Chapter 2

The Mystery Machine puttered along a somewhat isolated country road on an equally dark night somewhere in the Southern United States, or the Deep South, if you were to call the region by its more popular name. The brightly colored van would naturally be a very strange sight, if one were to be on the same road as the famous vehicle, mostly because of its peculiar paint job.

But for the passengers inside the Mystery Machine, people looking at the vehicle and pointing out how odd the decorations on the van were happened to be pretty normal. Of course how normal is four college students and a Great Dane driving around the country in an oddly painted van solving mysteries, which is what most people would say upon looking at the vehicle.

For at least one of the passengers though, paint jobs, cars and people's opinions weren't the least bit interesting, and weren't what a certain someone was thinking about. That certain someone was Norville Rogers, or Shaggy if you prefer; the young man's thoughts were still circling about his head as he attempted to put the events of the last few days into their proper perspective.

Naturally this was going to take quite a while, considering a relative he had barely known and hadn't spoken to since he was a kid left him an entire Southern mansion and all of the surrounding buildings. In short, Norville Rogers was living the American dream; he was now the proud owner of a house, he had his friends with him (including Velma and Scooby) and he was going to see the mansion for the first time in years, to make sure it was still standing and presentable.

But as he sat in the back of the van with the two aforementioned sleuths nearby, something was still bugging him and making himself feel odd, despite being around friends.

In all the years he had gone on the gang's mysteries and during all the times that he helped catch crooks in frightening costumes, he had never felt this way before, in short it was almost as if the letter he received hadn't told him the entire story about Beauregard Mansion.

Maybe it was the atmosphere of the country road and the rain beginning to fall onto the van, which was easily disposed of thanks to the vehicle's ever reliable windshield wipers, or maybe it was the whole inheriting a mansion thing, but whatever it was, something inside the cowardly college student told him he and his friends were in for one heck of a mystery this time.

"Shaggy?" remarked a male voice from somewhere in the van.

The green shirted adolescent detective had been thinking over what he was going to do once he got to the mansion and had began to mentally make a list of questions to ask once he got to the estate when the familiar voice of the unofficial leader of the group of college aged sleuths came through and broke his thoughts, at least temporarily.

"Like what's up Fred?" Shaggy inquired.

"Well, we're all kind of curious about this mansion you inherited" Fred responded.

"Yeah, not to mention the fact that you have an uncle who would leave you an entire Southern estate." Daphne added.

"What I wouldn't mind knowing is was he really a colonel?" Velma asked.

"Like wait a minute gang, don't pepper me with questions really quick. Unless you guys let me take some time to individually respond to each question" Shaggy replied, chuckling a little as he spoke.

"OK Shaggy, we'll take our time." Daphne responded.

"Thanks." The green shirt clad sleuth replied.

"You're welcome. Let's start with the obvious question here: who is, or I guess was this Colonel Beauregard anyway?" Velma asked.

"Hmm… well, from what I know, have read, and have heard from my relatives about him, he's within my mom's side of the family." Shaggy replied.

"On your mother's side of the family? Hmm… interesting…" Velma remarked, holding up a finger to her chin in deep thought.

"Yeah, like from what my folks have told me over the years, he was a hero in the Civil War. Fought for the confederacy obviously…" Shaggy continued.

"Obviously…" Velma replied, now seemingly engrossed in what the young man was saying.

Of course the fact that he and she were dating had a lot to do with the fact that for some reason she couldn't stop from looking into his eyes. Maybe he had her under a spell, or maybe it was his story that had a hold on her, but somehow, someway she was hanging on his every word.

"Shaggy, I may not be as much of a bookworm as Velma, but one thing bothers me about this." Daphne spoke up from the Mystery Machine's front passenger seat.

"What's that Daphne?" Shaggy inquired.

"Your uncle is, or was a colonel in the Confederate Army it sounds like, right?" the red head asked.

"Sure, why?" Shaggy responded.

"If he was a colonel in the Confederate Army, and he was involved in the Civil War, then that would make him quite old when he passed away…" Daphne replied.

"I guess so, why do you ask?" Shaggy replied.

"Well, I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's nothing, and maybe it's something, but from the short of amount of things you've told us, I have a weird feeling…" Daphne remarked.

