#skeleton!patton

Part 1 / Part 2

Patton Foster didn’t live a long life, but it was a happy one. However, when he was informed he only had a few days to live, he begged he would survive. His family and friends needed him...

Turns out, dying wishes can come true. Not a day after his burial, he wakes up in his coffin.

Something feels off, though, but he can’t see it until he’s dug himself out.

He has no skin, flesh, muscle, nothing. He’s just a walking skeleton.

“... I’m boned.” He giggles at his own pun.

He tries to go back home, but everyone is terrified of him, and he retreats - or more accurately, is chased - back the the graveyard.

He’s incredibly lonely. The only time he can actually talk to anyone is Halloween, when he can head into town, and everyone thinks he’s just in a really elaborate costume.

It’s his favourite time of the year because of this.

One early morning, he’s watering the flowers people had left on graves, when he hears whimpering and growling.

He turns to see an unusually large wolf stumbling through the graveyard. However, it suddenly falls to the floor, howling loudly in pain.

It slowly starts to look more human, until a naked guy is led there, the only wolf remnants being ears and a tail.

Patton runs over to him, concerned. The guy’s near unconscious.

“Hey, kiddo, it’s gonna be okay, I got you...” Patton picks him up. “Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”

The guy’s too exhausted to even open his eyes, just groaning the answer “castle”.

Patton can only assume he means the castle just up the road, and starts to carry him there.

He takes him inside and lays him on the couch in the drawing room. “I’ll get you some clothes and blankets.”

He leaves the room, but just as he does, he hears someone run into the drawing room through the other door.

“Logan! Thank god, I heard you screaming in your room last night, and when I went in, you were gone, and the window was broken, where were yo-“ There’s a pause. “You’re a werewolf?!”

“Huh? No I’m not... they don’t exist...”

“... Logan, you have wolf ears and a tail, and last night was a full moon.”

“But-“

“Lo, I know it’s probably a shock but... monsters exist. I can prove it.” Another Pause. “Look. Fangs. I’m actually a vampire.”

“... But-“ Another Pause. “... You’re a bat... how are you a bat?! Wh-what the hell?!”

Patton pokes his head into the room, seeing a bat in front of the werewolf, Logan, which turns into a person. A vampire.

The vampire kneels in front of Logan. “It’s okay, Lo. I’m not gonna hurt you. I know you’re probably surprised, but it’s okay. I’m here for you. I’ll help you adjust. You don’t need to hide anymore. I’m here.”

“Me too.” Patton adds. The vampire looks up at him confused, while Logan’s eyes widen further, finally seeing he’s a skeleton.

“Sorry to ‘rattle’ you... I’m Patton Foster. Logan transformed back in my graveyard, I brought him back here.”

The vampire’s expression softens, and he thanks Patton, inviting him into the room. The two comfort the still speechless Logan as they talk and get to know each other.

Finally, Patton isn’t lonely. He has friends! Friends who even end up invite him to live with them.

He chooses his room, happy to finally have a soft bed and not a hard coffin - though the vampire, Virgil, is very thankful to take the coffin off his hands, having found the beds too strange and uncomfortable for him.

Logan slowly starts to get used to the whole ‘monsters exist and I’m one of them’ thing, but it’s still a lot.

Especially when he realises he was the one to kill his parents. He has a severe breakdown then, and it takes Virgil and Patton ages to calm him.

In fact, he cried so much and so loudly that he disturbed someone else in the castle...

Part 4

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Prince Roman is the heir to a throne. His parents had to choose between him and his twin brother, and chose him to be their successor.

However, it seems his twin isn’t so happy with their decision. While their parents are away on a diplomatic meeting at another kingdom, Roman’s twin raises an army and invades, planning to kill his brother and take over the kingdom.

Roman and his twin come face to face in battle. Roman tries to convince his brother to stop the war, but fails.

So, they fight. Finally, Roman plunges his sword into his twin’s stomach...

Just as his brother’s morning star hits his head. It kills his body instantly.

His soul, however, persists. He lives on as a ghost.

