Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all characters and trademarks are copyright 2010 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. This story is also partly based on the 1964 and 1999 horror movie House on Haunted Hill; coincidentally enough one of the actors in the original version of the movie was Vincent Price, who was also a voice in the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo where he provided the voice of Vincent Van Ghoul, basically this is sort of an homage to him and partly to his character in that show and movie. Also to any Scrappy haters, he is in this story but will be more like he was in the 1982-1988 Scooby Doo series and movies than he was in the early Scooby and Scrappy shows. Thank You to LoveofVelma for providing me with title ideas for this story as well.
Chapter 1
During their long and illustrious careers, the five (or six if you include Scrappy Doo) members of the famous private detective agency known unofficially as Mystery Incorporated, or Mystery Inc. for short have always known and have never been known to back down from a challenge, in most cases the challenge being a mystery usually involve any sort of ghost, ghoul, phantom, apparition, monster or creature; most of the time the agency's mysteries ended up with the so called supernatural villain being a man or woman in a mask or costume trying to cover up some kind of crime or criminal activity such as counterfeiting, embezzlement or other miscellaneous other illegal offenses.
However the gang's latest case is one that in retrospect maybe they shouldn't have taken because at the end of it all, the four teenage sleuths and their pair of Great Danes may not make it out of their current adventure alive and if they did make it out alive, they might not want to solve another mystery or want to see another ghost for quite a long time; but I'm getting way ahead of myself, Mystery Inc.'s latest adventure actually begins at Blake Mansion, which is the residence of Daphne Blake's parents; for many years Daphne's parents have funded the group's adventures as private detectives, which at first were merely something that the gang had done on their vacations and on weekends when they were in school.
Eventually the gang's hobby turned into a major business and some years back Mystery Inc. became an official private detective agency, naturally being private detectives didn't or don't pay that well, so each member of the gang took side jobs to pay the bills; presently Fred Jones, who is the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. works as a free lance writer, specializing in sports and writing mysteries; Daphne Blake, the richest and most fashionable member of the group currently works as a free lance writer as well, she however specializes in writing about fashion, pop culture, current events and on occasion mysteries, like her boyfriend of several years, the aforementioned Fred Jones.
Velma Dinkley, the most intelligent member of the group, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, one of the two most cowardly and hungry members of the group both co-own a combination restaurant and bookstore in downtown Coolsville, well sort of; actually Velma's bookstore called the Mystery Inc. Bookstore and Shaggy's restaurant called coincidentally enough The Mystery Inc. Grill, are located in separate buildings on Main Street in the downtown area of the small town but are connected to one another by a special passage/doorway inside both establishments which was constructed by the green shirted teenager, much to the surprise and amazement of his girlfriend of several years, the aforementioned Velma Dinkley who was quite shocked that Shaggy had become quite proficient at carpentry, although one of his uncles was quite skilled at it as well, and he was more than happy to receive lessons in the craft from said uncle.
Meanwhile the two canines of the group, Scooby Doo and his brave but diminutive nephew Scrappy Doo stayed at Blake Mansion during the day and kept Daphne's parents company as they worked on their various business deals, which numbered many considering George and Elizabeth Blake were two of the richest people in the state of Ohio and the entire Midwestern United States; not only did the Blakes' work on their finances and their business finances, but they also worked on the finances of Shaggy and Velma's businesses much to the surprise of the pair of sleuths.
Technically Mystery Inc. was still in business, although the gang hadn't solved that many mysteries or undertaken any cases in a few months, which made sense considering it was now October and for the past few months the gang had taken time off from mystery solving to go on a summer vacation across the country where they were joined by Daphne's parents who tagged along in one of their many vehicles; although Mystery Inc. had taken time off from detective work, they were always happy to take a case, which usually now involved working for insurance companies, or being hired to investigate missing gold, jewels, paintings or other valuable items; Scooby and his friends however had always wanted to get back to the good old days of chasing ghosts and monsters which would always turn out to be people in costumes.
