Sponge: Hey all! I regret to inform you all that this will be the last update for about a week or so. I'm going on a five-day adventure with 19 other freshman at my college, which translates into, I will be in the boonies of southern Virginia, camping out and whatnot with no access to the Internet. The next time I update, I will be in classes! (le gasp!) I can't explain to you guys how EXCITED I am for college. In other news, I found Abracadabra Doo on YouTube, so now I feel like I can write Madelyn's character more accurately. Anyway…congratulations to ElisabethCarter for correctly guessing the answer to the contest question! "Ghost" is a song by Neutral Milk Hotel (other artists wrote songs titled "Ghost" as well, but the one by NMH is the one that I mean. Honorable mentions go out to the reviewers who guessed other artists, though!) Anyway, here comes chapter seven! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters – they belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.
Chapter 7: Bad Reputation
"Mrs. Reynolds, I presume?" Velma asked as she and her friends tentatively stepped into the foyer of the large house.
"Please dear, call me Amber," Mrs. Reynolds told her. Velma shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She wasn't comfortable calling adults by their first names. "May I inquire about your names?"
"My name is Fred Jones," Fred spoke up, taking control. "These are my friends Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby Doo. We're very sorry to barge in on you like this-"
"Nonsense," Mrs. Reynolds said, waving her hand dismissively as she led them into the kitchen. "I've been so lonely these last few months. I enjoy the company. Would you kids like anything? I was just making tea." Shaggy glanced around her kitchen to find a steaming kettle on the stove. He also spied a tofu cookbook open on a counter nearby.
"That's all right, ma'am," Fred politely declined. Shaggy and Scooby were both starving, but they didn't say anything. Mrs. Reynolds poured herself a cup of tea and led the kids into the next room.
"Please sit," she said, gesturing towards the two sofas as she took a seat in a rocking chair. The kids looked at each other. Shrugging, Daphne and Fred sat on one sofa while Velma and Shaggy took the other. Scooby sat at his master's feet.
"Now," Mrs. Reynolds said as she took a sip from her mug. "What brings you to my house?"
"Well…" Fred wasn't quite sure how to go about this. He didn't want to come right out and say 'We have some questions about the disappearance of your husband a few months back'. But his pause gave Mrs. Reynolds her answer.
"You're here to inquire about my Paul, aren't you?"
They looked at her sheepishly.
"How did you know?" asked Daphne. Mrs. Reynolds sighed.
"Ever since he disappeared, I've been badgered by reporters, hounding me with endless questions. They stopped coming a while ago, though."
"We don't mean to bother you with this sensitive subject," Velma began. "We're just doing a school project about urban myths." She said the lie so easily that Shaggy wondered if she had come up with it beforehand.
"Please don't worry, dear," Mrs. Reynolds said. "I believe that everyone in this town ought to know what that frightening creature in the woods is, so they can stay away."
"So then…you think that the thing in the woods is like…" Shaggy trailed off.
"A Wendigo?" Mrs. Reynolds finished his sentence for him. "Dear, I know it's a Wendigo."
"How can you be sure?" Daphne said in disbelief.
"Wait here." Mrs. Reynolds got up and left the living room. She returned a few moments later with a piece of paper that looked as though it had been printed off of a website. She showed it to the gang.
The picture on the paper displayed the image of a man standing the middle of a pine forest, snow hanging off of the branches. In front of the man stood a horrifying, grotesque-looking monster with tiny glowing eyes. Scooby, Shaggy, and Velma gasped.
"Like that's it!" Shaggy cried. "The Wendigo!"
Mrs. Reynolds flashed her eyes at them. "Have you seen it?"
"Yesterday," Velma admitted. "Shaggy just moved to the area and he was exploring the woods behind his house and we ran into it…"
"The Willow Springs Woods?" Mrs. Reynolds turned around to look out of the large bay window that faced the trees of the forest. "That forest has such a bad reputation because of the Wendigo. That's where my Paul disappeared."
