Monster High: Season of the Witch

6. Chaos in the Creepateria

"Here's the brown slop. Here's the green slop. Never mix the slop. Got it?"

Beatrix grimaced. "Loud and clear. Thanks for showing me the ropes, Marsha."

"Ya, ya. Go fill the strawscarry containers."

Marsha, the head lunch lady, had mossy fingers, reeked of ammonia, and made Beatrix's aunts look like beauty pageant contestants. She'd already taught Beatrix how to prepare spooketti, making Beatrix's first shift at the creepateria productive so far.

Food prep was proving to be much easier than brewing potions.

"One minute 'til the bell," Marsha announced.

Beatrix dumped a bag of strawscarries into a tub. The second the bell rang, the line was already out the door, and lunch ladies piled dishes onto hundreds of trays.

A pack of werewolves wrestled in the middle of the creepateria. The largest one, a brown wolf in a casketball hoodie, had a small silver wolf in a headlock.

"Give it up, Orion!" the other werewolves laughed. "You can't beat Clawd!"

Then a hush fell over the pack as a newcomer entered the lunchroom.

Beatrix recognized that leather jacket and those pitch-black eyes right away.

Grey had entered the creepateria; the tall boy who'd known what Beatrix was in an instant at Bloodgood's office.

As Grey passed between the wolves, Clawd respectfully nodded to him. Grey nodded back and continued on.

An authority radiated off of him that Beatrix couldn't explain. Grey's broad-shoulders and stoicism set him apart from his peers, and everywhere he walked students shifted to make way for him.

Beatrix didn't want his dark eyes peering at her soul again.

"'Trix, more spooketti!" Marsha hollered.

Beatrix hurried to the serving counter with a bowl of noodles and sauce in hand. She replenished the food as quickly as she could.

"Oh. My. Ra!"

An Egyptian girl covered in gold wrappings frowned at her. Some sauce had splattered her top.

"Sorry," Beatrix said. She grabbed a napkin and reached across the counter to dab the sauce away.

"Don't touch me! This top is priceless!" the girl sneered. She scanned Beatrix up and down. "You must be that witch everyone's been talking about. What a surprise."

Fury bubbled up in Beatrix.

Marsha stepped in. "Apologies, Miss Cleo. Why don't I help clean your shirt? 'Trix, back to work."

Beatrix did as she was told. She stomped over to the sinks and scrubbed a dirty lunch tray so hard her knuckles went white. She hated being looked down on, and Cleo had looked disgusted by her.

"Never thought I'd see a Nicnevin again," a shaky voice said.

An old goblin lunch lady shuffled over.

"A Nicnevin?" Beatrix asked.

"Nicnevin. Magi. Enchantress. All the same," the goblin croaked.

Oh, she means 'witch.'

"By the way everyone's been acting, witches are worse than cockroaches," Beatrix said.

The goblin's fingers trembled as she scrubbed trays alongside Beatrix. Her name tag read "Greta."

"Be glad it was Miss Cleo you spilled on and not a vampire," Greta said. "Trust me on that one." Every word sounded strained, like the goblin had been a lunch lady for a few too many decades. "Speaking of, the blood bags." The goblin shuffled to the refrigerators and revealed a myriad of hospital bags lining the shelves.

"That's a lot of blood," Beatrix murmured.

"Be careful handling these. We don't get replenished often from suppliers. Every bag counts." Greta gently grabbed a bag that was labeled differently than the others. It read: Veterinary use.

"Animal blood?" Beatrix asked.

"For Draculaura, the 'vegetarian.' She only drinks animal blood, unlike the rest of them," Greta said.

After showing Beatrix how to prepare the bags for serving, Greta offered some parting words. "Take care of yourself. Watch out for those blinded by their own purposes."

Beatrix was unsure of what the vague message meant. However, Greta didn't elaborate and shuffled away.

"Psst."

Is that a damaged pipe?

"Pssssstt!"

Beatrix spotted her scarecrow friend crouched beside the fridges.

"Autumn! What are you doing back here?"

"I couldn't find Lagoona! I didn't know where to sit! It's terrifying out there."

Beatrix surveyed their surroundings to make sure no one had seen Autumn. The other lunch ladies were still at their posts.

"You can hang here, but stay hidden. I don't want to cause trouble on my first day."

Autumn watched Beatrix work on the blood bags. "How are things? Better than the farm?"

"Absolutely. I think I have a knack for food prep," Beatrix said. "How were your first classes? Any injuries?"

Autumn pulled up the hem of her skirt. Straw stuck out from a tear on her knee. "I tripped over someone's tail during third period. I tried patching myself up but the angle was difficult."

Beatrix removed her gloves and pulled out a needle. She sewed up the knee as quickly as she could, finishing in record time.

"You're all anyone's been talking about in my classes," Autumn said. "I don't get how everyone found out you were a witch so fast. Bloodgood didn't tell anyone, did she?"

"Bloodgood said to take things slow and let students get acclimated to me. It wouldn't make sense for her to spread the information," Beatrix said.

"Bea, I think I know who spread the rumor."

Beatrix and Autumn exchanged a knowing look.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the kitchen.

Autumn ducked behind the fridges and Beatrix resumed preparing the blood bags. But the person didn't spare a glance.

Speak of the devil, Beatrix thought.

Grey was holding onto the contraption at his belt as he rushed through the kitchen out the employee exit.

"What was that about?" Autumn whispered.

A rumble came from the creepateria; the sound of unsettled monster voices.

Beatrix approached Marsha. "Is everything alright?"

The lunch ladies all wore the same expression: brows furrowed, hands wringing together nervously.

"A student was found in the woods outside the school," Marsha said.

It took Beatrix a second to process what Marsha meant. Then it clicked.

Someone had died on the first day.