The world was dark.

Lifting her head up, Velma was slow to looking about. She was trying to wake up enough to remember how to use her eyes properly. Blinking one, then the other eye, she realized her glasses were slightly askew on her nose. Unfolding her arms, she seemed to had fallen asleep on them. Covering a yawn with one hand, she fixed her glasses with the other. Running her hand down her face, she noticed a slight dampness on it. Trying to stare at her fingers in the darkness, she finally woke up enough to remember that she was sitting right by a light.

Reaching with one hand, she fumbled around for a bit before her fingers found the little knob at the back of her light. Flinching against the sudden brightness, Velma was finally able to notice what she had done.

"Great... Daphne would kill to get a shot of me drooling on myself in my sleep. I can just see the news... Brain child, found drooling all over her arm as she saves the world. News at Eleven."

Grumbling to herself, she was happy her best friend was no where nearby to get a shot of her awkward awakening. (That and she hated cameras.) Nor was Shaggy nearby to make the 'world' comment. He had been taking to calling her papers to NASA, as saving the world. While some of her ideas had been improvements to things that will help people do things better, they were mostly concept ideas and nothing that would be made until many years later. But try explaining that to the laid back beatnik.

Twisting around in her chair, she wondered where the others were, anyway. Tilting her head slightly to the roof above her head, she listened for any movement. Waiting a few moments, she didn't hear any clear signs of the others. Curious, she pushed off her chair and got to her feet. Counting the beams that ran the ceiling, she wandered off in one direction to end up right under the kitchen. Turning her head almost sideways, she listened to the floor above her. Seconds ticked by, and still there was nothing.

"Hm... The guys must be out." Velma commented, not totally surprised. The guys weren't always in the kitchen, but did tend to be there when they were home. That or the living room. Turning on a heel, she looked at the beams again and made her way over to the under side of the living room. But that too was quiet.

"Maybe they went outside. Or for some reason, were upstairs." She guessed, not sure what they would be doing upstairs. But, she never knew.

Heading for the stairs, Velma made sure to turn off her light before going up the basement stairs. Counting the fifteen stairs out of habit, she made it to the top landing that meant she had reached the first floor. Peeking her head out, she listened for a second. Still not hearing anything, she moved out of the basement and out into the hallway. One way lead towards her own room, but the kitchen was closer. Making her way over to the door, she placed an ear to it. Hearing no movement, or flying food... She felt it safe to poke her head inside. The duo was no where to be found, but that might not mean too much. Pushing her way inside, she gave a bit of a look around.

The kitchen had been fully decked out to suit the hungry duo. Looking more like a professional kitchen then one that belonged to a normal house, as it had every kind of appliance imaginable. Especially a fully decked out dual oven, and build in grill/skillet in one wall. Heading over to it, Velma held her hand over the flat metal surface. Licking a finger, she tapped it upon the metal. It was warm, but not too much to burn her finger. Shifting her head in one direction, she noticed that the double sink nearby was a bit fuller then normal. But the counters were cleared off, and showed no signs of being used recently. So, she figured that they had been there earlier, but had left a while ago. They usually went for a walk after they ate a big meal, but saved the dishes for once they had come back.

"I wonder what time it is..." Peering out one of the windows, she couldn't really get a good look at where the sun was in the sky, nor had any of her usual markings to help her tell. So she cheated. Shooting a glance to the microwave (one of four that sat in the room), she found that it was getting later in the afternoon.

"Hm, it's 4:37. So was that the guys lunch lunch, or after midday lunch? Ugh, they need to make me a schedule for these kinds of movements." Rubbing her temple with one hand, she fought off a headache from trying to recall the two's eating habits. She could easily recall countless decimal points in the equation of Pi, but trying to keep track of Shaggy and Scooby's eating schedules was beyond her.

"Alright, so the guys are probably out... But where is Daph and Fred?"

She hadn't heard any traces of them either. Using the door that connected the kitchen to the dinning room, she moved towards the living room. Pushing the doors apart, she wandered into the main room of the house. But the TV was silent, and Daph's stereo set sat silent as well. Though unlike the kitchen, there was nothing she could tell the heat off of, in order to tell if it had been using recently. Maybe back in the way, but the new flat screens had very little heat input, in comparison. And the various chairs and couches that sat about the room around her, showed no clear sign that they had been there. Unlike when she tends to leave the living room suddenly; the others could easily tell, as Velma had a habit of putting her book in her favorite spot till she came back.

Running a hand along her favorite arm rest, next to her spot, she looked around the corner towards the second floor. She had made a circle on the first floor, coming back to the first hallway she had come upon after the basement. On one side was the kitchen and the basement stairs... On the other was her room, and the upstairs. Shaggy and Scooby's room, and a simple closet sat in the middle-ish of the hallway, but both were hardly used, so she didn't think to check there. Well, unless it had been night, and the guys were passed out till morning.

Grabbing the railing, Velma pulled herself upstairs and towards Fred and Daphne's rooms upstairs. Once upstairs, that floor seemed to have the same problem as the one below. No one was home. Fred's room, as usual, was immaculate. Nothing out of place, and very few clues that she might be able to get at a quick glance. Sure, she could easily find out various bits of information had she gone through it, but she didn't need to know that badly, where they had gone. Daphne's room was the total opposite, but it still didn't give her any clues. It just looked like the other woman had gotten into another argument with her blankets and sheets, and they lost. A pile on the floor told that tale. That and the one poor sheet, that had been thrown across the room in anger. Other then the mangled bed, the rest of the room was pretty clean. But the bed made it seem worse then it was.

