Chapter Title: Monsters Don't Belong Here
The party had officially crossed the line from awkward to catastrophic.
It started with Heath.
Which honestly surprised absolutely nobody.
One second the fire elemental was standing near the kitchen island stuffing his face with spicy chips because apparently near-death experiences increased his appetite—
And the next—
His entire head burst into brilliant blue flames.
Not cartoonishly.
Not "cool special effect" blue.
Real.
Violent.
Blazing.
The room went dead silent.
Music still blasted from the speakers.
But underneath it—
Nothing.
No laughter.
No talking.
Just dozens of humans staring.
Heath froze mid-chew.
A single flaming chip fell from his fingers.
"…Uh-oh."
One human boy laughed nervously.
"Haha, okay, seriously, how are you doing that—"
Then Heath panicked.
And accidentally sneezed fire across the snack table.
Everybody screamed.
"Oh my ghoul," Draculaura whispered.
The plastic bowl melted instantly.
A hanging decoration caught fire.
Someone shrieked, "HE'S A REAL MONSTER!"
Another voice yelled:
"NOT A COSTUME!"
And just like that—
Everything broke apart.
Humans stumbled backward in terror.
Drinks crashed to the floor.
Somebody climbed onto the couch screaming.
Another guy shoved straight past Frankie hard enough to nearly knock her over.
"Oh, no," Frankie gasped.
"Excuse me!"
"Look out!"
"AW, NO!"
The room exploded into chaos.
Heath stared around wildly, horrified.
"I DIDN'T MEAN TO—"
Too late.
At the center of the crowd, Lilith Van Hellscream looked like she'd just won the lottery.
"A-ha!" she shouted dramatically, pointing straight at them. "Monsters! I knew it!"
Clawd stepped protectively in front of Draculaura immediately.
Manny lowered his head like he was preparing to charge.
Abbey's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Toralei hissed.
The humans backed away even further.
Lilith stormed forward.
"You know you're not supposed to be on our side of town!"
The words hit harder than she probably even realized.
Not our side.
Like there were borders.
Like monsters crossing into human neighborhoods was contamination.
Like existing in the wrong place was automatically suspicious.
Clawd's ears flattened slightly.
Frankie's hands twitched nervously.
Draculaura instinctively pulled her sleeves down further over her skin.
Passing.
That was the whole point tonight.
Pass well enough and humans smiled at you.
Fail—
And suddenly everybody looked at you like a threat.
Lilith jabbed a finger toward them.
"What are you freaks up to?"
"Nothing!" Frankie blurted immediately.
"We literally came to stop people from doing something stupid!"
"Yeah," Heath added frantically, smoke still leaking from his mouth. "This whole thing got super outta hand!"
"You started it!" another human shouted from the back.
"And we're gonna finish it!" Manny barked back automatically.
Everybody stared at him.
Manny blinked.
"…What?"
"Oh, yeah?" Lilith snapped. "Really?"
She stepped closer.
"Come on! Go for it!"
"Manny," Clawd muttered, "you are not helping."
"Sorry!"
Narrator voice:
He was not sorry.
The tension climbed higher.
Humans versus monsters.
Two groups facing each other across a living room full of fake cobwebs and melted chips.
Fear spreading faster than fire.
Then suddenly—
"STOP! Everybody stop!"
The voice cut clean through the room.
Clair shoved between both groups, furious.
"Lilith, so they're monsters, big deal! They weren't hurting anyone."
"Not yet," Lilith shot back immediately.
"But they will!"
"Based on what?!"
"Based on literally all of history!"
Clair rolled her eyes so hard it was honestly impressive.
"Everybody chill."
Nobody chilled.
At all.
Clair pointed around the room.
"This party was, like, super lame before the monsters showed up."
A few humans awkwardly nodded.
One guy raised his hand.
"She's kinda right."
Another human shrugged.
"The blue fire thing was actually pretty sick."
Heath blinked.
"…Thanks?"
"You shouldn't be afraid of them," Clair continued. "You should thank them!"
Lilith looked personally offended by the concept.
"Thank monsters?"
"Yes!"
Clair crossed her arms.
"I mean, you keep saying how terrible they are, but like—when was the last time one of them actually did anything bad to us?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Because the question hung there.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
And for one tiny second—
The fear cracked.
Just a little.
Enough for uncertainty to slip through.
Enough for humans to glance at each other instead of just at the monsters.
Enough for the room to stop feeling like it was seconds away from violence.
Frankie looked stunned.
Draculaura looked hopeful.
Clawd relaxed slightly.
Even Abbey's shoulders lowered a fraction.
Then—
Outside—
Police sirens wailed.
And every monster in the room froze instantly.
Fear came rushing back harder than before.
Because unlike the humans—
They knew exactly what those sirens meant.
---
The party was only half a block away now.
Jackson could hear it.
Bass rattling windows.
Humans laughing too loudly.
Music spilling into the street in messy waves.
Every now and then somebody inside screamed over the noise—not terrified screams, just normal teenage party screams—and somehow that almost made everything feel weirder.
