Scooby Doo and the Book of the Dead - SpongeAddict - Scooby Doo (2024)

Chapter 1: Preface

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Preface

Velma reached out in the darkness for something - anything - but her hands only grasped air. Trying to steady her breathing, she backed up into the corner of the dank basem*nt, cursing her luck. Usually Daphne was the one who fell through trap doors and false walls. Though Velma was sure that even Daphne had never stumbled into somethingthisgruesome. If she stayed against the wall, she wouldn't have to see that butcher's table again.

Her stomach turned at the mere thought and she sank to the ground.

She needed to get out of here. But that was hard to do when she couldn't see two feet in front of her. And of course, it didn't help that she'd lost her glasses in her hurry to get away from the butcher's table.

Bile rose in her throat, and she forced her mind to think about something else. Her glasses would have to stay down here - there was no way she could go back for them. Besides, Shaggy had her spare glasses. She just needed to find him, even if she was still upset.

"Velma?"

Daphne's voice! It was far away - definitely not in the basem*nt. It sounded like it was coming from the top of the stairs. But which way were the stairs? Velma stumbled in the direction she thought the staircase was, but bumped into something - a bookcase, or a cabinet? - and the contents crashed to the ground.

"Relma!"

That was unmistakably Scooby's voice, coming from the same direction as Daphne's.

"I'm here!" she called, picking herself up from the floor.

"Are you alright?" Nova this time, her normally calm voice uncharacteristically anxious.

Velma nodded, even though obviously none of her friends could see it. "I'm okay. But I can't see anything - it's too dark. Can you get me out of here?"

"I think the door is locked from your side," Fred spoke up. Velma heard him jiggling a handle. "We could try to break it down."

"No!" Velma shouted, panicked. She couldn't let them down here, not after what she'd seen. "Keep talking, I'll make my way up the stairs so I can try to unlock the door. I lost my glasses though - is Shaggy there? He should have my spare ones."

There was long silence from the other side of the door.

"Hello?" Velma called.

"He's not with you?" asked Daphne, her tone worried.

"No!" Velma cried. "Why would he be with me?"

"He was with you when we split up," Fred reminded her.

Of course, the others didn't know that Shaggy and Velma had argued and stormed away from each other. All anger forgotten, Velma's heart hammered in her chest. "He's not here," she told them. "I'm alone."

She heard Scooby whimper. "Rhere's Raggy?" he worried.

Velma's breath came in short, rapid bursts as she sank to the ground again, remembering the grisly sight on the butcher's table. She hadn't paid very close attention to the gore. But her mind went back to what she'd read in the Book of the Dead that morning. What if…?

No. No. She would not entertain the thought. Witches weren't real. That book wasn't real. The stories in it weren't real. They couldn't be, no matter what the gang had seen in this town.

But then wherewasShaggy?

"Scooby, you and Nova go find him," she called, trying to keep her voice steady.

There was no answer. Maybe they'd already gone.

"Fred? Daph?" Velma called again. "Are you still there?"

But they didn't respond either.

"Guys?" Velma yelled. "Hello?"

Still nothing.

Heart pounding, she called them twice more, but they didn't answer. They were gone, and she was alone.

Suddenly, through her blurry vision, Velma became aware of a movement in her periphery. She whirled around and gasped. A strange figure on the other side of the room seemed to materialize out of thin air. Velma didn't need her glasses to know that it was the pale woman. She curled against the wall in fear, remembering now. This was how her story had ended. Trapped in a dark room with her friends incapacitated, the boy she loved gone, and a pale, spectral figure gliding ever closer.

Chapter 2: A Little Nervous

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: A Little Nervous

One week earlier…

"Okay, Freddie, I think this is the last of it." Daphne paused at the bottom of the long stairway up to her apartment, gathering her thick ginger hair into a ponytail to keep it away from her neck. Her boyfriend Fred had parked the Mystery Machine, his behemoth of a van, on the corner, and had just shoved one final box of Daphne's belongings into the trunk. He was helping her move out of her SoHo apartment for the summer – not fully, since she'd be back in August for the start of the fall semester at NYU – but she'd packed several things she wanted to take with her. She just hadn't realized it would be somanythings.

"Great," Fred said, swinging the rear doors shut and wiping his sweaty forehead with the hem of his white-and-blue-striped t-shirt. It gave Daphne the perfect view of his muscular torso, and she had to look away before she swooned. They'd been together for almost four and a half years, but she still got butterflies with him. He was just as handsome as ever, even with his blond hair matted with sweat from the exertion of helping her bring her belongings down four flights of stairs.

It was hot as an oven in Manhattan on this early June afternoon. There was often a mass exodus from the city once the summer began, with many residents leaving for the cooler pastures of the Catskills, the Adirondacks, or the Hamptons, only returning in September. Daphne was part of this temporary migration, returning with Fred to their hometown of Coolsville, Ohio, where Fred still lived and went to college. Though they wouldn't be staying there for long.

Before Daphne could dwell on that thought, her three roommates spilled out of the open apartment door behind her. "Is that everything?" asked Kennedy, a tall young woman with large hazel eyes and bright pink hair that was styled into a trendy undercut.

"I think so." Daphne tugged down the hems of her jean shorts and shot the girls a watery smile. She had been dreading this moment a little, saying goodbye to her roommates. They'd all met as freshmen in NYU's acting program, become fast friends, and moved into an apartment together at the start of their sophom*ore year. They would continue living together next year when they were juniors, and probably when they were seniors too. Daphne couldn't wait to see her friends from home, but that didn't mean she wouldn't miss her roommates. She blinked rapidly in an attempt to stave off tears.

"Oh don't start that!" wailed Anahita, another roommate. Her eyes also filled with tears behind her tortoise-shell glasses. "If you cry, I'll cry!"

"Everyone take it easy," said Kennedy gently, putting a hand on Anahita's shoulder. "We'll see her again in like two months." But there was a tell-tale quiver in her lower lip.

Daphne felt the burning in the back of her throat that usually preceded tears. "I'd hug you all, but I'm so sweaty," she said, tugging at her purple tank top.

"Don't be ridiculous, get in here." This was from Xiomara, the final roommate, who wrapped her arms around Daphne's slender frame and pulled her into a tight hug. Kennedy and Anahita followed, and soon all four girls were enveloped in the embrace.

"You too, Fred!" Anahita called, waving Freddie over with a wave of her hand. Fred obliged, joining the girls in their group hug. He really loved all of Daphne's friends here in New York – they were a great crowd, and he'd had several opportunities to spend time with them whenever he came to visit (which was as often as he could manage). And while he knew no one could ever replace the gang, he was happy that Daphne had found such a tight group at school.

At last, everyone relinquished their hold on each other.

"This is so silly," Daphne laughed, wiping her eyes where tears had started to trickle out. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I promise I'll return her in one piece," Fred said solemnly.

Everyone laughed, and the sorrowful tension lifted.

Xiomara gave Daphne one more squeeze. "See you in August,hermosa."

Daphne hugged her back. "Behave yourself," she said. "All of you!" This was called to the other two girls, who chuckled again in response.

Finally, once all the farewells had been said, Fred and Daphne headed for the Mystery Machine, waving at the roommates as they piled in. The three girls stood on the corner behind them, waving until the Mystery Machine was out of sight.

x.X.x

Fred loved Daphne. He loved New York. And he loved driving the Mystery Machine.

He didnotlove driving the Mystery Machine in New York.

But his love for Daphne outweighed everything else.

Still, he was concentrating so hard that he didn't say a word until they were safely out of the Holland Tunnel, heading westward towards Ohio.

"You good?" she asked as he breathed a sigh of relief. She knew his feelings on driving in the city, and appreciated that he did it anyway.

"Much better now," he replied, reaching for her hand and kissing it.

"Thanks for coming to pick me up," she said with a grin.

Fred gave her a sidelong glance. "I'd do anything for you, Daph."

Her heart fluttered and she squeezed his hand.

"I'm excited to see the gang," he said. "And Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy."

"Yeah me too," Daphne agreed. "We haven't seen Ricky or Cassidy since the summer we graduated high school. It was really nice of them to invite us all out to Crystal Cove this summer."

"And nice of Brad and Judy to rent a beach house for us all to stay in," Fred added.

They had an exciting vacation planned this summer, traveling to California with Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby, as well as Fred's birth parents, Brad and Judy, and their dog Nova. They were spending a week visiting Brad and Judy's old friends Ricky and Cassidy, who had spent a little more than a year traveling the country before deciding to settle in a small town called Crystal Cove. Brad and Judy had been teenagers when they'd had Fred, and had given him up for adoption to protect him from an evil, power-hungry parrot named Professor Pericles. But now that Pericles was safely behind bars, Brad and Judy had struck up a relationship with Fred and his friends. In fact, they lived in Chicago, where Shaggy went to culinary school. This was very good news for Scooby, who was involved romantically with Nova. But Fred, since he still lived in Coolsville, didn't get to see them much – just for the holidays.

In fact, they didn't get a chance to seeanyof the gang much, since they all went to different colleges across the country. They kept in touch through emails or texts, and the occasional phone or video call. They had a group chat that they contributed to often, and every now and then someone would post an update on Instagram – though Daphne was definitely the one who used social media the most. But it had been a long time since they'd all been together in person. Shaggy had gotten a part-time gig as a line cook in a restaurant in Chicago when he wasn't taking classes, so Daphne and Fred hadn't seen him since he'd been back in Coolsville for the holidays. And no one had seen Velma since last summer, just before they all went back to school. She'd had a tough freshman year at Stanford, where she double majored in physics and chemistry, so she'd spent these past two semesters catching up and retaking a class that she'd dropped. She hadn't come back to Ohio for any of the breaks this year. They were all looking forward to finally getting a chance to all be together again.

Well…they weren'talllooking forward to it. There was a huge elephant in the room that Daphne didn't want to call attention to. Mostly because it made her sad. But also because it made her a bit apprehensive.

"Are you still a little nervous?" Fred asked, as though he could read her mind. "About the trip?"

Now it was Daphne's turn to look at him sideways. He knew her so well.

She wasn't nervous about spending time with Brad, Judy, Ricky, or Cassidy. In fact, she was looking forward to seeing them, and getting to know them better. It would have made more sense than the truth, which was that she was nervous about spending time with her best friends Shaggy and Velma.

Because while it was the first time the gang would all be together since last summer, it was also the first time they'd all be together since Shaggy and Velma had broken up.

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous," Daphne sighed, gazing out the passenger side window.

x.X.x

It had happened last fall, just after everyone had gone back to school. And to Daphne and Fred, it had seemingly come out of nowhere. Shaggy and Velma had been dating since their senior year of high school (or technically, if you counted the time they spent sneaking around and dating in secret, they'd been together since eleventh grade) and while their relationship had been fraught with drama, they'd always seemed happy together. Indeed, even the announcement about the break up itself hadn't made a huge deal of the fact. Velma had simply texted the group in late September, a very unceremonious message which read, "Hey, just wanted to tell you that Shaggy and I broke up last night. It was a mutual decision as we decided the long-distance was too much. Nothing has to change with the gang – we're all still friends. We just wanted to let you know."And Shaggy had "liked" the message, his indication that everything Velma had said was true.

Daphne, of course, had been thrown for a loop. She'd immediately privately texted Velma ("OMG! Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I'm here if you need to talk!" *bandaged heart emoji*) and Shaggy ("What happened? This was so sudden! Do you want to talk?" *bandaged heart emoji*) and, of course, Fred. ("Can you believe this?! I'm in shock! Should we talk about this?" *bandaged heart emoji*). But Shaggy and Velma had both assured her that they were fine, it was an amicable split, and they were happy to go back to just being friends. They didn't want to cause a scene, they explained, so they didn't want this to become a point of contention within the gang.

Fred's reaction to the breakup had been extremely blasé. He'd urged Daphne not to get worked up over it. "Obviously it's sad,"he'd texted her that day, "but I'm sure Shag and Velm know what's best for them. If they say they're happy going back to just being friends, then I believe them."

But Daphne knew better.

Just over a year ago, she'd watched her own parents go through a horribly acrimonious divorce and she hated to admit it, but Shaggy and Velma's breakup was bringing back some PTSD in her. Even though the two of them kept things cordial in the group chat, Daphne was terrified that this meant the gang would never be the same, that she and Fred would have to choose sides. She made the mistake of bringing this up to Velma once back in the winter, when it had been made clear that Velma wouldn't be returning to Coolsville for the holidays.

"Velma, I'm worried that this breakup is affecting you more than you're letting on," Daphne had said over the phone that evening. "And that's okay, you're allowed to be sad, but I'm afraid that if you don't let yourself grieve the relationship properly, it's going to have negative repercussions on all of us."

"Our relationshipreallywasn't that serious, Daph," Velma had replied, her tone slightly clipped in annoyance. "We never even slept together. The breakup was bound to happen eventually – the distance was getting to be too much. The reason I'm not coming back to Coolsville for winter break has nothing to do with Shaggy – I just have a lot of work to do for school, and in the chem lab for my work study. I'll try to come back for spring break, okay?"

But she hadn't, of course, again claiming work as an excuse. Shaggy hadn't returned to Ohio for spring break that year either, insisting that he wanted to stay in Chicago and work extra hours at the restaurant to earn more money. Shaggy himself had been oddly uncommunicative about the breakup, clamming up whenever Daphne broached the subject over Facetime, or simply shrugging away her concerns. It made Daphne feel as though Shaggy was the one who had pushed for the breakup, no matter what Velma had said about it being mutual.

She had tried to talk to Scooby about it when he and Shaggy had been in town for Christmas. But Scooby, ever loyal to Shaggy, had been even more evasive. "Rit's not ry business," he would say any time Daphne brought it up. Eventually she'd stopped asking, even though every time she thought about it, she felt uneasy.

x.X.x

Now, in the car on the way back to Coolsville, where they would stay with Fred's adoptive father Mayor Jones for the next five days until they left for California, Daphne felt that familiar creeping anxiety.

"If it helps," Fred told her, after she'd admitted to being nervous about the trip. "I don't think Shaggy and Velma would come if they weren't ready to be in the same room together. I'm sure they're over the breakup by now."

Daphne was less certain. She wasn't sure if Shaggy and Velma were over the breakup, or if they were just pretending to be. Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy all knew about the breakup, and had asked Shaggy and Velma separately if they were sure they'd like to come, and they'd said yes. But Daphne thought it was more likely that they didn't want to be rude to any of the adults who had invited them to come on vacation and offered to pay their way.

"I mean," Fred went on. "Hasn't Velma been going out with a few guys at her school? Er…people, I mean?"

Daphne's mouth quirked up. Fred's verbal flub was understandable. Back in the spring, Velma had officially come out to her friends as bisexual, in yet another unceremonious text message. Of course everyone had been supportive (including Shaggy, which Daphne thought was quite magnanimous of him), but no one had been very surprised. Daphne'd had a feeling that, for a brief time in their senior year of high school, Velma had been harboring a secret crush on a friend of theirs named Marcie Fleach. Marcie had actually admitted to having feelings for Velma herself, but since Velma had been in love with Shaggy at the time, nothing had come of it. Daphne had been sure that now that Velma was a free agent, something was going to happen between her and Marcie. But Velma had denied this. Marcie went to CalTech, which was about five hours from Stanford where Velma went. It was closer than Roosevelt, where Shaggy went, but still far enough that it was considered "long distance."

Still, Velma had shared with the gang that she'd gone on a few casual dates with some classmates, both men and women. Nothing serious, she'd told them, just lunch or coffee. Occasionally they went to bars, but not very often. None of the gang were technically old enough to drink yet – Shaggy was the oldest of the group, and his twenty-first birthday wasn't until November – but Velma, the youngest of the gang at eighteen, would only risk going into a bar if she knew for sure she wouldn't get carded. Her academic probation for cheating on a test last year had only just ended, and she was still wary of getting in too much trouble.

"Just because she's gone on a few dates doesn't necessarily mean she's over it," Daphne said now to Freddie. She was thinking of their senior year of high school, when she and Fred had broken up for a brief time. Even though the breakup was only for two months, Daphne had fielded a lot of invitations for dates from other boys in the school – including Red Herring, whom she had dated before she and Fred got together. She'd even gone on a couple dates with Red, but her heart hadn't been in it. She'd only gone out with him to feel something other than heartbreak – and to make Fred jealous.

Daphne couldn't help wondering if Velma was doing something similar.

Fred could see the consternation in Daphne's expression out of the corner of his eye, so he glanced away from the road for a brief second to look at her. "Hey," he said softly, taking her hand again. "Try not to stress yourself out over this, okay babe? I know it's going to be different with the gang now that Shag and Velm aren't together like that anymore, but the most important thing is that we're all still friends. Best friends. And that'll never change."

"I know that," Daphne told him. And she did. She knew deep in her heart that the five of them would always be friends, no matter what.

But even if that never changed…it didn't mean that nothing else could.

Chapter 3: She's Miserable

Chapter Text

For example – physical appearances could change.

On Monday, Daphne and Fred were greeted at the Crystal Cove airport by Ricky Owens and Cassidy Williams, who looked worlds different than they had the last time they'd met. Ricky had lost a lot of weight and Cassidy had cut her hair short. But they were both all smiles as they welcomed Fred and Daphne at the baggage claim area.

"It's so great to see you!" Daphne gushed, throwing her arms around Cassidy while Fred and Ricky shook hands.

"It's great to see you too, baby," Cassidy replied, holding Daphne by the shoulders and beaming.

Ricky eyed Fred appraisingly. He could be a little bristly, but was a generally kind man overall. "Jones, have you gotten taller?" he remarked.

Fred and Daphne laughed. Fred wasn't sure about taller, but he was certainly broader. His fraternity brother Rhino had become a gym rat over the last semester, and Fred often accompanied him on his workouts. Granted, he was more often than not studying the mechanisms of the machinery that Coolsville University's gym contained, but he'd enjoyed participating in the exercise and muscle-building. He felt better and healthier than he had since his years as a high school quarterback. Not to mention, he picked up on the way Daphne kept looking at him, and it felt so good to be noticed like that by her. Even though they'd been together for several years, Fred still felt that blood-rushing excitement whenever she looked at him a certain way.

"Are we the first ones here?" asked Daphne, easily swinging her purple suitcase off the baggage carousel as it spun by.

Cassidy shook her head. "Velma arrived a few hours ago – she went to get a coffee while we waited for y'all. And Brad, Judy and Nova's flight should be landing any minute."

"Shag and Scoob are on that flight too, right?" Fred asked, looking at Daphne. She had a better memory for logistical information like that.

She was mid-nod, when her eyes suddenly grew wide with ecstatic surprise. "Oh myGod!"she squealed, racing away from the group. Fred followed her with his gaze, shocked to see her throw her arms around an unfamiliar auburn-haired young woman holding a paper cup of coffee.

"Jinkies!" the woman exclaimed, laughing as Daphne let her go. "It's so good to see you!"

Fred's mouth dropped open – he couldn't help it. He recognized the woman now. It wasVelma.

The last time he'd seen her in person, she'd looked pretty much the same as she had in high school, with the exception that she had let her pageboy style haircut grow out to her shoulders. But that had been last summer, and clearly a lot more had changed since then. There were facets of similarity – she still sported the same thick glasses she'd worn in their youth and her face was still dusted with freckles. Even her outfit was similar to what he'd seen her wear in the past – a fitted, short-sleeved orange scoop neck and red shorts. But her hair was much shorter than he'd ever seen it. It was now in a stylish pixie-cut, and it gave her an air of sophistication he'd never seen on her before. She also seemed more toned than the last time Fred had seen her, as if maybe she'd been hitting the gym lately too. She looked older than eighteen, in a good way.

Fred hated to admit it, but it looked like Velma's breakup with Shaggy was agreeing with her.

"You lookamazing!"Daphne exclaimed, looking Velma up and down as she led her back to the group. "I love your haircut!"

Velma blushed and glanced away. "Well…thanks," she murmured. She looked up, shaking her bangs out of her face, and shot Fred a huge grin. "Hey Freddie!"

Fred scooped her up in a bear hug. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her until she was here in front of him, looking like a completely different person. "It's great to see you Velm!" He released her, but for the first time he was starting to feel nervous now too.

Fred remembered those horrible two months during their senior year when he and Daphne had been broken up. Even though he was technically the one who had ended the relationship, he remembered how it felt to see Daphne across the cafeteria or in the hallway – like an icepick was piercing his heart every time she smiled at someone who wasn't him.

Now that Velma and Shaggy had broken up…would Shaggy have those same feelings?

Fred hated when any of his friends were hurting, and while he'd been sad for Velma and Shaggy when they'd announced their breakup, he assumed it was for the best. And while he was happy now that Velma seemed to be doing well, he was worried that Shaggy might still be feeling the after effects. And seeing Velma looking the way she did, it might make it even harder on him.

"Any sign of Scoob and Shag's flight yet?" Velma asked in a would-be casual way. Daphne caught it and quirked an eyebrow, but no one else noticed.

"Not yet," Cassidy replied, glancing at the arrivals board. "But it looks like they should be landing soon. Any minute now."

Velma went over to join her at the arrivals board. As she did, Fred nudged Daphne.

"She seems…good." He gave his tone a bit of a questioning inflection so Daphne would understand what he wasn't saying:She seems good for having gone through a relatively-recent break-up.

But to his surprise, Daphne grinned at him conspiratorially. "She's miserable."

Fred gave her an incredulous look. "What? What are you talking about? She looks incredible – you said so yourself!"

Daphne bit her lip to keep her wide smile at bay. "Exactly – it's revenge!"

Fred's head swam with confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked again.

"It's the classic post-breakup game," Daphne explained. "When two partners end a relationship, even if it's for the best, there are usually some feelings of sadness or inadequacy that follow. It's the grieving period – the sweatpants, no makeup, not-trying-anymore phase – before the glow-up. That's when they make themselves over, looking their absolute best before the first time they have to see each other again. To make the other person realize what they're missing."

Now Fred understood what she was getting at. "So you think Velma gave herself a makeover to make Shaggy regret breaking up with her?" It seemed a little far-fetched to him. Fred had no doubt Velma had been upset about her break up with Shaggy, but she was far too practical to be playing into this idea of Daphne's. "Did you get this from that psych course you took last semester?"

Daphne chuckled. "Nope. This is all female intuition." Also, she'd had some personal experience – her own mother had always made sure she looked her best during meetings with Daphne's father and their lawyers while they were going through the divorce. But still, Daphne felt rather giddy – she'd thought that Velma had seemed too cavalier about the break-up. But she knew now it was because Velma was trying to put on a brave face.

Fred sighed, glancing over to the arrivals board. The Chicago flight's status had changed to "arrived." Ricky and Cassidy chatted to each other excitedly, while Velma bounced slightly on the balls of her feet. Shedidseem a bit nervous. But was it because she was looking forward to seeing Shaggy…or because she wasn't?

"So," Fred went on as he watched Velma throw away her empty coffee cup. "Do you think Shaggy is in the same phase?"

Daphne leaned her head against Fred's shoulder. "Only one way to find out."

x.X.x

Fred was right. And wrong. Velma wasn't looking forward to seeing Shaggy. But also…she kind of was.

Mostly she was looking forward to seeing his expression when he saw her for the first time in almost a year. Velma had to admit, she was pleased with her new look. She had gone to the hair salon with her roommate Marisol just after finals, which in and of itself was peculiar – Velma had never been a fashionista. But she'd wanted a change, and Marisol, who was even more of a beauty guru than Daphne, had been more than willing to help.

Velma knew that this was the best she'd looked in years. It didn't hurt that she'd spent the last several months visiting the campus gym a few times a week. This had a lot to do with the fact that for a while she had been seeing a girl who practically lived at the gym, but even once that casual relationship had ended, Velma had continued going. She had never been much of an athlete, but it felt good to take care of her body this way.

She glanced over at her friends. Fred and Daphne looked good too – Fred looked like he'd built some muscle over the past year. And Daphne, as always, looked beautiful, her thick red hair a bit longer than the last time Velma had seen it in person. She wore a purple romper that made her look stylish and fashionable, despite having just stepped off a plane. Daphne's head was resting on Fred's shoulder, and Fred had her arm around her. Velma grinned at the sight. Even if her own romantic life was virtually nonexistent, she was happy that Fred and Daphne were still going strong.

She took a deep breath and turned back to the arrivals board. Shaggy would be here any minute. She hadn't seen him in person since last summer, and hadn't spoken to him one-on-one since the fall. All of their correspondence these days was via the group chat with Fred and Daphne, or the occasional "like" on social media (which both of them rarely ever used). So Velma knew that today she'd have to be cool. Casual. The bigger person. She'd give him an offhand greeting – something easygoing and relaxed, like "Hey Shag, long time no see!"He'd probably do a double-take when he saw her, the way Fred and Daphne had. Perhaps he'd even be speechless. It was a good thought.

Until she actually saw him.

She saw Scooby first – he came from around the corner, talking animatedly with Nova. Nova was a co*cker spaniel, and her fluffy ears bobbed gracefully up and down as she trotted alongside Scooby, grinning and nodding along with him. Then she turned her head to see Fred, Daphne, Velma, Ricky, and Cassidy, and her smile grew even wider.

Scooby noticed them too and bolted through the airport towards his friends. "Reddie!" he barked. "Raphne! Relma!" All three of them knelt down as he barrelled into them, giving him hugs and pats and scratches.

"It's so good to see you, Scooby!" Daphne exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Rye missed roo guys," Scooby sighed as Fred patted his head.

"We missed you too, Scoob," Fred replied.

Scooby looked at Velma. "Roolookgreat,"he told her sincerely.

"You really do," Nova agreed, peering up at Velma. "That haircut certainly suits you."

Velma blushed. She wasn't sure why it was such a big deal for her to hear it from the dogs – probably because she knew they'd never lie to her about something so superficial. "Thanks, guys."

"Brad! Judy!" Ricky cried, rushing forward to greet his friends. The humans were still several paces behind the dogs, but they rushed to catch up now. As the men clapped each other's shoulders and the women hugged, Velma finally saw Shaggy.

Shaggy saw her too, of course. His eyes grew dinner-plate wide as he took her in, and a blush tinged his cheeks. It would have beenverysatisfying for Velma…had she not been so distracted by the way Shaggy looked.

For one thing, his hair was even longer and – aptly – shaggier than it had ever been in recent memory. But it didn't look messy or unkempt – in fact, it looked great. His beard was growing in too, and the five-o'clock-shadow he sported was truly a sight to behold. He was as lean as ever, but with subtle yet surprisingly well-defined muscles in his biceps and forearms, which could be seen clearly since he was wearing a sleeveless green v-neck. His frame was no longer that of a lanky teenager, but instead that of a young man.

But the most surprising change about him was the tattoos.

A long chef's knife decorated his left forearm, while a sleeve of herbs encircled his right. There were three sets of numbers on his right bicep, and five small stars peeked out along his collarbone.

Velma had no idea why Shaggy's tattoos were making her feel lightheaded and flushed. But she couldn't deny it: Shaggy looked – there was no other word for it –hot.

"Holy…" Daphne gasped, trailing off when she saw him. Fred's own jaw dropped.

Shaggy waved at them, smiling exuberantly (Velma's stomach made a little swooping motion), and dropped his duffel bag on the ground to rush towards them. They all rose to their feet as he approached.

"Jeepers Shag!" Daphne exclaimed as he enveloped her in a friendly bear hug. "Your tattoos!" The last several times she'd seen him had been when the weather was cold, and his tattoos had been covered up. She hadn't even realized he'd had any.

"You like them?" He grinned again. "Let me show you my favorite." He turned around, so his back was facing them. He tugged aside the fabric over his right shoulder blade, where the letters "SD" were etched in yellow and blue, surrounded by a diamond in the exact shape of the Great Dane's identity tag.

Scooby noticed Shaggy showing off and shot the gang a proud smile.

"Wow!" Fred exclaimed appreciatively. "That's so cool! We should all get them!"

"Absolutely not," Velma spoke up involuntarily. "You know I can't stand needles."

At the sound of her voice, Shaggy turned around and their eyes met. Velma felt her face grow hot – she couldn't help herself. She glanced away before she could burst into flames. This was not at all how she'd imagined their reunion to go.

After a few awkward moments, Shaggy cleared his throat. "It's like…nice to see you, Velm."

She looked up at him again, only to discover that he was studying the floor of the airport. She sighed.

"It's nice to see you too, Shag."

So much for her offhand greeting.

"All right, everybody's here," Ricky broke the moment. "Let's get moving!"

Velma sighed again as she and her friends followed the adults towards the exit, being careful to still avoid Shaggy's gaze.

This was going to be a long week.

Chapter 4: They Told You About Us

Chapter Text

Because there were twelve of them, they couldn't all fit in Ricky and Cassidy's sedan. So Shaggy and Scooby rode with them, while Velma, Daphne, and Fred waited with Brad, Judy, and Nova to rent a car.

"We'll meet you at the beach house!" Brad called as Ricky and Cassidy left the airport with Shaggy and Scooby in tow.

Shaggy couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief as he and Scooby stepped outside into the Californian sun. It was good to see his friends – seriously, he'd missed them a lot – but it had also been a bit jarring. Especially seeing Velma. Looking like…that.

"...So…" Scooby said softly.

Shaggy shot him a warning glare. "Like not now Scoob," he growled out of the corner of his mouth.

Scooby shrugged and loped after Ricky and Cassidy, who hadn't heard any of the pair's exchange.

Shaggy sighed. It wasn't Scooby's fault. Scooby had known this would happen from the jump.

"It's like, not going to be a big deal," Shaggy had assured him last week, as they'd packed for the trip.

"Res it is," Scooby had replied knowingly.

And look at that, he'd been right.

Shaggy had really thought he was over Velma. They'd been broken up for months now. But it had been easier to pretend when they hadn't been in the same state. Now, they were about to be living in the same house for a whole week.

And Shaggy had to contend with the fact that it was indeed going to be a big deal.

x.X.x

The beach house, which wasn't that far from the airport, was amazing. It was just one story, but there was plenty of space both inside and out. The back door opened right out onto the sand, and the ocean was only ten yards away. The kitchen (Shaggy's and Scooby's favorite room in any house) was airy and open. The furnished living space was cozy. A back door led to a sunny screened-in patio. Further into the house were four bedrooms, two with queen-sized beds, one with a full-size, and one with two twin beds.

Shaggy took the twin room so he and Scooby would have a bit more space to spread out. Ricky and Cassidy had their own place not far away, so they wouldn't need to stay overnight. He imagined Brad and Judy would want one of the queen rooms and Daphne and Fred would want the other one. He hoped Velma would be okay with the double bed. He hoped thathewould be okay that their rooms were right next door to each other, and shared a wall.

When the others arrived, everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the space.

"We're going to have great weather for most of your visit," Ricky explained as he helped carry luggage through the door. "It's supposed to be rainy on Wednesday, but every other day this week should be sunny and warm – perfect beach weather!"

As Fred and Daphne lugged their suitcases through the house, Velma slung her duffel bag over her shoulder to follow them. Shaggy averted his gaze as she passed by him, determined not to stare at her legs. It wasnot fairhow spectacular she looked.

It didn't take very long for everyone to unpack, and it was still a bit early for dinner. Ricky and Cassidy sat on a couch in the living room chatting with Brad and Judy until the rest of the gang returned.

"Come in, have a seat!" Brad called to them, gesturing them into the room. "We have a little time before dinner – thought it might be nice to catch up with everyone."

The gang took seats around the room, with Fred and Daphne opting for a loveseat while Velma and Shaggy claimed armchairs on opposite sides of the room from each other. The dogs settled at the feet of the humans, looking content.

"So," said Judy to Fred, Daphne, and Velma. "We see Shaggy and Scooby all the time, but we'd love to know what you all have been up to this year!"

"Well, as you know, I officially declared my major," Fred announced excitedly. They did already know this – Fred emailed or called Brad and Judy every now and then with important life updates – but he was still proud.

"Mechanical engineering, right?" asked Velma. The rest of the gang also already knew this. Fred was by far the most active in the group chat, texting the others with news both big and small, just as a good leader should.

Fred nodded. "Yep. All my expertise building traps is finally about to pay off."

"That's fantastic, son," Brad beamed. "We're so proud of you. And so is the mayor."

It continually floored Shaggy that there was no bad blood between Fred's adoptive father or his birth parents. They all got along exceedingly well – in fact, they regularly all spent Thanksgiving and Christmas together, with Brad and Judy coming to Coolsville for the holidays along with Shaggy and Scooby.

"He has an internship lined up at an architecture firm for the second half of the summer," Daphne added proudly. Even though she and Fred went to different schools, they always kept each other abreast of what was going on in their lives. Daphne had been Fred's first call when he'd decided to declare his major, and she was the first one he'd told when he'd gotten the internship offer. She was so proud of him, so happy for him. He'd seemed adrift his first year at college, but he was starting to come into his own now.

"That's wonderful!" Cassidy exclaimed.

"Well speaking of internships," Fred said, glancing over at his girlfriend. "Daphne has a pretty exciting one lined up for next fall."

"Roo do?" Scooby asked inquisitively. The gang had known about Fred's internship, but they hadn't heard about this yet.

Daphne chuckled. "I just found out a few days ago. Freddie's the only one I told, because he was with me when I got the call. I wanted to tell the rest of you in person." She looked at her friends. "So you know my journalism elective I took last year?"

The gang nodded collectively. Daphne was an acting major at NYU but had taken a journalism elective back in the fall. She'd figured it would just be an interesting class to take to fill up space in her schedule, but she had unexpectedly fallen in love with it.

"My professor knows people at a broadcast studio in the city," she told her friends now. "They're looking for interns, so she convinced me to put my name in the hat, and I got it!"

Everyone jumped up to hug and shower congratulations on Daphne.

"That's incredible!"

"Good for you, Daph!"

"Like way to go!"

"Ra-hoo!"

Daphne beamed under their praise, and Fred smiled broadly, just as proud of her as she was of him. Daphne wasn't sure if she wanted to make broadcast journalism a career, but she had been surprised by how much she'd loved her elective. Fred had encouraged her to go for the internship after she'd told him her professor had recommended her, and he was glad she'd done it.

"When does it begin?" asked Judy.

"I don't start until I go back to school," Daphne replied. "So I'll have a lot to juggle with both the internship and my regular classes. I'm sure I'll be able to handle it, but I'll definitely be busy."

"Like you're telling me," Shaggy remarked. "I feel like this is my first chance to breathe since I got that job at the restaurant."

"How's that going?" asked Ricky.

"It's great," Shaggy replied honestly. "The rest of the kitchen staff are like, a little rough around the edges, but they're good people. It's definitely where I can see myself after graduation. But like, maybe not long term."

Velma perked her head up. This was news to her. Had Shaggy told the others something he hadn't told her? Not that she'd blame him – theywerebroken up after all – but they were still friends. Weren't they?

But Fred and Daphne also looked perplexed. Only Scooby seemed unfazed.

"What do you mean?" asked Fred.

Shaggy gestured to Daphne. "I kind of had a similar experience that you had last semester, only instead of a journalism elective, it was my required restaurant management course. I did like, way better in it than I thought I would. And I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, too. And I think…I don't know. It like, might be cool to own a restaurant one day, instead of just working in one."

Velma's eyebrows shot up. That was the most ambitious thing Shaggy had ever said in all the years she'd known him.

"That's great!" exclaimed Daphne.

"It really is," agreed Fred.

Nova smiled, then nudged Velma's leg with her paw. "And what about you?" she asked kindly.

Shaggy held his breath. This time last summer, Velma had been considering dropping out of college after getting caught cheating on an exam, and would deflect anytime someone asked her questions about school. She had ended up going back to Stanford once the summer was over, but Shaggy wasn't sure how it was going.

To his relief, she smiled – which unfortunately had the side effect of making his heart do a somersault. "I'm doing really well," she answered. "I'm still roommates with Marisol – and I've made some new friends, so I'm less lonely. And the best news is I passed the chemistry class I had to retake, and they even let me take my old job back once my probationary period was over. I go to a physics tutor twice a week to keep up, and I take advantage of all my professor's office hours. I should be on track to graduate in two and a half years."

Shaggy nodded. Essentially, this meant Velma was one semester behind them all in terms of graduating. That wasn't what he would have expected at all if you'd asked him back in high school. In fact, he would have even predicted she would graduate early, before any of the rest of them. But life could throw curveballs – he certainly knew that.

Brad checked his watch. "It's getting to be about dinnertime. Is anyone hungry?"

"Yes," Scooby and Shaggy responded in unison, to no one's surprise, but everyone's amusem*nt.

"There's a great restaurant on the boardwalk," Cassidy told everyone. "It's called the Clam Cabin. Our friend Skipper Shelton runs it, and it's not far from here."

"Is it a seafood restaurant?" asked Daphne, who was allergic to shellfish.

Ricky got up from the couch. "It is, but don't worry, there are plenty of non-seafood options for you."

Daphne nodded. "Good enough for me."

"Me too." Judy rose from her seat as well. "Shall we walk?"

"A ralk?!" Scooby barked excitedly. Nova couldn't help a few small excited jumps herself.

Shaggy chuckled. Because Scooby and Nova were smarter than their average counterparts, sometimes it was funny to watch them react like they were regular dogs.

The warm California sun was dipping lower in the sky, but they still had plenty of light to see by as they walked. They passed all kinds of shops on the boardwalk; souvenir stores, ice cream parlors, even an office space for the local paper,The Crystal Cove Chronicle.But no one appeared to be around. The boardwalk itself was pretty empty, which surprised Shaggy a little – a cute little beach town like this surely should have been overrun with families on vacation or students on break.

But the reason for the empty boardwalk became clear once they arrived at the restaurant. It appeared that the entire town had gathered there – the whole building was teeming with people. But service moved swiftly. Moments after they walked in the door, they were seated by a red-haired young man named Ethan, who seemed to be about the gang's age and knew Ricky and Cassidy by name. He greeted the two adults enthusiastically and deftly led the group through the crowd and deposited them at a large empty table.

"You must be the old friends and the mystery-solving kids that Ricky and Cassidy told us about," Ethan said to Brad, Judy, and the gang as he handed out their menus.

The gang blinked at him confusedly. "They told you about us?" asked Velma.

"They haven't shut up about you," Ethan replied, grinning. "I think the whole town must know you're here." He pointed over to a booth where a group of students their age were sitting. "Those are some of my friends over there. They'll probably come over and say hey at some point." He finished setting the menus down. "I'll be back in a bit to take your orders."

When Ethan had gone, the gang stared at Ricky and Cassidy.

"Haven't been able to shut up about us, huh?" Fred teased.

