After hearing some wailing noises, the gang bolted from the cellar the moment Victor was gone, getting back to their rooms without trouble.
~~~
"A cat?" Max questioned in disbelief at breakfast the next day.
Amber nodded. "Mhm, an adorable black cat. We're keeping it in our room."
"And you think that was making the wailing noise last night?" Fabian asked.
"Mhm! Meowwwww, meowwwww." Amber mimicked the sound.
Just then, Victor came in, he seemed to be looking around for something. He paused and scowled. "Stop making that dreadful noise." And then before he left, he looked at them again. "Why were you making that noise exactly?"
"Vocal exercises." Amber told him simply.
He nodded stiffly and stormed out.
"It's obviously Victor's cat." Nina told them. "He kept it down in the cellar and it escaped, so he's looking for it."
"Speaking of which, I'm going to bring kitty some milk." Amber poured a bowl of milk and headed out of the room with it.
Patricia walked in. "So, though anymore about what I said?"
"Yeah, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say." Nina told her.
"In private." Patricia gave Fabian and Max a look.
Max frowned. "Sorry, but I can't leave. Whatever involves the locket involves me too."
Patricia went to protest but Nina spoke up. "It's true. Max's ring goes with it, they're supposed to be kept together." Max held up her hand to reveal the ruby ring as Fabian left to give them privacy.
At this, Patricia conceded. "Very well."
Patricia explained that she had a friend who was interested in items like theirs and that it could be worth thousands, if not millions of pounds and that she wanted to borrow the locket for confirmation. But what the two found most interesting is that apparently this friend of hers is an expert on things to do with Egypt.
Nina said she'd think about it, and headed upstairs to see Amber.
~~~
"You're out of your mind." Max told her as they walked through school.
Nina sighed. "Look Patricia can be mean but I don't think she wants to actually hurt us, and this guy might be able to give us information on the locket and the ring. Come on, tell me you aren't curious."
Fabian bit his lip. "I don't like it...it just feels like such a big risk..."
"How about this, we leave the ring and locket with you?" Nina suggested with a smile, looking at Max for confirmation.
Max sighed with a small smile. "Yeah, I guess that could work."
"R-Really?" Fabian looked incredibly moved. "Are you sure?"
Max chuckled, slipping the ring off her finger. "I wouldn't trust anyone else." She held it out to him.
Fabian tried to take it, but he yelped in pain and dropped it. Their eyes widened.
"I-It burns!" He exclaimed; eyes wide. "I-I can't touch it..."
Max picked it up and it felt fine. "I suppose...it'll only work for me?"
"What about the locket?" Nina asked, holding it out to him. Fabian hesitantly touched it and was surprised that he could take it just fine.
"Strange... I wonder what the difference is." Max frowned, placing the ring back on her finger.
Nina bit her lip. "Well, the locket is the thing that does everything, so I think we'll be okay. Besides, it seems somebody couldn't take the ring even if they wanted to."
~~~
They followed Patricia out into the woods, but were shocked to find Victor dragging the man they spotted visiting Sarah the other day into a truck.
"It's Rufus...Rene, whatever." Patricia shook her head.
Max's eyes widened in realization. "No way..." She paled.
"What is it, Max?" Nina looked at her curiously.
"T-That's my uncle!" She told them in shock, making their eyes widen.
~~~
They all sat around the table later that evening. "So you all saw him visiting Sarah?" She asked.
"Yeah, she's the one who gave us the locket and ring." Nina nodded.
Fabian frowned. "I don't understand, Max you said this man was your uncle?"
She nodded seriously. "Rufus Zeno...my family completely iced him out though, like ten years ago. I haven't seen him since but I have pictures. He looks just like he did when those photos were taken though, guess age has been well to him." She told them.
"Do you know why your family iced him?" Fabian asked curiously.
She shook her head. "I have no idea. I tried to ask before, but my family would always shut me down. Nobody wanted to talk about him. His name became taboo."
"I wonder why they would do that..." Nina frowned.
Max slammed her fist down on the table. "Well whatever the reason, I need to speak to my uncle. He might know something about-" She cut herself off, realizing she still hadn't told any of them her true reason for being here.
"About?..." Patricia trailed off.
Max took a deep breath. "About my brother's disappearance." Their eyes widened. "Two years ago, my brother went to our school, but it was like he completely vanished without a trace, he never even showed up on his first day! And my family doesn't even seem to care, it's like they've accepted he's gone...but I'm not going to stand for it."
They all looked at her with pure shock.
She swallowed hard. "That's...the real reason I came to this school, was to search for clues about my brother."
Nina placed a hand over hers. "I'm so sorry Max..." She told her softly. "But...we're going to help you find him." Her eyes widened.
"Well yeah, you can't just tell us all that and expect us not to help." Amber grinned.
Fabian nodded with a smile before his face turned more serious. "But we have more to worry about as well, such as those recordings. Let's say it really was Victor who we heard."
"That would make him roughly 120." Max frowned.
"Right, and remember when we spotted him down in the cellar? He was drinking something, and toasting life." Fabian told her.
Nina's eyes widened. "You think he's drinking some sort of...elixir that's keeping him young?"
"This is mad!" Patricia exclaimed. "How does this all connect? To Joy, Rufus, Max's brother?"
"The cat?" Amber added. The black cat had escaped earlier that day.
Just then, Victor walked in. "Ten o'clock is fast approaching."
They all hurried off to bed.
