Thanks everyone for reviewing on my last story. Your reviews have inspired me to start writing this story way earlier than I had intended to. Just warning you, I'm not too sure where this is going. I have a pretty good idea but, as I've said before, I just write whatever happens to pop into my head at the moment. I'd like to give a special thanks to Hollie who provided me with the idea for this story. Also, LadyStrength's ideas will be mentioned later on. Well, anyway, here you go! Enjoy!

Chapter 1 A Threat in the Books

Fred Jones, the tall blonde leader of a local group of teenage detectives, walked down the halls of Coolsville High. He ignored the flirting girls who were attempting to approach him and walked toward the locker of one of his best friends. As he reached his destination, Daphne Blake looked up, flipping her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Hey, Fred," she greeted with a smile, causing his heart to beat abnormally fast.

"Hi, Daph," he responded, grinning back. Despite the fact that Fred had made attempts to make his feelings known, the two of them were still just friends. Every time he got up the nerve to do or say something, they were interrupted. He was starting to wonder if this was some sort of sign that they would never be together.

Daphne had opened her mouth to say something to him, but was cut off as a familiar red-haired bully approached. James "Red" Herring had maintained a reputation as a rather cruel, tough guy. Fred and Red were well-known adversaries. Their feud had started nearly ten years earlier, and, though each had changed a lot since then, neither was willing to forgive the other and stop the hatred. Recently, Red had been making an effort to talk to Fred and Daphne more, though they were still unaware of the reasons for this sudden outreach.

"What do you want, Red?" Fred asked, glaring at the boy.

Red snickered at Fred's obvious hatred. "Just thought I'd come by and see how you guys are doing," he responded with mock-innocence. He turned his attention to Daphne. "Do you want to hang out or something after school today?"

Fred clenched his fists and locked his jaw.

"Sorry, I can't," Daphne lied. "Fred and I were going to go over to Shaggy's house."

"How about tomorrow?" Red asked hopefully.

Daphne bit her lip, not wanting to sound too mean. She decided to tell Red the truth. "Look, Red, you're a really great guy and all, but I can't. I kind of have...feelings for someone else," she said quietly, never allowing herself to glance back at Fred and analyze his reaction. Instead, her gaze remained focused on the red-haired boy in front of her.

Red looked disheartened for a brief moment. Then, everything seemed to change as he realized who Daphne's heart must actually belong to. "Fine," he muttered, walking past her toward Fred. "But if you think this is over, Jones, you're wrong," he added threateningly to the blonde. Red stormed away, leaving Daphne and Fred standing there awkwardly. As the bully left, he passed a familiar scrawny kid and a nerdy girl.

Velma Dinkley, the smartest member of Mystery, Inc., was getting books from her locker as Shaggy Rogers stood over her.

"So, like, Velma," Shaggy said to her, "did you watch 'Warehouse 13' last night?"

"Warehouse 13" was their favorite show, and, though they knew it was geeky to be watching it, they did anyway. It also provided an easy way to get a conversation started between the two. The episode from the previous night had made a special impact on Velma. There was one line where the main character was doubting herself. "I'm not the pretty one," she had said. "My sister is." Velma sighed in remembrance, feeling that this was the story of her life.

"Yeah, I saw it," she replied thoughtfully. "I really liked it."

Shaggy detected the sadness in her tone. He wondered why talking about their favorite TV show could possibly upset her. Then, it hit him. "Oh, Velms, you think, like, totally think you're Myka," he said. "You think that Madelyn is, like, the pretty one and you're not." He took her silence as confirmation. "No," he told her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Velma, you may not know this, but you are, like, totally gorgeous."

Velma looked up at him and smiled. Shaggy always knew what to say when she was feeling down. "Thanks," she said softly. Then, Velma felt a sudden burst of bravery and she leaned forward, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I have to go to class," she muttered lamely before walking away, leaving him alone and smiling.

Later that day, Shaggy caught up to Fred in the halls.

"Like, dude, you'll never guess what happened," he said excitedly, though Fred didn't look the least bit interested.

"What?" Fred asked shortly, obviously upset. He realized that his tone had offended his friend. "I'm sorry, Shaggy. It's just that Red came up and asked Daphne out, but she said no, claiming that she has 'feelings for someone else.' That means I have no chance," he groaned. "It means that she doesn't care about me." He looked down at his feet as he scuffed the floor with his shoes.

Shaggy chuckled, causing Fred to look up, confused, for he had no idea what could possibly be so funny about his current situation. "What if, like, you're the dude Daphne likes? It's possible."

Fred mulled over this new idea. He wasn't willing to give himself too much false hope, but the mere thought of that being true was enough to lift his spirits. He smiled and recalled the reason his lanky friend had come to see him in the first place. "Oh, right, Shaggy, didn't you have something you wanted to tell me?"

Shaggy struggled to remember what he had to say. "Oh, yeah," he said. "So Velma was, like, feeling kind of depressed and I cheered her up, and she totally kissed me, like, right on the cheek. That has to mean something, right?"

Fred grinned at his friend's enthusiasm over the brilliant girl. "Of course," he responded cheerily. Fred was actually making this up, for he truly had no idea if it was significant or not. The girl that had become important in his life was so confusing that he now had no idea as to what meant something and what didn't anymore.

After school, the gang stayed late to help Velma do some research in the library. They were having a rather fun time, considering where they were.

Fred was walking down an isle, searching for a particular book that he was unable to find. He looked over to see that Daphne had joined him on his quest. The two of them were so absorbed in their search that they almost didn't notice when a third figure appeared at the end of the row. The person was ghostly pale, a great contrast to his jet black hair. His eyes were abnormally bright green and his lips were a bloody red color. He wore dark clothes and a black cape. But the thing that stuck out to Fred and Daphne the most were his fangs, two long, sharp, white fangs.

"Leave here at once," the figure commanded them menacingly, his voice only a low hiss. There was a puff of smoke and he vanished, leaving Fred and Daphne alone once more, now fearing this new threat.

They rushed back to their friends and quickly explained that they had seen a strange creature while looking for a book.

"Jinkies! What was it?" Velma asked.

Fred and Daphne glanced at each other before simultaneoulsy replying, "A vampire."