Chapter 1: The Political Climate of Coolsville was certainly unexpected
Fred was the first to step off the plane. He took a deep breath with big dopey smile on his face. "It is good to be home." He dropped his bag on a nearby bench, stretching his arms. Velma soon joined him with her own carry on. After years of traveling they have learned to pack light, except for Daphne of course. She wouldn't go anywhere without her staple items, which is most of her wardrobe.
Shaggy was the last to exit the plane, ratty old backpack thrown over his shoulder. Freds smile quickly turned in to a frown, noticing how his friend wasn't looking so good. He figured that the lighting on the plane masked a lot. So he hoped that Shaggy didn't pick up some exotic virus and he's patient zero.
Velma was about to say something else, as she had taken notice too, but then her eyes caught a discarded newspaper that was resting on one of the benches. Years of mystery solving had honed her instinct to investigates so she picked it up. "Oh wow. I didn't know that Coolsville was in a middle of a mayoral election."
"Uh, a mayo election?" Shaggy leaned over her shoulder to look at the newspaper. "Sounds like, my kind of party."
Velma rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but to smile. "No, Shaggy. Come on. You're smarter than that. We're getting a new mayor."
"Oh..." Shaggy trailed off, sounding a little too disappointed. "I guess the world is not ready to elect food yet. I guess I'm like, way ahead of my time."
Velma playfully shoved him away. As a joke.. and not that he may or may not have some sort of disease. But he seemed to be in a good mood at least. It must be the jet lag. She must look terrible too.
Fred took the paper, raising an eyebrow at the two leading candidates. "Poubelle? What kind of a name is that?"
"I don't know. But he is getting his butt handed to him." Velma tossed the newspaper into a nearby trash can. She then noticed that Shaggy had turned to leave them. "Where are you going?"
Shaggy carelessly waved a folded piece of paper. "I am going to get my buddy. We'll catch up with you later."
"Hey. Wait a minute." Fred called out. Sounding a little too much like a stern father than a friend. "Are you feeling any better?"
All he got in return was a backhanded wave. Guess he was. Or at least Shaggy didn't want them to worry. But that isn't going to shake Fred off that easily.
Speaking of things that he shouldn't forget. Fred took a moment to text his parents, telling them that they have safely landed. The immediate response that was sent back made him smile warmly. He loved traveling with his friends, which were like his second family. But nothing beats coming home to his real family, he always enjoyed retelling his tales, the new friends they have made and all the good they have done. He could always feel the pride radiating off of his parents, even for the smaller mysteries that they have done. He was lucky to have them.
Daphne joined the pair, putting the phone back into her pocket. "The van is all gassed up and ready to go. Whenever we're ready." She said, before wrapping an arm around Velma. "So lets get the boys and get the heck out of here."
Velma slipped out of her arm, and began heading where they have last seen Shaggy go. "Where are you going?" Daphne asked, knowing that the entrance of this airport is the opposite direction.
Velma looked back with a shrug and a knowing smirk. "You said get the boys... the food court is this way."
...
"Raggy?" The dog nudge his nose against the back of Shaggy's hand. "Are rou rokay?" His human friend remained silent, poking his tofu dog around the tray with a plastic spork.
"Hm?" Finally he looked up from his food to see Scooby wide brown eyes full of concern. "I'm fine... I swear. I guess I ate too much on the plane.
"Rerry runny, Raggy." The dog wanted to say more, but Shaggy handed him the tofu dog, distracting him instantly from the problem. Scooby guesses that he should ask about it later, if he remembers that is. Shaggy reaches over to scratch the back of the dogs ear with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. Suddenly the Great Dane perked up when he saw the others, tail beginning to wag almost violently. Jumping from the chair to greet them.
"Come on, dudes. We got to hit the road." Fred said, helping his friend gather up the trash and silently praying that the nearby can could fit all of this.
Finally, reaching the entrance, they noticed the very thick fog that had reached the windows. It's a sure sign that they are in Coolsville alright. There is almost always some sort of eerie fog that settles on most of the town this time of the year. Enough to make an outsider feel like they were in a horror movie.
"The Valet should be here any minute now." Daphne said, then resting her long train of luggage by a stone bench.
