A light in the yellow house blinked on, and Ben heard the sound of footsteps racing up the stairs.
A deep voice boomed, "What's wrong, son? Don't worry! Daddy's coming!"
Ben gulped. "I'm going to be in big trouble!"
Too scared to find out what would happen next, Ben shot back toward Monsterville as fast as he could.
Several garbage cans near the fence had been knocked over.
Ben flew over the fence and then stopped to catch his breath.
"That was scary," thought Ben. "That little kid was so scared of me!
I could have gotten in a lot of trouble!"
Looking around, he realized Mog was nowhere in sight.
"Mog!" called Ben. "Mog, where are you?"
There was no answer.
"Where did he go?" Ben murmured.
Then he remembered the loud crashing sound and the garbage cans that had been knocked over.
Could Mog have done that? Ben wondered about it as he flew home.
A short while later, Ben slipped back into his bedroom.
Sid was still snoring quietly in his bed.
Ben climbed into his own bed, his heart still racing as he thought about his adventure in People Place.
What if he'd been caught? He wasn't sure what would have happened.
Maybe the people would have captured him.
First thing in the morning, they probably would have marched him over to Monster Academy and into Mr. Freaky's office. Yikes!
Ben shuddered and tried to go to sleep, but it wasn't easy.
He tossed and turned all night.
He couldn't stop thinking about the little kid he'd scared.
And he couldn't stop thinking about Mog.
"I knew I never should have trusted him," thought Ben.
The next morning at school, Ben spotted Mog in the crowded hallway before homeroom.
He stormed toward him. "Where did you go last night?" he called.
To Ben's surprise, Mog shot a quick glance at Ben and then hurried off in the other direction.
Ben narrowed his eyes at the monster.
"Mog definitely knocked over those garbage cans.
I'm sure he was just trying to get me in trouble!
Well, he can't hide from me forever.
He'll have to talk to me in cooking class."
Ben went to homeroom and sat down, still fuming.
"Attention, all monsters!" Mr. Freaky's voice crackled over the loudspeaker.
"A very grave situation has come to my attention!"
"Uh-oh!" Ben bolted upright, worried.
But a ghost sitting next to Ben was laughing.
"A 'grave' situation? Ha-ha!
Maybe we're going to take a field trip to a graveyard!"
"Oh, I love graveyards!" said a skeleton girl dreamily.
Mr. Freaky was still talking. "First period is canceled this morning.
Instead I want all students to report to the auditorium."
Ben's thoughts were racing.
Did Mr. Freaky know about his adventure in People Place the night before?
Ben remembered that little kid and how scared he'd looked at the sight of a ghost.
Why in the world had Ben listened to Mog?
The bell rang just then, and monsters began to stream out of homerooms to make their way to the auditorium.
Ben followed them and slunk into a seat next to Gaby. "Hey," he murmured.
"I wonder what Mr. Freaky is going to talk about," said Gaby.
Ben was too worried to respond.
The principal walked up to the microphone, looking very serious.
"I received a phone call this morning," said Mr. Freaky.
"Apparently a ghost flew into People Place last night and scared a little child."
A shocked rumble went through the auditorium.
"A ghost?" said a fish monster.
"In People Place?" said an octopus monster.
"Scared a kid?" said a purple monster.
"That's terrible!" said Gaby.
Ben slid down in his chair, holding his breath.
"Quiet!" shouted Mr. Freaky.
Right away the entire auditorium fell silent.
"Unfortunately the child who saw the ghost isn't just any child," said Mr. Freaky.
"He's Mayor Hubbletree's son!"
Ben almost slid off his chair. The mayor's son?
Had Mog known that when he sent Ben to that house to look for the brooms?
Ben saw Mog sitting in the next row, but the monster was looking the other way.
"As many of you know," said Mr. Freaky, "Monster Academy was built on land owned by People Place."
The principal looked at the floor and took a deep breath.
"There's no easy way to say this, but . . .
Mayor Hubbletree has decided to evict us."
A huge gasp filled the auditorium.
"That means we must leave," said Mr. Freaky.
"Monster Academy is going to be destroyed!"
At first Ben had been afraid of getting in trouble for scaring the little boy.
Now something much worse was happening.
Mayor Hubbletree was planning to destroy Monster Academy.
And it was all Ben's fault!