Author's note: I'm quite amazed that no one has thought to cross these two fandoms over yet, so I'll break the mold and be the first. I will be aging the Grimwood girls up about six years. This will put Elsa, Phanty, and Sibella in the 18-22 year age range, Winnie will be 15, and Tanis will be 12 years old. Set in web-series Monster High-verse

Summary: The first five Grimwood Girls return home to their families over the summer for Tanis' special 'unwrapping' ceremony. But will Tanis have the confidence to stand up to her sisters Nefera and Cleo while their father's away? Will Phanty and her hated half-sister Spectra survive the summer without ending one another's afterlives?

The Ties That Bind

1. Coming Home

The train ride from the airport in downtown Portland into Salem seemed to last forever for the five female occupants of passenger car number 4. These ladies were on their way back to their homes to visit family over the summer. Three of them appeared to be college-aged, while the other two looked more like middle-scholars. All five were past or present students of Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Ghouls.

"Tanis, there's no need to be nervous." A nearly transparent girl with pale blue skin and near-white eyes soothed a younger girl whose long skirt and hooded sweatshirt covered up her bandages. Transparent girl wore a white, floaty long-sleeved silk dress with a laced-up neckline that plunged to her navel and blue floral designs reminiscent of a china cup. White go-go boots laced up to her knees, and her snow-white hair- marred by a rebellious stripe of blue- was kept in a neat asymmetrical bob. "This is a happy, wonderful time in your life. You're finally getting those bandages off!"

"But Daddy won't be home for two more days." Tanis sighed, large blue eyes fixed on her shoes. "He's not back from his trip to Egypt yet. But Nefera and Cleo have the house all to themselves."

"Sweetie, don't worry about them." The ghastly girl said softly. "If those sisters of yours give you any troubles at all, come get one of us."

"Phanty's right." A girl of about fifteen nodded. Her wild orange curls stood in stark contrast to her tan fur and only intensified the glow in her golden eyes. She wore a blue tight tank top, denim cut-off shorts, and a pair of sneakers. "We're your pack, Tanis. If you're in trouble, we're here to help!"

"Well said, Winnie." A stunning woman with long violet hair and emerald green eyes spoke up, nodding to the young werewolf. She wore a floor-length, sinfully tight deep purple dress with long sleeves and a low v-neckline. A red and black Renaissance-style corset cinched around her torso, and red high heels adorned her feet. "Remember, sweetie, we are Grimwood Girls, and Grimwood Girls get each other's backs."

"Right. No bossy big sister is a match for all of us together." Winnie nodded an affirmative. "Or brother. And I should know!"

"I just hope my cousin hasn't turned into a brat." A tall girl sighed. Her pale mint-green skin was traversed by irregular lines of stitches, and a pair of bolts stuck out of her neck. Her black curly hair—once so kinky that it stuck straight up—had been spelled so that it fell in tiny ringlets down to her back with two bright white stripes peeking out like rebel diamonds in a sea of onyx. She wore a simple black top, brown plaid shorts, black tights, and a pair of black and tan knee boots.

"Elsa, I'm sure this Frankie kid is doing just fine." The green-eyed woman said. "She's running with my kid sister and Winnie's older one, so she's not in terrible company…even if she is determined to please Cleo. She could have picked much worse friends."

"Yeah, like my evil step-ghoul." The transparent one folded her arms.

"Phanty, are we seriously going to have to hear this rant again?" Winnie growled in disapproval.

"Sorry, but I just don't see how mother can approve of… oh, wait, I do." The young phantom scoffed. "I keep forgetting that she's the one who ran off in search of a wealthier ghoul to leech off of."

"Phanty…" The purple-haired woman warned.

"And seriously, was it really that much of an upgrade?" Phanty continued. "She left Father, the Phantom himself, for a measly ghost! And not even a talented one!"

"Phantasma…" The young vampire's tone was becoming more forceful now.