However, fate as a strange way of working in people's lives, and for Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and Scrappy Doo it was about to play its hand in their lives once again; the late afternoon sunlight shined brilliantly this Autumn day through the front windows of the Blake Mansion as the various members of the Mystery Inc. detective agency were taking some time off from their various careers; inside the front room of the estate, Shaggy, Velma, Scooby, Scrappy and Fred sit on a sofa while the wealthy red haired member of the group's parents sit in a couple of chairs opposite the sofa, at the moment the five sleuths are discussing various topics with the red head's parents including the gang's old mysteries, the group's careers and other miscellaneous items of interest.
While Daphne's mother sips an Iced Tea, the red head's father takes a few minutes to discuss some of the finer points of the blond teen and the red haired young woman's various articles, specifically some of the ones that George Blake enjoyed, even though he wasn't much of a sports fan; however, while five members of the group are currently in the living room and chatting with the red head's parents, George and Elizabeth Blake's daughter Daphne is currently sitting inside the first floor room of the mansion that she usually uses as an office whenever she does her writing.
At the moment the red head sits in front of a computer screen and is typing away on her keyboard, trying to finish a couple of articles that she has been working on; the young red haired writer then saves each of the articles to a flash drive and exits out of her Word Processor program, next she logs onto the internet on her desktop computer and checks her e-mail, which she usually did at this time of the day.
Daphne looks through the various messages on her e-mail account, noticing that most of them are either Spam, advertisements for things that she didn't want or didn't need, or other messages that she didn't have any desire in opening; however there were a few of them that she saved, considering they were from the various publishers and publications that accepted her work, for the most part those messages said things like "Good Job Daphne" or "Excellent Article Daphne" which made the red haired journalist smile as she read them; after browsing through about a dozen messages which would fit the aforementioned categories, Daphne came to an e-mail that made her a bit curious; she didn't recognize the sender, but she decided to open it anyway, hoping that it might lead to another writing assignment; however as she read the e-mail she realized that it was not from a publisher or publication, it was from someone else entirely.
"Hmm, this is interesting; I wonder who would have my e-mail and would want to contact me?" the red head wondered as she continued reading; eventually she came to another portion of the message that she found intriguing, specifically the sender of the e-mail mentioned her father and the fact that he knew him at one time, which made her wonder even more about the message that she received.
"This just gets weirder and weirder, not only does this person have my e-mail address, but he also knows who my father is; maybe I should go downstairs and talk to him about this" Daphne said as she tapped her index finger against her chin while thinking about whether or not she decided to tell her father about the e-mail she received; a few minutes later she made her decision, as she pushed the print button and the e-mail began coming out of the nearby printer on the office's desk.
Once the e-mail had finished printing, Daphne grabbed it off the printer and placed it on the desk while she turned off her computer; a few moments later the red headed reporter/journalist/detective picked up the paper from the desk and headed downstairs, after she descended the staircase she walked into the front room of the mansion and walked over to where her parents were sitting and after kissing her father and hugging her mother she sat down on the sofa to discuss the e-mail she had just received only a few minutes ago.
The red head's parents smiled at their daughter after she plunked down on the brown sofa; after kissing Fred, during which she had a broad smile on her face, her parents noticed that her face had switched from an expression of happiness to an expression of concern and perhaps fright and nervousness; after a few moments of awkward silence between the gang and the red head's parents, Daphne's father spoke up and asked her daughter what was happening with her and why she looked the way she did.
"Daphne what's wrong? You look upset about something" Mr. Blake inquired.
"Well, it's really nothing too major" Daphne replied.
"Come on Daphne, we're your parents, we know and can tell when something's the matter with our only daughter, so…" Mrs. Blake added.
"Oh all right, I guess I can tell you guys; well, you see I just checked my e-mail in my office a little while ago and I got an e-mail from someone who knew my e-mail address, which I don't give out to strangers, and in addition it seems that this person knows you dad" Daphne explained.
"Hmm, interesting and a little strange to boot; Daphne, do you still have the e-mail?" Mr. Blake asked.
"Sure do, I printed it out so that you and mom could read it" Daphne replied.
"Good, is there any chance that I or your mother could read the e-mail?" Mr. Blake asked.
"Sure dad, why don't I give it to you, okay?" Daphne replied.
"Sounds good" Mr. Blake said.
