Hunger. Cold, gnawing hunger. All-consuming, burning. Sudden noises, lights, incoherent shouting. Catch. Eat. More food. Warmth, momentary fullness…
"Norville!"- a dying cry.
Suddenly, I can think. A little bit, but I can think. Remember. That's my name, isn't it? I could swear it is. My name is Norville. I- I can recognize the bodies beneath me. People. People I must have known before the accident. People that I probably cared about, once upon a time. Think, think, don't get distracted again. I know these bodies, know the man's police uniform. The man has a badge. I try to read it. Officer William Rogers, Coolsville Police Department.
"Pops"- the word appears in my mind. I begin to grasp its meaning. Dad. This guy is- was- my dad. I just killed my own dad. I should care, but all I feel is insidious hunger. I need to eat so I can focus again, but I can't eat my old man. I just can't. Suddenly, there is a rustling in some nearby shrubs. I'm aware enough to know that I'm in some woods, so maybe it's, like, a squirrel or something. I'm strong and fast enough that I could probably eat anything. The rustling grows louder and I prepare to attack whatever comes through.
A large shape emerges. I leap, tackling it to the ground. When I finally get a look at the thing, I'm a little surprised. It looks like a dog. A really, really, really big dog. With sharp teeth and a huge, gaping mouth. I'm scared now. Like, I gotta get outta here before I end up as dog chow. I turn to run away, but before I can really move, I hear the dog talk. It sounds growly and barely understandable, but I can recognize words.
"Rait! Ron't ro!"
All I can do is just stare at this dog- no it talked, it can't be a dog, can it? I can't move; the thing has me pinned. I need to convince it not to eat me.
"L-like, what do you want with me, man? Please don't eat me, I taste terrible!"
It whimpers, lowering its head like old Benny used to when Mom would scold him for peeing on the floor.
"Rim rared of the rark…"
This monster is scared? Of the dark? Really? That's, like, totally not scary at all! And the poor dude looks so sad; I can't just leave him all alone here, can I?
"Like, okay man. I guess I can let you tag along with me."
The dog-monster-thing immediately perks up and starts furiously wagging his tail. "Rearry? Ray!" With that, he starts licking my face.
Like, total grossout man! "Alright, alright already dude! Down, down!"
The monster pulls off of me, wagging his tail all the while.
"Rorry!" he barks apologetically.
I just laugh and say "It's okay-" I cut myself off midway through the sentence. "Like, I don't know your name, do I?"
The creature looks at me quizzically and then says "Rokay!"
He follows this up with a string of nonsensical syllables in some impossible language that I couldn't describe even if I tried. I guess that must have been his name. I can't call him that though. I can't even wrap my mind around how I could possibly do those noises.
"Like, how about I call you something shorter? I, uh, think it'd be easier."
He nods, still wearing the happy and odd smile that looks unnatural on his doglike face. I think for a couple moments, and then finally get a relatively decent idea.
"Like, how about Spooky? No wait, that's like totally squaresville. Oh, I know! How about Scooby Doo! That's a boss name!"
He nods. Groovy, seems like he likes it.
"Oh, yeah! I gotta introduce myself too, right? Like, I'm Shaggy!"
He holds out his paw to shake my hand, so I shake it. "Rice ro reat rou, Raggy."
"Like, likewise dude."
The moment is promptly interrupted by the loud, simultaneous growling of both of our stomachs. We look at each other blankly, then burst out laughing.
I manage to calm myself down enough to ask "You hungry dude? There's probably some good stuff in this forest somewhere."
He nods but then crouches and whimpers, eyes tearing up slightly. "Rhis rorest is rary."
It's so weird. The monster- Scooby, I mentally correct myself- isn't scary at all. He's just like me. As a matter of fact, I kinda think that we'd be good friends.
"Like, it's okay man. I think this place is really creepy too. But you know, it's a lot less creepy now that I've got somebody with me. We can try to be brave together!"