But her see-through counterpart continued to ignore her. "But he's wealthy, so I suppose that's all that matters to her. Never mind that she's traded her own flesh and ectoplasm off for some spotlight-stealing, gossip mongering little w…"

"PHANTASMA!" the vampiress roared, suddenly garnering the full attention of anyone within earshot. Phantasma wisely quieted down. "Goodness, woman, shut up about Spectra already! We've all heard this speech—twice!"

"Sorry, Sibella." The ghastly ghoul looked properly scolded by her elder friend. "But you know how I feel about that little hussy!"

"It's not an excuse for your behavior, though." Sibella placed her hands on her hips. "She's only a sophomore this year. As I recall, you were quite the Gossip Ghoul yourself at that age. And isn't she also your mother's child?"

"She is no relative of mine." The phantom responded darkly. Sibella's weary green eyes glanced toward Elsa, who shrugged in response. Dealing with Phanty in one of her 'I hate my family' moods was trying at the best of times, but no one could say anything about it without sending her flying off the handle again.

"Then would you stop bitching about it?" Winnie grumbled.

"Winifred." Sibella glared in disapproval, using the redhead's full first name. As with all their 'pups', the Wolfs had a pattern with their children's names. Their previous litters had "Claw", "Paw", or "Howl" in their first names. Winnie's litter of three went a different route (by her father's request) and had names that started with the letter "W". Her two littermates were Willis and Wallace.

"But she's not helping at all, Bella!" The young werewolf protested. "She's only making Tanis more nervous! I can smell it, and so can you!"

A forlorn sigh escaped the young woman's lips. As Winnie had pointed out, Tanis had become much more nervous and upset. And considering how depressed the young princess was to start with, that was no small accomplishment! "Look, we need to STOP complaining about our relatives. It won't do us any good in the end. Tanis, if Nefera gives you trouble and Cleo isn't willing to help; I'll fly over there and spell her myself." Sibella stated with an authority that the other girls couldn't hope to muster at present. An authority born from her lineage and the position she stood to inherit.

Though Phantasma and Tanis's fathers both held important positions in the Council of Elders, neither of them ran it (despite Ramses' claims to the contrary). Tanis, being the youngest of three sisters, would never rise higher than princess. In addition, Phantasma, though the oldest child of the reigning Phantom, had no designs to step up as a head of the council. That responsibility fell to Sibella, firstborn child of Count Vlad Tepes Dracula-King of Vampires and leader of the Council. Also, because her mother was an accomplished sorceress AND she trained under renown witch Ms. Grimwood, Sibella had a sort of power all her own. If she wanted to turn Nefera de Nile into hairless mole rat, it would be done, and all the other Grimwood Girls knew it.

"I just wish she wasn't so mean." The Egyptian girl sighed. "She told me over the phone last week that since she and Cleo got the beauty of the family, I was doomed to be unattractive."

"Bitch." Winnie coughed under her breath, earning yet another glare from Sibella.

"Again, if you need anything from us, day or night, call or send a spell-mail." Sibella told her as Elsa glanced nervously out the window. Their stop would be coming up soon… and the longest summer of their lives. Winnie was preparing for her first year of high school classes and deciding whether to stay at Grimwood's or transfer to Monster High. Tanis would be taking her facial bandages off. And, lastly, she and Elsa's relationship would finally come out of the closet.

Yeah…she wasn't looking forward to that part. Though Elsa's parents knew and accepted their relationship as the serious thing it had turned into, her mother and father didn't have a clue. She'd gone through that small phase in middle school when she took to teasing one of the cadets at the military camp next door, but that never became anything other than a platonic, if strained, friendship as the years marched on.

Sophmore year, Sibella realized she liked girls a lot more than she liked boys. And at the time, the one in her crosshairs was her best ghoul-friend Phantasma. Such a shame the young phantom was straighter than an arrow… she had a willowy, graceful frame that many monsters would kill for.

For many years, it was hard to see Elsa as anything but a geek with bad hair, but the granddaughter of Frankenstein's monster surprised everyone during her junior and senior years by developing soft curves in all the right places. And because she was almost six feet tall, several modeling agencies wanted her to work their runways. To their shock, Elsa turned them down and turned her attention and a PhD in Applied Chemistry and Potionology. Her physique had changed, but she was still the same ghoul she'd always been, and that genuineness drew Sibella in like a moth to a flame. The relationship was awkward at first, but soon they were going on regular dates and leaving drawers worth of personal property in each other's dorm rooms.

