Ivy was disappointed when Candela instructed another Officer to escort them back to the apartment.
She’d wanted to ask Jack more.
Not about the case…while it still spun in her mind, but about his sister. She and Clive didn’t always get along, and disagreed about more things than Ivy could count, but she could never imagine the rage Candela had directed toward Clive.
Clive told her he didn’t think Ivy had enough rage in her to be that angry at anyone.
She rubbed at the knot in her chest, staring at the dark ceiling. Anger burned in her. She could feel it rise with her every breath, but she kept it down. There was already enough anger in the world. Anger was loud and caused attention. If there was anything she’d learned from the OHS, the angry kids never ended well.
It was better to put on a joyful face, and stay out of the way.
Ping.
Ping.
Ping.
Ivy sighed, turning over to Courtney, who stared at her with her empty holes for eyes through the glass of the jar. “What?” Ivy said, sitting up, brushing back thick curls. “You need something, lil’ thing?”
Courtney continued pinging.
Ivy watched the glowing creature, resting her chin on her knuckle. “You know anything about Wraith Weed?” Ivy yawned. “You sure seemed to have a reaction to it in Mr. Pearce’s office.”
Ping.
Ping.
“Apparently, you can get paid by professors to get information from people. I mean, it didn’t really end well for that guy, but hey, if this Alvarez thing doesn’t work out, I can probably dodge a few Defenders.” 
Courtney didn’t seem interested. Ping.
She didn’t like the idea of dodging Jack though. She quite liked the Defender. He seemed to have a persistent smile, and even his methods had a gentle touch to them. When she’d pointed it out on their way back to the room, Clive had scoffed at it.
“Just why would a professor go to Alvarez about Wraith Weed, Courtney?” Ivy said, flopping back onto her back. “Maybe we should ask Jack when we see him next. We did promise Sylvia we’d visit.”
Ping.
“And why did the professor assume he could get the information more easily now that Alavarez is gone? Like, who is going to tell him?”
Ping. Ping. Ping.
“And why did the guy hide in the bush? You’d think that wouldn’t be very smart. Had someone attacked him?”
Ping!
Glass shattered. Ivy jumped up, muffling a scream in her hands, toppling off the mattress. She hit the floor with a thud, and a sharp pain jolted up the palm of her hand. The jar lay smashed to pieces on the floor.
Ivy sat up, her palm quickly dampening. She glanced down to the blood, her stomach churning. She wiped it off on her sweatpants, trying to ignore the sting.
Coutney only hovered over the mess for a moment before darting right through the door.
“Wait!” Ivy scrambled to her feet, throwing the door open. 
Courtney didn’t wait for Ivy to follow.
Ivy clutched her cut hand to her chest, and raced right after the creature. The halls were dark and lit by the cool moonlight, casting shadows through the windowed ceiling and the spiral steps. Ivy didn’t think it was fair she had to run down the steps when all Courtney had to do was fly down in a mocking fashion.
Further and further.
They were reaching the ground floor.
Ivy’s heart leapt. No. Would Courtney go for the lobby? Once she was out in the open, there was no getting her back. What would happen if anyone saw the glowing creature?
What about the Officers standing guard outside!
“Courtney!” Ivy said in a harsh whisper. 
She jumped over the final step, nearly tripping over her feet, slamming into one of the tall potted plants with a bang. Ivy froze as it echoed up through the apartment.
She braced herself.
At any moment, Stedman could march out, stop the OHS kid standing in the forbidden-to-lurk-in first level, and that was the end of it.
Courtney hovered over the fountain, staring at Ivy. Ivy gave Courtney a disapproving shake of her head, creeping forward. Maybe if she moved slowly…
Courtney shot off and Ivy’s heart dropped as she watched the creature go right through the door labeled ‘BASEMENT’ and a hologram hovering over the handle to keep out. The door glittered in the moonlight
Stedman was going to kill her if she found out.
But she wouldn’t, Ivy decided. She’d crept around the OHS well enough to visit Clive in the boy’s quarters. She’d never been caught before. She always managed to pull it off. She took a deep breath and ran for the room, slipping her hand behind the holographic warning. She held her breath and pressed her hand against the handle, the sensor clicking and the door creaking open.
Ivy slipped into the door, not daring to close it. She let out a relieved breath before almost choking on the musty smell. She frowned, seeing a long row of concrete steps leading down into the dark.
“Courtney?” 
Her voice echoed back. 
That little creature was going to get a scolding once Ivy found her.
Ivy strode down the stairs, feeling the wet of concrete underneath her bare feet. She ran, happy at least to know there was still light from the door behind--
Ivy slammed into a wall.
She stumbled back with a groan, rubbing her face, her cheek growing damp.
Right. Her hand was still bleeding.
She tried to wipe it off on her pants, and ran her hand along the wall. The hall turned, another set of steps.
And further away from the light.
Think about Courtney. The poor, naughty thing is probably so lonely down there.
Another deep breath, and Ivy ran down the steps. A low glow seeped from the bottom of the steps. Ivy narrowed her eyes at the end of the hall, now dimly lit, turning into another room. She slowed her pace.
Was someone down here?
She couldn’t hear anyone.
Ivy pressed her back against the wall and crept down the stairs. The light was cold, the only sound being the drip of a leaky pipe. 