"Is it me or does this fog seem.. thicker than usual." Velma adjusted her glasses, squinting her eyes to try to stare into the fog but to no avail.
Suddenly Scooby's ears perked up. He quickly turned to tug on the bottom of Shaggys shirt. "Raggy... rou rear rhat?"
He was about to respond to his friend, but his hearing picked up on the sound too. It was more than enough to feel a horrible chill go up his spine. "Oh no.. I do hear that." Shaggy said. The dog then whimpered in response, hiding behind his friends legs.
"Hear what?" Velma looked over to where they were staring at. But she then heard it too. It sounded like a pair of heels on concrete. Echoing though the outdated architecture they were standing under.
Then, as if they truly were in some kind of horror movie. The light clanking grew louder, and a curvaceous silhouette took shape. The silhouette then became visible, there stood a woman. Her long black skirt gently billowing around her legs, she wore a matching, tight black jacket. But the most prominent the woman had on her person was the large sunhat. The only thing that the hat had not hidden on her pale face was a pair of full red lips and long black hair. Finally she lifted her head to face the gang, revealing startling gold eyes.
Shaggy felt like his stomach dropped out of his body, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Oh no..." He knew that the past could haunt someone, but he didn't know that it could follow him like this. But out of all the people, out of all the supernatural creatures he had met, or the ex girlfriends or even any bad guys he help unmasked... It just had to be Vanna freaking Pira. Please don't come over here... please don't see him.
"Shaggy?" Goddamnit. "Shaggy is that you? Oh wow!" Vanna gasped, the palms of her hands pressing against her cheeks. "I never thought I would see you again!" Her heels continue to click on the pavement, dragging her own rolling suitcase from behind. Shaggy stood up straighter, ready to grab Scooby and head for the hills but Vanna caught him before he could, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Yet here we are..." Shaggy said weakly, wanting to pull away while also not wanting to be rude. He'll never hear the end of it from Daphne about how not to treat a lady. There is such thing as being too nice, and Shaggy sometimes sees it as a curse. Nice guys finish last after all, and he's totally feeling like a loser right about now.
"Oh wow." She said with a purr, looking up at him with those half lidded bedroom eyes that would make the strongest of men squirm. "You somehow got even cuter since the last time I saw you."
Velma cleared her throat, deciding to save the day. "Excuse me, miss. Hello, my name is Velma, it's nice to meet you."
"Hello!" Vanna smiled, going to hug Velma now. Shaggy sighed in relief when the woman had let go of him. "It's nice to meet you! A friend of Shaggy's is a friend of mine."
"Oh my... goodness..." Daphne stepped forward, hands on her face, Shaggy noted that Vannas mannerisms was very similar to Daphnes. Though Daphne was the better person, and smarter, and less scary. "I... love your... shoes!" She squealed, Vanna returned her excitement, lifting up her skirt so Daphne could get a better look of the deep red heels.
"Thank you! I got it from a little shoemaker from Transylvania, they're my favorite pair." Vanna paused, then pointing to Daphne's hair. "I just adore your headband, it's the most adorable little thing I ever seen!"
"Thank you! It was a birthday present!" Daphne reached up to adjust the headband proudly. It was her favorite after all and it had always made her feel so pretty.
Shaggy quickly regained his nerve, now more annoyed than scared at the woman's presence. "Vanna Pira...what are you doing here?" He ignored Daphne's sharp frown, he should feel a little better about Vanna now. As Daphne always had a good judgment of character. It had helped them pick out suspects on various mysteries. But he just wasn't in the mood, especially if Scooby is going to continue to hide behind him. Nobody scares his dog. Nobody.
"Oh, I just needed a change in scenery." Vanna smiled. "How's life as a human? I bet it's wonderful since you were so eager to turn back."
Shaggy felt a lump form in his throat, immediately looking over at the others. Hoping they don't see the sweat that began to bead on his temples. Oh no. They're not supposed to know about that either. It was a very strange chapter in his life that he just wanted to forget. Velma crossed his arms, narrowing her eyes at him. "Yeah, Norville. How is life as a human again?"
