“And of course we couldn’t have done any of this without our generous sponsor, Mr. Delacroix, CEO of Metatech Pharmaceuticals. Let’s hear it!” A solidly-built, middle-aged man dressed in the most formal suit there was took the podium to a smattering of applause.

“Thank you, thank you. All this’s nice, but let’s not forget the real stars of the show, Professor Greene and Doctor Whateley. We just foot the bill.” A small round of chuckling. “But really, running Metatech Pharmaceuticals is my day job, and though it’s been a long, fulfilling career I’ve always had a firm passion for anthropology and archaeology, so when the good people at the university reached out for funding, I leapt at it. I know it’s a bit unusual, but anyone’ll tell you about my interest in history-” Clay turned the TV off.

“Oh my god, so boring.” he moaned. “I see daytime TV hasn’t improved any.” His mother walked by carrying a basket of laundry.

“Well go get out of the house then. Meet up with your friends.” Rebecca said.

“That’s what we’re doing in an hour, we’re headed to the lake. Just killing time til then.” Clayton said, flopping his head over the back of the couch. “It is quiet with the dor-with Scott at genius camp.” he corrected himself as his mom gave him a stern look.

“This’s a wonderful opportunity for him, and I won’t hear any of your smart remarks about it.” she said.

“Smart. Huh. He never really seemed all that bright. Something’s kinda weird about it to me.” Clay said. He’d certainly never heard of any Einstein-whatever camp around here, that was for sure.

“We’ll see how he does at the camp. If Scott’s not sick of formulas and equations, he might be able to get a full scholarship.” Rebecca said, eyes shining. “Then maybe he’ll finally get to college.”

“Y’know, I never hear you guys talking about sending me to college.” Clay said dryly.

“You wanna go too?” she asked, eyebrow raised dubiously.

“Hell no.”

Outside, the bushes rustled as two small figures darted around the yard and onto the street.

“Didj’a hear that? No wonder we couldn’t find him after a three day stakeout!” Riley said, shaking undergrowth out of her hair. “He’s at camp!”

“Maybe, I’m not so sure.” Connor said, frowning at his phone.

“What’cha looking at, what’cha looking at? My parents won’t let me have a phone yet!” she said, shaking dirt off like a dog.

“I have no idea why.” Connor drolled. “Anyway, my Google-fu’s pretty strong, but I’m not seeing anything about any physics summer camp, at least near our neck of the woods.”

“Well, where else could he be?”

“Dunno, that’s the thing. It didn’t seem like they know about necromancy, either. Oh by the way, you owe me five bucks.” he smiled.

“Oh man.” Riley, being the direct type, wanted to ring the doorbell and ask for Scott. Connor had bet her they would have better luck with a more discrete approach, despite the trespassing and eavesdropping.

“Since they don’t seem to know, he probably didn’t tell them about it, and since I couldn’t find the camp, who knows where this mysterious Scott is.”

“Hmm. I guess we could wait ‘til he comes home.” she said slowly. “But…”’

“But?” Connor asked, dreading the answer.

“But now we just have another mystery to solve!” She punched the air. “Go Team Detective! Alright, where do you think he could be?”

“Search me. He could be halfway around the world, if he wanted. I don’t think so, though. He might still be local, maybe?” he asked hopefully. Riley frowned.

“Hmm, maybe. If at this point he’s not home and he’s not where he’s supposed to be, then I guess we go check in with the ghosts again, see if there’s anywhere else he goes that they know."

“Which means more Captain Blackwell.” Connor groaned.

“Hey, I like him. The Captain’s great!” she said.

“Not doubting he’s a good guy, I just don’t know how much more my eardrums can take.” Connor said.

“Ah. Good point.”

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The cameras were being broken down as half of the guests left, few staying to admire the ship displayed in the middle of the room. Professor Greene sighed contentedly. Finally, after all these years of searching, he had found it! The sunken ship of Captain Mead, one of the few British explorers to have landed on South American soil. And what a find! The so called ‘Lost treasure of Abazuul’ hung in display cases all around the museum, glittering gold, twinkling diamonds and rubies, exquisite sapphires and enchanting emeralds adorning necklaces, rings, cups, scepters, anything that could be covered in precious metals and stones. Yes, it was a banner day for Professor Greene.