Cassidy smiled, slightly abashed, and shifted in her chair. "We were excited about y'all coming to visit," she explained.

Ricky's face had gone a bit pink. "It's been a long time since we've been able to put roots down anywhere," he added gruffly. "Is it such a crime for us to look forward to having visitors?"

"Of course not," Daphne assured him. "It's very sweet."

"Like yeah," Shaggy agreed. "We're excited about this visit too."

"Reah, reah!" Scooby nodded exuberantly.

Ethan was right – throughout their meal, several other people in the restaurant did in fact stop by to say hello to Ricky and Cassidy and introduce themselves to the gang. The only adults that made an impression on the gang were the restaurant proprietor Skipper Shelton, a salty seadog of a man with a limp and – for some reason – a nosepatch; and the mayor, Janet Nettles, who had shiny brown hair and a warm smile.

Ethan's friends had a much bigger influence on the gang. They came over around the same time Ethan brought out their dinner orders.

"These are my pals," Ethan introduced them over his shoulder as he set down the heaping plate of clams that Shaggy and Scooby had ordered. "We all went to high school together here in town, and most of us are at the same university now too."

"I'm Gary," said a tall, broad-shouldered young man with brown hair. He wore a purple and yellow soccer jersey for the Crystal Cove Fighting Urchins and flashed them a friendly smile. "It's great to meet the famous mystery kids that Ricky and Cassidy have told us so much about."

Embarrassed, Cassidy buried her face in her hands as the gang laughed.

"It's great to meet you too, Gary," Fred replied with a grin of his own. "I'm Fred. This is my girlfriend Daphne, and our friends Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Nova."

"You guys should double date with Brenda and Dylan," Gary said, gesturing to an attractive couple on his right. "They've been attached at the hip since like, middle school."

Brenda tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder and gave the gang a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She reminded Daphne a bit of a girl they'd gone to high school with, Maureen Fischer. Dylan, who had lighter hair and a slender build, seemed a bit friendlier.

"I'm Rung Ladderton," interrupted a tall, thin young man with curly reddish-brown hair. Brenda and Dylan stepped out of his way, giving him a rather wide berth, but he didn't seem to notice. "You may be familiar with my family's legacy, the Ladderton Ladder Company." He leaned forward to shake Daphne's hand, holding it a bit longer than was necessary. Fred scowled, but Rung didn't seem to notice. "We also dabble in pharmaceuticals." He grinned wolfishly.

Daphne, who absolutely understood the effect she could have on men, wouldn't have been bothered by this flirtation if not for a sinister glint in Rung's eyes. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way. So she just decided to remain cordial. "It's nice to meet you," was all she said.

"And I'm Mai Le," said a pretty Asian girl with cropped dark hair. She flicked her eyelashes over to Shaggy and shot him a coquettish smile.

"If you guys are interested," said Ethan. "My parents own a vineyard not far away, and I always kick off the summer with a party. It's tonight if you'd like to stop by. There's a pool, yard games, and always plenty of food."

"Rood?" Scooby was sold. "Rokay!"

Ethan laughed. "It starts around eight-thirty. The place is called Mitchell's Winery."

"What do you say, gang?" Fred asked.

"I'm in," Daphne replied.

"Like me too," Shaggy agreed.

Velma and the dogs also nodded.

"Fantastic!" Ethan grinned broadly.

"Later, doll," said Rung, flashing his dark eyes Daphne's way.

"See you tonight, Shaggy!" Mai Le called as she trotted after the rest of her group out of the restaurant.

Fred glowered after Rung, and Velma, irritated by Mai Le, crossed her arms.

"The kids in this town are all really great," Cassidy said to the gang, seemingly oblivious to Fred's and Velma's dark expressions. "I bet y'all will have a lot of fun at that party."

"I'm sure we'll have a good time together," Daphne said, putting her hand on Fred's knee. She'd noticed Fred's discomfort with Rung, but he had nothing to worry about – Fred was the only one for Daphne.

Shaggy had also been aware of Mai Le's attention to him – and the way that Velma had stewed in her seat. He couldn't help feeling smug about it.

"Well hello Ricky and Cassidy," said a new voice. "I'd hoped I'd get a chance to meet your visitors!"

Everyone glanced up at the newcomer, a handsome young man who seemed older than the gang, but slightly younger than the adults. He wore a brown suit jacket and large wireframe spectacles. His long dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and he spoke with the slightest hint of a British accent.

Velma recognized him immediately and couldn't help the gasp that escaped her.

"Jinkies! I don't believe it – you're Ben Ravencroft!"

Chapter 5: The Book of the Dead

Chapter Text

"Who?" Shaggy asked, eyeing the tall young man who stood beside their table. He'd never seen or heard of Ben Ravencroft before.

But Ricky and Cassidy turned to Velma looking delighted. "You're familiar with his work then?" asked Ricky.

Velma blushed. She liked to think of herself as stoic and unflappable, but she seemed to have a hard time keeping her cool around people she admired. And Ben Ravencroft certainly fit into that category. "I've been reading your books for years," she admitted, suddenly unable to look him directly in the eye. "You're my favorite author."

Shaggy bristled. He knew many things about Velma – her favorite pizza toppings, her favorite songs, her favorite scientists. She even had a favorite mathematical equation (something called the Fibonacci sequence). But he hadneverheard her mention Ben Ravencroft as her favorite author.

Ravencroft smiled widely. "Well that's quite flattering," he said. He stuck out his hand for her to shake. "What was your name?"

"Velma. …Uh, Dinkley." She shook his hand, embarrassed that it suddenly felt warm and slightly damp from nerves. But if Ravencroft noticed, he said nothing – just continued to smile at her charmingly.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Velma Dinkley," he said, eyes crinkling in a smile behind his glasses. "It's always a treat to meet fans."

The rest of the gang introduced themselves, along with Brad and Judy. Then Fred asked, "What kinds of books do you write, Mr. Ravencroft?"

"Please call me Ben," he replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Mr. Ravencroft was my father. And to answer your question, I write mystery novels. Horror stories."

"Like great," Shaggy said under his breath. Scary stories were the last thing he needed right now.

"Wow, that's fascinating!" Fred exclaimed.

"I thought you all might find that interesting," Ben said with another smile. "Ricky and Cassidy have been singing your praises as mystery solvers ever since I came to town."

Shaggy's eyebrows shot up – Ricky and Cassidy reallyhadbeen talking up the gang. It was oddly touching. But something about what Ben had just said confused Shaggy a bit.

Daphne picked up on it too, and asked the question. "Came to town?" she repeated. "Are you not local?"

To her surprise, Velma was the one who answered. "Nope," she said, shaking her head. "He spends most of his time in Europe, but he's actually from Oakhaven, Massachusetts. The same town the Hex Girls are from."

Ben smiled at her once more. "You've really done your homework," he said.

Velma blushed again, embarrassed for fangirling this way. "Sorry," she apologized.

But Ben shook his head. "Don't apologize," he insisted. "Like I said, it's flattering. And quite sweet, if I'm being perfectly honest."

Shaggy felt his skin heat up with annoyance.

"So what are you doing in Crystal Cove?" asked Fred. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all," Ben told him. "I'm here following up on the town's claim to be the most haunted place on earth. Many unexplainable things are said to have happened in Crystal Cove, so I'm here to do some research."

Velma was quite sure therewere,in fact, explanations for the "unexplainable" things that occurred, but she wouldn't dare interrupt him.

Fred would, though. "On what specifically?" he asked.

Ben gave a clandestine smile. "Now thatisa story." He pulled up a chair from a recently emptied table. "May I sit?" he asked, moving aside Velma's water glass to make space.

"Please," Brad said, gesturing for him to take a seat.

"As a matter of fact," Ricky added, indicating himself, Brad, Judy, and Cassidy. "I think we're due at the Tiki Tub for some drinks. Kids, do you mind if we leave you with Ben?"

"Of course not," Velma replied, too quickly.

Ben chuckled, charmed, and Velma blushed for what seemed like the millionth time. Shaggy wished she would stop that.

"Here's some cash to pay for dinner," said Judy, dropping several bills into Fred's hand. "Have fun at your party tonight! I don't feel like we have the authority to give you curfews, but maybe try to be back at the beach house by one a.m?"

Fred checked his watch. It was barely seven-thirty – he couldn't imagine they'd be outthatlate.

"We'll see y'all later!" Cassidy called as she and the adults left the restaurant.

Once they were gone, Ben turned back to the gang.

"So," he began. "Legend has it that many years ago, a witch was said to live in this town – in a house on the edge of a cliff near the coast."

"Like we've never heardthatbefore," Shaggy muttered sarcastically. He couldn't count how many times he and the gang had investigated a house or a forest or a cemetery that claimed to be haunted by a witch.

Scooby flicked him gently with his tale, and Velma shot him a warning glare across the table.

But Ben chuckled and looked at him. "Stories like this are old hat to you, are they?"

Velma buried her face in her hands, embarrassed at Shaggy's outspokenness.

Fred answered instead. "Well, I don't know how much Ricky and Cassidy told you about us, but we've solved a lot of mysteries like the one you're describing – you know, haunted house, scary witch, et cetera, et cetera – and it always turned out to be someone in a costume."

Ben nodded thoughtfully. "Tell me more about those cases," he prompted.

The gang spent the next little while regaling Ben with tales of some of the cases they'd solved as high schoolers, and how they'd always foiled the perpetrator in the end with a trap and a dramatic unmasking.

Ben listened politely, asking an occasional question for clarification. Once the gang was done though, he leaned forward.

"Those are some great stories," he admitted. He shot Velma a wicked little smile. "Now let me tell you one."

Shaggy clenched his fists, pretending not to notice the way Velma flushed when Ben smiled at her.

"It's said that the witch who lived in this town kept a book," Ben continued. "A book in which she wrote stories about the townspeople. In these stories, they always met a gruesome fate. No one thought much of it at first. But then her stories started to come true. People began to disappear, get ill, or even die, just like they did in her stories. The legend went that once the witch wrote your name in her book, you'd be dead within a day. That's why they started calling it The Book of the Dead."

Shaggy shivered in spite of himself. He didn't like Ben, but it didn't mean that he couldn't tell a good story.

Scooby and Nova seemed uneasy as well, but Velma was absolutely rapt. Daphne was holding hands with Fred, whose brow was furrowed in concentration as he listened.

"The witch's name was Sarah," Ben went on. "And she was descended from another alleged witch, also named Sarah, who had lived during the 1690s. Sarah the First was an herbal healer who had lived in Puritan Massachusetts. She documented her cases in a leatherbound book, but she was accused of witchcraft when the people from her records started dying. She was sentenced to hang for her alleged crimes. Her husband had died long ago, and she had a young son named Thomas. She was terrified of what would happen to her boy if she was executed, so she asked her good friend Hester to care for her son. However, Hester refused, instead breaking Sarah out of captivity and fleeing their community with young Thomas and the book of medical records.

"They settled in Virginia, where Hester took Sarah's last name to give the appearance that they were sisters – though, it was more likely that the two were lovers. Thomas grew up in this home with Sarah and Hester and eventually began a family of his own. Over the next two hundred years, their progeny continued. Ultimately their descendants began moving westward, manifesting their destiny until they arrived here, in Crystal Cove, California, in the year 1860. It was at this point that the first female was born in that lineage since Sarah herself, and the baby was also named Sarah, as an homage to her ancestor. For the next twenty or so years, Sarah the Second and her parents lived in comfortable wealth, enjoying popularity and power.

"Until, that is, Sarah found the book that her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother had kept. But, as I mentioned before, she didn't use the book to record medical data. She used it to write horrific tales in which the townspeople suffered terrible gruesome deaths. When the citizens of Crystal Cove actually did begin to perish, the book was discovered. The townspeople declared Sarah II a witch, and ran her out of town and off a cliff to her death. Her body was never found…and neither was the book."

Here, he finally finished his story, letting silence and awe overtake the gang.

Daphne was the first to speak. "Jeepers," she said. "Is this the basis for your next novel? It sounds like a fascinating story."

"It is," Ben agreed.

"It's like too bad no one knows where the book is," Shaggy remarked. "I bet that would have helped you a lot in your research."

Ben fixed Shaggy with an inscrutable gaze. "Ah but you see," he said. "I believe Idoknow where the book is hidden."

The gang stared at him, amazed. "How?" Fred had to ask.

Ben leaned his elbow on the table. "After doing some research on the house in question, I believe there is a secret panel somewhere in the walls of the basem*nt, andthatis where Sarah hid her book. I plan to go there tonight, actually, to see if I can find it."

"Jinkies," Velma breathed. "You mean you haven't tried to look for it yet? That would have been the first thing I'd do if I were in your shoes."

Ben shrugged. "I had to spend a good chunk of time in the genealogy section of the library in town. That's where I found the blueprints for the house, which made me think there must be a secret panel in one of the walls." He sat up and gazed intensely at the gang again. "Would you like to come with me? To the house, I mean?"

Velma nearly choked on her water. "Are you serious?" she coughed, putting her glass down.

"Very," Ben assured her. "Ricky and Cassidy told everyone in town how talented you all were at following your instincts and finding clues, and after hearing your own accounts, I have to agree. I would be honored if you would come with me tonight and help me search."

"Tonight?!" Shaggy exclaimed. It was nearly eight o'clock by now, and though the sun hadn't set quite yet, itwassinking dangerously close to the horizon. Shaggy did not want to spend an evening searching an allegedly haunted house for something called the Book of the Dead…especiallywith Ben Ravencroft.

"We'd love to!" Velma cried enthusiastically, eyes shining.

"Whoa, wait just a minute," Fred said, holding up a hand. He wanted to solve the mystery of the missing book too, but he wanted more information first. He looked at Ben. "How do you know this book is even real? Isn't it only a legend?"

Ben shrugged noncommittally. "It is a legend," he conceded. "But even legends have a basis in reality. And the story of this book has been passed down in my family through generations. It's always been my lifelong dream to find it."

Scooby eyed him. "Rour ramily?" he asked.

Ben's lips quirked into a grin. "Their last name was Ravencroft," he explained. "These women – thesewitches –are my ancestors."

x.X.x

That was all the convincing the gang needed. Everyone wanted to go to the Ravencroft House to search for the Book of the Dead. Well…almost everyone. Shaggy did not want to go, but he was outvoted. Truthfully, Scooby didn't really want to go either – he was just as frightened as Shaggy. Nova seemed reluctant as well, but figured they had better stay with the humans.

Velma, of course, was thrilled to have been invited. Even if she didn't really believe that the book had special powers, or that the women who wrote in it had been witches, the fact remained thatabook existed, and if she could help Ben Ravencroft find it, she would be ecstatic.

Fred, too, was excited to be searching for the book. It had been a while since the gang had solved a proper mystery – almost exactly a year – and he was itching to get back at it.

But as the gang followed Ben out of the restaurant, Daphne put a hand on Fred's arm. "Freddie, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Fred glanced at her. "What do you mean? Don't you want to find this book?"

"I mean, sure," Daphne replied. It was true – the curiosity of what was really in this book was killing her. "But we don't know this man. I mean, Velma knows his work, but we don'tknowhim."

Fred shrugged. "Ricky and Cassidy do," he pointed out. "I highly doubt they would let us spend an evening with him if they didn't trust that he was a good person, you know?"

Daphne sighed. She did trust Ricky and Cassidy. But after living in New York City for two years, Daphne had become a bit more cautious around strangers. Fred, though, still lived in their small Midwestern town where everyone knew each other. Of course he wouldn't get bad vibes from an adult, especially one as charming as Ben Ravencroft.

Daphne loved Fred, but she worried about him sometimes.

"Okay," she relented. "But let's be careful."

Ben had a van just as large as the Mystery Machine, if not larger. They were all able to fit in it comfortably. Shaggy climbed into the back and tried to ignore his rising annoyance when Ben opened the passenger side door for Velma and gallantly helped her in.

"It's really nice of you to drive us," Velma said as they drove down the coastal lane. The sun was setting behind the ocean, the pinks and oranges fading into darkness.

Ben shot her a grin. "Well it's really nice of you to come with me and help me search for the book," he replied. "You seem exceptionally clever and bright – I'm sure we'll find the book together in no time." He adjusted his glasses. "So speaking of books…you mentioned reading mine. Are you a literary connoisseur?"

Velma blushed. "Hardly. I mean, I love reading and I love books, but I'm more of a scientist. I'm double majoring in chemistry and physics at Stanford."

"Wow," said Ben, impressed. "That's truly an accomplishment. When do you graduate?"

"Oh, not for a while," Velma replied, glancing out the window. "I'm only eighteen. I still have two and a half more years."

"Only eighteen?" Ben murmured, his voice quiet enough that Shaggy wasn't sure if the gang was supposed to hear him. "Hmm. You seem so much more mature than…"

He trailed off in a pensive mutter. No one had heard the end of his sentence.

Velma looked at him inquisitively. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Ben cleared his throat, and stroked his beard awkwardly. "Nothing, never mind," he replied, seeming embarrassed. "I was just saying that…you seem so much more mature than others your age." He shot her a flustered smile, though his eyes twinkled as he did so.

Shaggy tensed. Was Ben flirting with Velma? Not that Shaggy should care – not that hedidcare – they were broken up. He knew that Velma had gone out with a few people at Stanford after they had ended their relationship. And okay, Shaggy couldn't pretend like he'd been thrilled about that, but at least those people had been age-appropriate. Ben was at least fifteen years their senior. It was kind of gross that he was flirting with Velma.

No – it wasverygross.

Shaggy glanced around the van to see if anyone else had noticed. Fred, predictably, seemed oblivious, but Shaggy was mollified to see that Daphne looked just as aghast as he felt. She made eye contact with him and they shared an appalled expression. The dogs, too, seemed uncomfortable.

Mercifully, the car pulled off the road onto a dirt lane, and moments later, they found themselves in front of a large, dilapidated house. It was not in good shape. The roof had multiple holes, all the windows were broken, and paint was peeling off the siding.

"Rhis doens't rook safe," Scooby remarked as they got out of the car.

"I agree," said Nova, glancing up at Ben.

Ben shook his head. "Don't worry," he told everyone. "We're not going upstairs. The secret panel should be in the basem*nt."

"Like isn't thatlesssafe?" Shaggy muttered to Daphne. It seemed that if a house was on the verge of collapse, the basem*nt would be the last place you'd want to go.

Fred clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry buddy," he said. "I'll do a quick check around the perimeter, make sure of the structural integrity."

Daphne smiled at him. "Thanks, babe," she said. She wasn't thrilled to be exploring the house either – especially as derelict as it was – but she did feel better knowing Fred would check it out first. She trusted him and his architectural expertise.

Fred walked around the house, occasionally knocking on the outer walls or putting his hands against the siding before declaring it safe. "We should still tread carefully, though," he warned.

Ben led the way into the house, easing open the broken front door. It was properly dark inside, the last vestiges of the sun too low in the sky to penetrate the windows, so everyone pulled out their cellphones to use their flashlights. The foyer in which they found themselves was dusty and dingy – it was clear that it had been centuries since anyone had lived here. The bannister on the stairs was broken and seemingly infested with termites. Open archways to their right and left seemed to lead the way to a neglected kitchen and living room, respectively. Straight ahead of them was a dark hall, and at the end of it was an even darker doorway.

"That's the way to the basem*nt," Ben said. He turned to the gang and smiled gamely at Velma. "You ready?"

Shaggy gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Velma simply nodded. "Let's go."

The pair of them led the way, phone flashlights illuminating their path. Daphne clutched Fred's arm as they descended the stairs to the basem*nt, terrified that she'd trip and fall into the darkness. At last, they reached the bottom of the stairs, straining their eyes.

"Okay," Ben said. "If I'm remembering the blueprints correctly, the secret panel should be on the eastern wall."

Velma glanced at him. "You don't have them with you?"

Ben shook his head. "Unfortunately not. They were reference materials, so I couldn't remove them from the library."

Velma nodded in understanding.

Nova, who was good at orienteering, spun in a few slow circles before eventually stopping. "I believe east is this way," she said, pointing with her nose.

"Like great," Shaggy sighed. It required them to go even further into the dank basem*nt. The group steadily made their way through the large room, careful not to bump into any of the detritus and old furniture that littered their path. Daphne nearly walked right into a large wooden table.

"What is that?" she asked, shining her flashlight. It was about the size of a dinner table, but it was made of stainless steel with a wooden top.

Shaggy found himself answering. "It's like, a butcher's table," he explained. He'd seen plenty of them both at school and in the restaurant's kitchen. But he wasn't sure what one was doing in this basem*nt.

Ben didn't seem fazed, however. "That makes sense," he said nonchalantly. "Sarah Ravencroft's father was the local butcher."

"But wasn't that like, two hundred years ago?" Shaggy asked. This butcher's block seemed much newer, being made of stainless steel.

No one answered him however, as a gasp from the far end of the room caused them all to shine their flashlights forward. "Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed. She hadn't been paying attention to the discovery of the butcher's table, and had instead begun immediately exploring the walls for a secret panel – which she had evidently just discovered.

By the light of their phone flashlights, the others could see a slim panel on the wall hanging forward as if on a hinge. It opened to a small, shallow compartment in the wall.

Ben rushed forward, beside himself with excitement and delight. "Oh my," he breathed, the flashlight casting his face into odd shadows. "Velma, you brilliant, clever thing!" He reached the hand that wasn't holding his flashlight into the compartment and fished out a very old and battered leather-bound book.

Everyone gaped at it, awestruck.

"All my life," Ben whispered, gazing at the book. "I've heard it was real…but to actually see it with my own eyes…toholdit in my own hands…" He paused, then glanced at the gang. "Shall we open it together?"

Shaggy decidedly didnotwant to open this book. It was called the Book of the Dead, for crying out loud. But the rest of the gang seemed eager, so Ben took his cue from them, and lifted the thin leather cover of the book to see what was written on its first yellowed page.

Chapter 6: A Party

Chapter Text

Ben furrowed his brow. "I…don't understand." He was gazing at the first page of the Book of the Dead, looking confused.

At first, Velma thought it was because it was hard to read the handwriting. But she quickly saw that this wasn't the case. There was nothingtoread.

The page was blank.

And it wasn't just the first page – the entire book was empty. Ben flipped through it, growing more agitated and dismayed with every page turn. At last, he sighed, defeated.

"Well this was certainly a let down," he said. He held the book limply in his hand,

Velma felt awful for him. "Are we sure that's definitely it?" she asked, feeling idiotic. How many other secret books behind hidden panels could there be down here? Still, she desperately wanted to comfort him. "Maybe it's behind a different wall."

Ben gave her a cheerless smile. "You're sweet, but I'm afraid this is it. The legends turned out to be just that after all – legends." He examined the book. "Perhaps this did belong to Sarah Ravencroft, but it doesn't appear she ever wrote in it." He glanced at Velma, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry to have wasted your time like this."

"Oh, please!" Velma immediately shook her head. "This wasn't a waste of time at all!"

"It like, kinda was though," Shaggy whispered to Scooby.

Velma didn't hear him. "I'm just sorry we weren't able to find what you were looking for."

Ben chuckled unhappily. "Well, we did find it," he pointed out. "Just not the way I'd hoped." He sighed again. "Oh well. I appreciate your company anyway. Shall I drive you home?"

"Actually," said Fred, checking his watch. It was just about nine o'clock. "There was a party we were invited to at a vineyard nearby. Mitchell's Winery?"

"Ah," said Ben, nodding knowingly. "Yes, of course. I'd be happy to drive you. It's the least I can do after this mission was such a bust." He sighed once more. "I should get going, anyway – it's getting late, and I ought to be writing."

"Where are you staying?" asked Velma as they climbed the creaky stairs out of the basem*nt and down the hall to the front door.

"Not far from you all, probably. I'm renting a beach house as well," Ben replied.

It turned out the winery wasn't that far away. They arrived less than ten minutes later, their arrival heralded by stalks of grapes on the outskirts of the vineyard. Ben deposited them at the bottom of a low hill. The gang could see lights at the top of the lane, and hear the unmistakable sounds of music and laughing students.

"Would you like me to take you closer?" asked Ben, gazing up the lane towards the party.

Fred shook his head. "We're already out of the car. We should be able to take it from here," he insisted, when a squeal of delight sounded from the top of the hill.

"You made it!" It was Mai Le, her black bob tossed gently by the breeze, and her dark eyes alight with joy. She raced down the hill, accidentally stumbling a few times, but laughing at herself. Still giggling, she leaned on Shaggy's shoulder when she reached them – to Velma's immediate consternation.

"Oh!" Mai Le suddenly noticed Ben and stood up straight. "Hello Mr. Ravencroft. I didn't see you there."

Her voice changed, her speech suddenly oddly formal, like she was trying too hard to enunciate.

Scooby realized what was happening. Mai Le was drunk, and was trying to pretend otherwise in front of Ben. He shared a glance with Nova, who also appeared to understand Mai Le's state. The gang recognized it as well, but if Ben did, he made no mention of it.

"I was just their ride," he explained to Mai Le. "I've got to get going now." He gave her a friendly smile, then turned to the gang. "I really do appreciate all your help," he told them. "I'm just sorry for the way it turned out. I'm a bit embarrassed."

"Oh, please don't be!" Velma exclaimed. "I just wish there was more we could do for you."

Ben regarded her, as if internally wrestling with his thoughts. Then, with a charming smile, he pulled a pen out of the breast pocket of his brown jacket, grabbed the old book from the car, and wrote something on the inside cover.

"Here," he said, handing the book to Velma. "I'd like you to take this."

Velma gaped at him, astonished. "Oh, Ben, no," she declined, shaking her head frantically. "I couldn't – that belonged to your ancestor!"

"Not to keep," Ben clarified. "Just to borrow. You have a bit more experience finding clues and inconsistencies than I do – perhaps you'll find something I missed. Besides…" he trailed off, looking away. "I wrote my phone number in there. Perhaps you could call me? If you…discover anything, I mean?"

Velma's skin heated with delight. She had Ben Ravencroft's phone number! And, what's more – Shaggy seemedabsolutely furiousabout it. She saw him in her peripheral vision, all wild eyes and gritted teeth.

Ha, ha,she laughed to herself.

To Ben, she smiled and took the leatherbound book from him. "Of course I will," she replied, grinning widely at him.

Ben flashed Velma one more charming smile, then raised a hand in farewell to the rest of the group. "So long," he said. Then he hopped into his van and sped off down the lane.

Velma reverently put the book in the messenger bag she carried with her everywhere. As she did, she caught Shaggy's eye, and couldn't help the gloating smile she shot him.

Anger prickled Shaggy's skin.So that's the way it's going to be, huh?He glanced over to Mai Le, who was still standing near him, and held a hand out to her.Well, two can play at this game.

"Like you ready to go, Mai Le?" he asked, thrilled when she immediately reached for his hand and held it. He glanced over at Velma, satisfied to see that her smile had faltered slightly.

Mai Le didn't notice, too pleased to be holding Shaggy's hand. "Absolutely!" she giggled. "Follow me!"

At the top of the hill, they were greeted with blasting music and raucous students dancing, swimming, playing cornhole, and just generally being rowdy. Lanterns and string lights hung from trees and trellises, giving a soft illumination to the party. The pool was also lit, and it appeared to be heated, from the faint mist of steam rising from the surface. The building where tastings occurred had multiple long glass windows, and doors to restrooms were visible through them. A large snack table had been set up on one side of the pool, while a massive keg was set up on the other. They caught sight of Ethan, who was now wearing a soccer jersey like Gary's, and he waved at them exuberantly.

The humans were all looking forward to letting loose – that was what summer vacation was for, wasn't it? Besides, tensions were a little high with the gang right now, what with the Velma vs. Shaggy "who was more over who" competition that was going on. They needed to blow off some steam.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Nova asked Scooby.

"Rabsolutely," he agreed, nodding quickly. Scooby didn't mind parties, but he could tell from the look on Nova's face that she had something she wanted to talk about. They turned around and began wandering through the grapevines, walking in companionable silence until they left the noise of the party behind.

"What do you think of Ben Ravencroft?" Nova asked after a while.

"Rye don't trust rim," Scooby replied immediately. It was true – there had been something about him that rubbed Scooby the wrong way when they'd first met, but Scooby had assumed it was because Shaggy was so clearly antagonized by him. Now, away from the humans, Scooby realized that, at least to him, there was something innately suspicious about Ben.

"I don't trust him either," Nova admitted. "I can't quite describe it but there's something about him that…irks me."

"Rye know rhat you mean," Scooby said. "Raggy doesn't seem to rike him reither."

Nova chuckled fondly. "Well, of course Shaggy doesn't like him. Ben is making moves on Velma. That must make Shaggy feel threatened."

Scooby nodded slowly, thinking. Could that be all there was to his suspicions? Ben flirting with Velma and upsetting the already tenuous pressure in the gang?

But Nova still seemed ponderous. "There's something else about him though that gives me pause," she continued. "He seems disingenuous to me. I don't know if the humans should continue interacting with him."

"Rood luck telling them rhat," Scooby remarked. He knew that once the gang got hold of a mystery – even one as dead-end seeming as this empty old book – they wouldn't let it go until it had been solved. And if interfacing with Ben Ravencroft was the way to do that, the gang would do whatever had to be done.

x.X.x

While the dogs were off in the vineyard, the humans were mingling with Crystal Cove's college students, chatting and laughing and – of course – drinking. It had taken a little while for Velma to get into the spirit. She'd started the party sitting in a pool chair with the empty Book of the Dead open on her lap, examining its blank pages by the light of nearby lanterns.

Daphne, who by this point had had a few drinks, noticed Velma sitting alone and decided that now was a good time to have a chat.

"I'll be right back," she said to Fred, who was refilling his beer at the keg. "I'm going to talk to Velma."

"Okay!" Fred called after her.

Daphne sat in the pool chair next to Velma, offering her a full cup of beer.

"Hey!" Velma exclaimed, yanking the book out of the way. "Be careful with that – what if you spilled it on the book?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Velma, we're at a party. On vacation! Can you put the mystery aside just for a little while? It'll still be there in the morning." Daphne set the beer down and paused, pondering the best way to broach what she'd really come over here to say. "And…I wanted to talk to you about that. About Ben, I mean."

Velma scoffed. "What about him, Daph?"

"Just…" Daphne hesitated. "I want you to be careful, okay?"

Velma raised an eyebrow. "Be careful?"

"I've been down this road before," Daphne said. "I know that you're still upset about your breakup with Shaggy –"

"No I'm not," Velma lied abruptly.

Daphne ignored the interruption. " – but nothing good can come from leading Ben on. Especially considering how old he is."

Velma furrowed her brow. "What does age have to do with it?"

Daphne widened her eyes. "Velma, Ben isold!"

"He's not that old!" Velma argued. "He's thirty-three!"

"You're eighteen!" Daphne retorted.

Velma dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "What are you, my mother?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Nothing is going to happen with Ben, Daphne. He's just being nice, and so am I."

Daphne shook her head in disbelief. "Velma, please tell me you're not that naive."

Velma wasnotthat naive. She was absolutely picking up what Ben was putting down. But as flattering as it was to potentially have a guy like Ben Ravencroft interested in her, Daphne was right – he wasmucholder than they were. There was no way anything wouldactuallyhappen with him and Velma. So what harm could come from a little flirting? Especially when it made Shaggy so deliciously annoyed?

"I don't want you to get hurt," Daphne pleaded. "And I don't want Shaggy to get hurt either."

Velma looked at her, incredulous. "You're worried aboutShaggy'sfeelings?"

"He's my friend too, Velma!" Daphne said. "I don't want to choose between the two of you. Besides…" she paused. "I know you still have feelings for him."

Velma felt her face flush scarlet. "I do not," she lied again. "I'm completely over him."

"You can keep telling yourself that," Daphne said. "But I did this same thing senior year, remember? When Fred and I broke up, and I went out with Red Herring a few times? I can fully admit now that I only did it to hurt Fred." Daphne blinked at Velma. "I know Shaggy hurt you, Velma. But even if youareover him romantically, I know you still care about him as a friend."

Velma looked away from Daphne's probing gaze, feeling her heart twist. There were a few things about Velma and Shaggy's break up that Daphne didn't know, and Velma didn't feel it would be prudent to explain them right now. But Daphne was also right – as satisfying as it was to watch Shaggy get mad about Ben, deep down she really didn't actually want to hurt him.

Velma sighed, putting the book in her messenger bag. "I'm going to go get a beer," she said. Daphne offered her the full solo cup she'd brought over originally, but Velma dismissed it. "You have that one," she said. "You're right – I should put the mystery away for a while and mingle."

Daphne watched as Velma headed off in the direction of the keg, sipping her beer contentedly. She glanced around the party, trying to spot Fred. She was about to get up and search for him when Rung Ladderton appeared out of nowhere, dropping down into the pool chair beside hers. "Hello there," he greeted her. "Remind me your name again, beautiful?" His speech was slurred slightly – he was clearly quite drunk.

"It's Daphne," she said politely, though her tone was dismissive.

Rung nodded. "Right, right." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he peered at her thoughtfully. "Listen, I don't know if you have any plans for the rest of the week, but my family is celebrating the Ladderton Ladder and Pharmaceutical Company's 60th anniversary on Friday. It's going to be a black-tie affair, very sophisticated. You should come."

Daphne gaped at him in disbelief, astonished at his brashness. He absolutely knew she was dating Fred. What did he think he was doing, making moves on a girl who was clearly attached to someone else? "No thank you," she replied coolly. "I'm here on vacation with my friends and my boyfriend. I plan to spend all my time with them."

Rung scoffed. "You could see them any old time. The Ladderton Ladder and Pharmaceutical Company will only turn sixty once – and it's this weekend."

Daphne rolled her eyes and got up from the pool chair. "Goodbye, Rung." She began to walk past him.

"Hey!" Rung suddenly leapt up from his own pool chair and grabbed her elbow. "Don't walk away from me – I'm talking to you!"

Daphne stared at him, aghast. "Let go of me!" she exclaimed.

Velma, by this point, had reached the keg – which unfortunately happened to be where Shaggy and Mai Le were chatting – and had been so busy ignoring the two of them that she hadn't heard any of the commotion with Rung and Daphne until now. She, Shaggy, and Mai Le watched aghast as Daphne yanked her arm out of Rung's grasp, but he continued to follow her around the pool.

Shaggy and Velma shared a fearful look, temporarily forgetting the awkwardness between them. "Like where's Freddie?" Shaggy wondered.

"There he is!" Velma exclaimed, pointing. Fred, who had been in a long conversation with Gary on the other side of the pool, had noticed Rung and Daphne, and immediately raced towards them.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, stepping between them. "What do you think you're doing? Leave her alone!"

"Let her speak for herself!" Rung exclaimed.

"Iwas,"Daphne snarled. "But you weren't listening."

Shaggy and Velma exchanged another glance. "We should go over there, right?" asked Velma.

"Like definitely," Shaggy agreed.

"I'll go find Ethan," Mai Le volunteered. The three sped off, Mai Le towards the building, Shaggy and Velma towards the crowd.

By now, more people had surrounded the trio that was Fred, Daphne, and Rung, and they were all trying to get Rung to back off.

"Come on, man," Dylan was saying, his face stormy with annoyance. Brenda stood away, watching somewhat apprehensively.

"Yeah, leave her alone," said someone else.

"My family practically owns this town!" Rung exclaimed. "You can't tell me what to do!" He angrily swung his arms at the crowd that had gathered.

Unfortunately, Velma happened to be running towards him as he did this, and he nearly clipped her with his wild arm. She managed to jump out of the way in time, but lost her balance and fell into the pool with a spectacular splash.

"Velma!" her friends cried, aghast.

Ethan came storming out of the tasting room, yelling at Rung. "What thef*ck,Ladderton?" he shouted, as Velma spluttered to the surface of the water. Miraculously, her glasses were still on her face.

Ethan had grabbed Rung by the elbow and firmly stomped him to the edge of the property. Fred knelt down beside the pool, able to focus on other things now that Daphne was out of harm's way. "Holy sh*t Velm, are you okay?" he asked, gripping her wet hand to help her out of the pool.

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice a bit shaky. "Just…a little wet."

She could say that again. Pool water dripped down her arms and legs onto the concrete, her clothes clinging wetly to her body.

"Let me grab you a towel," said Gary, snatching one from a pile folded neatly near one of the pool chairs. Velma took it from him and gratefully wrapped it around herself.

"Thanks," she said. Though the air was warm and the pool had been heated, she still shivered under the towel.

"Geez, I'm really sorry about that," Ethan groaned, coming back over. Mai Le followed close behind. Rung was nowhere in sight. "I called Ladderton an Uber and made him leave – he always gets belligerent when he's drunk. Can't take no for an answer, loses control."

"Sounds like the kind of guy you might think twice about befriending," Fred said bitterly.

Ethan nodded, sheepish. "You're right. He's an asshole." He gave the girls an apologetic look. "I really am sorry."

Velma shrugged. She was now towel-drying her short hair, giving Shaggy an unobstructed view of the way her wet clothes hugged her body. He felt his face flush and forced himself to look away.

"No hard feelings," Daphne assured Ethan. She was always more forgiving than Fred thought she had any right to be. "But we should probably get going too."

Ethan nodded, looking embarrassed. "Do you guys need a ride? I can call you an Uber too. Or Gary can probably fit you all in his van. He doesn't drink – I promise he's good to drive."

Shaggy glanced around, still deliberately avoiding looking at Velma. "Like where are the dogs?" he asked.

Everyone frowned. "I haven't seen them in a while," Daphne admitted. "I can go look for them."

"I'll come with you," Mai Le volunteered.

"I'll go find Gary," Ethan said. "Fred, wanna come with?" He still seemed apologetic, and Fred didn't want to make him feel worse.

"Sure," he agreed. "Shag, Velm, you guys okay to stay here and wait to see if Scooby and Nova show up?"

"Okay," they said automatically. It wasn't until everyone else had gone that they realized that, for the first time in a year, they were essentially alone together. Velma tightly wrapped the towel around herself, as if for protection.

Shaggy swallowed nervously. "Are you really okay?" he asked her after a few moments. It was the first thing he could think to say.

She nodded. "Yeah," she assured him. "I'm amazed I didn't lose my glasses."

"Like me too," Shaggy admitted. "Do you have spare ones with you? In your bag?" He glanced over to the keg, where she'd left her bag before they'd rushed to Daphne.

Velma shook her head. "Not here. They're at the beach house."

"You should get one of us to carry them for you," Shaggy suggested. "You know…like just in case?"

Velma chuckled. "Just in case I fall into another swimming pool?"