"Could you tell us more about that?" Fred asked her. "About the day he disappeared? If it's still a touchy subject, we don't have to talk about it…"
"No, I suppose it's good for you kids to know. Especially for those of you who live here." She glanced pointedly at Shaggy before continuing. "One evening, Paul had been in the woods, trying to decide if we could expand our property. But he ran into the Wendigo. He just barely escaped, but the Wendigo had swiped at him left a mark. A few days later, he began complaining of an awful stench. I couldn't smell anything, but he smelled it wherever he was. That evening, he kept waking up from terrifying nightmares that he couldn't bring himself to describe. Neither of us slept well that night, but when morning came, he began screaming that his legs were on fire and leapt from the bed. It was mid-October, so the leaves had changed color and the air was crisp and cool, but Paul didn't even take a jacket. I ran outside after him and found him in the middle of the forest, removing his clothes and shoes. I tried to stop him, but it was no use. He ran shrieking into the trees. I looked and looked and looked for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere. It was then that I realized that my Paul must have had Wendigo Fever and had been cursed by the beast." Mrs. Reynolds paused in her monologue to take a sip of tea and clear away some tears that were gathering in her eyes. The teens and Scooby glanced at each other. "I fear that the worst has become of my Paul."
"What do you mean?" asked Daphne. Mrs. Reynolds took out the picture again.
"What do you think those are?" She pointed to the tiny red spots that covered the monster.
"Are they like, scales?" asked Shaggy. That had been his original assumption the other evening.
"No, dear," Mrs. Reynolds said gravely. "Those are flecks of human blood. The legend is that-"
"Those cursed with Wendigo Fever are devoured by the beast," Velma finished her sentence. She remembered that from the research they'd done in the library. "Do you think…we're at risk? I mean, three of us did see it yesterday. And my sister saw it, too."
"Did it touch any of you?" asked Mrs. Reynolds.
"No," Velma replied.
"Then I don't think you have anything to worry about. But you should stay out of those woods. The Wendigo has your scent now, and he may want revenge for you finding his hiding place. They say that the Wendigo only appears when the weather turns cold, but even when the weather gets warmer, I don't want you meeting the same fate as my Paul." She turned to look out the bay window again. "It's getting dark. You may want to go home before your parents worry."
"Zoinks! It's like, dinner time, Scoob!" Shaggy exclaimed. He caught sight of the analog clock that hung over the fireplace and saw that it was six o'clock.
"Well thank you for answering our questions, Mrs. Reynolds," Fred said as he and the others stood up.
"Please call me Amber," she said again with a small smile. "And of course. Everyone should know what that fearsome thing in the woods is. I will do whatever it takes to protect the good people of Coolsville from that horrible creature."
"Ma'am?" asked Daphne. She had already wandered back into the kitchen and discovered the tofu cookbook. Mrs. Reynolds gave a sad smile.
"My Paul was a vegetarian, and he loved tofu," she explained. "I used to hate the stuff, but now I can't get enough of it. I cook it every day. The scent of it reminds me of my Paul…and it comforts me."
x.X.x
As soon as they had left the Reynolds' house, the others walked Shaggy and Scooby home.
"She seemed to know a lot about the Wendigo," Velma said.
"Well sure," Daphne said. "If some huge monster had eaten my husband, I'd want to find out as much as I could about it. Where do you think she got that picture, though?"
"It looked as if it had been printed off of the Internet," Fred replied. "Was that what the thing that you guys saw in the woods last night looked like?"
"Like, it was the exact same thing, man," Shaggy gulped. The five were now standing on the porch, and the sun was going down.
"Daph and I will make sure Velma gets home safely," Fred said. "You two go on inside, and we'll see you in homeroom tomorrow."
"Like Velma, do you have your cellphone?" Shaggy asked. Velma brought it out from an inner pocket of her jacket. Shaggy took it and typed something in. "I just like, added myself to your contacts. Could you just like…you know…shoot me a text when you get home? Just so like…I know you made it?" He felt himself turn red.
"Sure," Velma said, also blushing. Daphne grinned. Scooby furrowed his brow in puzzlement. Fred looked clueless.
"And um…you guys, too," Shaggy said to Fred and Daphne.
"Yeah, we'll get your number from Velma," Fred said. The three walked off of the Rogers' porch as Shaggy and Scooby turned to the door and went inside.
Mrs. Rogers was waiting for him. The table was set and she was about ready to serve dinner.
"Like, hi Mom," Shaggy said. "Hi, Dad,"
"Hello, Norville," they said in unison. His mother looked annoyed and his father looked anxious. Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other. Usually when his parents looked like that, it meant Shaggy was going to get a lecture. Shaggy tried to think about what they could be mad about as he fed Scooby.
