Frights, Camera, Action!

by Audu Paden

  Ygor looked dumbfounded. Of course he hadn’t lost his mind. He pulled a container out of his pocket. “No, Ygor keeps it in this little jar.”

  Lord Stoker threw up his hands in frustration. Why did he have to do everything himself? He stormed out of the study, marching down a hallway filled with suits of dusty armor and paintings of long-forgotten vampire lords and ladies. He pulled open the doors to the throne room. Embroidered tapestries lined the walls. Candelabras covered in wax hung from the ceiling. Everything was covered in cobwebs. It had been a long time since he’d been in there. He stood and stared at the empty throne. What was he going to do? How could he possibly have a coronation? More important, how could he make sure that he remained in charge?

  Ygor limped in behind him. “How are you going to find a queen in a week? Your niece stole the Vampire’s Heart four hundred years ago when—”

  Lord Stoker threw his hand over Ygor’s mouth. Still, Ygor kept trying to talk.

  Frustrated, Lord Stoker narrowed his eyes and spoke very slowly. “I don’t want to find the queen.”

  “Right!” exclaimed Ygor. “Because… eh…” He stopped, puzzled again. “Remind Ygor why again, Master.”

  “Because once we have a queen, I will no longer be in charge.”

  “Aaaaah! Yes!” Ygor’s round face broke into a smile.

  “I am the only one who knows what’s good for vampires,” said Lord Stoker. He was pacing back and forth across the marble floor of the throne room. “What I need is a fake queen, one I can control and bend to my will.”

  “Yesss, Master!” agreed Ygor.

  Lord Stoker looked up at the tapestry hanging on the wall. It showed the royal vampire kings and queens through the ages and all their descendants. What caught Lord Stoker’s eye, however, was a very pretty ghoul with bangs and long hair streaked with pink. She wasn’t particularly scary or all-powerful like a vampire king or queen. She was cute.

  Lord Stoker cackled. “There! She’s perfect! The daughter of Dracula with all of his so-called enlightened ideas about monster equality. I remember this girl from court.” He studied the girl in the tapestry. There was an evil glint in his eye. He could be so diabolical! “She was always so naive, insecure, and feeble,” he remembered. “I imagine she doesn’t even have her vampire powers yet.”

  He addressed the girl in the tapestry. “You won’t have the courage to question me. Isn’t that right, my new queen?” He laughed.

  Confused, Ygor began laughing too. “Ha-ha, yes,” he said, not understanding the plan.

  Thousands of miles away, across an ocean, across a continent, Draculaura had no idea what Lord Stoker was plotting.

  CHAPTER 4

  SUDDENLY ROYAL

  Draculaura’s iCoffin was buzzing. It was her beloved father. She giggled as she talked to him on her way to class, smiling at Frankie Stein headed toward her in the hall.

  “Okay, Daddy,” agreed Draculaura. “I’ll floss my fangs! And I’ll call you in six months when you can come out again. Smooches. Love you!”

  “Six months?” Frankie had only heard the tail end of the conversation. She shifted her books in her hands.

  “Business trip to Antarctica,” explained Draculaura. “You know, six months of daytime, then six months of night.”

  Toralei and her friends passed the girls in the hallway and bowed mockingly to Draculaura. “Oh, make way, make way,” hissed Toralei. “It’s Her Royal—meow—Fakeness!”

  Toralei’s friends snickered. Draculaura blushed. They just wouldn’t drop it. It had been days now and they were still making fun of her. She dreaded having to endure their teasing in Mr. Rotter’s class. Frankie smiled at her encouragingly, but it didn’t make any difference. It was awful.

  The moment she walked into the chamber, Gory Fangtel announced, “All hail Queen Draculaura!” Ghouls at their desks burst into laughter.

  Draculaura tried to ignore them. She sat down at her seat next to Frankie. Thank goodness she had some friends to stick by her!

  Mr. Rotter was fussing with a projector. He turned his green face around and glared at the ghouls making noise. “Settle down!” he whined. “Today we’ll be continuing our discussion of history. This is your scaritage! The journey to the boo-world!”