"Great." Shaggy's voice cracked as he tried his best to sound normal, though he ended up sounding a little more shrill than what he originally intended. "Just peachy..."
"I thought you made a better werewolf." Vanna said. "It was a.." She gently leaned in to play with the collar of his shirt. "Perfect fit." She batted her eyes at him, her wide smile showing her slightly sharpened canines. He gulped, trying to get rid of the dryness in his throat. She knows what she's doing, was this revenge for beating Dracula in that race? Is this her revenge? What did he do to her?
"Wait." Velma held out her hands as if she was trying to steady herself. "Werewolf? What? Shaggy, what? What!?" Velma watched with a growing confusion as her friend rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. "That's impossible!"
"You're human." Vanna stated as a matter of fact. "You're supposed to believe that it's impossible. Humans aren't supposed to know that we're real."
"We do know of the supernatural." Velma snapped back, putting her hands on her hips and leaning to the taller woman. Velma couldn't help but to feel a little defensive, especially after years of people talking down on them. Just a bunch of silly kids playing cop. They have credibility, and they have proven time and time again that they know what they are doing. "We even found an entire island full of zombies!"
"Oh!" Vanna clapped her hands. "Nice fellows, zombies. They just want a hand... mostly because they tend to loose theirs." She laughed at the joke. Mostly because no one else would. Shaggy buried his face into his hands, ready to just disappear. He's not even associated with this woman and yet somehow she is embarrassing him.
"Either way, Shaggy being a werewolf is impossible." Velma crossed her arms again. "You don't know our friend like we do, we would've noticed something or he would've told us."
"He is a werewolf... was a werewolf." She quickly corrected herself, Vanna then clasped her hands together again. "A pretty powerful one too, or at least he had to because cutie here had even made it in Grimness Book of Records. Not a lot of monsters get that distinct honor." She finished her sentence in a sing song voice, looking back at him.
"Grimness book of Records? Sounds like a pun." Velma said dryly. "A very bad one too." She looked at the others like their new acquaintance was absolute crazy. Except for the fact that Shaggy had proven that somehow she wasn't. Or at least that kind of crazy.
Shaggy looked down at his dog to see Scooby hold a paw against his mouth, suppressing a laugh of his own. Daphne was busy admiring Vanna's style while Velma continued to look unimpressed. Fred pretended like he was somewhere else, face buried in his phone.
Finally Fred decided to rescue Shaggy from this humiliation. "So Vanna, where are you staying while you're here?"
"Oh, at a hotel." Vanna pulled out a brochure. "Oakwood. It looks like a lovely little place."
Fred pointed to the van that just pulled up with a smile of his own. This could be fun. "Oakwood? That's in the direction we are going." He smirked at Shaggy, knowing well that the taller man wanted this woman gone, that's for putting thumbtacks on the drivers seat, Norville. Jet lag or not, you had this coming. "We can give you a lift."
"That's so sweet! Thank you!" Vanna said, reaching for her suitcase.
"Of course." Shaggy mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the ground, Scooby continued to laugh, and he realized that Fred had the nerve to shrug playfully at him. Scooby then reached up to tug at his shirt. Suddenly remembering something else, the real reason why Scooby was hiding behind him the entire time.
"Rracula?"
"That's right. Where's Dracula?" Shaggy asked, only for the others to give him a weird look now, they were already trying to wrap their mind around that Shaggy used to be a werewolf, now apparently Dracula was real too? What the hell? Shaggy will have to explain it to them later, not when he was so tired. But the last thing he needs is for the Vampire Lord and his creepy little henchman to pop out in front of his window and exclaim 'were back!'
"Oh. Don't worry about him." Vanna stated plainly, while she and Daphne were loading up their suitcases in the back of the van. "He's dead."
End of Chapter.
A/N: Vanna Pira was originally from 'The Reluctant Werewolf'. I brought her back because she was the only good thing in that movie, which isn't saying much because it was a terrible movie. I'm sorry, it really was. Child me still loved it though. And I had fun watching it again to get a good grasp on the character. It's more of a guilty pleasure now and I had always loved Vannas character. It's a shame we don't see more of her. She was pretty entertaining. Also I never wrote for a stupid character before, so it's also a pretty fun challenge too.