CHAPTER 11

WEREWOLVES OF LONDOOM

A foghorn boomed, bells chimed, and a speedboat whirred toward the docks of Londoom. Robecca cut the power of her rocket boots and the boat glided to a perfect stop. The girls stepped out carefully, looking around. Almost the first thing they saw was a poster for the new Veronica von Vamp boo-vie.

“Ugh!” Draculaura sighed. “We can’t seem to get away from her.”

Hoodude, however, was thrilled to see any picture of his idol. “Ooooooh! They’re making a sequel to Vampire Majesty,” he noted.

Robecca knew how this would upset Draculaura. “We are on a quest for real vampire royalty.”

“Yeah,” agreed Draculaura, “not some Hauntlywood phony who doesn’t know a thing about vampire scaritage.” She smiled at Robecca, grateful for her understanding.

But something intrigued Robecca about the poster. Even after the others had headed to the street, she was still staring at it. There was a clue there, she was sure of it, but she didn’t know what.

“Robecca, c’mon,” Clawdeen called.

“Oh, uh, sorry! Coming!” She took one last look at the poster and ran to join the others.

Clawdeen texted her sister and let her know they were on their way. They had agreed to meet at the plaza in front of the Globe Theater, right by the statue of William Spooksfear. The famous playwright was holding a skull in his hand.

“Cool statue!” noted Hoodude. “This must be the first ventriloquist act ever!”

“That’s no dummy! That’s William Spooksfear,” said Clawdia, emerging from behind the statue. “For four hundred years, he’s been inspiring actors, directors, and writers.”

Like her sister, Clawdia had a bountiful mane of curls. She was dressed in the height of Londoom fashion with a red couture jacket and a tight printed gold-and-black dress. The glasses she wore were the one sign that she was a writer.

“Clawdia!” exclaimed Clawdeen, wrapping her sister in a hug. “Thanks, big sis, for helping.”

“Sure! We Wolves are known for our loyalty,” she said. “C’mon, you’re just in time for the tour.” She led the ghouls through the fog toward the heart of the city—and the Tower of Londoom.

There wasn’t much time to lose. Back in Transylvania, Lord Stoker had discovered the open atlas on his desk—and knew the ghouls were headed to Londoom. He ordered Ygor to find Draculaura and bring her back. There was no way he could have her flapping her fangs about the Vampire’s Heart. If she did, his reign of power would be over.

At the Tower of Londoom, a pair of sleepy zombies guarded the Jewel Room. They were snoring peacefully, as were the crows resting on their shoulders. The ghouls easily slipped by them.

“There’s the crown!” said Clawdia, pointing at a display.

Cleo wasn’t impressed. “Where are the scarabs?”

The other ghouls also thought it was pretty ordinary.

“I don’t see any clues,” said Draculaura, disappointed.

“We’re going to need to take a closer look,” Clawdeen suggested. “I have an idea, but it’s tricky.”

Clawdeen told her sister to wake up the guards and say that she had a thorn in her paw. Meanwhile, Robecca would let out a burst of steam to cover.

“And what do I do?” asked Hoodude.

The girls gasped when they saw him. He had the crown on his head!

That was the moment, of course, when the zombie guards awoke.

“That bloke is stealing the crown jewels!” yacked one of the crows.

The zombies groaned, coming to life.

“Hoodude!” screamed the girls in a fit of panic.

Zombies moaned, crows cawed, and the ghouls were screaming. They ran down a hallway in the Tower, the guards after them. The crown fell off Hoodude’s head and Clawdia caught it.

“There’s no clue on this,” she said, examining it as she ran.

Draculaura stopped to look at it and realized Clawdia was right. But the zombies were lurching around the corner.

“Here you go!” said Clawdia. She tossed them the crown.

The zombies and the crows crashed into one another in their hurry to retrieve the stolen jewels.

“Sorry, guys. He thought it was a souvenir.” Clawdia turned to Hoodude and pretended to scold him. “I told you the gift shop is downstairs. Silly boy!”

The zombies moaned angrily, but with the crown back in their hands, they turned around and disappeared.

The ghouls were relieved—except for Robecca. “This doesn’t spin right. I could feel that we were on the right track.”

The others didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. “What exactly was the clue?” Clawdia asked thoughtfully. Clawdeen pulled out Elissabat’s letter to reread it. “Where the Globe meets the Tower, and I will leave another note for you in the crown…”

Clawdia’s eyes lit up. “Oooh! Elissabat’s not talking about the crown jewels.” She walked over to a window and pointed back toward the theater where they had all originally met. “She means that crown. Back at the Globe Theater.”

Without another word, the ghouls dashed back the way they had come. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

They raced across Londoom to the Spooksfear statue holding the skull.

“A crown,” explained Clawdia, the writer, “can also mean the top of the head. Or, more relevantly, a skull.”

Cleo shivered. “I think I like the regular kind of crowns better.”

Robecca was continuing to act very strangely. She seemed distracted. “I can’t explain this, but I feel like I’ve been here before.…” On instinct, she went up to the statue and began running her hands over the skull. A moment later, the skull was opening up—and revealing a hidden parchment!

“Wow!” said everyone.

Clawdeen reached for the parchment. It was a map with another note and more clues.

“Yeah!” shouted the ghouls, relieved.

“Count Dracula,” read Clawdeen. “It is too dangerous here. I, Elissabat, am taking the Heart and fleeing to the Boo World. Here is a map of my destination.”

Draculaura studied the map. “New Goreleans! My father took me there when I was just a little ghoul.”

“And that’s where my father lived when I was under construction,” said Robecca.

“She must have taken the Heart there,” Cleo guessed.

“We have to go find it!” said Draculaura.

“Next stop, New Goreleans!” added Clawdeen.

“And I’m going with ya,” said Clawdia, surprising the ghouls. “Mom and Dad would shed fur if I didn’t keep an eye on you ghouls. Besides, this will make a great story someday… and I’m gonna write it!”

Within moments, the ghouls and Hoodude were back on the boat and steaming across the ocean with Robecca’s help. Paddling along behind them, frantically trying to catch up, was Ygor.