Jackson felt his stomach tighten so suddenly it almost hurt.
The catacombs beneath Monster High were already claustrophobic on a good day. Low ceilings. Damp stone walls. Flickering old lanterns mounted between roots that pushed through the ceiling like crooked fingers. Every sound echoed too long down there—boots scraping rock, whispers bouncing through tunnels, nervous laughter that always sounded just a little too loud.
Tonight it all felt worse.
The air itself felt wrong.
Charged.
Like the entire student body had inhaled at the same time and forgotten how to breathe back out.
Inside Jackson's head, Holt was quieter than normal.
Not gone.
Never gone.
Just... listening.
And that was almost more unsettling.
Normally Holt filled every silence possible. Music. Jokes. Complaints. Commentary. Noise layered over noise until Jackson barely had room to think straight sometimes.
But when Holt got quiet?
That usually meant he was thinking too hard.
And when Holt Hyde thought too hard, things tended to spiral.
Jackson kept his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his hoodie as he stood near the back of the crowd. Monsters packed the tunnels shoulder-to-shoulder ahead of him, all talking over each other in angry bursts.
"They trashed our school!"
"They crossed the line!"
"We should've hit back already!"
"Cleo's right!"
The noise bounced violently through the tunnels.
Jackson flinched slightly at another sudden cheer erupting further ahead.
"They're getting way too worked up," he thought quietly.
Yeah, Holt muttered from the back of his mind. This is starting to feel less like a prank war and more like a horror movie.
Jackson didn't answer immediately.
Because honestly?
Yeah.
It did.
Up ahead, Cleo stood on top of a broken stone slab like she was giving a campaign speech instead of encouraging a mob.
The torchlight caught against the gold wrapped around her arms and neck, making her gleam dramatically in the darkness.
"And it's got to be something so epic," Cleo declared loudly, throwing an arm out toward the crowd, "so legendary, so de Nile—"
Toralei groaned instantly.
"Ugh. There it is."
Several monsters snickered.
Cleo ignored them flawlessly.
"—that they'll put us in the monster history books!"
The crowd exploded.
"Yeah!"
"Let's do it!"
"Fight fire with fire!"
"Teach those normies a lesson!"
The cheering hit Jackson like a wall.
He shrank back slightly on instinct as the sound ricocheted around the tunnels.
His chest tightened.
Not because he thought monsters were evil.
Not because he blamed them for being angry.
Honestly?
Part of him understood exactly why they were upset.
The attacks on Monster High were real.
The graffiti.
The vandalism.
The threats.
The way adults in New Salem talked about monsters like they were dangerous animals instead of people.
Jackson understood anger.
He understood fear too.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was this feeling.
This ugly dividing line everybody kept drawing.
Monsters over here.
Humans over there.
Like people were species first and individuals second.
Like the second somebody decided what category you fit into, that was it.
End of discussion.
Jackson hated that.
Maybe because he'd spent basically his entire life getting shoved between categories.
Too weird for humans.
Too human for monsters.
Too much one thing.
Not enough another.
He knew that look people got when they decided what you were before they ever actually knew you.
Knew it way too well.
And lately?
At Monster High?
It had started happening more often.
Not from his friends.
Never his friends.
But from everybody else?
The looks lingered longer now.
The word normie got thrown around more casually.
Less joking.
More pointed.
Especially after the attacks started.
Especially after Halloween got closer.
Jackson shifted uneasily against the tunnel wall.
Ahead of him, Frankie leaned closer to Draculaura, speaking quietly enough that most of the crowd couldn't hear.
"I really don't think this is a good idea."
"Me either," Draculaura admitted nervously, twisting one of her pink-and-black pigtails around her finger. "Everybody's acting all... hiss-terical."
"That pun physically hurt me," Holt muttered internally.
Jackson ignored him automatically.
Clawd folded his arms tightly.
"Cleo's taking this way too personally."
"Yeah," Deuce muttered beside him. "She doesn't even totally believe half this anti-normie junk."
Frankie nodded quickly.
"Exactly! I mean, this is obviously her dad and Nefera talking."
"And didn't Cleo technically used to be human?" Frankie added. "Because, you know. Mummy."
Deuce grimaced.
"...You should probably never say that to her face."
"Noted."
Lagoona glanced uneasily toward the louder monsters deeper in the crowd.
"Well now everybody else is believing it too."
That was the scary part.
Not Cleo.
Not Manny.
Not Toralei.
Crowds.
Crowds were scary.
Jackson knew that from experience too.
People alone were complicated.
People in groups became loud.
Certain.
Cruel.
Abbey sighed heavily nearby.
"Mazes," she muttered darkly. "I hate mazes."
