This was not planned, but I decided it was time. And when do I plan anything?

Through the Looking Glass Ruins, featuring Gus and Vee as our main plotline! And no Lumity, sorry, instead you get Hunter and Amity bonding time. He needs to know his future sister-in-law.

"And that will be all for today. Please remember to sign up for auditions! Even if you merely want to be the crew, sign up!"

Vee tucked her belongings back into her backpack and slung it over her back.

Drama was a lot of work, she'd come to realize, and Mr. Graye had begun to bug her to sign up to audition for the cast of the fall play, which was a production of Romeo and Juliet. She wasn't sure where an eleven-year-old would fit into the story when they had people who were the proper ages of the main characters, but she wasn't really interested in being onstage yet. Not when she'd barely been a member of the club for a month. Plus, she had enough romantic drama in her life just watching Luz being obsessed with Amity and Hunter and Willow being dating-but-not-dating.

"How are you gonna audition?" Gus asked as they headed out. He walked her and King home since Luz and Hunter were usually busy when she got out of drama.

"I'm gonna go find the best monologue possible," King announced. "Aunt Lilith will help me. She's good at nerd stuff like books. What about you, Vee?"

"I'm… not sure. I don't even want to."

"But you're good. You should!"

"I've come a long way since moving here to Bonesborough. Being onstage just isn't something I'm ready for. Plus I'm one of the youngest members of the club, so what would be the point of auditioning?"

"If I had to guess, Graye has his eyes on you to be Juliet," Gus stated. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"Why me, though?"

"Beats me. But some of the seniors say that he does it every few years and he always picks the younger girls to be Juliet for 'authenticity'."

Vee made a face.

"He's so weird."

"Yeah. And a creep," agreed King. "He refuses to call you by your name. He keeps calling you Valentine like Aunt Lilith does."

"Valentina. And it's my full first name."

"He says it sounds like a name you could put on a playbill," Gus deadpanned. "Valentina Noceda."

"Augustus Porter," Vee fired back.

"Touché, my friend."

"It's such a weird thing to judge someone on, though, r—"

She was walking backwards now and bumped into someone, falling over.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you okay?"

A hand reached down to help her up and she looked up to see a pretty girl smiling down at her. She had purple hair held away from her face with a couple of barrettes and she wore a uniform that definitely wasn't for Hexside. It looked like a military one.

"I-I'm fine."

Why was her stomach all fluttery? She got to her feet and stared at this new girl she'd never seen before.

"You kids go to Hexside, right?" the girl asked.

"Yeah! I does! I mean, we do!" Vee blurted.

The girl let out a chuckle.

"I have a friend who goes there. I just recognized your uniforms."

"You're… Glandus, right?" Gus inquired.

"Oh, yes, I am. Thanks for noticing."

Her smile was blindingly bright. That fluttery feeling kept going in Vee's belly and she kinda liked it.

"I'm Valentina!" she stated. "Valentina Noceda! But you can just call me Vee—everyone else does."

"I've never met a Valentina before." She stuck out a hand to shake. "I'm Bria."

Vee accepted the handshake, marveling at the fact that she was able to touch someone like this. All too quickly, it was over.

"What brings Glandus kids to this part of town?" King asked with suspicion in his voice.

"Oh, well, with the weekend coming up, a few of us decided to pay an old friend a visit. He goes to Hexside now."

"You find him yet?" asked a blonde-haired boy wearing a uniform identical to Bria's, walking up.

"Not yet. I just bumped into Valentina and…"

"Gus. And this is King."

"Call her Vee, weirdo," King muttered.

"This is Angmar. He's in my class and he's a friend."

Not your boyfriend, I hope.

"I found him!" announced a voice behind them. Vee whirled around to see a dark-haired boy dragging Mattholomule with him.

"Matty! Hi!" Bria called.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to visit you! You left Glandus and we haven't seen you since!"

"Yeah. I'm too busy being top of everything at Hexside." His eyes went to Gus, and they widened with fear. "Uh… hey, Augustus. Tiny Noceda."

"Vee."

"Whatever. And weird Clawthorne kid."

"King. And you will bow before me, peasant."

"Are these your new Hexside friends?"

"Augustus is. Not the baby Noceda or her little buddy."

"Hey! I'm not a baby!" protested Vee.

"You're in fifth grade. Compared to the rest of us, you're a baby."

She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. King tugged on her braid to remind her it was okay and she sighed.

"You're so cute," Bria cooed, and yep, the fluttery feeling was back.