"Daphne, what kind of weird feeling could you possibly have? Surely all of this is legit, and surely Shaggy's uncle took care of all the signing the mansion over to him and all of that sort of stuff, so why would you think there's something fishy going on?" Fred inquired, while keeping his hands on the wheel, and his eyes on the road.

"I'm not saying it's something fishy. It's just, well… call it women's intuition, call it something that's bugging me, call it whatever you want, but I have a feeling we might be getting in over our heads this time." Daphne replied.

"Like Daphne, I don't think anything's going to happen to us. I know we've encountered a lot of creepy and scary things over the years, but I don't think anything is going to occur now." Shaggy remarked, looking at the front of the van at Daphne, before looking back at his bespectacled companion.

However, Shaggy in this case would be quite wrong, and Daphne would be quite right, as something was about to occur on the dark stretch of road the Mystery Machine was currently traveling down.

As the rain continued to splatter down on to the windshield of the aforementioned vehicle, the old and for all intensive stretch of road seemed to get even darker, as if that was at all possible.

As it was, the brightly colored green van seemed to provide the only color, or brightness in this particular area, which made the occupants of the vehicle a bit nervous. While she watched the rain fall, which seemed to be increasing every few minutes or so, Velma found herself feeling a bit anxious, which was an emotion she usually never felt, unless it was a very terrifying situation.

In addition to the rain, lightning and thunder flashed through the sky ever few moments, which caused the brunette to move ever closer to Shaggy and hold onto his shoulder for comfort.

Velma usually wasn't this afraid when it came to thunder and lightning, but something about the route the Mystery Machine was traveling caused her to become jumpy, and caused her to have feelings that normally she would never exhibit.

The route the van was traveling seemed to be a normal country road, that was true. But the fact that thunder, lightning and a rain storm were also added to the mix was what more then likely caused her to shiver a bit as she watched the passing scenery.

Trees, plants, the occasional farmhouse, a few silos and as you might expect a few dozen horses, cows and other assorted livestock and animal life dotted the landscape along the country road.

All of the above might have been seen during the daytime hours, but because it was nighttime, and that the weather seemed to be getting worse by the minute, the farmers of the era wisely put the cows and other livestock in well protected barns, which left the landscape somewhat barren and lonely.

With no cows, horses or other animal life to look at, Mystery Incorporated's Great Dane began to feel a bit nervous himself as he watched the van drive along the lonely country road.

Scooby Doo's teeth then started to chatter as the thunder and lightning seemed to get ever closer to the van, or at least that's what it felt like to him. With every thunderclap or lightning bolt that flashed across the sky, the chicken hearted Great Dane gulped quite audibly, which the rest of his companions heard quite clearly.

But of course, those weren't the only things that the canine sleuth heard, or felt for that matter. As he watched the lightning, thunder and rain, Scooby Doo could swear he was also beginning to see things as well as hearing things.

Specifically speaking, after the next lightning flash the Great Dane did somewhat of a double take. The reason being was that he could almost swear that he saw a very clear figure somewhere in the direction of a grove of Oak trees; the figure seemed to be hiding, and he seemed at least to Scooby's eyes to be very dressed in a very distinguished manner.

At the sight of this figure hiding behind the trees, the canine detective ambled over to where Shaggy was sitting and began pulling on his right pant leg. Naturally this made the sandy haired college student a bit curious, and also slightly annoyed, as he didn't know what the chicken hearted canine wanted from him.

"Like what's the matter Scoob?" Shaggy inquired.

The canine muttered something, albeit unintelligible, because he knew in his mind that he saw something. Whether or not his friends believed him though was another matter entirely, and as Shaggy and Velma watched him, he was going to try and prove that what he saw was not a mere figment of his imagination.

"He must be really uptight; I can't understand what he's saying." Velma added, thinking that maybe some Scooby Snacks might help the canine.

The Great Dane then stood on his hind legs in the van, and started an elaborate series of pantomimes, which Velma, Shaggy and Daphne attempted to decipher. Before long the canine was imitating a Confederate colonel, which surprised Shaggy to no end; the cowardly college student could almost swear the Great Dane was imitating his own Uncle Beauregard, but of course that wasn't true… or was it?