Shaggy chuckled too. "Yeah I guess that's like, not super likely to happen twice in the same week."

They were silent for a while. Velma shifted her weight. "So…your tattoos are cool," she said after a long pause.

Shaggy's mouth quirked into a smile. "Like thanks," he replied. "Almost every chef I've ever met has tattoos – I figured I should get them too." He shrugged. "I drew them all myself. Just got a tattoo artist to like, ink them on me."

Velma grinned. Shaggy had always been a talented artist. It didn't surprise her that he'd designed all his own tattoos. She stepped a little closer. "Can you tell me about them?"

Shaggy nodded. "Well like, this one should be pretty obvious." He turned around and gestured to his shoulder blade, where the imprint of Scooby's identity tag was inked.

Velma laughed. "Yeah, I think I could figure that one out."

Shaggy raised his left arm. "This is like, an exact image of my chef's knife," he explained, pointing out his forearm. "The one I use all the time. They always tell you that a chef's knife belongs to the chef, and not to the kitchen. So I got this to remind me of my responsibilities." He showed his right arm. "Same with this. All these herbs are meant to represent…I don't know,the spice of life,I guess? I got all the ones that are best to grow in your kitchen garden. Mint, dill, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme…"

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?" Velma teased.

Shaggy laughed. This wasso muchlike being friends with her again. It gave him hope…maybe they could work things out after all.

He went on describing his tattoos. "These numbers," he pointed out his right bicep, "Are the area codes for all the places I've lived. 650 for Vista Heights, 740 for Coolsville, and 872 for Chicago."

"What are the stars for?" Velma asked. She gripped the towel around her with one hand and reached out with her other one to point at where the tattooed stars peeked out from under Shaggy's shirt. But her finger went too far and ended up actually touching the skin of his collarbone.

The contact was immediately electric, and they gazed at each other, slightly embarrassed. But Velma didn't remove her hand, and Shaggy didn't step away. In fact, he stepped closer.

He swallowed. "It's uh…it's the gang," he explained quietly. He pointed out each star in turn, his finger grazing hers as he did. "Freddie, Daphne, Scooby, me…and you."

Velma felt her throat grow dry. When had he gotten this tattoo? Before their break up, or after? If it was before, did he regret it now? If it was after…then what didthatmean? She may have been bold enough to ask, but her brain was too full with the feel of Shaggy's skin under her hand to make any cohesive words.

"...Jinkies," was all she could muster.

x.X.x

Meanwhile, Scooby and Nova were still walking through the vineyard. As dogs, they had good night vision, so even though it was quite dark away from the lights of the party, they didn't have any trouble wending their way through the canopies of grapes.

Until they turned a corner and came upon a terrifying sight.

"RAAAAAAAAH!" Scooby screamed, leaping into the air in fright. He dove behind Nova – a much smaller dog than him – and covered his eyes, cowering and shaking on the dusty path.

Nova had also been quite taken aback by the thing they'd discovered, and stopped short in her tracks after letting out a surprised shout of her own. "It's okay," she said to Scooby, once her breathing was back to normal. "It's…it's only a scarecrow. It caught me off guard, too."

Scooby lifted one paw off his eyes to peek up at it.

The scarecrow, suspended on a wooden pole that stuck out of the ground, was the size of an adult human. It looked like one as well – with lifelike, beady black eyes and stringy dark hair. It wore a gray flannel shirt and tattered jeans. Scooby couldn't tell what it was made out of – maybe sackcloth and straw? – but the most unsettling thing about it was that its face was formed into a menacing scowl.

It was, without a doubt, the creepiest, most realistic scarecrow Scooby had ever seen.

He gulped. "Does rit…" he murmured, reluctant to voice the thought aloud. "Does rit look rike rit's…breathing?"

Nova's eyes widened. "Of…of course not," she said, though she sounded unsure.

Scooby was seized by an immediate need to get out of the vineyard. Nova wouldn't take her eyes off the scarecrow, as though frightened that it might make a sudden movement.

"...Shall we go back to the party?" she whispered.

"Res," Scooby replied instantly. They slowly began to back away from the scarecrow, not taking their eyes off it. Then they rounded the corner and raced out of the vineyard as fast as they could.

They ran nearly head-first into Shaggy and Velma, the latter of whom was soaking wet with a towel wrapped around her. It appeared the dogs had interrupted a moment, but the humans quickly jumped back from each other, as if embarrassed. Then they looked at the dogs and their expressions quickly changed to concern.

"Hey buddy like, are you okay?" Shaggy knelt down next to Scooby.

"There you are!" Daphne and Mai Le approached them from the other end of the party. Fred and Ethan followed, trailed by Gary. They noticed how shaken the dogs looked too. "What happened?" asked Daphne, also kneeling by Scooby.

"We just had a frightening experience in the vineyard," Nova explained. "It's not important." She glanced up at Velma. "What happened to you?"

Velma shook her head. "Nothing. I fell in the pool. I'm okay."

"Well I think we're ready to head back to the beach house," Fred said. "Gang?" He reached for Daphne's hand, and she took it. It seemed that everyone was eager to leave the party. Scooby wondered what had happened, but he was too anxious to get as far away as possible from that scarecrow to ask.

Chapter 7: Harold

Chapter Text

The gang piled into Gary's dark blue van gratefully, eager to leave the vineyard for one reason or another. Once they were on the road, the gang told Scooby and Nova everything that had happened at the party, from Rung hitting on Daphne to Velma's accidental dip in the pool. The dogs were just glad no one had been hurt, and they told them so.

"Ethan's parties aren't usually like that," Gary assured them. "Rung just has a hard time taking no for an answer."

"Well that's all he'll get from me," Daphne muttered, leaning her head on Fred's shoulder.

When Gary dropped them off at the beach house, the gang noticed Brad and Judy's rental car parked in the drive. They entered the house to find them sitting at the kitchen island with some sort of digestif – possibly brandy.

"Hello!" Brad greeted the gang enthusiastically. "How was your evening?"

"It was…good," Fred replied. He wasn't sure why he didn't want to give Brad and Judy details about the party or finding the Book of the Dead with Ben Ravencroft, but he felt like it was a good idea to keep those stories close to the chest for now. "We're a little tired though – is it okay if we catch up in the morning?"

Judy nodded. "Of course. Glad you're having fun!" She smiled at them as they all walked down the hall together.

The gang hesitated briefly outside of their rooms.

"Do you think I was right not to tell Brad and Judy about the book?" Fred asked in an undertone.

"Absolutely," Daphne assured him. "I know it's probably nothing, but it's nice to have a mystery to solve. Even if it doesn't seem like there's anythingtoactually solve. That book is blank."

Fred snorted. "Well if anything's hidden in it, Velma will be sure to find it."

Velma reached into her messenger bag to pull out the book. "I'll start tonight," she promised.

Shaggy shifted his weight. Whatever moment the pair of them had shared at the party seemed to have passed, and now he was feeling annoyed again.

"We should get some rest," Nova said.

Daphne nodded in agreement. It had been a long day, what with the plane ride, exploring the Ravencroft House, and then the party. She was exhausted. "See you all in the morning?"

With that, everyone went off to their respective rooms. Shaggy paused briefly outside of his door to let the dogs in first. Then, unable to help himself, he glanced next door at Velma's room.

But she'd already gone inside and closed the door behind her.

x.X.x

That night, after she'd perused the blank book to no avail, Velma had a nightmare.

In it, she found herself walking up a long, ornate staircase. It looked suspiciously like how she imagined the staircase in the Ravencroft House may have looked in its heyday. When she reached the top of the stairs, an oak paneled door swung open to reveal an elegant bedroom. She was about to lie on the bed when she became aware of a spectral figure in the corner. A large pale woman with stringy black hair crept forward, her dark eyes blinking beadily. She had a long, wide mouth, and there was something about her that deeply unsettled Velma.

"This is an evil place," croaked the pale woman. Her voice was raspy, as though she'd not used it in a long time. "You cannot stay here – you must escape while you still can!" She reached out to touch Velma's arm.

Velma jerked awake, panting with fright. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a nightmare that frightened her so badly that she'd woken up. Her vision was blurry – she hadn't yet put on her glasses. As she reached for them on her nightstand, her fingers brushed the leather cover of the Book of the Dead. She glanced at the clock on the dresser – it was late in the morning, but they were on vacation so her friends were probably still sleeping. She figured she had time to flip through the blank pages once more before breakfast.

But when she opened the book, she was shocked to discoverwordson the first page.

Velma sat up straight, blinking in disbelief. How was this possible? When she'd gone to sleep last night, the only thing that had been written in it was Ben's phone number on the inside cover. But now, on the recto, was a short story. Velma's eyes darted back and forth as she read, her head swimming with worry and confusion. How was there something written in the book? Who had written it? Velma didn't recognize the handwriting – it wasn't hers, or anyone else's in the gang. And regardless, she had a hard time believing that any of them would do something like this.

Especially given how scary the story was.

Vaguely, she became aware of movement and quiet noises from the kitchen, but they didn't fully register until she had finished reading. She had to show this to the gang. Right now.

She dressed quickly and combed her fingers through her short hair before stampeding down the hall, the book clutched in her arm.

Her friends sat at the kitchen island with Brad and Judy, all looking at her in sleepy confusion.

"Morning," said Fred. He was dressed in board shorts and a polyester tank, looking like he was ready to hit the beach. Daphne wore a flowy sundress, while Shaggy was still in his pajamas.

"Hi," Velma replied. She hadn't meant to call so much attention to herself upon her entrance.

"What's that you've got?" Brad wanted to know, jerking his chin towards the Book of the Dead.

"Nothing!" Velma hid the book behind her back, realizing that it looked conspicuous as hell. "I mean…it's just my…journal. Myprivatejournal." She glanced back at her friends. "Gang, do you have a minute? We need to talk."

"Is everything okay?" asked Judy concernedly.

Velma flashed a false smile. "Everything's great! I just want their…advice on something." She gestured out towards the screened-in back porch. "Guys?"

Puzzled, the gang did as Velma asked and followed her outside.

"Like this better be good," Shaggy muttered a bit irritably. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Velma snapped. "Look at this!" She opened the book, dramatically flinging it down on the wooden picnic table so the gang could gather around it.

Daphne gasped. "What is this?" she cried, staring at Velma in shock.

"A scary story," Velma replied. "I didn't write it, of course. And I know that obviously neither did any of you. Butsomeonedid."

"Who?" Fred wondered. "And how?"

Velma spread her arms wide, the universal symbol for how-the-hell-should-I-know? "You tell me. It's been in my room all night."

"Could someone have snuck in?" asked Daphne hesitantly. She didn't like the idea of someone sneaking around the beach house at night.

Shaggy, meanwhile, had been reading the story written in the book, and felt his blood turn cold. "Uh…Velm?" he said. "Like, did youreadthis?"

"Yes, of course I read it," she retorted. "That's why I brought it to you all."

Fred and Daphne finally looked down to read what was written in the book. "Who's Harold?" Fred asked, pointing at the title at the top of the page.

"A character in the story," Velma replied. "He's a scarecrow who comes to life and attacks a farmer who mistreats him."

At the mention of a scarecrow, Scooby and Nova shared a wild-eyed look. They hadn't told the gang about the scarecrow they'd seen in the vineyard last night.

"Oh, I've heard this story before," Fred said, nodding. "One of those urban legends. Two farmers named Alfred and Thomas take their cows up into the mountains when it gets hot in the valley, and they make a life-size doll that they joke around with and abuse until he comes to life and kills one of them, right?"

"Not exactly," Velma said. "There's just one farmer in this story, Ethan, and the scarecrow attacks him, but it doesn't outright kill him. At least…not quite."

Daphne furrowed her brow. "What do you mean 'not quite?'"

Velma studied the book. "According to this story, Harold stalks Ethan through the dark field and eventually catches up with him, stabbing him with a pitchfork. But it doesn't kill him…he undergoes some sort of change. A transformation. I think maybe he…fuses with Harold and becomes a scarecrow?" Velma shrugged. "I don't know, the story's kind of left open-ended."

"Pretty scary stuff," Daphne said.

"Eh, not as scary as the story ending with Harold drying a bloody skin in the sun," Fred remarked.

Before anyone in the gang could respond to this, there was a soft knock on the patio door. Judy poked her head outside. "Sorry to interrupt," she said. "But a few of the neighbor kids are here and wanted to speak with you."

Shaggy glanced down at his brown sweatpants. "I'll get dressed and meet you all out front," he said to the gang. He trotted down the hall, not noticing Scooby and Nova right on his heels until he got to the bedroom door.

"Gah!" he exclaimed when he realized they were behind him. "Like don't sneak up on me like that you guys!"

"Raggy," said Scooby seriously. "Re have romething to rell you."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "What is it?"

Nova glanced at Scooby. "Last night, at the party," she said. "We saw a scarecrow in the vineyard."

Shaggy wasn't really paying attention as he yanked off his thin pajama top and threw on a clean shirt. "Okay?" He didn't see what was odd about that. It made sense that the vintners would want to keep birds away from the grapes.

"It…wasn't anormalscarecrow," Nova pressed on. "It was extremely realistic. Almost human."

"Reah!" Scooby agreed, nodding his head wildly. "Rit looked rike it was breathing!"

Shaggy was now fully dressed, and turned back to look at them. "Was this the thing that scared you guys so badly last night?"

The dogs nodded. "I'm telling you," said Nova. "There was something wrong about that scarecrow. It seemed too lifelike. And I wouldn't have said anything about it at all until that story appeared in the book this morning. It just…seems like it can't just be coincidence."

Shaggy frowned. He agreed – there was something peculiar about the fact that Scooby and Nova had been frightened by a scarecrow last night, and then a story about one appeared in the book this morning. But it still begged the question about how the story had been written in the book in the first place. And by whom. "Well, let's like, bring it up to the gang," he said.

They went out the front door, where they saw the gang standing on the beach with Gary, Mai Le, Brenda, Dylan, and – to Shaggy's astonishment – a police officer. The name tag above his badge read "Johnson."

"Like what's going on?" asked Shaggy, approaching the group.

The police officer turned to him. "Hello young man. I'm Officer Johnson. Are you an acquaintance of Ethan Mitchell?"

"Uh…sorry, who?" Shaggy was confused for a moment before realizing. "Oh wait, like the guy from last night? Red hair, soccer shirt? I just met him for the first time yesterday. We all did." He gestured to the gang.

The officer nodded. "Okay, that checks out with the rest of their statements."

"Wait, statements?" Shaggy blinked at his friends. "What happened?"

"Ethan's missing," Gary supplied, looking a bit worried. "We were supposed to meet up with him at the beach this morning but he never showed, and he didn't answer any of our texts or phone calls. I knocked on your door – Ricky and Cassidy told us where you all were staying – to ask if any of you had seen him, but your friends said no."

"Yeah, not since last night," Fred agreed.

"That's when we decided to call the police," said Dylan, gesturing needlessly towards the officer.

"And where was it again that you all say you last saw him?" asked Johnson.

Brenda rolled her eyes. "We told you," she said. "There was a party at his place last night. When we all left, Ethan was still there."

The police officer nodded, jotting something on his notepad. "I'll head out there now and do a sweep. Has anyone spoken to his parents?"

Gary shifted his weight uncomfortably. "They're um…out of town," he said, sounding sheepish.

Officer Johnson looked at him sternly. "And yet there was a party at their house last night?" he asked.

"We'll help!" Fred volunteered. He didn't want any of these students getting in trouble, so he wanted to try to distract the police officer as much as possible. Besides, the gang might find some clues as to Ethan's whereabouts. "We've solved a lot of mysteries before," he continued.

"We'd like to help too," Gary said. "Ethan's my best friend."

Johnson frowned. "I don't need help from a bunch of amateurs."

Mai Le stepped forward. "Please let us," she said, eyes shining. "You're only one man. We might find him faster if we work together. Besides," She co*cked her head towards the gang. "Ricky and Cassidy have told us so much about them. You know they're good at what they do."

The gang stared at each other, a bit shocked. How many people had Ricky and Cassidy told about them?

The officer considered them for a moment, then sighed. "Fine," he said. "But you'd better not slow me down."

x.X.x

When they arrived at the vineyard, Officer Johnson split them up into pairs. He sent Daphne and Brenda north, Velma and Mai Le south, Fred and Dylan east, and Shaggy and Gary west.

"I'll take the dogs with me," Officer Johnson said, gesturing to Scooby and Nova. "We'll circle the perimeter. Let's meet back here at the tasting room in an hour and see if we've made any progress."

The gang all glanced at each other with mild concern. It was weird that they'd all been split up from each other, with the exception of Scooby and Nova.

"I guess I'll see you in a bit," Fred said to Daphne, his tone reluctant. She gave him a comforting smile. He checked his watch. "Meet here in an hour?" he said to the group.

Everyone nodded.

"Be careful, everyone," Nova said, tone serious.

As the pairs all went their separate ways, Gary turned to Shaggy. "So…the dogs can talk, huh? That's pretty cool."

x.X.x

Daphne and Brenda made their way through the stalks of grapes in silence for several minutes until Brenda cleared her throat.

"So I hear you're the next girl Rung Ladderton has decided to sink his teeth into?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "He can try all he wants. I'll never cheat on Fred."

Brenda chuckled drily. "Don't be so sure," she warned. "Rung usually gets what he wants. And if he wants you as a notch in his belt…he'll find a way to make it happen." She paused for an infinitesimal moment. "Regardless of whether you want it or not."

That stopped Daphne in her tracks. She rotated slowly on the spot to face Brenda, who had also stopped walking, but avoided her eye contact. "What are you saying?" Daphne asked.

Brenda still refused to look at her. "Rung's family isn't just known for their ladder legacy," she said. "They've pretty much cornered the market on pharmaceutical drugs, at least in this town. And not all of them aregooddrugs, if you know what I mean."

Daphne's breath caught. She found she couldn't speak.

"Stimulants, hallucinogens, anesthetics, depressants…" Brenda sighed, finally looking Daphne in the eye. "He got me with a roofie last summer. He spiked my drink when I wasn't looking. I didn't even realize it until later when he was…on top of me." She shuddered. "Thank God Dylan found me then. Otherwise Rung might have…" she trailed off before taking another deep breath. "Anyway. Needless to say, neither of us are huge fans of Rung."

Daphne felt her heart crack with sympathy, remembering the way Brenda and Dylan had stepped away from Rung at the restaurant last night when they'd introduced themselves. "Oh, Brenda," she said in a hushed tone.

"Just…be careful, okay?" Brenda pleaded. "I'm sure a girl like you doesn't need to be told to always watch her drink, but still. I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else." Brenda exhaled, shifting her weight. "I was worried about you last night," she admitted. "Especially after Rung started making that scene. But thank God Ethan was there…and your friends." Brenda offered her a soft smile. "I'm glad you've got them with you."

Daphne was still reeling from Brenda's confession, but returned the smile nonetheless. "I'm glad too," she replied. "And I'm glad Ethan helped last night. That's why I want to help you all find him."

Brenda nodded. "Ethan's one of the good ones," she agreed. She looked forward. "So let's see if we can figure out what happened to him."

As the two girls continued their foray through the stalks, Daphne thought again about her old classmate and former best friend, Maureen Fischer. A girl who on the outside was a lot like how Brenda seemed – shallow, conceited, mean-spirited. But Daphne knew Maureen would never have had a conversation with her like the one she'd just had with Brenda. Open and honest and, at its core, kind.

Daphne looked at Brenda ruefully.I guess you never can judge a book by its cover,she thought.

x.X.x

Velma and Mai Le's journey into the vineyard had started out chatty. Within the first minute of their journey, Mai Le had failed the Bechdel test.

"So, Velma, you seem to know Shaggy pretty well."

Velma scoffed. "You could say that."

"Is he…seeing anyone?" Mai Le wanted to know, her voice shy.

Rage bubbled through Velma's blood.

"No," she forced herself to say through gritted teeth.

"Oh, good!" Mai Le sounded relieved. "Do you think he might want to –"

"I think it would help the search if we didn't talk, Mai Le," Velma interrupted.

Mai Le paused. "Oh, okay," she said quietly.

Velma seethed, feeling bad for snapping at Mai Le, and also feeling angry at herself for her jealousy. Mai Le was a nice girl. She didn't deserve to be treated this way. And it's not as though Velma could blame her for having a crush on Shaggy. That would make Velma quite the hypocrite. But she was still so hurt over the way things had ended between them, and she hadn't expected her up-till-now dormant feelings for him to come roaring back to life with such vengeance this summer. Perhaps it would take a little longer to get over him.

But until then…could random girls justnotflirt with him? At least not right in front of her?

The pair of them walked in uncomfortable silence for the next quarter of an hour until they rounded a corner and walked directly into Fred and Dylan.

"What are you doing here?" asked Fred.

"Walking south?" Velma replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Walkingeast,"Dylan said. He co*cked his head in the direction he and Fred had been heading. "The sun is still rising from that direction. I think the two of you are off course."

Velma looked in the direction he was pointing, and found that Dylan was correct. "Damn it," she cursed. "I'm no good at orienteering. Where's Nova when you need her?"

x.X.x

Nova, of course, was walking the perimeter with Scooby and Officer Johnson. They'd circled the vineyard several times over, but hadn't found anything of note. Also, Scooby kept emitting tiny whimpers of anxiety. Nova understood how he was feeling – he didn't like being away from Shaggy.

After about forty-five minutes of walking around, Nova finally cleared her throat. "Should we head back to the tasting building? I don't think there's been any change."

Johnson nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, you're right. You two take a shortcut through here. I'll do one more loop and meet you there in fifteen."

In the daylight, it wasn't nearly as frightening to walk through the vineyard as it had been last night. True, the grape canopy loomed over them, but with the morning sun beating down on them pleasantly, it was almost nice.

But then they turned a corner and found themselves face-to-face with the scarecrow again.

"RIKES!" Scooby screeched, jumping a foot in the air.

Nova screamed too. "What on earth?!"

Once they'd caught their breath, they realized that there was something different about the scarecrow today.

He still had the same scraggly hair and scary frown. His beady eyes still glistened blackly. But his outfit had changed. Instead of a gray flannel shirt, the scarecrow was now wearing a long-sleeved, yellow soccer jersey, similar to what Ethan had been wearing.

Nova steadied her breathing. "Tell me I'm not going crazy," she murmured. "He was on the other side of the vineyard last night, wasn't he?"

"Rye…think so," Scooby whispered. She was right. The scarecrow was in a completely different part of the vineyard from where they'd found him yesterday. "Ret's get rout of here," Scooby begged.

They didn't get very far before they ran into Shaggy and Gary…literally. They barrelled into them, knocking each other over and landing in a pile next to a stalk of grapes.

"Hey!" Gary exclaimed in surprise. "What's going on?"

"Scoob? Nova?" Shaggy panted, picking himself up off the ground. "Was that you who screamed? Where'd you come from?"

"Rover there!" Scooby cried, pointing with one of his paws.

"I thought you were circling the perimeter with Officer Johnson," said Gary, also standing.

Daphne and Brenda rounded the corner then, seemingly having raced from wherever they'd been.

"We heard a scream!" Brenda exclaimed. "Are you guys okay?"

"Jeepers!" said Daphne, kneeling beside Scooby and Nova. "You two look like you've seen a ghost."

"Well they like, sawsomething,"Shaggy replied.

Footsteps stampeded up the lane, causing all four of them to jump. But it was just the rest of the group – Fred, Velma, Dylan and Mai Le.

"What happened?" Fred asked immediately. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Ro," Scooby replied. "Rust terrified."

"What happened?" asked Fred again.

"Rarecrow!" Scooby exclaimed.

Velma furrowed her brow. "What scarecrow?"

Scooby and Nova hurriedly explained to the rest of the group how they'd been frightened by an extremely realistic scarecrow the night before in the vineyard, and how they'd run into it again just now.

Gary, to everyone's astonishment, laughed. "Oh yeah, I know the one you mean. Ethan hates that thing. Gave him nightmares when he was a kid."

"Rit's givingmerightmares now," Scooby quipped.

"Where'd you see it?" asked Dylan.

Cautiously, Scooby and Nova led the humans back through the vineyard, bracing themselves for the inevitable scare they received when they turned the corner to see the scarecrow glaring menacingly at them.

Everyone flinched. "Jinkies," said Velma, eyeing the scarecrow warily. "No wonder you're so freaked out. I wouldn't like to come across that without expecting it either."

"Yeah," Gary chuckled. Then he frowned. "It's weird, though. Harold doesn't usually wear a soccer jersey. I don't think he's supposed to be in this part of the field either."

The gang all gaped at him open-mouthed.

"Um," said Shaggy. "Like who are you talking about?"

"The scarecrow," Gary replied. Then, pointing. "His name is Harold."

Chapter 8: You Don't Know Her

Chapter Text

"Okay, I officially no longer think this is a coincidence," Shaggy whispered.

Velma rolled her eyes. "Did you ever?"

They were back in the tasting room at the winery. Officer Johnson had called in a few of his fellow police officers and they were combing the area around the scarecrow – Harold. The gang and the other students had been instructed to wait inside. Gary was pacing while Dylan and Brenda sat together on a bench near the window. Mai Le was perched on a stool at the tasting bar, drumming her fingertips on the wooden counter. The gang had huddled near the far wall, quietly discussing what had occurred that morning.

"Raggy's right," Scooby agreed stoutly. "Rit's not a roincidence."

"I hate to say it," Nova sighed. "But I have to agree. First Scooby and I found that scarecrow in the vineyard last night, then Velma discovered a story written about it in her book?"

"It's notmybook," Velma pointed out.

"Plus," Shaggy went on, talking over her. "Like, the farmer in the story who Harold attacks is named Ethan, and then a real guy named Ethan disappears the next day?Andthe scarecrow is wearing his clothes!"

"Rethan was turned rinto a rarecrow!" Scooby yelped.

Fred shook his head. "Okay, hold on a minute. I admit there's something fishy going on, but come on Scoob. A person can'tturn intoa scarecrow."

"Like, he did in the story!" Shaggy pointed out.

Velma rolled her eyes again. "Shaggy, it's just an urban legend. It's not real. When have any of the so-called supernatural things we've investigated ever turned out to be products of actual hauntings? Do you remember high school? Do you remember last summer?"

Shaggy folded his arms, scowling. Last summer the gang had traveled to Louisiana with Shaggy to visit some of his relatives. He had been adamant that the ghost of his ancestor was haunting the homestead, but it had turned out to just be a man in a mask. "Whatever," he said. "But Fred and Scooby are right. Something weird is going on."

"It is," Daphne agreed. "But what can we do about it?"

Velma frowned thoughtfully, reaching into her messenger bag to retrieve the book. She opened it to the story of Harold, and noticed Ben's phone number on the inside cover. She felt a jolt of excitement. "I think we should call Ben," she announced.

Shaggy shot her a dark look. That was the last thing he wanted. "Like what's the point of that?"

Velma glared at him irritably. "He asked me to call him if we discovered anything," she reminded him.

Shaggy rolled his eyes. "What did we discover, Velma? That the book is haunted and it's writing scary stories all by itself?" His tone was full of biting sarcasm, but he did slightly believe what he was saying.

Velma ignored him and took out her phone, punching in Ben's number. "Voicemail," she announced to the gang after waiting a few seconds. Shaggy turned away, still fuming. Was she doing this on purpose? It seemed like she was reaching out to Ben in order to deliberately bother Shaggy. Which he supposed he didn't have a right to care about. But still. It just seemed cruel.

"Hi Ben," Velma said into the phone. "It's Velma Dinkley – I don't know if you remember, but we met last night at the Clam Cabin and then went to the Ravencroft House and found the Book of the Dead?" She was talking fast, a sure sign of nervous energy. Shaggy scowled again.

"Um, anyway," Velma continued, her cheeks tinging pink. "You asked me to call you if I discovered anything about the book. And…well, something quite interesting has happened. Could you meet us at our rental place this afternoon to discuss it?" She gave him the beach house's address and hung up the phone just as Officer Johnson and his colleagues arrived.

"All right," he said to the teens. "You all are free to go. We weren't able to track down any solid evidence, but we'll keep searching for your friend. We'll let you know if he turns up."

"Are you sure there's nothing more we can do to help?" asked Fred.

Johnson just gave him a withering look. "You've done plenty," he said drily. "But this is a matter of police business. I say again: we will let you know if your friend turns up."

Fred looked ready to protest, but Gary put a stilling hand on his arm.

"Thanks, Officer," he said.

"Would you be able to give us a ride to where we're staying?" Velma asked Officer Johnson, eyes on her phone screen. "Ben just texted me."

"That was quick," Nova remarked.

Unable to help himself, Shaggy looked over Velma's shoulder at the text message.

Ben: Got your voicemail, Velma! Apologies, I'm unable to speak on the phone at the moment – texting is better just now. Of course I remember you, darling. [winking emoji] I'm eager to hear what you've discovered! When's a good time to meet at your place?

Shaggy seethed, feeling as though his blood was boiling in his veins. He knew he shouldn't be feeling all this rage and jealousy – they'd been broken up since last fall for goodness sake. But he was feeling it regardless.

As Velma texted Ben that they were on their way back to the beach house now and he could meet them there, Shaggy looked away to see Mai Le walking across the tasting room for the exit, and an impulse grabbed him.

"Hey, Mai Le," he called. "Like what are you doing tonight?"

Brenda, Dylan, and Gary had already left the building, so it was only the gang whose heads swiveled slowly in Shaggy's direction at this question. Scooby gaped at him. What did he think he was doing?

"Um…" Mai Le replied shyly, a faint blush staining her cheeks. "I don't think I have any plans."

"You wanna go out?" Shaggy asked. "I'll take you to dinner. Just the two of us."

Shaggy was vaguely aware of the looks of shock and disbelief on his friends' faces – Daphne's eyes had grown as wide as saucers, and Scooby's mouth had actually dropped open. But the only reaction he fully clocked was Velma's. Her aghast expression left him feeling quite smug.

Mai Le's response was elated. "Oh, yes! That sounds wonderful – I'd love to go to dinner with you tonight!"

"Great," Shaggy smiled. "Do you have any recommendations? I'll eat like, just about anything."

"The Bloody Stake is pretty good," Mai Le suggested, eyes sparkling in excitement. "They've got this amazing appetizer called Finger Fries."

Shaggy nodded, flashing her another smile. "Sounds great." He crossed the room and handed her his phone. "Put your number in and I'll text you. Like is six p.m. okay?"

"Definitely!" Mai Le agreed, grinning widely. She quickly punched her number into his contacts, and handed his phone back. "See you tonight!" With one more dazzling smile, she glided out the door.

Shaggy's heart was racing with adrenaline. It had been a long time since he'd asked out a girl. It was nice to know he still had some charisma. But more than that was the rush of doing something he knew was extremely uncool – asking out another girl right in front of his ex.

"Raggy," Scooby whispered. "Rhat do you rink rou're doing?"

Shaggy ignored him, though he knew Scooby had a point. Velma was trying to seem aloof, but he could tell she was offended and a bit crestfallen. For a minute, he felt bad. But then he remembered Ben, and his guilt dissipated.

Velma didn't speak to anyone in the squad car on the way back to the beach house. She'd buried herself in the Book of the Dead, even though the only story in there was the one about Harold. No one else spoke either, all sitting in uncomfortable silence that Officer Johnson didn't acknowledge. Daphne was raging. She was champing at the bit to give him a piece of her mind, but she didn't want to do it in front of Velma – or Officer Johnson, for that matter. She still didn't want to take sides between her friends, but she needed Shaggy to know that she didnotapprove of what he'd done at the winery.

When they arrived back at the beach house, they found a note from Brad and Judy saying that they were at the beach with Ricky and Cassidy, and inviting the gang to a picnic lunch that afternoon. They had some time before Ben arrived, so Velma went to her room to change into beachier clothes. As soon as she was out of earshot, Daphne finally let Shaggy have it.

"You are unbelievable, do you know that?" she snarled, rounding on him. Her voice was so aggressive it caused both of the dogs to flinch.

Shaggy held up his hands defensively. "Whoa," he said, honestly surprised. Daphne was always the peacemaker – he didn't think she'd jump down his throat like this.

"I can't believe you asked out Mai Le right in front of Velma!" Daphne went on, jabbing an accusing finger into Shaggy's chest. "What is wrong with you?"

Shaggy scoffed incredulously. "Like are you kidding me? Have you seen the way she acts around Ben Ravencroft?"

"I already talked to her about that," Daphne told him. "I didn't think I'd have to talk toyouabout this behavior too."

Shaggy threw up his hands. "Like what do you want from me, Daph? Velma and I broke up – if she can date and flirt with other people, then so can I."

Daphne put her hands on her hips. "That doesn't mean either of you should be cruel about it."

A sudden knock on the front door made everyone stop short. They could see Ben's silhouette through the frosted glass.

Fred, who hadn't said anything during the entire exchange (because seriously, what was he supposed to say?) went to answer the door. "Hi Ben, come on in," he said, just as Velma stampeded back down the hall. She now wore red cotton shorts over a modest one-piece swimsuit. The Book of the Dead was clutched in her hands and her eyes were shining with anticipation. There was no indication that she'd heard any of the preceding conversation.

Shaggy rolled his eyes and took a seat at the kitchen table. Daphne glared at him, but he ignored her.

"Thank you," Ben said politely, walking through the doorway and smiling at Velma. "I was glad to get your call this morning, Velma. Mind telling me what you found?"

"I'd be happy to," Velma replied, proudly opening the book to display the story of Harold.

Ben's brow furrowed. "What is this?" he asked, taking the book from her.

Excitedly, Velma explained how she'd woken up that morning to discover the story written in the book, how it turned out that their new friend Ethan was missing, and how it appeared that there was really a scarecrow named Harold. "Obviously, the scarecrow can't actually be responsible for his disappearance," Velma finished. "But we think there must be a connection somehow." She grinned at Ben proudly, only to discover that his face had fallen significantly since he'd first arrived.

He was silent for a long time, apparently wrestling with his thoughts and trying to figure out what to say. "So…" he said at last. "You wrote it down in the book?"

"No, no," Velma assured him. "It appeared in the book overnight. It was blank when I went to bed the night before and then in the morning…" She broke off. The look on Ben's face indicated that he didn't believe her.

"I… don't understand how this happened," he said slowly. "This is an heirloom. It belonged to my ancestor. And then I lend it to you, and the next time I see it, it's been…defaced." He looked up at her, eyes burning with disappointment. "I trusted you, Velma."

It was like a slap in the face. "I…I didn't…" she stammered.

"None of us wrote in this book," Daphne told him.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "We would never do that."

But their protestations fell on unhearing ears. Ben sighed and rubbed his temples. "It's one thing to damage someone else's property," he muttered. "But then to blatantlylieabout it…"

"I'm telling you, that's not what happened!" Fred exclaimed.

Ben ignored him, still looking at Velma. "You were so intrigued by how Sarah Ravencroft wrote stories, you thought you'd do it yourself, did you? Take advantage of my ancestor's legacy to construct a mystery for you to solve?"

Velma was speechless, standing frozen in place, unable to process what Ben was accusing them of. Accusingherof.

"Of course not!" Daphne cried.

"What else am I supposed to believe?" Ben asked angrily, turning to look at her. "That the spirit of Sarah Ravencroft rose from the dead to write this story? I don't know why I ever trusted any of you." Ben spoke directly to Velma now, his face contorted with outrage.

For whatever reason, this was the last straw for Shaggy. "Hey!" he shouted, standing up from the table. "Like back off, man. If you think Velma had anything to do with what happened to your book, then you don't know her at all."

Velma broke through the fog of shock enough to register that Shaggy was defending her.

Ben narrowed his eyes at Shaggy, then gave Velma a sidelong glance. "You're right," he murmured. "I don't."

With that, he tucked the Book of the Dead under his arm and stalked out the door.

The gang stood in stunned silence for several minutes, reeling from Ben's accusations. They'd been assigned many unflattering adjectives in their years as mystery solvers – "annoying," "nosy," and of course, "meddling" among them. But "untrustworthy" was a first.

Daphne glanced over at Velma, who was standing stock still and staring at the door. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

Velma was silent for a few more moments. Then, she took a deep breath and faced Daphne. "So," she said. "Are we ready to go meet the others?"

x.X.x

Velma didn't really want to go to the beach, of course. She couldn't believe that Ben would think her so duplicitous. It hurt her more than she could say. She would have preferred to stay at the house and wallow, but she needed a distraction from her bruised feelings. She could feel bad about herself later.

Since the beach was only ten yards from the front porch, they were able to find the adults easily. That and the fact that there were hardly any other people on the beach. (Seriously,Velma thought.Where are the tourists?)

The adults had set up a large umbrella and multiple blankets and towels for everyone to sit on, and had packed a cooler full of food and beverages. The picnic lunch provided a welcome and comforting distraction for the gang. As they ate, the adults regaled them with tales of their own high school days, with some of the more outrageous tales eliciting genuine laughter from the gang. It certainly lightened the mood, at least for a while.

Eventually, Brad and Ricky got out some boogie boards, while Judy and Cassidy decided to go for a short walk. They invited the dogs along. Nova accepted but Scooby politely declined, wanting to stay with Shaggy and finish eating. Velma pulled a thick book from her messenger bag, and Daphne moved her towel into the sun.

"I think I might catch some rays," she told the others. "Freddie, want to keep me company?"

"Of course," Fred replied, following her out from under the shade of the umbrella. Daphne sat upright on her towel, squeezing sunscreen into her hand. She had shed her beachy sundress to reveal a purple flowered bikini. Fred was having a hard time not staring at her.

"I can't believe Ben said all those awful things about us," he said at last, in an effort to think about something else besides the alluring sight of Daphne in a bikini. "What reasons could we have given him to distrust us?"

Daphne shrugged, lathering her arms with sun lotion. "Well, you and I know that we're all dependable and reliable. But Ben is right – he doesn't really know us at all. And we don't really know him either." She decided not to remind Fred that she had pointed out this exact thing last night. It wouldn't do any good to sayI told you so.She went on. "I'm not trying to defend him. I think it's horrible the way he spoke to us – especially Velma. But…well, if you'd given a bunch of students a blank book and the next time you saw it, someone had written in it, wouldn't you think they had done it?"

Fred frowned. "I don't know," he admitted. Fred was a pretty trusting guy – sometimes, he knew, to a fault. He'd certainly misplaced his trust in people before. But he had also written them off unfairly in the past as well. He'd been exceedingly suspicious of Ricky and Cassidy when they'd first met, but now two years later, here they were, all on vacation together. He glanced out at the ocean to where Ricky and Brad were calling out to each other on their boogie boards. He looked back at Daphne just as she'd started rubbing lotion on her legs. Fred grew hot, and not just from the sun.

