Chapter 1

Amherst, New York

Late at night, along a dark street stood an abandoned house. The other houses surrounding it have families living in them, but this house hadn't been lived in for over twenty years; which made it the perfect place for teenagers to sneak in and play pranks on each other and tell scary stories.

And other things.

"Tommy!" The girl gasped, pinned against the wall as her boyfriend kissing her neck, he chuckled at her reaction. "Should we even be in here?" She asked. "It's fine Rachel." He said, he looked up into her eyes, "Nobody's seen her in years." He said, darkly. "Seen who?" Rachel asked. "The ghost." Tommy teased; Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Thomas, there are no such things as ghosts!" She said stubbornly.

"There is," Tommy began, "And she's in this house; the ghost of Emma Henderson." He said, Rachel shook her head, "Emma Henderson?" She asked, not buying Tommy's 'scary' ghost story at all.

"Her husband murdered her and hid her body somewhere in this house. Emma's ghost has been haunting this house ever since…. BOO!" He exclaimed, Rachel screamed, she slapped Tommy's shoulder, "That's not funny Tommy!" She exclaimed

"It was a little bit funny." He said, lowering his lips down to her neck. Rachel closed her eyes, relishing the feeling.

She shivered, not because of Tommy but something else. She had the strangest feeling that she was being watched, like there was another presence in the room with them, and her hands suddenly became colder and colder.

Rachel slowly opened her eyes; "Tommy, Tommy!" She exclaimed, slapping his arm and he pulled away. "What?" He asked, then he turned to see what Rachel was looking at.

A woman was standing behind them.

"What do you want? Can't you see we're busy here?" Tommy asked, annoyed at the disturbance.

"Tommy." Rachel whispered, nervously, "Look." She said.

They could see the wall on the other side of the room, through the woman's pale figure. "Help me." She said in an eerie whisper, which sent shivers down the spines of the two terrified teens.

Tommy grabbed Rachel's hand and they ran out of the house.


Buffalo, New York – 2 days later

"I'm sorry Daph, I've done everything I can." The mechanic said, "It can't be fixed."

Daphne ran her hand through her hair, she looked at her red BMW Z4, which her first car. She bought it after she passed her driving test nearly 8 years ago, but it just wasn't safe to drive anymore.

Daphne's car had been making strange noises for the last few weeks, on top of all the other problems it had; sometimes it wouldn't start, it once had an oil leak and the bulbs needed changing more often than they should.

Fred had been trying to convince Daphne to get a new car for weeks, she insisted that it was fine, but deep down, she knew it wasn't.

She agreed to take it to Fred's cousin Jack, who was a mechanic, hoping he could fix it.

Fred felt bad for Daphne, though he knew he was right about her needing a new car, he couldn't imagine any other van replacing the Mystery Machine.

"Thanks for your help, Jack." Fred said.

"I'll buy it." Jack said, wiping his oily hands on a rag, "I have a buddy who'll take it and recycle some of the parts." He said. "How much will you take it for?" Fred asked. "You said you bought it second hand?" Jack asked, Daphne nodded.

Jack looked at the car, "I'll buy it for $3000." He said.

Daphne thought about it; it was an old car with a few problems, and she did buy it second hand. What were the chances that anyone else would take it for this much?

"Alright." She said, Jack smiled, and he wrote Daphne a $3000 cheque. Daphne gave him the keys and she and Fred climbed into the Mystery Machine.

"I need to look for a new car." She said. "I know, I've been telling you that for months." Fred said, teasingly. "Yes, ok you were right." She said, Fred laughed. "I always am." He said, Daphne rolled her eyes.

"But we're getting married and I don't want to spend loads of money on a car and have nothing left for our wedding." She said, Fred took her hand. "I know, but we haven't set a date yet." He said.

"I know." She said, then she smiled "We should probably pick a date soon; your mom wants to start planning the wedding." She said. "I'm sure she does." He smiled.

The Mystery Machine pulled into the parking space outside their office.

Shaggy and Scooby were deciding what to get for lunch; they usually go to Subway across the road, but a new burger bar just opened down the street.

"Like, why don't we just get both, Scoob." Shaggy said. "Good idea!" Scooby exclaimed.