"Looks like they aren't here either..." Velma pouted, wondering where they could have gone.

Looking towards the storage rooms that sat upstairs, she doubted anyone was in there. And a quick listen, didn't turn up anything either.

Heading downstairs, Velma didn't know what to do with herself. Looking up, she noticed her room. But this time, she noticed something off from her door that she didn't catch earlier. Moving towards it, she found a small note attached to it with some tape. Plucking the note off her door, she moved to the living room and her favorite spot.

Settling in the dip that she had made over many reading sessions, she got herself comfortable before looking the piece of paper over. The recognizable script on the front, was clearly Daphne's. The loops translated into her own name; Velma.

"Dear Velma." She spoke aloud, seeing as no one was around to really mind.

"Dear Velma. We all didn't want to bother you as you had been napping, so we left you this note if you woke up before anyone get's back."

"Yep, like' we'll be back later." Came some added scribble in green, which Velma chuckled at. Shaggy had stolen the paper to add his own words on the page. And it was clear to tell it was his, as Daphne wrote in purple, and Shaggy's wobbly writing was in green. It was also amusing to add in Shaggy s classic likes to her own speech. It sounded so natural for him, but her saying it aloud was funny. The green letters stopped, and the loopy purple took over to pick up where she had left off.

"Anyway, I ran into an old girlfriend from High School. I don't know if you remember Jewel? But she invited me to lunch, and I totally forgot about it, till she called to make sure I was coming."

Thinking about it, Velma tried to recall the name. But in High School, Velma had an easier time recalling the teachers names, then any students. She had made friends with them, easier then she had with any of her fellow students. It didn't help that she had jumped grades so much... so there was no one her own age in her class. Not that age made too much difference to her, but mental age... that was another story. And High School wasn't really full of that either.

"Me and like' Scoob, have to drop something off somewhere. And then we had plans to go on our walk. So we might be like' the first people back. I hope you have a good nap."

Shaggy interrupted Daphne's script again, making Velma smile. Only Shaggy would tell her to have a good nap. Not that the others didn't care, but he was an advocate for naps all around. While the two never really fell to the urge for a food coma, (Like she could be partial too; if the food had been particularly filling, and well made to please her pallet. Sure, she knew the particular compounds of food that would make one tend to be more susceptible to getting tired, but nothing was like a good meal and great company. That would easily make one content and sleepy.) There was nothing better then resting after a good meal. And to the duo, most meals were 'good' enough.

Shaking her head at her thoughts of the two, she turned back to the note to see the writing change again. It had to be Fred. Probably given a gel pen blue, he wrote his note in addition to the others.

"Brent and the guys invited me over. Something about watching some football they had recorded from the last game, or something. And they wanted me to come, knowing I probably missed it. Since everyone was occupied, I figured I would finally take them up on their offer. I probably won't be gone too long. Well, as long as the game takes."

Eyes widening, Velma wasn't sure what to think. She never really saw Fred for being a big Football fan. Sure, he did watch the game when Daphne did (who had her team favorites, and not all the time based on their color schemes... But mostly) but she normally found Daph far louder then the guys in the room. And Shaggy tended to come and watch as well, but he would watch anything that tended to require food as a must. Same for Scooby. If food was there, so was he.

"Well, darn." Velma found herself alone in the house. Leaning her head against the back of the couch, she stared at the ceiling.

"Daphne will probably gone most of the day... Depending on how many stories Jewel and her have to catch up on, and want to reminisce about. Shaggy and Scooby might be back soon, but at the same time might end up spending the rest of the day at the park for their walk. They'll probably be back at least for dinner. And Fred..."

Knotting her brows, she tried to recall how long a football game lasted. Her mind searched for the information, but came up with too many numbers. It all depended on if it was college, or professional... and how well the people played. Sometimes it could go on forever...

"Ok, Fred's lost for the rest of the evening. He might be back in time for dinner, but probably not. Sigh... Now what to do with myself."

Finding herself her only companion, she usually liked it that way. But there was something about waking up to a silent house, and made her uneasy. She was used to the noise, in the background. Daphne playing her music, or Fred watching one of his shows. And Shaggy and Scooby were always about and talking. It was that background noise, that she did some of her best thinking and work. Having become so used to them being there. But that wasn't the case now. The house felt a lot larger and emptier.

"Bah!"

Getting annoyed, she needed out. Hopping off the couch, she wandered to her room to grab the book she had been working on reading. Snatching it up, she made a beeline for the backyard. At least with the wind and the outside, it would give her more noise to stop reminding her that she was alone for the next while.

Closing the door behind her, she made her way over to her favorite spot in the backyard. The hammock. Stopping to look at it, it had become worn in all the right places. It had to have been one of her favorite purchases in the last while, as the whole gang seemed to enjoy it from time to time. The hardest, was when more then one person wanted it at that time. It lead to some crazy hammock battles in the past, that had ended up rather enjoyable memories. Though not all of them, with her as the victor.

Not wanting to lay all the way down, Velma chose to lay in it sideways. More like sitting in it, her feet dangled off the edge and barely avoided touching the ground. She thanked her short size, to letting her enjoy more of the hammock then the others, but thinking about the others made her sigh again. Everything was better when they were around... Not that she would ever admit that aloud. But she did miss them.

"Sigh..."