"Will you get my back?" Daphne asked him, handing over the bottle of sunscreen and turning over on her stomach.

Fred was glad Daphne had laid face down so she couldn't see how red he was sure his face had gotten. It was incredible the effect she still had on him after all these years.

He squeezed lotion into the palm of his hand and began to rub it into Daphne's shoulder blades. It was impossible to remember what they'd been talking about as his hands moved over her smooth skin. His entire world had narrowed to just his hands on her back.

Daphne closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of Fred rubbing sunscreen onto her shoulders. She could hear Brad and Ricky laughing from the ocean. "I think it's really nice that Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy are still so close after all this time," she murmured.

Fred came back to earth. "Uh, yeah," he agreed, clearing his throat. "Do you think the gang will all still be that close in twenty years?"

Daphne sighed. She had no doubt that she and Fred would be. There wasn't a force big enough to tear her apart from him. But as for the others… "I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I mean, if this war between Shaggy and Velma keeps going on, it's hard to say."

Fred glanced over at the umbrella. Velma was still reading her book and Shaggy and Scooby were polishing off the last of their large lunches. "Well," he said ruefully. "They seem to be okay just now." He moved his hand down the back of Daphne's arm, catching her hand with his. "And we're okay."

Daphne smiled, sitting up to face him. "We're always okay," she promised him.

They leaned forward and kissed softly under the bright summer sun.

x.X.x

"Rye think I'm going ro go ratch up with Rova," Scooby said. He had just gulped down the last of his lunch, and Shaggy wasn't far behind. "Is that rokay?"

"Like of course that's okay, Scoob," Shaggy replied around a mouthful of sandwich.

Scooby looked at him, then meaningfully at Velma before trotting down the beach to catch up with Nova, Judy, and Cassidy.

Shaggy swallowed his sandwich, then looked back over at Velma. She was reading a long book, and it was hard to tell if she was just absorbed in it, or if she was pointedly ignoring him. Shaggy was a little afraid to find out, but he knew he really ought to bury the hatchet. Especially after everything had happened with Ben earlier that afternoon. He knew that was what Scooby's pointed look was about. As annoyed as he was by the whole situation – and admittedly, still a bit wounded from the break up – he didn't like to see Velma hurting.

He cleared his throat. "So uh," he started, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. "Whatcha reading?" He felt it was an innocuous enough question.

Velma flitted her eyes over to him, then back at her book. "Have you ever heard of Lise Meitner?"

Shaggy hadn't.

"She was a physicist," Velma told him. "Albert Einstein called her the 'German Marie Curie.' She discovered the element protactinium and nuclear fission, but she wasn't awarded the Nobel prize for the latter – that honor went exclusively to her collaborator Otto Hahn. A man." She gestured with the book. "This is her biography."

Shaggy nodded. He had never heard of protactinium before, and was only vaguely aware of what nuclear fission was. "Sounds interesting," he said.

Velma chuckled ruefully. "No it doesn't," she replied, still looking at the book.

Shaggy shrugged. "Well sure, not to me," he agreed. "But to you."

Velma allowed herself a small smile.

They sat in silence for a little while until Shaggy cleared his throat again.

"You know Ben is a bag of dicks, right?"

Velma stiffened. She didn't know how to respond to that. Luckily, Shaggy kept talking.

"I mean it. It was really sh*tty, like, the way he talked to you. You didn't deserve that, especially not after you helped him find that stupid journal in the first place."

Velma finally looked up from her book to glance over at Shaggy. He wasn't looking at her, but was instead staring resolutely forward towards the crashing waves on the sand.

"I don't know how that story got in the book," he continued. "But I know you didn't write it. And if he doesn't know that, then…like he just sucks."

Velma bit her lip, astonished to find that she felt a little better. Was it because hearing this verbal abuse against Ben made her feel vindicated? Or was it because Shaggy was the one who was saying it?

Again, she was lost for words, so she chose the simplest response she could think of. "Thanks," she said quietly.

Shaggy hadn't meant to get himself all worked up about Ben. He was feeling a little warm now, both from the embarrassment and from the sun that was starting to shift its rays under the umbrella. "Zoinks it's hot," he murmured, moving to yank off his t-shirt.

Velma's eyes widened and she quickly averted her gaze back to her book. But she didn't take in anything on its pages and in fact, kept peeking over the edge to glance at Shaggy. She hadn't seen him with his shirt off since they'd broken up, and she was a little surprised to see that he was indeed more well-built than he had been in high school. Her eyes followed the thin smattering of dark hair that traveled from his chest down his stomach, where it tapered off into a thin trail that led beneath his swim trunks. Feeling her cheeks heat up again, Velma looked away once more. But she couldn't keep her eyes off him for long.

Her gaze caught something on his side. Another tattoo?

"I uh…" she said softly. "I didn't notice that yesterday."

Shaggy looked over at her. "Notice what?"

She pointed. He was too far away for her to accidentally graze his skin as she'd done last night, and for that she was grateful. Or was she? "That tattoo," she replied. "On your…on your ribs."

Shaggy raised his arm slightly and looked down. "Oh," he said. "Right." He blushed, embarrassed.

Velma was confused. Why was he embarrassed about this tattoo? It looked like music notes on a staff. She could read music, but it was hard to tell what the notes were supposed to be from this angle. "What song is it?" she asked.

Shaggy's face turned redder. "Um…" he said, stalling for time.

At that moment, Velma's phone, which had been lying on the towel beside her, buzzed incessantly. Both of them looked down at it, then Velma reached out to pick it up. Her face blanched and her jaw slackened.

"Uh…jinkies." She glanced up at Shaggy. "It's Ben."

Ire rose in Shaggy. "Like don't answer it," he told her.

She answered it. "Ben?"

"Velma." His voice was contrite and a little panicked. "I owe you an apology. You and your friends. I should never have spoken to you that way earlier. I believe you now."

Velma blinked, confused. "Believe us?" she said slowly. "About what?"

"The book," Ben replied. "Another story's been written in it."

Velma's breath caught. "What do you mean?" she whispered. "Who's it about?"

There was a brief moment of silence from the other end of the line. Then, Ben said quietly. "Do you and your friends know anyone by the name of Gary?"

Chapter 9: The Big Toe

Chapter Text

Fred and Daphne blinked in confusion. "What do you mean Ben called you?" Daphne asked.

After Velma had hung up, she had raced out from under the umbrella to where Fred and Daphne were sunning themselves, Shaggy following reluctantly, and hurriedly explained what had happened.

"He says he wants to come over," Velma finished. "There's a new story in the book. It has something to do with Gary."

Fred furrowed his brow. "Gary? Ethan's friend?"

Velma nodded. "He's going to meet us at the beach house in twenty minutes. Do you guys want to come?"

Shaggy didnotwant to come. After the way Ben had treated them this morning, particularly Velma, he'd thought they were done with the man. But Velma, who was usually famous for holding a grudge, had apparently decided to forgive and forget now that the mystery was continuing.

Fred and Daphne looked a little skeptical too, but nodded all the same. "I'll go let Brad know we're heading back," Fred offered.

"Don't tell him what's going on," Velma pleaded.

"I won't," Fred promised, heading to the shoreline where Brad and Ricky were heading out on their boogie boards.

Shaggy sighed and glanced down the coast to see the women walking back with the dogs.

"I'll like, go get Scooby and Nova," he said, resignedly.

x.X.x

Twenty minutes later, the gang was back at the beach house with Ben, who had brought along the Book of the Dead. They sat in the kitchen with the book open, Ben looking alarmed.

"I don't know how it happened," he explained to them. "After I left here this morning, I went back to my beach house and put the book down. I didn't touch it for several hours. When I looked at it again…there was another story written on the page next toHarold.It's calledThe Big Toe."

The gang was reading the newest short story. It was about a young man – Gary – who had discovered a mysterious pot of stew in his refrigerator. The stew appeared to contain the big toe of a corpse, but Gary was hungry and ate it anyway. Velma's eyes widened as she read aloud, chilled.

"Gary was alone in his room when he heard a rattling voice calling from far away. 'Who…took…my…big…toe?' it said."

Ben nodded. "From there, the corpse gets closer and closer until it's inside his house, and then inside his bedroom. And then it attacks him." He shuddered. "I know it doesn't sound like much, but after you told me about what happened with your friend Ethan and the scarecrow, I read the story for myself…" He looked at them all penitently. "I really do owe you all an apology," he told them. "I'm so sorry for the way I acted this morning. I know now that obviously none of you had anything to do with the stories written in the book. But in any case…you have my deepest apologies."

"Thank you," Velma said, brows still furrowed as she scrutinized the page.

"We appreciate that Ben," Daphne replied sincerely.

Shaggy shared an incredulous look with Scooby, who merely shrugged.

Fred cleared his throat. "As it happens," he said. "We do know someone named Gary. He's Ethan's friend. We just saw him this morning – he was helping to look for Ethan at the vineyard."

Ben's brows creased. "Do you have any way to check on him?" he asked.

Nova shook her head. "No," she said. "We don't have his contact information."

Shaggy glanced down at the table, where his phone was laying. He didn't really want to do this – he wanted to leave well enough alone and let this mystery go unsolved. But with Ethan missing and Gary potentially hurt, it seemed cruel to do nothing. "Actually," he said. "I like, might have a way to find out." He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Mai Le," he said, purposefully avoiding Velma's gaze. "Like it's Shaggy."

"Hi Shaggy!" Mai Le exclaimed. "Are we still on for this evening?"

Shaggy paused. In the wake of the revelation about Ben's character, he had been starting to regret his rash decision to go on a date with Mai Le. But now Ben was back and everyone seemed keen to forgive him. Shaggy was still on the fence. He didn't want to get into all that now though, so he bypassed her question. "Um listen," he said. "You don't happen to know where Gary lives, do you?"

"Gary?" Shaggy heard the confusion in Mai Le's voice. "Why?"

"We like…need to ask him something. In person." Shaggy knew it would be better for everyone if they could see that Gary was okay with their own eyes.

"Well…all right." Mai Le sounded a bit skeptical, but she gave Gary's address, which Shaggy dutifully repeated. Ben punched it into the GPS on his phone.

"That's not too far from here," he announced. "Would you like a ride? I'd be happy to drive you."

The gang glanced at each other, shrugging. "Okay," Fred agreed.

The ride to Gary's was indeed short. Less than fifteen minutes later, Ben's van had pulled up in front of a quaint two-story home on a quiet suburban street. He parked on the curb as everyone got out.

"No cars in the driveway," Fred observed. "Including Gary's."

Ben glanced over at him. "What does his car look like?"

"Blue," Fred answered. "Dark blue. I think maybe it's a Honda Odyssey."

Shaggy looked at him incredulously. "Like how do you know that?" he asked.

Fred shrugged. "He gave us a ride home last night, remember?"

"Well yeah, but like I don't remember the exact make and model of the car. I don't even know what the Mystery Machine is."

Fred looked aghast. "You don't know what kind of car the Mystery Machine is?!"

"What's the Mystery Machine?" asked Ben.

"It's our van," Fred replied, still looking at Shaggy in disbelief. "We've had it for years."

"I think it's a Chevrolet G-body panel van," Daphne spoke up.

Velma shook her head. "I thought it was a Dodge A100."

Shaggy and the dogs stared at the girls, a little awestruck.

"You're both wrong," Fred told them gently. "It's a 1972 Bedford CF." He looked over at Shaggy. "It belonged to you first! I can't believe you didn't know what kind of car it is."

Scooby snickered, and Ben continued watching them all with mild amusem*nt. But Nova was staring at the closed garage door.

"Speaking of cars," she said softly. "I think Gary's is in the garage."

Everyone looked in her direction. "How can you tell?" asked Ben.

"I can smell it," Nova replied.

"Re too," Scooby realized. The scent was permeating from under the garage door – he couldn't believe he hadn't recognized it earlier.

"So maybe Gary's home after all?" Velma suggested.

Fred walked up the path to the front porch and rang the doorbell. "Gary?" he called, peeking through the sidelight beside the front door. When no one answered, he knocked – and was astonished to find that the door swung open under his touch.

He glanced behind him at the others, who were all staring in alarm.

"The door's open," he said needlessly.

It seemed inevitable that they'd all go inside.

The group tread cautiously through the front door, glancing at their surroundings. Gary's house was neat and tidy, with a small entry hall leading further into the house, where a cozy kitchen and living room waited beyond the stairs to the second floor.

Fred opened a door on the right. "This is the garage," he said. "And Gary's car is in there." The others peeked over his shoulder to see that he was right – the dark blue van was indeed parked in the garage. "And itisa Honda Odyssey," he went on.

"Not the time, Fred," Velma murmured, walking further into the house.

"Gary?" Daphne called tentatively.

A sudden gasp from the kitchen startled everyone. "Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed. Of course he and Scooby had headed right for the room where the food was kept, and in doing so had made an upsetting discovery.

There was a large pot on the stove, still warm from being heated up recently. And it was empty, apart from…

"Oh my God!" Daphne shrieked, covering her mouth. "Are those…toenails?!"

"Okay, that's actually disgusting," Velma murmured. She backed away from the stove looking slightly green.

"What the hell?" Fred gazed into the pot, nauseated and tense.

"You don't think…" Shaggy gazed at his friends. "...Garyactuallyate toe soup, do you?"

Velma, who had taken the book back from Ben earlier, took it out of her messenger bag now and flipped through it. "He did according to this story."

Daphne glanced at her friend uneasily. "What exactly does it say happened to him at the end?"

Velma's eyes darted back and forth behind her glasses as she re-read the story. "Well, the corpse comes looking for him in the house, makes its way upstairs until it reaches his bedroom, calling out 'who took my toe' the whole time, and he goes to hide under the bed." At this point, she took over reading the narrative as written. "Gary scrambled under the bed. He tried to muffle his breathing by clamping a hand over his mouth, as his bedroom door slowly creaked open. Gary shut his eyes tight, not wanting to see whatever was about to come through the door."

Shaggy put a hand on Scooby's head to reassure himself. Scooby himself trembled with fright.

"When the creaking of the door stopped,"Velma read on. "Gary opened his eyes at last. But he saw nothing in the room. He looked around, trying to steady his breath, but could only see the silent, empty room. There was no decaying corpse stumping her way into the room on her hindered foot. Unless…"Velma trailed off, eyes growing large.

"Unless what?" Fred whispered, in spite of himself.

Velma swallowed and continued reading. "Unless it was on top of the bed, above him,"she read, her voice very quiet. "The thought seized Gary's heart in fear as he slowly crawled out from under the bed and pulled himself up to a sitting position to cautiously look up on the mattress."

Daphne clutched Fred's hand, and even Nova looked unnerved, holding her breath in anticipation.

"But there was nothing,"Velma read. "With a sigh of relief, Gary moved to finish sliding out from under the bed. But suddenly, he felt something grab his legs under the bed, something cold and strong and dead. The thing violently dragged him back under the bed, and –"

A sudden shout from upstairs interrupted the story, causing all of them to scream with fright. They jumped together impulsively, gazing in apprehension at the staircase, where heavy footsteps were racing down.

They breathed a collective sigh of relief when they realized it was just Ben. "Jinkies," Velma gasped, relaxing significantly. "You scared us, Ben. I didn't realize you'd gone upstairs."

He grimaced apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. But I think you all had better come take a look at this."

Cautiously, the gang followed him back upstairs, bypassing a few closed doors for an open one at the end of the hall. The soccer paraphernalia and the Fighting Urchins pennant identified this room at Gary's. A wooden desk sat underneath the airy window, and a short bureau was against the opposite wall. Directly in front of them was a full-size bed with oak-paneled baseboards and an unmade comforter.

"What did you find?" Velma asked Ben.

In response, he pointed to the hardwood floor beneath the bed, and everyone crouched down to examine it.

Daphne gasped. "Jeepers," she breathed.

Marks etched into the wood trailed beneath the bed, which was dark and empty. But the marks looked an awful lot like they'd been made from fingernails.

Like someone had been dragged away against their will, and been fighting to save themselves with all their might.

x.X.x

At Ben's insistence, they called the police. Fred was not happy about this development. He never wanted to hinder an investigation, but in his experience, law enforcement should only ever be called as a last resort. Ben was adamant though, so about ten minutes after they'd discovered the marks, Officer Johnson and several other members of the force arrived, looking disgruntled.

"What are you kids doing here?" he asked the gang, arching a critical eyebrow.

"I brought them here, Officer," Ben spoke up, putting a hand on his chest as a way of taking responsibility. He explained that they had found mysterious fingernail marks upstairs and assumed that Gary was missing or in trouble. He deftly avoided explaining how the gang had entered the home in the first place. Daphne wondered idly if the cops would ask.

They didn't. "We'll take a look around," Johnson said. "In the meantime, please wait here on the porch. Do not re-enter the residence without our express permission."

The cops walked into the house, leaving the others to wait on the porch as asked. Ben paced the length, seemingly deep in thought. Velma watched him. "What are you thinking?" she asked him at last.

Ben came to a halt right in front of her, looking serious. "I'm thinking that two young men have gone missing in the space of less than twenty-four hours," he replied. "And I'm thinking that stories about two young men sharing their names appeared in that book." He pointed at the messenger bag that was slung over Velma's shoulder, which of course held the Book of the Dead. She followed his gesture, then looked back up at him to find him gazing at her intently. "And I'm thinking that it can't be a coincidence," he finished.

Velma nodded. "I'm thinking the same," she agreed.

Fred sighed, leaning against the railing of the porch. "I don't think it's a coincidence either," he admitted. "But how are these stories being written in the book?"

Ben looked at Velma's shoulder bag. "How often have the cases you've solved turned out to actually deal with supernatural beings?" he asked. His eyes were still grim, but his tone was facetious.

Velma snorted, unable to help herself. "Never," she replied. "Ghosts aren't real. Neither are witches." She smirked at him, a bit flirtatiously. "I respect you as a writer," she told him. "But if you think the spirit of Sarah Ravencroft has anything to do with what's going on, I'm afraid I'll have to question your sanity."

Ben laughed, and the sound set Shaggy's teeth on edge. "All right, my clever girl," he said, smiling wickedly at Velma. "What do you think is a logical explanation?"

"I'm not sure," Velma admitted. "But all the cases we've solved in the past have had logical explanations. Why shouldn't this one?"

Ben nodded slowly. "Why shouldn't this one indeed?" he murmured in agreement.

Officer Johnson appeared in the doorway at that moment. "We couldn't find any signs of a struggle," he said to Ben.

Daphne stared at him, flabbergasted. "What do you mean you couldn't find any signs of a struggle?" she repeated. "What about the fingernail marks on the floor?"

"Inconclusive," was Johnson's maddening response.

Fred made an exasperated sound. "What, so you're just going to do nothing?"

Officer Johnson narrowed his eyes. "Of course not," he replied, deadly calm. "We are going to open up an official police investigation to get to the bottom of this."

Shaggy glanced at Velma's bag. With a case like this, law enforcement should really have all the clues, right? But he knew he couldn't bring up the book. The police would never believe that there was a correlation between the stories and the disappearances, no matter how damning the evidence.

"We'd like to be involved," Fred began, but Officer Johnson laughed in his face.

"Fat chance, Cornhusk," he said. "You and your friends are impeding the investigation already. Besides, don't you think it's odd that this quiet little seaside town has seen no major scandals or crimes in several years, but the week that you all show up, two boys go missing?"

Velma frowned, confused. "What do you mean there have been no major scandals or crimes? I thought Crystal Cove was said to be the most haunted place on earth."

"Yeah," Johnson replied. "The most haunted place, not the most-likely-to-get-disappeared place." He pointed a thin finger at the group. "You're going to back off of this case, my young friends. I know Ricky and Cassidy have vouched for you, and I like them enough. But if I see you at any of my crime scenes again, then I swear to God I'll have you arrested."

Chapter 10: The Red Spot

Chapter Text

Back in Ben's van, the gang were silent. Velma gazed listlessly out the passenger side window while Daphne rested her head on Fred's shoulder. The afternoon was giving way to evening, and the streets were fairly deserted.

Shaggy sighed and glanced at the dogs, who sat sullenly on the floor of the van. He knew there was no chance that the gang would let this mystery go, no matter what Officer Johnson had said. The gang had certainly had experience with annoyed law enforcement who warned them away from police business. But to Shaggy's recollection, no one had ever threatened to arrest them before.

"Why'd he call me Cornhusk?" Fred wondered, as though he'd been thinking about the nickname for a long time.

Daphne lifted her head to look at him. "Because we're from Ohio," she offered.

Fred furrowed his brow. "But the Cornhuskers are Nebraska." He sounded confused.

Daphne smiled kindly. "Something I've learned going to school on the East Coast is that to a lot of the country, the Midwest is all interchangeable."

Shaggy nodded. He had grown up in a town called Vista Heights, California, and had only moved to Coolsville when he was sixteen. "As a person who spent my formative years outside of Ohio, I can like, confirm that."

"It's true," Velma agreed. "I had a professor who called me 'Cleveland' for a whole semester, even though Coolsville is nowhere near it."

Ben nodded thoughtfully from the driver's seat. "It's near the West Virginia border, isn't that right?"

Velma swiveled her head to look at him so fast that she nearly cricked her neck. "How do you know that?" she asked. "No one's ever heard of Coolsville before."

Ben kept his eyes on the road, but a faint blush crept up his neck. "I er…looked it up," he admitted. "After we met last night. I was unfamiliar with the town, so I wanted to learn more about it." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I suppose that was a bit weird of me, wasn't it?"

"Oh no, not at all!" Velma gushed, eyes shining.

Shaggy shifted in his seat behind her.Hecertainly thought it was weird, and from the look on her face, so did Daphne. They exchanged an uncomfortable glance.What kind of adult looks up the town a college student is from?Shaggy wondered. It gave him an icky feeling that had nothing to do with jealousy. At least, he didn't think it did.

Ben still seemed embarrassed, but smiled gratefully at Velma. They had arrived back at the beach house now, and the gang climbed out of Ben's van. Ben got out too, walking them as far as the front porch.

"Here," Velma said, reaching into her messenger bag for the Book of the Dead. "I've had this all afternoon. You can have it back."

But Ben shook his head. "You should hold onto it, " he told her. "Your instincts were spot on this morning. I should have listened to you. You keep it for now, and be sure to let me know if any more mysterious stories appear in it." He frowned, serious. "I don't know how the stories are being written, but they clearly have something to do with the disappearances of Ethan and Gary. Something strange is going on in this town and if anyone can get to the bottom of it, it's you."

Velma felt herself prickle with gratification at his praise.

Scooby glanced at Shaggy, then at Nova. "Rut that rolice officer…" he started.

Ben waved a hand apathetically. "I'm sure you've had your fair share of experience dealing with unhelpful law enforcement."

"Yes," Fred admitted. "But none of them have ever threatened to arrest us before."

"I'll take care of Officer Johnson," Ben promised. "You all just worry about solving the mystery."

Velma nodded obediently. "Of course," she replied.

Ben glanced at his watch. "I should be going," he said. "I'm way behind on my writing schedule after all our adventures today. I ought to get back to it."

Velma grimaced. "Sorry we keep distracting you from your work," she said.

Ben smiled, his eyes twinkling. "It's worth it," he replied. He held out his hand for hers. Velma obliged, thinking he was going to shake it. But instead, he brought her hand to his lips and planted a soft, chaste kiss on her knuckles.

Shaggy thought his heart may have actually stopped from shock and rage.

"Make sure to call me if anything else happens with that book," Ben called over his shoulder as he walked back down to his car. He drove off, leaving Velma feeling breathless with exhilaration. Flushed, she let herself into the beach house, with her friends following close behind.

Daphne pushed forward, intent on talking to Velma. The situation with Ben was getting too real now. Plus, she thought Shaggy was liable to strangle someone if this continued. "Velma –" she began, but stopped short at the sounds of Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy laughing together on the back porch.

"Is that you, kids?" Brad called. "Come on out here!"

The gang walked out to the patio, where the adults were sitting around the picnic table.

"We were just talking about what to do for dinner," Judy explained to the gang. "We were thinking of staying in and making homemade pasta. Would you like to join us?"

Fred looked around at the gang, about to accept the invitation. But he noticed Shaggy's stony silence, and it struck him as odd that he had nothing to say about food. "Shag?" he ventured cautiously.

"Huh?" Shaggy blinked as though coming out of a trance. "Oh, like dinner." His face twisted in consternation, as though he was trying to decide something. Then, he seemingly made up his mind. "Actually, I can't make it." He looked directly at Velma as he said, "I have to get ready for a date."

The high spirits Velma had been in suddenly evaporated. She'd forgotten all about Shaggy's date with Mai Le, and felt herself deflate like a balloon.

"Oh!" Judy just seemed pleasantly surprised. "Well good for you two!" She grinned between Shaggy and Velma and, with a sickening twist of his stomach, Scooby realized that Judy thought Shaggy and Velma had a datewith each other.

Shaggy realized it too, and flushed scarlet. "It's with Mai Le," he explained in a rush. "We're like, going to the Bloody Stake."

Judy's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, of course," she said, looking away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry…"

"It's all right," Shaggy assured her, determinedly no longer looking at Velma. "I should like, start heading over there."

"We can give you a ride," Ricky offered, gesturing to himself and Cassidy. "We have to stop at home for our pasta roller anyway."

Shaggy nodded. "Okay, like thanks," he murmured, still averting his gaze from Velma.

Judy, still seeming flustered, turned to the others. "What about you all?" she asked. "Do you have dinner plans?"

"I don't think so," Fred said, feeling a little awkward. "We could stay and eat." He gestured to himself and Daphne.

Daphne nodded in agreement, and reached out to touch Velma's arm. "How about you, Velm?" she offered quietly.

Velma, who'd been clenching her jaw since Shaggy had announced his date, forced herself to loosen. "Sure," she said at last. "That sounds great, thank you."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

At last, Shaggy cleared his throat. "I think I'm like, gonna go shower and change clothes," he said.

"Of course," said Ricky brusquely. "We'll be on the front porch when you're ready."

The gang went back inside, but Fred reached out to stop Shaggy before he went any further.

"Shag…" he began. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner here?"

Shaggy fixed Fred with an annoyed stare. "Like yes I'm sure, Fred," he said through gritted teeth. "I can't leave Mai Le hanging."

Velma gripped the strap of her messenger bag and turned away. She thought she might scream if she heard Shaggy say Mai Le's name one more time. "I'm going to go study the stories in the book some more. Maybe there's a clue somewhere about who wrote them." Her tone was unconvincingly apathetic. "Let me know when dinner's ready." With that, she headed down the hall and closed her bedroom door.

Scooby gazed soulfully at Shaggy, who pretended not to see. "Like I'm going to wash up. See you guys later," he said to Fred and Daphne, before shutting himself in the bathroom.

Fred, Daphne, and the dogs glanced at each other tensely.

"This is not going well," Nova sighed.

Scooby shook his head. "Rou're relling me," he remarked.

Daphne shot Fred a nervous glance. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "They're getting worse."

Fred sighed. It appeared that Daphne had been right on the drive from New York – Shaggy and Velma were clearly not yet over their break-up.

"Yeah," he agreed. "But maybe the mystery will give them something else to focus on?"

"Not likely," Nova said. "Have you noticed the way Velma acts around Ben Ravencroft? I don't think that's going to endear him to Shaggy any time soon."

"Rhere's romething ruspicious rabout him," Scooby added. He would be remiss if he didn't bring up his misgivings to Daphne and Fred, and he felt their opinions would be unbiased. He knew Velma would oppose because she admired the author so much, while Shaggy would unquestioningly agree with Scooby's suspicions because he was very anti-Ben. Fred and Daphne, Scooby figured, would be good intermediaries.

Fred frowned thoughtfully. "There's definitely something suspicious," he concurred. "But I think it's more than just Ben. I think there's something fishy about the whole town."

Daphne furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Fred began pacing, waiting for his thoughts to arrange themselves into words. When they did, he spoke. "Officer Johnson told us to back off," he began. "That's nothing new. Local law enforcement often doesn't want our help. But the police in this town don't seem to be very intent on finding Ethan or Gary. We searched that vineyard for what, an hour this morning before calling it quits? Johnson even said that the evidence of Gary's disappearance was inconclusive. Does that sound like a police force that wants to help find two missing college students?"

"No," Daphne admitted. "But what are you suggesting?"

"Police corruption," Fred said bluntly.

Daphne's eyebrows shot up, aghast. "Freddie!"

"I don't know what for," he continued. "But based on Officer Johnson's behavior, I have to believe that there's some kind of cover-up going on in this town that the police are trying to keep quiet. Maybe…something to do with a wealthy or powerful family."

Daphne understood Fred's hunch now. "You think theLaddertonsare involved somehow?"

"Possibly," Fred said. "I mean, you heard Rung last night. His family practically owns the town. I wouldn't be surprised if they have the police force in their pockets."

Daphne suddenly remembered something. "You know, this morning," she said. "Brenda told me that the Laddertons are also big on the pharmaceutical drug scene." She recalled Brenda's remark about the roofie and shuddered. "What if they're not alllegaldrugs?"

Nova blinked up at them. "Let me make sure I understand what you're saying," she said, her voice quiet. "Do you think the Laddertons are running an illegal drug ring?"

"Rhat is this,Breaking Rad?"Scooby remarked.

Fred ignored him, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "That's possible," he said. "And the police are helping to cover it up. Maybe Ethan and Gary got too close to the truth, and that's why they disappeared."

Nova shook her head, her fluffy ears swinging slightly. "I still don't understand how Ben Ravencroft or the Book of the Dead are involved," she said.

"Me neither," Fred admitted. "But maybe Rung can shed some light on the subject." He looked at Daphne. "Do you think Brad and Judy will let us borrow their car?"

x.X.x

They asked Ricky and Cassidy where the Ladderton's lived. Fred wasn't sure if they would know, but it turned out they did. Crystal Cove, like Coolsville, was a small enough town that everybody knew everyone else. Fred and Daphne had also invited Shaggy and Velma along, but had been declined – as they'd assumed they would be. Shaggy left with Ricky and Cassidy, determined to go through with his date, and Velma stayed holed up in her room, determined to read the stories in the Book of the Dead over and over, and act like she didn't care about Shaggy's date. Nova stayed behind with Brad and Judy but Scooby, who hadn't been around the previous evening when Rung had been harassing Daphne and wanted to do whatever he could to lessen her involvement with him, decided to go with her and Fred.

"We never do things just the three of us," Fred said from behind the wheel. Daphne sat in the passenger seat and Scooby stuck his head out the window behind them.

"Rye know," he said.

"It's nice," Daphne added, grinning. As they drove away from the beach house, she glanced back at Scooby. "It must be hard for you to see Shaggy acting this way." Her voice was kind, non-judgmental. But Fred heard the question behind it:whywas Shaggy acting this way? Was it truly about his break up with Velma? Or was something more going on?

Scooby sighed and brought his head back into the car. "Re's…ruggling," he admitted.

"Struggling?" Daphne inquired.

Scooby hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. He knew there were things about Shaggy and Velma's breakup that Fred and Daphne didn't know, but he felt that it wasn't his place to explain. "Roo should really rask him rabout it," he encouraged them.

Daphne and Fred shared a look. They truly did feel that Scooby belonged to all of them, but he had a special bond with Shaggy, and was loyal to the last. Daphne understood she wouldn't get anything more out of Scooby – at least about the Shaggy and Velma stuff.

Soon they arrived at the address that Ricky and Cassidy had given them. It was in quite a ritzy neighborhood, and Fred couldn't help feeling mildly impressed. The Ladderton's house was much larger than his own, and much fancier than Daphne's. A matronly housekeeper answered the door when they rang the ornate bell.

"Good evening," said Daphne, always polite. "We're so sorry to drop by unannounced like this. We just wondered if Rung Ladderton might be home?"

"Oh, certainly," the housekeeper said, inviting them in. "He should be in his game room. Just up the stairs, turn left, walk down the hall, then make another left. A quick right, and there will be a short staircase. Go down it, and then take another left. It'll be the third door on your right." She bustled away, leaving Fred, Daphne, and Scooby standing bewildered in the large ornate foyer.

"Did you…catch any of that?" Fred whispered.

Daphne shook her head – the rapid-fire instructions had come so quickly she hadn't had an opportunity to absorb any of them.

Scooby glanced to their right, where a person-sized coat rack held several long jackets. He recognized a dark green one that Rung had been wearing at the party last night, and gave it a casual sniff. "Rye've got ris scent," he announced.

"Good boy, Scooby!" Daphne said, patting him on the head. He led the way upstairs, his nose to the ground the whole time.

Fred took Daphne's hand as they walked down the hall. He wasn't exactly keen to see Rung again, especially after last night. But if he knew what had happened to Ethan and Gary, it would be worth it.

Eventually they found the game room. The door was slightly ajar, and a bluish glow emanated from the crack. Daphne knocked cautiously.

"Enter," came Rung's voice, sounding cool and detached.

Fred, Daphne, and Scooby pushed the door open and found themselves in the most massive game room they'd ever seen. Arcade cabinets lined the entire room and in the center sat several tables for pool, foosball, ping pong, and air hockey. A massive TV screen took up a whole wall and multiple state-of-the-art game consoles were plugged into it. Rung sat on a massive leather couch in front of it, a controller in both hands as he directed the first-person shooter on screen. He glanced over at his visitors and immediately sat bolt upright. He was clearly surprised to see them. But then his eyes met Daphne's and his surprise relaxed into something more like a sneer.

"Why Daphne," he drawled, pausing the game and rising from the couch. "Fancy seeing you here. And yes, before you ask, I accept your apology for last night. That is, if you agree to come to the anniversary celebration with me on Friday." He approached them and made to reach for Daphne's hand, but she yanked it away before he could touch her.

"In your dreams, Rung," she said, derision lacing her tone. "I stand by everything I said to you last night."

"So do I," Fred agreed through clenched teeth.

Rung continued to grin lecherously at Daphne, but Scooby growled and raised his hackles, which was most unlike him. There was no way Rung was going to touch Daphne while Scooby (or Fred, for that matter) had anything to say about it.

Daphne smiled softly at them both, grateful for their willingness to protect her. But she could take care of herself.

"We have some questions for you," Daphne said firmly.

Rung scoffed and leaned casually against the back of the leather sofa. "Ask away, princess," he said.

Daphne fixed him with a glare. "I'm sure you've heard that Ethan and Gary are both missing."

Rung shrugged noncommittally. "Yeah, I heard," he said. "And?"

Fred crossed his arms. "We just wondered if you knew anything about it."

Rung scoffed again. "I've been confined to the east wing of this mansion since last night," he told them. "All I know is that they're missing, and I only know that because the police questioned me this morning."

Fred furrowed his brow. "Are you under house arrest?" he asked, confused.

Rung laughed. "Something like that," he replied. "My father grounded me after I got home last night. He's a teetotaller, and he doesn't like it when I lose control of my inhibitions. Or get others to lose control oftheirinhibitions." He leered at Daphne. "Let's just say this isn't my first offense."

Daphne's breath caught. She knew he was talking about what had happened last summer with Brenda. But then she registered another part of what Rung had said. "The police were here?" she asked. "And they questioned you?"

Rung frowned. "Didn't they question you? They said they talked to everybody who was at that party."

"They did," Daphne replied. "We just…" she hesitated, unsure of how to continue. She didn't want Rung to know that they suspected him of being involved with potentially dirty cops. So she tried another tack. "What can you tell us about the police force in Crystal Cove?"

Rung shrugged. "Incompetent. Rotten. Shady."

Daphne, Fred, and Scooby shared a glance. So the Crystal Cove PDwascorrupt.

"And how do you know that?" Fred asked, careful to keep his tone casual.

But Rung saw through him and narrowed his eyes. "What are you insinuating, Pretty Boy?" he snarled, advancing on Fred.

Scooby growled again, and Rung backed off. But he still gave Fred and Daphne a threatening stare.

"If either of you think the Ladderton Ladder and Pharmaceutical Company would do any dealings with crooked cops, you're way off base," he told them. "Besides, everyone knows the police here are too deep in Janet Nettles' pockets to care about anything else."

That threw Fred, Daphne, and Scooby for a loop. "The mayor?" Fred murmured.

Rung nodded knowingly. "If you were really as good detectives as Ricky and Cassidy say you are, you'd have known that already." He hopped back over the couch and resumed his position. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some zombies to kill."

Scooby sighed. They clearly weren't going to get any more information out of Rung tonight. The three of them turned to go, but Rung called over his shoulder.

"I'll leave my plus-one spot open for Friday, Daphne," he jeered.

"f*ck you, Rung," Daphne replied, flipping him off as she left the room, Scooby and Fred close behind her.

x.X.x

Velma hadn't gotten anywhere with the book. Admittedly, she wasn't concentrating very hard. She could hear the sounds of Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy laughing together in the kitchen while they cooked. Fred, Daphne and Scooby were probably still at Rung Ladderton's. And Shaggy…

She didn't want to think about Shaggy. Or what he was doing.

She took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling exhausted and irritated. Maybe a shower would clear her head.

In the bathroom, Velma peeled off her clothes and stepped into the steamy shower. She let the hot water run down her back and tried to focus on it instead of the debilitating bouts of jealousy that rippled through her. She thought back to last night, of the way Shaggy had looked at her after she'd fallen in the pool. Or the way he'd stood up for her this morning, before Ben realized they were innocent. Eventually she shut the water off, unable to be alone with her thoughts anymore. She firmly wrapped a towel around herself, trotted back to her room, and opened the door.

In the doorway, she stopped short.

The Book of the Dead was on her bed, where she'd left it. But it was open to a new page. One that Velma was sure had been blank before.

Her heart raced. How long had she been in the shower? No more than thirty, forty minutes tops? The sounds of the adults' laughter wafted from the kitchen. Fred, Daphne, Scooby, and Shaggy couldn't be back yet.

She decided she'd worry about logistics later. For now, she had to read what the story said. She flew to the bed and sat down abruptly, yanking the book toward her. She gasped as she read the title and the first sentence:

The Red Spot

While Mai Le slept, a spider crawled across her face…

x.X.x

Shaggy could have sworn that Mai Le hadn't had a pimple earlier that morning.

He didn't like to think of himself as a guy who only appreciated women for the way they looked. Of course, attractiveness was often the first thing he noticed when it came to women, but that was how it was for just about every red-blooded, heterosexual man. There were other things that attracted Shaggy in a potential partner: intelligence, kindness, sense of humor, ability to cook. He was not a superficial guy.