Bria said she was cute!

"Actually, we came to invite Matty on a trip," said the tall guy who'd dragged Mattholomule. "I'm Gavin, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," she stated.

"It might not hurt to have a couple more people along," Bria stated. "Especially not with where we're going."

"Wait, we're actually going out there?" Mattholomule asked.

"Of course, silly!" She let out a laugh that made Vee's tummy do a backflip. "And Vee and Gus and King can come, too."

"I'll have to ask my mom," King said casually. "And Vee will have to ask hers."

"My dad should let me go just fine," Gus added.

"Great! Let me give you my number."

Vee tuned everything out.

She was going on a trip with a pretty girl and some cool kids. Yes! She was sure her mother would say yes!

"No."

"What?!"

"I don't know these kids," Camila sighed, setting down the wooden spoon she was using to stir dinner. "And you're only eleven years old. That's not old enough to go on a trip with basic strangers."

"Gus is going, too! He's only twelve!"

"Gus isn't my child. I care for him deeply, but it's my job to keep you safe."

"Besides, why do you wanna go on a trip with kids from Glandus?" Hunter scoffed, leaning back against the counter. "We smoked them at the last roller-derby match."

"Didn't one of them get penalized for elbowing Willow in the face? And didn't you get penalized for throwing a punch at him?"

"We're getting off the subject." The tips of his ears were red; he was flustered. "The point is, you're too young to go off like this. Without us."

"You weren't invited!" Vee started playing with her braid. "Besides, this Bria girl is super nice and she's really pretty and she said I was cute and…"

Hunter's eyebrows went up and he glanced at Luz.

"How old were you when you had your first crush on a girl?"

"Ten. That girl in my class who stuck gum in my hair when I gave her a special valentine and said she didn't like girls. You?"

"Nine. She pushed me off the merry-go-round on the playground and called me a scar-faced weirdo."

"So… what does that mean?" Vee squinted and tilted her head.

"It means you're hitting a rite of passage with your first crush."

"I don't have a crush on Bria."

"You just described her the way Hunter describes Willow."

"Or how you describe Amity," Hunter fired back.

"Both of you, cut it out," Camila warned.

"I really wanna go, please?" Vee begged.

"I said no, young lady."

"Oops, young lady, Mom's mad," muttered Luz.

Vee knew what they were thinking. All three of them. They were thinking back to Jacob Hopkins and the stupid historical society. They worried about her. But she wasn't a baby anymore. She wasn't a dumb little kid who was going to get tricked. She was eleven years old and capable of making her own decisions.

"How about if I go, I don't stay the whole time? I stay until a little bit before curfew and then you come pick me up! That way you can have peace of mind and I can still go on the trip! And I'll stay with Gus the whole time."

She decided to pull out a card she hadn't in a while; she gave her mother and siblings the puppy-dog eyes.

And it worked.

"Fine. But you stay with Gus and I pick you up by ten. If you don't hold up your end of the deal, you're grounded. ¿Comprender?"

"Yes, Mama. I understand."

"Good girl. Now wash up for dinner. And you two leave her alone about her crush."

"She's too young for dating, especially if that someone is my age," Luz protested.

"Or mine," Hunter added.

Vee puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

Out of all the ways to spend his Saturday, helping Amity trap a cat wasn't an ideal one for Hunter.

Yet, here he was.

"How long has it been hanging around?" he asked, kneeling beside her next to the bushes at Blight Manor.

"A couple weeks. It's just a little baby, so I wanted to bring it inside—maybe bring it by your mom's clinic."

"And why me? Why not your girlfriend?"

Amity's face turned into what could only be described as a tomato.

"She's not my—did she—we're not—"

She noticed his smirk.

"Screw you, Noceda."

"No thanks, you're not my type and I'm pretty sure I'm not yours."

She punched him in the arm and he let out a snort.

"So, why me and not Luz?"

"Luz said she's busy today."

"Oh, right, the secret project she's been working on."

"What secret project?"

"I have no idea. Every time I ask she says 'secret project'. That's all I know."

He began to beckon the cat ever so gently, making little hissing noises to lure it out.

"And I didn't ask Willow because… well…"

"You're not there yet."

"Yeah. Exactly."

A tiny flash of white came dashing out from behind the bushes and Hunter rushed to catch it. Next thing he knew, a tiny white kitten was leaping into Amity's arms. She let out a gasp as it snuggled into her. It was a young thing, probably just barely weaned, and it seemed desperate for some kind of comfort.