Under normal circumstances, something like this would be a scandal of major proportions. It could potentially cause her to lose her position in the family line to her younger sister, Laura. But, since Laura chose to be a vegetarian (girl fainted at the sight of blood, for creep's sake!), and there was no other sibling (unless mother and father had gotten really busy while she was gone…), the spot in the council was irrevocably hers.

Scandal was still scandal, though. Her reputation and Elsa's would suffer because of this. She wasn't sure if lesbians could marry in this state. Even if they could, the council would still see it as 'unnatural'. Please! Who were they to decide what was natural? Half of them were undead, intangible, or had to resist the urge to climb up the tapestries of their own castles.

"We're here." Winnie yelped as the train slowed to a gradual stop. All five girls exchanged eye contact with one another, and then stood to collect their bags and walk out onto the platform.

Frankie was totally charged up about today. After an eternity of waiting, she was finally going to meet her cousin Elsa! The mint-skinned teen idly wondered if those pictures she saw on Aunt Viktoria's mantle would do the other ghoul justice. After all, Aunty Vicky had said that picture was a few years out of date. Would Elsa look even more stunning than she did at her graduation from high school?

And her family wasn't the only one waiting at the station for the train from Portland. Dracula and Vannapira, Draculaura's parents, waited with their younger daughter for their oldest child to return. The entire Wolf family turned out to welcome their youngest daughter Winnie home, and Cleo and Nefera were excitedly standing in for their parents (apparently off on business in Egypt again) for their younger sister. Well, Cleo seemed mildly excited. Nefera looked downright bored.

And then there was Spectra and her mother. In an Earth-shattering revelation, Frankie learned that Spectra had an older half-sister. Apparently Mrs. Vondergeist had been married to the original Phantom (Laura went into major freak-out mode over that), but then cheated on him with Mr. Vondergeist, divorced him, and had Spectra. It was quite apparent from the look on Spectra's face that she and her sister were not on good terms. Heck, if rumor was true, Mrs. Vondergeist and her daughter hadn't spoken in over a year. Still, the transparent woman waited for her firstborn to arrive, a hopeful, if nervous, expression on her pale blue face.

"There's their train." Viktor, Frankie's father, said with a bright smile on his face. "They should be out as soon as the doors open." His daughter had to restrain herself from squealing. She was so excited that sparks began to dance off her neck bolts.

The first monster out of car number four, however, was not Elsa. It was a blur of blue, brown, and orange that nearly knocked Mr. Wolf to the ground. Frankie studied the newcomer intently for about thirty seconds, quickly realizing that 1) Winnie was not as fashionably minded as her sister, Clawdeen was, and 2) she was the only one in the family with bright orange hair. Sure, there were one or two other red heads, but none with locks that bright. How odd… but she had the same facial structure as her siblings, so they must all be related. Good to know.

Next off was a transparent young woman in a short white and blue dress. She kept her head held high and regarded Mrs. Vondergeist with a look of strained civility. "Mother." She said, her high-pitched voice sounding cold as ice.

"Phantasma." Mrs. Vondergeist smiled. "I'm so glad you've come ho…"

"This is NOT my home." Phantasma narrowed her pale eyes. "My home is with Father. The only reason I'm visiting is because of Tanis."

That seemed to get Cleo's attention. So Tanis was the source of the strained family reunion. Apparently, the girl was well loved by her former classmates…

… As was plainly evident when the bandaged girl in question stepped off the train, flanked on either side by two (much) older ghouls. An absolutely gorgeous woman with long flowing violet hair rested her pale lavender hand protectively on Tanis's shoulder, while her taller black-haired companion regarded Nefera and Cleo with scrutiny.

These two must be Sibella and Elsa. Apparently, neither one of the two thought much of Nefera. If looks could kill, the mummified crown princess of Egypt would be dead twice over.

