The Storm Twins Conquer Monster High

Chapter 20: Demi isn't coming back, is she?

Chapter 20: Demi isn't coming back, is she?

    When the Twins picked up their phones after their most recent photoshoot, as they kept them in their purses since they were considered a distraction, they found 5 voice-mails and a bunch of texts from Heather and Cleo. This was unusual, as Heather knew not to try to contact them when they were modeling.
    When they went into their jeep and listened to them, they started out normal, Heather explaining that Demi had entered the portal alone again without them knowing. As the messages went on though, it explained that Demi had not left the portal for hours and that Heather was worried that she had gone missing on the other side.
    The Twins sped over to the school as fast as they could. They eventually found Heather and Natasha in the Shadow High attic, looking more anxious than usual. The portal swirled in front of them, but Demi was completely misssing. They could tell from Heather's gaze that Heather had no idea where Demi was.
    When they checked their email for any messages from Cleo, they didn't find any cringey EekToks this time. Just an urgent message to meet with Cleo as soon as they could, as something bad had happened to their friend, Elissabat.
    After getting the blood samples from the cooler to mask their human scent, they looked at each other with grim expressions, as they explained to Heather, "We got another message from Cleo. She says that something bad happened over there. We're going in, and don't close the portal until we come out.", Veronica instructed Heather, her voice completely serious without its usual sarcastic edge.

    And with that, they entered the portal once again. They quickly found their way to their usual meeting spot: the supply closet near the Creeperteria completely hidden from the school's security cameras.
    Cleo was anxiously waiting for them with Draculaura next to her. Draculaura's expression was grim, as if she had seen a ghost. She was nervously clutching a shiny envelope in her hands with the official MH school logo on the front.
    "Oh my Ra! What took you so long?", Cleo nearly screamed at the Twins, annoyed by their lateness.
    "We couldn't have our phones on us during our modeling session!", Naomi said.
    "Well, at least you actually showed up, because a lot happened while you were gone!", Cleo sighed, clearly a bit upset about something.
    Draculaura then handed them the envelope. "Cleo says you knew Elissabat personally. As well as how she got here in the first place. She was my ghoulfriend too, you know. I won't tell my friends the details, but I'm just curious.", Draculaura said.
    "Well, she used the Ancient Mirror Portal system to dimensional travel to your school and dimension. Us and one of our other friends as well.", Naomi said.
    "And before her disappearance, she would always talk about hearing the voice of the Draculaura from her dimension in her head. The more she heard the voice, the crazier she became, and the more time she would spend over here.", Veronica added.
    "When we let her start up that portal at our school and dimension, Shadow High, we had no idea any of this would happen. We even thought it was too good to be true. But all this dimensional travel has taught us something: this is all real and our friend is mysteriously gone now.", Naomi continued for both her and Veronica.
    Draculaura nodded, and said, "I went with Elissabat into the Catacombs even though it is normally forbidden and quite dangerous. She was being very insistant about it, acting like it was urgent or something. The moment she entered there though, she entered this creepy, trance-like state. I walked with her for hours, but she would never return to normal. I didn't know what to do so I left her in there and told Bloodgood what had happened. The file has the rest of the details of what the Monster High staff found in the abandoned section of the Catacombs where they tracked her footsteps to. I'm so sorry! If I had known, I would never have let her go in there!"
    "Under normal circumstances, I would yell at you, but its okay. You couldn't have known. Its okay, Draculaura, this isn't your fault.", Naomi said, surprised by the lack of cruelty in her words.
    Veronica then carefully opened the MH seal on the envelope and pulled out its contents. In it were two pieces of paper and a photograph.  The first paper described the mysterious disappearances that had happened in the Catacombs and theories about the abandoned mirror in the abandoned section of said Catacombs. The second paper had Elissabat's picture and information listed about her underneath it, clearly a missing person's file.
    The photo though, was the most disturbing thing of all. It depicted a dark, abandoned, room in the Catacombs. Fallen stone and dust littered the floor. On the back wall was a tarnished, silver mirror with the same carvings in the frame that the one at at their school had. The footprints of Elissabat's heeled boots led straight into the mirror. On the floor in front of the mirror were six burnt out candles, a drawing of a Skullette, a lighter, and a worn leather journal.
    Despite nobody being in the room, faintly shown within the mirror was a short, skinny ghoul with pale pink skin and pointed ears. She looked similar to the Draculaura in front of them, but much skinnier and with her black hair with pink streaks styled in two low ponytails. Familiar shiny white safety pin earrings hung from her ears. Her eyes were a beautiful, unnatural, light purple. In the dust coating the mirror's surface, in neat cursive, with a little heart dotting the lowercase I and the exclamation point, were the words, "Welcome Home Elissabat!"
    The Twins' faces paled and Naomi began to feel a bit faint. "Is this some kind of sick prank!? What is this? Is someone messing with us or something?", Naomi screamed, struggling to control her anger.
    Cleo shook her head. She had a feeling that the Twins wouldn't take the contents of the envelope very well. Even Draculaura had gotten scared seeing an alternate version of herself and wondering what kind of witchcraft was causing this.
    Veronica put a hand on her sister's shoulder, trying her best to calm her down.
She then said, "So this is the Draculaura that has been luring Elissabat away from our school for all those years... Naomi, we should go for now. She isn't coming back with us after all."

    After thanking Cleo and Draculaura for the information, they went through the mirror portal back to their own world, still in shock by what they had just learned. Of course they took the crystals out of the mirror right away.
    Heather couldn't help but notice the Twins' distress and asked what happened. Natasha sat at Heather's side on the couch, looking just as nervous as Heather looked.
    "She isn't coming back. She found the portal back to her own, original dimension.", Veronica explained, handing Heather the envelope.
    Heather poured through its contents, weirdly fascinated by them, but not scared. Then she got to the photo and couldn't help but smile. Demi had been right all along. Her Draculaura was calling out to her, and now she had solid proof of it. Natasha looked through the the contents of the envelope as Heather explained the situation to her.
    "Now we need to address the real problem.", Naomi said, still a bit angry.
    "How do we tell her roommates and the rest of the Shadow High student body and the Headmistress about her disappearance?"
    "We can just tell them the truth: that she transferred to a far inferior, foreign, school to continue her education.", Veronica said.
    Heather got to work writing Demi's cover story. She set the transfer school in a little town known as New Salem, a place that may or may not exist, that she knew was very far away, even worlds away from anywhere in California. So far, it was sounding pretty convincing and it seemed like they would get away with it, unsurprisingly.
    Yet, they would all miss Demi, even if she was happier wherever she was now.