seymoure | Chapter 6

Chapter 6
“Shadows Haunt the Suburbs”

Most Americans might remember Sebastian Claus because they saw his name on the TV screen. In the 1980’s he created the show “KBOB” about a TV station left to strangers named Bob. The show ran for 5 years and, while never winning any awards, it opened a lot of doors for Claus. He then created the adventure show “Tempus Fugitives.” It told of a mad scientist who moved the great evil figures of history into new eras, in the hopes of disrupting the time line and blackmailing the residents of the future into paying him to leave things alone. Thus we found Hitler as a Roman Emperor, and Jack the Ripper loose in the 1960’s Liverpool of the Beatles. The show featured a team of time travelers who battled the threats.

The show was huge and lasted 12 seasons on the network and forever in syndication.

He followed this with “Edenship 1.” It was the story of a space platform, a space city, launched to escape a dying Earth and find a new home for the human race. This one ran for 7 years and had a huge fan following.

Finally, in 1993 Claus created “Goofy & Grape” a slapstick comedy that was the most successful of anything he had ever done. It is still running, along with 3 spin offs and an animated version.

Claus had grown tired of the whole battle that the Hollywood scene was, and he decided that, since he would never have to worry about money again, he would disappear from that world.

He had followed that move with the creation of the “Claus Institute.” It was the realization of a dream.

Since the first book about UFO’s had been released in 1960, he had been obsessed with the supernatural. He had spent all his free time studying all things beyond the veil. He had written
a couple of books on different phenomenon.

He found that scientists could be brought in if they were used to analyze information rather than explain away things that were not in the books.

He had gathered a team of specialists who were now devoted to his view of the science of the unknown.

He had spent another night without really sleeping.

He had never been much of a sleeper, but lately he had slept less than in the past.

He was getting near some break throughs that might prove some things that the regular world had yet to give a second thought to, much less accept.

He hated to set all those experiments aside because of some hysterical author, but neither could he ignore a plea for help.

It was 8:08 am and he wondered if he could get a half hour of sleep before he was to meet the writer.

His fax machine began to whir. He move in to see, yes, it was the news report on the Loch Ness Poltergeist outbreak. This was a story you would never see on the news, because it wasn’t what was supposed to happen. You were supposed to have the occasional looney who saw the monster. The fact that there had been 43 instances of poltergeist activity in and around the Loch would go unnoticed to the rest of the world.

He found he couldn’t get his eyes to focus. He’d have to read it all later. Right now he needed to sleep.

He picked up the stack of reports that Dinsdale had sent him about the book Muntz wanted to talk to him about. At last report there were 17 people affected by this single tome. He would read it when he woke up.

As he passed the piano it began to be plucked from within. He wasn’t startled. The piano had always been haunted. It was one of the things in the world you could depend on.

He dropped his 400 pound frame on the bed and was almost instantly asleep.

He didn’t see the reports about the book burst into flame, flash and vanish. They didn’t burn anything around them, nor did they create any smoke.

The snoring figure didn’t notice the gaunt figure that, for only a moment, stood beside his sleeping, helpless body.

Nor did he hear the rasping, grating laugh that sounded like it came from a distant room where there was nothing funny going on. Had he heard it, his skin would have crawled.