Because only a few streets away?
Police were actively hunting monsters.
Jackson pulled his hoodie tighter around himself as he hurried down the sidewalk.
The cold October wind bit at his cheeks.
Inside his head, Holt was getting louder again.
Not talking louder.
Existing louder.
Like static building under Jackson's skin.
Yo, we gotta switch.
"I know."
Jackson's voice came out strained.
His hands were shaking.
Too much stress.
Too much fear.
Too much everything.
Every transformation lately felt harder to control how it happened.
The green fire under his skin flickered restlessly like it wanted out.
And being this close to loud music?
That made Holt's control weaken too.
Jackson glanced nervously toward the glowing house further down the street.
He could see silhouettes moving through the windows.
Humans dancing.
Laughing.
Pretending the world wasn't falling apart outside.
Lucky them.
Jackson ducked behind a parked car and hurriedly pulled Holt's headphones from around his neck.
The familiar organe, black, and neon-green headphones felt heavier tonight.
Like they mattered more than ever.
Because they kinda did.
Without them—
Without music—
The transformations got unpredictable.
Dangerous.
Jackson swallowed hard.
"Holt?"
Right here, Jackie.
For once, Holt didn't sound cocky.
Didn't sound loud.
He sounded scared.
Jackson hated that.
Holt being afraid always made things worse somehow.
"Take over," Jackson muttered quietly.
You sure?
Jackson looked toward the party again.
Toward the lights.
Toward the humans.
Toward the danger.
Then toward the street behind him—
Where distant sirens echoed somewhere in New Salem.
"No," Jackson admitted honestly. "But it's safer."
For both of us not being found out, Holt finished quietly.
Jackson nodded once.
Then he slipped the headphones on and hit play.
Music exploded into his ears.
Heavy bass.
Electric guitar.
A pulse strong enough to vibrate through his bones.
And instantly—
Green flames erupted around him.
Not huge.
Not explosive.
But fast.
Wild neon-green fire crawled over Jackson's arms and shoulders in twisting ribbons of light.
His body shifted.
Human skin darkened into blue.
Hair ignited upward into living orange-red fire.
Jackson gasped sharply as the transformation ripped through him.
Every switch felt like being torn sideways.
Like two puzzle pieces grinding against each other trying to fit.
Then suddenly—
Holt Hyde inhaled hard.
Alive.
He rolled his shoulders once as the last flickers of green fire disappeared into the night air.
"…Aw man," Holt muttered shakily. "That one really fucking sucked."
Inside his head, Jackson sounded exhausted already.
"Everything sucks tonight."
Fair point.
Holt adjusted the headphones quickly and stepped back onto the sidewalk.
Trying to act normal.
Trying to look chill.
Trying not to panic.
Because unlike Jackson?
Holt looked unmistakably monster.
Blue skin.
Fire hair.
Sharp features.
No passing as human.
Just like for Jackson there was no passing as monster.
No hiding what he was.
If humans saw him right now—
Game over.
The music from the party drifted louder as Holt moved down the street.
Then—
Red and blue lights flashed suddenly behind him.
Holt froze.
His blood going so cold you'd never guess he wasn't an ice elemental.
Much less that he was a fire elemental.
A police cruiser rolled slowly around the corner.
His stomach dropped instantly.
Aw, no.
The cruiser slowed the second the officers spotted him.
Too fast.
Too immediate.
Like they'd already decided something just by looking at him.
Spotlight.
Bright white.
Locked onto Holt's body.
Pinning him in place.
The car stopped hard beside the curb.
One officer stepped out immediately.
Hand already resting near his holster.
Not cautious.
Aggressive.
Like Holt was dangerous before he'd even spoken.
"Well, well," the officer muttered darkly. "What do we got here?"
Holt forced a grin automatically.
"Evenin', officer."
Inside his head, Jackson sounded terrified.
Holt—
I know.
The officer looked Holt up and down with open disgust.
Blue skin.
Fire.
Monster.
No pretending otherwise.
The difference between how humans looked at Jackson and how they looked at Holt suddenly felt horrifyingly obvious.
One could pass.
One couldn't.
And humans treated that difference like life or death.
The officer stepped closer.
"You from that party?"
Holt shrugged casually.
"Nah, dude. Just walking."
"Don't call me dude."
"Right. Sorry,... Sir."
Another police car turned onto the street behind them.
Then another.
Sirens somewhere nearby kept screaming.
The officer's expression hardened further.
"We got reports of monsters causing trouble in this neighborhood tonight."
Holt kept smiling.
Loose.
Relaxed.
Cool.
Fake.
"So I heard."
The officer stared at him for a long moment.
Then:
"Hands where I can see them."
Inside Holt's head, Jackson's panic spiked violently.
Holt…
Holt slowly raised his hands.
Trying not to move too fast.
Trying not to look scared.
Trying not to think about how every officer here already had their hands near weapons.
Like they expected violence.
Like they wanted an excuse.
The second squad car door slammed shut behind him.
And suddenly Holt realized—
He was alone.
Completely alone...