I'm in Love with a Monster

What Lurks in the Shadows and Snakes and Stones

Elena had no idea how long she had been running for, or where she had been running to. She just knew she had to get away from the pretty ghost with the questions, the noise of the hallway, and people in general for a while.

Eventually, she made it outside through one of the school's side entrances, and leaned against the brick outer walls for a bit to catch her breath. She wasn't winded, only panting slightly, and off-handedly noticed the weather was overcast. Normally, this would be something that would make her smile (she loved cloudy and rainy weather), but right now she didn't care too much for it. She didn't care too much for anything right now. All she wanted was to find a nice, quiet place where she could listen to music and watch Netflix until she felt better.

And that was where her problem lied. She didn't know where or if there was any place in the school she could be alone. The library would always have someone in it, and people always went in bathrooms. She could try to find the catacombs, but she didn't want to get lost again.

Elena felt herself begin to panic, but stopped when she saw the tree line on the outskirts of the school cemetery (she was just going to accept the fact the school owned a graveyard). She forgot that Monster High had a forest nearby.

Maybe going into the dark, eerie woods in a world filled with literal monsters wasn't a good idea, but she was tired and her head hurt from crying and the noise. She wanted a nap, and the woods, while slightly scary, would likely be extremely quiet with an obvious absence of people.

Sighing, Elena put her hood up and began her trek through the cemetery to the woods. She wouldn't go too deep and she would come out before lunch was over so she wouldn't skip her next classes. She would be fine.

A short walk later, Elena was at the base of a large, black leafless tree on a small hill not too far into the woods. The only noise was the rustling of leaves and the calls of animals. Giving a tired smile, the human nestled herself on a small bed of moss between some of the tree's protruding roots. Curling up into a ball, Elena put her headphones on and hit 'play' on the playlist Oper had made for her. The song that played wasn't one of the phantom's own, but it was still extremely good and soothing. Cracking an eye open, Elena saw the name of the song and its artist on her lockscreen.

Witching Hour, by Castor and the Spells

Smiling, the blonde closed her eyes and idly wondered who Castor was and the Ppells were, and if they were actual spells or if that was just their name. She fell asleep giggling to herself at the thought, the fall breeze whistling by.

—--------------------------------------------------

Oper leaned back against his locker, arms crossed and a scowl that kept everyone who wasn't Johnny or Deuce six feet away at all times on his face. He was in a bad mood, and why wouldn't he be? He couldn't find Elena! He had checked everywhere; the creepateria, her classes, her locker, and there was no sign of her. He had tried asking around for her; she was pretty hard to miss. After all, beautiful human girls in bat print hoodies don't exactly roam the halls of the school in droves, but no one would talk to him. They were all scared of the big, bad Phantom of the Catacombs.

Well, he could find Elena on his own, so they could all go fuck themselves. Shooting a 'where are you?' text to his friend for the dozenth time, Oper growled when he got no response. Johnny, who was leaning against his locker in the same fashion as him, looked at the purple skinned specter in confusion and concern.

"Uh, you good Op?", his long time friend asked. Oper growled again and glared down at his iCoffin with undiluted rage at his situation.

"I'm fine.", he grumbled, roughly sticking his phone in the pocket of his leather jacket and making a point to look anywhere but at Johnny, lest he figure out what was wrong with him. He trusted Johnny to not make a big deal out of Elena being human, he just didn't know if he would scare Elena by being too rough around the edges. His father had raised him to be a southern gentleman (when he wanted to be), but Johnny... Well, he had learned manners from New York's Brooklynn Boys gang back in the fifties when he was still human himself, and while he tried, the guy could still be a bit much.