The next few days passed in a blur of misery, tears and an unshakable, gnawing pain that seemed to sit on my heart. I couldn't get free of it, not even when I slept. Dawn haunted my dreams every night. On a good night, I might be reminiscing of nicer times- the two of us laughing together, family holidays from many years ago, days out shopping...all the times I'd taken for granted. On a bad night, I'd meet Dawn in a darkened alleyway. She'd smile at me, and reach out for a hug, her empty eye sockets leering at me, almost mocking me. I'd wake up in the pitch-black, sweating and shaking in my bed.

The funeral came and went- I seemed to be on autopilot throughout the whole thing, my body working of it's own accord, while I watched as a simple passenger. The gang would insist I stay behind while they went out on Mysteries, and I'd sit in the lounge at HQ, the television on, a bag of potato chips in my hand. The chips would remain uneaten, and the show unwatched. Instead, I lost myself in thought, shutting out any distractions. I had a lot to think about.

A lot of answers came to me on one such day. I sat there, a bad of unopened chips by my side, some terrible soap opera blaring out at me. Dawn had been murdered. There was no doubt about it. The cause of death was given as blood loss, shock and brain damage, the result of her eyes being ripped out. Worse still, they think she would have been conscious throughout the whole thing. But this was as far as their knowledge went. There was no trace of DNA on her body, no CCTV, no nothing. And her eyes...they hadn't been cut out. They'd been pulled. The police knew nothing, and the thought of getting any justice for Dawn seemed to get slimmer by the day. They had nothing to go on.

But I did. Because I believed in monsters. My time with Mystery Inc had taught me many things, and one lesson was more important than any other- usually the monsters transpire to be a scared and shameful person in a suit. Usually.

But not always.

Now and again, the monsters were real. Spooky Island. The monster invasion of Coolsville. Hambridge Library. It happened. Rarely, but it did. And now my older sister had been savagely murdered in the middle of a smart neighborhood. Unless the police were doing a spectacularly bad job of investigating (which wouldn't surprise me), it seemed that there was no logical explanation for what had happened to Dawn. That just left the illogical. Monsters were real.

"And there's one here." I announced to the empty room. "There's something here, in Coolsville. Something bad."

I rose to my feet, and walked over to the window. I peered out into the gloomy Autumn weather, and in that moment, I knew I was right. I couldn't explain how I knew it. But I did. There was something here, and it had killed my sister. She'd been twenty-seven years old...and it had killed her. "I've got you rumbled." I whispered under my breath. "I don't know what you are, but I know your out there..."

I shared my suspicions with the group that evening. Scooby had put himself to bed already, exhausted after a particularly stressful mystery. We sat in the lounge and I explained what I thought. What I knew.

"Look guys, we know monsters can exist. We've met them, now and again...is it really so impossible that Dawn was killed by...something else?"

Fred was sitting next to me, and he slowly put his arm around me. "Daph," he said soothingly "you've got to stop this. Whatever happened to Dawn, they'll find out. You know what Coolsville can be like. Think back over the past couple of years alone! Biker gangs, drug runners, the Russian mafia...even the Iron Giants are rumored to be in business again...all that, on top of the crimes that we uncover. I think what I'm trying to say is that when Coolsville is stuffed full of so much scum, jumping to these sorts of conclusions...well, it might actually make it harder to get justice."

"I agree." Velma piped up. "There's no doubt that whoever killed Dawn was extremely careful about it. But as Fred says- undesirable people seem to flock to Coolsville." Shaggy sat next to her, nodding gravely.

"I wonder why that happens." I replied, looking Velma in the eye. "All big cities have crime problems, but why does ours get it so bad? Coincidence? Or maybe something about Coolsville attracts them. Now excuse me." I got up abruptly, brushing Fred's arm aside. I went to my room and slammed the door. They didn't believe me. Not Fred, not open-minded, super-intelligent Velma. Not even Shaggy...I collapsed face down on my bed, tears leaking from my eyes. I wanted her back...I wanted my big sister! She'd always looked out for me, always been there. But now she wasn't. And it was breaking my heart.

/

/

The next night, I sat in my parents dining room, a plate of soup laid out in front of me. My parents had been having us all over a lot recently, and I didn't feel I could say no. They were cherishing their remaining daughters, holding us close for fear of losing us as well. They didn't think about how hard it was for me to come home, to a house filled to bursting with memories of Dawn. Why would they? I didn't blame them.

"Daphne." My father said slowly. "I had a call today..."

I sat up straight. "About Dawn?"

"No, no. About you. Your friend called me. The clever one, whatever she's called."

"Velma."

"Whatever. She's been worried about you, Daphne. Are you coping?"

I looked up at my father, and then round to my mother, who sat silently, focusing on her soup. She didn't say much these days.

"No, daddy. I'm really not." I put my spoon down, and extended my hand, grasping the top of his own. "I miss her."

He nodded, grasping my hand, his larger hand fitting comfortably around my small one. "Me too. Look, Daphne. I want justice. Every darn night I go to sleep wishing with all my heart that something will come up. A witness, a DNA sample, anything. But sometimes we can't have what we want. It might be that the answers we want don't ever come forward. But your young, Daphne. You've got a whole life ahead of you, and if we don't get the answers, you can't spend your life angry, you can't waste your days in bitterness. You need to try and move on."

"Seeing you live life to the full would make it easier for us." My mother said suddenly, looking up at me with red, bloodshot eyes. "Not much, but a little. Please, Daph. Whatever's on your mind, whatever your thinking...let it go. Let the police do their job. But as your father says, the answers may not ever come. Even if they do, it won't bring Dawney back. Think on that."

I nodded. "We're so used to getting the answers though." I whimpered, tears welling up in my eyes. "Me and the team. We always get to the bottom of it, one way or the other. The thought of never knowing...it..."

My dad rose from his chair, and hugged me closely. "I know Daph. I know. It kills me as well, but sometimes, you have to accept it."

"Yeah..." I replied. A clap of thunder caught us all off guard, and we looked out of the high windows in dismay, a thunderstorm raging down on us. "Can't you feel it though guys?" I asked suddenly.

My mother shook her head. "Feel what?"

I didn't answer immediately, my eyes were fixed on the window, on the rapidly soaking city outside. "I dunno...it's like the city's sick, or something." I said finally.

My dad shrugged. "That's Coolsville, Daph. It's never really felt right."

Later that night, I lay in my bed, my mind set. I would stop. I wouldn't mention it again. Whether I was right or wrong, I needed to try and move on, for their sake. I feared I'd only succeed in driving myself mad if I continued, and even if I could catch who (or what) had killed my sister, what then? Get killed as well? Is that what I wanted for my parents? Another child dead? Of course not. However hard it was, however miserable I might feel, I needed to try and move past this. I had to. And yet my father's words kept repeating themselves over and over in my mind. "No!" I whispered to myself. "Stop thinking about it." But I couldn't. I couldn't get them out of my head.

"That's Coolsville, Daph. It's never really felt right." That's what he'd said. He was spot on. I'd never noticed it before, it had never crossed my mind until now- but Coolsville hadn't felt right for as long as I could remember. I'd just never thought about it. It was only now, in the wake of such appalling tragedy, that I finally began to realize how very wrong it actually felt.

And why? Because there's something terrible here. Something. Not someone.

The sun was already rising before I finally slept.