An Artistic Duo

Chapter 10- The Red Lady

"We have to go!" I said urgently.

"But there's still thirty-seven more verses," Vandala whined.

"Now!" I insisted.

Vandala nodded. "Aye aye!"

"Aye aye!"

Vandala steered the ship away as Spectra flew up to me.

"What's happening?" Spectra asked.

"It's Revenant. She sent the Hall Moanitors to Monster High to turn everyone into ghosts," I explained.

"With my Dad's boogie sand," Twyla realized.

"Then she wants to load them with detention chains. All of them." I stopped. "Wait. That's it. The chains! This is all about the detention chains! It's like Porter said. The chains can't be broken. Only transferred. Revenant wasn't just wearing those chains. She's being punished by them!"

I grabbed Spectra's hand, and she followed me willingly.

"Um, (Y/n), Monster High is that way," Draculaura said.

"We're not going to Monster High. But you are. Do whatever you can to stop those Hall Moanitors," I instructed.

Spectra and I flew off again, heading toward the library. I fished my computer out of my bag as Spectra and I searched. Spectra let out a hiccuped gasp when she pulled the book from the shelf.

"This is it!" Spectra said excitedly.

"Finally, I got some creativity flowing through my fingers," I said with a smile.

We flew to the hideout, not sparing any time to stop and fix anything. I pulled apart the curtains, smiling at the desk at the corner of the small room. Spectra grabbed another chair and pulled it up to the desk.

"The Red Lady?" Porter questioned behind me, startling me half to life.

~~~

"What We've Learned About Spreading Gossip: a Haunted Harold Blog Post by Spectra Vondergeist and (Y/n) (L/n)," Spectra started.

"Before coming to Haunted High, we never saw much harm in reporting rumors. They were just funny stories, little tidbits of juicy gossip. It was fun to join in with the crowd, and pass along the most overheard pieces of news," I admitted.

"But now, we realize how harmful rumors could be," Spectra reasoned.

Porter floated by my side.

"There's a particularly nasty rumor going around at Haunted High, about how the so-called outsiders want to come to your school to frighten and scare you. It's not true! But this rumor became so powerful, so real, that it was able to convince the entire school to go along with Principal Revenant's devious plan," I explained.

"And for what? Because she really thinks the Monster High students deserve detention?" Spectra questioned.

"No. All this is because she wants to get rid of her own chains. And she has a lot of them, because Principal Revenant... is The Red Lady!" I revealed, holding up the book.

"It's true! These are her chains!" Porter exclaimed.

"This building! It used to be her home! But her chains kept her from leaving, so she turned it into a school," Spectra explained.

"The Red Lady wanted to give you all detention, so you could carry out her punishment for her!" I added.

"Look, up there!"

"That's quite enough of your blogging, Miss Vondergeist and Miss (L/n)," Revenant remarked. "So, you figured it out. I am The Red Lady!"

She turned darker, her eyes glowing red. The key floated and twirled above her hand. Porter grabbed Spectra and I's arms, ready to pull us behind him. "And your little friends may have disrupted my plan. But it doesn't matter. If I can't have new students to put in detention, I'll just give all my chains to you, (Y/n) (L/n). You are going to be in detention for a very long time."

Just as the chains snaked toward me, the boat came out from a portal. Porter pushed me and Spectra behind him as the chains wrapped around the boat. Our friends flew over to us.

"Hah! That'll teach you to mess with a reaper's confetti cannons," River snapped.

"Not really what I was going for, but, I'm free! I'm finally free! Well, it's been fun, boys and ghouls, it really has, but if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of haunting to catch up on," The Red Lady said. She opened a portal with ease, but was not able to go through it. "No, no! Why can't I leave? I don't have anymore... chains? Who's doing this? Is it you? Is it your little ghoul friends? Who is doing this to me?!"

"You're doing it to yourself," Spectra realized.

"No," The Red Lady said in denial.

"Yes." I nodded. "The chains are coming from you."

"It all makes sense," Spectra reasoned. "Look around at your students. All those chains you've given out, and yet you weren't getting any closer to freedom."

"Because with every haunting. Every unjustified detention. Every lie, rumor, and bit of gossip you spread. You were creating more chains for yourself," I explained.

"You don't know what you're talking about, you vandal," The Red Lady spat.

Porter stepped in front of me, ready to retort with an angry look on his face.

"She does, we do. Deep down, I think you knew what you were doing was wrong. And your inner conscience created these chains to try to stop you," Spectra said calmly.

"You said it yourself," I added, putting a hand on Porter's arm as I flew out. "You'll never learn your lesson if you don't pay the price."

"You've been to the Monster World. You know the rumors you were spreading aren't true," Spectra continued.

"The solids are not out to get you. They're just like you and me. That was all just made up ghost gossip." I smiled softly.

Spectra looked at me. "I don't know about you, but I am done with rumors."

"I am." I turned to The Red Lady. "And I think you should be too."

"Good for you, ghoulfriends." Clawdeen nudged us. "Told ya we'd find a good story."

The Red Lady held up the key, and the crowd gasped. "I spent so much time blaming everyone else that I never stopped to consider that this was my fault." She released all the chains from around us, letting them ball behind her again. "I am sorry I made you all a part of this. These are my chains to work off, no matter how long it takes, not yours. And I hope that you'll allow me to continue being your principal while I pay for my mistakes. It is going to take a long time, but I will earn my freedom. Someday."

She turned back to Revenant as the crowd cheered for her.

Porter smiled at us. "Can I just say that was spook-taculuar?"

"Thanks, sweetie," I breathed as I laid my head on his shoulder.

We were very cliche dynamic, as Spectra pointed out to me. The bad girl turned good, and the bad boy who didn't want to change. But Porter and I worked well as a team on anything. I gave the logical side of things, while Porter gave a creative side to make a perfect mix.