Forever
If I had known all of this, I would have never let anyone take on the mystery in the very first place. It was my entire fault, and anything I do now could not bring my Fiancée, Daphne Blake, back to life.
She is only 23 years old back then, an age when a woman should be out, enjoying life, and not lying dead and cold, in a coffin. I have proposed to her just on her 23rd birthday, hoping to spend the rest of my life with her, to take care of her, and to share her deepest secrets.
Daphne was the most wonderful person that I had ever met, although not everyone agrees so. But in a person's eyes, their dearest was... perfect. Nothing would have changed that. I remembered all the wishes that she had made with me, the dreams she would like to fulfill. I even remembered that she said she wanted two kids, a boy and a girl, and shower them with love. But she will never be able to complete them now, never...
I could still remember that fateful day clearly, as if it was only yesterday. An old woman had called us on a terrible creature terrorizing her house, and she wanted us to help her solve the mystery. However, she warned us that it would be very dangerous.
I had jumped at the chance, saying that if we had solved it, we would be famous. Ha. Stupid choice. It was a choice I had regretted forever, and wished that I had not been so naïve. It was all too late now...
After we had arrived at her house, the creature showed up almost too soon and grabbed Daphne and went off to the roof with her. He showed his face to us. Red Herring, the rival that I had the bitterest quarrels and the roughest fights. Red had lured us here. Mystery Inc. had put him in prison a few years ago for murder and he wanted revenge, on me. He escaped from prison and carried out his plan. I had fell for it.
Red doesn't want to kill me; he just wanted me to see someone I loved die before my very eyes. He chose Daphne. Red jumped off the building, pulling Daphne with him. I could still remember everything that had happened.
"Fred Jones! Aren't you stupid? You can't even protect your fiancée! Talk about catching criminals!" Red leered at me. "Let go of Daphne! It is me you want! Can't we just talk this over?" I tried to persuade Red to let go of Daphne, but apparently it seemed to make him angrier.
"It is all your fault Jones! You and your meddling friends have ruined my life with all your meddling crime solving. I had a bright future ahead of me! It is your entire fault! Now I am going to ruin your life as well!" Red cried, and let out an evil laugh.
He pushed Daphne down from the roof. But in the process, Daphne pulled him along as well. The trio went tumbling from the roof, Daphne screaming all the way. I could still remember the scream clearly. She had wanted me to protect her, and I have failed. A huge crash was heard barely moments later.
We dashed downstairs and rushed to Daphne. She was lying in a pool of blood and obviously not looking very good. Red was dead, his eyes open and lips curled upwards into a smirk. He had achieved his goal. He had ruined my life before he dies.
We rushed Daphne to the hospital in the quickest possible time. It was of no help, however. The doctor told us to prepare for the worst. That's it.
From that moment on, my perfect life was gone, crumbled. All the hopes, dreams, aspirations, everything had all vanished into thin air. Daphne was everything to me, and the thought of her leaving me forever sent chills down my spine. I prayed all night, hoping that a miracle would happen. Daphne was a very kind and caring person. She doesn't deserve to die to early! It is not her time yet!
However, the prayers didn't do any good. Daphne was pronounced brain-dead by the next morning. Velma fainted. Shaggy and Scooby put their arms round each other, trying to search for peace in the mangled minds.
We went to Daphne's room. She lay there, so still and calm that I almost thought she was sleeping. Her life-supporting machine was at her side, seeing her through her last lap in life.
All of us decided to let Daphne go in peace. The only to do so, is to turn off the life-supporting machine. This is almost the same as... killing her. But everyone knew that she was barely holding on and all agreed to let her go.
The day when it happened, I was the one to turn the machine off. It was so painful, as if someone had taken a knife and stabbed you over and over again. I turned off the switch. The power supply to the machine stopped. A few moments later, Daphne's head fell limply to one side. Everyone in the room burst into tears.
Daphne's funeral was quite a big affair. I found some peace and quiet while busied myself with all the chores. I was aching inside, badly. No one had the sense to bother me. Because if they do, I am bound to cling to them and let my tears flow like the river.
As we lowered her coffin into her hole that was dug, I suddenly wanted to grab the coffin and never let it go. For I know that once her coffin is buried over, I will have acknowledge that she is dead, she is never coming back. But I did nothing. All I do is to stand there and watch the coffin being covered up with earth.
A few months later, everything seemed to return to normal. However, it is not. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby all knew that Mystery Inc. would never be the same without Daphne again. It is incomplete.
By now, Daphne was almost gone for about 30 years already. I am already an old man of 54. Shaggy and Velma have long since married and Scooby sadly passed away 20 years ago. However, I am still a lonely bachelor, as I know, I could never love anyone else like how I have loved Daphne.
If she had lived, we would have married long ago and our children would have grown up by now. Our grandchildren would probably crawl up to us, calling our names. However, life is not always perfect, and I had experienced it in a hard way.
"Daphne? Do you still remember me?" I longed to ask her. One thing I know is that no matter where she is, she would be alive to me, because she will always live in my heart, forever.