He watches his brother bleed out and die, he watches his parents mourning over their deaths.

He haunts the castle, watching as his kingdom falls to ruins over the centuries.

He stays long after, singing to pass the time.

Then finally, many many years later, he watches as two new people move in and make the castle their home.

He’s so excited! People to talk to, get to know!

But then he realises he could scare them... So, he just watches from a distance.

One of them seems to sleep all day and be awake all night. And if that wasn’t weird enough, Roman sees him capturing animals occasionally, and sucks out their blood with fangs! Ew...

The other, when he thinks he’s alone, takes off the hat he always wears, revealing fluffy wolf ears, and untucks a matching tail from his jeans.

One day, he hears them conversing. Turns out, they’re a vampire and werewolf. And there’s a skeleton there too now!

With the realisation he’s not the only undead monster, he debates revealing himself...

But what if they don’t like it? What if they’re horrified by the fact he’d been watching them the whole time they’d been there?

So, he stays hidden... Until one night when he can’t sleep because there’s a bunch of loud sobbing coming from the room next door of his, and it won’t shut up!

He angrily storms through the wall between the rooms, not caring about the three others seeing him.

“IT IS TWO IN THE FUCKING MORNING! I’VE BEEN NICE ENOUGH TO LET YOU LIVE IN MY CASTLE, COULD YOU PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN, BY ORDER OF THE PRINCE!”

He phases back through the wall before the others can say anything.

The next morning, the skeleton comes into Roman’s room.

“Hey, sorry about last night, kiddo... It’s just Lo just realised that he killed his parents on a full moon. It upset him quite a lot... He didn’t mean to anger you. To be fair, we didn’t even know you were here. I’m Patton, by the way. What’s your name?”

Roman looks him up and down, before standing. “Prince Roman.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Roman! Say, we were just about to all have breakfast. Well, Logan and Virgil were. No digestive system means I can’t eat... But I still sit with them and talk! You wanna join us?”

Roman considers it, before nodding. “I don’t see why not. I guess I owe that werewolf an apology, after all...”

They go down to the dining hall, Roman properly introducing himself. Logan forgives him, apologising for keeping him awake as well.

And so, Roman is welcomed to the monster family.

Part 5

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Ethan D. Ceitful is travelling across the country, and has been for over a year.

He is a witch. His mother had been burned at the stake for what she was, leaving him alone, with only his familiar - a snake he’d named Crowley.

He’s been trying to find a new place to live since then - a safe haven to remain.

He has to keep his skin hidden from humans wherever he goes. Witches are easily identifiable, as they all share a trait with their familiar. Ethan has patches of scales all over his body, and the left half of his face is like that of a snake.

Unfortunately, in one town he isn’t so lucky.

He’s walking down the street, when he hears a conversation between two people behind him.

“I’m just so glad you’re okay! When I heard about your parents and that you were missing, I thought for sure you were a goner! Are you okay, though? It must be a lot to know you were the one who-“

“Ssh, Emile, keep your voice down. I don’t really want anyone to find out I’m a werewolf.”

Ethan froze. A werewolf? In this town? He turned to look at the pair (and their pet bat?), only for his pausing to come to his downfall, as someone bumps into him.

It knocks his hood down, revealing his face.

The man who bumped into him gasps before yelling “WITCH! HE’S A WITCH!”

The next thing Ethan knows, he’s being dragged away, and then tied to a stake, just like his mother. Crowley is taken from him and thrown off into a bush.

A crowd comes around, and the mayor stands on a podium.

“For years, witches have been just a superstition. But now, here we have one, real and in the flesh. And we will hold the first witch burning in centuries!”

He continues talking, but as he does, Ethan feels something on his back. He turns his head to see a bat with bright purple eyes - the same one from earlier - untying the ropes binding him to the stake.

Before he has a chance to react, he’s untied, and pulled from the stake by the werewolf he’d seen earlier.

“Werewolf speed and strength, don’t fail me now...”

The werewolf picks Ethan up and sprints off, the bat flying into the bush Crowley had been thrown into, picking him up, then flying to catch up with the werewolf.