"So you've both returned?" Nefera asked, standing straighter in an attempt to make herself look more regal. Frankie recognized it as a 'fail'. For all the posture and insane amount of pure gold jewelry Nefera had on, she couldn't match the sheer power Sibella projected. She didn't need fancy necklaces or a tiara to prove she was in charge here.

"For the time being." Sibella replied coolly.

"You sure you don't want to stay with one of us until your parents get home?" Elsa asked Tanis. The smaller ghoul shook her head.

"No." she said, blue eyes looking up at the granddaughter of Frankenstein's monster. "I want to say hello to Daddy as soon as he walks in the door."

"Then you take care of yourself." Sibella told her. "If you need anything, call one of us up, okay?" Tanis nodded an affirmative and walked over to Cleo's right side—the side farthest from Nefera.

Frankie would later swear up and down that she saw the Vampire Princess mutter "bitch" under her breath once she'd turned her back to the de Nile girls.

"Elsa!" Uncle Lazarus called out to his daughter, who immediately jogged into his arms. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"

"You too, Da." Elsa wrapped her father in a bear hug. Frankie blinked. She hadn't expected the older girl to be so…tall. However, she definitely picked up on the family resemblance. She was the spitting image of their grandmother in all but the eyes. Grandma had brown eyes (at least, she did in the photos that Dad had around). Elsa had one brown eye and one icy blue eye.

"Oh, honey, we've wanted to show you so many things this year!" Aunt Viktoria said, tears starting to form in her eyes. "But now you're here and you can see it all!"

"Oh, Ma…" the raven-tressed girl gave her mother a loving embrace. "You're making me cry…"

"Well, there's no need for tears now." Viktor cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the two women. Viktoria looked away apologetically while Elsa's eyes lit up.

"Uncle Vik!" She grinned, pumping his hand eagerly. "It's been eons since I've seen you!" She then looked to the woman on his left. "And Aunt Viv… wow, you look great! Did you get a new haircut?"

"No, you just haven't seen it styled this way before." Viv casually flipped a lock of long dark hair back over her shoulder. "And speaking of things you haven't seen yet, there's someone your uncle and I want you to meet." She rested her right hand gently on her daughter's shoulder while Frankie stared up at her relative in awe. "This is your cousin, Frankie."

Elsa looked at her younger relative for a moment, analyzing every detail of the other ghoul's body. "She got your jaw line, Uncle Vik." The curly-haired woman finally concluded. "You two did good work."

"Uh…thanks?" Frankie said uncertainly, tiny sparks flying from the ends of her bolts. Elsa chuckled.

"It's a complement, kiddo." She grinned. "It's nice to have someone closer to my age around." Frankie relaxed a little at that statement. So Cousin Elsa approved of her. That was good.

"Well, shall we all go to dinner somewhere?" Lazarus asked. "I'm sure you must be hungry."

"Do you think Sibella would want to join you?" Viktoria asked sweetly. Frankie raised an eyebrow while Elsa shook her head.

"Naw. She wanted to spend this afternoon with her folks." She glanced longingly at the violet-haired vampire now chatting amiably with Draclaura. "I'm going over to her place tomorrow anyway, so there wasn't a point in meeting tonight as well."

"Why would Sibella want to join us?" Frankie asked, getting the distinct feeling that she missed an important detail in this conversation.

"Ah, well…" Lazarus fumbled with his words as the group walked towards their cars. He cast a worried glance at his daughter.

"Its okay, Da." Elsa said reassuringly before looking at her cousin. "You see, Frankie, Bella and I are going out. Together. A lot."

It took Frankie a full minute to process what she'd just been told, but when she finally did… "Oh." Her blue and green eyes went wide. "Okay. How long, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all, and about a year now." Elsa answered. "But her parents don't know. We're telling them tomorrow night."

"Wow." Frankie exhaled. "It's like a real-life reality show!"

"Oh, this is only the sub-plot, Frankie." The raven-haired girl's eyes sparkled. "All the real drama is going down at the de Nile residence. I guarantee it!"