Um…let's see, I left a note before I went with Velma, I kept my phone on, so they can't be mad about either of those things…maybe they're like, angry because I didn't call. Or…zoinks! Maybe they found my pipe! Shaggy tried to think of ways he could try to convince his parents that he hadn't actually smoked anything. Midway through dinner, Shaggy finally realized what was actually bothering his parents. Or, his mom, at any rate.
"Norville, who were those kids you were with just now?"
"Oh. Like, those are my friends from school," Shaggy replied, his mouth full. He swallowed before continuing. "I have a lot of classes with them-"
"Are they from respectable walks of life?" Shaggy's mother interrupted. Shaggy groaned.
"Like, not this again, Mom," he muttered. He loved his mother, but she was such a snob!
"Norville, we had hoped then when we moved to Ohio, you would find…better company," his father chimed in. His father was more soft-spoken than his mother, but he usually agreed with her.
"Like what was wrong with my friends in California?" asked Shaggy.
"Don't think we don't know what kind of kids you were hanging out with," his mother said. "I know that Brannen Schultz smoked marijuana. I'm glad you didn't start. I know you're smarter than that, Norville. I had just hoped that you would find better people to befriend here."
Shaggy had shifted uncomfortably in his seat when his mother mentioned marijuana, but now he glowered at her. "What's wrong with my new friends?"
"Well…I suppose the blonde haired boy and the red haired girl seemed respectable enough," his father admitted. "But…what were your views on the small girl with glasses?" He addressed that question to his wife.
"She doesn't seem good enough to be in your presence, Norville," his mother said matter-of-factly.
"Like, how could you possibly know?" Shaggy was beginning to get extremely angry now. "You like, don't even know these people!"
"Do you?" his mother asked him. "You just met them yesterday, Norville. How much could you have gotten to know about them in such a short time? For all you know, they could have very bad reputations."
Shaggy took a few deep breaths to calm himself down enough to not yell at his mother. "They are like, totally nice, Mom. They helped me out a lot on my first day. If you guys just gave them a chance, you'd see…" He trailed off. There was no way that he could make his mother understand that his friends had spent their day off from school trying to learn about the Wendigo…all for the well-being of him, Scooby and Velma. That was true friendship…but he couldn't explain it to his parents. Besides, he didn't want them knowing about the Wendigo. He finished his dinner in one gulp. "I'm done. I'm gonna like, go upstairs." With that, he pushed his chair back from the table and stormed up to his room, with Scooby following close behind. Once in his room, he flopped onto his bed and groaned. Scooby sat next to the bed and placed his head near Shaggy's.
"Rut's rong, Raggy?" asked Scooby. He had overheard the entire dinner conversation and knew precisely what was wrong, but hoped that he could help somehow.
"Like, it doesn't make sense, Scooby Doo," Shaggy said, glancing over at the dog as he reached over and pet him. "It's like, none of my friends are ever good enough for Mom and Dad. Why is that?"
"Rye ron't roe. Rey rike ree!" Scooby pointed out. Shaggy chuckled.
"Like, thank God they like you, Scooby Doo. I don't know how I'd get along without you," Shaggy said as he scratched the dog behind the ears. Eventually, Shaggy put his pajamas on and went to sleep. It wasn't until he was drifting off that he realized that he hadn't smoked all day. He was surprised to realize this…and even more surprised to realize that he didn't really care.
x.X.x
After Daphne and Fred walked Velma to her house, they began the long trek back to their own neighborhood, Maple Falls. Actually, it wasn't really all that long – it only took about twenty minutes to walk there. To tell the truth, Daphne and Fred both felt that the walk was all too short.
"What do you think we should do, Freddie?" asked Daphne. "If there really is a Wendigo living in those woods, then Velma, Shaggy and Scooby aren't safe. And neither are any of the people in that neighborhood."
"I know," Fred said grimly. "I'll think of something, Daph. Don't you worry. There is no way I'm letting a monster get its hands on my friends."
"I'm surprised you care so much," Daphne said, without really thinking. They were on her front porch now, so they stopped walking.
Fred shot her a sideways glance. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh!" Daphne blushed. "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that…uh…" How could she say this? "You just met Shaggy and Scooby, and just started talking to Velma …but you're already all gung-ho to protect them from harm."