“Hello?” Ivy called out.
The light suddenly dimmed, a crash following.
Ivy jumped into the doorway, balling her fists and bracing herself in a sloppy fighting pose she’d seen in a media film. 
No one was there.
But there sure was a whole lot else.
Ivy gasped, seeing the room crammed with tables, toppled over shelves, and vials crashed and broken on the floor. Monitors were set up along the wall, long abandoned and thick with dust. But the smell was awful. Something of chemicals mixed with decay.
Vines spouted out of jars, growing out onto the floor…of Wraith Weed. That plant again.
It wasn’t a coincidence anymore
Courtney hovered over a table, watching Ivy with mocking eyes. Ivy stormed to the little creature. “What are you thinking?” she said, putting her hands on her hips as she towered at the creature.
Courtney slowly turned away from Ivy.
Ivy hoped it was from shame.
She scanned the room for something to contain Courtney in. There was plenty of glass in the room, which seemed to keep Courtney contained pretty well. Was there anything big enough? 
Her eyes stopped, seeing a vial, shattered on the table…a liquid, still wet, dribbling off the edge. Ivy frowned, taking a step closer. A black handmark was planted beside it.
The liquid was familiar.
The coloring oddly familiar…
…to the blood on her hand. Her eyes drifted further till she met a shadowy figure lying still on the floor.
She jumped back, her heart hammering against her chest.
A chill ran down her spine, a breeze drifting through. 
She took a deep breath.
It was nothing. Just a little creepy red in a broken vial and---
Her eyes flew open. A breeze in a basement.
A scream suddenly tore through the ground, tearing through her. Ivy dropped to the ground, clamping her hands over her ears, as the inhuman sounds raged.
It came to a sudden stop, her heart pounding in its place.
She very slowly removed her hands from her ears, holding her breath. Lifting a foot to the ground, she turned behind her.
Courtney was gone.
Nothing--
A blinding light shot from above. Ivy cried out, dashing under the table. The light was flooding a  transparent light white shapeless mass like Courtney with two gaping holes too low to identify as eyes, but almost flicked with human movement as it set itself to the floor….almost watching her.
Ivy’s heart hammered in her chest, frozen, as she watched it, its glow-breathing. Perhaps it was like Courtney. Harmless. Just bigger.
She’d just need a really big jar.
Trembling, she raised her hand out. “H-hello--”
The creature’s shrill ringing went off without warning, flooding for her. Ivy couldn’t see. Everything was white. Her eyes stung. Her hand felt like it was on fire. She cried out, grasping for anything with her working hand.
Words refused to come.
The pain grew stronger, the fire dimmer. Numb, numb--
She felt something good under her fingers. It was weak, flimsy. A stupid plant.
She didn’t have much of a choice. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t feel. It took every will in her body, and ache in her chest, to thrust out a weak throw.
And then everything flew back to color.
Ivy collapsed to the ground, the creature writhing in screams  as it dove away from the branch of Wraith Weed Ivy had thrown. Her heart skipped a beat. Just like in Pearce’s little shop. Courtney had been terrified over it.
Ivy clutched her throbbing hand to her chest, and grabbed back the limp piece, thrusting it out. A shuddered laugh of relief bubbled as the creature backed, its glow dimming and clouding with a rage.
Her hand spiked in pain.
She cried out, pushing herself further.
The creature screeched again, echoing through the entire basement before flooding up the steps.
Ivy didn’t let go of the branch.
She’d never let go of the branch. Never again. Her sweat was cold, and her heart hadn’t stopped beating, her lungs scrambling to figure out how to breathe again.
She slowly moved her pained hand from her chest, uncurling her clenched fist. The cut from the glass was rimmed in black, creeping out along the veins in her hand.
This wasn’t happening.
Ivy slowly rose to her feet, her body shaking as she held the branch of Wraith Weed out in front of her. She couldn’t look at the scorched black hand print on the table. She couldn’t look at the rest of the room.
She didn’t want to know what she’d find.
Ping.
Ivy nearly cried out, spinning around to see Courtney floating in a small overturned jar on the floor. Ivy hesitated. Did she dare touch Courtney after she saw what that thing could do?
How had it grown so large and painful when Courtney seemed so tiny?
What were they? Where were they coming from? And why had it been in Alvarez’s basement?
Courtney stared at Ivy with her blank little eyes.
Ivy knelt down, setting the branch on the ground. She used her good hand to turn the jar upright. She’d reuse the jar lid in her room. Her priority was getting upstairs.
She raced up the steps, rushing out the door, which was cold to the touch.
She stopped, turning to the door. No wonder it glistened in the moonlight.
It was glass.
Glass is what contained Courtney.
The door was meant to keep the creature inside. Ivy’s stomach sank.
And she’d let it out.

“Clive!”
Clive was jolted awake from his sleep. The light was turned on and he hardly had a moment to recover before he was slammed into, Ivy throwing her arms around him and not letting go.
He held onto her, his eyes adjusting to the light and panic of her breath.
“Whoa! Ivy! Are you okay?”
She clung to him for a long moment. He didn’t push her further, just gently  cradling his sister in his arms as she caught her breath on his shoulder. He hadn’t seen her like this in years. So panicked and flustered.
