Page 8 of Monster's Mystery

“I’m trying a vibrancy potion. It’s working well.” She tossed her long brown waves tinged with pink over her shoulder, and Pinkie Pie, his little eyes wide and glowing, scrambled to get back underneath the locks, snorting his indignance at the rude disturbance. “I slept through the entire thing. So did Dip, the darling.” She crooned to the little iridescent green dragon she held in a cat carrier at her side. “You want to be let out?”

The dragon chirped and swooped out of the carrier the instant it was opened, breathing pink flames into the air in celebration.

“Poor thing,” I said sympathetically. “You’ll have fun with your friends now.”

Dip landed on the bed frame of Lilia’s bunk and chirped happily at me.

“I’m just setting up,” I said. “If you want to join me?”

“Sure thing.” Lilia dumped her things on her desk. “Where’s Hazel?”

I dropped the stack of books I’d picked up. “You haven’t heard?”

“No. Heard what? Did y’all have a fight? Do we have a new roommate to deal with? I hope not. I thought you were close!”

“She’s vanished,” I interrupted before Lilia could come up with more possibilities. “She arrived last night, which is why her section of the room is decorated, but she was gone this morning.”

“No way!” Lilia gasped. “Well, we just got to find her. What are our leads?”

I beamed. It was nice to have someone so enthusiastic about finding my best friend.

“The only lead we have is that she fought with the victim last night,” said a new voice. A nondescript brunette of medium height entered the room.

I bristled. “Who are you and why are you in our room?”

“I’m Paige. I was coming to see you because I’m investigating the murder of Richard Smith for the school paper. She was seen with him, you know. Right in the main hall.” She pushed her glasses up her long nose and stuck her pencil behind her ear.

“So I’ve been told,” I said noncommittally. “Not sure what help I can be. I wasn’t here until about an hour ago.”

“You’ve got the insight into the murderer’s mind. You’ve been her roommate for two years now. What can you tell me about her?”

I glared. “This doesn’t sound like an investigation. This sounds like you’ve already made up your mind! Hazel wouldn’t kill anyone!”

“So you admit that you know I’m talking about Hazel!”

“Yeah, because you said I’ve roomed with her for two years! There isn’t anyone else who fits that description!” I seethed. “Stop putting words into my mouth that I would never say in a million years!”

Paige shrugged. “Hazel was in an argument with Richard. The next time anyone sees him, he’s dead as a doornail and Hazel is missing. The evidence seems pretty conclusive.”

“Or the killer took Hazel and is biding their time before they kill her, too,” I snapped. “I amgoingto find her before that happens. If you don’t have anything useful to tell me, like what happened after the argument, you can leave.”

“Is that a threat?” Paige asked, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not supposed to cast magic against other students outside of the supervision of a teacher.”

“Dip?” I said pointedly.

The little green dragon blew out a large stream of pink fire, just barely missing Paige’s head. But only because the girl ducked with a scream.

“Get out,” I snarled.

“You’ll be sorry,” Paige replied, running from the room.

“Thank you, Dip,” I said, rubbing her snout with my forefinger. The tiny green dragon chirped and leaned into the caress.

“What do you think she meant by ‘you’ll be sorry’,” Lilia asked, arching an eyebrow.

“She’ll probably misquote me in her silly little paper,” I replied with a sigh. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll get Hazel back before she can even go to print.”

“How? We have no idea where she might be.”

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