~~~
During class, Alfie raised his hand and interrupted. "I thought we were going to be dissecting rats this week, Mr. Sweet?"
"Gross. I think experimenting on animals is cruel and unnecessary, especially experimenting on cats." Amber chimed in, making them freeze.
Mr. Sweet chuckled. "I don't think anyone is experimenting on cats, Amber."
"How do you know? What if somebody was trying to make, I don't know, just off the top of my head, and elixir or life or something?" She asked.
Max buried her head in her arms on the table, groaning softly as Fabian pinched the bridge of his nose and Nina and Patricia looked horrified.
Mr. Sweet chuckled awkwardly. "Well, um, some alchemists in the Middle Ages did devote their lives to searching for such an elixir. I'm sure they experimented on animals as part of their quest. Now, let's get back to the Electrical Charge Flow." He continued class as was.
~~~
When class was over, Max grabbed Amber by the collar of her shirt. "You. Are. Dead!" She hissed.
"Don't hurt me, I'm only pretty!" Amber cried.
Nina huffed, breaking them up. "What were you doing in there?" She groaned.
"It's called research. Victor is experimenting on the cat." Amber insisted.
Fabian frowned. "We need to tell someone. This is getting too big to deal with alone. Who can we trust?"
"Jason?" Nina suggested.
"No!" Patricia scowled.
"Trudy?" Max shrugged.
Patricia frowned. "Possibly."
"Look, we need to rescue the cat before it's too late. Nina you have to let us in." Amber insisted.
~~~
While Patricia and Amber were going down to the cellar to search for the cat, the others were at school trying to figure out the numbers on the ring.
"We should've all gone down there." Nina sighed.
"It's way too risky." Max told her as Jerome walked in.
He frowned. "What's risky?"
Fabian hid the ring and went back to looking at the paper of numbers.
"What is that?" He asked.
"A math problem." Fabian lied.
"Can I have a try?" Jerome asked.
"No." Fabian quickly replied.
Max frowned. "Wait." They both looked at her. "...Give it a go." She told Jerome, making Fabian's eyes widen.
Hesitantly, Fabian handed Jerome the paper and he looked it over.
"1, 2 and 9." He told them.
"Reasoning?" Max questioned.
Jerome shrugged. "They're the numbers that are featured the most, though I have no clue what the problem is." When they all looked shocked, he smirked. "Five pounds please."
"Get lost." Fabian scoffed.
Jerome crumbled up the paper and tossed it, making them scowl.
Just then Patricia and Amber rushed in. "Guys, Trudy's going to help us!"
"Help you with what?" Jerome snapped.
They all went quiet.
"And the plot thickens as they say." He commented.
Soon the room filled up for class. And Patricia and Amber filled the others in, about how they discovered the cat was stuffed and how they told Trudy a bunch of what they knew.
"We need to decide on a subject matter for the school play." Mr. Winkler told them when he arrived. "I was thinking we'd write our own, any ideas anyone?"
"I know. How about a story about a young girl who loses her parents in mysterious circumstances when they steal some treasure from an Egyptian pyramid? And then the girl is brought up by a weird guardian in a big, big house but then the guardian tries to steal the treasure and the girl has to try and stop him but then she gets help from her friends in the future and they find the treasure and the girl's really happy and the friends are very rich and they all live happily ever after." Amber suggested, stunning the entire class.
Max buried her face in her hands, praying to whatever God was out there that she would die in that spot.
"You know, it sounds promising. Why don't you write up an outline for the next session?" Mr. Winkler smiled.
Amber grinned. "I might need some help with that. Nina?" Nina just smiled weakly, realizing she had no excuse.
~~~
Trudy met the group later that evening in the living room, Victor showed up soon enough.
"Alright Trudy what is this about? What did you want to see me for?" He asked with a sigh.
"It's not really me, it's the students. See, they're all worried about this cat Amber found." She started simply. "They um, seem to think that you've...killed it."
Victor raised an eyebrow. "You think I've killed a cat, Trudy?"
"No, no of course not. It's just that...they all do." She explained awkwardly.
"And why on earth would I kill a cat?" He questioned.
"For your experiments in the cellar." Patricia hissed.
Amber nodded. "He even has the scratches to prove it!"
"Okay, there was a cat." Victor told them. "It was a stray I put in the cellar for safe keeping as it was my intention to call the animal sanctuary, however in the meantime it escaped and I have absolutely no idea where it is now."
"Liar, he killed it!" Amber hissed.
Trudy sighed. "Perhaps we could put all this behind us by taking a quick peek down in the cellar? Let them see for themselves."
"Are you questioning my version of events Trudy?" Victor asked coldly.
"No, no, it's just-" She started.
Victor huffed. "I am shocked Trudy. I am shocked and hurt by your obvious lack of trust."
"...If it puts the students' minds at rest..." She persisted.
Victor stood up with anger. "You want to see what's in the cellar!? Very well!"
He led them down to the cellar and they were shocked to find everything was put away, absolutely nothing creepy or suspicious was left out. And even more shocking, the cat was alive.
"Victor...I am so sorry..." Trudy scowled at them with hurt. "How could you set me up like that!?"
"We wouldn't do that!" Max insisted sadly.
"I-I saw it, it was dead!" Amber cried.
Nina grew desperate. "There was so much stuff down here!"
"Silence." Victor told them. "Trudy, it has been very nice working with you over the years. But after this fiasco I'm afraid I can no longer continue to do so. You're fired."
Their jaws dropped in pure horror.
God, what have they done?