That night the moon shone bright and full.
Ben headed over to Monster Academy early.
"What a fantastic night," he said to himself.
"There will be great music, great food, and a whole night with Winnie!"
At school Ben peeked into the gym to see if Winnie and the others were still working on the decorations.
"Wow!" he burst out.
Silky spider webs shimmered from the ceiling, and eerie lights cast spooky shadows around the room.
Onstage the Boneyard Brass Band was setting up their equipment.
One skeleton tuned a trumpet, while another tapped a tune on his own rib cage.
"Winnie?" Ben called. The skeletons looked up, but there was no sign of Winnie or anyone else from the dance committee.
Ben stepped out into the hallway.
"Hey, Ben!" Waldo Wizz called. "You're here early."
"Yeah." Ben shrugged. "Winnie's here already, decorating the gym.
I thought I'd come early to help her."
"I think she finished decorating," Waldo reported.
"A bunch of girls just went upstairs to change into their dresses.
I've got nothing to do now, so I was going to check on my latest magic experiment. Want to see it?"
"Sure," said Ben.
"It's in the science lab, and it's top secret."
Waldo led the way to the lab.
"You can't tell anyone about it."
Ben held up a hand. "I promise, Waldo."
As they turned a corner, Waldo bumped into a large purple blob.
His glasses flew off his face.
"Oh!" Waldo fumbled for them on the floor and then put them back on. "Hi, Jen."
"Sorry about that, Waldo," said the blob.
"You haven't seen a, um, human around here, have you?"
"A human?" echoed Waldo.
"He's my date," said Jen awkwardly.
Ben wasn't sure, but the purple blob appeared to be blushing.
"I left him alone while I got ready upstairs with the witches.
Now I can't find him."
"We haven't seen him," Waldo said to Jen.
"If we do, though, we'll let him know you're looking for him."
"He's a little freaked out by Monster Academy," said the blob, jiggling as she talked.
"I don't understand humans sometimes."
"Yeah, humans are weird," agreed Waldo. "We'll keep an eye out for him."
"Thanks, Waldo." Jen moved past Waldo and Ben, and glided down the hallway, leaving behind a shiny trail of slime.
"I didn't know there'd be a human at the Monster Mash," said Waldo.
"Me neither," said Ben. He shivered. "Creepy!"
Ben and Waldo entered the science lab.
Inside, Waldo gasped. A strange purple fog filled the room.
Through the fog Ben could see test tubes and rubber hoses on a counter in the back.
Near them a small appliance that looked like a pressure cooker beeped noisily.
Waldo rushed to the back of the lab.
He quickly flipped a switch on the appliance, and the beeping stopped.
Ben floated over and saw that the hoses were all connected to the small appliance.
"I'm trying to make a talk potion," Waldo explained.
"Whoever drinks the potion will talk and talk and talk."
"Why would anyone want to drink a talk potion?" asked Ben.
"It's mostly for shy people," Waldo explained.
"But . . ." His cheeks were bright pink.
"But it looks like somebody pulled all the hoses off the test tubes!
Who would do that?"
"Shy people?" said Ben.
Waldo gave Ben a funny look.
"Why would shy people try to ruin my potion?"
"No, I mean . . ." Ben tried to explain.
"You said this talk potion is for shy people.
So I was asking why shy people would need it."
"Oh, right," said Waldo.
He began putting the hoses back on the test tubes.
"Well, usually shy people don't know what to talk about.
But if they drink my potion, they'll have plenty to talk about.
Police could also use it on suspects who are refusing to talk."
"Oh, I see," said Ben.
Though, knowing Waldo, Ben had a feeling that the potion might not work exactly as Waldo had described. "Is everything okay?"
"I think so . . ."
By now the purple fog in the room was beginning to clear.
Ben could see it disappearing into an air vent in the ceiling.
Boom! A sound came from the front of the room.
"What was that?" Ben asked.
Waldo was still busy fixing his equipment.
"There!" he said triumphantly as the appliance began to hum.
Ben saw that the door to the lab was now shut.
He hurried over and tried the handle. "Uh, Waldo . . ." he said nervously.
"I think we're locked in here."
"Huh?" Waldo finally looked up. "What?"
Ben tried the handle again, but the door still wouldn't budge.
"I mean that someone locked us in the science lab. We can't get out!"