That Meddling Girl!
Ben gripped the steering wheel. In the passenger's seat next to him. Velma was talking nonstop. She was an annoying little chatterbox. More than once he considered jabbing her glasses down her pretty, little throat.
Grimacing, he kept his eyes on the road, which seemed to go on forever. It was taking longer to get to Oakhaven than he had thought. The colonial town held so many painful memories for him that he had suspected he would never visit it again.
Yet, here he was, escorting the world-famous Mystery Inc. to his own neighborhood. The gang of kids was going to be in for a surprise once its members learned what was in store for them.
Surprising an evil chuckle, Ben smiled. He lifted one calloused hand from the steering wheel in order to scratch his squared, shortly-bearded chin. His eyes gleamed maliciously behind his glasses
"Is something wrong, Ben?" Velma twisted in her seat to glance worridly at him. Blinking his glowing eyes, Ben shook his head.
"Ah, it's nothing to worry about Velma." He yawned. "Just getting tired I guess." He ran his fingers across his creased brow. He could feel a headache forming just behind his temple.
"Need me to drive?" She sounded much too eager. Ben tightened both of his hands on the wheel.
"No need to worry, Velma. I'm perfectly all right." For a brief second he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he tilted his head slightly over his shoulder and swore. Velma was gazing adoringly at him.
"How do you expect me to believe that?" She stubbornly pursed her lips together. Ben gaped at her forehead. He could almost see the gears and pulleys working industrially in her brain. She smiled.
"Never mind. You know the way better than I do anyway." She giggled foolishly. Ben leveled his gaze with her broad waist. He extended his hand out and placed a sweaty palm on her lap. She tensed.
"Hey, don't worry. You're safe with me." He squeezed her skirt. Briefly he considered burying his hands beneath the smooth, orange fabric that decorated her short, firm legs. He wisely decided against the idea, however, when he met her bewildered expression. She had never had an encounter like this before. She didn't know what to do.
Disgusted with his brash behavior, he pulled his hand away. Returning it to the wheel, he repeatedly berated himself. That meddling girl! She was driving him crazy. He was going to have to dispose of her and her little friends as quickly as possible. He couldn't let them distract him from his true attentions.
Adopting self-control, he started to hum a little tune in his head, hoping that it would block out Velma's mindless prattling.
2
Velma trailed off. She knew Ben had stopped listening to her. He had a glazed, faraway look in his shifty eyes. He was someplace else.
A bit disappointed, Velma folded her arms beneath her breasts. She rudely planted her feet across the dashboard, not caring if she got her muddy footprints all over it. She quietly mused over the unsettling feelings she had for the dark, mysterious horror writer.
At first, she hadn't known what to think of him. When he had helped the gang out of the mess at the museum exhibit, she had been pleasantly surprised and grateful. Having read all of Ravencroft's books, she would never have thought of him as such a great, gracious guy. His works were on the violent side, after all.
Velma didn't enjoy that kind of bloody stuff in reality. Occasionally, she just liked to have a bit of gore and guts in her literature, especially when she got tired of mysteries. Ben's books were a perfect escape from all of the scientific that jumbled her brain up everyday.
Being in the vehicle with Ben now, she found another thing she liked about him: his voice. He spoke with a smooth, English accent that nearly left her in tatters every time she heard it. Why he wasn't narrating his own audio books was beyond her.
Tired, she told herself to stop thinking so much and closed her eyes. She fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. She dreamed of ben.
THE END