“Ah, Professor. Glad I caught you before you left.” A large, heavy hand spun his shoulder round to come face-to-face with Desmond Delacroix.

“Oh, er, hello, sir.” Professor Greene said. “I hope you’re enjoying the exhibit. After all, we couldn’t have done it without you.

“Yes yes, I’m great. But so are you, professor. You’ve found the ship carrying all the relics from the Temple of Abazuul, thought forever gone, lost to time. And to think, it was practically in our own backyard for nearly five hundred years.” he said, staring intently at the academic. “How fortuitous. Literally.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Greene laughed nervously at the joke, knowing what would be coming next. He tried to delay it as much as possible.

“Yes, very good. But it was a team effort, always glad to put in a good day’s work-”

“I might wonder if you could spare your generous sponsor a word in private.” Delacroix interrupted, and Greene sighed in resignation.

“Of-of course, of course.”

They retreated to the second floor of the museum, where Delacroix ushered Greene into an alcove overlooking the lost ship.

“Submarines, men, and time are all quite expensive, Professor.” Delacroix said, burning a hole into him with his eyes. “Yet, I have provided. Now I must ask that you uphold your end of the bargain.”

"P-Please, are you sure this is really necessary? I mean, I’m grateful, I truly am, but if this gets out the scandal could ruin me!” Greene hissed pleadingly, but the man in front of him was unmoved.

“Which is why you will not be the one to say anything. And as long as I receive what I’m after, I won’t either. Come now, Professor. What’s one little treasure compared to all of these?” Delacroix swept his arm out, encompassing the shining jewels below.

“Oh dear. I’d hoped to change your mind, but if you’re so determined…”

“I am.” he said with finality. Greene sighed.

“Oh, very well.” He dug out a key and they entered his office, where a squat, ugly, gleaming golden monkey statue with three eyes was sitting on his desk.

“I had avoided mentioning this piece as much as possible. The museum doesn’t want to display this one anyway, and I can’t blame them. Ugly thing, and the eyes do that trick where they seem to follow you. N-Not that there’s no accounting for taste, it’s just-”

“Shut up, Professor.” Delacroix said, his eyes gleaming, reflected in the statue. “This’s what I’ve been searching for a very long time.”

“All, all right.” Professor Greene said, giving both him and the statue a strange look. Who would want that thing for any reason, he decided. There were many treasures discovered that were way more valuable than this piece of junk. Just downstairs there was a necklace with an emerald the size of his fist. The fame it would bring him was well worth the small, somehow greasy hunk of gold it cost.

“To each his own, I suppose. Very well then, it’s yours. Thank you for bankrolling us, but I hope we never cross paths again.” he said, but Delacroix wasn’t listening. He had eyes only for the statue.

“Any time, Professor Greene. If it gets me this exquisite treasure, any time.” he said, pocketing the statue and leaving the office. After he closed the door, he paused. Taking a small, gummy pebble out of his pocket, he threw it onto the door. Instantly, a thin black circle formed while he whispered indescribable words. To any listener who had heard him, they would swear that at least three people were talking. After he was done, the circle faded away and Delacroix grinned satisfactorily, heading out with a jaunt in his step.

Much, much later that night, Professor Greene was in his office, going over the receipts for the day. He glanced at the clock. 9:03. He yawned and stretched, cracking his back. He was getting old, he decided. Old and so tired, in fact, that the rest of this could probably wait until tomorrow to complete. He was just about to close the program on his computer when there was a knock at the door.

He glanced over the monitor warily. The museum had closed an hour before. Security knew how late he could work, did one of them want something?

“Hello? Stan?” he called out. There was no answer. “Hello? Who’s there?” Uneasily, he got to his feet, shivering. The air conditioning was too strong; there was a super-cold chill in the air. “Look, if it’s anything important it can wait until morning.” There was only another knock. Starting to get annoyed, he opened the door. “Look, it’s very late…”

There was a tattered, shrouded hood. There were perhaps bandages under that, to obscure the face. There was a wet, slithering sound. He had an impression of something looming over him. Then, for Professor Greene, there was darkness.

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Summer had been going well for Vanessa so far. Riley had been mostly out of her hair, her job at the restaurant had been steady, and there was absolutely no weirdness going on at all. She was feeling good, real good; there was just one thing that could make her feel better.

