CHAPTER 2

Make her think about the moonlit walks
And the long, long talks by the waters' edge
With her feet hanging off the Cane Creek Bridge
And bring to mind the first kiss we shared
At the old town square when she drives down there
'Cause that's a day she said she could never forget
Keep the nights by the candlelight
As an ace in the hole
'Cause those are nights of passion
That I know will bring her home

-Chris Cagle; Laredo

No sooner than when he finished speaking with the other officer over the speaker, Beau was already running at full speed to his car. As he passed, the others all heard his murmur of, "Not again.." And he vanished through the door.
"C'mon," Fred interjected, practically leaping from the booth. "Let's see what's going on." Shaggy and Scooby remained in their places, arms crossed.
"Like, no way," Shaggy replied while Scooby added a punctual shake of his head. "Like, Scoob and I aren't heading out there."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Fine. Suit yourselves." She, Fred, and Velma started toward the door, leaving the remaining two members of the gang where they had left them. Shaggy glanced at his canine friend with a quizzical glance, one in which the Great Dane reciprocated.
"Like, that didn't work out as I had planned."
They both shivered and looked about, the thoughts of just what was being reported making them tremor so loudly that the booth started to quake beneath them. It seemed that not knowing what may be after them was just as bad as going to meet it in the first place.
Not five minutes passed before they scrambled outside after the others, their arms flailing high above their heads. "Like, hey! Wait for me!" Scooby whined loudly to add to the effect.
The Mystery Machine was outside, already running as the other three were seated in their traditional arrangement. Fred laughed and unlocked the doors.
"We were just waiting for you," Velma joked, opening the sliding door and hoisting them in, "We don't have much time."
Fred punched the gas, and they steadily followed Beau's patrol car to the scene.
Beau looked into his rearview mirror to spot the familiar van behind him; he would have obeyed his instinct and try to tell them to leave the situation alone, but he had seen what they could do – and this situation called for just such skills.
The buildings began to thin out as the two vehicles traveled out of central New Orleans and closer to the outskirts. As the night sky above became darker and darker, the road continued to venture further out into the swamps.
Daphne's mind wandered back to earlier, when she had been watching the sunset a few hours prior; come to think of it, there was something that seemed to be pulling her to look at the swamps…
The group met with Beau outside a small home on the waters' edge. The red and blue lights from the police cars splashed over the tree trunks and the home itself. Inside, all the lights were on and the group could hear the cry of a baby from somewhere inside, along with the mixed voices of both the residents and the officers while questions and answers shot back and forth.
"Officer Foldvik?" Beau asked, approaching a grizzled, stout man on the porch.
"Officer Neville," came the slow response; his eyes moved to the other five near the younger man. "Who're they?"
"Friends of mine," Beau replied. "They may be able to help us."
"How so?" A smirk crossed Foldvik's face as he eyed the other two with what almost seemed to be humor. Had it not been for the seriousness of the situation, he would have laughed.
"They deal with supernatural phenomena," Beau added sharply. "Just tell them about the attacks. Trust me, Foldvik."
Foldvik sighed to himself and glanced briefly at the details of the report. Neville had never lied to another officer, especially about things like this. So the older man agreed to it.
"Well, this's the fifth attack this month," he murmured. "Though, these aren't vandals or crooks."
"Why is that?" Fred asked after a short pause.
"Cause vandals and crooks can't pass through walls."
Fred arched a brow. Daphne stepped forward and asked, "You sure it's not a hologram?"
"Young lady," Foldvik sighed, shaking his head, "If that were a hologram, then it's the first time I'd seen one who could plow a man over. Didn't even steal anything, him and his buddies are always running through the streets, breaking things and coming after any living thing they see. It's had this neighborhood up in arms since it happened."
"Can you describe the suspects?" Velma asked.
"Sure," Foldvik nodded, thumbing through the notepad. "There were about five or six of them, all dressed as pirates. Their leader was a big man, always wore a big coat, a worn old captain's hat. He's got a long white beard and a scar around his left eye."
The gang all seemed to have gone pale at the moment, frozen in their tracks. They excused themselves from the officers and huddled.
"I think I know who he's talking about," Daphne whispered.
"Morgan Moonscar," Velma added, getting a nod from Daphne.
"I thought we got rid of him and his cronies last time we were here," Fred interjected.
"Apparently something is keeping them from their rest," Velma remarked thoughtfully.
"You know what this means, right?" Daphne asked, eyeing her friends knowingly. "Tell Beau that we're going to investigate Moonscar Island."
"Like, I was afraid she was going to say that!" Shaggy gulped, getting an affirmative nod from his dog.
Fred moved toward the van while Daphne and Velma went to feed Beau the information. He stopped as he spotted a small white cat near the drivers' door. He knealt down.
"Well, hello there," he coaxed, attempting to attract the feline's attention. It worked. The blue eyes flicked toward him and just watched. For some reason the animal seemed familiar to Fred as it strode away from its perch.
Satisfied at the feline was away from the van, he climbed in, watching the cat to make sure it wouldn't dart into hitting range of the vehicle. In the process, Fred took a split second to look the other way to start the ignition.
He looked back.
The cat had vanished.

Chapter 3 SOON! Stay tuned!