The red haired teen then stood up from the sofa and brought the piece of paper over to her father so that he could read it and better understand what was happening; the wealthy teen's father then began scanning the e-mail, looking for some clue as to why his daughter had been contacted by, for lack of a better word: a stranger; however it was a few minutes later that Daphne's father put down the paper and smiled at his daughter and the rest of the gang, clearly he knew something that Daphne didn't, or rather that the rest of the group didn't either, so Daphne spoke up and asked her father why he was smiling.
"What's up dad, is something funny? Or did you find something in the e-mail? Wait, that's it, you found something in the e-mail, right?" Daphne said, firing questions at her father as if he was a suspect in a crime, which is something that would probably never happen, although considering her career as a sleuth Daphne was very good at asking questions of people, and at the moment she was displaying it very nicely.
"I guess it's not easy hiding anything from a daughter who's a detective, yes Daphne I did find something in the e-mail, and I think you and your friends might be interested in this, would you like me to read it?" Mr. Blake asked.
"We sure would Mr. Blake, go right ahead" Fred replied.
"Very well, here I go: to Miss Daphne Blake, as you probably might have guessed, you may or may not know me, however I would wager that your father George does, so since I have never met you, let me introduce myself; my name is Franklin Larson, I am a wealthy business man who along with my wife April reside in a large mansion about fifty miles from Coolsville, as to the reason why I am writing you, I have read and heard many things about you from your father, who was an old classmate of mine in school; every time our class gets together for reunions, he always raves about my daughter Daphne, and how she's a world famous detective, which I find very fascinating and which is why I contacted you Daphne; during a conversation with your father many years ago, the two of us exchanged contact information including e-mail addresses, in addition he gave me your e-mail, in case I ever needed a mystery solved, and as I understand from your father, you are very good at it" Mr. Blake began reading from the paper.
"Good? Daphne's as good as any one of us, heck she took the lead when Velma and I were in college, and she was very good at it, plus she kept Mystery Inc. running for a long time, in fact when we were in school Velma and I forgot about it for a while, but Daphne didn't and I love her for that" Fred said as he leaned over and kissed Daphne on the cheek.
"Thank you Freddie, that was very sweet of you to say and I love you too" Daphne replied as she kissed Fred on the cheek.
"You're welcome Daphne; so Mr. Blake is there any more of the e-mail?" Fred wondered.
"There sure is Fred, would you like me to keep reading?" Mr. Blake asked.
"Sure, go right ahead" Fred replied.
"Wonderful; to continue: as I mentioned earlier in my e-mail Daphne, your father gave me your contact information, just in case I needed a mystery solved; I also mentioned that I lived in a large mansion, about fifty miles outside of Coolsville, which has been my home for many years, and I greatly enjoy it, as I'm sure you do our parents mansion; now, as to the reason I e-mailed you: as I already mentioned your father gave me your e-mail address in case I ever needed a mystery solved, which is exactly why I want to request you and your friends service as detectives" Mr. Blake continued reading.
"Jeepers, I wonder what he means by requests our services?" Daphne wondered.
"Well Daph, there's only one way to find out and that's for Mr. Blake to finish the e-mail, go right ahead Mr. Blake" Fred added.
"Thank You Fred; Miss Blake, the reason I wrote you is because I have a mystery for you and your friends to solve, actually I take it back, it's not so much a mystery as much as it is a challenge; in fact if you and your friends decide to take up this challenge, I can promise you a great reward" Mr. Blake continued.
"Now that sounds interesting, like I wonder what kind of reward this Mr. Larson is talking about?" Shaggy remarked.
"Actually Shaggy, Mr. Larson does mention the specific reward in the e-mail, here let me continue reading and I'll share what he means; Miss Blake, if you and your associates agree to take up the challenge that I am proposing and if you are successful in completing it, I will personally award you and each of your friends a certified check for one million dollars to do with as you each see fit" Mr. Blake continued.
"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed.
"Jinkies!" Velma added.
"Like a million dollars!" Shaggy said, somewhat excitedly.
"Roh roy, a rillion rollars!" Scooby said, somewhat joyfully.
"Wow! That's a lot of money!" Scrappy added.
"Yeah, it is, except for one thing" Fred remarked.
"What's that Freddie?" Daphne asked.
