Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters and trademarks are copyright 2010 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. I am not making any money off of writing this story, I am just a fan.
Author's Notes #2: Major major thanks to jjb88, Jazzola, LoveofVelma and bballgirl22 for plot and title ideas for this story, I greatly appreciate it and I enjoy getting advice, reviews and encouragement from fellow Fan Fiction writers.
Chapter 1
Our story begins as the brightly painted Mystery Machine made it's way down the interstate somewhere in New England as Mystery Inc. prepared to begin yet another vacation; except that this wasn't a "Working" vacation per say, instead the gang was headed to Massachusetts to see their friends The Hex Girls perform at the annual Salem Halloween Festival which was held each year in October; the event featured the usual activities that one might expect at that type of event: bobbing for apples, trick or treating plus numerous vendors hawking all sorts of food as well as souvenirs and even jewelry not to mention many Halloween themed events including the concert that Mystery Inc. was set to attend; naturally Scooby and company were quite excited to see their old friends again, which of course was the prevalent topic in the vehicle as it traveled towards it's final destination.
"Well gang we're almost to Salem" Fred remarked.
"It sure will be nice to see the Hex Girls again" Daphne replied.
"Yeah, we haven't seen them since we visited their music video shoot in Transylvania at that old castle" Velma added.
"Like don't remind us" Shaggy said.
"Reah, rhat rlace ras rooky!" Scooby replied.
"Oh it wasn't that spooky" Velma commented.
"Oh yeah? What about those Fortescu brothers and that guy with all the bugs; not to mention the fact that Fred almost got turned into a Bat" Shaggy remarked.
"Okay Shaggy, I think we've heard enough" Velma said as she sat with the cowardly teen and his canine companion Scooby Doo towards back of the van.
"Like sorry Velma, I guess I'm still remembering all the creepy stuff that happened at that old place" the cowardly teen remarked.
"I know Shaggy, I know; although to be totally honest I didn't think that vampire or that castle were that creepy" Velma replied.
"Not that creepy? Velma, you've got to be kidding me; that place was one of the creepiest places I've ever been to" Shaggy commented, somewhat surprised at his companion's statement.
"Shaggy, every place we've been to is the creepiest place you've ever been inside; even when we've been inside food factories, you claimed that those places were frightening and scary; remember that candy factory? Or what about the Ice Cream factory or what about the time we visited the Scooby Snacks factory and it was being haunted?" Daphne asked as she turned around to speak with the cowardly teen and his canine companion.
"Well, like those times were different; to tell you the truth, I was more hungry then scared all those times, at least all those haunted places had lots of food in them and Scooby and I had something to keep our minds off ghosts and monsters, right Scoob?" Shaggy remarked.
"Reah" Scooby agreed, while licking his lips as he remembered some of the gang's past mysteries involving haunted food factories.
"Shaggy, Scooby I have to admit, that actually makes sense; I guess if I was in your shoes I would be trying to get my mind off of ghosts or monsters too" Velma commented, while in the front seat Daphne shook her head in disbelief at her colleague's comment.
"Well since that's all settled, let's get back to thinking about happier things," Fred explained, while keeping his eyes on the road.
"Yeah, like our vacation and getting to see the Hex Girls again" Daphne remarked.
"Like yeah, besides those girls could sure rock; hey like that gives me an idea" Shaggy commented.
"What's that Shaggy?" Velma asked.
"I sure liked playing with them at the Oak Haven Autumn Fest concert, maybe they'll even let me sit in on the guitar again or maybe we could all sit in with them on different instruments" Shaggy replied.
"I don't know about Shaggy, it was nice enough of the Hex Girls to get us tickets to the concert, let's not push our luck" Fred remarked while keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
"Like I know, I know; but it would still be cool to be in a band or at least play a band, even temporarily" the cowardly teen replied.
"Shaggy, would you mind if I asked you something?" Velma questioned.
"Sure Velma, like what did you want to know?" Shaggy responded.
"Shaggy, don't take this the wrong way or anything but why are you so interested in music; basically I'm just curious is all" Velma asked.
"It's cool Velma, I don't mind answering; well to tell you the truth I've always liked music, especially listening to it; plus I always really liked listening to my parents' record collection growing up, especially the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, pretty much all the old groovy music from the 60's and 70's" Shaggy replied.
"Wow Shaggy, I didn't realize that's why you liked music, that's pretty cool; actually to be honest I really enjoy all the old rock music too, I mean sure I like classical and maybe a little jazz, but I've always been fascinated by the music of the 60's and 70's and I really enjoy all of it, or most of it at least" Velma answered.
