Skull of the Skeleton

by Tommy Donbavand

  The Demon

  The creature arched its back as the electricity surged through its body, roaring so loudly that Luke, Resus and Cleo were forced to cover their ears.

  The monster’s minotaur arm flexed against its restraint, snapping the leather strap that secured it to the table. Leaping to its hooves, the beast tore away the sensors from its chest as a final burst of power settled around its neck, forming an electrical collar. The creature growled and turned to face the landlord, staring down at him through pulsing green eyes.

  “I-I am your creator,” stuttered Sir Otto nervously. “You will do my bidding.” The monster raised its clenched fists into the air, but the landlord stood firm. “I name you Ottostein!” he proclaimed.

  The creature took a step forward, causing Dixon to squeal and retreat across the room. He hid behind the crates, where he found himself face to face with Luke, Resus and Cleo. “Oh, hello,” he said good-naturedly. “What are you doing here?”

  “What is that?” demanded Luke as the creature burst out of the laboratory in hot pursuit of the trio, who were now fleeing back along the corridor.

  “Well, don’t quote me on this,” said Resus as the monster picked up an ancient suit of armour on display and hurled it after their retreating backs. “But the only thing I know of with bright green eyes like that is a demon!” A diamond-encrusted breastplate smashed to the ground inches behind him.

  “A demon?” shouted Cleo, putting on an extra burst of speed as the side door came into view. “My uncle Ramses had bright green eyes, and he wasn’t a demon!” The trio burst through the door and out into the grounds.

  “Yes,” agreed Resus, “but your uncle Ramses wasn’t intent on tearing everyone around him into wafer-thin strips!”

  The demon crashed out of the mansion and gazed around, taking in its new surroundings. Sir Otto Sneer soon appeared behind it, a thick cigar clamped between his teeth and a box covered in switches in his hands. The controls fizzed with blue power. “The fake vampire is correct,” he barked. “This is indeed a demon — with one small difference …”

  The landlord flicked a switch and the demon growled, flashes of electricity sparking between its horns. “… I control Ottostein’s every move!”

  “A remote-control demon,” breathed Luke in amzement. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

  “You’ve seen nothing yet, boy!” bellowed Sir Otto, his fingers deftly working the controls. The demon turned and advanced slowly upon the trio, its emerald eyes blazing. “This monster will bring Scream Street to its knees!” cackled the landlord. “It is a creature of pure malevolence and evil, intent on nothing but carnage.” He wiped away a tear as his eyes grew misty. “It’s like the son I never had!”

  “I thought I was the son you never had,” squeaked Dixon from behind his uncle.

  The landlord grunted. “If you were the son I’d never had, I’d never have had you!” Dixon faltered, trying to work out whether or not he’d just been insulted.

  Luke, Resus and Cleo backed away around a nearby tree.

  As they did so, Sir Otto rotated a dial on his controller, causing the demon to rip the tree up by its roots and swing it around like a sword.

  “The question that remains,” rumbled the landlord as Luke ducked out of the way of the oncoming branches, “is why did you three break into my lab? You couldn’t have known I was working on Ottostein…” He gazed up at the Headless Horseman’s skull, his eyes widening. “The head is one of your precious relics, isn’t it!”

  Luke’s breath caught in his chest. So Sir Otto hadn’t known that Eddie was one of the founding fathers! “N-no, of course not,” he lied.

  “You can’t fool me, boy,” grinned Sir Otto, biting down on his cigar. “I’ve been collecting body parts for months — then, joy of joys, G.H.O.U.L. tells me that the Headless Horseman is moving in. All I needed was his head to complete my creation — but, what do you know, I get one of the magical relics into the bargain!”

  Triumphantly, the landlord pressed another button and the trio ducked as Ottostein finally threw the tree at them, barely missing Cleo. While Sir Otto looked on, laughing gleefully, Luke, Resus and Cleo ran.

  Luke gazed miserably out of the window of the emporium. “This is all my fault,” he sighed.

  The group had spent a long, restless night inside the shop and, as dawn broke, there seemed to be no chance of escape. Outside, Ottostein battered its monstrous fists against the shield spell Eefa had placed around the building. Rocky paced nervously across the shop floor.

