Gif had lost Michelae in the crowd. He checked the toilets and the bar. He called her phone, but it went to voicemail. Lesley was dancing with some of his clients.

The idea of selling drugs made Gif nervous. He was fine with doing deliveries for shady businessmen, but drugs were too dangerous.

Really worried now, Gif walked through the back door and spotted a group of men. He glanced up and down the alley then looked again at the men. Not one of them had moved. They were completely frozen. He went cautiously up to one man, shook him, and the man fell over. Gif shrugged his shoulders. Who knew what cocktail of drugs they were on?

He decided to drive to Michelae’s house. Lesley would be fine with his new clientele.

Out on the road, he saw the lights were on at Cafe Mambo. The boss was probably still there. As he pulled up to the club he turned off his headlights. He snuck around the side of the building and peeked through a window. The boss was surrounded by gold and silver. Diamond jewellery was scattered on the floor. He was searching through the sparkling piles.

“Where is it? Where is it? What does it look like?” the boss said.

There was no-one else there, but a voice replied. “It’s gold. No, maybe it’s a ring. The legend speaks of a glowing purple. Our life force contained.” It sounded like the boss speaking, but in a higher pitch.

“Yes!” the boss replied. “The legend says: ‘The worshippers feed the glow of royalty, alas their form reveals their frailty’.”

“Frailty? Form?” The high voice sounded confused. “I do not understand.”

“You do not remember, brother.” The boss sounded impatient. “We cannot witness the artefact without a strong physical form and this human body I am in is too weak!”

“But we have absorbed so many of these humans!” The response from the unseen entity was petulant. “We should be able to view it safely!”

“How many times do I have to tell you!” The boss was pacing now, furious. “We need more! New energy!” He stormed out of the room and the disembodied voice trailed after him.

Intrigued, Gif waited a few minutes, then tried the window. It was unlocked. All those riches – for the taking! And whose were they? The so-called ‘boss’ didn’t seem to value them. He hurriedly climbed through and pocketed some of the gold and silver trinkets. Then he heard a car starting up, and rushed back to peek over the windowsill. If the boss had spotted his car he’d be in big trouble. But no, the man had driven off at speed, too fast to notice anything,

Gif breathed out. That was too close. Time to get out of here before he was caught. His leg was halfway out the window when he suddenly heard a sound begin behind him, a melodic hum. He turned, entranced, and irresistibly the sound drew Gif towards a closed, old-fashioned chest near the bar. He opened it, his hands trembling, then stood there and stared.

‘The legend speaks of a glowing purple …’ Well, this thing was purple, and it was glowing. It looked like one of those necklace things people wore in ancient Egypt. An amulet. That’s what it was. The chain was solid gold and the amulet itself was diamond encrusted, with a large purple jewel in the middle. It had to be worth millions! Gif pocketed it.

His phone vibrated as he swung a large bag of trinkets into the boot. He wrapped the glowing amulet in a towel and placed it in the cubbyhole.

It was a WhatsApp message from Michelae: “Come over. I need you.”

Gif drove as fast as he could. Maybe this was going to be his lucky night.

***

Tell us what you think: Was Gif foolish to steal such a valuable and mysterious thing from his boss’s place? What is likely to happen to him?