Forlot: Return of the Monster Protector - Book Eleven

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sarah blinked twice before lowering her gaze to the floor. Her blond hair fell over her face, and Mrs. M. - I am referring to her that way because I always had - brushed some of her granddaughter's hair over her ear.

"Sarah," she said. "Please be a dear and keep an eye on the steering wheel. Make absolute sure that the bus does not crash."

Sarah nodded in response. Still keeping her head lowered, she spun around and trotted to the driver's seat.

The driver's seat that was empty. With the steering wheel moving by itself!

"Who is driving?!" I demanded. It was hard to keep my panics down, considering that our captors revealed themselves to us.

"Shh." Mrs. M. put a finger over her lips. "You know better, Margie. You are one of my best students."

"Was," I corrected her with a frown. "I am not your student now that I know what you really are. A monster."

"Student?" Margaret questioned our conversation. "The crub are you two talking about?"

I took a deep breath and let it out, preparing to tell her the truth. Or rather, preparing myself for when she would sock me in the face again!

"Relax, Margaret. We will explain everything to you momentarily," Dr. O'Connor said in a creepy tone. "By the way, Margie. I have to ask. My wife is also curious. What happened to your nose?" He pointed at his own. "Why is it wrapped up in bandages?"

I took a quick glance at the person who gave me the broken nose in the first place. Margaret.

She was not at all happy. It was like if I told the grownups the truth, she would give me another good punching. Except that it would be in the place where the sunshine does not shine.

Yeah. Her glare was that sickening.

I returned the favor by giving her my own. Then I said, "No."

"Hmph!" Mrs. M. put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "What do mean by that? That you refuse to tell me and my husband?"

"No, no, no." I turned back to the two villains.

Eh. Let us face it. At this point, Margaret is a villain.

"Oh, I was not saying no to you," I said with large amounts of courage that suddenly came at a good time. "I was just letting Margaret know that I am not going to lie to you two about my nose. And even though that you are bad guys, the truth is still the truth."

"You little fool," Margaret said through clenched teeth.

I did not even waste my time gazing back at her. "Sorry, Margaret, but...wait a minute. I was planning on using the words 'sorry' and 'but' in the same sentence. But you know what? Those words have never gotten along with each other and still do not. So I have to choose one or the other. Am I sorry? Or am I not sorry?"

Dr. O'Connor pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the ends of his thumb and fingers. "We do not need a stinkin' speech, Margie," he commented. "We know why you want to tell the truth. It is because you promised your sister that you always will."

"Hey! How did you know that?"

He put back on his glasses and chuckled. However, they were nervous chuckles. "Oh my. I was just speculating. It is not like that my wife and I spy on you and everyone else who lives in the mansion."

"You villains want to know the truth? I will give you the truth!" Margaret said. "I gave her the broken nose! I punched her in that ugly face of hers because she is trying to replace me! I am supposed to be the Monster Protector! Not her!"

Dr. O'Connor and Mrs. M. must have been in deep shock at what she confessed to them because of what they said and did next.

Mrs. M. covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Oh, dear."

The doctor stepped back until he was next to Sarah, who was in the driver's seat and gripping the bottom of the steering wheel. "My, my, my."

He brought his head close to his granddaughter's and whispered in her ear. She nodded and mouthed something back to him, but I could not figure out what it was.

He pulled away from her. "Margaret, allow me to explain some things to you."

Our writer skipped the explanation part because you fans out there already know it from the very first book. How Mrs. M. and I had a "good" relationship back when I was in school. How she was a best friend of mine. Or should I say, how she pretended to be. How I never knew what she was capable of.

And the fight. How I won against both of them.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to tell me that," Margaret interrupted. "I am familiar - too familiar - with that lame fighting sequence. I mean, seriously. Could our writer not come up with something better? It is like that she was trying to squeeze the whole story into forty-eight chapters. I am surprised that our dear readers want to continue with this series."

Dr. O'Connor chuckled. This time, the chuckles sounded creepy.

"You poor, poor, delusional girl."

"Who are you calling delusional?!" She squirmed. "When I get free and my hands are on you, I will squeeze you so hard that you will blow like a pimple!"

He adjusted his glasses. "Such big talk for a little girl."

"I will have you know that I am both stronger and smarter than you!"

"Smarter? If that were the case, you would have figured out that fight between me, my wife, and Margie was supposed to go that way. Our writer planned it from the start. Mrs. M. got struck by Margie's arrow. And I was defeated. 'Cause that was my plan all along."