"Like I didn't know you liked rock music Velma, I mean I always thought of you as a classical music lover, but I guess you never can tell with people" Shaggy replied.
"Exactly and that's another thing that both of us have in common; you know I really think we make a great couple Shaggy and I really like that even though the both of us have different personalities, we both enjoy some of the same things, that's what makes us so compatible" Velma answered with a smile.
"Thanks Velma and I agree with you; I think we make a great couple too, like after all just because I eat a lot and you're really smart doesn't mean that we can't get along well; after all, I think our personalities are what make us great" Shaggy replied with a smile.
"Shaggy?" Velma asked.
"What's up Velma?" Shaggy replied.
"Just curious, but is there another reason why you're so interested in music? I mean you said you really enjoy listening to it but I was just curious if that's the only reason why you like music; I mean it's perfectly all right with me if you don't want to answer, but I just thought I would ask" Velma questioned.
"That's cool Velma, I really don't mind answering that question and I'm more than happy to talk about it; to tell you the truth I've actually always wanted to get into the music business either in a band, or as a performer or even as a manager of a group or act, but above all that there's one thing I've always wanted to do in terms of music" Shaggy replied.
"What's that Shaggy?" Velma asked.
"Well, I've always wanted to be a radio disc jockey; I mean it doesn't matter where, it could just be at a small market station like one of the stations in Coolsville for example, I think that would be a great start, I mean starting a radio career in your own home town is pretty cool" Shaggy explained.
"I didn't know you were so interested in radio Shaggy" Fred remarked from the driver's seat while still keeping his hands on the wheel.
"Actually it's been something I've been thinking about for a long time now, plus my family has a connection in the radio business so it should be easy to get my foot in the door, I hope" Shaggy replied.
"You're kidding, Shaggy your family has a connection in the radio business? Who is it, is he somebody who's really well known?" Daphne asked.
"Well, he started out as a local disc jockey in Los Angeles, but actually he's more well known for doing a nationally syndicated countdown show, I think he's done a lot of cartoons and voice over work for commercials too" Shaggy replied.
"Jeepers, I actually know who you're talking about Shaggy and that's really impressive; but how do you and your family know him?" Daphne asked.
"Well, he's a friend of the family on my dad's side; actually he and my dad met in college, plus they took some of the same classes together" Shaggy replied.
"Shaggy, if your dad and this gentleman knew each other in college then how does your family know him now?" Velma asked.
"That's pretty easy to explain Velma, you see he was in town to meet with the management of one of the stations in the local area that carried his syndicated countdown show; then after he met with the management he headed over to a local diner to have lunch, then while he was eating he saw my dad, they remembered each other from college and began talking" Shaggy replied.
"Wow, talk about a small world, so what happened after that Shaggy?" Daphne asked.
"Well, like I said before he and my dad began talking; eventually the conversation shifted to me and what I was doing with my life, my dad told him that my friends and I were detectives, apparently my dad's friend was very impressed and he told my dad that if he ever had a mystery involving the radio business, he would give us a call and we would get a chance to solve the case" Shaggy replied.
"Jinkies, that's a pretty good endorsement for our detective skills, the fact that a world famous disc jockey now has our phone number; so what happened after that Shaggy?" Velma asked.
"Well, he and my dad got to talking about the radio business and I guess he remembered that I said something to him about me wanting to be a disc jockey, so he told my dad that any time I wanted to visit him and any time I wanted to have a tryout as a DJ, he could set up something with some of the people he knows in the radio business, which was really nice of him" Shaggy replied.
"Boy that was pretty nice of him, he must be a pretty nice guy to offer to do that" Velma commented.
"He sure is Velma; you know I really should set up a meeting with him, or at least a lunch or dinner with him" Shaggy replied.
"Shaggy something tells me not only will you be a great DJ, but you'll probably be the hungriest DJ in the world" Velma said, chuckling as she spoke.
"Thanks Velma, I think" Shaggy answered.
"Don't mention it Shaggy, don't mention it" Velma replied.
With that the Mystery Machine continued its travels through the New England region, making a few stops here and there for refueling the group's van, food and a few other assorted side trips to various historic sites and picturesque scenery; finally early on October 29th, the Mystery Machine pulled into Salem, which made Scooby and company quite happy as the Hex Girls concert was scheduled for Halloween night, which gave the members of Mystery Inc. the rest of the 29th, all of the 30th and most of the 31st to do some sightseeing around Salem, some shopping, which made Daphne happy and various other things.