Daphne and Fred stepped into the office, "How did it go at the mechanic?" Shaggy asked. "I don't have a car anymore." Daphne said, hanging her coat on the hook. "That bad, huh?" Shaggy asked. "Yep." Daphne said, she and Fred sat on the couch.

"We're going t'get some lunch, you guys hungry?" Shaggy asked.

The door opened and the two teenagers stepped into the office. "We need your help." Tommy said. "What is it?" Shaggy asked, "Are you guys ok?"

"We've seen a ghost!" Rachel exclaimed, the gang exchanged looks, "We went to the police, but they don't believe us."

"Why are you coming to us and not a 'ghost' specialist?" Velma asked, standing from her desk. "We know you guys were into this kind of thing before you became detectives." Tommy said. "And, we think it might have something to do with a murder." Rachel said, "Tommy was telling a ghost story in an old house the other night, it was about a woman who was murdered by her husband and buried in the house." She said. "We think we saw the woman, she said 'help me'."

"Thanks for letting us know guys, we'll look into it." Daphne said. Rachel pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and scribbled her phone number onto it, giving it to Daphne, then she and Tommy left.

"Are we actually going to believe this?" Velma asked, "Ghosts aren't real."

Daphne picked up the phone and dialled the police station downtown.

"Velma, like how can you say ghosts aren't real?" Shaggy asked, "We've dealt with cat-creatures, aliens, the Loch Ness Monster, witches and even like, the ghost of a witch." He said.

"I just spoke to an officer at the station," Daphne said, "Tommy and Rachel did go down there and report a ghost in an old house, and they went to the police station in Amherst. Obviously, the police didn't believe them, and they were told that if they came back with another nonsense story, they'd be arrested."

Fred grabbed his laptop and began a search into the history of the house, "Hey, they weren't wrong about the murder." He said, the gang gathered around him. "A woman named Emma Henderson was murdered by her ex-husband Anthony Grayson back in 1994." Fred said, "But her body was never found."

"Search for Anthony Grayson." Velma said, Fred began typing as Velma hurried over to the whiteboard and wrote EMMA HENDERSON in a thick whiteboard pen and drew a circle around it.

"On January 14th, 1994, Anthony Grayson was arrested for domestic violence offenses against his wife, Emma Grayson. Emma chose not to press charges but instead filed a restraining order and a divorce." Fred read; Velma quickly scribbled on the board. "On January 23rd, 1994, the divorce was final, Emma Henderson had full ownership of the house and Grayson stayed in a hotel a few blocks from his work."

"On February 1st, 1994, a missing person's report was filed by one of Emma Henderson's colleagues after she failed to turn up to work for three days." Fred said.

"The police searched Emma's house, there was no sign of a break in but clearly evidence of a struggle inside the house and spots of blood." Fred said, scrolling through the page as Velma scribbled on the whiteboard.

"The police sent in cadaver dogs who picked up the scent of decomposition, the blood that they'd found in the house belonged to Emma and they were certain that she had died in the house. Grayson claims he did not kill Emma and he doesn't know where her body is. Her body is still missing."

"So, Emma died in the house." Shaggy said, "But if there was no sign of a break in then someone like, had t'be in the house with her or had a key." He said.

"Yes, the detectives interrogated Anthony Grayson who said Emma had taken his key after he was arrested, but they didn't believe him they said that they had no proof that Emma had taken the key so Grayson could have disposed of it." Fred said.

"But there are no other suspects?" Daphne asked, leaning over Fred's shoulder to read the document, Fred shook his head.

"Until Emma's body is found, the case remains open." Fred said.

"Ok, I must agree, that it is an interesting case, and maybe we should investigate." Velma said, "Is there a picture of Emma?" She asked.

"Yes." Fred says, Velma went back to the gang and looked at the laptop; Emma had long, dark hair and dark eyes, with a gentle smile. She was tall and slim.

"What happened to the house when Grayson was sentenced?" Velma asked. "It's been up for sale once, but it's been named 'The Murder House' and nobody will buy it, so it's been vacant since 1994." Fred said.

"Emma's sister Maria lives in Castile, it's only an hour away." Velma said. "Ok, Daph and I will speak to her, have you got her address?" Fred asked, Velma nodded and scribbled it onto a piece of paper from her notepad.

Daphne picked up her notepad, then she and Fred headed for Castile.