Dark Valentine (Monster High; Book 1 of the DV Duology)

Chapter 1: Misguided Ghosts

Kieran:

'Where do I go from here?'

The thought circled my brain in an almost painful loop after my final wish from Whisp took shape. It was because of the wish that I had my new Djinn-ternet app, which would enable us to keep in touch, but I didn't know what to do from that point forward. Previously, I had tried correcting my past mistakes in various ways — but to no avail. After all, I'd gone about it all wrong and besides, as much as I wished for those at Monster High to see that I had changed, not many people save Whisp were likely to trust me again after everything I'd done. I was sure of that.

Until an unexpected someone took, as they say, a leap of faith.

As I continued to ponder the question of what to do, everything that happened following my departure from Monster High began to play over in my mind, as if the memories were attempting to guide me forward somehow. My self-imposed isolation thanks to the effects of the Cauldron of Eternal Body Odour. The state of depression I went into for the longest time once the overwhelming guilt began to set in. My year of working at an unwanted creature shelter for a goblin woman named Mrs. G. The subsequent lessons I'd learned through all the actions and events that followed.

One of the things I'd come to understand through everything had of course been that I wasn't being true to myself. Truthfully, though, part of me knew even before then that this wasn't my identity. It was the time I spent up in the guest room that finally led to me giving up on denying it and allowing that knowledge to fully sink in. I knew I needed to start being myself instead of hiding behind pretenses. But for a long time, I had honestly hated who I really was. And the worst part of it all was that after putting up the façade of a flawless romantic for so many years, I didn't entirely know who the real me was anymore.

Remembering the time that I spent working for Mrs. G. never failed to make me smile despite the less pleasant aspects of the work. I remember thinking that the woman reminded me of a character from a 2006 Normie film called 'Stay Alive'. The character in question was an author played by Alice Krige, and Mrs. G.'s accent and way of speaking was strongly reminiscent of hers.

I still have that note she left me. I kept it as a reminder of my time there and not to revert to who I was prior. The thing was, now that I knew stealing hearts wasn't the only way to sustain me, I wouldn't do that again, not ever – nor would I even dream of throwing the note away. It was far too important.

And, as it turned out, my mother had somehow remained unaware of what I'd been doing all these centuries, something I learned through the discussion she and I had the same day I received the note."Believe me, Kieran, if I'd have known what you'd been doing all these years, I would have intervened," she explained, "But those ghouls you were with - I thought those relationships were real and that you knew better."

"Fair enough...though I am wondering, how did you sustain your powers? It couldn't have been..." I'd trailed off, not sure how to continue. I didn't want to bring him up. But she did it for me.

"I was much like you as a child, son. I stole hearts as well, because like you, I thought that was what we did. But when I met your father, I realized I was wrong. Not because of him, but because of you. The love of my only son was and still is enough to sustain me, and I hope, for your sake, you find someone who can do the same for you."

After learning the truth, I wasted very little time in actively trying to set things right. But going in, I went about it completely the wrong way. I screwed things up even if some good did ultimately come out of it, and the Monster High students' lack of trust in me was still as evident as ever. I did meet Spelldon Cauldronello in the process, though, and he was one of the few people who was willing to give me a chance, so we became fast friends. I'll even admit to crushing on him a bit at first - though he eventually found himself a boyfriend, so nothing ever happened between us and while that did sting a little at the time, I managed to get over it and we were still friends to this day. And then, of course, I met Whisp, who understood me better than most, knew firsthand what it was like to have made a lifetime of mistakes and how difficult it was to move on from that.