Chapter 2

The next morning, everyone placed their luggage in The Mystery Machine while Daphne was double checking to make sure nobody forgot anything.

"I think that's everything." She said.

"Thanks, for letting come on this trip, Belle. I need a vacation from work." Flim Flam said.

"No problem. Anything for my friends and family. It's still a mystery on how I won, but I'm not worried about that right now."

"Do you have the directions to the island, Belle?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, it says here that it's in New Orleans. Maybe we can see the sights before we get to the island."

"That's a good idea, Belle. I always wanted to go back to New Orleans." Velma said as she put her luggage into The Mystery Machine.

"Y'all went to New Orleans, mom?" Tracy asked.

"Sure did and that is where they have some of the best food in the world."

Shaggy and Scooby's eyes lit up with delight.

"And to the best of my knowledge the best ghosts."

Shaggy and Scooby's attitude changed from delight to fright.

"Like, me and Scoob have changed our minds, we'll stay here instead."

"Come on dad, we all need this vacation." Billy said as they got into The Mystery Machine. Shaggy and Scooby were the last to get in and they were on the road to the interstate. Along the way to New Orleans, they solved various mysteries from a moat monster in an old castle to a werewolf in a local cemetery and soon had a whole collection full of masks in their mask organizer. They soon reached New Orleans and rested at the Andrew Jackson Hotel until morning. The next morning, they stopped at the local marketplace and looked around. Belle was looking around at jewelry when someone called her.

"Excuse me, miss?" The mysterious voice said as Belle turned around to see a woman standing in front of her.

"Yes? Who are you?"

"My name is Carlotta. I was wondering if you'd like to have your fortune told."

"Sorry, I don't have enough money."

"No worries, this one is for free. Come."

Belle followed Carlotta to her wagon. As they got in and took a seat, the crystal ball started to glow.

"Don't worry, I'm a real fortune teller. Tell me, what brings you to New Orleans, my dear?"

"I won this contest for an island resort located outside New Orleans. Here, I have the directions to it." Belle handed her the directions. Carlotta looked at the location and gasped in shock.

"My dear, you should not go there."

"Why not, Ms. Carlotta?"

"Because this island is cursed and has had a lot of disappearances over the last few hundred years."

"What kind of curse?"

"The curse is this, in the 1700s, villagers settled there until a pirate named Morgan Moonscar landed on the island to bury his treasure and as he did, he drove the islanders into the bayou. 3 of the villagers called upon their cat god to get revenge and so, he changed them into cat creatures and they destroyed Moonscar and his crew. So now, every harvest moon, the cat creatures will drain the lifeforce of victims lured to the island to rejuvenate them for another few hundred years. Ms. Blake, I beg of you, don't go to the island or you'll suffer the same fate as those who never came back."

"Look, I didn't come all the way out here for nothing. I still want to go there and see for myself what you're telling me and if what you say is true, then we have a mystery on our hands."

"Very well." She said as she got up from her chair and handed Belle a necklace that was shaped like a cat. "Take this, it'll protect you and those around you from harm and is waterproof so you don't have to take it off when you take a shower. Never take it off."

"I won't. Thank you for the warning and the necklace. I better get going."

"Be careful." Carlotta said as Belle shut the door and walked back to the Mystery Machine.

Soon, Belle joined the rest of the gang back at the van and loaded up. Daphne pulled Belle aside for a second.

"Belle, where did you get that necklace from?"

"This woman named Carlotta gave it to me. I don't think we should go to this resort anymore."

"Why the sudden change? One minute you're all excited for this trip and the next minute-"

"I think we're in grave danger." Belle said all shook up. "She told me that the island we're going to is cursed."

"What do you mean cursed?"

"She told me that a pirate named Morgan Moonscar was killed on the island by cat people."

"Cat people? Morgan Moonscar? Is this from one of your scary stories? Look, once we get to the island resort, you'll forget all about cat people and whoever Morgan Moonscar is. Come on, we better get going or we'll miss the ferry." She said as she got into the passenger side of the van. Belle hoped that Daphne was right and got into the van and they were on their way.

As they drove to the ferry, she sat next to their built in computer and looked up Morgan Moonscar and found a vintage newspaper article from the 1700s that read:

"Morgan Moonscar, the nutorious pirate has mysteriously vanished and was last seen in the Louisiana bayou. The treasure and the body of Morgan Moonscar has still never been recovered or found."

"I have to save this." She said as she printed off the article and put it in her back pocket to show them later.

Soon, the gang reached the ferry gate and saw someone waiting for them.

"Are you the contest winners?"

"Yes, sir. And you are?"

"I'm Jack, the ferry captain, welcome to the Moonstar Island resort. Mr. Smithee told me to come and greet you since he couldn't make it to greet you personally."

"That's alright, as long we had someone to greet us." Velma said as they drove the van toward the ferry and placed it in park.

"Like, do you sell food on this ferry? We're starved." Shaggy asked Jack.

"Yes, if you'll follow me and don't worry, if we run out of food, there's plenty more at the resort."

"Excuse me, Jack? But, where is this island resort that we're going to?"

"They say that it's the darkest reaches of Davy Jones' locker but I don't believe that nonsense. You must be Isabella, the contest winner. May I have the honor of shaking your hand, Miss Blake."

"Sure." She said as she shook his hand. As she did, she backed away in shock.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Blake?"

"Yeah, everything's ok. I got to go help my friend with the bags." She said as she went to go find Flim Flam.

"Hey, Belle. Are you ok?"

"No, I'm not. Can we talk?"

"Sure." He said as he and Belle got into the van and Belle made sure that they weren't being watched and closed the door.

"Flim Flam, I think we're in grave danger."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you remember that shield that appeared out of nowhere when we were fighting the 13th ghost?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, something else started happening that goes along with it. When I shaking hands with Jack, I saw something that shocked me."

"What was it?"

"I saw him but it wasn't him. I think he's a cat creature Carlotta warned me about."

"Who's Carlotta?"

"She was a gypsy I saw when we were in the marketplace. She told me about a curse that inhabits the island."

"Sounds like we've got a mystery on our hands. But what about the vision? How do you know it happened?"

"I had this feeling that I've never felt before."

"I have a theory and bare with me on this, I think you might be a witch. I mean think about it, the shield, the vision. How could anyone do that if they're not a witch."

"If what you say is true, then there might be more to this then we think."

"Maybe. Since we're talking in private, there's something I would like to ask you."

"Yes?"

"First off, I got your note."

"What note?"

"The note you gave me when we were in the Himalayas."

"Oh, yeah. What about it?"

"I just want to say, I love you too and would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Really? I say yes. You've just brightened my day. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Come on, we better join the others."

"Right. If we do have a mystery on our hands, will you solve it with me?"

"Absolutely." He said as he gave Belle a kiss on the cheek and walked up to the captain's quarters. "Hey, cap. When do we reach the resort?"

"Not long because we're here." Jack said as Belle and Flim Flam looked outside the window to see the island in front of them. Belle and Flim Flam exchanged looks of worry at each other as they approached the island.