But he also couldnotstop staring at Mai Le's zit.

It was on her cheek, just below her left eye, bulbous and red.

Shaggy thought he would have noticed if it had been there before.

It didn't help that she kept touching it, her fingers drifting toward it seemingly involuntarily. She winced whenever she touched it, as though it was somewhat painful.

Shaggy forced himself to look away and study the menu in front of him. He didn't register a single thing on it.

"Um…I'll be right back," Mai Le murmured, excusing herself and sliding out of their booth.

Shaggy watched her disappear into the ladies' room, and breathed a sigh of relief as the door swung closed behind her. They had been sitting in awkward and uncomfortable silence since they'd arrived, and he was glad for the opportunity to relax. And to not have to try to avoid staring at that huge red spot on her face.

His phone, which he'd put facedown on the table, suddenly buzzed, making the cutlery vibrate slightly. He picked it up, perplexed to see Velma's name lighting up his screen. Why on earth was she calling him? Was she trying to get in his head during his date?

"Like, hello?" he said cautiously.

"Shaggy, are you with Mai Le right now?" Velma's voice sounded urgent.

He rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Velma?"

"Answer my question!" she snapped.

Touchy, touchy. "We're at the restaurant," he told her. "We're like, about to place our orders. She just stepped into the restroom."

"So she's not with you right at this moment?"

Velma must have been so worked up about Shaggy and Mai Le's date that she'd called him in order to interrupt it. Shaggy smirked, feeling a little gratified by Velma's urgency. "Jealous?" he asked, unable to help the smugness of his tone.

"She's in the book, Shaggy!"

That stopped Shaggy in his tracks. "What?" he asked when he was able to speak.

"I found a new story in the book just now," Velma explained, her voice becoming frantic. "It's calledThe Red Spot,and it's about Mai Le."She hesitated. "I hate to ask this, but does Mai Le have any acne right now?"

Shaggy's blood went cold. "What happens in the story?" he breathed.

But before Velma could answer, a shrill, terrified scream rang out from the ladies' room. Diners around the restaurant swiveled their heads toward the sound and Shaggy shot to his feet. "Like uh-oh," he said.

"What? What's happening?!" Velma sounded frenzied now. But Shaggy ignored her, dropping the phone on the table as Mai Le burst out of the restroom.

"Get them off! Get them off!" she shrieked, hysterically swiping and clawing at her face. Tiny specks fell from her cheek onto the restaurant floor, causing everyone in the nearby vicinity to gasp and clutch their chests with fright. One of the waitresses looked as though she might faint dead away.

And Shaggy couldn't blame her.

Because the red spot had burst. And thousands of tiny spiders were swarming out of it.

Chapter 11: I Wasn't the One

Chapter Text

As Fred, Daphne, and Scooby leisurely drove back to the beach house, the piercing siren of an ambulance behind them startled Fred so badly he nearly jumped out of his skin from surprise.

"Wasn't expecting that," he murmured, changing lanes to let the ambulance pass. It wailed by and turned into the parking lot of a restaurant.

"Hey," said Daphne, frowning. "Isn't that the place where Shaggy was going tonight?"

Fear twisted Scooby's stomach. Daphne was right – they were passing by The Bloody Stake, where Shaggy and Mai Le were meant to be having dinner this evening. "Rhat if something rappened to Raggy?" he whimpered.

Fred and Daphne shared a look, then Fred turned off the road into the parking lot as well.

They parked the car and hustled to the entrance of the restaurant, where a small crowd had gathered as paramedics wheeled out a gurney. Daphne was relieved to see that the person on the gurney wasnotdead – in fact, she was full of life, screaming uncontrollably and clearly trying to reach towards her face, though her hands were strapped down. Daphne's breath caught as she saw the girl's face. It was covered in deep gashes, as though she had scratched herself over and over with her fingernails. There was a huge boil that had clearly popped recently, blood and pus trickling from it.

Fred's stomach turned at the sight. But Scooby gasped with recognition.

"Ruh-roh," he gulped. "It's Rai Le."

Fred and Daphne gaped at him, then glanced back at the young woman on the gurney as the paramedics loaded it into the ambulance. It had been hard to tell through the carnage, but Scooby was right – itwasMai Le.

Which meant Shaggy was probably nearby.

Daphne frantically looked around the crowd, trying to figure out where he was. She finally noticed him standing near the front door, white as a sheet. She pointed him out to Scooby, who raced for him and brought him back to the others.

"Like what are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"We saw the ambulance pull off the road and followed it when we realized where it was going," Fred explained. "Shaggy, whathappened?Is Mai Le okay?"

Shaggy let out a long, slow breath. "Like I don't know," he replied. "She had this…pimple. Like a huge, red spot. She was messing with it, and then she went to the bathroom…and like, I guess it…popped.".

Daphne shuddered. She'd popped her fair share of pimples in her day, but Mai Le's methods seemed extreme to her. "Was that what those scratches on her face were from?" she asked. "From trying to pop the pimple?"

Shaggy looked at her blankly for a moment, then shook his head. "No, no, like that was from when she was trying to get the spiders off her."

"Wait," Fred said, holding up a hand. "Spiders? What are you talking about?"

Shaggy looked at him uneasily. "Like they wereinsidethe spot, man," he explained, his voice very thin. "The zit popped and spiders came out."

"Rhat?!" Scooby yelped. That had to be the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard.

"Like yeah," Shaggy breathed. "It was so gross. She was like, clawing at her face trying to get them out but they just kept coming."

"Okay, stop," Daphne begged. She could think of few things more horrifying than spiders exploding out of a face pimple.

"That's not the worst part," Shaggy went on, lowering his voice. "Apparently, this was in the book. Like, the Book of the Dead."

The others gaped at him. "How do you know that?" asked Fred.

"Velma called me," Shaggy explained. Then his face blanched. "Oh my God. Like I totally forgot about Velma." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed.

"Shaggy, are you okay?!" Velma's voice was overwrought with anxiety, and Shaggy was surprised to find himself somewhat comforted by that. The idea that she still cared about him enough to worry.

"Like I'm fine," he assured her.

"What about Mai Le?" she asked, sounding slightly calmer but still frazzled.

Shaggy glanced at the others. "Like I don't know," he replied. "Listen, Scoob, Daph, and Fred are here too. They saw the ambulance pull up to the restaurant so they followed it. We're on our way back now."

"Ambulance?" The apprehension had returned to Velma's voice.

Shaggy sighed. "Like I'll explain everything when we get back."

x.X.x

The adults were still getting dinner ready in the kitchen when Fred, Daphne, Scooby, and Shaggy arrived back at the beach house. Velma was waiting for them at the front of the hall and mouthedmy roombefore slinking into it. The group politely dodged the adults' greetings as they went after her. Scooby made eye contact with Nova, who followed them down the hall where Velma closed the door behind them all. She looked unequivocally relieved that Shaggy was unhurt, but immediately asked him to rehash what had happened at the restaurant.

He explained again how Mai Le had been touching her acne all evening, how she'd gone into the restroom, and how she'd returned with a face full of spiders. Nova looked aghast at the description, but Velma just looked grim.

"The story in the book didn't describe the aftermath," she explained, handing the leather bound tome over to the others. That had been part of the reason she'd been so worried. "It ends when the spiders pour out of the red spot."

"When did you discover the story?" asked Nova. Shaggy, Daphne, and Fred were sitting on the bed, the book open between them as they read it together. Scooby paced fretfully.

"Just before I called Shaggy," Velma replied. "I'd had the book on me all evening, but I put it down to take a shower. I was there for no more than half an hour, and when I came back, the new story had been written in the book."

Nova looked uneasy. "I was in the kitchen with Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy the whole time," she said. "None of us left the room, and we could see both the front and back doors from where we were. No one came in."

Velma gestured to her window. "I wonder if someone snuck in," she said. "It's the only logical explanation."

"Ror it's the ritch's rhost," Scooby spoke up.

"It's not a ghost," Velma said. "And it's not a witch. But I should text Ben. Let him know about this latest development."

Shaggy scowled and looked down, picking at a loose thread on the comforter.

"How'd it go at Rung's?" Velma asked Daphne and Fred. "Did he give you any new information?"

"Not exactly," Fred replied. "He did confirm that the Crystal Cove PD is into something shady, but he either didn't know or wouldn't say what it was. He also implicated the mayor as the one pulling the strings."

Velma frowned. "Do you think that's true?" she mused. "Should we be looking at the mayor instead?"

"I wouldn't write Rung off as innocent just yet," Daphne spoke up. "I know he's bad news, and he could still be hiding something." She'd been turning this hunch over in her mind ever since they'd left the Ladderton mansion. But before she explained her hunch, she'd need to tell the gang everything. In a low voice, she reiterated her conversation with Brenda from that morning, including her confession about being roofied by Rung the previous summer.

By the time she'd finished, everyone was gaping at her. "Jinkies, Daph…" Velma murmured.

"I know," Daphne sighed. "It's awful."

"How many people know?" asked Nova. "About what happened to Brenda last summer?"

Daphne shrugged. "I'm not sure. Brenda mentioned being rescued by her boyfriend, Dylan, before anything too horrible happened, so he knows. But he may not be the only one. What if Ethan and Gary found out somehow and threatened to tell the police?"

"But if the cops are dirty, they wouldn't necessarily be any help," Velma pointed out. "Especially if they're working for the Laddertons."

"I know," Daphne sighed again. "I'm still trying to work that part out."

Velma frowned thoughtfully. "It's supposed to rain tomorrow," she said. "Maybe we can go to the library that Ben told us about. If the Laddertons have been fixtures of the town for as long as Rung claims, I bet we'll be able to find some more information on the family and their history in the genealogy section. We might learn something that will tell us more about their alleged dealings with the police."

"That's a good idea," Daphne agreed. "We can look up the mayor too. Rung might have just said that she was into something shady with the cops in order to throw us off the trail, but we might as well cover all our bases."

"Okay but like," Shaggy protested. "What doesanyof this have to do with that?" He pointed at the Book of the Dead, which was still clutched in Fred's hands. "Ethan, Gary, and Mai Le all appeared in stories that were written in the book. Now all three of them are missing or hurt. Am I like, crazy for thinking that there's a connection?"

"Rof course rot," Scooby assured him.

Velma took the book from Fred and held it thoughtfully. "I wonder if whoever is writing the stories is trying to help us somehow," she mused. "Like they're trying to lead us in the right direction or something."

"Kids!" called Judy's voice from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready, if you'd like to join us!"

The gang all looked at each other.

"Like I guess we might as well," Shaggy said, rising from the bed. "I didn't actually get to eat."

"I can't believe you stillwantto eat after all that," Daphne remarked.

Shaggy grinned. "Like there's not much that'll put me off food."

He and Scooby were the first to leave the room, with Nova and Velma following close behind. But Fred caught Daphne's hand and kept her in the room for a moment.

"What's up?" she asked. "You okay?" It occurred to her that he hadn't said much these last few minutes.

"Areyouokay?" he asked her seriously. His blue eyes shone with concern.

Daphne's mouth quirked up into a confused grin. "Yes…?" she replied, her voice lilting up in a question.

Fred sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Why didn't you tell me about Rung this morning?" he asked. "After your conversation with Brenda?"

"Oh, Freddie," Daphne sighed, sitting back down on Velma's bed. Fred followed her. "Honestly, I got so caught up with the scarecrow that it slipped my mind. And then I just forgot about it until later. I wasn'tintentionallykeeping it from you."

"I know," Fred assured her. "But…I mean, he was buzzing around you all last night. What if he'd…" He trailed off, unable to even complete the sentence.

"He didn't," Daphne said firmly. "Brenda told me he drugged her drink last summer, but I kept my beer on me all night. He wouldn't have had a chance to do anything to it." She gave him a small smile. "I can take care of myself, Freddie."

He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. "I just can't stand the idea of you in trouble," he whispered into her hair.

Daphne hugged him back and buried her head in his broad chest. "You've got to let go of this image you have of me from high school," she teased him gently. "I told you last summer, I'm not Danger Prone Daphne anymore."

"I just want to keep you safe," Fred whispered, his voice soft. His lips were by her ear now, and a warm ripple of pleasure caused Daphne to shiver blissfully in his arms.

They were kissing in moments, Fred clutching fistfuls of Daphne's thick orange hair as he laid her down gently on the bed. The skirt of her sundress slid down her thighs and she sighed contentedly as Fred's large hand caressed the smooth skin of her legs. She moved her hands along his shoulders to his arms, reveling in the feel of the firm muscles of his biceps as they kissed hungrily.

Approaching footsteps stopped them in their tracks and they looked up just in time to see Velma stop in the doorway. A kaleidoscope of emotions crossed her face – confusion, amusem*nt, and then something that looked like…jealousy? Or maybe wistfulness?

But it was gone in a flash, replaced by wry derision. "Really guys?" she laughed. "On my bed? With the door wide open?"

Properly abashed, Fred and Daphne sat up. "Sorry Velm," they apologized. This was not the first time they'd been caught in a compromising position by one of their friends, but the last time it had happened was back when they were still in high school. They liked to think they were in better control of their hormones now.

Velma rolled her eyes good naturedly. "It's fine. But if you don't come to dinner soon, Brad and Judy are going to send out search and rescue dogs."

Fred and Daphne chuckled and followed her out. As they all took seats around the table, Velma's eyes darted briefly to Shaggy, and her expression shifted back to one of forlorn nostalgia.

Daphne clocked it, and understood with sudden clarity the melancholy look she'd seen on her friend's face.

x.X.x

Later that night, Velma dreamed about the pale lady again.

In the dream, she found herself in a long ornate hallway once more. But instead of a door at the end, there stood the pale lady. The woman slowly walked toward Velma on unsteady feet, her beady eyes blinking ominously. Velma had turned to run, only to find the pale lady suddenly at the other end of the hall. She kept up her slow forward march.

Fear grasped Velma as she searched desperately for a way out, but in every direction she turned, the pale lady was there, steadily moving toward her – and getting closer every time Velma tried to escape.

With furious urgency, Velma made one final, frantic attempt at an outbreak, twisting away – only to find the pale lady's face right in front of hers.

That was when she'd awoken with a shriek.

Gasping for breath, she fumbled for her glasses on her night table, but was unable to locate them. Instead she floundered for the switch on the small lamp beside her bed, flicking it on and casting the room in blurry light.

She couldn't see a thing. Every hazy shape, every bleary shadow seemed to arrange itself into the form of the pale lady. She continued to grasp around her nightstand for her spectacles, but she couldn't feel them anywhere. Panic shot through her. Where had they gone?

The sound of her bedroom door flying open behind her wrenched another gasp from her throat.

"Whoa!" said a very familiar voice from the doorway. "Like it's okay. It's just me."

Shaggy.

Her shoulders sagged with relief. "Oh," she panted, trying to disentangle herself from her blankets.

"Are you okay?" Shaggy's voice was closer now. His lanky shape moved further into the room.

Velma swallowed, trying to catch her breath. "Uh…yeah," she murmured. The dream was still in the forefront of her mind, but Shaggy's presence was helping to calm her down.

Unbidden, a memory of their time as secret high school sweethearts entered her mind – the nights after solving particularly terrifying mysteries when Shaggy had awoken from a nightmare and called her on the phone in the middle of the night. The way they would commiserate, wishing they could be together in person so she could comfort him.

She could see the irony of their current circ*mstances. They were together physically, but broken up. And it was Velma who needed comforting, not Shaggy.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to steady her voice. "I can't find my glasses. Would you mind grabbing my extra pair from my suitcase? They should be in a case in the front pocket." She pointed into the corner, where her duffel bag sat in a heap.

A few moments later, Shaggy was at her bedside, holding out the spare glasses. She took them gratefully and put them on, becoming aware of several things at once:

First, her regular glasses were not on the nightstand. They must have fallen somewhere, perhaps under the bed.

Second, according to the dim glow of the digital clock on the dresser, it was almost two in the morning.

Third, Shaggy was not wearing a shirt. His tattoos stood out in stark contrast against his pale skin.

Velma flushed, all thoughts of her nightmare immediately flying out of her head as she forced herself to glance away from him. He hadn't been wearing a shirt at the beach this afternoon either, and she'd been just as flustered then, but it was different to have him shirtless in her bedroom late at night. Her gaze landed on the Book of the Dead, which was where she'd left it on her night table. Determined for an excuse not to look at Shaggy, she flipped it open. Nothing new had been added to it sinceThe Red Spot,but she looked anyway.

Shaggy hesitated a moment before speaking. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked softly.

Velma nodded, still not looking at him. "Yep. Totally fine."

But Shaggy went on. "I heard you through the wall, Velm," he told her. "Like…you were screaming."

It had woken him up, the sounds of short, gasping breaths that permeated the wall they shared before the final shriek that had jolted him upright. The dogs had somehow stayed asleep, but Shaggy had immediately raced out of his room and next door. Normally the sounds of terror were enough for him to flee in the other direction. But he could count on one hand the number of times he'd heard Velma scream like that, and if she was in some kind of danger…

He hadn't even taken the time to throw on a t-shirt. A decision he was now somewhat regretting. He was very, very aware of how close they were sitting to each other on the bed, of the fact that he only wore low-slung sweatpants, and of the fact that Velma was wearing a knee-length orange nightshirt, her bare legs only partly covered by the tangle of blankets.

She looked up at him and he felt his face color. Worried about doing something embarrassing if he stayed in the room, he abruptly stood up. "Like you want a midnight snack?"

Velma blinked at him, perplexed. "What?"

"A midnight snack," he repeated. "That always helps me feel better."

Velma allowed herself a small smile. "Why does that not surprise me?"

Shaggy chuckled. "What can I say? Food's my answer to everything."

Together, they crept down the hall to the kitchen, where they quietly got out bowls and spoons. Velma flicked on the dim light over the sink while Shaggy rummaged around in the fridge for the half gallon of milk and selected a box of cereal from the pantry. He passed it to her as they sat at the table together, and she smiled gratefully.

"I figured a midnight snack from you would be a little more culinary," she admitted, pouring cereal into her bowl. She kept her voice low, so as to not disturb their sleeping friends down the hall.

Shaggy grinned at her wryly. "I like to keep it simple," he told her, his voice just as quiet. He took the box of cereal from her. "Normally I'll make this pasta thing. Orzo and chicken stock and parmesan cheese. Super easy and delicious. But we don't have those here so like, we'll make do." He gestured to their bowls of cereal.

Velma smiled and looked down. "That orzo thing sounds good," she said.

Shaggy almost offered to make it for her sometime, but caught himself.

They ate in silence for a while until Shaggy cleared his throat.

"Like you wanna tell me what's going on?"

Velma sighed, pushing cereal around her bowl with her spoon. "I've just been having these weird dreams," she said at last. "The past two nights."

"Like what kind of dreams?"

Velma shook her head. "They're hard to explain," she replied. But she tried. Haltingly she described the nightmares she'd had the past two nights, finishing somewhat lamely with, "I don't know. It was scarier in the dream."

Truthfully, she still felt a little unsettled, and after hearing her descriptions, so did Shaggy. He'd finished his cereal by now and stood up to bring his bowl and spoon to the sink. "Well," he said. "Like it sounds plenty scary to me."

Velma watched him at the sink and her heart twisted. She felt bad for what had happened to Mai Le earlier, of course, but she also couldn't help feeling a little relieved that the date had ended in such a disaster. In the dim glow of the light over the sink, Velma watched the lean muscles of Shaggy's bare shoulder blades moving as he washed his spoon.

"When did you start sleeping shirtless?" she asked before she could stop herself. She didn't want to think about her dream anymore, and was desperately looking for a distraction. Admittedly, she could have chosen something less suggestive to say, but it was two in the morning and her brain wasn't working at its normal capacity, so she'd just said the first thing that had come into her head.

Shaggy was still facing the sink, away from her, and thanked his lucky stars that she couldn't see him blush. "Like how do you know I haven't always slept shirtless?" he asked her.

Velma felt her face heat up. "We've…slept in the same bed before," she reminded him, her voice soft.

Shaggy nodded, reaching for a dish towel to dry his spoon. Velma was right – while the two of them had never consummated their relationship while they'd been together, they had shared a bed a few times. "Just like, when it's hot out," he replied, putting his clean spoon on the drying rack before reaching for his cereal bowl.

As he turned, Velma again caught sight of the music tattoo on his ribs, the one she'd seen on the beach that morning.

"Will you tell me about that tattoo?" she asked, jerking her chin toward it.

He went rigid at the sink, freezing with his bowl in one hand and the dish towel in the other. Heknewthere was another reason he should have thrown on a shirt.

Velma watched him, puzzled. "Shaggy..?"

He put the bowl on the drying rack next to the sink and sighed, but didn't move.

Velma swiftly rose from the table to stand beside him. She could read music. She'd figure outthismystery, at least.

It was four sixteenth notes, beamed together, with a dotted quarter note joined on at the end. F sharp, E, A, A, going down the scale.

She hummed the phrase – and froze.

She recognized the song.

When the gang had been in eleventh grade, Daphne had convinced them all to try out for the school musical,Next to Normal,together. They'd all been cast, including Shaggy and Velma, who had ended up playing love interests. That musical was the reason they'd gotten together in the first place. What had started as a casual showmance had become a full-blown relationship, though of course for the first year or so they had kept it a secret from their other friends. But they had the musical to thank for their romantic relationship.

This tattoo was music from the show. Specifically, a love song that their characters had sung.

"Perfect For You…" She softly murmured the title of the song and a flood of memories came rushing back to her.

He had turned to face her now, his expression plaintive. Sad.

Confusion and longing ripped through Velma like a storm. "Why?" She couldn't help asking. They had been broken up for almost a year. What would have possessed Shaggy to get a tattoo of the song that had made them fully realize their feelings for each other?

He gave a humorless chuckle and looked away. "I like, got it before we broke up."

This just further perplexed her. He hadn't had any tattoos when they'd been in Coolsville last summer before they'd gone back to school. And they'd only been back at school for about a month before they had ended their relationship.

"How long before we broke up?" she asked.

Shaggy shrugged, still not meeting her gaze. "I don't know. Like a week? Maybe two?"

Velma's eyes widened, utterly bewildered. "If you were going to break up with me two weeks later, then why did you get that tattoo in the first place?"

Shaggy looked back at her, anger sparking in his eyes now. "Really? Like we're going to do this again?"

Velma splayed out her arms.Here we go,she thought. Out loud, she said, "Are you seriously still trying to shift the blame on me? We've had this argument dozens of times, Shaggy. When are you going to give it up?"

"Because you'rewrong!"Shaggy exclaimed. He caught his volume and paused, waiting to see if anyone in the house would wake up. When no one came out, he continued in a furious whisper. "You keep saying that it's my fault things ended between us, but that's not true. I wasn't the one who ended things, Velma. That wasyou."

"Only because I knew you were going to!" Velma replied angrily. "You were so clearly trying to dump me, you just didn't have the balls to actually come out and say the words, so you kept complaining until I did it for you."

"No I didn't!" Shaggy argued.

"Yes you did!" Velma insisted. "Every day you griped about the distance and how difficult it was to keep up the relationship."

"Yeah, because it washard,Velma, not because I wanted to break up!" Shaggy hissed, exasperated. "I was willing to put in the work. You were the one who like, gave up on us."

"Donottry to gaslight me right now," Velma seethed. "You called me that day and said 'we need to talk.' How does thatnottranslate to breaking up?"

"You jumped to conclusions!'" Shaggy jabbed an accusing finger at her. "I wanted to talk about our relationship, things we could do to keep it going despite the distance, like we'd talked about last summer! But you immediately were just like, 'Yeah I've been thinking that we should stop seeing each other.'"

He remembered that moment clearly, the gut punch of shock that had resonated through him as she'd said the words. It had come completely out of left field.

What he didn't know was that she had given a lot of thought to what she would have wanted Shaggy to say if he was going to end the relationship. So when he'd said, "We need to talk" that day, she'd ripped off the bandage.

"Yeah," she'd said softly, the way she would have wanted him to. "I've been thinking that we should stop seeing each other."

There had been a long pause from Shaggy's side of the phone before he'd responded. "Like you have?" he'd said at last.

And Velma had gone into a speech that she hadn't so much rehearsed as she had replayed in her brain several times. About how Shaggy was right, and the distance was getting to be too much. How they couldn't be the kinds of partners the other needed while they were so far apart.

To her credit, she hadn't been cruel. But she'd said it all so eloquently that Shaggy hadn't even thought to argue.

Now in the dimly lit beach house kitchen, he looked at her mournfully. "I never actually said the words 'I want to break up,'" Shaggy told her. "Because Ididn'twant to."

Velma crossed her arms. "So then why did you just roll over and say, 'Okay, let's break up?' If that wasn't what you wanted?"

Shaggy scoffed. "Because when one person in a relationship wants to break up, like, that's what you do."

Velma stared back at him, feeling utterly disoriented. "You should have told me," she murmured. "Why didn't you say something?"

Shaggy shook his head. "Your mind seemed to be made up," he replied. "Why try to change it?"

Velma narrowed her eyes, guilt and shame and righteous anger shooting through her. "And you don't call that 'giving up on us?'" she asked.

"I thought you'd already given up!" he shot back. "I wasn't about to fight a losing battle. Like what would have been the point? Would it have done any good? Would you have believedanythingI said at that point?"

Velma opened her mouth to argue, but hesitated. Shaggy was right. She was so convinced that their relationship was doomed that she wouldn't have listened to reason if he'd tried to sway her otherwise that day.

It had taken several months for them to admit their feelings for each other, and then another whole year after that to tell anyone else that they were even together. But it had taken less than a day for the rocky foundation of their relationship to crumble.

They had always been bad communicators, the two of them. And now they were reaping what they'd sowed.

"No," she admitted. "It wouldn't have done any good."

Shaggy nodded curtly but said nothing.

They stood there in the dark kitchen, hurting and confused. Velma had thought they could go back to just being friends. She hadn't expected the summer to throw all these curveballs at them. She hadn't thought her feelings for him would come back in such a major way.

"I miss you."

She hadn't realized she'd said it out loud. Her voice was barely a whisper, but Shaggy had heard. He looked at her, stricken. Then he let out a breath and turned away.

"I miss you too," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "But like, what do you expect us to do about it? I don't want to just be like…a relationship of convenience, you know? Breaking up and getting back together every time we're in town. And like, if the distance is a problem for you –"

Velma exhaled sharply. "Don't pretend like it wasn't a problem for you, too."

"Okay fine," Shaggy replied, holding up his hands in surrender. "Yes, the distance was a problem for me too. So I'm fine with going back to just being friends." Or at least, he could try to be.

Velma stared at him, a little taken aback. "So youdowant to break up?"

"We are already broken up!" Shaggy exclaimed. Again, he paused in the immediate aftermath of his outburst to see if he'd woken anyone. After a brief silence, he glared at her heatedly. "You have to choose one or the other, Velma. If you want to get back together, great. If you just want to be friends, fine. But like, you can't have it both ways. You say you miss me. And…I miss you too. I do. But do you missme,or do you just miss being in a relationship?"

Velma blinked, disoriented by his question. She paused for a long time before finally replying quietly, "I…I'm not sure."

Shaggy's face hardened. "Well like, let me know when you figure it out," he muttered.

With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the kitchen.

Velma stood there, staring after him.Why did I say that?she thought to herself. Of course she missed Shaggy. She'd tried dating other people and hadn't felt anything close to what she'd felt for him. Why hadn't she told him that? Pride? Fear?

Whatever the reason, she'd clearly made things with Shaggy much worse.

Exhausted and sad and unable to put on a brave face any longer, she sat down at the kitchen table, removed her glasses, put her head in her hands, and wept.

Chapter 12: A Different Story

Chapter Text

Velma woke up in the kitchen. She hadn't had the energy to go back to her room the previous night, so she'd just laid her head on her arms and slept right there at the kitchen table.

Her back was killing her. So was her head.

Probably from all that crying.

Blearily she rubbed her eyes and put her glasses on to glance over her shoulder at the clock on the microwave. It was quite early. Gray morning light was filtering in through the kitchen windows, accompanied by the soft pitter patter of rain.

Quietly she pushed her chair in and slunk down the hall toward her room, trying not to let guilt and shame overwhelm her as she passed by Shaggy's closed door. Had she ruined things between them forever? Not just their former romantic relationship, but their friendship as well?

She didn't have a chance to dwell on it, though, as she opened the door to her own room and froze at the sight that awaited her.

Firstly, her glasses – the ones she normally wore – were on her nightstand. She stared at them from the doorway in disbelief. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that they hadn't been there last night when she'd woken up from her dream. That was why she was wearing her spare pair right now.

But more disconcerting than that was the open Book of the Dead beside them.

Velma drew in a nervous breath and shut her door. She gave the room a quick once-over, searching for anything else that might be out of place, but saw nothing. The window was closed. There was nothing under the bed. Everything seemed normal, apart from the book.

With nothing else to stall her, Velma sat on her bed and pulled the book toward her.

She gasped.

Another new story had been written. It was entitledThe Dream.

And it was about Velma.

x.X.x

Daphne woke up to the sound of rain.

Lifting her head from the pillow, she squinted across the room to the window, where droplets of water plinked against the pane. It was only a light drizzle, but it seemed to be the kind of rain that would go all day. She remembered that Velma had mentioned that it was supposed to rain today.

Daphne rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, smiling ruefully at Fred's sleeping form next to her. He was turned away from her on his stomach, one arm dangling off the bed. She pressed a kiss into his shoulder blade before getting out of bed and grabbing a pair of bath towels. She slunk across the hall to the bathroom where she turned on the shower, removing her purple camisole and sleep shorts before stepping in. She took her time washing her hair, relishing the warmth of the water as it cascaded down her slender frame. By the time she'd finished and carefully wrapped her hair and body in the towels, she felt much more awake.

Fred was too, when Daphne arrived back in their room. He was still wearing just a white undershirt and his boxers, which he always wore to bed. He was leaned up against the pillows checking the weather on his phone, but looked up when Daphne entered.

"Hey," he greeted her with a smile, his voice a bit husky with sleep.

"Morning," she replied. She reached up to keep her hair towel in place as she bent toward the bed to kiss him.

"It looks like it's supposed to rain all day," Fred said, showing her his phone.

"I know," Daphne replied. "We're going to the library today, remember? To try to learn more about the Laddertons and Mayor Nettles."

"Oh, yeah," Fred said, recollection dawning across his face. "I'd totally forgotten."

"It's okay, I did too," Daphne admitted. She walked over to the standing wardrobe where she pulled out a casual flowy skirt. "The shower is free, if you want to hop in," she told him, considering her options between two lightweight sleeveless tops. "I'm going to get dressed."

"Do you have to?" Fred asked, half-jokingly.

Daphne giggled. "I bet the others will be waking up soon if they haven't already. We should get a move on."

Fred came up behind her and gently wrapped his arms around her waist. "We should," he agreed, turning her around and kissing her deeply. Daphne closed her eyes and kissed him back, dropping the shirts to entwine her fingers in his mussed blond hair. She felt the towels she'd secured around herself slip away, and did nothing to stop them.

What the hell. They could be a few minutes late to breakfast.

x.X.x

Velma was still on her bed, staring open-mouthed in fright at the book.How was this possible?

She'd read the story several times already. It had been quite a short story, so it wasn't some incredible feat for her. But it had been…shockingly prescient. Like whoever had written the storyknewthe real Velma.

In the tale, Velma was a detective who traveled the country with her friends solving mysteries. One night she had a dream – a nightmare – about a woman with a pale face and long dark hair. In the dream, the woman warned her away from an evil house. But Velma, as a detective, didn't listen, and instead went directly to the house to solve the mystery of why it was evil.

That was when the story had turned bone-chilling.

She and her friends – who in the story, were nameless – arrived at the house to search for clues. They looked for so long that eventually it grew dark, and Velma realized she was alone. She went through every room, looking for her friends frantically, but they were gone. Eventually she found herself in a dark, dank room with a mutilated dead body, one that Velma recognized as "the boy she loved." As she screamed with terror and sorrow, the pale woman appeared and slowly began to approach her.

The story ended there, her fate open ended.

It was the most terrifying story yet. More thanHarold, The Big Toe,andThe Red Spotcombined.

And still the question pounded over and over again in her brain:How had this story come to be in the book?Velma hadn't told anyone about her dreams, or the pale woman. Except Shaggy. But as mad as he might be at her, Velma knew there was no way he would write something like this.

Which raised the question: who would?

It wasn't a witch. Or a ghost. Or a witch's ghost. Of that, Velma was absolutely certain.

But then whowasit?

x.X.x

Eventually, Fred did get showered and changed into a blue polo shirt and khaki shorts. By the time he and Daphne finally made it to the kitchen, almost everyone else was already there. Brad and Judy were hard at work at the stove, flipping pancakes and turning bacon while Scooby and Nova casually stood nearby, hoping pieces of food might drop. Shaggy sat at the kitchen table scrolling through his phone, wearing a green henley shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Only Velma was still absent.

"Morning Shag," Daphne greeted him. "Where's Velma?"

"Like how should I know?"

Daphne blinked, taken aback by the hostility in Shaggy's tone. Fred furrowed his brow in confusion and the dogs exchanged a significant glance. Brad and Judy appeared not to notice.

"I'll uh…go find her," said Daphne at last. "She might still be asleep."

Shaggy made a noncommittal noise and went back to his phone.

Shaking herself, Daphne did an about face and went back down the hall. The animosity that Shaggy and Velma were showing for each other was really starting to grate on her. She had to try to make it better somehow.

She knocked on Velma's door. "Hey, Velm. You awake?"

There was a very long pause.

"Uh…yeah," came the reply after several moments.

"Can I come in?" Daphne asked.

There was another moment of silence.

"Okay," Velma said at last. Daphne let herself in just as Velma stuffed the Book of the Dead into her messenger bag.

"You're still in your PJs," Daphne observed, taking in Velma's rumpled appearance.

Velma looked down at her nightshirt. "Oh, yeah," she said, a bit absentmindedly.

"I think breakfast's almost ready," Daphne said. "Are we still planning to go to the library today?"

"Um…" Velma seemed distracted as she reached for her phone. "Yes. It looks like they open at ten a.m."

"Plenty of time then," said Daphne, feeling a bit uncertain. There was something odd about Velma's behavior this morning. She seemed skittish, jumpy. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine," said Velma, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I just didn't…sleep very well is all." She reached for the extra pair of glasses on her nightstand and placed them in a pocket of her messenger bag.

Daphne jerked her chin toward it. "Anything new in the book?"

"Nope," was Velma's immediate response.

Daphne frowned, sure Velma was hiding something. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again.

Velma hesitated. "I…" There was a pregnant pause. "I guess I was thinking about how we never told Ben about Mai Le yesterday," she said at last. "We should call him later, right?"

Daphne sighed, sitting on the edge of Velma's bed. Honestly, Daphne wasn't sure they should keep involving Ben. After the way he'd acted with Velma the previous day, Daphne had started to get some weird vibes from him. Plus, things between Velma and Shaggy were contentious enough as it was, especially if his behavior this morning was any indication.

But Daphne also knew that the book belonged to Ben, and it was because of him that they even had a mystery to solve in the first place. It was probably best to solve it as fast as possible so the gang could enjoy the rest of their vacation in peace.

"Let's wait until after we visit the library," Daphne suggested diplomatically. "We'll see what kind of dirt we can dig up on the Ladderton's and Mayor Nettles, and then bring him up to speed."

Seemingly satisfied with this answer, Velma nodded. "I'll get dressed and meet you in the kitchen."

Daphne smiled and squeezed Velma's arm kindly before getting up from the bed and closing the door behind her as she left. Once she was gone, Velma sighed and looked over at her messenger bag. She felt as though the Book of the Dead was burning a hole through it. She wasn't sure why she hadn't told Daphne about the new story in the book. Maybe because she didn't want Daphne to worry. Or maybe because she'd already told Shaggy about the pale woman and didn't want to talk about her anymore.

But she couldn't deny that the story had really freaked her out.

She shuddered and stood abruptly. The sooner they solved this mystery, the better.

x.X.x

Velma arrived in the kitchen, wearing clam-diggers and a casual orange top, to find everyone else just sitting down to breakfast. She took the empty seat between Judy and Daphne, deliberately not making eye contact with Shaggy as she did so.

"Well," said Brad, doling out pancakes. "Sorry about the weather today. You're welcome to come to Ricky and Cassidy's house with us today if you'd like."

"Actually, we're going to visit the library," Fred told him. "We want to learn about the history of Crystal Cove and some of the families from here." Not strictly a lie.

Brad nodded. "That's a fine idea. Do you need a ride?"

"We can walk," Nova assured him. "It's not raining too hard yet. We don't mind."

The gang finished breakfast swiftly and bid Brad and Judy farewell. The rain was just a light drizzle, more of a mist than anything. It wasn't unpleasant.

"I think it's supposed to start raining much harder this afternoon," Fred said to the group. "So we should get as much research done at the library as we can before then, so we don't have to walk home in a downpour."

The route to the library took them down the boardwalk a ways, then through the downtown part of Crystal Cove. The walk wouldn't be more than ten minutes, but they did meet a slight delay as they walked down Main Street.

"What's going on over there?" Fred wondered. Through the gray fog, there appeared a crowd of people standing in front of Town Hall.

"They're reporters," Daphne replied as they drew closer. She was right – a gaggle of reporters stood in front of the building, each holding personal recording devices and a pad of paper, presumably for note-taking. On the steps leading up to the front door stood the mayor, Janet Nettles, behind a podium.

"Aye," said a voice near them, startling the gang. The large frame of Skipper Shelton sidled up behind them. "The mayor is giving a press conference. Folks are curious as to what's been going on." He shrugged. "It's a terrible, grievous thing, what's happened to those kids. The disappearances of Ethan and Gary – and I'm sure you heard about what happened to young Mai Le. With the spiders."

"Yes," Fred said.

Skipper Shelton shook his head. "Stranger things have happened," he mused. "But I reckon all this will cause our tourism to skyrocket, you mark my words."

"Mayor Nettles!" called one of reporters, holding up a hand. "Do you have any comment on the recent attacks on young people that have been occurring in the town lately?"

"It's truly a tragedy," she said, her voice magnified through the microphones on the podium. "Crystal Cove takes the safety of its citizens very seriously. However, it's unfortunate that this is not the first time something like this has happened. Crystal Cove is, of course, the most haunted place on earth, though we haven't seen anything this tragic occur in recent history. The last time something like this happened was in the 1800s, while Sarah Ravencroft the Second lived here."