  “How is it your fault?” asked Resus.

  “Sir Otto had no idea the skull was one of the relics,” replied Luke. “We gave that away by breaking in to get it back.”

  “Then if anything it’s ‘our’ fault,” said Resus. “We’re in this together, remember.”

  Luke smiled gratefully at his friend, then turned to Eefa, who sat cross-legged on the counter, her eyes closed in concentration as she kept the shield spell in place. “How are you holding out?”

  “We’re safe,” said the witch. “For now.” She aimed a finger at a nearby candle to ignite its wick. “We’ll have to find a more permanent solution soon, though.” Outside the shimmering purple haze of the spell, Dixon clapped excitedly as Sir Otto ordered the demon to increase its attack.

  “Poor Eddie,” groaned Femur as she gazed through the window at the Horseman’s burning eyes. “What are they doing to you?” The Horseman’s body remained rigid in a chair behind her.

  “What I’d like to know,” said Cleo, “is where they got those body parts from. I know that’s Doug’s missing arm, but what about the others?”

  “There were a lot of crates in there with ‘Oddbods’ written on the side,” said Resus thoughtfully.

  Rocky stopped his pacing. “Oddbods?” he said. “That’s where I got Eddie’s extra parts from: his horns, fangs and tear ducts.”

  “You can buy body parts from that place?” demanded Luke.

  Rocky nodded. “Quality stuff. Whatever parts Sneer used, they’ll be from the strongest and toughest of their species. I wouldn’t be surprised if that demon is virtually unstoppable.”

  Tired of watching Ottostein batter fruitlessly against the magical shield around the shop, Sir Otto pressed a series of buttons on his remote control and forced the creature’s attention away from the emporium to one of the houses that bordered the square. The monster’s collar of sparking, blue electricity fizzed as the order was given.

  The occupants of the store watched in horror as the demon ripped away the garden fence, then smashed a hole in the wall of the house. A family of elves came running out, screeching in terror as Ottostein lumbered through the hole and began to demolish their living room. Sir Otto roared with laughter and Dixon danced around him.

  “I’ve had enough of this…” snapped Luke, marching towards the door.

  Resus grabbed his arm. “Exactly what do you plan to do? Let it kill you over and over until it’s too tired to attack anyone else?”

  “I… I don’t know,” replied Luke. “But I have to do something. Someone has to do something!”

  “Let me go out there,” said Femur determinedly. “Let me try to reason with him.”

  Resus looked shocked “You want to go out there and try to reason with a remote-controlled demonic killing machine?”

  “Not with the demon,” said the skeleton firmly. “With Eddie. He’s still inside that head somewhere, and I think I can reach him. If I do, then I’m sure the head can override the signals being sent to the rest of the body.”

  Luke, Resus and Cleo exchanged glances. “It’s worth a try,” said the mummy.

  Femur opened the door and stepped outside. Eefa dropped the shield long enough for the trembling skeleton to pass through, and everyone else gathered at the window to watch her cross the square.

  Dixon saw her first. “Uncle Otto!” he called.

  Sir Otto growled, still concentrating on the controls in his hands. Ottostein was bu
sy smashing the windows of number 36. “Sir!” thundered the landlord. “How many times have I got to tell you? It’s sir!”

  “Sorry, Sir Uncle Otto,” simpered Dixon, “but I think you’d better look.”

  A smile spread across the landlord’s face as he turned to see Femur approaching. “Well, well,” he said, stroking the silk scarf around his throat, “we appear to have a heroine on the loose…” And with a sharp punch of a button, he ordered the demon to stride over towards the skeleton. They met in the centre of the square.

  Femur gazed up into the flashing green eyes of the monstrous creature. “Eddie,” she said softly. “You’ve never really met me, but I’ve known you for so very long. I’m your number-one fan.”

  The green lights dimmed briefly, then Sir Otto sent another burst of electricity through the demon. The monster screamed in pain and the pulsing emeralds returned to full brightness.

  “I know you don’t want to be part of this,” continued Femur. “I know you don’t want to hurt people. So — please — come back to us and end it now.”