"Well Daphne, your dad has funded our adventures for years and he seems happy doing it, so are we really sure we need a million dollars each?" Fred answered with a question of his own.
The blond teenager and the red head pondered this question for a few moments that is until Scrappy Doo and Velma each sat up from the sofa at the same time, looking as if they had both made a break through; Fred and Daphne noticed that both of them looked pretty happy so he asked them what they had thought of.
"Hey Velma, Scrappy, what's up?" Fred questioned.
"Yeah guys, let us in on it" Daphne added.
"Well Fred, Scrappy and I were whispering to each other while you guys were talking and we both came up with a great idea" Velma said.
"Cool, so what is it?" Daphne asked.
"It's pretty simple, you guys have been solving mysteries for so many years and helped so many people over the decades, so why don't we take Mr. Larson's challenge and with the million dollars that each of us will get, why don't we give it to charity? I mean there are a lot of people who need the money more than we do, so why don't we assist some of the charities that each of us really like and give the money to them" Scrappy explained.
"Scrappy, that's actually a really great idea" Fred replied.
"Yeah Scrappy, I think you and Velma came up with a fantastic idea, I really like it" Daphne agreed.
"Thanks guys, although I can't take all the credit, I mean after all Velma did think of it, I just repeated it to you guys" Scrappy replied.
"Right, and believe me Scrappy, I couldn't have done it without you" Velma said as she picked up the younger Great Dane and kissed him on the fore head.
"Aww, thanks Velma, that was really nice of you" Scrappy replied as he started to blush a little.
"You're welcome Scrappy, I mean after all I was just being polite and nice" Velma remarked.
"Yes she was, and that's why I love her so much" Shaggy said as he moved closer to Velma and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks Shaggy, I love you too" Velma replied as she kissed Shaggy on his cheek.
"Okay, so we're all agreed; we'll take Mr. Larson's challenge and we'll give our prize money to charity, right gang?" Fred asked.
"Right!" the rest of Mystery Inc. replied in unison.
"You know, I almost forgot, we still don't know what the challenge is, or why Mr. Larson needs our services" Daphne remarked.
"Hey, you're right Daphne, Mr. Blake does it say in the e-mail what Mr. Larson wants us for?" Fred asked.
"It does Fred, and it sounds rather intriguing and probably right up your alley, here let me read the rest of it; the mystery, or rather challenge that I propose to you and your friends is this: my mansion has a rather long and strange history of supernatural occurrences taking place inside it, simply put: my house is haunted, which is why I decided to contact you Miss Blake; I understand that you and your friends are experts in solving supernatural type mysteries and I figured that this challenge might be suited to you and your friends tastes as detectives" Mr. Blake continued.
"L-l-like I f-figured there was going to be a catch to his offer" Shaggy remarked.
"Oh don't act like a scaredy cat Shaggy, you know there's no such thing as ghosts or monsters" Velma replied somewhat sternly.
"Yeah and besides, there are a lot of people we know that could use that million dollars that Mr. Larson is offering us" Scrappy added.
"Scrappy's right, besides this will be a good chance to get back to solving cases involving ghosts and monsters instead of some of our most recent cases, not to mention all those people who threatened us with guns and things like that" Fred commented.
"I can agree with that Freddie, plus it would be nice to solve a normal case involving a haunted house for once, although I guess those are the hazards that go along with being a detective" Daphne remarked.
"There's just one other thing I want to know before we decide on what to do, Mr. Blake what else is there in the e-mail?" Fred asked.
"Well, I can read some more if you would like Fred" Mr. Blake commented.
"Sounds good to me Mr. Blake, go right ahead" Fred replied.