Another reporter held up his hand. "Harrison Cole, fromThe Crystal Cove Chronicle.My sources tell me that Sarah Ravencroft's descendant, the famous horror writer Ben Ravencroft, is here in town. Do you think that has anything to do with the recent disappearances?"

"Absolutely not," the mayor said clearly, her eyes blazing. "Ben Ravencroft, though he may be descended from witches, is not involved in any of the events we've seen here in town."

"But heisdescended from witches?" clarified the same reporter. "Could his mere presence in the town have been a catalyst for these disappearances?"

"What are these peopleon?"Velma muttered, casting the reporters a dark look. "They don't honestly thinkwitcheshave anything to do with this, do they?"

Scooby shifted his weight. He thought it was just as likely that something supernatural was going on, but he didn't dare say it aloud. He knew no one but Shaggy would take him seriously.

Daphne sighed, gently tugging Velma's arm. "Come on," she said. "We're almost there."

x.X.x

There was no one else inside the Crystal Cove Library, except for an ancient librarian who was sleeping so soundly, Scooby was actually worried she had died. But then he noticed the subtle rise and fall of her chest and he relaxed as they tiptoed past her. The library itself was pretty small, and the genealogy room was even smaller. One tiny table sat in the center of the room, while much of the wall space was taken up by file cabinets and shelves of archived newsprint. An ancient computer was installed in one corner, and a sad understuffed armchair took up residence in another. The third corner housed a bulky, outdated microfiche machine, which had an "out of order" sign taped to the screen.

Scooby sighed. Not the most promising place to find answers. But they would make do.

They spent the rest of the morning reading and researching. Daphne sat at the computer and scrolled through reports while Fred flipped through a hardbound tome of old newspapers from the armchair. The dogs paced, occasionally glancing over shoulders or laying under the table, where Velma and Shaggy had been forced to sit, to keep them from strangling each other.

Velma could feel the anger from last night permeating off Shaggy like heat, and did her best to ignore it as they flipped through files on the Laddertons and Mayor Nettles. She was looking for evidence of corruption or bribery with the police, anything that might point the finger at them as the perpetrators behind the strange happenings in the town. But all she could find were business transactions, medicine patents, and election records. Eventually she felt her eyes glaze over. She was starting to wonder if they were barking up the wrong tree.

Shaggy was having trouble concentrating too, but it had more to do with Velma's close proximity to him than anything else. He still felt upset over what had happened last night, the way she refused to take the blame for the end of their relationship. When he was unable to stand it any longer, he got up and started rummaging through the drawers of the file cabinet again. His thoughts were elsewhere – namely with Velma – so he didn't realize that he'd been looking in the wrong drawer until he came across a familiar name.

RAVENCROFT, SARAH ELIZABETH II.

There were a few more files about various other Ravencrofts, no names that Shaggy recognized. But he pulled out Sarah's file and leaned against the cabinet to read it.

The first document that he discovered was a family tree. Ben had been right the other day – from the first Sarah Ravencroft back in Massachusetts to the second Sarah Ravencroft here in California, no women had been born in the family for two hundred years. Ben himself was not on this family tree, but it ended with Sarah II and looked as though it hadn't been updated since. Shaggy wondered idly if there was a more up-to-date family tree somewhere as he flipped through more documents in the folder.

Then he found something that made his blood run cold.

"Uh…like guys?" he said, his voice low. "I think I found something weird."

"About the Laddertons?" asked Fred, looking up from the newspapers. "Or the mayor?"

"Neither," Shaggy murmured, shaking his head. "About the Ravencrofts."

Everyone glanced over at him now. He brought the file over to Fred. The girls and the dogs followed.

"Is it this?" asked Fred, holding up the family tree.

Shaggy started to shake his head again, but Velma grabbed the paper before he was able to.

"Jinkies!" she exclaimed after staring at it for a few seconds. "Did you see this?"

Shaggy glanced over at it, wondering if he'd missed something. Velma was pointing to the top of the family tree, where the name of Sarah Ravencroft I was linked up with two people. The first was a man named Henry – Shaggy assumed this was Sarah's husband, with whom she'd had her son Thomas. But the second name she was linked to was "Hester Ravencroft (nee. McKnight)."

Hester's name was the one Velma was pointing to.

"What's so interesting about that?" Daphne wanted to know. She vaguely remembered Ben telling the gang that Hester had taken Sarah's last name so they could appear as sisters, even though they were more likely romantically involved. Perhaps that's what Velma was getting at.

"Do you remember The Hex Girls?" Velma asked.

"Like of course," Shaggy replied. They were Velma's favorite music group, and the gang had gone to see them in concert once.

"The lead singer, Thorn?" Velma went on. "Her real name is Sally McKnight." She pointed back to Hester's name. "I think this is her ancestor. It would make sense – the Hex Girls are from Oakhaven too, same as Ben."

Shaggy rolled his eyes. "Okay like, as interesting as that is," he said, unable to help the derision in his tone. "Thisis what I was trying to show you." He produced another document out of the folder with a flourish.

It was a copy of an archaic newspaper article from at least the late 1800s, given the antiquated typeface. But the article's headline was the thing that gave everyone pause.

LOCAL BUTCHER'S DAUGHTER THROWS SELF OFF CLIFF

"Jeepers," Daphne murmured, eyes darting back and forth as she read the article. "This is about Sarah Ravencroft. The second."

"I know," Shaggy said.

Fred frowned. "I don't understand," he said. "Didn't Ben say she was chased off a cliff by an angry mob? I don't see a reference to the mob here."

"They might not have put that detail in an obituary," Velma pointed out.

"I don't think this is an obituary," Nova murmured, jumping into Fred's lap and peering at the article so she could see it better. "This is just a news report."

"And a news report would have definitely mentioned the angry mob," Daphne added. "It would be a different story entirely. But from this, it seems like she…jumped off the cliff on purpose."

"Roes it say rhy?" Scooby wanted to know.

Daphne shook her head. "It just mentions Sarah being 'disturbed,' and that her family had no comment."

Velma furrowed her brow, brain reeling. Ben had specifically told them that Sarah had been chased off the cliff because the townspeople found out about her book. But according to this news story, that wasn't what happened at all. The Book of the Dead wasn't even mentioned in the article. Had Ben's family been passing down an untrue version of the story, exploiting Sarah's troubled mind for drama? Or…had this really happened and no one in the family had known the truth? Was it possible that Ben didn't know this part of his history?

And even if that were true – wouldn't he have discovered this article while he'd been in the library searching for information himself?

Without thinking about it, she took her phone from her messenger bag and dialed his number.

"Hello Velma," he answered warmly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hi Ben," she replied, feeling her face color at his friendly tone. "Uh, my friends and I are at the library doing some research and we discovered something…kind of strange. Are you around? Would you be able to meet us here?"

Ben sighed. "Unfortunately not," he told her, sounding a bit glum about it. "I'm down at the hospital, checking up on Mai Le. I assume you heard about what happened to her last night?"

Velma nodded, even though Ben couldn't see. "Yes. She was out with Shaggy when it happened. I'm sorry we didn't call you right away –"

"No need to apologize," Ben said. "I figured you all were hard at work trying to figure out what had happened to her while staying out of the way of the police. They're here now, by the way, so I wouldn't recommend you coming by."

"Thanks for the warning," said Velma.

"Listen." Ben sounded thoughtful. "I'm just about finished here – I got everything I needed from Mai Le before the cops showed up, so I'll be heading back to my beach house soon. Why don't you and your friends meet me there and you can tell me about this information you found? I should be there in about ten minutes or so, and perhaps we could all have lunch together?"

"Uh…okay," said Velma, a bit taken aback. "Sure. Where are you staying?"

Ben gave her the address for the beach house, as well as the code for the front door. "Feel free to let yourselves in and make yourselves at home," he told her. "I'll be there shortly."

He disconnected the call and Velma looked up at her friends. There was a short pause, then she gestured to the file that held the newspaper article.

"You think we can smuggle that out of here without the librarian noticing?"

x.X.x

It turned out that it was easy to slip the file into a slim pocket of Velma's messenger bag and leave the library unnoticed. Especially since the librarian was still sound asleep, now snoring loudly.

The address that Ben had given them wasn't that far from the library, but the rain had started to pick up so by the time they'd arrived at his house, they were all quite damp. Scooby and Nova shook themselves out on the covered porch while Velma fumbled with the keypad to enter the code. The door unlocked and they let themselves in.

"You think he has any towels on hand?" Daphne wondered, shivering as she rubbed her wet arms. "I'm soaked through."

"Let's look around," Fred suggested. "He probably won't mind."

Shaggy scowled. He really did not want to be here right now, inside Ben's beach house. He looked around the entry hall as his friends went in search of towels. The house was a bit smaller than the one the gang were staying in with some other minor differences in the layout – the kitchen and living room were in the back of the house, for example, and a door to the right led to the room where it appeared Ben was staying. Shaggydefinitelydid not want to go in there.

Daphne did, though. She was glad that Fred had suggested searching for towels. While he and Velma had moved forward in the direction of the kitchen and bathroom, Daphne had ducked into Ben's room. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but it seemed pretty normal. A large bed, neatly made, with a laptop computer set up on a desk nearby. A suitcase was partially hidden beneath the bed, and a large stack of hardbound books towered on the nightstand.

Daphne paused, then crept closer to the books. The titles on the spine gave her pause – they all appeared to be about witchcraft and spellcasting. A cold shot of unease pierced her. She knew Ben was a horror writer with witches for ancestors, but some of these books seemed…evil.

Daphne picked up the topmost book; a dark, heavy tome with a disturbing illustration of a screaming woman in a pentagram on the cover. She flipped through it, pausing at the unsettling pictures and gruesome descriptions.

"What'd you find?"

Daphne gasped at the voice and whirled around. But it was just Fred, entering the room with a bundle of towels in his arms. Velma hovered by the open doorway looking agitated.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed, drawing her own towel tight around her shoulders. "You shouldn't be in Ben's room! Have you no respect for privacy?"

Daphne laughed out loud – she couldn't help it. Velma had once broken into their homeroom teacher's house when they were in high school because she suspected him of a crime. As far as Daphne was concerned, Velma didn't have a leg to stand on. But her laughter died away as she remembered the book she'd found, and held it out wordlessly to her friends. Still fidgety, Velma entered the room as Fred took the book from Daphne.

Scooby and Nova appeared in the doorway next, followed by a rather reluctant Shaggy. "Like what is that?" he asked, jerking his head toward the book despite himself.

"It's a grimoire," Velma replied, taking the book from Fred, confusion lacing her tone. She flipped through the pages, her frown growing deeper as she read. "A book on black magic. I've seen texts like this before, back when I used to volunteer at the library in high school. But this one's…reallyreallydark. Like there's stuff on blood sacrifices in here."

Fred frowned. "What is Ben doing with a book like that?"

"Research?" Nova suggested. "He said he wanted to learn more about his ancestors."

Daphne knit her brows together. "Sarah Ravencroft didn't seem like abadwitch," she pointed out. "At least not from the stories Ben told us. She was an herbal healer, wasn't she? That's good magic."

"Yeah but like, that was thefirstSarah Ravencroft," Shaggy reminded her. "Didn't the second Sarah Ravencroft murder people by writing about them in her book?"

Velma rolled her eyes. Had everyone lost their minds? "Witches aren't real," she told them witheringly as she gestured to the heavy text she held. "The spells in this book aren't real." She indicated her messenger bag, which was slung over her shoulder and held the Book of the Dead. "And we know that neither of the Sarahs wrote anything in that book because when we found it, it was blank."

"Ruhhh…guys?" Scooby had ventured into the room after noticing the partially hidden suitcase under the bed. Something had drawn him to it, and he'd rummaged around inside it until he'd found something shockingly familiar.

A very old and battered leather-bound book.

Identical to the one that they had discovered in the wall at the Ravencroft House.

Chapter 13: Let Me Go

Chapter Text

Everyone stared at the journal that Scooby had discovered, awestruck and dumbfounded.

Fred glanced at Velma. "I thought you had the Book of the Dead."

"I do!" Velma opened the flap of her messenger bag and dug around inside until she triumphantly produced the leather-bound journal. She flipped it open toThe Red Spot,still not wanting to show the others the newest story. The one she'd found that morning. The one that had been about her.

She looked back at Scooby. "Is anything written in that book?"

Scooby very gingerly opened the front cover. He felt he had to be as gentle as possible – the book seemed ancient, and he was afraid he would damage it.

"Reah," he replied, furrowing his brow. It was written in English, but the language in this book seemed old, archaic.

Fred noticed his consternation and knelt down to Scooby's level to study the book with him. "It's full of weird, outdated medical methods," he told the group. He counted the wordleechesabout a dozen times. "It's gotta be at least three hundred years old."

Daphne's eyes widened with understanding. "Oh my God" she whispered. "What if this is Sarah Ravencroft's book? Herrealbook, from the 1690s?"

Shaggy stared at it, slack-jawed. Somehow he knew she was right.

Nova frowned. "If Ben already had it, then why did he ask for our help to find it?"

Velma looked nervous. "And…if that's her real medical journal…" she paused, holding up the Book of the Dead. "Then what's this?"

The sound of car tires crunching over gravel caused them all to freeze. Ben was home. And Scooby knew it would be bad if Ben discovered them with the real journal.

Quickly, he tossed it back into the suitcase as Velma fumbled the Book of the Dead back into her messenger bag. Everyone scampered into the living room just as Ben opened the front door.

"Wow it's really coming down," he said, shaking out his umbrella and grinning. "Welcome, everyone! I see you've found some towels."

"I hope you don't mind," Fred said apologetically. "The rain picked up after we left the library and we didn't have any umbrellas."

Ben waved a nonchalant hand. "Of course not. Please make yourselves at home." He gestured forward and led the group down the hall to the living room. "Now, why don't you tell me about what you've discovered?"

Everyone sat around the small coffee table in the center of the living room and glanced at each other. What they'd discovered about Sarah Ravencroft at the library was nothing compared to what they'd discovered in Ben's room just now. But clearly they couldn't ask him about that. They didn't want him to know they'd been snooping.

Daphne cleared her throat. "Can you remind us again how Sarah Ravencroft the Second died?"

Ben nodded. "Of course," he replied. "The townspeople discovered that she'd been writing about them all in her book, and chased her off a cliff to her death."

Daphne glanced at Velma. "You want to show him what we found?"

Ben looked at them puzzled. "What's going on? Is there a new story in the book?"

Velma ignored his question – if she wasn't going to tell the gang aboutThe Dream,she definitely wasn't about to tell Ben – and reached into the slim front compartment in her messenger bag for the copy of the newspaper article. "Did you see this?" she asked him, handing it over. "When you were doing your research?"

Ben glanced at the article and chuckled. "I did," he told them. "TheCrystal Cove Chroniclehas never been renowned for reliability, even back then. People in the town were happy to see the end of Sarah Ravencroft. They figured the more bad press she got, the less credibility her family would have.Myfamily would have." He handed the article back to Velma. "I wouldn't put much stock in this article, to be honest. It was just scared journalists overreacting and unfortunately, overcorrecting in the wrong direction. But you have to understand, everyonewastruly terrified of Sarah Ravencroft, and sincerely believed that she was an evil witch." He shrugged. "Once your mind is made up about someone, it's hard to change it back."

Involuntarily, Velma glanced over at Shaggy, remembering their conversation from last night. It surprised her to find that he was looking back at her. She blushed and turned away.

"Well…" she said to Ben now. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time like this,"

"Oh, please!" Ben exclaimed, shaking his head. "No need to apologize. I'm grateful that you're as interested in this as I am. Though I have to ask." He jerked his chin at Velma's messenger bag, where she'd put the article. "How did you convince the librarian to let you leave with that?"

"Um…" Velma stammered, blushing again.

Ben laughed. "Never mind," he said, eyes twinkling. "I'll pretend I never saw it." He slapped his knees and stood. "How about some lunch? I've got the fixings for burgers and hot dogs."

"Roy boy!" Scooby exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically.

Daphne glanced outside at the pouring rain. "What about the weather?"

Ben pointed through the window at a grill, which was under a covered patio. "We can eat inside, but I won't get wet out there while I grill." He glanced at Velma. "Would you mind assisting me? You can get plates and cups in the kitchen."

"Okay," Velma agreed, standing to follow Ben. The kitchen was a large, airy space off the living room, but separated by a wall and a set of saloon doors. Once they had swung shut, Ben pointed to a cabinet above the counter next to the sink.

"The plates are in there, I think," he said, a bit apologetically. "I confess I haven't been cooking much of my own food here – I've been eating out during most of this trip."

Velma shrugged, reaching up to open the cabinet. "I think that makes sense for a vacation," she told him without looking back at him. She had to admit she was starting to feel a bit uneasy in his presence. If he'd known of the false article about Sarah Ravencroft's death, why hadn't he told them about it? And while Velma didn't believe in witches, those occult books they'd found on his nightstand were creepy. Not to mention there were apparentlytwojournals – the one that they'd found in the wall at the Ravencroft House, and the one that Ben had, which appeared to contain the first Sarah Ravencroft's medical notes.

Nova's question sprung back to Velma's mind. "If Ben already had it, then why did he ask for our help finding it?"

Velma didn't know the answer, but she knew she'd feel better once she and Ben weren't alone in a room together.

Ben took a box of burger patties out of the freezer compartment and turned to Velma. "How many should I make?"

"How many do you have?" she remarked, shooting a rueful glance over her shoulder towards the living room, where, though she couldn't see him through the saloon doors, she knew Shaggy sat on the couch. A lot of things may have changed about him, but she knew he still had that bottomless stomach.

Ben chuckled, rummaging around in the fridge for more burger fixings. "The two of you seem pretty close," he observed. Evidently, he understood who she'd been referring to. "How long have you been friends?"

Velma lifted her shoulders in another shrug. She didn't feel very close to Shaggy lately. "A long time." She'd finished getting plates, and had now moved onto a cabinet that she thought held glasses for drinks, but it turned out to contain a spice rack.

"Cups are over here," Ben told her, gesturing to the cabinet beside the fridge – right next to where he stood, gathering burger toppings.

Velma shuffled over reluctantly. She didn't want to be any closer to him than was strictly necessary. Something had definitely shifted for her since the discovery of Sarah Ravencroft's real book.

Ben cleared his throat as Velma reached up to open the cabinet. "Forgive me," he said as he sliced a tomato. "But…I can't help the sense that there's a bit of history between the two of you."

Velma stilled. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Ben shrugged. "Call it a writer's instinct. I'm pretty observant, especially about the way people relate to each other. For example, it's clear that Fred and Daphne are in a relationship. You don't have to be a writer to observe the chemistry between them. It's palpable. And overt." He glanced at her sideways. "But I've been picking up on some tension between you and Shaggy as well."

Velma felt herself blush to the roots of her hair and averted her gaze from Ben. Why was he asking her about this? "There's nothing," she told him. "We're not…I mean, we're just friends."

Was that true, though? After their conversation last night, Velma wasn't sure if she could even call themfriendsanymore.

Ben nodded slowly. "I see," he said. "Are you…morethan friends…with anyone? At school, perhaps?"

Velma furrowed her brow. What was he getting at? "No," she replied. "I'm single."

There was a long silence. Ben had stopped slicing the tomato. "Remind me how old you are?"

Velma's skin prickled uncomfortably. "...Eighteen," she replied at last.

"Good." Ben's voice was husky.

Before Velma knew what was happening, Ben had moved behind her. She could feel heat radiating from his skin as his arms came around to grip the countertop, essentially trapping her between the kitchen counter and his body. She didn't turn around. She couldn't.

She was physically unable to move.

"Wh…what are you doing?" she whispered, anxiety rippling through her. She held onto the countertop with both hands, needing some sense of stabilization.

His voice was in her ear. "I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday." She could feel his breath on the skin of her neck. "Let me make it up to you." His left hand moved to encircle her wrist, while his other hand grasped her waist.

Velma still couldn't turn around or push him away, not while he had her in his clutches like this. "Stop," she tried to say, but her voice came out as barely a whisper.

Ben had his mouth against the back of her neck, moving his lips back and forth as his hands gripped her tighter. "You don't want me to stop," he told her. "Youwantthis. You've been wanting this since that day at the Clam Cabin."

"I don't," she tried again. Her heart was hammering rabbit-fast in her chest. It felt like it was beating itself against her rib cage. Where was her volume? Why couldn't she shout? Scream?

She had never experienced fear like this before.

"Don't fight," he murmured against her neck. "I know you want me. I can tell by the way you blush when you're near me. The way you angle yourself toward me when I talk. Like I said, I'm a keen observer. Your bodywantsthis, Velma. Let it happen."

Her body didnotwant this. No part of her wanted this.

"Stop," she said again. Ben had let go of her wrist and was now gripping her waist with both hands. "No, Ben, please…"

He ignored her, shifting his unyielding grasp down to her hips.

"Let mego,"she cried. Still not loud enough. Still not adamant enough. Still not enough.

Her breath came in short, rapid bursts, and she tried again to tell himno, to tell himstop, but her voice had completely abandoned her. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She felt absolutely helpless.

x.X.x

Back in the living room, Scooby could tell that something was wrong.

It was impossible to describe how he knew. Something instinctual in his animal nature, perhaps, had tipped him off to the discomfiting energy emanating from the kitchen.

Nova felt it too. He saw her gazing uneasily at the saloon doors.

Fred, Daphne, and Shaggy were talking about the journal they'd found, speaking in hushed tones so as not to call attention to themselves. This also meant that they weren't paying attention to other noises in the house. Which meant that they otherwise may have heard Velma's voice from the kitchen.

"Stop…" it said, quietly enough that it was drowned out by the human's whispers. But loud enough that the dogs heard. "No, Ben, please…"

Scooby and Nova glanced at each other in alarm. What was going on?

"Everybody," Nova murmured urgently to the humans on the couch. "Be quiet for a moment."

The gang looked at her, a bit perplexed. She wasn't normally so stern with them.

"What is it?" asked Fred.

"Shh!" Scooby shushed him.

Everyone fell silent. A moment later, they heard Velma's voice from the kitchen.

"Let mego."

She wasn't very loud. But from the sound of her voice, she was clearly very scared.

Like a shot, all of them leapt to their feet and raced for the kitchen. Scooby arrived first, shoving open the saloon doors and halting abruptly in the doorway. He barely had time to take in the scene – Velma standing still as a statue at the counter while Ben towered above her from behind, his hands all over her – before instinct took over again.

"Rey!" he barked.

Two seconds later Scooby had knocked Ben away from Velma, pinning him to the floor and growling aggressively. Velma stepped back, her mind and body instantly eased by the freedom to move again, but her heart still pounding erratically.

"Are you alright?" Nova was close behind Scooby, but herded Velma away from the counter and back toward the doorway, where the rest of the gang stood, shock and horror etched on their faces.

Daphne recovered first, swiftly moving into the kitchen to put a comforting arm around Velma's shoulders.

"Ret her rout of here," Scooby ordered.

"Of course," Daphne agreed, ushering Velma out of the room. Nova followed, shooting Ben a dark look as she did.

"Call him off!" Ben cried. He tried to wriggle out from under Scooby's paws, but the dog simply dug in further and raised his hackles, snarling.

"Not a chance," Fred said, his voice dangerous. He stormed into the kitchen, towering over Ben. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Ben scoffed, but kept his eyes on Scooby, whose teeth were mere inches from his face. "Please," he sneered. "She's been flirting with me all week. She wasaskingfor it, the little slu–"

Rage bubbled in Scooby's chest and escaped his throat in the most animalistic bellow anyone in the gang had ever heard. It caused Shaggy and Fred to flinch, and Nova, Velma, and Daphne (who was holding Velma's messenger bag) to poke their heads back into the kitchen apprehensively.

With a terrified shout, Ben threw his arms over his face. "Get this mangy mutt away from me!"

Scooby was practically frothing at the mouth, he was so angry. He was ready to tear Ben limb from limb.

But then he heard Velma's voice from the doorway. "He's not worth it, Scooby. Let's go."

Scooby glanced back at her, bewildered, until he saw the look in her eyes. She was agitated. Afraid. And he knew inherently that the best thing for Velma now was to get her out of the house.

Immediately, he stepped off of Ben's chest, but Ben didn't stand up right away. Scooby still hadn't lowered his hackles, and he backed away slowly as the rest of the gang left the kitchen first. Daphne quickly led Velma down the hall towards the front door, still clutching her messenger bag. Nova and the boys followed, Fred pausing briefly to pick up the umbrella that Ben had set down earlier. Scooby was the last to leave, glaring menacingly at Ben until he'd left the kitchen.

x.X.x

Outside on the porch, Fred opened the umbrella and held it aloft so the gang was as protected from the rain as they could be. It was coming down much harder now, and the umbrella wasn't quite large enough for all of them, but Velma didn't mind getting wet. Maybe the rain would…cleanse her, somehow. She had never felt so disgusting, so humiliated. She drew her arms around her middle, as though physically trying to keep herself together.

The gang marched away from the beach house, only stopping when they were far enough away that they could no longer see it. They leaned against a concrete wall beneath an awning to catch their breath. Fred lowered the umbrella and the dogs shook themselves dry. Daphne still hadn't let Velma go, her thin arm holding the shorter girl's shoulders in a tight yet gentle grasp. The rain that sneaked under the awning was making Daphne's bushy hair frizz a little, but she didn't seem to notice or care – her periwinkle eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Velma.

No one had spoken since they'd left the kitchen, but Daphne was the first to break the silence now.

"Are you alright?" she asked Velma gently.

Velma opened her mouth to answer, but was embarrassed and horrified to discover that her eyes were burning with unshed tears, and she quickly averted her gaze. Normally she was stoic and unflappable, but what had happened with Ben had genuinely shaken her. She may have fallen apart at the seams if not for Daphne's arm firmly around her shoulders. She took a deep breath and blinked her tears back, still not looking at anyone directly.

"I'm…"

But she found herself at a loss for words. Her instincts told her to sayI'm fine.But she wasn't fine. She was sickened. Exhausted. Ashamed.

Fred stepped closer to pull Velma into a comforting embrace. "I am so sorry," he murmured. "We never should have let you go in there alone."

He was dripping wet from the rain as well, but Velma didn't mind much. "It's not your fault," she told him, her voice still quiet.

"It's not yours either. It's Ben's," Daphne told her firmly. Fred had released Velma, and she chanced a sidelong look at Daphne only to realize that her face had contorted with fury. She still had Velma's messenger bag slung over her shoulder, and gripped the strap with a rigid fist. "He's been inappropriate with you ever since we got to town. He's an adult – he should know better," Daphne went on, something lethal in her tone.

On a rational level, Velma knew that technically everyone in the gang were adults now too, but she didn't find this thought helpful, so she said nothing.

"Seriously." Fred seemed similarly outraged. "What did he think was going to happen, we were just going to let him…" He trailed off, punching his fist against his palm. Velma had rarely ever seen him so angry.

Nova directed a malevolent glance back in the direction of the house. "It's repulsive," she whispered vehemently. "Vile."

Daphne turned to Scooby. "I thought you were going to kill him," she said, not exaggerating in the slightest.

"Re would have had it roming," Scooby muttered, also casting a dark look back towards Ben's house. "Rhe son of a ritch."

Velma didn't think she'd ever heard Scooby swear before. This, more than anything, shook her out of her catatonia, and she finally glanced up fully.

Fred and Daphne were irate, their eyes blazing with fire on Velma's behalf. Scooby and Nova, likewise – Nova paced indignantly, and Scooby's hackles were still up. But Shaggy, who hadn't said a single word, stood rigidly staring into the middle distance in a stony silence. He wasn't even looking at Velma.

For reasons she was unable to fathom, this upset her worse than she'd expected. Had it really come to this? Had Velma hurt Shaggy so badly that he couldn't even muster up any sympathy for her? Or even anger at Ben, whom he'd been irritated with from the jump?

Had their friendship – their relationship – truly becomethatirreparable?

Velma felt as though her heart had been wrung out.

Her embarrassment was still overwhelming though, and she busied herself with glancing at their surroundings. She realized that they had run all the way back to the library. She sighed, reaching to take her messenger bag from Daphne and lifting the flap. "We should try to sneak the Sarah Ravencroft file back in," she murmured. She was about to slide it out from the slim pocket, when she paused, distracted by something else in her bag.

"What?" asked Nova, concerned.

"sh*t," Velma swore. She reached into her bag, bypassing both the file on Sarah Ravencroft and the Book of the Dead, and instead pulled out the sinister grimoire they'd discovered on Ben's nightstand. She must have slipped it into her messenger bag by mistake when they were rushing to leave Ben's room before he came into the house.

She glanced up at her friends and saw that their faces were the picture of horror.

"I assume I speak for all of us when I say there's not a snowball's chance that we're bringing that back?" Fred spoke up after several moments. He had no desire to return to Ben's house for any reason.

"Yeah, this is our book now," Daphne agreed, though she didn't look very happy about it. Why would she? That grimoire had really freaked them all out.

Absentmindedly, Velma opened it, flipping through the pages, not really paying attention to what they said until handwritten notes caught her eye. They had been scribbled in the margins of one of the spells by Ben – she recognized his handwriting from when he'd written his phone number in the Book of the Dead. But these notes made Velma's blood run cold.

"Um…" she murmured. "I think I figured out why Ben had this book."

Her friends gathered around her, reading over her shoulder.

"Jesus Christ," Fred muttered.

Written in the margins was a note in Ben's handwriting:

For Sarah.

And next to it, in big block typeface at the top of the page, was the heading:

RITUAL FOR REVIVING THE DEAD

Chapter 14: You're The Coward

Chapter Text

The snoring-previously-thought-to-be-dead librarian was awake now, but so immersed in a crossword puzzle that she didn't even look up as the gang entered the building. This was a good thing. Dogs almost certainly weren't allowed in the library, especially soaking wet ones like Scooby and Nova, and if the librarian had noticed them, she would probably have scolded the gang and kicked them all out.

But luckily, she was concentrating too hard on her crossword puzzle to notice that four college students and two dogs sprinted through the library to the genealogy room, looking like the devil was chasing them.

Once they were in the genealogy room, Velma slammed herself into a chair at the table, the grimoire open to the reviving spell, as the gang crowded around behind her. They stared down at the pages without really seeing anything, too shocked and confused to register any words apart from Ben's scribbled note:For Sarah.

Fred's eyes caught snatches of other words on the page, but he was too unfocused for his brain to really absorb the instructions for the ritual. His gaze kept shifting back to Ben's slanted handwriting, and it struck him suddenly that it seemed…familiar, somehow. As though he'd seen it somewhere before.

He didn't have a chance to bring this up though, because Daphne squeezed his arm fretfully. He clasped her hand in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, but even he had to admit he was feeling unnerved. Did Benreallymean to try to use this spellbook to bring his ancestor back from the dead? Fred knew that was impossible, obviously. And as much as Ben made reference to Sarah Ravencroft being a witch, Fred didn't think Benactuallybelieved in the supernatural.

Did he?

His attention suddenly switched to Velma as she stood abruptly from her chair, pacing the room and shaking her head. She was muttering to herself incoherently, occasionally glancing at the spellbook in her hands as her friends watched on, anxious.

Nova was the first to approach. "Velma?" she began, her voice tentative.

"Shh!" Velma hissed, pacing even more frenetically. "I'm thinking."

The rest of the gang waited patiently. Daphne dug the Sarah Ravencroft file out of the messenger bag and began flipping through it a bit absently, but still Velma didn't snap out of her reverie.

"Is she all right?" asked Nova, who wasn't used to Velma's antics.

Scooby nodded. It had been a while since he'd seen Velma like this. Then again, it had been a while since he'd seen Velma at all. Maybe she was like this all the time at school. He'd never know. This trip was the first time he'd seen anyone in the gang besides Shaggy in almost a year.

Surreptitiously, he glanced at Shaggy, who still hadn't said a word. He was leaning against the wall, fidgeting with the sleeves of his henley shirt. Scooby recognized the agitated gesture – Shaggy was just barely containing rage.

Seeing Ben with Velma must have affected him worse than it had anyone else.

Velma herself, however, seemed to have come back to earth as she hurriedly approached Fred. "We have to go to the house."

Fred furrowed his brow. "What house?"

"The Ravencroft House!"

Fred shared an apprehensive look with Daphne. "Velm, what are you talking about?"

"Look!" Velma waved the book under their noses, her finger jabbing at an underlined passage. The shade of the underline was the same as the pen in which Ben had scribbledFor Sarah.Neither Fred nor Daphne had time to digest what the passage said before Velma explained. "This is a set of instructions for how to do the ritual. It says that in order to revive a dead person, you must recall their spirit to their place of birth. For Sarah Ravencroft, that would be the Ravencroft House. Ben must be going there tonight to do this ritual, so we'll be there too."

"Wait a minute," said Fred. "I thought we were done with Ben Ravencroft. That we didn't want anything else to do with him, after…" he trailed off, not wanting to talk, or even think, about what had happened that afternoon.

Velma waved him off. "We won't arrive at the same time," she said. "We'll arrivefirst.That way we can get the jump on him. I don't think he really believes in the supernatural, but hemusthave something to do with all the strange things that have been happening in town. If we get there before he does, we can make him tell us everything he knows – about the grimoire, and the two Sarah Ravencroft books, and what they have to do with each other."

"And how will we 'make' him tell us?" Daphne asked.

Velma looked right at Fred. "We set a trap."

She had said the magic word. Fred nodded thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea," he said after a few moments.

Scooby gaped at him, alarmed. Was he kidding? This was a terrible idea! Going to a broken down fire-hazard of a house in a torrential rainstorm where a man who had assaulted one of them was planning to awaken the ghost of a witch? Scooby knew that the humans were all still angry and shaken by what Ben had done to Velma – hell, Scooby himself was still upset over it – but he also knew that they were letting their fear and outrage cloud their judgment, letting their hearts lead them instead of their heads.

"I disagree, Fred," Nova spoke up, her voice clear and calm. "I think itisa bad idea. For all we know, this is what Ravencroft wants – to lure us to the house, thinking we'll have an advantage. But what if he's already there and he's laid a trap forus?"

Fred waved off her suggestion. "We'll check out the house before we set anything up. But even so, there's only one of him and six of us. We outnumber him."

"We outnumbered him at his house, too." Shaggy had at last broken his silence, his voice unsteady with, what Scooby could tell, was frenzied, apoplectic fury.

No one else seemed to recognize this, though Fred did put a protective arm around Velma's shoulder. "We won't make the same mistake twice," he promised, his blue eyes icy and his tone dangerous.

Helplessly, Scooby looked to Daphne. She was often their level-headed voice of reason. Surely she could make Fred see what a horrible plan this was.

But she looked just as hell-bent on revenge as the others. "What's your plan, Freddie?" she asked.

"We'll find a hardware store," he replied. "Buy some supplies for a trap." He frowned, wishing he had the Mystery Machine. All of his own equipment was already in there, and who knew what the hardware store in Crystal Cove would have? But he'd make do with what they could find. He continued speaking. "Then we'll head to the Ravencroft House and set it up. We'll be ready when Ben comes."

Daphne pulled out her phone to look up a map of the area. "It looks like there's a hardware store just down the street," she told the others. Then she looked at Velma and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "You ready?"

Velma nodded, resolute. "Let's go," she said, rising from the chair.

Scooby sighed, sharing a defeated look with Nova and Shaggy. It appeared they'd been outvoted.

The gang left the genealogy room and made their way for the exit. They were just stepping out into the rain when a frail, brittle voice called out from the circulation desk.

"No dogs in the library!"

x.X.x

Ben's stolen umbrella provided little protection from the rain, but luckily the hardware store was not that far from the library. Fred dashed inside and sailed through the aisles, grabbing materials seemingly at random. He wished he could take more time with the trap – draw blueprints, build dioramas, work out the kinks – but he knew a simple one would work out better in a time crunch like this. Daphne and Velma followed him, saying nothing, just trusting that Fred knew what he was doing.

Shaggy and the dogs waited outside. The hardware store had a huge sign out front denying entrance to dogs, so Scooby and Nova sat patiently under the awning as the rain poured down in sheets and Shaggy became increasingly – and more visibly – upset.

He couldn't get the image out of his head – Ben's large hands gripping Velma's waist, his mouth on the back of her neck, ignoring her as she pleaded for him to stop. Seriously, what waswrongwith the men in this town? Did they just straight up not understand the meaning of the word "no?" First Rung Ladderton, and now Ben Ravencroft. Shaggy clenched his fists, remembering how frozen Velma had been in the kitchen as Ben felt her up.

Shehasbeen flirting with him, though,said a tiny, unkind voice in the back of Shaggy's head.What did she expect?

Of course, that wasn't fair. Shaggy understood on a logical level that just because Velma had been returning Ben's flirtations didn't mean she couldn't change her mind if he acted on them. Shaggy knew that Velma couldn't – and shouldn't – be blamed for what Ben had done.

But Ben wasn't here. And Shaggy's anger had to go somewhere.

And okay, maybe he was still upset about their conversation the previous night. He'd all but admitted that he wanted to get back together with her – she was the one who refused to make up her mind. So yeah, his anger at her was misplaced. That didn't mean it wasn't real.

Fred and the girls came out of the hardware store, the bell jangling as the door closed behind them. Daphne held a plastic shopping bag in one hand as Fred opened the umbrella.

"Let's go," he said, gesturing for the others to get under the umbrella and taking the shopping bag from Daphne. Together the group stepped out into the rain, still not quite protected by the umbrella, but it was better than nothing. On the way Fred explained his trap. It was an improvised bear trap, just with a rope instead of sharp metal teeth. The idea was that Ben would step into the loop of rope, which would then be pulled tight by Fred, who would be waiting nearby, tripping Ben and incapacitating him.

It sounded simple, but Shaggy was barely listening. He was staring at the back of Velma's neck, noticing how her fingers kept drifting to the spot where Ben's lips had been, then quickly dropping her hand. Like pressing on a bruise and flinching every time you realized it still hurt. This just made him angrier.

Even though it was only late afternoon, the rain had darkened the sky to a deep slate color. By the time the gang had arrived at the Ravencroft House, Shaggy's anger was being slowly replaced by apprehension. They stood on the decrepit front porch, staring at the broken windows and peeling paint. There seemed to be no sign of anyone else.

"Okay," Fred began. "Here's the plan. We'll split up into groups of two – each pair can search one floor, since this house has three stories."

"Actually," Daphne interrupted. "There are four stories." She held out her hand to Velma, indicating the shorter girl's messenger bag. Puzzled, Velma handed it over and Daphne pulled out the Sarah Ravencroft file.