The angry crowd tries to follow, but the werewolf’s heightened speed gives them the advantage.

Soon, they’re away from the mob, and out the town. The werewolf finally stops as they reach the door to a castle, putting Ethan down.

“You... okay...?” he pants, obviously not used to running so far.

Ethan nods.

The bat changes into a person, a a vampire, and hands Crowley back to Ethan. “What’s your name?”

“Um, Ethan D. Ceitful.”

“Come on in, Ethan. I’m Virgil Dracula, this is Logan Berry. This place is like a home for lost monsters. We’ll introduce you to the other two.”

They take Ethan inside and introduce him to Patton the skeleton, and Prince Roman the ghost.

Roman’s very excited to meet someone who’s truly magical, asking him all sorts of questions and making him feel welcome.

Logan’s more calm and collected, helping Ethan choose a room, giving him a tour, and more. Ethan is probably the most comfortable around him.

Virgil’s pretty chill. He just says he’s surprised how many monsters there are around the area and that they’d all found each other.

Patton... Well, he’s wary of Ethan. Due to being raised on fairytales where witches were the villains, he’s not exactly fond of having to live with one. Despite never having done anything bad, Patton seems convinced Ethan is probably a bad person.

Despite that, Ethan fits into the monster fam pretty well.

Part 6

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7

Thomas Sanders runs the YouTube channel Sanders Unsolved, a channel where he and his friends Joan and Talyn discuss true crime and supernatural unsolved cases.

One day, they film a special episode, heading to a castle that is supposedly haunted, to explore and see if they can catch anything supernatural on camera.

As they approach the castle, however, they see someone leave it.

They duck behind a bush, watching the person leave.

A boy, no older than them, with what looked like animal ears and a tail, goes running across the grounds, towards a near forest.

Intrigued, Thomas, Joan and Talyn follow him deep into the forest.

The boy comes to a cave, and goes inside. The three go to follow him again, but the boy pushes a stone in the way, blocking the way in.

Joan blinks in surprise. “Okay, he looked pretty small and skinny, how the fuck was he strong enough to move that giant stone?”

Talyn rolls their eyes. “He has animal ears and a tail. I think it’s safe to say he’s not huma-“

They’re cut off by a scream from in the cave. The screams continue, but eventually evolve into howls. Then it’s quiet...

Until there are voices.

“Remus, get back here!!!”

“Oh, come on, you guys can’t tell me you’re not a little bit curious!”

“You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“It’s fine, I’m undead, he won’t hurt me! Werewolves only like live, fresh human!”

“Oh, so me and Ethan are dead. Awesome.”

“Actually, it’s only me. You’re a vampire, which is undead as well.”

“Maybe it’ll all be fine? I mean, it’s Logan we’re talking about! His wolf form probably acts like a soft kind puppy!”

“Patton, he killed his parents.”

“... Maybe he’s changed since his first full moon?”

“I doubt it.”

The group who were speaking step into the clearing, and Thomas almost drops the camera in surprise.

The two groups stare at each other for a moment

Until the snake faced guy mutters something, outstretching a hand, sending out a yellow aura, and the three humans fall asleep.

“Ethan!”

“I panicked!”

When Thomas starts to come too, he thinks he’s at home, until he hears voices.

“What do we do with them? Should I just drain and kill them so we don’t have to deal with them?”

“No, Virge! No one is dying! We’ll just calmly explain that we have no intention to hurt them.”

“I wonder why they were recording us...”

Thomas opens his eyes, finding himself in the castle. He sees the group of misfit monsters from the clearing.

He starts freaking out, but the skeleton calms him down, and explains they won’t hurt him.

Thomas finds it hard to believe, as the ghost is holding back the zombie, who is holding a morning star and is trying to hit Thomas and his two still unconscious friends with it.

Joan and Talyn only wake when there’s a thud of the front door.

The boy with wolf ears and a tail, looking very beaten, bruised and bloody, stumbles in. He goes to speak, only to squeal instead.

“Ohmygosh, Thomas Sanders! Sanders Unsolved!!! I’m a huge fan!”