"Kitten season just ended. Must be a late litter."

"Kitten season?"

"The time of year when all the stray cats are having babies. I helped out with the TNR program in Gravesfield. Part of having a mom who's a vet."

"They're just a little baby." Amity stroked the cat's head and it began purring immediately. She let out another gasp. "They like me!"

"Yeah, well, we'd better take them down to the clinic to get checked out. Could be fleas or any number of other things going on with them that need to be dealt with."

"There are no fleas on this child." She narrowed her eyes at him and scratched the kitten behind the ears without breaking eye contact.

"God, you and Luz are made for each other."

They headed out to the clinic, a rather short trip in Hunter's opinion, with the kitten in the carrier Hunter had borrowed from Camila for just this occasion. The kitten kept letting out the most pitiful mews and Hunter had to stop Amity from opening the carrier multiple times on their walk when she wanted to comfort the little thing. If the kitten jumped out and ran off they wouldn't find it again.

"Are you gonna adopt them?" Hunter asked as they walked through the door.

"I dunno. I'm not allowed to have a pet."

"Right. Your mom's a bitch."

"No, she just says that pets are distractions and they'll make it more difficult for me to focus."

"I'd say the opposite, actually. Flapjack helps me concentrate." He waved at the receptionist, who smiled broadly at him. Quite a change from when he'd come in with his bird.

"Flapjack is a cardinal. Not a cat. Cats shed everywhere and scratch up the furniture and kill things."

"Is that you or your mom talking?"

"Mom."

"What do you think?"

"I think cats are adorable little fluffballs who just need to be trained not to do things they're not supposed to. And I'd love to adopt this one."

"Well, then, let's get them checked out," Viney stated, coming into the waiting area. "Hey, Hunt!"

"Viney."

"Haven't seen you since the Glandus match. You avoiding me?"

"More like avoiding everyone on the team after the penalty thing." Viney picked up the carrier and opened it, holding the cat on her forearm.

"Everyone but Willow, you mean." She winked at him and he felt his face heat up.

"I'm second-in-command, I have to communicate with her."

"Through cuddles."

"Hey!"

Amity started cackling as they went into the exam room.

So far, their trip with the Glandus kids had been a relative… okay experience.

Gus was still surprised that Camila had let Vee come along, considering how protective that the Nocedas were of their youngest family member. He'd heard mention of some incident in the past but he'd never pried further; it seemed like something that had really affected her.

Now, though, he had to deal with Vee having her first big crush while her siblings were off on their own adventures for the day—Hunter with Amity for something about a cat and Luz on her own with some research mission. And so far, things had been okay. Vee was still pretty quiet with talking to Gavin and Angmar and even Mattholomule, but she lit up around Bria, who seemed to drink in the praise of the youngest member of the group in a way that made Gus slightly uncomfortable.

"These ruins are so cool," breathed Vee, touching a broken-down wall.

Oh, and there was the fact that their destination was a historically-significant one.

That, too, was making him slightly uncomfortable.

"You like history stuff, Valentina?"

"Kinda, yeah. My sister's super into it and she tells me all kinds of weird history stories like how they used to punish witches back in the day."

Great, she was rambling.

"We heard about this place from Matty's brother last summer," Angmar stated, sitting down on a fallen column. "There's supposed to be some cool relics or something here."

"Steve checked this place out earlier this year," Mattholomule said with pride. "He works at the museum with Lilith Clawthorne and they documented it or some stupid shit like that, but they took all the cool stuff with them when they left."

"Aw, what a shame," Bria sighed.

"The ruins are still cool," Vee insisted. "They must be from the eighteenth century. Maybe even the seventeenth!"

"It's obviously sixteenth!" snorted Mattholomule.

"There weren't English settlers in this area in the sixteenth. Virginia as a colony wasn't settled until the seventeenth, and given that Bonesborough is a coastal area, it would've been prime real estate for anyone looking to carve out their own little slice of the new world."

"Cool. How old are you again?"

"I turned eleven this past July."

"Oh, awesome!"

They all looked to see Gavin rip something out of the ground.

"Check it out—it's a tombstone!"

Alarm bells began blaring in Gus's ears.

"Uh, maybe put that back?"

"Why? Whoever's dead here's been dead too long to care!"

"This is a historical site," Vee stated bluntly. "You can't just go tearing it apart—it has to be—"

"It's probably some dead white guy who owned slaves, anyway," Bria interrupted. "Why should we respect his grave?"

