The monster within | Chapter Sixteen | Luke

*This fanfic chapter is underneath my folder titled “The monster within…”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33[2]”. This is a fanfic of the R.L. Stine movie “Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls”. This takes place a year after the events in the movie. The two main characters , Luke and Nicole, were the side characters in the movie. The two side characters, Kellen and Beth, were the main characters in the movie. Dr. Hysteria is the villain, but in this fanfic, Luke calls him “Dr. Hysterical” as a joke. It’s a thing I added, it doesn’t happen in the movie. Lilith is Dr. Hysteria’s daughter and she is an Enchantress. Kellen, Beth, Luke, and Nicole are teenagers (played by adults lol) and Lilith is a young adult who tries to “enchant” teen boys. She enchants Kellen in the movie, but she never interacted with Luke. So I thought to put it here. :> Also, I gave Luke a little sister named Leah. Anyway, enjoy!*

LUKE

I pull my hoodie over my face. My parents won’t notice anything if I keep my hoodie up. They’re always busy with computer work, so it’ll be fine.

I hope that Mom makes pasta for dinner. I could really use some pasta. Maybe I can ask her if it’s okay to eat in my room. I can’t have her see my teeth.

I stop walking. For some strange reason, I feel like I’m being followed. Wait, why am I standing here? I’m not in a movie.

It’s not fair that this is happening to us again. I don’t want to worry about being a monster. I don’t want to just laugh, I want to feel happy. Right now I feel like I’m just…there.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with just being there, but why can’t I have someone be excited about me? I’m proud of Kellen for getting Beth as a girlfriend, he’s come so far, but he never wants to hang out anymore. He’s just…he’s just nice.

I make all these jokes and no one recognizes them. I shouldn’t be upset about that. I should be grateful with what I have. Dr. Hysterical made that very clear. We’re all weak teenagers for his sick game. He wanted to use us for his own gain. He promised me that people would appreciate me. He said that he saw something in me. He said that I was funny like he meant it! He didn’t just nod and say “That’s nice, Luke, but I’m kind of busy right now.” He sounded like he cared! He had churros and a carnival and everything!

But it was a trick. Without Beth, I would have been lost forever. Beth just saved the day. Kellen wasn’t so bad either. He’s got a strong soul, he was able to talk to Beth. Even Missing Girl Andrea was able to plead for help.

Me? I just cackled and told a few bad jokes, because that’s all I can ever do. I’m not the first comic relief and I’m not the last. If Kellen chooses to ignore me, it will be fine, because I’ll never be anything anyway. Dr. Hysterical showed me a life as a stand-up comedian, charming and full of wit, but that was just a lie.

I don’t remember the walk home being this long.

“Hey there, handsome.” A familiar, scarily feminine voice says. A hand with long nails is on my shoulder.

Wait…it’s her!

“Long time, no see, Lilly-Billy.”

“It would be great if you looked at me and called me by my name.” Lilith says. She doesn’t sound angry at all. That’s her whole trick. To seem magical in front of us.

Well, she’s not magic at all. She’s just pure evil.

I don’t want to look up. Lilith is an Enchantress. She’ll curse me, like she did with Kellen.

“Look at me, Luke.” Lilith demands. She never demanded anything. Only Dr. Hysterical did.

I look at her. Lilith’s eyes are very black, like her eyeshadow, which looks just like coal dust…

Kellen fell for that? She looks like a wannabe Scream Queen! Why was I scared of her again?

“No one appreciates your good humor.” Lilith says.

As if I didn’t already hear those kind of words from Dr. Hysterical. All I did was tell a “your Mom” joke. It was nothing.

Something yearns to crawl out of me. Something just has to crawl out.

I laugh. I sound like a crazy person, but I can’t help it. She’s just so hilarious!

“You…you’re the first to make me laugh!” I say between bursts of laughter.

Lilith looks a little stunned. She takes her hand off me, but continues walking next to me.

“Why don’t you…why don’t…oh boy…”  I try to speak, but clearly, words aren’t coming out.

I need to calm down. Take deep breaths. Stop the laughter or I won’t be able to speak for two months.

I breath in and out deeply. I think of last year, when Dr. Hysterical and his losers were “defeated” by Beth. I remember running home with Nicole, her big smile as we laughed. She doesn’t smile much, but she smiled that night.

She has the prettiest smile in the world.

I’m calm now. I can talk to goth girl now.

“Why don’t you save it for the next unfortunate little boy?” I mic drop.