“There are creatures,” Ivy finally shuddered.
Clive frowned. “Ivy, what are you talking about?”
She sat back up, grabbing Clive’s shoulders. “Down on the first floor!”
Clive’s mouth gaped. What had she done? “Where Stedman told you not to go?”
Ivy’s eyes welled with tears, as she nodded quickly. “Courtney got out and I went downstairs to find her. And there was Wraith Weed everywhere and then this giant creature came out of nowhere and I fought it off with--”
“Whoa, Ivy. Look at me.”
Ivy stopped, staring obediently into Clive’s eyes.
“Deep breath.”
She nodded, shuddering as she took in a big breath, her shoulders relaxing.
He knew his sister to be irrational, and ‘monster in a basement’ sounded pretty out there, but Ivy was never a liar. And that weird glowy blob was very much real.
“Where is it now?” he asked, seeing panic flood her eyes, glancing away.
“I-I let it out.”
She what? Clive didn’t say a word. He didn’t want to upset her more. 
“The Wraith Weed and these creatures are connected, Clive,” she said quickly, sitting back on her legs, setting her hands in her lap. One had a gardening glove over it. He didn’t question it. “Wraith Weed is connected to Alvarez, so what if the creatures are too?”
“Wait, hold up, I’m lost.” He frowned at her. “How exactly are the creatures and this…weed related?”
“The Wraith Weed seems to repel them.”
Clive’s eyes widened, cursing under his breath.
“Don’t talk like that.”
“Sorry, it’s just that--” He shook his head. He never thought his sister’s insistent rambling about modified plant history would come to this. “Weren’t these plants created to ward off the rumored supernatural during the war?”
“You don’t think the blob creatures were in the Earth--”
“No, no,” Clive laughed softly. He pursed his lips. “But what if they’re related?”
It was a stretch and he knew it. But it was the only explanation and lead they could possibly have. Alvarez was hiding something and it was related to Wraith Weed. They knew that for sure now.
But who would be interested in that sort of thing?
And enough to kidnap…or even kill someone over it?
Ivy didn’t blink as she stared at him for a long time. She finally shook her head and slipped off his mattress, going for the door. “I have questions for Jack.”
Clive scowled hearing the Defender’s name. “Him? Again?”
“What?” Ivy stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder with the first smile Clive saw all morning. “I get my answers, and you have a shift to make.”

Ivy was thankful Clive didn’t comment on the glove.
She had no idea how she could even begin to explain to him what had happened. She didn’t even know what had gone down. And he’d probably fret about it and claim she couldn’t do anything else to do with the investigation.
She wasn’t risking that.
This investigation was her shot at University. Her life long goal.
She wasn’t stopping just because a cut on her hand got magic-blob-infected. 
Clive had been given a fancy card by Candela that gave him authorization past the Defenders, which Ivy waved to with a beaming smile as they glared back at her.
Clive tugged at the scarf around his neck. Ivy swatted his arm. “It looks great!”
“It’s yours.”
“You wear the same two sweaters everyday,” she said, thinking of his stretched green and brown sweaters he religiously wore with no originality. “Can’t have Candela thinking you’re broke.”
Clive rolled his eyes. “Ivy, we are broke.”
She didn’t see why they absolutely needed to revel in that fact. She was sick of money being like some sort of defining factor recently. Not when blob monsters existed.
They approached the steps of the manor, and Clive took a deep breath as he pressed his hand against the sensor. 
Ivy saw her brother bite the inside of his cheek as the sensor loaded.
Employee Identified. Clive Bhasin.
How epic was that to hear? Employee. The aspect of being employed was sweet in Ivy’s mind, even though Clive looked more terrified out of his mind, his forehead shimmering with sweat, as the door slowly opened.
A servant, dressed in a similar old fashioned suit like Kyllian, stood waiting with a Defender. His eyes lit up with excitement, like he’d been just waiting for a kind of escape. 
“Mr. Bhasin?”
Clive raised his hand. “That would be me.”
“Perfect,” the servant breathed. “Mistress Alvarez will be awaiting your presence. And Ms. Bhasin, Sylvia’s tutor is being informed of your presence and will come to fetch you in a moment.”
Ivy gave a small curtsy. “Thank you.”
Clive didn’t even bother to roll his eyes. He glanced to Ivy nervously. She squeezed his hand, nudging him forward. 
“See you at lunch?” he breathed.
She nodded, and he exhaled and followed after the servant. That had been the time they would all settle down to discuss together their next course of action, but Ivy wasn’t sure she could wait. She sat at the last step of the staircase, tempted to peek into his bag at Courtney just in case the horrifying other creature wouldn’t be staring back at her.
She took a deep breath and tapped her foot against the marble floor.
“Miss Bhasin?”
Ivy jumped, leaping to her feet, turning to see the red headed butler standing on the top of the steps. 
“Kyllian?” she asked.
He nodded, his face blank. “Sylvia and her uncle request your presence.”
She forced a smile. “Let us go then, sir Kyllian?”
“It’s just Kyllian,” he said, with a turn on his heel, descending the steps in a quick but even manner. Ivy raced to catch up with him.
“Why are you so cold?” she asked, deciding it was better to be direct than bother with small talk.
“Why do you carry a suspiciously large bag around with you?” Kyllian countered.