Scooby brightens up and nods. "Reah! Ret's ro eat!"
"Like, that's what I like to hear! Hurry up dude!"
With that, we run farther into the forest, together.
Scooby Doo and I make our new life in the woods. They're not as creepy during the day, and I can't really go back to town looking like I do. It is kinda hard to find enough food to satisfy two creatures with bottomless appetites, but we do pretty alright for ourselves. We try to stay away from people who go into the woods, but after the bodies of my, uh, previous meals were discovered, very few dare to enter it. When Scooby and I aren't hunting or exploring, we sleep. Like, living in the wild is hard. It leaves you totally bushed, man. One day, Scooby and I are woken up from our nap by the smell of something that I haven't eaten since before the accident that turned me into the freak I am now.
"Steak! Like Scoob, buddy, I haven't had that in ages!"
I don't know if that's true; you don't really notice time passing if you're not focused on it and you don't have, like, a clock. Anyway, I have tastier, more important things to think about. Scooby and I run as fast as we can towards the smell, and…
Suddenly our bodies lock up and we crash to the forest floor. We're paralyzed, and even worse, the smell of steak has vanished from the air as quickly as it had appeared. Replacing it are three new scents of quickly approaching beings: one human, the other two smells I don't recognize. When I first get a look at them, they all seem perfectly human. Until they get closer. Then I am able to notice that the red-haired girl glows gold in the sunlight, the blond boy smells slightly like a wild animal, and the girl with glasses seems to be levitating a book in her hand. For the first time in what has probably been at least a couple weeks, I'm terrified for my life.
"Jeepers!" the redhead exclaims in surprise, her voice light and airy. "It actually was him! You were right, Velma!"
"Naturally, Daphne." the brunette replies.
"Oh my God!" the boy exclaims, his expression a mixture of shock and horror. "Shaggy? Is that really you? You look terrible! Are you okay?"
Like hold on, this guy knows my name? My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a weak growl beside me. Scooby is obviously terrified but is valiantly trying to appear fierce in order to frighten them away. It really doesn't work though; his limp body and lopsided mouth with mostly flat teeth only makes him look cartoony, almost silly.
Glasses strides closer and peers at me analytically over her huge lenses. "You are Norville Rogers, aren't you?"
So, yeah. I probably did know her from somewhere. I better answer her or she might hurt me.
"Y-yeah. That's me. Like, who are you guys? What do you want?"
Glasses sighs. "You never were too good at figuring things out without help, were you, Shaggy? I'm Velma Dinkley. We had the same chemistry class. These are Daphne and Fred. You and Fred were workout buddies. Daphne just moved here two months ago, you two wouldn't have really known each other well"
She holds out her hand to me, either to give me some skin or to help me up, I'm not sure.
The blond- Fred- cuts in before she can grab my hand with "Don't touch him. He smells really sick."
Velma takes my hand anyway and helps me to my feet. "That's normal for people who become wendigos, Freddy."
What's she talking about? "Like, what's a wendiggy?"
Daphne bursts out laughing as soon as I finish my question.
Velma rolls her eyes and elbows Daphne to get her to stop. "A wendigo is what you are now, Shaggy. They're formed from the spirits of people who were either exceptionally gluttonous in life, or committed cannibalism. Since I doubt you would be anywhere near insane enough to eat somebody, you most likely were turned due to the former reason."
She pauses, acknowledging Scooby. "And who's this? Not an ordinary dog, is he?"
Scooby, for his part, is shaking like a leaf in fright.
"Like, this is Scooby Doo. He's my buddy."
I turn to him and pat his head reassuringly. "It's okay pal. These guys don't seem too bad."
Scooby stands up, still trembling slightly. "R-rello," he whimpers.
Daphne smiles and walks over to him, crouching next to him. She begins to affectionately rub his ears in a way that he clearly loves, given his rapidly thumping leg.