Her mouth opens in an O shape and boy, does that take me out to the moon. When someone in heavy, serious black makeup is just stunned and confused, it’s just…just too funny!

“Take care…Lilly-Billy!” I say, still laughing. I just can’t even. It was just…just…just so…I needed that.

At least she’s not following me anymore.

……………………………………………………

I’m home. I’m away from her!

I open the front door and close it gently once I’m inside. My little sister Leah is watching TV, as usual. I can go upstairs without her seeing my face.

“Hey Leah!” I say brightly. I can’t leave without at least saying hi.

“Hi Luke.” Leah says, not taking her eyes off the TV. It’s okay. I used to be a TV junkie myself when I was ten.

I walk up the stairs to my room. Once I get to my room, I close the door and text in the group chat:

You

Saw Lilith today. She tried to enchant me but I resisted. I think another Hall of Horrors might come this Halloween.

It’s September twenty-ninth. Normally I’d be excited for October, but this whole thing now has me out of sorts.

Thanks a lot, Dr. Hysterical and company!

Kellen

How could you resist her? She IS an Enchantress.

I roll my eyes. I don’t know, I just resisted. It just happened.

Beth

If I can resist Dr. Hysteria’s illusion, then Luke can resist Lilith. It’s possible.

THANK YOU BETH. I don’t know how to explain it and I don’t want to spend the entire afternoon explaining to Kellen the why and the how. I just don’t. It’s exhausting enough as it is, I don’t need this right now.

Nicky-Ricky

At least we know who we’re dealing with.

I know, but what if they have another idea? An idea that is more evil than their last?

I’m not going to scare them, though.

We’ve got enough to worry about already.

FLASHBACK-LUKE’S ELEMENTARY CLASS

LUKE

Luke sat at his desk, palms covering his eyes. He listened to everyone else talk about their emotions, waiting for someone to say something stupid like “I’m scared of ponies” and make a big joke out of it. Everyone got overly sensitive in these activities. Everyone was a chicken.

But he wasn’t really listening. He kept thinking about the nightmares.

They were just bad dreams. Only babies cried about bad dreams, but he wasn’t a baby.

Yet he still cried when he woke up from it.

The nightmare began with Luke as a celebrity. He was famous and everyone liked him. He ate desert for dinner and got to watch scary movies on a big TV.

Then he was locked in a basement. It was a very large basement. He couldn’t find the exit.

Luke ran in the darkness. He screamed for help. He screamed as loud as he could.

Then he heard his parents talking to each other. He followed their voices.

They had the keys to getting out of the basement. They found the exit. They were getting out.

Luke was going to join them, but just as he got close, the door slammed shut.

He couldn’t get out.

But that was just a stupid nightmare. It wasn’t real life. Basements couldn’t be that big and his parents would never leave him alone.

It was just a bad dream. It wouldn’t hurt him.

But it was still on his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was just so BAD.

“You’re quiet today, Luke. Anything on your mind?”

So Mr. James noticed?

Well, he didn’t really want to talk, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it, so why not talk about it?

“I had a bad dream.” Luke said.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He heard his classmates snicker, but he had to keep going. He had to get it out.

“The dream started nice. I was famous and everyone loved me. But then it became bad.”

Luke swallowed hard. Could he really talk about it in front of EVERYONE? They were all LOOKING at him and not in a good way.

Yes. He had to continue.

“I was in a very big basement. I couldn’t find my way out. I was lost and so alone.”

The memory of being lost flashed back in his mind. No one cared to find him. The only company Luke had was his own voice echoing back to him.

No. He wasn’t a scaredy-cat. He could continue.

“I kept looking for help and then I found my parents. But my parents didn’t help me. They just left me in the basement. Just…left me.”

The old fear that came from the nightmare was coming back again. It was building up in his chest, crawling to his throat, choking his neck…

“LOOK! LUKE’S CRYING!”

The children were laughing at him. They all thought it was funny, every last one of them.

Luke couldn’t help it. The nightmare felt so real, so horrible. He really did feel like he was trapped.

Mr. James told them to be nice, but they didn’t listen. They never listened.

Then he had an idea.

He wiped his tears on his sleeve, smiled, and pointed his finger at Mr. James.

“It was a joke, Mr. James! A stupid JOKE! You fell for it!”

Then, he laughed. He let the laughter consume his chest, crawl out into the open.

Mr. James looked confused, but the other kids stopped laughing at him.

They called him amazing. They called him cool. They called Mr. James silly.

Luke was the best again.