Ivy frowned. “Fair. But there’s no reason to be suspicious.”
Kyllian shrugged. “I don’t know, lady Ivy. That sounds suspiciously like what a suspicious person would say.”
“Sir Kyllian, you must always assume innocence before proven guilty,” Ivy said, straightening her bag.
A smirk rose on Kyllian’s lips. “Do you have something to prove?”
“To prove being guilty for?”
“Perhaps.”
Odd question. “Do you?”
“Avoiding the question, Bhasin.”
“Well, so are you,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously.
Kyllian chuckled, turning the corner off of the step, quickening his pace in front of her. Ivy’s jaw dropped as she walked along the brown tile hall, looking through an enormous glass wall to a scenic pool towering over the empty wastelands, vines dangling down like a thin wall.
“Friend!” Sylvia’s voice echoed from the end of the hall.
“Why don’t I ever get such an enthusiastic greeting?” Kyllian grumbled.
Ivy pranced out in front of him. “Perhaps you need lessons.”
He raised a brow. “From you?”
She shook her head dismissively and ran toward the little girl who, before today, Ivy hadn’t spoken as much as a word to. Sylvia was practically jumping, grabbing Ivy’s hand with a small squeal.
“I like your earrings,” the child said, her eyes widening.
Ivy blinked, her gloved hand raising to touch her ears. “Thank you,” she said, surprised someone had noticed the small gold studs which had been part of the one and only package she and Clive had ever received from their estranged aunt. “It’s from my aunt. I don’t see her much.”
Or ever.
Sylvia nodded with a sense of understanding. “I don’t see *INSERT NAME* much either because Auntie said she got with the wrong guys,” Sylvia whispered loudly, as if it was a dastardly secret. “She had pink hair. I thought she was cool.”
Ivy frowned. “Oh really?”
“The Alvarez’s only daughter is a touchy subject with the mistress,” Kyllian said. “Especially when she got involved with something of her father’s business.”
At first, Ivy didn’t see much wrong with the handling of a few apartment homes when her heart skipped a beat remembering the basement. *INSERT NAME* couldn’t be involved in that, could she?
Something so horrible Ivy couldn’t even place the intention of?
She would have to tell Clive tonight.
Sylvia, without warning, jerked Ivy inside. Ivy’s jaw dropped. The room was enormous. Easily the size of their entire apartment, and more, decorated in a plastered brown with pink ribbon and accents on nearly every furnished piece, and a set of paper flowers, a stick of glue, and an overturned tube of glitter. 
“Sylvia, what did I tell you about the glitter?” Kyllian groaned.
Sylvia pouted, looking up to Ivy. “He doesn’t think the flower crowns need glitter to be magic, but he’s wrong.”
Ivy looked to Kyllian and nodded. “Oh yes, he’s very wrong. Glitter is very important.”

“Ivy Bhasin!”
The door slammed, Ivy spinning around so fast in the chair that was levels too small for her that she nearly toppled over, taking the coveted glitter tube with her.
“Uncle Jack!” Sylvia squealed, jumping up from her seat, grabbing a paper flower crown from their pile and racing to him. “I made this for you!”
The Defender blinked in surprise, taking the crown from her. “Thank you, Sylvie. That was very thoughtful of you.”
Sylvia beamed. “Try it on!”
Jack set the crown over his curls, glitter sprinkling into his hair. He coughed. “How’s it look?”
“Beautiful,” Sylvia said, nodding approvingly. “Do you want one, Clive?”
Jack stepped out to reveal Ivy’s brother cowering in the corner. “Maybe a later time. We have some things to discuss.”
“Way to crush a child’s dreams,” Kyllian sighed from the tiny chair opposite Ivy. He had already been subject to glitter, all in his red hair and freckled face. He didn’t look the least bit phased.
Clive didn’t hear Kyllian and it was probably for the best. He didn’t need any more grudges.
“Where are we meeting?” Clive said. 
“Is right here good enough for you?” Kyllian said, getting up from the tiny pink chair and gesturing to it with a flourish.
Clive raised a brow. “Is this guy part of it?”
“Kyllian Raz is a trusted member of my sister’s staff,” Jack said, taking the tiny chair, which didn’t suit his height. “He’s been on a few family secrets.”
Ivy glanced to Kyllian and his too knowledgeable brown eyes. Like Sienne*? She didn’t dare ask.
Clive took a seat in the other tiny pink chair, and Kyllian waved Sylvia off to go pay in an automated device in the corner of her room, which Ivy would have preferred to watch the projected ponies dance around the girl than this.
Kyllian settled in this one.
“Wraith Weed is a part of it,” Ivy blurted out as soon as she whipped her head back toward them.
Clive, Kyllian, and Jack all stared at her.
“What?” Kyllian said.
“Ivy went into the basement at the apartment,” Clive explained, hesitantly meeting her eyes like asking for permission to continue.
Did they tell them about the creatures? It seemed like a lot to unload…and a lot to accuse Alvarez of.
“Are you guys using twin telepathy or something?” Kyllian broke Ivy’s train of thought.
“What?” Ivy frowned. “We can do that?”
“No,” Clive groaned. “It’s just a silly stereotype. The point is…”
“There are creatures in the basement.”
“Ivy!”
“What? I panicked!”