"Scooby, you've got to be joking. If what you're trying to tell me is true, then you saw my Uncle Beauregard's ghost somewhere behind the trees on the side of the road. But that's impossible, he's dead, and he couldn't be haunting the area." Shaggy remarked, unsure of what the canine was attempting to tell him, or even if he believed it for that matter.

"Rut ri rid ree rhim, rexactly rwhere rou raid." Scooby replied, teeth chattering away as he spoke.

"Now Scooby, you know that's a load of hooey. Shaggy's uncle can't be haunting the area, especially if he left the mansion and the grounds to him." Shaggy remarked.

"Rut ri raw rhim rith ry rown reyes." Scooby replied, still trying to get his companion to believe him.

"Sure you did Scoob, sure you did." Shaggy responded, looking a bit perturbed with his cowardly pet.

"Ro rother." The canine answered, shaking his head in disgust in the process.

After Scooby's apparent sighting of Shaggy's uncle's ghost, things quieted down a lot in the Mystery Machine. Except for the intermittent flashes of thunder and lightning, and the rainstorm, most of the rest of the ride to the Beauregard Plantation was pretty uneventful, or it would have been except for one thing.

About a half an hour passed since the Great Dane saw the ghost of Shaggy's uncle, and the Mystery Machine was continuing its way towards its destination. However, Scooby Doo once again felt and began seeing strange things; after a brief lightning flash the canine clearly saw a very familiar sight on the road in front of the Mystery Machine, but this time he felt he needed to do something to alert his friends.

Now Scooby Doo began barking up a storm, and was pointing wildly out the vehicle's windows towards the road itself. This naturally caused his friends to question his motives, and made each of them slightly annoyed at their pet and mascot's attempt to get their attention.

"What is it now Scooby?" Daphne asked, from the passenger's seat in the front of the van.

Yet again Scooby Doo's teeth were chattering, his knees were knocking together, and he felt as if something was going to happen. As he had been before, the canine was right about it, only this time the same figure that had been behind a grove of trees earlier was standing right in front of the van, which scared the Great Dane to no end.

Apparently Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne weren't paying much attention to this, but knowing he had to help his friends, whether they wanted his help or not, Scooby decided to take decisive action.

In this case, the cowardly Great Dane decided to leap over into the front seat and take control of the van, and the steering wheel, which surprised Fred and made the rest of the group wonder what he was attempting to do.

"Scooby! What is the matter with you? Let go of the steering wheel!" Fred implored, trying to get the Great Dane to get back to his seat next to Shaggy and Velma.

However, a few moments later the Mystery Machine and its passengers were about to get some unwanted attention, thanks to their Great Dane and him trying to escape a ghost, which no one else in the group seemed to see.

As Scooby Doo swerved all over the road, and attempted to do the best job of driving he could do, for a dog, a black and white police car with a star on the door started to approach on the right side of the Mystery Machine.

"All right, you just pull it on over there doggy…"a bald headed older man said from the vehicle, albeit loudly enough for Fred to her it; however, after a brief second, he did a double take and looked over again at the green van.

"Doggy? Boy, I have got to get my eyesight checked." The rather rotund individual continued, after taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

The gentleman was wearing a grey, almost tan colored hat, a gold badge on his lapel, along with a tan colored vest and blue jeans. Upon first glance, he would seem to be a local authority figure, which is exactly what the members of Mystery Inc. thought as he kept his car alongside the Mystery Machine.

"I guess I better pull over and see what he wants." The blond college student remarked as he turned the van's steering wheel and pulled over to the side of the country road, with the flashing blue and red lights and the siren accompanying the police car as it parked next to the colorfully painted vehicle.

"What seems to be the problem sheriff?" Fred inquired, while speaking in a tone of voice that indicated that he didn't want to get in trouble with the local authorities.

"Well, for one thing I clocked you going about 50 miles an hour in a 35 mile per hour zone." The individual replied.

"Sorry about that sir. I guess I didn't notice how fast I was going; I was trying to get our Great Dane to get to the back of the van, and I, well I guess I forgot to look at the speedometer." Fred explained, although the blond college student's explanation didn't seem to please the local authority figure very much.

"I see. Let me see your license son..." the man replied, with somewhat of a straight face.

