9The mapalogue teleported Draculaura and the ghouls just outside the forest.
"OK, ghouls, keep on your toes. That monster could be anywhere," Draculaura said.
Meanwhile, Frankie looked around to analyze their surroundings and noticed a small town just beyond the forest. "Guys, there's Coolsville over there!" she announced.
"Shhh! No so loud," Cleo whispered. "We don't want the humans to hear us."
"Sorry," Frankie said sheepishly.
Upon a thorough observation of the town, Frankie and Cleo noticed something.
"Hey, ghouls. Check this out," Frankie called, quietly.
After Draculaura, Clawdeen, and Lagoona walked over, Frankie and Cleo pointed them in the direction of Coolsville.
Overlooking the town, the monsters observed the activities that were taking place. As golden brown leafs gently fell from the trees onto the streets, enthusiastic town folks, along with their kids, carried large pumpkins. Spider webs lined the windows of almost every shop and every house was decorated with ghosts and goblins and gravestones covered each lawn. It seemed as though the residents of Coolsville were preparing for an occasion of their own, just as Monster High was.
"Hey, look at that," Draculaura said, noticing one of the humans, placing a pumpkin with a face carved into it in the window. "That looks like one of the things my dad showed us in class."
"Are they celebrating All Monster's Day?" pondered Cleo.
"No, ghoul. They don't even know we exist," said Clawdeen.
"She's right. This is a different type of holiday the humans celebrate every year. What was it they call it...Halloween?" Frankie guessed.
"Well whatever it is, it looks kind of cool," said Draculaura.
The other monsters also seemed to share Draculaura's opinion in terms of the decorations. They presented a creepy factor, but in spite of that, the humans seem to enjoy it, as if the scariness was played for fun. It seemed as though there was more to the humans than they had learned so far. And if they were into these kind of things, it could be possible that they were into monsters as well. After all, they previously met a human who was into monsters, so if there was one, why couldn't there be more?
"Cool or not though, let's not forget why we're here," Lagoona reminded everyone.
The other monsters agreed, turned their attention to the forest, and headed inside, but not before Dracualaura took one last look back at the town with a hopeful smile.
The forest was quite large. Its huge trees practically blocked out the sun and towered over the Ghoul Squad. Wherever this monster was, it was not gonna be easy for them to find.
Clawdeen changed into her wolf form and sniffed around, hoping to find a possible scent that she could follow.
As the forest got darker, Frankie used her electricity as a makeshift light.
Draculaura used her bat form to try and cover more ground while Cleo frantically tried to swat away a fly that was bugging her.
"The way this fly is bothering me, maybe it is the monster," Cleo said sarcastically.
"Well ya never know," Lagoona chuckled before searching under some rocks.
Growing annoyed, Cleo decided to take a break not five minutes into the search, resting on what appeared to be a rather shaggy brown bush. She laid on her back, comfortable in the shade of the trees.
"Mmm, this is cozy. Why can't more bushes be like this?" Cleo said.
Just then, Cleo heard a small growl. She wasn't sure where it was coming from, but it was close. The growl grew louder where the rest of the squad could hear it, but like Cleo, they weren't exactly sure where the noise was coming from.
"Stay on your toes, ghouls. Something tells me our monster's nearby," said Clawdeen.
Soon, the growling was companied by heavy breathing. It was slow, but deep.
Draculaura hovered around where the squad was. "Very nearby," she said.
The squad continued looking around for the monster, but found no trace. As they looked, Clawdeen noticed something.
"Um...Cleo, why is your bush moving?" Clawdeen pondered.
Indeed the bush that Cleo was sitting on was in fact moving. As if a stomach was inhaling and exhaling air. Cleo suddenly realized this and quickly jumped off of the bush.
"That's the first time I've seen a bush do that," said Cleo.
"I have a feeling that's not a bush," said Lagoona.
The squad watched as the 'bush' slowly rose. As it did, it revealed two massive hands, two equally massive feet, and a large head that turned to the squad, growling through its huge teeth and wide jaw.
The squad stood their ground, preparing themselves for whatever type of move the monster would make. The monster leaned its head in towards the squad, blowing its breath into their faces, causing them to fall to the ground.
"Um...sorry to wake you," Cleo said nervously. "If it means anything, you have very comfy fur."
Closer and closer, the snarling monster leaned in. Until it stopped and spoke.
"You think so?!" the monster exclaimed in a girly, squeaky voice. "I make sure to brush at least 25 times a week!"
The Ghoul Squad was dumbfounded. They were not expecting this, but the monster before them was, in fact, a female sasquatch. They looked at each other before looking back at the monster.
"32 is the best number," Clawdeen immediately said. "And double wash gets the best results. You won't even know the difference."
The sasquatch took out a note and pencil began writing, repeating what Clawdeen had just said before Draculaura introduced herself and the other ghouls to her.
"I'm Sasy," the monster said.
As with the other monsters, the Ghoul Squad told Sasy about Monster High and all it had to offer. Upon hearing this, Sasy hopped with excitement, causing the ground around her and the squad to shake, then proceeded to give them all a big bear hug at once.
"So...what do you...say?" Draculaura asked, gasping for breath.
"It sounds creeptastic! I'd love to go!" Sasy exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear. But just then, she quickly realized something. "Oh, but there's just one problem."
"What's...that?" Frankie asked, struggling to breath.
"And could you possibly tell us while we still have oxygen?" Cleo suggested.
"Oh, sorry," Sasy said sheepishly before releasing the squad from her grip. "It's just that it'll be hard for me to go to one school when I'm already planning on going to another."
"Oh well, I understand," Draculaura said. "After all, you can't force someone to change their mind and-wait a minute, another what now?!"
The rest of the squad were also shocked by Sasy's words.
"OK, my ears must not be working right today, but it sounded like you said another school," said Clawdeen.
"Oh, that's because I did. I mean...I think I did. I'm pretty sure I did. Didn't I?" Sasy said.
"You did," said Lagoona.
"You very much did," said Cleo.
"You said..." Frankie began.
"Another school?!" the squad concluded.
Sasy reached into her thick brown fur and pulled out a newspaper. She showed it to the squad and directed them to a small ad on the bottom right corner of the second page. The squad all leaned in their heads to the newspaper and observed the ad which read, 'Miss Grimwood's Finishing School For Ghouls.'
At that moment, the squad found themselves dumbfounded as Sasy placed the newspaper back into her fur.
A number of questions circulated in Draculaura's mind. Could it have been possible that there was actually another school for monsters? And if so, how long had this school been around? Did her father know about this? Was he keeping a secret from her? She didn't have the answers, but she needed to know.
"I'm sorry. Did I upset you? I'll come to Monster high if you want," said Sasy.
"No, no, no. Listen, you don't need to make a decision right now," said Draculaura.
"But how bout you come to Monster high for a bit? Just to see how it is. Then you can go to this Grimwood place, see how that is, and make your decision in due time," Lagoona suggested.
"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Sasy. "I wish I had thought of that!"
"But just so you know, Monster High has Brownie Mondays," Cleo said in a persuading tone.
"OOOH! I love brownies! OK, I'm ready to give Monster High a try," said Sasy.
The rest of the squad was also ready to return to Monster High, but especially Draculaura for she had some questions that she needed her father to answer. With that, she pulled out the mapalogue. "OK, Sasy. Just place your hand on the mapalogue," she instructed to the sasquatch.
The rest of the squad placed their hands on the mapalogue, followed by Sasy. But she pressed down with such force that she squished the squad's hands in the ground, much to their discomfort.
"Monster...High...exto...monstrum..." Draculaura said, wincing in pain.