“There’s what?” Jack frowned.
“Nothing. She’s joking,” Clive laughed nervously.
Ivy unbuckled the bag, pulling Courtney out and slamming the jar on the table.
Kyllian went paler than he already was, and Jack blinked. “Holy cow. What is that?”
Courtney turned to face Jack, flipping upside down as she bobbed in the air.
“I have no idea,” Ivy said. “But we found her in Clive’s room. And when we went down to the basement, I found another one. Just this time--” Ivy swallowed. “--A lot less friendly.”
“I studied things like this in post-trial classes, but nothing like this,” Jack breathed, tapping on the glass, watching as Courtney followed his finger. 
“There are things like this?” Clive frowned.
“I mean, not exactly,” Jack laughed. “But yeah, supernatural things. There are these people called the Oquelite, and so much more we can’t begin to comprehend. But the Oquelite have a physical known form…this thing just is a blob.”
It felt like too much for Jack to just leave there. But it made sense he wasn’t panicking as much as Kyllian, who hadn’t blinked in a minute, was.
“Interesting and all, but what does this fantasy have to do with this glowly blob?” Clive raised a brow.
“There’s this thing called the Reawakening.”
“Let me guess,” Clive said, blowing glitter from his hand. “A magical prophecy created by elves riding glitter ponies.”
Jack laughed. “Where’d you get that idea?”
Clive frowned. 
“It’s a theory created by people who’ve studied these supernatural genetics since the EarthShaker. The theory that once was, is coming back. And coming back strong. Once was being…a supernatural world.”
“That sounds really out there, Sallow,” Kyllian said, rubbing life back into his eyes.
“The point is, this and those rapidly growing woods proves it,” Jack said, his eyes wide in fascination.
“How long has this theory been around?” Ivy asked.
“Since the EarthShaker.”
Ivy’s lips parted. “Like around Wraith Weed’s creation?”
Jack paused, his face hardening with realization as he turned to look at her. “Yeah. Around then.”
“So Wraith Weed wasn’t a failed project,” Ivy said, pressinged her hands against her cheeks. “They were preparing for a supernatural comeback. For this!”
“What was Alvarez’s connection to Wraith Weed?” Clive asked.
“He was part of a botany lecture group for years, but nothing like this.” Kyllian shook his head. “It couldn’t be, at least. What goal could Alvarez possibly have?”
“The creatures are extremely powerful. They seem to have the ability to kill,” she said, shuddering thinking of the blackened cut on her hand and the palm on the table. How bad had a creature destroyed someone to leave them that charred? And was the body still there?
“Alvarez doesn’t have a reason, or the character to kill,” Jack said, quick to his brother-in-law’s defense.
“But what if someone else does?” Clive said, his brows furrowing. “That professor who sent that guy yesterday. He was looking for information on Wraith Weed.”
“But we have no idea who this professor is,” Ivy said, with a frustrated sigh. “Where would we even find someone like him? Specifically interested in botany?”
“We could search the University?”
“They don’t like me,” Ivy said.
“And there are hundreds of professors and we have no way of knowing which ones are connected to Alvarez,” Clive groaned. “There has to be something.”
Clive quickly unraveled his electric Scroll, swiping the hologram screen up, his fingers racing excitedly over the keyboard. “What if there was?”
“What do you mean?” Jack frowned.
“Somewhere we could meet professors with relation to Alvarez?” Kyllian said, his eyes glimmering as he switched the screen to face them.
JOINED IN SCIENCE GALA - CELEBRATING OVER THREE DECADES OF PEACE 
“A gala?” Clive wrinkled his nose.
“A gala of people of science,” Kyllian clarified. “Hosted at Alvarez’s Vvictorian complex apartments. Apparently, his disappearance didn’t cancel the event, but he’s the one who sent the invites.”
Ivy’s heart skipped a beat. “You think we could get in and perhaps narrow down the suspects?”
Kyllian gave her a smirk. “Exactly, lady Ivy.”
“But how would we even get in? None of us are invited, or even scientists,” Clive said.
Ivy cleared her throat.
“Ivy, you hardly count.”
“Ivy’s the best shot we have,” Jack said, with a hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “Besides, Kyllian is an employee of Alvarez and already has clearance in the building. And they can’t exactly deny Isaias Sallow.”
“Why not?” Clive snorted.
“I’m his wife’s brother.”
“She doesn’t seem too fond of you. And your name isn’t Jack?”
Jack shrugged. “Legally it is…now,” he said, his eyes darting for a moment. “But Isaias is what my family calls me, and what I’m mostly known by.”
“Why did you--”
Clive shook his head and Ivy dropped the subject. 
“So it’s final then,” Kyllian said. “We send me and Ivy in undercover to this gala?”
“A gala?” Sylvia squealed, looking up from her game. “Ivy needs glitter!”
Ivy smothered a laugh. “I like that idea.”
“You and Ivy?” Clive said, suspiciously. “Why not me and Ivy?”
“We’ll need you surveying elsewhere,” Jack said. “Besides, you couldn’t pull off the scientist act.”
Ivy laughed, as Clive deadpanned Jack.
“Fine.”
“It’s final then,” Jack said. “The gala is only a few days from now. For now? We plan.”