"You didn't put that back?!" Velma was aghast.

"Nope," Daphne replied. "Because look at these." She flipped through the folder and extracted several sheets of paper. Blue paper.

Fred recognized them for what they were immediately. "Oh my God. Daph, are those diagrams of the house?"

Daphne nodded. "I found them when I was flipping through the file when we were at the library just now, after we discovered Ben's notations in that book." She co*cked her head again towards Velma's messenger bag, which still held the spellbook they'd found at Ben's house. "It turns out there's an attic, too. See?" Daphne passed around the blueprints, and Fred discovered she was right. The Ravencroft house had four stories – a ground floor, an upper floor, an attic, and a basem*nt. The door to the attic appeared to be at the end of the hallway on the second floor.

"I don't remember seeing a door there," Fred mused.

"I'll bet it's hidden behind something," Daphne said. "Like a painting or a bookshelf."

"Hmm," Fred murmured, thinking. "Well it looks like the basem*nt has more nooks and crannies to hide in – everything else is pretty open, apart from the bedrooms on the second floor. So how about if we split up and search the upper three floors – the attic, the second floor, and the first floor – and then we all meet up at the stairs to the basem*nt and search it together?"

Scooby and Shaggy glanced at each other nervously. Splitting up and searching for clues in a dark, potentially haunted, house was their least favorite part of solving mysteries. But at least they'd all be searching the darkest, scariest part of the house together.

The others were nodding their assent, so Fred rubbed his hands together. "Okay," he said. "Let's split up. Daph and I will search the attic, Shaggy and Velma can take the second floor, and the dogs can stay on the first floor. Let's give it fifteen minutes? Then we can meet at the stairs to the basem*nt."

Everyone stared at him a little dumbstruck. Shaggy and Scooby were almost never separated while they were searching for clues. And because of their argument last night, and Shaggy's complicated feelings, he wasn't exactly eager to be alone with Velma.

But Fred was already pushing open the front door, leaving no room for arguments.

The gang found themselves in that same derelict foyer they'd explored with Ben. Had that really only been two days ago?

Scooby and Nova split off from the others at the bottom of the stairs, bypassing the hall to the basem*nt door and instead veering left, towards the living room. Nova noticed Scooby gazing uncertainly after the humans as they climbed the stairs, and put a comforting paw on top of his. He glanced at her gratefully and they continued on their way.

On the second floor landing, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Velma pulled out their phones to use the flashlight functions. The storm outside had darkened the sky enough that there was very little natural light in the house. "Daph, where's the entrance to the attic?" Fred asked.

She held up the blueprints and squinted at them in the light of her flashlight. "I think it's down at the end of the hall," she said, pointing. "Behind that wall panel?"

The four of them crept forward, their cellphone flashlights lighting the way. Fred studied the wall panel. There was wainscotting at about his waist height that appeared to double as a latch. Sure enough, when he lifted it, the wall swung outward, revealing a set of stairs behind it.

He glanced at his friends.

"We'll meet you back here in fifteen," he told Velma and Shaggy. "Then we'll go back to the first floor to meet up with the dogs before we head for the basem*nt. Understood?"

Shaggy and Velma nodded stiffly. Daphne cast an anxious glance Fred's way, but he didn't appear to notice. Instead he just started climbing up the stairs, leaving Daphne no choice but to follow him.

"Freddie," she whispered once they were out of Shaggy and Velma's earshot. "What are you doing?"

"Exploring the attic," he responded.

She stopped walking and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop too. "You know that's not what I mean."

Fred sighed and turned to look at her on the step below him. "You were right," he said. "About Shaggy and Velma. They're not over each other, and I'm tired of them pretending like they are. So I'm doing something about it."

Daphne blinked at him, but said nothing.

Fred continued. "Do you remember when we were fighting our senior year of high school? When the gang disbanded and you and I broke up?"

Daphne nodded slowly. "Of course," she replied, her voice soft. It had been the worst two months of her life. She almost hadn't known how to breathe without the gang. Without Fred.

"Do you remember what made us stop fighting?" he went on.

Daphne nodded again. Velma had been in trouble, and the gang had rescued her. They'd had a common goal, and they'd worked together to accomplish it. It had solidified something that Daphne had already known: their friendship was too strong to sever. Even when she was mad at her friends, she couldn't live without them. They were a part of her.

"Is that why you split us up this way?" she asked Fred. "Forced proximity to make Shaggy and Velma mend fences?"

Fred nodded. "When you and I went to the Mystery Machine to get supplies for a trap that day, we talked," he reminded her. As if she needed a reminder – that conversation, and the kisses they'd shared during it, were burned into her memory forever. She smiled just thinking of it. Fred did too, taking her hand. "I was still in love with you," he told her. "I'dalwaysbeen in love with you, but it had taken me too long to admit it. So when I had the opportunity to tell you…I took it." He pulled her up so they were sharing the same step. "I'm just giving Shaggy and Velma that same opportunity."

"I hope it works," Daphne said honestly. Then, almost without thinking about it, she wrapped her arms around him. She didn't like being reminded of the time they'd been broken up – it had truly been the most miserable time of her life. And it had been entirely her fault, since they'd broken up over stupid secrets that she'd insisted on keeping. She'd never make that mistake again, not after it had nearly cost her the most important people in her world.

Fred hugged her back, his strong arms holding her close to his chest. For a moment, everything else disappeared – the storm outside, the dusty attic stairs, the gnawing anxiety of what was to come. The two of them were the only things that existed for each other.

x.X.x

The same couldn't quite be said for Shaggy and Velma.

There were approximately five bedrooms on the second floor, along with three full bathrooms, one of which was in what must have been the primary suite. All the furniture in the rooms were dusty and ancient, and they clearly hadn't been used in decades, if not centuries.

But Shaggy thought he would almost rather be searching the attic, or the basem*nt all alone, if it meant he didn't have to exist in this awkward silence with Velma.

They were in the primary suite now, checking under the bed and in the armoire. In the adjoining bathroom, Velma yanked back the timeworn shower curtain with such force that she tore it off the hooks. But she didn't care.

She was pissed.

Mostly with herself. Because she knew, deep down, that all of this was her fault. None of this would have happened if she hadn't insisted that the gang insert themselves in this mystery. She was the one to blame for all of this.

The anger clenched in her stomach like a fist as she glanced at Shaggy through the open doorway into the bedroom. He was on his hands and knees, reluctantly checking under the bed.

Who did he think he was, anyway? He'd barely batted an eye when the gang had caught Ben with her in the kitchen, and he hadn't said anything about it after. Even the occasionally-emotionally-obtuse Fred had asked Velma if she was okay. But Shaggy? The boy she'd once loved? Nothing.

She couldfeelhim avoiding her. It was palpable, like a charge in the air before a thunderstorm.

As though it had heard her, lightning split the sky outside.

This is so much of a pathetic fallacy, it's almost a cliche,Velma thought wryly.

Well, if it was going to storm outside, why not in here, too?

"Do you have something you want to say to me?" Velma stopped in the threshold of the doorway and fixed Shaggy with a stare. She knew that she shouldn't pick this fight. But she was feeling so much anger and regret and shame – shewantedto fight, goddamn it.

Shaggy paused, still on his hands and knees beside the bed. Then he slowly rose.

"What?" His tone was defensive.

Velma put down her messenger bag and spoke slowly, through gritted teeth. "Do you. Have something. You want. To say to me?"

Shaggy narrowed his eyes at her. "Why would I have anything to say to you?"

His words hit Velma like a gut punch. But instead of letting them sink in, she channeled them into the anger she already felt with herself and lobbed it back at Shaggy. "So that's it? All these years of friendship down the drain because your feelings got hurt last night?"

"At least Ihavefeelings," Shaggy shot back, his voice rising.

"Yeah, one: terror," Velma exclaimed. "That's the only thing you know how to feel. Not empathy, not compassion. Just unadulterated fear."

Even as she said the words, she knew they were untrue. Shaggy was capable of feeling all of those emotions, and more. But she couldn't stop. Velma was feeling too much outrage and resentment to get a hold of herself. Normally she let her brain lead her actions instead of her heart. But why was it so hard to do that when Shaggy was involved?

"You're a coward," she steamrolled on. "That's why you let me break us up last fall, because you were too chicken to fight for us." She knew that wasn't really what this fight was about. She was more angry with the fact that he hadn't seemed to care about what had happened between her and Ben this afternoon.

But for some reason, she found that too difficult to say.

Shaggy scoffed. "I'm not responsible for your actions, Velma.Youdecided we should break up. I willnottake the blame for that. I've told you like, a million times."

"Then why didn't you fight for us?!" Velma could hear herself getting shrill, and tears of embarrassment and fury stung her eyes. It was so unlike her to let her emotions get the better of her like this. But if she kept talking, if she kept yelling, she could focus on the anger instead of the pain. "You've always been like this – too afraid to admit how you felt until it was almost too late, too afraid to fight for our relationship when it really mattered. I've been doing all the heavy lifting since we were in high school, and I'mtired,Shaggy. It takes two people to make a relationship." She narrowed her eyes at him. "That'swhy we broke up. Because I was tired of being in a relationship with a guy who was too afraid to do the work."

Velma cut herself off, wondering if she'd gone too far. It wasn't fair, she knew, to bring up their past. They'd already talked to death about their relationship in high school, and Velma knew she wasn't saying anything new. But that wasn't really what this was. It was the subtext. She wanted to remind Shaggy of a time when he'd loved her, to see if she could bring out that side of him, the side who would be justly furious with Ben, and for what he'd done that morning.

Because that's what this was really about.

Shaggy had been silent this whole time, and Velma worried briefly that he was getting ready to scream at her. But when he spoke at last, his tone was icily calm.

"Like you know what I think?" he murmured, voice low. "I think that you have a lot of repressed emotions that you don't let yourself feel fully. I think that you spend so much time in that head of yours, being logical and pretentious, that when youdofeel something, it scares you. It scares you so much that you shove it down deeper and deeper until it like, explodes to the surface. And I thinkthat'swhy we broke up – becauseyouwere scared of what it might mean toreallylet somebody in." He set his jaw. "Like,you'rethe coward, Velma. Not me."

She gazed at him in disbelief, thrown for a loop.

"You know what?" she finally whispered. "f*ck you, Shaggy." She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

"Yeah well like, f*ck you too, Velma," Shaggy called after her retreating back. She pretended not to hear him as she stomped down the dusty, termite-riddled staircase.

Howdarehe? Velma was practically shaking with rage at the unfairness of his accusations.

Though she had to admit, he'd had a point. Shedidrepress her emotions sometimes, she knew this, and the idea that she could feel things so deeplydidfrighten her. Fear, anger, shame…even an emotion as positive as love.

She paused. Was Shaggy right? Had Velma actually been afraid about the possibility that things might work out between them? Was the fact that she cared about him this much frightening to her?

Yes, of course it was. Because there was no room for logic in love. She couldn't listen to both her headandher heart. She wasn't built that way.

And so she made a choice.

She groaned, leaning against a dusty wall and removing her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. It was disconcerting that Shaggy had been able to decipher this in her – that he knew her better than she knew herself. She remembered that he'd been seeing a therapist for the better part of a year, and wondered if that was what had made him so perceptive.

Maybe I should go to therapy,she thought, putting her glasses back on. She glanced around, surprised that she'd ended up in the kitchen on the first floor. She reached for the strap of her messenger bag, but discovered it wasn't there. Velma groaned again – she'd left her bag in the ensuite. With Shaggy.

Reluctantly, she trudged back upstairs. But when she arrived at the room she'd vacated, she discovered it was empty. Shaggy was gone. So was her messenger bag. She frowned. Shaggy must have realized she'd left it behind and went to go find her.

She checked all the rooms on the second floor but didn't see him anywhere. Confused, she glanced thoughtfully at the hidden door to the attic, where Fred and Daphne were. But Velma didn't think Shaggy would go up there on his own. He must have gone downstairs and they'd missed each other, somehow.

But she went back downstairs, combed through the entire first floor, peeking into rooms she hadn't seen on their first visit to the house, including a music room with a huge grand piano, and couldn't find him anywhere. Oddly, she didn't see Scooby or Nova at all either. She stood in the doorway to the decrepit living room, breathing hard.

Wasn't this how her story had gone in the Book of the Dead? That she had discovered her friends all missing one by one?

She shook her head.Don't be silly,she scolded herself. This was a huge house. Fred and Daphne were in the attic. Scooby and Nova were on this floor somewhere. And Shaggy was…around. He had to be.

Still, maybe she'd better check the attic to be sure Fred and Daphne were okay.

Velma turned abruptly on her heel and started to make her way out of the living room, toward the hallway. But apparently the termites hadn't just compromised the integrity of the bannister – the wooden floor was weak too.

Velma almost didn't realize she was falling until she hit the floor. She barely even had time to shout. When she landed, she was more bewildered than hurt. Luckily she had landed on something soft. Or at least, something not hard.

I must be in the basem*nt,she realized, noting that the only light in the room came from the hole she'd just fallen through. She couldn't have fallen more than six feet, but it was far enough that she wouldn't be able to climb back through the hole. Gingerly she sat up and glanced at her surroundings, vaguely recognizing the dark shapes and outlines of the basem*nt furniture from their first trip to the house. Though it appeared that when she'd fallen through the floor (ceiling?) she'd landed on a mattress, and she didn't remember seeing a mattress down here that first night.

Well I wasn't really paying all that much attention to my surroundings that night,she reminded herself.I'd been a little preoccupied looking for the hidden compartment in the wall where the Book of the Dead was.Involuntarily, she glanced in the direction of the wall, where the slim hidden door still hung open from her discovery. She stood, glad to discover that she was unhurt, and walked over to examine the compartment. It was still empty.

Velma had managed to hang on to her phone, so she shone it around the basem*nt now. There was the mattress she'd landed on, looking both somehow newer and more disgusting than the other things in the basem*nt. It was marred with a huge, dark stain that was hard to make out in the light of her phone flashlight. Not wanting to think too hard about the origin of that stain, Velma continued to move around the basem*nt, searching for the exit.

She paused when she noticed a large wooden table with a stainless steel top. She vaguely remembered this from their first visit – Shaggy had said it was a butcher's table, hadn't he?

But that night, the table had been bare.

There was something on it now.

Something fleshy and bloody and definitely dead.

With a loud scream, Velma fell backward, dropping her phone and crashing into a cabinet with such force that her glasses flew off her face. She didn't care – if she didn't have her glasses, she didn't have to look at the butchered corpse on that table. Though the fact that she couldn't see did hinder her chances of getting out of the basem*nt. And she didn't even have her spare glasses – they were in her messenger bag. With Shaggy.

Velma reached out in the darkness for something - anything - but her hands only grasped air. Trying to steady her breathing, she backed up into the corner of the dank basem*nt, cursing her luck. Usually Daphne was the one who fell through trap doors and false walls. Though Velma was sure that even Daphne had never stumbled into somethingthisgruesome. If she stayed against the wall, she wouldn't have to see that butcher's table again.

Her stomach turned at the mere thought and she sank to the ground.

She needed to get out of here. But that was hard to do when she couldn't see two feet in front of her. And of course, it didn't help that she'd lost her glasses in her hurry to get away from the butcher's table.

Bile rose in her throat, and she forced her mind to think about something else. Her glasses would have to stay down here - there was no way she could go back for them. Besides, Shaggy had her spare glasses. She just needed to find him, even if she was still upset.

"Velma?"

Daphne's voice! It was far away - definitely not in the basem*nt. It sounded like it was coming from the top of the stairs. But which way were the stairs? Velma stumbled in the direction she thought the staircase was, but bumped into something - a bookcase, or a cabinet? - and the contents crashed to the ground.

"Relma!"

That was unmistakably Scooby's voice, coming from the same direction as Daphne's.

"I'm here!" she called, picking herself up from the floor.

"Are you alright?" Nova this time, her normally calm voice uncharacteristically anxious.

Velma nodded, even though obviously none of her friends could see it. "I'm okay. But I can't see anything - it's too dark. Can you get me out of here?"

"I think the door is locked from your side," Fred spoke up. Velma heard him jiggling a handle. "We could try to break it down."

"No!" Velma shouted, panicked. She couldn't let them down here, not after what she'd seen. "Keep talking, I'll make my way up the stairs so I can try to unlock the door. I lost my glasses though - is Shaggy there? He should have my spare ones."

There was long silence from the other side of the door.

"Hello?" Velma called.

"He's not with you?" asked Daphne, her tone worried.

"No!" Velma cried. "Why would he be with me?"

"He was with you when we split up," Fred reminded her.

Of course, the others didn't know that Shaggy and Velma had argued and stormed away from each other. All anger forgotten, Velma's heart hammered in her chest. "He's not here," she told them. "I'm alone."

She heard Scooby whimper. "Rhere's Raggy?" he worried.

Velma's breath came in short, rapid bursts as she sank to the ground again, remembering the grisly sight on the butcher's table. She hadn't paid very close attention to the gore. But her mind went back to what she'd read in the Book of the Dead that morning. What if…?

No. No. She would not entertain the thought. Witches weren't real. That book wasn't real. The stories in it weren't real. They couldn't be, no matter what the gang had seen in this town.

But then where was Shaggy?

"Scooby, you and Nova go find him," she called, trying to keep her voice steady.

There was no answer. Maybe they'd already gone.

"Fred? Daph?" Velma called again. "Are you still there?"

But they didn't respond either.

"Guys?" Velma yelled. "Hello?"

Still nothing.

Heart pounding, she called them twice more, but they didn't answer. They were gone, and she was alone.

Suddenly, through her blurry vision, Velma became aware of a movement in her periphery. She whirled around and gasped. A strange figure on the other side of the room seemed to materialize out of thin air. Velma didn't need her glasses to know that it was the pale woman. She curled against the wall in fear, remembering now. This was how her story had ended. Trapped in a dark room with her friends incapacitated, the boy she loved gone, and a pale, spectral figure gliding ever closer.

Chapter 15: The Dream

Chapter Text

Shaggy was not dead on the butcher's table in the basem*nt.

In fact he was alive and screaming. Or at least, gasping.

Admittedly, he'd been angry during his fight with Velma in the ensuite. Furious, even. She was being so unreasonable, so…un-Velma-like. Where was the rational, level-headed girl he'd fallen in love with? He didn't know this banshee he was arguing with. And besides, he'd told her last night that he'd wanted to fight for their relationship, but she'd broken up with him before he'd had a chance. Did she not remember? Or had she conveniently forgotten?

He'd taken a deep breath and counted to ten in his head, a trick his therapist in Chicago had taught him when he was feeling overwhelmed. It had worked – a little. He was still angry and hurt, but he felt he could respond to her without yelling.

And then she'd told him to f*ck himself and stormed away.

Still seething, Shaggy had stomped around the room for a bit, muttering and cursing to himself, when he noticed the dark shape of Velma's messenger bag near the door to the ensuite bathroom. He groaned. Great, now he was going to have to find her and return the bag, and then she'd yell at him some more.

Well, better get it over with,he thought to himself. He peeked out the door into the hallway. It was intensely dark now and he paused, a bit taken aback by it. The storm outside was still raging, with thunder rumbling intermittently between lightning strikes. Shaggy glanced down the hall towards the hidden attic door, deciding that even if Velma had gone that way,hedefinitely didn't want to. He would search this floor thoroughly, and then take his chances downstairs before he went into the attic.

Shaggy picked up the messenger bag and was immediately taken aback by how heavy it was. What the hell was in here, bricks? He put the bag down again, and glanced once more towards the hallway. He was desperate to avoid another confrontation with Velma. So he decided not to go looking for her right away. Instead he took a seat on the dusty bed and opened the messenger bag.

He knew this was wrong. It was a violation of her privacy to look through her bag like this. But for God's sake,whatwas she carrying?

It turned out to be mostly books, which didn't surprise Shaggy. He found the biography of Lise Meitner that Velma had been reading at the beach the other day, as well as the creepy spellbook they'd found on Ben's nightstand.

He also saw the Book of the Dead.

As far as Shaggy knew, the story about Mai Le and the spiders had been the last one that they'd found in the book. And normally, he was all about the saying thatignorance is bliss,especially when it came to potentially haunted texts. But he was really not eager to see Velma again, and wanted to put off finding her for as long as he could. So he pulled the book out of the bag and opened it toThe Red Spot.

"Like, what the…?" he murmured, confusion rippling through him. There was another story written on the opposite page. "The Dream,"he read the title aloud. Then he saw the first sentence and his blood ran cold.

Velma Dinkley was a detective.

Shaggy thought his heart may have actually stopped. This story was about Velma. His friend. His former girlfriend. Her last name was even written down. He read quickly, his heart rate slowly gaining speed as he realized that the story was describing everything that had happened in the last few days. Velma being haunted at night by visions of a pale woman. Her friends searching for clues in a creepy house. And then everyone splitting up and disappearing one by one.

Shaggy had just gotten to the part where Velma discovered the mangled corpse of "the boy she loved" when he paused. Velma was the only named character in this story, but could this be a reference tohim?

Like don't be ridiculous,Shaggy told himself a bit scornfully. He was desperately trying to get over Velma and didn't need any false hope, even if it was in the form of this creepy tale.

Still, he kept going back to a description of the love interest character, who was described as being "tall and lanky" with a "beatnik" vibe. Shaggy couldn't help but notice similarities. Maybe itwasmeant to be him.

Which begged the question…was he in danger?

No sooner had he had the thought than he heard footsteps in the hallway outside.

x.X.x

While Shaggy and Velma had been fighting in the primary suite, Fred and Daphne had made it to the attic, which was huge but empty. For as much furniture was in the rest of the house, the attic was veritably bare.

"Nothing but dust bunnies," Fred mused, shining his flashlight around the vacant space.

Daphne put her hands on her hips, frowning. She was reminded of a short story she'd read in a literature class at school, about a woman trapped in an attic who comes to believe that another woman is living behind the yellow wallpaper that decorates the space. There was no wallpaper in this attic, but it was still giving Daphne creepy Victorian vibes. "Maybe we missed something in the blueprints," she murmured. She'd kept the diagrams and stuffed them into her own purse when she and Fred had split off from Shaggy and Velma, so she pulled them out now to study them under the phone flashlight.

Fred came up beside her to look at the diagram too. Instinctively, Daphne leaned into him as they gazed at the blueprint together. "What are you looking for?" Fred asked her after a while.

Daphne sighed. "I don't know. Maybe a hidden compartment or something, like the one in the basem*nt where we found the Book of the Dead?" She shook her head. "But it doesn't look like there's anything like that in the attic, at least according to the blueprints."

Fred knit his brows thoughtfully. "Do you have the other blueprints?"

"Yeah, why?" Daphne replied, reaching into her purse and handing them to him.

"I want to check something." He looked through the diagrams, his gaze growing more and more pensive as he studied them. Daphne couldn't help but be taken in by him. He was the most handsome man she'd ever known, and she loved how intense his face became when he was concentrating hard on something, like designs for a trap, or – in this case – studying blueprints.

Fred looked up at her suddenly, jolting Daphne out of her reverie. "Daph, have a look at this."

She peered at the diagram he held. "This is the basem*nt, right?" She didn't need to ask – it was labeled on the bottom of the page.

Fred nodded. "Do you remember where we found the Book of the Dead?"

Daphne looked at him. "...In the basem*nt?"

Fred chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Yes, we found it in the basem*nt, but do you rememberwhere?"

Daphne was nonplussed. Hadn't they just been discussing this? "It was in a hidden compartment in the wall. Ben said he'd seen it on the blueprints, that's how we knew where to look."

Fred gestured to the diagram they held. "Do you see the hidden compartment anywhere on this page?"

Daphne looked. And looked. "...No," she realized. She looked back at Fred with wide eyes. "But…thereisa hidden compartment in the basem*nt. So how did Ben know about it if he didn't see it on the blueprints?"

Fred glanced at their surroundings. "And," he continued. "How many more hidden compartments might there be in this house?"

x.X.x

Scooby and Nova were about to find out the answer to that question in a big way.

They had combed through the entire first floor and found no evidence of Ben, although they had found a lot of rooms that they hadn't seen the first time they'd visited the house. Of course, they hadn't spent much time in the house apart from the basem*nt, and they really hadn't stayed that long. So the dogs had been surprised to discover not only normal rooms one might expect to find in a house, such as a kitchen and a living room, but dozens of others. There was a large study, a parlor, a scullery, and even a music room with a huge grand piano that looked as though it hadn't been touched in decades.

In the music room, Nova paused, her ears pricking up.

"Rhat is it?" Scooby asked – she had better hearing than he did, and she was often more attuned to her surroundings.

Nova gestured with her head to the wall beyond the piano. "I thought I heard something come from over there."

Silently, the dogs crept through the music room. They had better night vision than the humans so they didn't need flashlights, though they did tread carefully so as not to trip or crash into anything. When they arrived at the wall, Scooby sniffed the baseboard. The entire room smelled musty and dank, which didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was a fresher, newer scent, which seemed to be permeating from under the baseboard. As if it was coming behind the wall.

And the scent was human.

"Romeone's back there," Scooby whispered, eyes widening with fear.

Nova swallowed, studying the baseboard. "Two someones, from the smell of it," she agreed.

Scooby nodded. Who was behind the wall? It couldn't be Ben – it wasn't his scent. Well…actually that wasn't true. Ben's scentwasthere, but it was very subtle, as if he'd already come and gone a while ago. No, he wasn't behind the wall now. But he had been, once.

Nova glanced at Scooby. "Do you suppose this is another hidden compartment? Like the one we found the Book of the Dead in?"

"Rossibly," Scooby said reluctantly. He didn't want to be opening hidden compartments, even if there was someone trapped in there. But he knew it was the right thing to do. "Row did Relma ropen the rompartment in the rasem*nt?"

Nova frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe she just pushed on it?" Tentatively, she pressed her forepaw onto the baseboard of the wall…which immediately swung inward like a door.

Behind the wall was a narrow passageway that only went for about a foot before it turned abruptly to the right.

The dogs glanced at each other. Nova cleared her throat. "Well…" she began. "Shall we…?" She gestured forward.

Scooby whimpered involuntarily. He definitely didnotwant to go into the creepy passageway. But what if the person (or people) who were down there were in trouble? Scooby couldn't let that go.

So he took a deep breath, nodded, and followed Nova down the passage.

Nova's presence made the journey less terrifying, but Scooby still tread cautiously down the passage, especially when they approached the sharp turn. He held his breath, afraid of what they might find there.

As it turned out, it was just a dead end. But against the wall sat two familiar young men, bound and gagged, and looking extremely frightened.

Scooby and Nova recognized them at once.

It was Ethan and Gary.

x.X.x

When he'd heard the footsteps, Shaggy dove under the bed without a second thought, shoving the Book of the Dead and Velma's messenger bag under there with him. He clamped a hand over his mouth to control the volume and intensity of his breathing.

This is it,he thought wildly.The pale lady is coming to butcher me.He shut his eyes, afraid to look.

But the footsteps paused in the doorway, then continued down the hall.

Shaggy wasn't fooled. He was certain that whoever the footsteps belonged to would return any minute to attack him. He kept his breathing steady, but opened his eyes. If he shifted carefully, he could peek under the bedskirt and see the doorway.

The footsteps returned from down the hall but didn't stop back in the room. Instead, Shaggy saw a pair of legs dart by the open bedroom door and make for the stairs.

He couldn't be positive – it was dark in the house, and he'd turned off his phone flashlight when he'd hidden. But he was almost certain the person who'd run past the doorway had been Velma.

Shaggy waited for a long time, too afraid to emerge from his hiding place. What if itwasn'tVelma, though? What if it was somehow a trick from the pale lady? What if this was how she lured him out of his hiding place to slaughter him?

You have like, got to calm down,Shaggy scolded himself, even as his heart was hammering in his chest. If Velma were here she'd be rolling her eyes. (Good-naturedly, Shaggy hoped). She would use logic and reasoning to assure him that he wasn't really in any danger. And he would argue that she couldn't know that for sure. And then they would bicker for a while until another member of the gang appeared, or they came face-to-face with the pale woman.

Shaggy's stomach twisted with a sudden burst of regret. He shouldn't have fought with Velma this evening. He should have told her how disgusted he'd been with Ben, how angry he was on her behalf. He might not get a chance now.

Well,he thought.Like, maybe I can find her before the pale lady finds me.He was about to come out from under the bed when he heard a sudden crash and a shout from downstairs. He ducked back down, heart pounding. It had sounded like floorboards breaking. He stayed absolutely still, fear coursing through him as he waited for another sound. It came several moments later – another crash, another scream, farther away, but much louder than before.

The screamer was definitely Velma.

f*ck. f*ckity f*ck, f*ck, f*ck.

What was going on?

Slowly, Shaggy crawled out from under the bed and began to creep out of the room. Then he heard footsteps thudding down the stairs from the attic and into the hallway and he ducked back in. He was going to have a heart attack if this kept up.It's just Fred and Daphne,he told himself.Like, probably.

Still, he waited, trying to get his heartbeat to slow, when he became aware of voices downstairs. He strained to catch what they were saying, but they were too far away. Shaggy gulped, clutching the Book of the Dead in front of him like a shield, and forced himself to leave the bedroom.

It was darker in the hallway, probably due to the lack of windows, so even when the lightning flashed outside it didn't show up here. Still, Shaggy didn't want to pull out his phone to use the flashlight. What if it gave him away?

He crept down the stairs as slowly and lightly as he could, so his footsteps made as little noise as possible on the creaking floorboards. As he drew closer to the voices, he was able to make them out.

"He's not with you?" That was Daphne, sounding concerned, anxious.

"No!" Another voice, farther away. Shaggy's heart stuttered. It was Velma. "Why would he be with me?"

"He was with you when we split up," came Fred's voice.

Shaggy turned into the main hall and saw a large shadow at the other end, near the door to the basem*nt.

"He's not here." Velma's voice was muffled, like she was a floor beneath him. "I'm alone."

"Rhere's Raggy?" whimpered Scooby's voice.

Relief washed over Shaggy like a wave. It was the gang at the end of the hall near the basem*nt door. He stepped forward, the floorboard beneath his feet creaking loudly. The shadow (which Shaggy realized now was four shadows) jumped at the noise and turned abruptly. Daphne held her phone flashlight aloft, and breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized him. Scooby recognized him too and shot forward, barrelling down the hall and running into Shaggy with such force that they both fell down.

"Oof," said Shaggy from the ground.

"Shag!" Fred exclaimed as the rest of the gang ran down the hall, away from the basem*nt door. "Where have you been? Velma's trapped in the basem*nt – how did that happen? I thought I told you guys to check the second floor for signs of Ben."

"We did," Shaggy replied, sitting up. "I mean like, we were. But…" He shook his head, not wanting to admit to their fight. "Look, that's like, not important. You have to read this." He thrust the Book of the Dead toward the gang.

"Why?" Daphne wanted to know, helping Shaggy to his feet.

"There's a new story," Shaggy explained, holding the book out again. "It's like, about Velma."

Everyone stared at him, horrified.

"What?!"Daphne exclaimed, grabbing the book and opening it so quickly she nearly tore the pages. "When was it written?"

"Like I don't know," Shaggy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sometime between yesterday and now? But I only like, just discovered it."

"Does Velma know?" Fred asked, looking worried.

"I don't know," Shaggy repeated a bit irritably. "But she was telling me last night that she's been having dreams like the one described here. About a woman with a pale face and long dark hair."

Daphne looked up from the book, aghast. "The woman shows up in person at the end of this story," she murmured.

This Shaggy hadn't known. He'd never actually finished reading the tale – he'd stopped reading at the mention of the dead body, fearing it to be his own. "Like what?" he yelped, seizing the book back from Daphne. His eyes widened as he finished reading the story, taking in the description of the pale lady slowly closing in on Velma. "Zoinks," he breathed. He looked up at his friends. "And like you said she's in the basem*nt?"

Fred nodded bleakly. "But I have a feeling it's not the pale lady down there with her."

"There's only one way to find out," Nova said, gazing down the hall at the door to the basem*nt.

x.X.x

While all this had been happening upstairs, Velma had scuttled along the basem*nt floor like a crab, burrowing herself deeper and deeper into the corner while the blurry figure of the pale woman crept ever closer. Velma's hands brushed along the cement floor, searching for something to defend herself with, but coming up empty.

Until her fingers met a small, familiar shape.

My glasses!She quickly picked them up and put them on, thrilled to have found them again. The basem*nt was still dark, but she could see much more clearly now. The pale woman kept up a steady pace, but now Velma could escape. She stood up and darted along the wall, dodging cabinets and bookshelves to the best of her ability until she arrived at the basem*nt stairs.

To her terror, she heard the pale lady quicken her pace behind her.

Frantically, Velma shoved something to the floor – a pile of books, she thought – and was satisfied to hear her pursuer trip and fall. She had just arrived at the stairs when a sudden THUD against the door at the top of the staircase caused her to stop short.

Heart pounding, she stood stock still at the bottom of the stairs, breathing heavily. Something rammed against the door again. Velma realized it was coming from the outside, and realized with a jolt of disbelief that it must be the gang trying to break the door down after all. She clambered up the stairs, making it about halfway before a sudden CRASH sounded and the door slammed open.

Velma screamed in surprise, staggering back a few steps.

But it was Fred, rushing onto the landing seemingly full of adrenaline, with Daphne, Nova, Scooby, and – to Velma's innate relief – Shaggy close behind.

"Velm!" Fred cried, grabbing her arm and pulling her up towards him in a fierce hug. "Are you all right?"

Velma nodded, unable to speak, simply blinking over Fred's shoulder at Shaggy.He's not dead, he's not dead,was the constant refrain of her beating heart. She swallowed and found her voice. "How'd you get in here? I thought you said the basem*nt door was locked."

"Freddie kicked the door down," Daphne replied, pulling Velma away from Fred and tugging her into another embrace. "Is it wrong that I thought it was kind of hot?"

Velma laughed, feeling a bit giddy. The dogs crowded around her, resting their heads against her legs, and then she was faced with Shaggy.

She desperately,desperatelywanted to throw her arms around him. But something had shifted between them since last night, and neither of them could bring themselves to show that sort of affection. All they could do was look at each other awkwardly.

"I'm glad you're okay," Shaggy said, averting his gaze.

Velma nodded. "I'm glad you're okay too."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

Then a noise at the bottom of the stairs caused them all to glance downward.

"Resus Christ," Scooby swore.

Like a weird four-limbed spider, the pale lady was crawling up the stairs on all fours, her movements jerky and frightening. It was a scary, disturbing sight.

"f*ck, let's get out of here," Fred cried, starting to usher the gang back into the main hallway.

But Velma stayed on the landing, determination coursing through her. She realized that this pale woman, whoever she was, wasn't supernatural. She could tell by the way she was dragging her left leg as she crawled up the stairs. Her ankle was broken – that was why she was crawling.

And if she could break an ankle, that meant she couldn't be a ghost, or a witch, or anything other than a real, human person.

That knowledge gave Velma courage.

"Who are you?" she shouted at the woman.

The pale lady didn't respond, just paused in her climb to blink her beady eyes at Velma.

And that was when she realized that the pale lady's face was a mask.

It was hard to say how Velma had been able to tell, especially given how dark it was on the basem*nt stairs. Daphne still had her phone flashlight out, but it just barely illuminated the edge of the mask near the person's neck.

Whoever this was would have answers, she was positive.

With the terrified shouts of her friends behind her, Velma lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of the woman's hair, and yanked off the mask.

Chapter 16: I Wrote Them All

Chapter Text

The sallow, ashen face of Ben Ravencroft stared back at them from the step below.

Velma still clutched the mask in her hand, breathing raggedly. She'd been expecting this. She'd known it had to be Ben. But strangely, a part of her was still…surprised. Unsettled. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing him again, so soon after he'd assaulted her in his kitchen. She found that she was frozen – she couldn't move. She just stood there on the step, with the pale lady mask in one hand and her heart pounding against her ribcage, like it was trying to escape.

Ben abruptly lunged upwards, causing Velma to jump back with a shriek. But his broken ankle hindered him, and he immediately collapsed with a shout of pain.

Daphne reacted fastest – she lurched forward, gripping Ben's upper arm before he fully fell down the stairs, but kept a tight vice-grip on him. She turned back to Fred. "Where are the things you bought at the hardware store?"

Fred glanced into the hall. He'd left the shopping bags in the foyer when they'd first arrived at the house.

"We'll get them," Nova volunteered, gesturing to Scooby with a side-nod of her head. "You keep him immobilized."

"Believe me, I'm not going anywhere." Ben spoke for the first time through gritted teeth, clearly still in pain. He shifted his eyes towards Daphne. "You're stronger than you look."

"I've had a lot of practice," Daphne retorted. "You're not the first man in a mask we've had to incapacitate."

"Yes, you've made that very clear." Ben looked back at Velma, who found herself unable to meet his gaze. She felt so disillusioned. She'd admired this writer for years, and had to admit that she'd been physically attracted to him. But all that came crashing down in a day.

I guess that saying 'don't meet your heroes' is on to something,she thought to herself. A gentle touch on her shoulder caused her to glance up. Shaggy was looking down from the step behind her, his face kind.

"Come on," he murmured. "Let's like, get out of this basem*nt."

He sounded so gentle, so compassionate. Had he forgiven her, then? Velma didn't care – it just mattered that he was looking at her like she was a human, and not an evil succubus. She exhaled a shuddery breath and realized she was still clutching the pale woman mask. She dropped it and followed Shaggy out of the basem*nt.

The dogs returned then with the merchandise from the hardware store. Fred and Daphne tied Ben's hands together in front of him using duct tape, and very unceremoniously dragged him out of the basem*nt. Ben had to lean on Fred because of his bad ankle, and neither of them looked very happy about it.

"Sit down," Fred commanded when they arrived in the foyer. He plopped Ben down on the first step of the main staircase. Ben winced as he landed, but Fred didn't seem to notice or care. "Explain yourself."

Daphne glanced at Fred, a bit astonished. It had been a while since she'd heard him use such a stern tone. It spoke to the situation, she supposed, that Fred was so serious and upset.

Ben remained quiet at first, looking back and forth at each of them. Then, seemingly defeated, he sighed.

"Do you know how long it's been since I published anything?"

None of the gang did. When they stayed silent, Ben went on.

"I've been struggling with writer's block for nigh on a decade," he told them. "It's been debilitating. You have no idea. My publisher had dropped me, my agent was threatening to do the same. I was desperate." He shrugged. "And then I came here. To Crystal Cove. The most haunted place on earth."

"I thought you said you came to Crystal Cove to write about Sarah Ravencroft," Daphne interrupted.