"What was that?!" Heath yelped instantly.
Abbey blinked slowly.
"...I said mazes."
"Oh."
A beat passed.
"...You are very nervous little fire creature."
Heath crossed his arms defensively.
"Yeah, well, this place looks exactly like where horror movies happen."
"You watch too many horror movies," Clawd muttered.
Heath gasped dramatically.
"You can never watch too many horror movies."
"You literally screamed during a commercial once."
"IT WAS A VERY INTENSE COMMERCIAL."
Despite everything, a few people laughed.
The tension loosened slightly.
Just slightly.
Then Manny looked back.
And spotted Jackson.
Immediately, the minotaur's expression hardened.
Jackson felt his stomach sink before Manny even opened his mouth.
"Oh, come on," Manny grunted loudly.
Nearby conversations quieted almost instantly.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Jackson already knew exactly where this was going.
Holt did too.
Aw, seriously? Holt groaned mentally.
Manny jabbed a thumb toward Jackson.
"You're a normie."
There it was.
Simple.
Sharp.
Ugly.
The word echoed faintly through the tunnel.
Jackson felt every eye around him shift.
Some uncomfortable.
Some awkward.
Some guilty.
Some agreeing.
Frankie's face immediately tightened.
"Dude—"
"Believe me," Jackson interrupted quietly, "I can't go a day here without somebody reminding me anymore."
The words came out flatter than he intended.
More tired.
More honest.
And suddenly the tunnel got quieter than before.
Because that wasn't really a joke anymore.
Not with how things had been lately.
Jackson looked down briefly.
"I know what I am."
Holt went silent again.
That happened sometimes too.
Whenever Jackson sounded too defeated.
Manny snorted.
"Then you should know why this isn't your fight."
Jackson looked back up.
Something twisted uncomfortably in his chest.
Because logically?
Maybe Manny should've sounded ridiculous.
Jackson had been at Monster High long enough to know better.
Most monsters liked him.
Most monsters treated him fine.
But after the attacks?
After the movie in class?
After hearing students whisper about humans in hallways all week?
Part of him had started wondering.
Maybe he really didn't belong here.
Maybe everybody only tolerated him because he was friends with the right people.
Maybe if things got bad enough—
No.
Don't do that, Holt muttered immediately.
Jackson swallowed.
"But this is my school too," he said quietly. "And if we're getting them back, I want in."
Because Monster High mattered to him.
Because his friends mattered.
Because despite everything—
This place still felt more like home than anywhere else had in years.
Manny scoffed loudly.
"Nice try, Jackson."
"Hey, back off," Clawd snapped immediately.
The werewolf stepped forward before Jackson could say another word.
"Seriously, what's your problem?"
"My problem?" Manny barked. "We're about to go into normie territory after humans trashed our school and you wanna know what my problem is?"
"Jackie didn't trash anything!" Frankie shot back.
"Exactly," Draculaura added quickly. "He's literally one of the nicest people here."
"He's our friend," Clawd growled.
Manny rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, until humans decide he matters more to them than we do."
The words hit harder than Jackson expected.
Because that was the thing.
He wasn't fully human either.
Not really.
But nobody here knew that.
Nobody except Holt.
And Holt wasn't exactly separate enough to count.
Jackson rubbed nervously at his sleeve.
Heath suddenly jumped into the argument.
"Oh, come on, man. Jackie's not like the other normies. We're basically family."
Jackson blinked.
"...What?"
Heath shrugged.
"Dude, my mom practically adopted you after that science fair disaster."
"That volcano was not my fault."
"You used gasoline."
"I was improvising."
"You exploded three classrooms."
"IN MY DEFENSE—"
"Please stop defending yourself."
A few monsters laughed nervously.
Even Abbey looked vaguely amused.
The tension eased slightly.
Not gone.
Still there.
But softer around the edges.
Manny still looked irritated though.
"Whatever," he muttered. "Doesn't change the fact he's still a normie."
The word echoed unpleasantly through the stone halls again.
Jackson's shoulders tightened instinctively.
Frankie noticed immediately.
Her expression softened.
"Jackie—"
"It's fine," Jackson said quickly.
Too quickly.
Because it wasn't fine.
Not really.
Not anymore.
And judging by the looks on his friends' faces?
They knew that too.
Ghoulia let out a low unhappy groan from nearby before scribbling furiously in her notebook.
She shoved the page toward Manny aggressively.
JACKIE HAS BEEN HERE LONGER THAN HALF THESE JERKS.
Heath pointed instantly.
"Exactly!"
Ghoulia scribbled more.
ALSO HE BROUGHT DONUTS TO MY BIRTHDAY PARTY.