​

“Hey! I’m running this case!” Jack was pushed out in front of the auto, trying to turn to the Defender holding a literal weapon to his head.
“Who are you?” The older officer who’d dragged Clive out frowned.
Ivy’s hands dropped, and Clive prepared to throw himself. Before anyone could react, she ripped the pin off of Jack’s jacket. “Officer Jackson Sallow,” she said, holding it out the officer.
Clive mouthed her to stay still, but she ignored him.
The Officer took the pin. “Oh, right, the kid.”
Jack forced a smile and shrugged. “Are we good now?”
“You might be running this operation, but you aren’t executing it. Proper clearance must be given—“
“Jack!”
Clive whipped around to see a small girl bounding down the large driveway. She was young, maybe seven by the looks over it, with two braids hardly containing her dark brown curls and pink glasses bouncing on her nose, and the most bright and dazzling green eyes he’d ever seen. “Don’t touch him, Officer!”
She tore fearlessly through the Defenders, and threw herself into Jack’s arms, his face going blank. “Silvia, what are you doing?”
The little girl turned around fearlessly to what Clive assumed was the head of the Alvarez Manor security part of this whole mess of an investigation. “This is my uncle, Jack,” she said, with full confidence as she took the Officer’s hand. “And that is my best friend, Sparky.”
She grabbed Clive’s arm, pulling it down to hold his hand.
Ivy smothered a laugh.
Now it was Clive’s turn to ignore her.
The officer gave her a skeptical look.
“I invited them,” she said, batting her eyes. “Please don’t turn them away.”
“SILVIA!”
A boy had burst from the doors, his face red from running, and most likely from the stuffy suit he was wearing. His blazing red hair was untamed in short cut curls, freckles dominating his face, though they looked like they had been artificially tamed with a sort of makeup.
He didn’t stop running till he was at the little girl's side, loosening his color as he attempted to breathe.
“These are my friends! Right Kyllian?” Sylvia cast him a big smile.
The boy, seeming to be the younger girl’s servant of some sort, looked up bewildered to Jack, his face forehead scrunching with recognition, before his glance switched to Clive, then to Ivy, who gave him a kind smile, holding his gaze.
“Yes,” he said, once he seemed to have gathered his breath. “Mistress Syvlia’s friends.”
The Officer raised an eyebrow. “This is a crime-”
“Yeah,” Sylvia snapped. “It’s also my house.”
Kyllian deadpanned the Officer, shaking his head. He was a good foot shorter, but had no fear stepping in front of his charge. “Sir, it’s really not worth fighting with her.”
The Officer grumbled something under his breath. “You’re responsible,” he said, pointing to Kyllian, making his fist bump against his chest. “If anything goes wrong.”
Kyllian didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. “Yes, sir,” he said, with a nod.
The Officer stepped back, watching them with hard eyes. Clive held back a relieved sigh as Sylvia pulled him and Jack along. Clive now got a full view of the house. It was enormous, but he expected no less from a man of Alvarez’s esteem. It had enormous white pillars, carved out to unfamiliar swirls tha held up the roof. Enormous windows lined the first floor. Clive’s eyes stopped, seeing a multiple of them shattered. Defenders’ autos and Officers stood guard of it, planks of wood being applied by bots to cover the gaping hole...but not enough to hide the glaring scorch marks.
They rushed up the steps of the porch and burst through the doors.
Marble floors.
A huge chandelier that put the one at the apartments to shame. A staircase with a cold railing. Bookcases full of ancient-looking books.
Kyllian shut the door, immediately spinning on them, his entire freckles face red.
“What is Jackson doing here and who the he-”
“They can explain,” Sylvia said, taking a step back with a small smile.
“I’m Ivy, and this is my brother Clive,” Ivy said. “We’re here to investigate.”
Clive wanted to groan at how stupid she made that sound.
“You’re detectives?” Sylvia’s dazzling eyes grew wide.
“No.” Clive shook his head at her.
“We’re here to help. They offered, and I thought it’d be worth the chance,” Jack said, smiling to Kyllian who didn’t return it.
“We’ve had flocks of people show up,” Kyllian said, crossing his arms. “All for that silly reward Mrs. Alvarez put out. They all think they can—” He stopped himself, his eyes falling to Silvia.
“Yes! Fix the hole! Aunt says a pipe busted,” Sylvia said, proudly.
Kyllian’s eyes fell away.
Clive’s eyes widened, meeting with his sister’s with the same realization. The girl didn’t know. He swallowed hard.
“Yeah, Detective ... mechanics,” he said, sealing the empty silence.
“Who is this? Jackson?”
All five of them whirled around to a woman, her skin brown and hair swept up in a messy bun that didn’t match her icily assembled attire, standing on the steps, her face blank, her lips, which were painted red, open in a gasp.
“Auntie, look it’s Uncle, and these are the Detective Mechanics!” Sylvia exclaimed. “Ivy and Clive!’
The woman’s face twisted, pressing her lips together, a scowl beginning to vibrate her brow. Clive stepped forward. “We’re here to help,” he said, the word falling out before he could think of something better.
“Everyone’s here to help,” she said, cautiously stepping down with a scoff.
“Candela—”
“Not a word from you, Isaias!”
