The Monstrium

Chapter 3~ The Book

School began as usual. Well, beside the fact Lucas now had a dance to worry about.

Halfway through the morning announcements, the principal reminded that the big Halloween Dance was tonight. Too bad Lucas had made only two kinda friends, one being a guy and the other a girl he wasn't really sure existed.

"So, who you going to dance with?" Aidan inquired at lunch. Lucas had sat down at one of the less packed tables to have a nice, quiet lunch when his not-so-little locker buddy found him.

Lucas shrugged,"I don't dance." Unless it's with gorgeous ghost girls, he caught himself thinking.

Aidan shook his head,"Lucas, the dance is awesome! You have to come."

Luke took a bite from his sandwich,"I don't know. Staying home on a Friday night to do some rad Algebra seems like my plans. You got a date?"

Aidan shook his head with a laugh,"Nah. The whole football team is going as a 'dance huddle' as I've been told. Whatever that means."

"That means you are going to the dance with over a dozen guys. Man, you're cool",Lucas joked, feeling a little more comfortable around the big guy.

Aidan laughed,"I guess so."

The boys ate in silence for a few moments before Lucas felt his phone vibrate. He frowned,"I'll be right back." Luke walked outside, and answered the call. David was on the other end.

"Son, I probably won't be home when you get back from school. I got some rough hours. You want me to leave you and your aunt some money for pizza? Or are you going to that big dance?"

Lucas sighed,"Better leave that pizza money."

* * *

That night, Luke sat at his desk, nibbling on a slice of pepperoni pizza. He was about to dive into some quadratic equations when his phone went off. It was Aidan, making sure he didn't want a ride to the dance. Lucas gave him a polite decline, sighing. Great, now I'm that guy. He thought.

Lucas eyed the arrow on his desk, and smiled. "If only Claudia didn't just appear when I wanted her too", he muttered solemnly.

Suddenly, he heard a scream, and a crash sounded from outside his window. He jumped up from his desk, and saw a figure in the window of the Blackwell's house. It looked like a shadow, but one with long claws and too sharp of a head to be human. A flash of light flickered throughout the house, and a younger scream rang out. A distinct voice that Lucas knew.

"Claudia", he said in a whisper.

As quick as he could, he descended the stairs, shouting to his aunt that he was going for a walk for a few minutes to do something. But what was he going to do, Lucas puzzled himself, break into the neighbor's house because some girl he knows screamed? Yeah, that will totally sound legit in the courtroom, dude, he mentally critiqued himself.

But he couldn't shake the feeling something was off. Something in that house was giving Lucas bad vibes. He whipped out his phone, intending to call his father, but he accidentally pressed Aidan's number. He let out a sigh,"Great."

"Hey", Aidan answered cheerfully,"change your mind?"

Lucas frowned,"Not exactly. I think I need some help. There's been some kind of disturbance in my neighbor's house. Can you-", Aidan answered he'd be there in a second, and hung up. Lucas palmed his face before muttering,"Dang it, Cap."

Lucas grabbed a firm hold of the leafy fence severing his lawn from the Blackwell's and began to climb. The tall fence was moderately difficult to climb, but with his adrenaline pumping, the energy surging through Lucas gave him plenty enough of a boost himself. He was able to climb over it, and he dropped down.