  He pulled down a film screen and clicked on the projector. While his back was turned, spitballs flew through the air and landed in Draculaura’s hair. Frankie stared at Gory and Toralei, but it didn’t make any difference.

  Mr. Rotter pointed at a map projected onto the screen. “Londoom was a stopping point for immigrating monsters. They left their homelands for many reasons.”

  Toralei leaned forward in her seat. “Probably because they were an embarrassment to their kind.”

  “Or ’cause they made up stories about being queen.” Gory snickered.

  Draculaura sank down in her chair. She wished she were an invisible ghoul or a disappearing creature or with her father down in Antarctica. When Gory blew another spitball at her and it landed on her cheek, she exploded. She couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop torturing me!” she yelled.

  Mr. Rotter whirled around. “Draculaura!”

  The ghoul gasped. She was usually so well behaved in class.

  “Don’t spook until you are spooken to!” said Mr. Rotter. “Detention!”

  Gory and Toralei exchanged triumphant looks. Frankie just shook her head. She had no idea how to help her friend.

  Draculaura moaned softly to herself. Could this day possibly get any worse?

  Just at that moment, the intercom began to crackle and the imperious voice of Headmistress Bloodgood filled the classroom. “Attention, Draculaura, report to my office. Immediately.”

  Well, at least it gave her an excuse to get out of class—and away from Gory and Toralei. She gathered up her books and whispered to Frankie, “Hashtag… in trouble. Again.”

  Draculaura hurried through the empty corridors to Headmistress Bloodgood’s office. She hated being in trouble. She’d never even had detention before. Flustered, she burst into the office, already apologizing. “I am so so so sorry I yelled in class, Headmistress. I—”

  Headmistress Bloodgood interrupted her. “Draculaura, you are…”

  Draculaura gasped with surprise—not at the headmistress but at all the vampires and bats assembled in the office. There were official vampire guards, and Ygor, and Lord Stoker himself. What could they possibly be doing here? Were they sending her back to Transylvania? Just for yelling in class?

  “You are the next vampire queen,” finished Headmistress Bloodgood. Thrilled, the headmistress removed her head with a flourish.

  The guards bowed to her. Lord Stoker smiled at her. “You are the chosen one,” he said smoothly.

  Could this be true? Or was this some elaborate prank to make even more fun of her? “Lord Stoker? What are you doing here?” she asked, finding her voice.

  “I was led to you.” He smiled. “By the Vampire’s Heart!”

  Draculaura was speechless.

  Lord Stoker brought forth an ornate jeweled box. He opened the heavy lid, and there, resting on a bed of crushed red velvet, was the famous gem. There was no mistaking it. It was the stuff of legends. Lord Stoker presented it to Draculaura and she timidly rested her hand on the Vampire’s Heart.

  Draculaura looked at the glowing jewel beneath her hand in disbelief. How could this be?

  “See how it glows in your presence?” said Lord Stoker. He quickly closed the box before anyone could study the jewel.

  Draculaura was dumbfounded. “I really am the next queen.” At her words, the vampire guards fell to their knees. Lord Stoker bowed.

  “All hail the new vampire majesty!”

  Just as the guards were saluting their new queen, a crowd of ghouls barged into the office, all talking at once. In the midst of all of Draculaura’s best friends was Gory Fangtel—who clearly didn’t want to be there. She was baring her fangs.

  “Headmistress Bloodgood,” said Frankie, tal
king a mile a minute. “Gory has been picking on Draculaura all day and with…”

  At the sound of Draculaura’s name, all the vampires saluted again. “All hail the queen!”

  “Thank you!” said Cleo de Nile, who naturally assumed they were addressing her. “That never gets old.”

  But Frankie, Robecca, Ghoulia, Clawdeen, and Lagoona noticed that everyone in the room was a vampire—and they were all on bended knees in front of Draculaura. Her friends stared at Draculaura in disbelief.

  Draculaura blushed. “Um, they mean me. I’m the next vampire queen.” But she said it as if she was trying to convince herself that it was true.

  “Wow!” gushed Frankie, the bolts on her neck shooting out sparks.

  “Claw-some,” howled Clawdeen.

  “Hooray!” said Robecca.

  “Okay,” said Cleo, more than a little surprised.