"It says 'Cynthia Mulholland, Mother of Three' on it."

"Her grave, then." Bria shrugged. "It doesn't matter, like he said. They don't have any relatives left who actually remember. Why care about a dead person if you can't even remember them?"

Gus saw a shattered look on Vee's face, then her eyes filling with tears before her face hardened.

"So. By your logic, I shouldn't care about my dad? Who died when I was too young to remember him?"

There was a noticeable chill in the air that didn't come from the October weather.

"That's different. Your dad's been dead for, what, ten years?"

"Nine."

"Nine years. She's been dead for hundreds. I bet it would look great in my room."

Vee grit her teeth and suddenly, Gus was reminded that she had two older siblings and a mother who could and would commit murder or at the very least serious bodily harm to keep her safe. The Nocedas had protective tempers, and for a while he'd assumed Vee was the exception to the rule. Apparently not, if this was anything to go by.

"If you take the tombstones, I'll call the police."

"They won't do anything." Bria's once-kind smile had turned into a venomous smirk. "We're from Glandus. We're the school where you're expected to pull shit like this. You're a goody-two-shoes from Hexside. It's such a shame—I thought you were pretty cool for a fifth-grade baby."

"Sure. I'm the baby for calling the police when seeing other people desecrating a grave. Not the people desecrating graves to get decorations for their rooms."

Gus chuckled.

"Nice one, Vee."

"And besides, I've heard about this place from Lilith, actually."

All eyes were on her.

"I know better than to touch all this. She's been cursed ever since she took those relics, nothing but bad luck." There was sheer terror in her voice. "Taking things from the Looking Glass Graveyard is inviting the curse into your lives."

Angmar was shaking a bit.

"Come on, you're just messing with us now. I'm sorry you have a dead dad and daddy issues, but that's no reason to make up a curse."

"So you're gonna test it."

"Test what? There is no curse."

A column nearby fell over, very nearly hitting Gavin and making him drop the tombstone he was holding. His eyes widened with panic as he backed away.

"Bria, maybe she has a point…"

"Curses aren't real! God, all of you are so fucking stupid."

"I think she's right and we should leave this place alone. I heard about Lilith Clawthorne's streak of bad luck—I don't want anything to happen to my butterflies!" Angmar begged.

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping sound, as if something was coming for them through the trees. Gus felt himself shaking and grabbed Vee's arm. She seemed just as terrified as Mattholomule clung to the two of them.

"It's… it's just the wind!" Bria insisted.

"I'm getting out of here!" wailed Angmar, running off. Gavin was right on his heels, and Bria let out a frustrated roar.

"YOU FUCKING COWARDS!"

She snapped her head towards Vee, then got closer and grabbed the front of her jacket, lifting her in the air with one hand and slamming her back against a tree.

"Listen, you little shit. I'm not as gullible as those two." She reeled a fist back, ready to punch her.

"Touch me and you'll have the unholy wrath of House Noceda on your head," Vee told her. "And you don't wanna end up like the last guy who had it. It's another curse entirely."

Bria shook with rage, then dropped Vee to the ground.

"Little bitch."

And just like that, the Glandus kids were gone.

Nothing emerged from the trees, so the three Hexside students let out a collective sigh of relief. Vee staggered to her feet, Gus and Mattholomule both rushing to help her.

"I'm gonna feel that tomorrow," she sighed, stretching.

"Nice job remembering the curse, Noceda," Mattholomule complimented. "How'd you think of it so fast?"

"It was easy when I was making it up."

Gus let out an impressed whistle.

"Wow, you're really something."

"Those improv games at drama club came in handy, I guess." She shrugged with a grin. "Plus, you know, if any of them laid a hand on me, they'd really have to deal with the wrath of House Noceda."

"What's the deal with that, anyway?" Mattholomule asked.

"It's a really long story, and I don't really wanna talk about it. Anyway, let's get out of here."

Mattholomule gave her an affectionate punch on the shoulder as the three of them started walking.

"You're pretty cool for a baby fifth-grader."

"And you're not as annoying as Luz said you were."

"You know, with that performance, I'd say you'd nail Juliet," Gus commented. "Still not gonna try out?"

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. It's my choice, isn't it?"

"And your crush on Bria?"

"Crushed." Her face fell and he patted her shoulder.

"It'll be okay."

Amity felt a slight hint of panic as she searched for Ghost.