"Not just them," Fred said tenderly, looking Daphne straight in the eye. Suddenly, it was his turn to blush. "I mean…uh….you know…I'd do whatever it took to protect anyone from the Wendigo. I mean, you heard Mrs. Reynolds' story," he babbled.
Daphne smiled demurely. "Well, I think that's awfully sweet of you." She let herself into her house. "Thanks for walking me home."
"Of course," Fred smiled as Daphne closed the door and began to walk upstairs to her bedroom.
Once there, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She looked…giddy. She stopped smiling abruptly, feeling extremely confused. What was going on with her? Just the other day, didn't she believe that Fred Jones was the scum of the earth? Well…maybe not scum but…she definitely hadn't liked him.
Had she?
No, of course she hadn't. That was ridiculous.
So then, why had she found herself smiling almost all day? And most of the time, it had something to do with Fred? What had changed?
Almost as soon as she thought it, her mind answered.
He had made her laugh. He had been fun. He had been determined to protect his friends. Daphne had never known how much Fred cared about people. She'd always thought him to be a huge, egomaniacal jerk. Could she have been wrong? Did Freddie have depths? Would he really put the safety of others before himself?
One thing was certain. Daphne Blake was never going to look at Fred Jones the same way again.
x.X.x
As Velma was climbing into bed that night, there was a knock on her door. Velma expected it to be Dottie. However, when Velma told the knocker to come in, her mother entered.
"Mom?" Velma was confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Bill has been having some back difficulty because of the hide-a-bed," Mrs. Dinkley explained. Dottie's husband slept on the fold-out sofa in their living room downstairs. Velma wasn't quite sure why he wasn't sleeping in the same room as his wife – perhaps it was her parents way of saying, Yes we're very happy that we're going to be grandparents, but you should have married our daughter BEFORE you knocked her up.
"So?" Velma didn't get it.
"Well, we've decided to move him and Dottie into Madelyn's room," Mrs. Dinkley said. "So if it's all right with you, Dottie will move out of your room ad Madelyn will move in."
"Sure. I mean…that's fine," Velma said. She and Madelyn had shared a room for a while, but once Dottie went to college, Velma moved into Dottie's old room so that she and Madelyn could have more privacy. Velma was used to sharing a room with Madelyn. And it would be nice to not hear Dottie complain about her pregnancy aches every night.
Madelyn arrived shortly, carrying bundles of stuffed animals into Dottie's bed with her. Velma couldn't help but smile.
"Did you have a nice day off of school, Madds?" she asked as she got settled.
"Yes," Madelyn replied. "Jane and Kerri and Lana and I made snowmen in Coolsville Park after we went sledding on the big hill."
"That sounds fun," Velma said. Madelyn kneeled on her bed and looked out the window up into the night sky. It was completely clear, except for the moon and a few stars.
"Do you think school will be cancelled again tomorrow, Velma?" asked Madelyn. Velma joined Madelyn at the window. The sky was clear and though they couldn't see the road from their window (their bedroom looked out into the woods), Velma remembered the various snowplows that had come through as Fred and Daphne walked her home.
"I don't think so, Madds," said Velma. "The snowplows probably already cleared up the snow in the road. My guess is we will have school in the morning. You'd better get some sleep." Sighing, Madelyn nodded and was about to turn away from the window when suddenly, she froze.
"Velma, I think I see something in the woods," she whispered. "I think it's the monster!" Velma searched the edge of the woods from behind the glass windowpane, but didn't see anything suspicious.
"I don't see anyone, Madelyn-" Suddenly, Velma broke off. There. It had just darted behind a tree. And…there! Again! She saw whatever it was lurk out of the shadows. Velma realized it was a large black man. She gave a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry Madds. It's not the Wen—I mean, it's just a person. See?" Velma pointed as the man crept out of the woods and headed for the street. Madelyn breathed a sigh of relief as well.
"Thank goodness," she sighed. Then she yawned. "I guess I'm sleepier than I realized. Good night, Velma." Madelyn snuggled under the covers as Velma went back to her own bed. She was glad that it wasn't the Wendigo, and she was certainly glad that she hadn't accidentally informed her little sister of the monster's name. But she was feeling uneasy. Who was that man, she thought, and why was he lurking in the shadows of the woods behind my house?
x.X.x
Sure enough, the snow had been cleared from the roads the next morning, so school resumed. However, it was Friday so Shaggy didn't feel as upset. And he knew he would get to see his friends.