Clive frowned at Jack, who didn’t notice his look. The Officer quickly stepped toward his sister. “I know this has been distressing for you, but I promise I have this—”
Sylvia grabbed Clive. “But, Jack, he’s a Detective Mechanic. Auntie doesn’t need to be distressed anymore.”
Clive didn’t have the heart to crush her hopes right then, but he also wasn’t exactly thrilled when Candela’s glare settled on him. “Kyllian,” she said, summoning the red-head forward. “Take Sylvia to her room.”
Sylvia groaned. “But Auntie, I just met them!”
“They’ll play another time.”
Clive wasn’t sure of that.
Sylvia pouted, turning to Clive. “I’ll see you later, and we can make flower crowns,” she whispered before running off with Kyllian, who didn’t give them a second look.
“You aren’t any different from every other street boy who’s come barreling in here. I have no idea why my brother is pitying you,” she said, her voice heightening. “I’m sorry you’re in a poor financial state. I’m sorry you’re too lazy to just get a job, child, and get out of this mess.”
Clive felt his face heat.
Keep your cool.
“Candela, I know Horacio’s disappearance is stressful, but hear me out,” Jack stepped forward his sister.
“Hear you out? What do you know of hardship, Isaias?” She stepped forward, and Jack staggered back, his expression faltering. He clenched his fists.
“Cand—”
“Don’t lecture me in my own home,” she snapped, watching her brother flinch. Her eyes darted to Ivy. “Perhaps running back home to Mama would be better than consulting a few street scum you picked up on your way here, that seem to hardly be able to put themselves together enough to even hide—”
“No!” Clive snapped, stepping in front of his sister.
His voice echoed through the room. Jack and Candela froze.
He cursed himself. Was he stupid? The grievous woman looked about ready to kill him. Heck, she was probably at any moment going to scream for one of the Officers standing around.
“No?” Her brow quirked.
Jack’s eyes darted from Candela to Clive.
Clive held his face firm. “Ma’am. We’ve been outside for two days,” he said, praying she’d understand. “We’re from the OHS, and oh boy, I know hardship if that’s what you want. And that’s my sister you’re insulting without even having spoken to her.” He stepped to reveal Ivy, her face stricken. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “She’s the one who wanted to get Alvarez back.”
Ivy nodded. “I spoke to him last. We both are interested in Wraith Weed.”
Clive was about to scramble to cover his sister’s odd quip of information when Candela’s eyes widened. Clive couldn’t read the solemn expression that had rested on the woman’s face, as her eyes darted to Jack, who shifted closer to the two of them. She muttered the plant’s name under her breath, as she stepped forward, her eyes intent on Ivy.
“Was Alvarez a friend of yours?” Ivy said.
“I am Mrs. Alvarez,” the woman muttered through her teeth, with impatient agitation.
Ivy nodded politely. “I am very sorry.”
“I am sure you are. And now why does my little brother want me to entrust my reputation, my family, and my husband's life to two orphans with two days on their own?”
Geez. It’s been two days since our birthday. Maybe consider it a gift? This is why Clive left the talking to Ivy.
“Because we might be your only hope,” Ivy said. “We have a fresh view on the world. We could-”
“We’re observant,” Clive said.
“Ivy is very knowledgeable on botany, which I know Horacio had an interest in,” Jack stepped in quickly.
“Clive writes,” Ivy blurted out.
The doors behind them flew open with a bang. Clive scrambled out of the way. The main security Officer marched in. “Sallow!”
“You’re needed,” he grumbled.
Jack’s face lit up for a moment before a man was thrown at his feet. Clive staggered back as Candela stifled a cry.
“We found this man lurking on the premises,” a Defender said, stepping in the doorway, his hand on his weapon in his belt.
The man pushed himself up, breathing heavily, looking around the group with startled eyes...one of which was bruised. His hair had a gold tint to it...a style Clive didn’t think was popular.
“Interrogate him. Immediately,” Candela cried, now behind her brother, her face firm at the man whose hands were being locked in the magnetic cuffs behind his back.
“We can’t. We don’t have a lie detector. Unless you still have your scribe and digital recorder on you, we have to send him back to the base for the night,” Jack said.
“Do it now,” Candela demanded, her breathing heavy. “Before he has a chance to catch his breath...and let me get a—”
Jack grabbed his sister and pulled her back.
“The household scribe was killed during the blast,” the main Defender said.
Clive's eyes darted between the man staring at the voice muzzle hovering seconds from his face and Mrs. Alvarez, ready to shred Jack to bits.
“I can scribe!”
“What?” Jack said, with a frown.
“He’ll do!” Candela shoved Jack off of her. The Officer stared at her bewildered, exchanging a glance with Ivy. “Prepare a room!”
“Yes ma’am.” The man was hauled off, and Jack ran after them.
Candela spun on Clive, her fists firm in the folds of her skirt. “Impressive, boy. Stay smart and perhaps you will have a chance. You don’t want to see me vengeful.”


Clive spun the stylus in his fingers, letting the tip hit the tablet with a satisfying thud.
The room was large, and mostly empty, the walls still half painted, construction bots powered off in the corner. A grand piano sat in the corner by a large window, its cover fallen off to the concrete floor.
A few hover stools had been set into the room, and Clive was trying not to be distracted by the fascinating device that seemed to know exactly how he liked to sit and move. Which was preferable with his legs crossed, back straight, and head low enough to where he only had to move his eyes slightly between his subject and the screen.