"Well gang, here we are: Salem, in all of it's beauty and splendor" Fred remarked.
"Huh?" the gang, with the obvious exception of Fred asked.
"Never mind, it's something I remember from school" Fred replied.
"I didn't think you paid attention in school Freddie, well with the exception of football and me" Daphne said.
"Oh come on Daph, I actually got decent grades in school; I was on the honor roll for a couple semesters too you know" Fred replied.
"I know you did Freddie, I know" Daphne replied, chuckling a little as she spoke.
"All right Daphne, I get it; you don't believe me, just never mind and let's get to our hotel" Fred said, somewhat exasperatedly.
Daphne shook her head as she sat back in the passenger's seat as Fred guided the Mystery Machine into the city center of Salem, passing by various businesses including quite a few restaurants, hotels and shops as the van made its way towards the gang's hotel in Old Salem; about ten minutes passed as the Mystery Machine drove down a street called Douglas Lane, which was one of the main thoroughfares of the portion of Salem that dated back to Colonial days.
The unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. continued driving the brightly painted van through the streets of old Salem, before Daphne looked out the passenger side window of the van and spotted an old two story stucco building, which looked to be in need of a paint job, although it was apparent to the gang that maybe the building didn't need quite that much of a paint job as they thought, especially since most of the outside of the structure still had a peach color to it, which the gang guess was the building's original color; while the rest of the group marveled at their home away from home for the next few days, Fred guided the Mystery Machine into the parking lot of the building, which appropriately enough was called the Salem Hotel.
Fred then found a parking place for Mystery's Inc.'s official vehicle, which was located underneath what looked to be a large Maple tree, which surprised the gang a little, the reason being that they had no idea their parking spot was going to be so picturesque, however the four mystery solving teenagers and their Great Dane didn't seem to mind as they greatly enjoyed nature and New England seemed to offer plenty of that.
Once the Mystery Machine was parked, each member of the group of sleuths retrieved each piece of the luggage that they had brought with them on their trip, they exited the vehicle and after that Fred locked the doors, making sure no one would steal the Mystery Machine from the parking lot; after pocketing the keys to the van, the five members of Mystery Inc. walked from the parking lot, then around a corner and then up to the main entrance of the spacious hotel.
Scooby Doo and his friends then entered the lobby of the hotel and were amazed at how beautifully decorated the lobby was; to be specific, the lobby featured various paintings on the walls, a few sculptures, a computer with internet connection in the corner of the room and a sofa with a fireplace towards the center of the room; the Great Dane and his companions then ventured up to the front desk where they noticed that no one was there, which distressed at least one member of the gang.
"Hmm, I wonder why there's no one at the front desk?" Daphne asked.
"Good question Daph, but I wouldn't worry about it too much, the hotel staff's probably pretty busy with reservations and preparations for the festival" Fred replied.
"You're probably right Fred, although I wish someone was here, besides us I mean" Daphne remarked.
As the old saying goes: Good things come to those who wait, and for Daphne and the rest of Mystery Inc. that saying was about to come true; while the gang was speaking a brown haired man in his mid forties wearing a long sleeve dark blue shirt, red pants and a green tie walked up to the front desk; apparently he saw the gang entering the lobby because he stood patiently, waiting to help them.
"Sorry about that folks I was just working on something in the back portion of the lobby, my name is Matthew Raymond and I am the front desk clerk and manager of this hotel, how can I help you?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"We have a reservation under the name Blake" Daphne remarked.
The man then walked over to a nearby computer behind the wooden desk and began typing, after about a minute he found the group's reservation and began speaking to the five investigators again.
"Ah here we are: Blake, hmm this is interesting" Mr. Raymond remarked.
"What is it?" Daphne asked.
"Hmm, by any chance is your first name Daphne miss?" Mr. Raymond asked.
"Why yes it is, actually my full name is Daphne Blake and these are my friends: Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers and Scooby Doo" Daphne replied introducing everyone.
"Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma? Hmm, the five of you wouldn't happen to be the famous Mystery Inc. detective agency if I'm not mistaken?" Mr. Raymond asked.
"Like we sure aren't the Rolling Stones" Shaggy replied with a chuckle.
"Ah yes, you five must be in town for the Salem Halloween Festival correct?" Mr. Raymond asked.
"That's right" Daphne replied.
"Hmm, I would also guess that you're in town to see the Hex Girls perform in concert, correct?" Mr. Raymond wondered.
"Yes, they're old friends of ours but how did you know all that?" Velma asked.