  But the person who really couldn’t believe it was Gory Fangtel. Her face was an ugly knot of rage. “Draculaura the queen?! No way!”

  The vampire guards glared at her. Lord Stoker bared his teeth.

  “Um… I mean, uh… no way…” stumbled Gory, trying to recover. “No way I won’t be the first to say congrats! Have I told you how much I loooove that outfit, Your Majesty?”

  But Draculaura wasn’t falling for it. Besides, she was still in too much shock herself.

  “We must leave for Transylvania immediately,” Lord Stoker said briskly. The guards, used to obeying him, prepared to leave.

  “But no!” said Draculaura frantically. It was hard enough to accept that she was queen, but she certainly wasn’t ready to abandon her ordinary life. “I can’t be queen. It would mean leaving all of my friends, and Monster High is my home. What if I never come back?” She whimpered softly at the very thought of it.

  Gory made a gagging noise that she quickly covered up with a sweet smile.

  Lord Stoker tried to hide his irritation. “Draculaura, listen to me,” he began. “Yes, being queen is difficult for one of your… limited abilities. But you are important. Don’t worry,” he said, patting her on the head. “I will take care of all the messy details. The Heart chose you for a reason. It is for the good of your people.”

  Headmistress Bloodgood, her head in her hands, agreed.

  Draculaura was overwhelmed. The room felt like it was spinning. “I am… important,” she said to herself. Could it really be true?

  “I’ve always said you were!” said Gory Fangtel, trying to suck up to the new queen.

  Draculaura caught the eye of Frankie Stein, who smiled at her. Thank goodness her friends were here. What would she do without them in Transylvania? That’s when it began to sink in. She was the queen. Why couldn’t she bring her friends along? “Can my ghoulfriends come?” she asked Lord Stoker.

  Clawdeen gave a low growl of excitement. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to see Transylvania!”

  “Of course!” agreed Lord Stoker, eager to get away from Monster High before the headmistress began asking too many questions. “The queen needs her ladies-in-waiting to attend her at the coronation. Which is next week, so let’s hurry it up.”

  Draculaura ran to the headmistress. “Please, please, can they come? Please? It would be deaducational!”

  The headmistress was thrilled to have the vampire queen at her school and not at Vampire Prep. It sent such a strong message to the monster world after all. “I suppose it would be a good chance to learn about your monster scaritage in person. Okay!”

  “Fangulous!” exclaimed Draculaura.

  All the ghouls cheered with excitement. They were going to be traveling abroad!

  “Yay!”

  “Woo-hoo!”

  “You go, Queen!” cheered Robecca.

  Gory wrapped an arm around Frankie and Cleo. “All right! Yeah! Woo-hoo!”

  “Sorry, Gory,” said Cleo, removing Gory’s arm. “You’ll be at the vampire court when trolls fly.…”

  “I should have seen that coming,” sneered Gory.

  Lagoona Blue was checking her schedule on her iCoffin and looking disappointed. “Hate to be a bummer,” she apologized. “But Ghoulia, Frankie, and I have a major Clawculus project due next week.”

  Frankie gave Draculaura a big hug. “We are totes happy for you!”

  Something about Frankie’s embrace made the news real for Draculaura. She was going to be queen. She was going to wear a crown, and sit on a throne, and go to balls—and dance. “I have to tell Clawd!” she realized.

  What would he think of all of this? She hoped he’d be excited to be dating a real vampire queen!

  Clawd was bounding by the office when the ghouls called to him. At first he too worried that he’d gotten in trouble. “Did I bury something I wasn’t supposed to?”

  Draculaura pulled him aside and whispered into his ear. “Hey, sweetie. Remember how we joked about me being the vampire queen?”

  “Right!” barked Clawd, ever cheerful. “That was hilarious!” He started chuckling, then noticed how Draculaura wasn’t joining in. “You’re not laughing.”

  Draculaura twisted the ends of her hair. “Yeah, well, it turns out”—she laughed nervously—“I kinda, sorta am the next vampire queen. And I have to leave for Transylvania. Like, now.”