Her new kitten had been given a clean bill of health by Dr. Noceda (including being free of fleas) and a vaccination schedule had been put into place. From there it had just been a matter of sneaking Ghost into the house, a task that was easier done than said with her parents' schedules. Her father was home, but he was in his lab. Her mother was off at a conference with some of the investors. And the twins… well, they wouldn't rat her out about her kitty, anyway.

Upon leaving the clinic, Amity had gone to the pet store and bought a few toys and some food. Ghost had taken the opportunity while Amity was setting them out at the house to escape her room and wander the manor. Which was a very dangerous idea if Ghost wanted to remain a member of the household in secret.

"Psst! Ghost!" she hissed in a low tone.

She crept downstairs, praying that Alador was still in his lab and that Ghost had just been curious about something and that she'd find her kitty just fine.

Instead, she found her father dozing on the couch. With Ghost making herself right at home on his lap, curling into a little ball. Amity cursed her luck. How could she move Ghost out of harm's way without waking up her father and letting him know she'd snuck a pet into the house?

In her hesitation, she didn't notice Alador waking up and noticing the little white ball of fluff on his lap.

"Hello? Where did you come from?"

Amity froze.

No. Dad, don't, please!

Instead of picking up the kitten by the scruff and declaring it a filthy creature like Odalia would have, Alador scratched Ghost behind the ear and Amity could hear her fur-baby purring like a motor.

"Dad?"

"Oh, Mittens, we have a little intruder." He glanced down at the cat again. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Please don't tell Mom! I found her outside and she's clean, I promise, I took her to the vet and everything already! Her name is Ghost and I really wanna keep her!"

He hummed for a moment, picking up the kitten ever-so-gently and placing her in Amity's arms.

"I have no problem with you having a cat, to be honest. They're clean animals despite the shedding, and studies show having one is good for anxiety." His face softened and Amity felt confused. "Goodness knows this family has enough of that."

"So… I can keep her?"

"Yes, but she's your responsibility."

"I know. I was already planning to take care of her by myself."

"Just… try to keep as little cat hair in your mother's spaces as possible."

She nodded, then hugged her kitten, who let out a mew.

At least her dad was on her side.

Luz let out a sigh as she walked towards home.

Another day at the library, another dead-end in her project.

Her mind reeled with the articles she'd combed through about Phillip Wittebane, the records she'd scoured to try and find any semblance of wrongdoing in his life. But without access to a police database, all she had were public accounts. Public accounts that depicted him as the complete opposite of what she'd been told by Darius and Eda. It made her blood boil to know someone like that shared DNA with her brother, someone who had made it so Hunter had to leave his hometown and travel across several states to come live with them in Connecticut.

Researching Caleb and Emily Wittebane was similarly unfruitful, but at the very least she now knew that Eda and Lilith were Emily's cousins and Hunter had Clawthorne blood in him. Their fates had been covered in the papers for a few weeks after their deaths and from there, the only mention of the case was that the investigation was being put on hold about a year after it started.

…they were murdered. Fourteen years ago. It's a cold case from what I've gathered just from articles online. They have no idea who did it.

Hunter's words she'd overheard at the sleepover echoed in her mind.

Eavesdropping was wrong. She knew it was wrong. But she'd been worried about Hunter for the two weeks before the sleepover and to hear him confess his worries to Willow… it made her heart feel heavy. She'd only listened in because she wanted to know what was wrong and he wouldn't tell her.

If Darius is right, Phillip had something to do with the murders. I just need… there's something missing. Some piece I'm not seeing.

For a moment, Luz felt a pair of eyes on her, and she turned around to see nothing. After a moment of searching, Luz shuddered and continued homeward.

To her surprise, Vee was already home from her trip, Gus and Mattholomule playing Smash Brothers with her in the living room. Or really, Vee was spectating and cheering Gus on.

"Hey, Vee! You're home early."

"Yeah, I'm over the Glandus kids."

"And your crush on Bria?"

"Crushed."

"Aw. Well, that's why they call it a crush. How'd she end things?"

"She just… wasn't as cool as I thought she was." Vee leaned back against the couch and smiled.

"Uh-huh."

"Dammit!" snapped Mattholomule as Gus's character took him out. "Nice, Augustus."

"Thank you!" Gus smiled broadly, and Luz let out a chuckle and headed up to her room.

At the very least, her baby sister had a good day.

Me: Oh, three thousand words or so is my limit.

Also me: Write a 4400 word chapter, I fucking dare you.

So long and thanks for all the fish!