"They checked in yesterday and they mentioned you five specifically by name; they also asked me to tell you what room they're in" Mr. Raymond began, however he stopped in mid-sentence as he went through a small stack of papers until finding the one that he was looking for.
"Ah yes, they mentioned to tell the five of you that they're staying in Room 213 which is on the second floor of the hotel, oh and they also wanted to meet with the five of you before they perform in a couple of days" Mr. Raymond continued.
"Sounds good" Daphne replied.
"Now as for your reservation, you wanted two rooms correct?" Mr. Raymond asked.
"That's right" Daphne replied.
"Very well, here are your room keys: you'll be staying in rooms 211 and 212, which are also on the second floor of the hotel" Mr. Raymond commented.
"Thank you sir, it's sure hard to believe that we haven't seen the Hex Girls in six years and it will sure be great to spend some time with them" Daphne replied.
"Yes, that all does sound very nice; hopefully the five of you will have a good time here and you will have a good stay while you're in Salem" Mr. Raymond commented.
"Thank you sir and we will" Fred said while his red headed companion had taken out one of her credit cards and paid for the gang's hotel rooms.
Once the gang paid for their rooms, the members of Mystery Inc. left the lobby and walked down the hallway in the main floor of the hotel; a few minutes later the gang had walked to the end of the hallway and stood in front of an elevator, once Fred pushed the up button for the elevator the group of teenage sleuths waited for it to come back down to the first floor, which it did a few minutes later.
With that Scooby Doo and company entered the elevator, once inside Daphne pushed the button for the second floor, which meant that the gang had to wait a few moments to arrive on the second floor, which they did a few minutes later; the distinctive sound of the elevator bell signified that the members of Mystery Inc. had arrived on the correct floor of their hotel, which meant that the gang had to exit the elevator, which they did.
Once on the second floor, Scooby and company went in search of their respective rooms; after a few minutes of searching, the gang found the two rooms marked 211 and 212, and were quite surprised to discover that they were right across the hall from each other, which made the group of teenage sleuths quite happy as whenever they stayed in a hotel they would always try and get rooms close to one another, just in case the five sleuths needed to leave quickly to investigate a mystery, or something similar.
"Jeepers, what a great bit of luck, huh Freddie?" Daphne asked, looking over at her blond companion.
"Yeah I'll say, looks like none of us will be too far out of reach on this trip; so, should we decide who should stay in which room?" Fred responded.
"Sounds good; what do you say we just go with our regular arrangement: Daphne and I in one room and then Shaggy, Fred and Scooby in the other?" Velma suggested.
"Perfect, although maybe we should check each of the rooms out, just to make sure which one would be best for each group?" Daphne commented.
"Good thinking Daphne, why don't we start with 211?" Fred asked.
"Okay, sounds a plan to me" Daphne replied.
With that Fred took out the key for room 211 and opened the door, when the door opened each member of the gang whistled in approval at the sight of their accommodations, which looked quite comfortable to say the least; the room was painted in what looked to be a light blue color, had two queen size beds, a TV/DVD player and various furniture including a sofa along with a table and chairs.
"Jeepers, what a cool room, it almost reminds me of home, I wonder if all the rooms are like this?" Daphne remarked with a curious look on her face.
"Well, there's only one way to find out: let's check room 212 and see what it looks like" Fred replied.
So the gang made the short trip across the hall to the other room that was theirs for the next few days, although after Fred opened the door the gang stood at the doorway to the room with their mouths hanging open; they were amazed to say the least that the room was almost identical to the other room, which made them a little confused as they thought that each hotel room would be different.
"Jinkies, I don't get it, why are our two hotel rooms so similar to one another? I mean it's scientifically impossible that this could happen, or could it?" Velma wondered.
"Like Velma, does it really matter? I mean we're here and we're healthy, plus we're going to go see the Hex Girls perform in concert in a few days so if I were you I wouldn't worry too much about it" Shaggy replied.
"I guess you're right Shaggy, okay I won't stress about it" Velma said as she looked at Shaggy and smiled.
"Thanks Velma, I knew there was a reason that we decided to start dating" Shaggy replied with a smile of his own.
"Well gang, since we know both of our rooms are about the same, how are we going to decide who's going to stay in which room?" Fred asked.
"I know, why don't Velma and I stay in room 211 and Fred, you, Shaggy and Scooby stay in room 212" Daphne explained.
"Good idea Daphne, come on Shaggy and Scooby let's get settled in our room" Fred replied.