“So I saw the cutest pair of sandals at the mall today,” she said, downing a pill of Taboo. “They’d be the best with that new pair of jeans I got last week, but they’re a hundred and fifty dollars. Ugh, I don’t work enough to afford that.

“I hear you, sister. I hear you.” Janet said, swallowing a pill herself and turning back to the webcam. “I found the perfect top-the perfect top, Vanessa!-for my capris the other day, but my mom said no, I wasn’t allowed to dip into my savings for it. What the heck does she think my savings are for, huh? I-oh jeez, gimme a sec.” she said, swaying in place and breaking out into a smile.

“Hell of a rush, huh?” Vanessa said, watching her friend as the tingles went through her own body.

“You know it. Hey, I always got lots of energy after a hit, you wanna do something? I wanna do something. Let’s go out.” she said, practically vibrating in place.

“Mmm, know what you mean, but all the usual spots are either too crowded or too boring. They open up the Beat Factory again yet?” she asked.

“Pffft, not yet, not after that fire. A shame, ‘cause I could do with some movement tonight. I’m feeling full to burst!” She shot her arm up.

“Oh man. So what do we do?” Vanessa asked. Janet bit her lip.

“Well, I do know about something. I know a guy, he’s been bugging me to go to this place with him, I’ve been meaning to go for a while but I never found the time. He runs these…meetings, I guess, I’m not a hundred percent sure. He invited me to one tonight, wanna go check it out?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” Vanessa muttered, feeling the swirls of color inside of her. “I’m, I don’t think I’m in the right state to go out right now. I mean, my pupils are dilated.” She checked the mirror. Bigger than normal. She shook her head; man, that would take some fixing. She grabbed a handheld makeup kit to mitigate the effect.

“Relax, you’re gonna be fine. You look fine. And everybody there should be okay with Taboo anyway, my dealer invited me.”

“Hmm, you sure?” Vanessa said, applying makeup. A little blush, some mascara, a little powder, some smear…there. Her eyes weren’t big and dilated anymore.

“Yeah, I think it’ll be fun. You in?” Janet asked.

“Okay. Wanna meet me there?”

“Sure. We’ll meet up at the doughnut shop on Main, it’s like a minute from there, but there’s no parking.” she said.

“Right. See you.” Turning the computer off and grabbing her keys, she bounded out the door. “Bye mom, bye dad, meeting Janet!” she called as she left.

“Bye sweetie, be careful, have fun!” As she got to her car, she saw Riley huddled with a dark-haired boy on the sidewalk, going over a chalk drawing.

“Hey there.” she said, and raised an eyebrow as they both started, whirling face her. Riley stepped forward while the boy shuffled to the side, surreptitiously erasing the drawing with his foot. It looked suspiciously like a plan of attack on a warehouse. “You guys playing raid the base now?”

“YES! Playing! Playing that we’re gonna take the base by storm. Boy those…pirates are gonna get what’s coming to ‘em, that’s for sure!” Riley said loudly, swinging her arm. Vanessa stared at her sister.

“Uh…huh. Anyway, is this the Connor I’ve been hearing about?” she asked mischievously.

“Yes ma’am. I’m him, or me. Whichever.” Connor said, shaking her hand.

“A lot politer than I would’ve thought for one of Riley’s friends. Huh, I always pictured you blond for some reason.” she said absently.

“Thank…you?” he said, unsure of how to take that.

“Hmm. I’m going off, I’m sure your mom would want you back before dark. Be safe, and give those pirates hell for me, would you?” Vanessa waved as she started her car.

“Will do!” Riley said cheerfully, then collapsed on the grass when she left. “Ugh, that was close. Never have I been more grateful to be nine.”

“Your sister seems nice…I think.” Connor said, still confused.

“She’s weird. I think it’s because she’s a teenager. I hope I don’t get that goofy when I grow up.” she said. Connor gave her a sidelong glance.

“You’re goofy now.”

“Whatever!” She sat up. “She’s been acting extra strange lately, too. I wonder what’s up?” Connor shrugged.

“Don’t know. But we really should get back to planning how we’re gonna do this, if we want to get into Scott’s lab.”