Daphne's Diaries
Season 1, Episode 3: Ghoul in the Gulf
"Fred, you don't have to go if you don't want to. With everything that has happened we would all understand," I told him as we sat in my room.
Shaggy and Velma nodded.
"I know, thanks guys. But I need to go, I need a break from Coolsville right now," he sighed.
The dark circles under his eyes were proof that he needed a break.
"Okay," I smiled supportively.
A few days later spring break had started and the gang and I were off to Mexico. The gang and I had been invited on a cruise by a Blake family friend. A few hours later after our short flight we boarded the Santa Monica. As soon as we stepped foot on the boat Michael was waiting for us.
"Daphne, its good to see you!" he smiled as he kissed my cheek. "I'm so glad you and your friends could make it," he added smiling at everyone.
"Me too, thanks for inviting us."
Suddenly he looked nervous. He grabbed my arm and pulled us off to the side of the boat, away from boarding guests.
"There's actually a specific reason I invited you," he whispered.
We all leaned in to hear him.
"I'm afraid my ship is haunted," he confessed.
"Haunted?" Velma asked.
"Strange things have been happening in the night. Weird accidents, disappearing items.." he continued.
"We'll help," I told him.
"Definitely, were on the case." Freddie agreed.
I smiled at him but hoped he wasn't using this to forget his troubles. Michael smiled and thanked us. Then he sent us off with a woman who would take us to our rooms. Our rooms were on the bottom floor and right across the hall from each other. I bunked with Velma while Shaggy and Scooby bunked with Fred. As soon as we got into our rooms I changed into a white sundress and grabbed my sunglasses. If I was going to look for clues on my vacation I might as well look cute while I'm at it. Velma and I met Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby in the hall.
"Let's split up gang," Freddie instructed. "Daphne, you can come with me. Velma, you go with Shaggy and Scooby."
"Alright, let's go hunt for 'clues' in the kitchen," Shaggy joked.
As Shaggy and Scooby got ahead of her I looked at Velma. I worried she would be jealous that Fred wanted me to go with him, but her face didn't give anything away. Fred pulled along my arm as he headed the other way. We walked for a while in silence.
When we got to the main deck I asked, "Are you sure your okay?"
He didn't look at me, he just kept looking ahead at the people on the deck. When I cleared my throat in an indication I was waiting for a response he blew it off.
"I'm fine Daphne," he responded.
I rolled my eyes when he wasn't looking.
"There's Michael," he said suddenly. "I'm going to ask him what things have been disappearing," he said as he took off across the ship.
I decided to wait and went to the railing to look out over the ocean. As I looked down at the water I was startled when a guy ran up next to me and leaned over the railing to throw up. I grabbed napkins from a passing waitress and handed them to him when he got back up.
"Thanks," he said nervously as his cheeks went red.
His hair was dark brown and shaggy and his eyes were a pretty green. When he had wiped his mouth, he smiled at me.
"I'm Matt," he told me.
"Daphne," I said shaking his hand. "I get sea sick too. But these help," I told him pulling a pack of aspirin out of my pocket.
He smiled as he took them, "Thanks."
I smiled, "Sure."
Just then I heard Freddie calling my name. I waved him over.
"Fred, this is Matt." I introduced him.
They shook hands.
"Come on Daph," Freddie urged.
I said bye to Matt and went with him.
"Looks like a lot of things have been stolen from passenger's rooms," he explained. "You know what that means?" he asked.
"This ghost has keys," I joked.
He narrowed his eyebrows at me.
"Or it's an employee with room access?"
He nodded and smiled, "Exactly."
He pulled out a list that Michael had given him of the people who have room access. I sighed as I counted five maids alone.
"Fred, Daphne!" I heard Velma yell.
We turned and waited for her. I didn't understand how she could still be wearing that sweater when it was so hot out.
"Well I lost Scooby and Shaggy to the buffet line, but I did find this," she said handing me a piece of paper.
It was a torn scrap from what it looked like to be a 'to do' list. I furrowed my brow.
"If we can find the rest of this list it will lead us closer to the ghost. I found this near the staircase a passenger had fallen down the other day."
Fred smiled, "Good work, this should help too," he said as he handed her his list.
As they started going over theories I tuned them out. I wanted to enjoy my vacation. Suddenly I saw Scooby and Shaggy run by as I looked down the stairs. Running after them was a glowing green ghost figure. I climbed down the stairs and ran after them. As I ran by a corner someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into a closet. I was about to scream when the light clicked on.
"You got to be careful," the old man said to me.
"Who are you?" I asked him.
"I'm the maintenance guy, Earl," he said holding out his name badge.
"Did you see that ghost?" I asked him.
He nodded, "I wouldn't go messing with it if I was you."
I nodded but ignored the warning, I had to help Shaggy and Scooby.
"She went this way!" I heard Fred yell in the hall as I heard running footsteps approaching.
I tried the door knob but it wouldn't turn. When I looked back to Earl, he was gone.
I pounded on the door, "Fred!"
The steps stopped and Fred opened the door. I hugged him.
"What happened?" he asked me.
"The janitor pulled me in there with him, and then he vanished!" I exclaimed.
Velma opened the door and went in to investigate.