  Clawd’s face drooped. “So I guess that means we’re… we’ll be…”

  “Yes, we’ll be apart.” Draculaura took Clawd’s large, soft paw in her hand. “For seven days.”

  “That’s like a… month in wolf time! Who will take me on walks?”

  Draculaura began scratching Clawd behind his ears. His tongue lolled out of his mouth. “Oh, Clawd. You’ll be fine. You’re a good boy. Who ruvs you? Who does? I do!”

  She pulled a ball out of her purse and Clawd barked with excitement. Draculaura tried to hold back her tears. “Now”—she sniffed—“fetch!” She threw the ball out the door and down the hall. Clawd looked lovingly at Draculaura, but then he whimpered as his wolf instincts took over. He ran as fast as he could after the ball, howling as he went.

  Draculaura let out a sob as she watched him go.

  “Come!” announced Stoker, tired of all of this. “We must leave at once. Your throne awaits!”

  “Voltageous!” cheered Frankie.

  “Claw-some!” whooped Clawdeen.

  Draculaura took one last look around the halls of Monster High. Her life was about to completely change… forever.

  As she headed toward the front entrance, ghouls and monsters came out of their classrooms to see if the rumors were true.

  “What’s happening?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Is Draculaura really the vampire queen?”

  Word was spreading like wildfire. Hoodude couldn’t believe it when he heard it, but when he saw the limousines parked out in front of the school, he decided it must be true.

  “Wow!” said the ghouls.

  “Oooh fancy,” murmured Cleo. She liked traveling in style!

  Draculaura turned back one last time toward the school. “Good-bye everyone! I’ll see you at my coronation.” She was openly crying now.

  “Come on, ghoul!” said Clawdeen. “Your throne is waiting.”

  Increasingly impatient, Lord Stoker practically shoved the girls into the limousine and slammed the door behind them.

  Draculaura peered out the window at the kids calling out congratulations to her. The engine started. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, and there was Clawd, the ball in his mouth, running toward the limos. He spat out the ball. “Good-bye, Draculaura,” he howled. “Monster High will miss you! I’ll miss you! AH-ROOOOOOOO! AH-ROOOOOOO! AH-ROOOOOO,” he began howling.

  But the limousines had already vanished down the road.

  CHAPTER 5

  NEXT STOP, TRANSYLVANIA

  A train roared through dark forests and craggy mountains. It chugged past abandoned towns. It sped through fog-filled valleys and raced through tunnels blacker than night.

  Inside the train, the ghou
ls were enjoying the lavish splendor of the royal compartments. There were velvet-tufted sofas and gold-framed oil paintings. The ghouls were doing their nails and claws and getting ready for their arrival at the castle.

  Ygor entered with a servant, who was carrying a silver tray with goblets filled with a thick red liquid. Ygor bowed low before Draculaura. “Your, erm, tomato juice, Your Majesty.” Everyone on the train had been surprised that the new vampire queen was a vegetarian.

  “Thank you,” said Draculaura, taking a sip of her drink.

  Ygor glared at the servant. “Bow to the queen!”

  “O-M-Ghoul.” Draculaura giggled. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “It’s tradition,” said Ygor, confused.

  “As my dad always says, ‘Traditions can change.’ ” Draculaura handed goblets to her friends.

  Ygor was muttering to himself, clearly upset. “And as the master says, ‘Traditions must never change and that traitor Dracula’s ideas are—’ ” He stopped, realizing Draculaura was staring at him. “Uh… uh… uh… enjoy your juice!” He staggered out of the compartment with the servant.

  Clawdeen leaned back against the soft pillows of the sofa. “So, tell us more about what it was like to grow up in the vampire court! All that history!”

  Cleo snorted. “Sixteen hundred years of aristocracy is nothing to brag about. Egyptian royalty has shoe sales that last longer than that.”

  Draculaura clapped her hands. “Oh! The vampire court was totes amazing!” She pointed at one of the paintings on the wall that showed women in long gowns and men in floor-length capes dancing together. “The beautiful dresses! The grand balls! I used to sneak downstairs with my best friend Elissabat, Lord Stoker’s niece, to watch the vampire waltz. We all had so much fun!” She giggled at the memory of it. “Well, except for old crankypants Stoker!”