"Those were store bought," Jackson mumbled weakly.
Ghoulia aggressively underlined her sentence twice anyway.
Draculaura stepped closer beside him.
"We trust you."
The words were sincere.
Warm.
Honest.
And somehow that made the ache in Jackson's chest worse.
Because he knew she meant them.
All of them did.
Frankie.
Draculaura.
Clawd.
Ghoulia.
Even Abbey nodded once firmly.
"Da," she said simply. "You are friend."
Jackson managed a small smile.
Tiny.
Exhausted.
But real.
"Thanks."
Manny huffed loudly.
"You guys seriously don't get it. If something goes wrong over there, who do you think the humans are gonna side with?"
Nobody answered.
Because everybody knew.
Jackson knew too.
Humans always chose humans eventually.
Even when they shouldn't.
Even when it was wrong.
Even when they were scared.
He'd seen it before.
He'd lived it before.
Inside his head, Holt finally spoke again.
...He's scared.
Jackson blinked slightly.
What?
Manny, Holt muttered. Big guy's acting tough because he's terrified.
Jackson glanced back toward the minotaur again.
And suddenly—
Yeah.
He could see it.
The aggression.
The hostility.
The desperate need to push somebody else outside the circle before he got pushed out himself.
Fear wearing armor.
Fear trying to look like confidence.
Still sucked though.
Jackson exhaled slowly.
"But this is still my school too," he repeated quietly. "Monster High matters to me too."
Manny scoffed again.
"Yeah? Well if we're getting payback, I don't think we should trust a normie with it."
"Oh my Ra, enough already!" Draculaura snapped suddenly.
The entire tunnel went quiet.
Even Draculaura looked surprised at herself.
Her eyes widened slightly before she crossed her arms stubbornly.
"What?" she said defensively. "He's our friend."
Clawd nodded immediately.
"Seriously, man. Jackie's had our backs plenty of times."
"Yeah," Frankie agreed quickly. "And unlike half the monsters in this tunnel, he actually thinks before doing something dangerous."
Toralei smirked from nearby.
"Low bar."
"Still counts!" Frankie shot back.
Heath suddenly slung an arm around Jackson's shoulders.
The fire elemental grinned.
"Besides, if Jackie's here, somebody's gotta stop Holt from doing something insanely dumb later."
Inside Jackson's head, Holt sounded deeply offended.
Hey.
Rude.
Jackson almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Cleo's voice echoed loudly from further down the tunnel.
"Come on already! Are we doing this or not?"
The crowd immediately surged forward again.
Excited voices bounced through the catacombs.
Plans.
Revenge.
Chaos.
Jackson watched uneasily as students pushed deeper into the tunnels.
This was getting bad.
Fast.
Frankie leaned closer.
"We're not letting them do anything awful."
"Yeah," Clawd agreed. "At this point somebody responsible should probably go."
Toralei snorted.
"Then why are any of you here?"
Clawd ignored her with impressive professionalism.
Draculaura looked back toward Jackson.
"You coming with us?"
Jackson hesitated.
Every instinct screamed no.
This was dangerous.
Stupid.
Exactly the kind of thing adults warned teenagers not to do before somebody ended up arrested or hurt or worse.
But leaving everybody alone somehow felt worse.
Holt sighed quietly inside his head.
We can't let these idiots start a war, Jackie.
"I know," Jackson thought back.
And maybe that was the worst part.
He did know.
Jackson adjusted the sleeve of his hoodie nervously.
"...Fine," he muttered.
Frankie brightened immediately.
"Good."
"But we're only following them to make sure nobody does anything stupid."
Heath burst out laughing.
"Dude, we're following Cleo, Manny, and Toralei through underground tunnels to sneak into another town."
Jackson stared at him flatly.
"...Right."
"Little late for avoiding stupid."
Even Abbey nodded solemnly.
"Da. Stupidity train already leave station."
That finally got a real laugh out of Jackson.
Small.
Brief.
But real.
And for just a second—
The tension eased.
Not gone.
Never gone.
But lighter.
Then Manny looked back again.
"Well?" he grunted. "You losers coming or what?"
Clawd rolled his eyes.
"Unfortunately."
The group started moving deeper into the catacombs together.
Stone corridors twisted endlessly ahead of them.
Darkness swallowing the light behind them inch by inch.
Jackson lingered for one second longer.
One second.
Long enough to feel the weight of the word normie still hanging in the air around him.
Long enough to feel Holt thinking quietly in the back of his head.
Long enough to wonder—
Not for the first time—
Where exactly he belonged anymore.
Then Frankie gently grabbed his hand in guidance and confort...
And Jackson followed his friends deeper into the dark.