I am not sure how, but I ended up awakening and found myself lying on my back and the grass. Two people who were relatives of mine loomed over me, their shadows covering every inch of my body. I thought that it was McKinley and another Monster Protector.

"McKinley? What happened?"

"Who is McKinley?" the one on my left questioned me. I recognized her voice. Yep. Her voice.

"Margaret?"

"That is my name. Do not wear it out."

She and the other person, who was my sister, Scarlett, grabbed my hands and pulled me up. Scarlett asked how I ended being unconscious, and I shrugged and gave her the only answer that I could. That I had no clue and could not hold back what I had just experienced.

"You may or may not believe what I am about to tell you, you probably will, Margaret, considering that you were the Monster Protector for a short while—"

"Cut to the chase, Margie," Margaret interrupted. "And then you will have to give me a good reason why you wanted to see me."

I opened my mouth, however, Spirita beat me to the punchline. He formed a sentence, and my sister and cousin read it out loud.

"'Margie visited the spirit realm.'"

"That is a relief," I said. "For a second, I was afraid that it was a dream."

"You what?!" Scarlett screamed at the top of her lungs and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Why would you go there?! You could have died!"

"Sis, what did we say about worrying?"

"You know of the spirit realm?" Margaret said to Scarlett.

"Not until now."

Spirita twirled around, making another sentence. All three of us read it.

"'Margie was fine in the realm because she is the Monster Protector.'"

My sister wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me close. "Monster Protector or not, she is still my baby sister."

My cheeks grew hot. I do not like when she calls me that. Would you refer to a brave person who protects good monsters from bad monsters as a baby?

Margaret was ignoring me and Scarlett, for she was focused on Spirita. She squinted at him and clenched her hands into fists.

"You. I never thought that you would run into me again."

The spirit transformed into a new set of words, and she read it.

"'I did not run into you. You ran into me.'"

"I am only here because Margie wanted to speak with me. And because we are friends. And cousins."

"You two know each other?" Scarlett asked.

Margaret played with her braid. "Unfortunately. This spirit was a nuisance to me right before I discovered that I was pregnant. I tried to get him to back off by scaring and threatening him, but it did not work."

Spirita used his body to say, "'It is impossible to scare or threaten me because I am a spirit.'"

I was confused. "But the zombies told me that you are shy, and it is clear that you are."

"'That is not the same as threatening or scaring, now is it?"

I jerked away from Scarlett and grasped my cousin's wrist. She glared at me and demanded to know why my thumb and fingers were around her wrist. I apologized, let go, and described the first Monster Protector's call to me.

Margaret's jaw dropped open, and she explained to me her side of the story while her hands shook. She stated that she believed me and that I was not out of my mind.

"Finally!" I proclaimed with a smile. "Someone understands this whole voice thing."

"It was a male voice," Margaret described. "I heard it one fine day, and it would not stop! It repeated my name. I could not do what I needed or wanted to do because that infuriating voice would not shut up!"

"Did Spirita show up?"

"Yeah. That annoying spirit kept bickering me to allow it to come inside the mansion, but I was not taking any chances. He did not take my rejection well and would not let me live my life!"

"Dang. That must have been torture."

"Indeed. Almost makes me happy that I ran from my position when I got pregnant. Almost."

I patted her shoulder. "I do believe that the voices are behind us."

"Why do you say that?"

"I met the first Monster Protector and know what he wants me to do." My smile disappeared and was replaced by both sadness and anger. "Oh, no."

"Are you alright, sis?" Scarlett spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. I am fine. What do you say that we camp out here when it is nighttime?"

By some miracle, I was able to convince Scarlett and Margaret to camp in the area. The aliens and zombies joined, and when Margaret notified Mr. Hawk, his friends, and my parents, they all camped with us as well.

Tonight was better than last night. I was able to get some sleep and slept until five o'clock. To think that I thought that the voice would stop.

"Margie...Margie..."

I was in a sleeping bag and uttered a gasp as I sat up. I breathed heavily, and my clothes were drenched in sweat. I tugged on the fabric of my shirt and surveyed the grounds.

"What the crub?" I mumbled to myself. "McKinley? Are you calling to me again because you did not get the chance to tell me where the eyeballs are?"

"Margie...Margie..."

"I am coming."

Like I did this morning, I rested my palms on the grass, spread out my thumbs and fingers, and waited for the same thing to occur.

But it never did.

I balled my hands into fists and slammed them on the ground. What could I do now? I needed to know the location of the eyeballs so that I could set free the Monster Protectors before me.

"Margie..."

I tilted my head up to the sky and spotted a shooting star.

Maybe...just maybe...