"Okay, here's the rest of it: Miss Blake, now that you know what I am offering to you and your associates and the background of my home I must tell you this: the challenge that I have decided on is fairly simple, and if you and your friends complete it, to the letter I will present each of you with a million dollars as I promised earlier in the e-mail; now that you know about the reward and the risk I can describe the challenge: if you and your friends spend one entire night, that is from when you arrive to sunrise the next morning in my home, without leaving, or without contacting anyone for assistance or help I will present each of you with a million dollar check, as I explained; I leave it to you Miss Blake, if you and your associates except this challenge, please phone me at the enclosed number and I will give you directions to my home; also, I understand you have two Great Danes that solve mysteries with you, they will both be happy to know that I not only allow dogs in my home, but they will be treated very well, like canine kings, also I have a fully stocked kitchen, pantry and numerous other amusement items in my home for you to use while you stay there; the choice is yours and yours alone my dear, however I would greatly appreciate a prompt response as to your decision, when you come to your decision I can accommodate you and your friends any night in the next few weeks, in addition I have a full garage and I know that your group's van The Mystery Machine will be fully taken care of, with those words I end my correspondence and look forward to you and your friends arrival at my home Miss Blake, I am quite eager to meet all of you sincerely, Franklin and April Larson" Mr. Blake finished.
"Phew, that was a mouthful" Mr. Blake added.
"Jeepers, I'll say it was, but at least now we know what we have to do to collect the million dollars" Daphne replied.
"Right, and it sounds pretty simple: just a basic stay at a haunted house for a night, avoid being scared away and Mr. Larson will pay us for the whole night's experience, or something similar" Fred remarked.
"Like it doesn't sound that simple to me, it sounds like something out of a horror movie; you know something horrible is going to happen to one of us if we stay there" Shaggy commented sounding frightened as usual, although in this case he didn't sit shivering in terror, this time he moved over to Velma and clung to her shoulder and arm for support, which she sometimes did with him, although because Shaggy was doing it, Velma thought it was a little unusual.
"Shaggy, what could happen to you at a wealthy businessman's house?" Velma asked, not really minding that he was being so affectionate towards her.
"First of, it would be at night, second it would be fifty miles away from here, probably in the middle of nowhere, and third the place is haunted; like that's what could happen" Shaggy replied, counting off what could possibly occur on his fingers.
"Shaggy, you're making a big deal out of nothing; I'm sure Mr. Larson and his wife are quite nice, besides Scooby and you could probably check out his kitchen while we're there" Velma said.
"Ritchen, roh roy!" Scooby exclaimed.
"That's right and don't forget Shaggy, I'll be there with you to keep you company in case you get scared" Velma commented as she moved closer to Shaggy, eventually she took his hand and smiled at him as she looked into his eyes.
"Like that's a good point Velma, and besides there's no one else I would rather spend a night in a haunted house with then you" Shaggy replied as he smiled back at the intelligent teen.
"Thanks Shaggy, that means a lot to me" Velma said.
"You're welcome Velma" Shaggy replied.
"Okay, so we're all in agreement? We'll head to Mr. Larson's house and spend the night there like he wants" Fred remarked.
"Right!" the rest of the gang replied.
"Cool, now all we have to do is phone Mr. Larson, tell him we've agreed to his mystery or challenge as he put it, and set up a day that we could come there and spend the night there" Fred explained.
"Excellent; Daphne, do you and the rest of the gang have a specific date that you're going to go up to Franklin's house?" Mr. Blake asked.
"Well dad, it's kind of late to go there today; I mean we would need time to pack, do research about Mr. Larson and his wife and the mansion, basically we would need time to prepare for the trip" Daphne replied.
"True Daphne and you know, we could turn this mystery into something for our jobs" Fred remarked.
"You know Freddie, that's not a bad idea; plus the two of us are free lance journalists so we don't really have a set schedule, we can work for any newspaper or magazine or publication that we like, or any one that hires us" Daphne added.
"Okay, so Daphne and I are on board; Shaggy, Velma what about you guys?" Fred asked.
"Hmm, like I guess I can stand to close the restaurant for a day, I mean it's doing great business and we have a pretty good staff; maybe I'll call it a staff training day or something like that, or a remodeling day, so I'm on board, what about you Velma?" Shaggy commented, before looking over at the auburn haired beauty, and more specifically her eyes.
"Well, I could close the bookstore for a day or so too; it's doing well enough to close for one day and besides, with us going on a case, maybe it will make great promotion for the store, and maybe I can persuade Mr. Larson and his wife to drop by the store on occasion too, okay I'm on board" Velma replied as she looked back at Shaggy, and specifically you guessed it: his eyes.
"Hey, you know we forgot a couple of people, or rather dogs" Fred remarked.
"Yeah, what about you Scooby and Scrappy, I'm guessing you guys are on board with this mystery?" Velma remarked.