Ivy was given permission to sit in the back, and to Clive’s surprise, hadn’t immediately started rocking back and forth in her hoverstool, and drooling over it in excitement. She sat hunched, her eyes firm on the man whose cuffs were stuck to his seat, and his eyes darting everywhere but anyone’s face. Two Defenders stood at his side, one with a recorder to be analyzed for lie detection later, and Clive in front of him to make sure the record was correct in case of destruction. And then there was Jack, who couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off his sister for more than a few moments.
Clive couldn’t blame the Officer; Candela looked like she would tear someone to bits as she stood firm in the doorway.
So far, they hadn’t gotten the man’s name, which didn’t prove to be too vital since they’d already taken a blood sample to identify his file. He didn’t look over twenty.
“Where are you from?” Jack asked. His voice was too gentle, and Clive was sure that’s why they were twenty minutes in and hadn’t received one valuable takeaway. He didn’t comment, just scribbled away on the tablet.
The man’s face hardened, glancing to the still unused taser in one of the guard’s hands.
“The faster we get this done, the faster we can prove your innocence.” Jack took a step closer.
“I came from the university,” the man spat out quickly, squirming as Jack moved in closer.
“How long have you been on the premises?”
Jack held the man’s gaze for a long moment until it fell. “Since yesterday evening.”
Candela scoffed. “Only a few hours short of the attack on Horacio. He’s lying, Isaias!”
What reason did the man have to lie by a few hours?
Whatever soothing Jack had done was immediately erased, as the man stiffened to Candela’s voice.
“Who sent you?”
“A professor,” he answered shortly.
“No name?”
“I don’t know his real name. I-I did it for some cash.”
“Answer nice, and we’ll pay you better,” Jack said, with a smirk, sitting down on a hover chair, his eyes now level with the man’s. “What were you sent for?”
A long moment of silence as the man stared at the floor below him, biting his chapped lip in long thought. “Information. He thought maybe with the disappearance of Alvarez, I could get answers from his colleagues.”
“His university group hasn’t gathered here in over a year,” Candela said. “Whoever your provider is is a bit late on the times...or you’re lying.”
She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Candela.” Jack shook his head and turned back. “What kind of information?”
“He didn’t give me much details. He gave me a drive of questions I was to review, but—” the man’s face flushed. “I lost it.”
Clive tried to keep his face cool. He’d what? If the jobs were that easy, Clive might as well go into it if this was their standard of messenger.
“How?” Jack said. “Doesn’t have anything to do with the eye, does it?”
The man blinked, as if he’d forgotten already about the swelling back eye. “I don’t remember. I just woke up here this morning, saw the drive was gone, and hid. I can’t go back empty handed. I can’t.”
“It’s alright,” Jack said. “We just need to know if you know anything about what he was looking for.”
They thought for a moment. “He did mention something about weeds.”
“Wraith Weed?” Ivy jumped from her seat in the back. “That was the last thing I talked to Alvarez about.”
“It’s a coincidence,” Candela said quickly. “He adores that silly plant and every fairytale about it. It’s no surprise he talks about it.”
“Apparently this information was urgent to him.” The man sat up more comfortably. “And it had to be from Alvarez for some sort of...thing.”
“You really couldn’t have listened better?” Clive grumbled, copying down the man’s words.
Jack sat back in his seat, running his hand through his brown curls. He finally let out a sigh and got to his feet. “Thank you. You’ll be debriefed at the base. If your story checks out, you’ll be paid.”
“It will,” the man insisted as he was taken from his seat. “And I only need enough for a SpeedRail ticket. I’m getting out of this place.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Maybe you’ll find out.”
The voice muffler clipped to his chin activated, clamping his jaw shut, the two Defenders grabbing hold of his shoulders and jerking him to his feet and out the door.
“You got everything?” Jack said, spinning in his stool to face Clive.
“Of course I do,” he scoffed. “You expected me to be behind?”
“Just checking.” The Defender took the tablet from Clive, tucking it with the recording device into his bag. Clive brushed himself off, breathing off the nerves that trembled to his fingertips.
Ivy stood, her chin in her fist and eyes at the floor. “Why Wraith Weed? Why did Alvarez prefer it so much? And why is he the source they’re going for? Many others studied it.”
“I don’t know, but I want it to stop,” Candela said. “And you are going to make it happen.”
Clive blinked. “Wait..Ivy?”
“All of you. So far, this is the most progress we’ve made.” Candela wiped her sweaty palms onto her skirt as she moved slowly into the empty room, her gaze drifting out the window that surveyed the grey sky behind the busy Sycamore city. “I don’t care if it takes a bunch of strange children. I want my husband brought home, and whatever information they think he had found.”
Ivy nodded, and Clive could tell it was taking effort for Ivy to hide an excited smile behind her sympathy. The fact she hadn’t burst out in attempted Wraith Weed encouragement facts was astonishing. “I have ideas where to start.”
“Good,” Candela said. “Besides, you’re already required to come back?”
“They are?” Jack frowned.
“Sylvia will be expecting her friends.” Candela smiled over her shoulder through her swollen eyes. “And our new scribe’s shifts start in the morning.”