"Aww, aren't you just the cutest thing?" She gushes happily, cooing. "My cousin back in Scotland has a little Cu Sith just like you. Well, sort of like you. He's way bigger."
Velma shakes her head. "I don't think that that's what Scooby here is, Daphne. Given his imperfect speech and let's just say unusual features, he is most likely a shapeshifter."
Fred perks up in interest. "So you think he's like me?" He sniffs the air for a moment and then pauses, frowning. "He doesn't smell like a werewolf at all."
Like, wait just a minute! "Are, like, all three of you guys monsters too?"
Velma sighs, visibly annoyed at her impromptu lecture being interrupted. Now that I remember, she was like that in school, too. I thought that she was a real square back then. Now, I don't really know what to think of her.
"Not really. Freddy qualifies for that title, but Daphne and I don't. I am a witch, and Daphne is a fae."
Daphne smiles, glowing even brighter. "Even though we aren't all the same species, we need to look out for each other! We're the only Supernaturals in Coolsville, after all! So we formed a club!" she explains.
Fred grins and exclaims equally enthusiastically "We call ourselves," he pauses dramatically, "Mystery Incorporated! We even have a van! We call it the Mystery Machine!"
"Only you call it that, Freddy." Velma mutters.
A club for monsters? I thought that something like that wouldn't exist, but I'm glad it does. Maybe if Scooby and I join, we'll be better off than we are now.
"So you guys, like, want us to join your club?"
Velma nods in assent. "That's what we came out here to talk to you about. We assumed that we'd need to trick you to get you to come out. Sorry about that, by the way. You don't have to join if you don't want to, but it would be beneficial to all of us to have you two on board."
"Please say yes," Daphne begs. "It'd be really groovy to have more members! Especially a cute puppy!"
"Please join us, I don't want to be the only guy. You'd think that would be fun, being the only guy with two girls, but it's just really weird." Fred says.
I turn to Scooby so we can make our decision. I hope he wants to join, too. We're really good friends now, and I can't imagine him not being with me.
"Like, what do you think buddy? You wanna join the gang with me?"
He pauses, contemplating. Then he does that weird lopsided smile thing and says "Reah! Ret's roo it!"
"Like, it looks like we're both digging it. We'll join you guys."
"Yay!" Fred and Daphne cheer in unison and hug us.
Well, it's more like Daphne is hugging Scoob and me and Fred is trying to crush all three of us to death out of happiness. It feels good, once I can get past the crushing part. After a few minutes of this, Velma clears her throat, and they let go and back off.
"As nice as this is, I need to be the bearer of bad news. Shaggy, since you ate a few people from town, it seems like the mayor is going to send some people into the woods to kill you. The town thinks you're a wild animal. It isn't safe for you to stay here. We need to go somewhere else for a while. We can come back when it's safe again. I'm sorry, but we need to leave Coolsville."
Like, leave Coolsville? I haven't left town once all of the seventeen years of my life. But really, what do I have for me back in town? I killed my dad and my old friends and the rest of my family think I'm dead. It is probably better to leave. Besides, I can come back. Someday. And it's not like I'll be alone. I've got the gang and my best pal. We all gather up in the van to leave. It's really groovy looking: blue with flowers and bright letters spelling out The Mystery Machine. I thought that the paint job was Daphne's idea, but turns out that it was Fred's. He really likes flowers, as it turns out. The seats are comfy and there's more than enough room for everybody. It's really homey, for a car.
As we drive, I look out of the window and think back to how this all started. It seems so strange. I've gone from being sad and alone in the woods to warm and happy. And yeah, we might have to leave, but it doesn't feel like a goodbye. It feels like saying hello to something new. As we drive past the sign that says Now Leaving Coolsville, Scooby howls. It might be along to the radio or something else. It doesn't matter because he sounds like how I feel. Joyful, excited, content. And, like, you know what? It kinda sounds like he's saying "Rooby-Rooby-Roooo!"
END