"Okay Fred, we're right behind you" Shaggy said as he grabbed the pieces of luggage that belonged to him, while Fred and Scooby took care of the blond teenager's suitcases; the gang's Great Dane didn't really have that much luggage to speak of, actually all his belongings were included with Shaggy's bags, which made sense because it was much easier for the pair to keep their luggage together, partly because it made for easier travel that way.
Meanwhile Daphne and Velma gathered their bags and walked into their bedroom; once inside their bedroom, the two girls placed their luggage in front of the two beds in the room, after that was done the two ladies sat on their respective beds and decided to relax for a while; after a few minutes however, Daphne walked over to the window and discovered that the girls room had quite a lovely view of a small park near the hotel, which the red head was quite impressed with.
"Jeepers, Velma take a look at this view, it's beautiful!" Daphne declared.
On Daphne's urging, Velma walked over to join her comrade at the window and discovered that the room indeed had quite an impressive view; the red head and the brown haired intelligent teen peered through the window and saw that the small park featured several benches as well as a couple of walking trails in addition to several trees which whose green leaves were changing colors into various shades of red, orange and yellow.
"I have to agree Daphne, that park is quite lovely; who knows maybe Shaggy and Fred will want to have a nice picnic there while we're here, what do you think Daphne?" Velma asked.
"Actually if we have time while we're here, that might not be such a bad idea Velma" Daphne replied.
"You're welcome Daphne; so any idea on what we should do next?" Velma asked.
"Hmm, you know I don't have much of an idea either, why don't we go see what the guys want to do?" Daphne inquired.
"That might work, do you think they're busy?" Velma remarked,
"Maybe, or maybe not, let's go see them and find out" Daphne replied.
So Daphne and Velma walked across the hallway to Fred, Shaggy and Scooby's room and decided to see what their companions were doing; Daphne then knocked on the door of room 211 and waited for a few seconds, soon the door opened and Fred smiled as he saw who was standing in the doorway.
"Hi Daphne, what's up?" Fred asked.
"Not much Freddie, where's Shaggy and Scooby?" Daphne replied.
"Like we're over here Daphne" Shaggy remarked as her gaze shifted to a table on the other side of the room, where the cowardly teen and his Great Dane were sitting; at the moment the pair were looking over a local phone book, specifically the restaurant section.
Somewhat curious, Velma decided to walk over to the table and stood over Shaggy and Scooby as they looked at the phone book; the intelligent young woman chuckled a bit and then shook her head as she watched the pair pour over the several pages of eating establishments in the Salem area.
"Like hi Velma, what's up?" Shaggy said, looking up from the phone book for a few moments to see his girlfriend's smiling face.
"Oh not much, Daphne and I were just chatting in our room a few minutes ago, and we were trying to figure out what to do now that we're settled" Velma replied.
"Hmm, like that sounds promising; did the two of you decide on anything?" Shaggy asked.
"Not really, but we're still thinking" Velma replied.
"Hey, I have an idea: why don't we go back downstairs and ask the front desk clerk about the sites around Salem?" Fred suggested.
"Great idea Freddie, since we haven't been here a while maybe there's something that we'll like" Daphne replied.
"Okay, so we're all agreed, we'll head downstairs and ask the desk clerk what we should see" Fred remarked.
"Right!" the rest of the gang replied in unison.
After agreeing on their plan of action, Scooby and company walked down the hallway and towards the second floor elevator; after about five or ten minutes and after they had entered the elevator Mystery Inc. walked through the main floor of the hotel, heading for the lobby; however back upstairs in the hallway that contained the gang's rooms, a small black plume of smoke appeared and when it dissolved a strange figure where a long black cloak could be seen, that is if there was anyone in the hallway to see it.
The cloaked figure's face was obscured by a black colored hood, although if someone saw him they probably wouldn't recognize him to begin with; however, even though he was unrecognizable he seemed to be pleased about something, in fact as he stood in the hallway it looked like he was planning something, and although they didn't know it at the time what the figure was planning could mean danger for Scooby Doo and company, including quite possibly the beginning of yet another mystery.
"Ah excellent, those meddlers are here at last and once I'm done with them, nothing will stop me from taking my revenge" the figure remarked before laughing evilly and disappearing once again in a plume of smoke.
Author's Notes: I included a reference to one of the past voices of one of the characters on the show as well as a reference to the most recent Scooby Doo series; I think it would be interesting to see just how many people catch this reference and can correctly identify it. If you can identify it correctly, include your answer in a review or PM and I'll include your name in a future chapter's author's notes or something similar.