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Outside of a palatial mansion in upstate New York, there sits a yellow and orange automobile parked in a driveway, which for now sits idle as its inhabitants are inside said mansion speaking with the people who own the rather large estate.
The residents of the estate have called the owners of the automobile to their estate to get their advice in a rather specialized field of expertise, in this case the field of mystery solving, or rather on how to solve their relatively unusual problem.
The owners of the yellow and orange automobile, are a group of professional young adult detectives collectively known as the Clue Club, which might explain the name of the automobile they drive from case to case, which they call the Clue Car.
The members of the Clue Club consist of Larry, who is 20, D.D., who is 18, Pepper, who is 18 and who is finishing up high school, Dottie, the youngest member of the group who is 16 and is in her sophomore year of high school, and two bloodhounds, one with brown fur and black spots named Whimper, and one with white fur, black spots and a red Sherlock Holmes style hat named Woofer.
Together the six sleuths have solved some unusual cases over the years, but that was back when they were teenagers and just starting out in their investigations; now the members of the Clue Club have much more experience under their belts, and fur as is the case with the two canine members of the team.
Despite all the cases they've ever solved, the six members of the Clue Club are always looking for ways to prove themselves to the authorities and to other people especially some of the residents of their city who think that young people should be seen and not heard, even though the team of sleuths is friends with the sheriff of the town that they call home.
Now that they are in college however, they have far more experience and far more time solving mysteries, but they still manage to get themselves into the most unusual and frightening cases possible, which includes the case that they are currently involved in, one that involves a mysterious werewolf and a frightening looking mansion and one that might be tougher than some of their older cases.
At the present time, the human members of the Clue Club are parked on a grey colored sofa, a recliner and a wooden chair, while the two canine members of the team sit patiently on the floor next to Pepper and D.D. as they along with their human friends listen to a very strange story told to them by the owners of the lavish estate, the members of the Talbot family, who are about to get the group involved in one of the strangest mysteries they have ever encountered.
"So, Mrs. Talbot, when did this whole ghost business start?" asked the brown haired unofficial leader of the team, a young adult named Larry.
"Probably about six months ago, up to that point we had lived in this house for about five years now and hadn't had any problems at all. We've always kept up on our bills, which were rather easy considering the house we live in, and we are somewhat well liked by our neighbors, so it seems unusual that we would have a problem with a ghost." replied an older dark brown haired woman named Rebecca, who was the wife of the man sitting a few feet away from her and who was about ready to speak to the assembled sleuths.
"My wife is correct; even though we're wealthy people, we volunteer in our community, we donate money to charity, we're good citizens and we manage to live fairly well, so why on Earth would a ghost haunt us?" a brown haired older man named Daniel added; this gentleman was the husband of the Rebecca and father of a young daughter, who was also in the room listening to her parents speak with the team of detectives.
"That all makes sense Mr. and Mrs. Talbot, but there's still one thing that puzzles me: why would a ghost choose the three of you to haunt? I mean we all know ghosts aren't real, so someone most likely is trying to scare you away from the house, at least that's what it seems like to me" said the youngest member of the group, a red head who had her hair done in pig tails named Dottie.
"Wait a minute, if this ghost is someone trying to scare us away from the mansion, then does that mean we can still stay here?" asked a seventeen-year-old red haired girl named Susan, who was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Talbot, and who was a bit head strong and didn't want to leave the place that was her home for all her life so far.
"I don't know Suzie honey, if we can't get rid of this ghost or figure out why he's haunting this place then I don't know what we're going to do." remarked Rebecca Talbot, somewhat afraid, although she didn't show it on her face.
"But mom, I don't want to leave this house; it's been my home for as long as I can remember, and I would hate to have to pack up all my belongings and move to some other house in some other town or state just because some silly ghost is haunting our mansion; besides, I don't even believe in ghosts." replied Susan.
"I know you don't sweetheart but if we can't figure out why this ghost is causing so much trouble in our house, then something's going to have to be done about it." Daniel Talbot commented, leaning back in his seat on the well-worn sofa.
"Mr. Talbot, you mentioned that this ghost started haunting your mansion about six months ago; why don't you tell us what this ghost looks like and what he does, then maybe we can get a line on how to get rid of him for you." Larry explained to the wealthy businessman.
"Well Larry as I mentioned previously, we're somewhat wealthy; specifically speaking my wife and I have made a fortune in the clothing business, which allows us to afford everything we have now including this mansion, but there's one thing that's been a fact of life for us, and we've never been able to escape as long as we live." Mr. Talbot replied, albeit hesitantly.
"What's that Mr. Talbot?" Larry asked.
"You see, our name, our last name to be exact, carries a certain amount of history with it; however, it is not a very pleasing history, in fact the history of our last name is one of unspeakable acts, evil, terror and other items that we are greatly ashamed of and that we would like to wipe off the face of the Earth permanently." Mr. Talbot replied, trying to figure out the right words to explain his situation.
"Wow, I couldn't imagine having a last name with that kind of story, or history for that matter; but why exactly is your last name such a horrible thing?" Pepper inquired.
"Because young lady, our last name carries a long and terrifying history dating back to the late 1700s in Europe; you see the first members of our family were a Lawrence and Jeanette Talbot, they lived in Germany, or at least what's called Germany today; anyway, one dark, black, bleak night with a full moon in the sky, Lawrence Talbot left his family's small home to gather some firewood, as the night had grown very cold and the small fire in his family's home was beginning to burn out." Mr. Talbot began.
"A Full Moon huh?; I wonder if he had a dog?" Whimper wondered.
"Now why would you ask if this Talbot guy had a dog?" Woofer asked.
"Because, maybe his dog could have gotten the firewood" Whimper replied.