  “Bor-ring!” yelled Sir Otto, turning a dial on the remote control. Ottostein roared and grabbed Femur by the neck, lifting her off the ground.

  “No!” screamed Cleo from the other side of the glass, but she could only watch as the demon hurled the skeleton across the square. Femur crashed against the wall around Sneer Hall and lay very, very still.

  Chapter Six

  The Rampage

  Cleo burst out through the doors of the emporium and found herself blocked by the magical shield.

  “Eefa, lower the spell!” shouted Luke, close behind. The witch clicked her fingers and the purple haze around the shop vanished, allowing Cleo to race across to square to Femur’s side. Luke and Resus were just seconds behind her.

  Cleo dropped to her knees beside the skeleton. “Please be OK…” she pleaded. Femur’s eyes had regained their focus, but they were staring past Cleo rather than at her.

  “Well, what do you know?” came the voice of Sir Otto from behind the mummy. “I get to crush two freaks for the price of one!” Cleo spun round to see the demon charging towards her.

  Luke leapt in front of Ottostein, placing himself between Cleo and the monster, but, with a single swipe of its fist, it knocked him to the ground and continued.

  Resus pulled a long, silver sword from the folds of his cape and charged at the demon, but he too was thwarted as it snatched the weapon from his hands and snapped it like a twig. Kicking Resus aside, Ottostein stomped towards Cleo and Femur, the landlord laughing in the background.

  Just as the demon reached the terrified mummy, the air behind Sir Otto began to shimmer. Suddenly, a stumpy leg appeared, followed by another, as a large, round woman dressed all in black climbed through some kind of hole in the air, dragging a huge suitcase behind her.

  Luke stared in amazement. A Hex Hatch, of course! This was a window into Scream Street that could only be opened by G.H.O.U.L. itself. He had never seen one this close before.

  Pulling hard on the suitcase, the woman swung round and hit Sir Otto squarely in the back. The landlord fell to the ground, the remote control bouncing out of his hands and smashing as it hit the concrete.

  Ottostein paused as the flow of electricity ceased, its hands just inches from Cleo’s throat. The demon flexed its fingers, realizing that it was no longer under Sir Otto’s control. Roaring with delight at this sudden freedom, the monster abandoned its task and pounded away across the square, crashing through a garden fence and disappearing down the street.

  “You moron!” ranted Sir Otto, clambering to his feet and turning to see who had knocked him over. “How could you be so stu—” His eyes widened in alarm and he turned deathly pale. “Oh no,” he whimpered. “Not you…”

  With a squeal of excitement, Dixon raced over to the woman in black and flung his arms around her sturdy frame. “Mummy!”

  “What are you doing here, Queenie?” Sir Otto whispered.

  “Do I need an excuse to visit the family home?” bellowed the woman, smoothing a barely visible crease from her black silk dress. “It’s as much my house as it is yours.” She jabbed at the remains of the remote control unit with the sharp tip of a very pointed shoe. “Still playing with toys, I see, Otto.”

  Dixon was now bouncing excitedly around his mother. “Is Dad with you?”

  Queenie Sneer shook her head. “He shapeshifted into a garden gnome about a month ago. Says he won’t change back while I’m still around.”

  “Don’t blame him,” muttered Sir Otto, his courage returning.

  “So, seeing as G.H.O.U.L. was already opening this Hex Hatch to allow someone to move in,” continued his sister, “I have reverted to my maiden name — and come home!” She slapped Sir Otto enthusiastically around the back of the head as she spoke.

  The landlord sulkily rubbed his scalp and gathered up the pieces of broken remote control. “This is ruined!” he grunted, shaking the box and listening despairingly to the rattle it made.

  Meanwhile, Luke, Resus and Cleo were helping Femur to stand. “I see you’ve still got the freaks running around this dump,” said Queenie, looking down her nose at the trembling skeleton.

  “And I see you’re about as pleasant as your brother!” retorted Cleo.

  “Cleo…” warned Luke.

  Queenie waddled over to face the mummy. “You useless, bandaged nobody. How dare you speak to your elders in that manner!”