Freddie ran a hand threw my hair and said, "You're okay now." I nodded and let him go.
After that I refused to look for clues and sat on the deck sunbathing the rest of the day. After a few hours Matt joined me. I smiled as he handed me a drink.
"How's your day going?"
"Better now," I told him.
"How's your stomach?" I asked jokingly.
"Better thanks," he smiled.
"Good."
"Hey Daphne, I'm really glad I met you," he told me.
I opened my eyes and lifted my sunglasses to my head. Suddenly he was leaning towards me trying to kiss me. I leaned back and let him fall forward onto my lap. He sat up embarrassed.
"Were just friends," I made clear.
"I really like you," he said.
"You don't even know me," I tried to explain to him.
He shrugged, "It doesn't matter."
I looked around for my escape, this guy was creeping me out. As he said something else I put on my flips flops and headed out of there. When he started to follow, I sprinted. While slipping on the wet deck I ran into a waiter and knocked his tray over. As I fell to the ground the man had a fit. Fred saw me from a few feet away and came over to help me up.
"Let's get out of here danger prone," he joked.
I smiled and quickly ran off with him.
"What were you running from anyway?" he asked me as we were alone at the railing.
"That guy, Matt, the one who was sick?"
He nodded.
"He tried to kiss me," I told him.
He face turned to anger and his eyebrows nearly met in the middle. I thought he was going to threaten to kill him but his face turned to concern as he looked to me instead.
"Are you okay?" he asked sincerely.
I smiled and nodded, "I'm fine."
He smiled, "Good."
Then he looked back out to the ocean.
I put a hand on his shoulder and asked him the same, "Are you okay?"
He looked down and a small smirk played his lips.
"Everyone else believes me when I say I'm fine, why not you?" he asked.
"Because I know you're not. I know you to well to believe that," I explained.
He wrapped an arm around my waist. "What if I say I'm taking it a day at a time and I'm working on being fine?" he asked.
I nodded, "I'll buy it."
He smiled.
He took my hand and we walked back to our rooms. As I got into my room I saw that the window was cracked and water was leaking into the room.
"Fred!" I yelled.
He came running in just as I tore the note off the wall.
It read: This will teach you to mess around in my plans.
Just as I handed the paper to Fred the door slammed shut. I ran to it and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. I looked back to Fred in a panic. He ran over to the door and tried it too. I sighed when he couldn't get it open.
"Velma!" I screamed pounding on the door.
"Shaggy!" Fred yelled.
Thirty minutes later our voices were gone and the water was up to my elbows. It was cold and I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering. It was making me sleepy. As I leaned against the wall Fred came over to me.
"Hey," he said placing his hands on my cheeks. "Hang in there Daph, were going to be fine."
I couldn't stop my eyes from shutting. "I'm so cold," I told him between the chattering of my teeth.
He held me close and rubbed my back to warm me up. As I rested my head on his shoulder I shut my eyes.
I gasped awake in a strange room. I was lying in a little white bed and an IV was hooked into my arm. Matt was sitting next to me. I sat up and pushed myself away from him.
"Hey, it's okay," he whispered lightly.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"The infirmary," he said.
"Where's Fred?" I asked.
"He talking to the coast guard, he's fine."
I nodded but wasn't sure if I believed him. Suddenly Velma walked into the room. I smiled at her.
"Hey sleepy," she smiled at me.
"What happened?" I asked her.
She explained that Matt had found Fred and I after I had passed out. She had been with Shaggy and Scooby looking for clues.
"We found the rest of that to do list in another closet," she explained.
I nodded and waited for her to go on. Then she told me that the list had belonged to the janitor who had wanted to scare Michael off so he could buy the ship. But the way she had described him didn't match the man I had seen in the closet. When I explained that to her she told me about the accident that had happened twenty years earlier. The man I had seen, the janitor then and the father of the janitor now, had drowned in the maintenance room. The Janitor had wanted to make it looked like his father's ghost was haunting the ship so he could scare everyone away.
"So he used projectors?" I asked.
Velma shook her head. "He was the one in the ghost costume. The man that you saw was a real ghost," she explained.
I felt a chill go up my spine. "But you guys caught him?" I asked to change the subject.
She nodded, "And Michael is very grateful."
I asked if Fred was alright.
She nodded, "He didn't want to leave you but we needed his help with a trap."
I told her I understood.
"But unfortunately he wants to get off the ship as soon as possible," she frowned.
I sympathized with her but that sounded like a great idea to be honest. A few hours later the nurse let me leave the infirmary. I ran into Fred in the hallway.
"I was just coming to see you," he smiled as he caught my waist, stopping me. "Do you feel better?" he asked pulling me into a hug.
I nodded, "I'm good."
The next day we were on a plane back to Coolsville and I was glad. I needed a break from mysteries. As I watched Shaggy and Scooby fight over leg room from my seat, Fred's head fell onto my shoulder. I realized he had the right idea and leaned my head against him to get some sleep.
Preview for Chapter 4:
Shaggy struggles with being the class clown. Meanwhile Daphne thinks she isn't good enough for Fred.
~YOU WILL NEVER BE A FAILURE UNTIL THE DAY YOU GIVE UP, TRYING NEVER HURT ANYONE.~