"Are you dumb? His dog wouldn't have gotten the firewood because the dog would have been asleep." Woofer remarked.
"How do you know that?" Whimper asked.
"Because, because, well because he would have been, that's why" Woofer replied, folding his arms with an impatient look on his face.
"Oh brother." Whimper said, with a mostly embarrassed look on his face.
"What happened after Mr. Talbot left his house to get firewood?" Larry inquired, while trying his best to figure out what kind of secret the Talbot family were hiding, or even if they wanted the mystery solved, although the latter was highly unlikely at least in the brown-haired leader of the Clue Club's opinion.
"It's very simple Larry. You see, after Lawrence Talbot left his home, he went out into the woods and looked for firewood as I mentioned. Unfortunately for him, the forest was devoid of all light, as previously mentioned, and it was apparent to Lawrence that he was going to have a hard time navigating his way through the shadowy and gloomy woods to find firewood." Mr. Talbot continued, while the Clue Club listened with baited breath to every word the elder Talbot was saying.
"Wow, is there anything else to the story?" D.D. wondered.
"Yes unfortunately; when Lawrence Talbot ventured into the forest to look for firewood, he figured he was safe, for a while this was quite accurate, in that he was safe." Mr. Talbot replied.
"So, what happened next? In the forest, I mean?" Dottie asked.
"It's very simple, what happened next was that while he was venturing out into the forest and while he was looking for firewood, something came across his path. Naturally he couldn't see who or what was in the forest, so he ended up blindly trudging along, searching, hoping to make his way out of the woods." Mr. Talbot continued.
"So, Lawrence Talbot was making his way through the woods, but what happened after that?" Pepper asked.
"Well Pepper, because Lawrence Talbot didn't have the benefit of light, either natural moonlight or electrical light, because it hadn't been invented yet, he failed to see the dangers of the forest ahead. So, in the midst of his search for firewood, the creature that had come across his path leapt on him and attacked." Mr. Talbot explained.
"That's horrible! What happened after that?" Dottie asked, covering her ears as she spoke, almost shaking in fright at the thought of a beast attacking an innocent person. Although the part of her that was a detective still wanted to know any further details about the case, and one Lawrence Talbot.
"What happened after that is probably one of the most frightening parts of this story. Try as he might, Lawrence attempted to fight off the hideous creature, but after a few moments, he realized he was not going to succeed. So, resigning himself to the fact that he was doomed, he then switched tactics and attempted to keep himself from suffering further injuries." Mr. Talbot replied.
"Mr. Talbot, what was that beast that attacked Lawrence Talbot anyway?" Larry asked.
"Very simple Larry. Even though he got away from the beast, Lawrence Talbot figured he was finished with it once and for all. But alas that was not the case." Mr. Talbot said, while looking up at a painting of a rather distinguished looking man hanging above the living room fireplace.
"Mr. Talbot?" Larry inquired, curious to know what the elder Talbot was thinking about.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about the remainder of the story. As I mentioned previously Lawrence Talbot figured he was finished with the night's events, but once he finally returned home to his wife, things began to get strange, to say the least." The elder Talbot replied, after reverting his gaze from the painting to the group of young adults and their canines.
"So, what exactly happened after Lawrence Talbot returned to his house?" Pepper inquired.
"It's very simple Pepper. After Lawrence Talbot and his wife both retired to bed for the evening, Mr. Talbot found himself having horrible, and unspeakable dreams. He imagined unbelievably ominous things, that somehow he himself was doing to people in those dreams." Mr. Talbot explained.
"Man, those must have been nightmares, not dreams." D.D. commented.
"Indeed, but that wasn't the end of it. Sometime after midnight, Lawrence Talbot suddenly sprung up in bed; he found that he was sweating, his palms were also itching, and he seemed to have an itch on other parts of his body as well." Mr. Talbot said.
"I have a feeling I know what happened next, but I'll ask this question anyway: what happened to Lawrence Talbot after he woke up?" D.D. asked, with a tone of voice that was equally curious and nervous.
"Your suspicions are correct young man. For once he woke up, Lawrence Talbot quickly threw off the blankets that covered him, quickly put on some shoes and ran out of the bedroom." Mr. Talbot replied.
"He then rushed outside, as he felt like an unseen force was crushing him and he needed some air to relieve whatever curious ailment seemed to be afflicting him. Once he was outside of his home, and a safe distance away from the building he began to catch his breath." Mr. Talbot said, to the young detectives who were still fascinated by every word.
"Soon Lawrence Talbot was in the forests that surrounded the old family home, which is when we can first trace the horrible history of our family back to." the eldest member of the Talbot family remarked.
"Hmm... it seems now that we can finally get some in depth information about what we're dealing with." Larry said, as he and the other Clue Clubbers sat on edge in regards with what they were about to hear next.
"Yes. When Lawrence Talbot stumbled, and trudged through the forests outside of his family's home in Germany several centuries ago, something happened to him that changed our family forever; something that resonates with us to this very day." Mr. Talbot replied, with a nervous tone in his voice.
What could Mr. Talbot mean? What could have happened to the Talbot family centuries ago in Germany that could possibly be affecting three current members of the Talbot clan in Upstate New York?
The answers to those questions, and many more would be revealed very soon. And with those answers, the group of young sleuths known as the Clue Club were about to gain what they needed in order to start investigating the palatial mansion belonging to the Talbot family, and solve the mystery that seemed to be plaguing them.
Author's Notes: I know this seems like an unusual first chapter with the Talbot family explaining what their ancestors had to go through and the history of their clan to the Clue Club.
However, it is all leading up to what will be revealed in Chapter 2, and the rest of this fan fiction. I promise you the readers this though: it will be unlike any Clue Club tale that has ever been told in the past; but there will be other tales like this in the future as well, which I will post someday.