Fred complied rather quickly with the individual's request and reached into his right jeans pocket. He then pulled out his wallet and took out his driver's license, before handing it to the bald headed individual; once the authority figure had the small plastic card, Fred placed the wallet back in his pants pocket and waited for the man to hand the driver's license back to him.

"Hmm… according to this you're from out of state. Now why would someone from out of state be down in this part of the country?" the man asked.

"Like my friends and I are in this part of the country because my uncle Beauregard left me his estate." Shaggy replied from the back of the van; although he had moved closer to the front so he could speak with the man and so he wouldn't have to yell very much.

"Beauregard? Interesting… just what is your name son?" the man inquired, now somewhat curious about who he was speaking to.

"I'm Norville Rogers, but my friends call me Shaggy. In the front driver's seat of the van is Fred Jones, in the front passenger's seat is Daphne Blake, and in the back is my girlfriend Velma Dinkley, and my Great Dane Scooby Doo." Shaggy replied.

"Please to meet all of you, I'm the sheriff in this neck of the woods. Rufus Busby is what they call me, at least if you're not committing a crime that's what you can call me." The man responded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sheriff Busby." Shaggy replied.

"Likewise. You four seem to be fairly young, are ya'll still in school?" the sheriff inquired.

"Yes actually. Right now we're all on a break from Coolsville University, up in Ohio." Velma replied.

"Ah, that's a nice part of the country. Now, you said you're looking for the Beauregard Plantation right?" the sheriff asked.

"Like sure, that's why we came here after all." Shaggy replied.

"Well, I can tell you that's it's down the road a piece. But, I would suggest that if you have any business in the Beauregard house, you complete it rather quickly." The sheriff remarked.

"Like why sir?" Shaggy inquired.

"Because it's fairly well known in these parts that the Beauregard estate is haunted. Anyone who's foolish enough to go traipsing around in that place is just asking for trouble." Sheriff Busby replied.

"Like h-haunted?" Shaggy asked, with a quivering tone of voice.

"Yes. The locals all say that all sorts of ghosts and spirits haunt the place, scaring any intruders or anyone curious enough to investigate the house away." The sheriff clarified.

"No offense sheriff, but we've been through this sort of thing before." Fred replied.

"Right. In addition to being college students, we're also very thorough and successful supernatural detectives; we've investigated tons of haunted houses in our time, and none of them have been really that haunted." Daphne added.

"I see. So, I would imagine you're still going to visit the Beauregard place, in spite of the ghosts there." Sheriff Busby replied, still attempting to discourage the group from continuing on.

"You would be right about that Sheriff. We don't scare that easily." Velma remarked.

"Like sp-speak for yourself my dear. I'm not going anywhere near a place with a bunch of ghosts hanging around; and I don't care if my uncle did leave me the place, I'm not going there, and neither is Scooby, right old buddy?" Shaggy asked, slightly nudging the canine sitting next to him.

"R-reah, re're rot roing ro rhe ransion." Scooby replied.

"Hmm… if I didn't know any better, I would swear that dog talked. Although if he did he's very smart, I wouldn't go there either if I were you kids." Sheriff Busby commented.

"Actually sheriff, he does talk. But our minds are made up; Shaggy's uncle left him the estate, and we're going with him to check the place out." Fred replied.

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn y'all." Sheriff Busby said as he began heading back towards his police car; although the unofficial leader of the group did have one more piece of business with him.

"Sheriff? You still have my driver's license, and it would be nice if I had it back." Fred explained.

The sheriff then looked down at his hand, and saw that he still had the small plastic card with Fred's name and information on it, so he did the honorable thing and returned it to him.

"Thank you sheriff." The blond sleuth said as he returned the license to his wallet.

"Think nothing of it son. You and your friends just remember what I said, and be safe." The sheriff replied, before walking back to his vehicle, getting inside it, starting it and taking off in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, back inside the Mystery Machine, after seeing that everything was in order and that his license was in his wallet, and Scooby was back in his place in the back, Fred started the multi colored van and Mystery Incorporated started on their way to the Beauregard Mansion.

But on the way, they would encounter a few more spooks, and before this adventure was over, Shaggy would discover a very carefully guarded family secret.

Author's Notes: Sorry about taking so long to type this chapter and upload it. I lost inspiration after a while, but now I have it back and will try to update my works a lot sooner; hopefully everybody will stick with me and will read my stories as always.