearing. She lifted a bony wrist and waved at Cleo.
"Welcome to Good Morning Salem," a male voiceover announced as the camera's zoomed in on her "with your host, Susan Bournmoth!" An audience clapping played in the background and Nefera shifted in her seat to listen in.
The woman (Cleo guessed she was Susan) smiled politely. "Good Morning to you all, I hope you are having a wonderful summer. It's certainly very warm outside at the moment, an estimated eighty-seven degrees fahrenheit it's going to hit but it's currently going well, isn't it Greg?"
Cleo had no idea who she was talking to but Susan stared at someone behind the camera and chuckled when 'Greg' presumably responded before her eyes turned back to the camera. "Ah yes, all good here today. Now," she cleared her throat and her face became more serious "Our top headline today."
Susan's face disappeared in a flash as images of a charred building in rubble were shown, with firefighters shown digging through the dust and dirt for something. In one of the videos, Cleo saw one of the firefighters drag something heavy out and Cleo's breath caught in her throat and Nefera stopped scrolling. The firefighter pulled out the Monster High Chess Champion Trophy, with the logo firmly printed on and a piece of torn neon fabric with a few strands of long hair on it, the same one Clawdeen had been wearing.
They were talking about Monster high.
"Scientists working with the UFBU, that's the Unknown Foreign Bodies Unit folks, reckon they have discovered evidence of real life 'Monsters' in a mysterious fire that broke out a few days ago at this previously unknown location here in Oregan." Susan's voice waffled on over the top of the videos but Cleo wasn't listening to her as she watch evidence pop up on screen. Some were ambigious: shots of the former school from above burning and different pickprints of colours running and leaving but some were more obvious such as a photo of a small bat hanging on a lampost a few streets away despite bats not being native to that area.
One photo, taken from the side of a tree trunk secretly, saw a slim teenager with pale yellow skin wearing a black jacket emblazened with fire symbols on the sleeves sprinting whilst carrying a blue skinned girl wearing tight woollen clothing and white hair that hung awkwardly over her shoulders as she was being carried. Where his hair should have been, there was a thick plume of fire on his head and between the girls lips, a pair of small fangs were producing.
Damn it, Heath.
Nefera folded her arms. "They can't prove any of this. They'll just think it's some stupid fancy dress party everyone was at."
Cleo turned to her but kept her eyes firmly on the TV. "Found any news?"
Nefera shrugged. "No-one's responding so it can't be anything bad. If it was what these normals are making it out it is, our world would be pinging up everyone's phone wouldn't they? That's probably why daddy's gone. Gone to show them that everything's fine."
"But daddy said it was serious business-"
Nefera scoffed. "C'mon Cleo, this is dad. The only serious thing he ever dabbles in is those antiques he keeps back in Scaris to sell here and the ocassional royal connection with Uncle Tut and grandma. He would at least tell me if it was properly serious, since I'm the future heir."
Cleo wasn't sure Nefera fully believed herself based off the way her body managed to shrink slightly under her own words as she nodded and nibbled at her bottom lip. "Yes. That's it. Now," She stood up too confidently, tiptoeing around the sharp edges of furniture."I'm off to take my curlers out, there ripping my hair roots. One of us has to make the DeNile brand look good." She winked smugly at Cleo and if Cleo was in the mood, she would argue right back but she just let Nefera go, edging her way to the bathroom before shutting the door with a soft click.
"Well, we're about to head over to our reporter who's there live at the moment, Tim Bradshaw." The screen split in two, one side with Susan and the other with a balding man in a grey suit, dabbing a cloth at his forehead speckled with sweat. Behind him, firefighters were still digging through the rubble and dirt while small plumes of dust rose from the burnt remains. A small group of men in hardhats and long white coats were huddled around a taped off area in the ground nearby, fiddling with maps and ropes. "So, Tim, what evidence do the UFBU have that they believe proves the existance of these creatures?"
He brought the microphone to his lips. "Ah, yes thanks Susan. Well, the UFBU are, rather ironically, a quite unknown unit for most people. They tend to spend most of their time quietly working with the likes of NASA on reported cases of Aliens and UFOs or in scientific labs across different states but, all of the people behind me agree, that these monsters or creatures do exist. Not only do we have the photographic proof of the night, the presumed male with fire for hair carrying a presumed female for example, but also, this."
Tim strolled over to where the hardhat men were stood, pointing excitedly down at the hole they were huddled around. The hole was deep, a few foot underground with soft sandy edges at the side and a few large rocks pointing down from the roof of the hole. "Using the latest technology from NASA and their own departments, these scientists here reckon they have found another world."
Cleo couldn't breathe.
Susan raised an eyebrow, pen hovering over a piece of paper on her desk. "A physical real world or an alternative universe?"
Tim continued, eyes sparkling in joy. "They suspect it's an alternative universe of some kind that these monsters are from. They have yet to send anyone into this space yet but according to reports made earlier today, they will be dropping a small camera into this area to record what it sees and if they find anything, I have asked, they are willing to spend potentially millions of US dollars to solve what could possibly be some of the greatest mysteries of all time: Bigfoot, Loch Ness, Mermaids-"
Cleo couldn't face anymore and Susan and Tim vanished with one click of the remote as soon as she touched it. Her face was struck in horror and her mind was racing. She turned around quickly and called out to Nefera as loudly as she could.
"Nef, ring daddy quickly."
The door opened and Nefera's head poked around the side of the bathroom door, half of her curlers still in her hair. "What, why?"
Cleo gulped. "They've found the catacombs entrance to our world."