  “Elders?” laughed Cleo. “I was entombed six thousand years ago — I doubt you’re anywhere near as old as me!” She looked the frumpy woman up and down. “Although, if your dress sense is anything to go by—”

  “OK!” interrupted Resus, grabbing Cleo’s arm and quickly steering her away as Queenie flushed an angry shade of purple. “We have to be going now!”

  Luke stepped up to Sir Otto. “Not until he calls off his demon.”

  The landlord thrust the remains of the remote control at Luke. “With what?” he demanded. “My idiot of a sister put paid to my fun!”

  Queenie reached out with a black-gloved hand and pulled Sir Otto up by the ear. “I suggest you show this ‘idiot’ to her room before anything else painful happens to you,” she hissed, dragging her brother towards Sneer Hall.

  “Well,” said Resus as the three Sneers disappeared from view, “if Sir Otto can’t stop the demon…”

  “…then it’s up to us!” finished Luke.

  The trio followed the trail of ripped-up hedges, broken gates and shattered windows along Scream Street. There was a gaping hole in the front of number 13 where the front door should be.

  “What were the chances it would choose my house?” sighed Luke as he, Resus and Cleo raced up the garden path.

  Inside, the house was a scene of total destruction. Walls had been demolished, furniture smashed and floorboards torn up.

  “Do you think this was the demon?” asked Cleo looking around her in horror.

  “No,” Luke replied sarcastically. “My mum and dad are redecorating the place in traditional monster-aftermath style!”

  “Kids,” came a strangled cry from above, “get out of here!”

  Luke, Resus and Cleo looked up. Standing at the top of the stairs was Ottostein, electric collar fizzing around its throat, with Luke’s dad in its grip. Mr Watson’s feet wriggled and kicked as the monster lifted him higher into the air with its stolen zombie arm. “Just go!” he urged them, barely able to get the words out.

  “Put him down,” ordered Luke, “or you’ll regret it!”

  Ottostein laughed and spoke for the first time since its creation. “Run away, child,” it rumbled. “Nothing can stop my lust for anarchy, least of all you. I shall destroy you all!”

  Luke froze as he saw his mum appear on the landing behind the demon, a heavy table lamp clutched in her hands.

  “No!” he called to her. “Don’t do it!”

  Ottostein laughed, unaware of Mrs Watson behind him. “You think I will cease my r
ampage simply because you give the order?” He tightened his grip around Mr Watson’s throat and Luke clenched his own fists as he watched his dad’s face turn red, then purple.

  Ignoring her son’s warning, Mrs Watson raised the lamp above her head and brought it down hard on the demon’s shoulder. The weapon was blunt but heavy enough to tear the crude stitches that held the arm in place. Ottostein screamed with rage as the arm fell away, releasing Luke’s dad as it did so.

  The demon turned and grabbed Mrs Watson by the hair with its remaining hand, tossing her effortlessly down the stairs. Luke, Resus and Cleo dashed to her side as she crashed to the bottom.

  “Mum!” shouted Luke, pulling her to the safety of the living room. “Are you OK?” A semiconscious groan was the only response.

  Ottostein laughed wickedly. “You are no match for me!” it roared.

  Luke felt a shadow begin to creep over his mind as he glared up at the monster. “Oh, it’s not me you need to worry about,” he replied. “It’s my furry friend!” Anger flooded through Luke, this time setting off a full werewolf transformation. Sharp talons burst through the ends of his fingers and toes, muscles rippled as they repositioned themselves around his bones, and his skin flushed with coarse fur.

  The werewolf howled once before racing up the stairs and launching itself at the demon, teeth bared. Ottostein lashed out with the back of its powerful minotaur arm and sent Luke crashing into the banisters, splintering the wood as he fell. But the wolf was back on its feet in seconds, running towards the demon for a second attack.

  This time Luke stayed low, ducking beneath the demon’s hand and sinking his fangs deep into its leg.

  The demon roared with laughter and gripped the werewolf by the scruff of its neck. “You think I worry about pain?” it bellowed, hurling Luke against the door to his bedroom.

  Resus dashed up the stairs, dodging the monster’s fist. He gripped his friend by the fur and spoke urgently into his ear. “Go for the head,” he urged. “The stitches holding Doug’s arm in place weren’t strong — if you can separate the head from the body, we might stand a chance of stopping this thing!”