"Are you kidding? Of course we're coming, plus we wouldn't miss a chance to see real ghosts or monsters for anything, right Uncle Scooby?" Scrappy asked.
"Rure Rappy, resides ri'm retting rtir razy raround rere" Scooby replied.
"Okay, so Uncle Scooby and I are on board" Scrappy commented.
"So we're all agreed, Daphne and I will do articles on our stay at the house and Velma and Shaggy will take a day off from their businesses, right?" Fred asked.
"Right!" the rest of the gang said in unison.
"Well, I guess that takes care of that; now, all we have to do is call up Mr. Larson's house, and Velma and Shaggy, you guys can call your businesses and take care of anything that needs to be sorted out as far as the book store and the restaurant go, meanwhile Daphne and I will take care of all the necessary arrangements as far as figuring out what date we'll stay the night at Mr. Larson's house" Fred explained.
"And Uncle Scooby and I will help the four of you take care of the phone calls and research right Uncle Scooby?" Scrappy said.
"Right Rappy" Scooby replied.
"Oh and Daphne?" Mr. Blake said.
"Yes dad?" Daphne answered.
"I just want to let you know that your mother and I will be happy to help you and your friends with your research and phone calls, or with anything that you might need help with as far as preparations for this mystery go" Mr. Blake replied.
"Thank you Dad, thank you Mom, you guys are the best parents of all time" Daphne said as she walked over to her parents and hugged them like no child had ever hugged a parent before, which made her mother and father both smile broadly.
"You're welcome dear," Mrs. Blake said.
"That goes for me as well dear, and you know that anything you do we'll support and anything that you need help with, your mother and I will assist you with" Mr. Blake added.
"Thanks again guys, like I said before you're the best" Daphne said as continued hugging her parents, as well as giving her father a quick peck on the cheek.
"Okay gang, we've got our plan of action, so now let's get to work" Fred declared.
"Right!" the rest of the gang replied in unison.
So with that the six members of the Mystery Inc. detective agency, as well as Daphne's parents began preparations for what could possibly be one of the group of young adult and canine sleuths biggest quite possibly scariest adventure ever; Fred and Daphne headed for the red head's upstairs office to alert their past publishers that they would each by writing another article, Velma and Shaggy headed for the telephone to alert the employees of the businesses they owned that both the restaurant and book store would be closed for the next couple of days, Scooby and Scrappy along with Daphne's parents began packing suitcases and Scooby Snacks for their latest adventure.
Once all of this was finished Daphne, joined by her father contacted the mysterious businessman named Mr. Larson and informed him that she and the gang had accepted the wealthy man's challenge and would be spending the night at the wealthy man's mansion; following a ten minute conversation, which included Daphne's father talking to his fellow schoolmate about the red head, specifically her hobbies, her schooling and her current life and career, the red head hung up the phone and informed the gang that they would be spending the next evening at the wealthy businessman's mansion, which is when Daphne and her father agreed that the group of detectives would go to collect the million dollar prize that Mr. Larson promised them.
With the date of the gang's latest venture set, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy started upon the task of researching Mr. and Mrs. Larson and their home, in addition to the somewhat peculiar history involving the mansion's supernatural occurrences; half of the group of sleuths took the Mystery Machine to the library to look up any information they could that might help them in their latest mystery, while the rest stayed behind at Blake Manor and did the same thing.
Later on in the day after the research was finished, the Blakes', and the members of Mystery Inc. pleased their palettes by sampling a delicious lunch and an equally delicious dinner cooked up by the mansion's kitchen staff, which included a marvelous array of desserts, which Shaggy and Scooby enjoyed to no end; hours later after the food was eaten and the dishes put away, the gang headed to sleep after taking baths and brushing their teeth, and after that each member of Mystery Inc. drifted off to bed, thinking about their newest adventure, which might just end up being the most frightening case the group of sleuths had ever encountered.
Author's Notes: Hopefully everybody likes the Shelma and Fraphne in this story; also, hopefully everyone likes how Scrappy is portrayed in this fan fic, also while Scooby didn't have too many lines in this first chapter, he'll have plenty of lines and dialogue in the rest of this story; thanks for reading and reviewing as always.