"I did," Ben replied. "I knew my family had roots here, which was the thing that had brought me out here in the first place. Everything I told you about the first Sarah Ravencroft fleeing Massachusetts after being accused of witchcraft was true. The Ravencrofts really did move south and then west to escape persecution. I decided I would follow in their footsteps, retracing their pilgrimage to California. It was only after I arrived in Crystal Cove that I learned of the town's claim to be the most haunted place on earth. I was sure that I would be inspired to write something, but I was disappointed to discover that there'd been nothing as much as a ghost sighting in years. Mayor Nettles and I commiserated over it often. She said it was ruining the town's reputation, and their tourism had dropped drastically." He glanced up at the gang. "And that was when I got an idea."

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, intrigued despite himself.

Ben smirked. "The Book of the Dead," he explained. "It never really existed. At least not in the sense that I led you to believe. Sarah Ravencroft the First did have a book –"

"But it was just a medical log," Daphne interrupted.

Ben stared at her, clearly nonplussed. "How did you know that?" he asked, sounding perplexed.

"We found it," Daphne replied. "In your beach house, while we were waiting for you to arrive this afternoon."

Ben frowned. "You really do live up to your reputations," he muttered, annoyance tinging his voice.

Daphne said nothing, just glared at him.

Ben went on. "Well, her medical log gave me an idea. As far as I can tell, Sarah Ravencroft the Second never knew about her ancestor's book. In fact, the original journal never left Oakhaven until recently. I discovered it under the stump of an old oak tree before I left for Crystal Cove, and took it with me. But when I arrived here and started learning more about the second Sarah Ravencroft, that was when inspiration truly struck. Since the rumors had persisted about the Ravencroft women being witches, I could write a novel – a horror story – about a curse laid upon the town by the second Sarah Ravencroft. I just needed a legend of the curse to spread…and for that, I needed help.

"I brought my plan to Mayor Nettles, and she agreed that if this hoax brought in tourism to Crystal Cove, I could write about it. She brought in some other townspeople to help, since all of their businesses were suffering, and we came up with a plan."

"Wait a minute," Fred interrupted, holding up a hand. "Are you saying that thewhole townwas in on this lie?"

Ben shrugged. "More or less," he admitted. "Certainly many business owners, such as Skipper Shelton and the Mitchells. The Clam Cabin and the winery were hurting, so they were especially eager to help. And then of course, there was the Crystal Cove PD."

Fred and Daphne shared a look. Rung Ladderton had been right – the police departmentwasdirty.

Nova spoke up. "So what was your plan?" she asked, obsidian eyes glinting with suspicion.

Ben grinned wickedly. "It was quite simple," he explained. "Mayor Nettles let it slip to the press that I was in town doing research for my next horror story. She told them that I was searching for a book that had belonged to my ancestor, Sarah Ravencroft. Of course, I already had the real book – the medical log – and I came up with the Book of the Dead idea on my own. All we needed was for an outsider – or several outsiders – to discover it."

Realization dawned on Fred. "And that's where we came in."

Ben nodded. "Ricky and Cassidy were relatively new transplants as well – they'd only settled in Crystal Cove a few months before I came to town. I got to know them pretty well…and through them, I got to know you." He shifted his eyes over to Velma, who recoiled slightly under his gaze. "They told me all about your little detective agency, all the things you'd been through, all the supernatural hoaxes you'd uncovered. I thought you would be the perfect fools for this ruse. It was my idea for them to invite you out here – I knew you wouldn't be able to resist solving this mystery. So when we met at the Clam Cabin, I told you about the Book of the Dead, and that it was hidden in a secret compartment in the wall that I'd discovered in blueprints for the house."

"But the blueprints don't show any secret compartments," Daphne jumped in.

Shaggy looked at her, confused. "Like how do you know that?"

"We realized it in the attic," Fred explained, holding out his hand for Daphne to hand him the floor plans. She rummaged in her purse until she found them, and Fred unrolled the one for the basem*nt. "We found the book in a wall in the basem*nt, on the eastern side of the house." He pointed at the area he meant while Daphne shone a flashlight on the blueprints. Fred went on. "But there isn't anything that indicates there's actually a compartment there…" He glanced up at Ben. "Which means it was added by someone after the house was built."

Ben looked irritated again, either at the interruption or at Fred's insinuation. It was hard to tell.

"You're right," he admitted begrudgingly. "I built the secret compartments myself after I arrived in town. Then I bought a blank book and hid it in the basem*nt for you to find." He looked at Velma again, but Daphne stepped away from Fred to put a comforting arm around her.

"And the stories?" she asked, shining her flashlight at Ben. "The ones that appeared in the book?"

Ben shrugged. "I wrote them all."

"How?" Daphne pressed. "The book was never out of our sight."

"Yes it was," Nova realized. "The first story, the one about the scarecrow –"

"Rarold,"Scooby added helpfully.

Nova continued. "That one appeared overnight, didn't it? While you were asleep?" She looked at Velma.

Velma nodded slowly. "Yeah," she croaked, speaking for the first time. "And then you 'found'The Big Toe."She flashed her eyes at Ben, finally making eye contact with him, and putting finger quotations around the word "found."

Ben co*cked his head in an act of false modesty.

Velma was on a roll now that she'd found her voice. "You snuck into my room while I was in the shower to writeThe Red Spot,"she accused him. "And then last night while I was asleep in the kitchen, you wroteThe Dream."

Ben raised his hands and clapped them together in applause, as much as the duct tape would allow. "Very good, Velma," he said patronizingly.

White-hot anger blazed in the corners of her vision. "How did you know about my dreams?" she snarled. "I didn't tell anyone except Shaggy."

"I'd been hiding beneath your window outside last night," Ben confessed. "So I heard when you woke up, and when you left for the kitchen with him." He jerked his head in Shaggy's direction. "I climbed in through the window and hid in your bedroom. The sound carried from the kitchen, so I heard every word you said. Which was good – I had no idea what they would make you see, so it was lucky you shared the specifics with Shaggy. It came in handy for the story."

Velma's stomach churned in agony and embarrassment as she realized that Ben had overheardeverythingthat had happened in the kitchen last night. It put their conversation at his house this afternoon into a new perspective. But then her attention caught on something else that Ben had said.

She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean 'whattheywould make me see?'"

Ben remained silent, simply looking at her, and fearful understanding gripped Velma.

"You…drugged me," she whispered, aghast.

"Wait,what?!"Shaggy exclaimed.

Fred, Daphne, and the dogs looked horrified as Ben nodded in agreement.

"The Laddertons weren't involved in the plan, per se," he told them. "But I did use their company's hallucinogens for this part."

It hit Velma like a punch to the gut. "How…?" she breathed.

Ben smirked. "That first night in the Clam Cabin," he told her. "When I moved your water glass as I sat next to you."

Velma remembered the moment clearly. How had she not realized he'd slipped something into her drink? She gaped at him.

"Youmonster,"Daphne exclaimed, disgusted.

Ben ignored this. "Ladderton hallucinogens are extremely potent," he continued. "And the slow-release means their effects are long-lasting. I was actually going to drug you again this afternoon when you came to my house for lunch, but…" he trailed off and looked askance at Velma. "...we didn't get that far."

Velma exhaled a shaky breath, remembering what had happened in Ben's kitchen that afternoon.

Daphne took her hand and held it firmly. "What happened to the people in the stories?" she asked Ben, fire blazing in her periwinkle eyes. "Ethan and Gary and Mai Le?"

Scooby and Nova suddenly looked at each other. They actually knew the answer to this question. But before they could speak up, Ben shrugged nonchalantly.

"They're fine," he told them. "Like I said, Ethan and his family were in on the plan since their winery was in trouble. He convinced Gary to go along with it. They were never in any danger. Ethan dressed that scarecrow in his clothes, and Gary made those marks under his bed and planted the stew pot. The plan was that after their 'disappearances'" – he held his bound wrists forward to make quotation marks around the word, " – they would lay low at my beach house. It was all going so well." He narrowed his eyes at the gang. "Until they actually met you."

"What do you mean?" asked Fred.

Ben scoffed. "Theylikedyou." He said it as though the idea was unfathomable. "After I wrote Ethan's story in the book, they begged me to call it off. Thought you didn't deserve what was coming to you. I told them they needed to get back on board with the plan or else. They still refused, so I caught Mai Le before her date with you –" he jerked his head in Shaggy's direction "– and persuaded her to be part of the ruse."

"Let me guess," Fred said sarcastically. "You threatened her."

Ben smirked. "Well, it worked. It kept Gary and Ethan in line, anyway." He shrugged. "So Mai Le clawed her face off to get rid of the spiders – I told her she had to make it look good and realistic – and she ended up in the hospital, so I didn't have to worry about what to do with her." He raised a rakish eyebrow. "Though I did stop by her recovery room to ensure she understood she couldn't breathe a word of the truth to anyone."

"What did you do to her?" Shaggy asked.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Relax, lover boy. I just talked to her. She's fine. Still at the hospital, cross my heart."

"What about Ethan and Gary?" Daphne jumped in. "If they were laying low at your beach house, why didn't we see them there this afternoon?"

"I moved them," Ben explained, as if it were obvious. "I couldn't have you discovering them accidentally while you waited for me, so I…stashed them somewhere else."

"Where?"Daphne snarled through clenched teeth.

"Rum, ractually…" Scooby began, but Fred cut him off.

"Speaking of things we discovered accidentally at your house," he said, moving over to Velma and holding out his hand for her messenger bag. She handed it to him, perplexed. "Or should I say,un-accidentally." He rummaged through Velma's bag until he found what he was looking for. With a flourish, he ripped a thick book from within the bag and waved it under Ben's nose.

It was the grimoire – the spellbook they'd found on Ben's nightstand with the earmarked page for resurrecting Sarah Ravencroft.

Everyone expected Ben to flash them that self-satisfied smirk of his, or at least to glare at them in frustration again. But instead, his eyes widened in fury. "Where did you find that?" His voice was a low growl.

"Don't pretend like you didn't plant it there for us to find," Fred taunted. "This was the real reason you wanted us to come to your house this afternoon, wasn't it? So we would find this and figure out that you were going to be at the Ravencroft House."

"Give that book to me!"Ben thundered, shooting to his feet. He buckled slightly on his hurt ankle, but rage burned in his eyes like fire as he bared his teeth in a menacing grimace.

The gang stared at him, shocked.

Ben folded his bound hands in front of him, as if he were praying. Then he brought them as high above his head as they would go. In a sudden rush, he yanked his arms downward, separating his hands as he thrust them backward past his hips.

He was free.

"Oh, sh*t!" Shaggy cried as Ben lunged for Fred. With a strangled cry, both men went down.

"Freddie!" Daphne shouted.

But just at that moment, the front door burst open, letting a gush of wind and rain inside. Everyone shouted in alarm as a huge group of people rushed inside, surrounding Ben and Fred.

"Hands in the air!" shouted one of the people. In the vague light now pouring in from outside, Daphne could see the glocks they held. They were cops.

Fred slowly rose to his knees, lifting his hands. Ben followed, looking confused.

"Ben Ravencroft," said the cop. "You're under arrest."

Fred scooted away from the cops towards Daphne, who helped him fully to his feet and clung to him. "Are you hurt?" she asked him, cupping his cheek with her hand.

Fred shook his head. "No, I'm okay." He kissed the top of her head, then looked wondrously at the cops who had burst into the house. "How did they get here?"

"We called them."

The gang turned back towards the front door, where Brad, Judy, Ricky and Cassidy stood on the threshold, terror and relief intermingled on their faces.

Everyone rushed toward each other and embraced.

"What happened?" asked Judy, who had been the one to speak earlier. She smoothed Fred's hair, and the gesture was so motherly, he felt a lump rise in his throat.

He looked toward the gang. Where to begin? These past few days had been a whirlwind – he wasn't even sure where to start the story. Instead, he put his arm around Daphne's waist and clutched Velma's shoulder with his other hand. "How did you know where we were?" he asked his mother.

"We told them."

Again, heads swiveled toward the front door, where Ethan and Gary now stood. They looked sheepish, but unhurt.

"You're okay!" Shaggy exclaimed, relief blooming in his chest.

"Where have you been?" asked Daphne, stepping towards them. "And how didyouknow where we were?"

Ethan and Gary glanced at the dogs.

Shaggy scratched his head, confused.

Nova looked at him apologetically. "I guess we have some explaining to do," she said.

"Well," said one of the cops. "You can do it at the station. We'll have to take your statements there."

Another cop shouldered past them, frog-marching Ben out the door. He glared behind him at the gang, eyes glinting. Velma shuddered.

But wait. No. He wasn't glaring at the gang.

She turned and followed his gaze. He was glaring at thebook.The grimoire, which still lay on the ground where Ben and Fred had wrestled over it.

Velma exhaled, thinking. The police may have questions for her and her friends, but it turned out she had some more questions for Ben, too.

She took the book with her.

Chapter 17: Sooner Than You Think

Chapter Text

At the police station, everyone took turns explaining what had happened. First to the adults, then to law enforcement. Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy were clearly torn between being proud of the gang and distressed by the danger they'd been in. But mostly, they were upset with themselves.

"I had no idea about Ben Ravencroft," Cassidy said. They were in the lobby of the police station, waiting for Fred to finish giving his statement in one of the interview rooms. Cassidy put her head in her hands. "Who he was, what he was capable of. How could we not have seen?"

"We weren't looking," Judy replied gently, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "He hadn't given us any reason to be suspicious of him."

"That's whythey'rethe detectives," Ricky quipped, jerking his chin toward the gang. Scooby paced up and down the hallway, eyes darting back and forth from his friends in the lobby to the door at the end of the hall where Shaggy's interview was happening. Nova was in Brad's lap, watching silently. Fred, Daphne, and Velma sat together in a trio of hard plastic seats. Apart from the group, the station was empty.

Ethan and Gary, while unhurt, had been taken to the hospital as a precaution. There was a group of federal agents at the hospital there to take their statements, as well as more who'd come in half an hour ago, toting a handcuffed Mayor Nettles.

As it had turned out, the FBI had been suspicious of Mayor Nettles and the Crystal Cove PD for some time now, and had just been waiting for an opportunity to strike. They found it when Ethan and Gary had escaped the Ravencroft House. Once they were free, the boys hadn't gone to Officer Johnson or anyone else on their local police force. Instead, they had gone to Ricky and Cassidy and told them everything they knew, including the fact that all the officers in the Crystal Cove PD were dirty cops working for the mayor and Ben Ravencroft. Ricky and Cassidy, in turn, had called up an FBI agent they'd met two years ago: Lewis Jacobson, a large, beefy Black man whom the gang had also gotten to know over the years. He had apparently relocated to California recently, so he had quickly deployed local agents to the Ravencroft House, city hall, and the police station.

That was where they all were now, with Jacobson himself taking their statements. He'd started with Velma, then Fred, then Daphne. Now he was interviewing Shaggy, and he'd promised that once he'd spoken to all of them, they'd be free to go.

But Velma didn't want to go. Not just yet.

She knew Ben Ravencroft was here. He'd gone to the hospital too, to get his ankle wrapped, but she'd seen him hobbling in between two agents as she was coming out of her interview. So she knew he was in one of these interview rooms now awaiting transportation to a detention center where he'd await sentencing. But she still had questions for him. She needed answers.

"You know," Ricky said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I was thinking of this town's history." He glanced at Cassidy. "We moved here because it was billed as the most haunted place on earth, didn't we?"

She nudged him playfully. "I thought it was for the idyllic, seaside community."

Ricky chuckled. "Well, there's plenty of that, too. But seriously. There is something about this town – like there's something about Coolsville – that seems to invite the unnerving, the strange. I can understand wanting to capitalize on that." He looked around at the others. "Though I want to say, for the record, I do not condone what Ravencroft and Mayor Nettles did."

"So baby, whatareyou saying?" Cassidy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What if we open a museum?" Ricky replied. "Like that one that those creepy people opened in Connecticut?"

"What creepy people?" asked Judy.

"You know." Ricky waved an impatient hand. "There's a haunted rag doll or something. They made a bunch of scary movies about it."

Everyone stared at him blankly.

"Well regardless," Ricky went on, undeterred. "I was thinking of doing something like that, but here. In Crystal Cove. And it wouldn't be haunted artifacts necessarily, but a historical collection of things related to hauntings in the town. I bet it would be a great way to bring in tourism."

Daphne sat forward thoughtfully. "You could partner with the library," she suggested. "They have a genealogy section full of information on families who've lived here for generations. I bet you could use that to track some of them down, get some first hand accounts of some of the phenomena that went on here."

Cassidy beamed at Daphne. "That's an excellent idea."

The door at the end of the hallway opened, and Shaggy and Lewis Jacobson walked out. Scooby trotted up to him eagerly, and Shaggy leaned against the wall, scratching the dog absentmindedly between the ears.

"I think we're done here," Jacobson said to the adults. "We might need you all to come in for additional questioning in a few days, if you don't mind." He glanced apologetically at the gang.

"We're here till Saturday," Fred assured him. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Jacobson smiled wanly. "Have you kids ever taken a vacation that didn't involve someone being arrested?"

"Nope," said every member of the gang, including Scooby.

Everyone laughed, but the chuckles immediately died down when Velma said,

"I want to see him."

It took the others a moment to realize what she meant.

"What?!" Daphne exclaimed. "No! Velma, are you crazy?"

"Why?" Fred asked.

"I have some questions for him," Velma replied.

Nova spoke with gentle concern. "I'm sure that you could ask Agent Jacobson to pass on your inquiries…" she began.

But Velma shook her head. "No. This is something I have to do myself." She glanced at her friends and tried to pacify them with her eyes. "I'll be fine. I promise." Then, to Agent Jacobson, "He's restrained, right?"

Jacobson looked uncomfortable, but nodded. "I still wouldn't recommend going in there alone," he said.

"Re're going rith her," Scooby spoke up.

Velma looked at him. "Scooby, that's not necess–"

"Oh yes it is," Fred interrupted, fists clenched. "No way are we letting you question him without us."

Daphne nodded in agreement. "We're all going in with you."

Velma tried to protest. "You guys–"

Shaggy scoffed and pushed off from the wall. "Like do you really think we're going to let you face him by yourself after what happened last time? No offense Velm but if that's what you think, then you're like, the dumbest smart girl I know."

He wore a kind of wry half-smile, so Velma knew he wasn't serious. Or at least, not completely.

It gave her hope, to know that he wanted to be in there with her.

Maybe things will be okay between us after all.

"Okay," she said, realizing she was picking a losing fight. "Let's go in there. Together."

x.X.x

In a dimly lit interrogation room, Ben Ravencroft sat stoically at a sticky, loose-legged table. His bad leg was propped awkwardly out to the side, and his hands were in front of him, attached by a pair of metal cuffs affixed to the tabletop. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby were behind a pane of one-way glass, gazing at him warily as Jacobson briefed them.

"Like I said before, he is restrained," he told the gang, gesturing through the other side of the glass. "Normally I wouldn't even let civilians in the room with someone like him, but I know you all have seen worse." He cleared his throat. "That said, I'll be right out here watching through the glass the whole time you're in there."

Velma nodded and inhaled a quick, sharp breath.

Daphne squeezed her upper arm. "You don't have to do this," she reminded her. "You don't owe him anything."

Velma swallowed and turned to look at her friend. "This isn't about what I owe him," she said. "This is about whatheowesme."

After a brief pause, she led the way into the room, a determined look on her face.

Shaggy's stomach clenched as soon as they entered. Ravencroft appraised them all, eyebrows lifted slightly over the rims of his glasses. He looked intrigued, but not surprised.

"Well, well, well," he drawled, sitting back in the metal chair. He looked remarkably relaxed for someone with a broken ankle who was about to get carted off to prison. "I was wondering how long it would be until you begged to see me."

"There was nobegging,asshole," Daphne snarled, but Fred put a staying hand on her shoulder. Even though Ravencroft was restrained, they didn't need to antagonize him.

Scooby growled low in the back of his throat and Ravencroft flicked his eyes over to him. No doubt he was remembering the altercation he'd had with the dog back in his kitchen. Had that really only been this afternoon?

Ravencroft shifted slightly in his seat and switched his gaze to Velma. She nearly staggered backward. It was still so hard to reconcile her favorite author with thismonsterhe'd turned out to be. How could she have been so wrong about him?

"Well regardless," Ravencroft shrugged. "I assume you're here because you have another question." He smirked. "Ask away, darling."

Revulsion simmered under Velma's skin, but she took a deep breath, forcing her face into a stoic expression.

"What was on the table in the basem*nt?"

It wasn't really the question she wanted to ask, and she knew it wasn't the question he expected, but she wanted to throw him off guard, however slightly.

It worked. Ravencroft's brow furrowed in confusion, but he kept his tone light. "Just an animal carcass from the local butcher. It was already dead."

"How did you know we'd be at the house tonight?" Velma fired back.

He sighed. "Because of the story," he said, like it was obvious. "I'd writtenThe Dreamto lure you there." His eyes glinted. "But enough evading. You and I both know that's not really what's on your mind."

He was right. They both knew it. Everyone in the room knew it.

"So go on, Velma," Ravencroft sneered. "Why don't you ask me yourrealquestion."

Velma steeled herself and pulled the grimoire from her messenger bag. She put it on the table in front of him, just out of his reach.

"What is this?"

Ravencroft's eyes scoured the cover, studying the screaming woman in the pentagram. His gaze turned stony, but Velma held her ground. "You seemed surprised that we had this," she went on. "I'd originally thought that you had planted it for us to find. But I saw your face when Fred pulled it out." She indicated the book again. "We weren't meant to find this. But we did. And we saw your notations." She narrowed her eyes. "So now we want to know. What is this?"

Ben bared his teeth in a terrible grimace. "Isn't it obvious? It's a spellbook."

"You don't believe in magic," Velma snarled.

Ben barked a laugh so loud and sudden that everyone flinched. "Oh, but I do," he said, his grimace widening. "Haven't you been listening when I told you my entire family line is descended from witches?"

"Bullsh*t!" Velma spat. "Witches don't exist. Magic doesn't exist."

"Velm–" Daphne began. She was very aware of the mad curve of Ben's lips, and didn't want to anger him further.

But Ben talked over her. "It does, Velma." He raked his eyes over the rest of the gang. "It's rare, of course, to have magic blood. But when you do – as I do – you can't imagine the wonders, or the havoc, you can wreak. How do you think Sarah the Second was born? After generations of nothing but males, her parents used magic to determine the biological sex of their unborn child, so they could be assured it would be a girl." He jerked his chin toward the book in Velma's hand. "They didn't use that book, of course, but they wouldn't have needed to. Old magic is passed down in the oral tradition, like the creation stories of yore. But, unfortunately, all of that knowledge died with Sarah II. My entirelife, I've been doing research, tracking down as much information about magic and the Ravencroft clan as possible. Some of what I've learned has ended up in the novels I've written, which you claim to love so much. And then finally, at an auction, I tracked downthisbook. The one on this table, right in front of me. And I discovered the necromancy spell and realized that I could stop researching. I couldresurrectSarah, learn magic from the source herself." Here, he scowled. "And I would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids and your blasted dogs."

"You're lying," Velma accused.

"I'm not," Ben replied simply.

Velma glared at him. The rest of the gang exchanged anxious glances with each other.

None of them were as big a skeptic as Velma, obviously – Shaggy and Scooby certainly believed in the existence of ghosts and magic, and even Daphne hadn't written them off completely. Fred also believed that there was often a rational explanation for everything. But it seemed like Ben really, truly, wholeheartedly believed what he was saying. Believed he was a warlock, a magician. Someone who could cast spells and raise the dead.

And for some reason, that was the most unsettling thing about him.

His mouth twisted into a vicious smile as he noticed their uncomfortable expressions. "You know something else I learned in my research? There are certain places on the planet that are more…susceptible to magic. It's all to do with the alchemical balance of the earth in any particular geographical location. I believe Crystal Cove is one of those places. This magic often lays dormant until or unless someone awakens it. But when it has awoken, and the circ*mstances are right – if say, the planets are aligned in a certain way, or a comet passes over in the right trajectory – any Tom, Dick, or Harry can cast a spell." He quirked an eyebrow. "But if the person who wants to cast the spell already has magic in their blood, as I do, then they don't need the help of celestial bodies to do magic. Of course, planets aligning or comets passing through certainly won'thinderthe spellcaster. But they're not strictly necessary. Just so long as the witch, or warlock, in my case, is at a certain location, and they know the right words."

Velma shook her head in disbelief. Ravencroft sounded like a lunatic. Like the most crazy conspiracy theorist alive. She couldn't fathom her past admiration for him. "You're insane.".

"No," Ravencroft disagreed. "I'm magic."

Velma shot a quick glance at her friends. "We're done," she muttered. "I'mdone."

She shoved the grimoire back into her messenger bag and began to head for the door when Ravencroft's sinister chuckle made her stop cold.

"No you're not."

Velma slowly turned back to face him, catching glimpses of the rest of the gang's nervous expressions as she did so. "What?" she breathed.

Ravencroft chuckled again. "We're not done, Velma. Not even close. There will come a time when you and your friends will be in over your head and you'll need my help."

"Like hell," Fred growled, speaking for the first time. He couldn't listen to Ravencroft's mad ramblings anymore. He needed to assert himself as the leader of the gang before things got more out of hand. "If you think I'm going to let you anywherenearmy friends again, after what you've done this week–"

"You won't have a choice," Ravencroft interrupted. "I have a sort of sixth sense about these things. This is not the last time we'll meet."

It would be if Fred had anything to say about it. He put a protective hand on Velma's shoulder and his eyes flashed icy blue. "I hope you rot in jail, Ravencroft."

The writer simply gazed back at them, a smirk playing at his lips.

Fred thought that was the end of it. He began to usher the gang toward the door. The girls went first, then Shaggy and Scooby, as Fred brought up the rear.

But Ravencroft had parting words for them as they exited the interview room.

"You may not believe me now," he said to their retreating backs. "But Iwillbe seeing you again, Mystery Incorporated. Sooner than you think."

Chapter 18: Epilogue

Chapter Text

Three days later…

"Do you have everything?" Judy asked.

She was sitting on a couch in the living room of the beach house, Brad on the cushion beside her and their packed suitcases on the floor nearby. Fred and Daphne had just lugged their own bags down the hall from their bedroom. They were the ones she'd directed her question towards.

"Yep," Daphne replied, patting her purple suitcase.

"Chargers?" Judy continued. "Toothbrushes?"

"Yes, Mom," Fred teased, eyes twinkling.

Judy gave him a watery smile, as did Brad. Fred usually called his birth parents by their first names, but occasionally he referred to them as "Mom and Dad." It had been weird at first – he'd called the mayor "Dad" for eighteen years of his life after all, and he'd never called anyone "Mom" before – but over time they'd all gotten used to it. Of course, living in different states, Fred didn't normally have an opportunity to call them "Mom and Dad" in person, so on the occasion that he did, it always made Judy tear up a bit.

Nova came trotting down the hallway after them, with Scooby and Shaggy close behind. Velma brought up the rear, her duffel and messenger bags slung over her shoulders. All the luggage ended up in a pile near the front door.

Today was the last day of their vacation in Crystal Cove. The past three days had been much more relaxing than the rest of the week had been. They'd swum in the ocean, sunned on the beach, visited with their new Crystal Cove friends (Gary, Ethan, and Mai Le had all been released from the hospital two days ago). They'd only had to go back to the police station once for additional questioning, but it had been short and perfunctory. Mayor Nettles, the Crystal Cove PD, and everyone involved in the scheme had all been sanctioned. Best of all, Ben Ravencroft had been arrested and, pending a trial, would be sent to a federal prison on the other side of the country.

No one had mentioned him by name since that day at the police station. It was as if he was Bloody Mary. Or Betelgeuse. Like saying his name made him appear. Gave him power.

Which everyone knew was ridiculous. He was just a man. A crazy man, but a man nonetheless. Despite what he'd told them at the police station..

Brad checked his watch. "Ricky and Cassidy will be here any minute," he informed the gang. Since there were too many of them to all ride to the airport together, Ricky and Cassidy would be helping. They'd had a meeting with the interim mayor that morning about their plans for an occult museum, but were probably on their way now. "We're going to start loading this luggage into the rental van."

"We'll help," Fred offered, shooting Daphne a meaningful glance. When he caught her eye, he darted his gaze quickly to Shaggy and Velma, then back to his girlfriend.

Daphne understood at once. Yesterday, Velma had finally admitted that she had been the one to initiate the breakup with Shaggy. For whatever reason, this had convinced Fred that the relationship was salvageable. He hadn't given up on the idea that Velma and Shaggy could mend fences if they had a few moments alone together and had tried to orchestrate it whenever possible after it hadn't worked at the Ravencroft house. Daphne had tried to help when she could, and now was one of those times. At the very least, to pave the way for them to apologize to each other.

"Yeah," she agreed, grabbing Velma's messenger bag. "You guys stay here." This last to Shaggy and Velma.

The dogs realized what was happening too. "Would you like to spend a little time on the back porch?" Nova asked Scooby.

"Res," he replied immediately, all but darting out onto the enclosed patio.

Before they knew it, Shaggy and Velma were alone in the living room.

She glanced at him. "I wonder what all that was about," she deadpanned.

Shaggy cracked a smile, and at once, the two of them burst into laughter.

Of course, they had realized what their friends had been up to all week. The lengths they went to to try to get them alone in a room together had been laughable.

Truthfully, things had been fine between the two of them since that day at the Ravencroft house. Not great, certainly not how thingshadbeen, but fine. They were amicable. Spoke to each other without any hostility. Even shared some laughs, as they had just now.

But Velma knew she owed Shaggy more than that.

"Listen," she said when they'd stopped chuckling. "I really do owe you an apology."

Shaggy sat on the arm of the couch and said nothing.

Velma exhaled. "There's no excuse for my behavior," she told him. "I've been selfish and immature. I've treated you like garbage this week, and you didn't deserve that." She paused. "I'm really sorry, Shaggy."

He didn't answer right away. He just continued to gaze at her.

Velma shook her head. "You don't have to accept my apology, of course," she said, her voice very small. "I just…needed you to know how much I regret hurting you."

"I forgive you, Velma."

For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating. Even though she'd watched his lips move, heard the words come out of his mouth, Velma couldn't quite believe that Shaggy had just said that.

He shrugged. "Maybe it's against my better judgment," he went on, a bit wryly. "But like, I forgive you. I mean let's face it, I wasn't my best self this week either. I took a lot of my own pain out of you, and you didn't deserve it either." He grimaced. "Plus I like, kind of poked the bear with that whole Mai Le thing. That was really sh*tty of me."

A prickle of leftover irritation simmered under Velma's skin at the mention of Mai Le. Nothing romantic had actually happened between her and Shaggy, but Velma didn't like to be reminded of it regardless. "Well, it's no better than me," she admitted. "And all the flirting that I did." She sighed. "Though I kind of got my comeuppance for that, didn't I?"

An uncomfortable silence hung between them. It was the closest either of them had come to mentioning what had happened in Ben Ravencroft's kitchen.

Shaggy held her gaze. "Velm," he said, his voice soft. "Like…I really hope you don't blame yourself for what happened that day. At…his house, I mean." His face flushed, as much with embarrassment as with anger. "He was totally out of line. And the way he'd been behaving all week had been really gross. But I felt like I couldn't say anything to you because you'd think I was like, being a jealous ex." He sighed. "I should have said something. Ignored my pride and told you how I really felt."

"I wouldn't have listened," Velma told him, though she felt gratified to have confirmation about how bothered Shaggy had been. "Daphne tried to have the same conversation with me – like, the first day we got here, mind you – and I brushed her off." She scoffed and looked away. "It's like everyone could see it but me. You, Daphne, the dogs…you could all tell that something was off about him, but I refused to see it, because I didn'twantto see it. It's like the opposite problem I had with us. Making problems where…there really weren't any."

Slowly, Velma turned her gaze back to Shaggy.

"You were right," she said quietly. "About what you said at the Ravencroft house. Iama coward. I am afraid of strong emotions, because there's nothing logical about them. They can make you do things you wouldn't normally do, act in ways you wouldn't normally act because they mess with your brain chemistry. I don't…" She closed her eyes. "I don'tlikethat. I feel so out of control when I let my emotions lead. Like I'm not really myself."

She opened her eyes and inhaled slowly, as though to steel herself for what she was about to say.

"Do you remember last summer? When I told you guys I'd been caught cheating and had to retake chem and was considering dropping out?"

Of course Shaggy remembered that. "Yeah, that was…shocking," he said honestly. "In all seriousness, like,thatwas the most un-like-you thing you'd ever said."

"Because that was anemotionaldecision," she explained. "All I could focus on was my shame and my guilt and my sadness." She looked at Shaggy a bit ruefully. "You were right then, too. You told me I'd always regret not going back, not trying again. And it took a year and some hindsight, but…you were right on the money."

Yet another example of Shaggy knowing her better than she knew herself.

"Anyway," she sighed. "All this to say, I'm sorry."

Shaggy nodded. "Like, me too."

There was another silence. Shaggy knew this should be where he confessed to her that he still had feelings for her, that he wanted to get back together, distance be damned. But he'd basically already done that, the night they'd had their midnight cereal, and it hadn't changed Velma's mind, so he knew it was pointless to bring it up again. Besides, even if she did feel the same, she would have some logical explanation for what a bad idea it was. She'd just finished describing how much she hated to let her feelings make her decisions. Shaggy knew that was something he had to accept about her. Even if it kind of broke his heart.

Without warning, the front door flew open and Fred and Daphne burst in, wide-eyed and uneasy.

"Where are the dogs?" Daphne asked. She held a large book in her hands, which Shaggy and Velma recognized as the grimoire they'd found at Ben Ravencroft's beach house.

Shaggy jerked a thumb behind him. "Back porch."

"Let's go," Fred said, beelining for the backdoor and gesturing for the others to follow him.

Scooby and Nova had heard them coming and were already sitting up, ears alert. "What is it?" asked Nova, concerned.

The six of them made a small circle as Daphne held the book out in front of her. "This fell out of your messenger bag as I was putting it in the car," she explained to Velma. "When I picked it up, I noticed something written on the very back page." She flipped the book open to the end, where something had been scrawled on the final, blank page before the back cover.

A pentagram. And a phrase:Potestas Quinque.

Shaggy felt his blood go cold and stared at Scooby in alarm. The dog was staring back at him, looking just as panicked.

"Do you think…Ravencroft wrote this?" Velma asked, looking around at the gang.

"I don't think he did," Daphne replied, flipping to the page where Ben had scribbled his notes on the necromancy spell. "The handwriting doesn't match." She turned back to the page with the pentagram and the Latin phrase.

"Two words: Leon Berger," Fred said, name-dropping a villain they'd bested a few times who was a skilled forger. "Ravencroft could have disguised his handwriting here."

"Still," Daphne went on. "I don't think he did."

"What does that phrase mean?" Nova asked, glancing up at Velma.

Velma shook her head. While gifted in many academic fields, languages were a place where she sometimes struggled. Plus, she'd never taken Latin. "I don't know," she admitted.

"I do."

It was Shaggy who had spoken. Everyone looked up at him, confused.

"You do?" Velma couldn't help her surprised tone.

Shaggy nodded. "I uh…audited a Latin class last fall."

No one physically spoke, but the question was etched on everyone's faces:why?

Shaggy glanced around at his friends. "Like, do you guys remember last summer, when we went to Louisiana and we found that book on my family history?"

Fred nodded. The book in question had been discovered in Shaggy's great uncle Beauregard's library, and had been written entirely in Latin. Why that was the case, no one could say for sure. "Did you take the Latin class so you'd be able to read the book?"

Shaggy shrugged. "Like, sort of. But there was one phrase in the back of that book that stuck with me." He pointed to the grimoire in Daphne's hands. "It was that exact phrase. And there was a pentagram drawn next to it, too."

The blood drained from Daphne's face. "Wait a minute," she murmured. "I can understand a pentagram and a Latin phrase showing up in a spellbook. But why would it be in a family history book?"

"Like I have no idea," Shaggy replied.

"Why didn't you tell us about this last summer?" Velma asked.

Truthfully, Shaggy didn't really know that either. The whole time they'd spent in Louisiana last summer had been hard and strange and confusing. "I guess I like…wanted to forget about what happened there," he admitted.

Velma nodded. That was understandable, considering all the unsavory history Shaggy had discovered about his family.

"So what does the phrase mean?" asked Nova.

Shaggy pointed to the pentagram on the page. "Potestas Quinquetranslates to 'the power of five,'" he explained. "I think it like, must be talking about the pentagram."

Daphne nodded slowly. "They do have magical symbolism," she said. Then she looked up at Shaggy. "Maybe that's why it was in your family's history book. Maybe someone in your family has magic blood."

Shaggy stiffened. "You mean like Ben Ravencroft claims to have?" He did not want to be compared to that monster.

Velma waved an impatient hand. "That would indicate the true existence of magic blood, which we know doesn't exist."

Daphne held her tongue. Truthfully, she'd been starting to wonder about the existence of magic ever since Ravencroft had told them about places on Earth that possessed certain energies that made magic easier to perform. It reminded her a bit of the ley line that Brad, Judy, Ricky, and Cassidy claimed ran through Coolsville.

Instead, she just said, "If it's alright with you all, I think I'd like to keep this book."

Velma gestured toward her. "Be my guest. God knows I don't want it."

Scooby glanced at the grimoire. It seemed oddly coincidental that two different books they'd found over two different summers had been marked with the same symbol and Latin phrase. He pondered Ben Ravencroft's ominous parting words from the police station. He claimed that they would meet again, that they would need his help with something. Perhaps with this?

The idea made Scooby shiver involuntarily.

Shaggy noticed. "Like you okay, Scoob?"

Scooby nodded. "Just…rorried."

"Worried? Like, what about?"

Scooby just looked at Shaggy, and no further clarification was needed.

The gang wereallworried about Ravencroft, and his promise that he would see them again sooner than they expected. None of them were eager to see that promise come to fruition.

Judy poked her head onto the porch from inside. "Ricky and Cassidy are here," she said. "Are you all ready to go?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah, we'll be right there." He waited till she was gone before he turned back to his friends. "Look at it this way, gang," he said. "We've already beaten him once. And that means we know that we can beat him again, if that's what it comes to. We're unstoppable when we work together."

He placed one hand on Velma's shoulder, laced Daphne's fingers through his other. He looked around at Shaggy, Scooby, and Nova, determination and resolve in his tone as he said:

"If anything is magic around here, it's us."