"Like, come by during lunch again, Scooby Doo," Shaggy whispered as the two ate breakfast. "Just don't let Mom see you."
"Roo rot it, Raggy!" Scooby barked, saluting him. When the school bus pulled up, Shaggy gave Scooby one last pat on the head before going out the door into the cold air. The bus was a tad warmer than the outside, and he found Velma sitting alone on one of the seats. They grinned when they saw each other, and he sat beside her.
"Like, hey Velm," he greeted her. He didn't care what his parents thought. He was going to hang out with her, Fred and Daphne if he wanted to. Besides, none of them smoked pot, so they had to be better influences than Brannen.
"Hi, Shaggy!" she said brightly. "Did you get my text?"
"Like, yeah." Velma had texted him near the beginning of his dinner with his parents, before the shit had hit the fan and they'd argued about Shaggy's friends. "I got Daph and Fred's texts too. I'm like, really glad that you guys all made it home all right."
"How do you think Daphne and Fred did, walking all the way back to their neighborhood alone?" Velma had a hunch that the redhead liked the blonde a little more than she was letting on. She had almost texted Daphne to ask how the walk home had been, but her conversation with Madelyn had distracted her. I ought to tell the others what Madelyn and I saw, Velma thought to herself.
"I like, don't know," Shaggy said. "I bet we'll find out during homeroom, though."
"That reminds me," Velma said. "Something happened last night that I should tell you, Daphne and Freddie about."
"Like, what?" Shaggy was concerned, but Velma waved her hand dismissively.
"I'll tell you during homeroom," she promised.
When the bus arrived, the two walked into homeroom together to find that Daphne was the only one of their friends who was around.
"Oh yeah…Fred has to do the morning announcements," Velma sighed. "I completely forgot."
"Hey, Daph," Shaggy greeted the redhead.
"Hi, Shaggy. Hi, Velma," Daphne replied.
"So Daph…how was your walk home?" asked Velma.
"It was…nice," Daphne said, not wanting to elaborate. She wasn't quite sure she was ready to tell anyone that she might have feelings for Fred Jones…especially when just the other day she had completely hated his guts. "What's up?"
"Velma like, has something to tell us," Shaggy told her. Daphne turned her attention to Velma, but Velma shook her head.
"Not now. Let's wait till Fred gets here." Eventually, the bell rang and the announcements began. By the time the announcements had ended, Fred had arrived in homeroom. Mr. Aiken let the class do as they pleased for the rest of the period, so the girls joined Shaggy and Fred at their desks.
"Velma has news," Daphne told Fred. He looked at the smaller girl, and she described the man she and Madelyn had seen lurking in the woods the previous night.
Shaggy perked up when she began describing him. "Like, what does he look like?"
"Big," Velma said. "Not fat, just big. African American. It was difficult to tell anything else about him, though. Why?"
"Like, I think I saw him the other day," Shaggy said. "On my way back from the uh…bathroom. During study hall."
"You saw him in the school?" Daphne asked. "In the basement?" Shaggy nodded, took out a piece of paper and a pencil from his backpack and quickly drew the man from memory.
"Jinkies, that's him!" Velma exclaimed when Shaggy had finished.
"Did he really look that creepy?" asked Daphne.
"Wow, Shag. You're a pretty good artist," Freddie said.
"Uh, Fred? Focus," Velma said.
"Right. Sorry." Fred studied the drawing, then paused. "Wait a second. I know this guy!"
"How do you know him?" asked Daphne, confused.
"Well, I don't know him, know him," Fred explained. "But I know who he is. He's a janitor at City Hall. His name is Lewis…something or other."
"But like, dude," Shaggy said. "If he works at City Hall, why did I see him in the school basement?"
"And why did I see him in the trees behind my house?" Velma wondered.
"This is very suspicious," Daphne said, tapping a finger to her chin.
"I'll say," Fred replied. "Gang…it looks like we have a mystery on our hands."
Sponge: So I think I finally discovered what Fred's catch phrase is: "It looks like we have a mystery on our hands." Although that doesn't quite work for when he's shocked. "Zoinks", "Jinkies", and "Jeepers" are all things you could say if you're taken by surprise. "It looks like we have a mystery on our hands" doesn't quite fit the bill. Also, it's too long. Anyway…I leave in two days (LE GASP) so I'll probably update again in about a week or so, which is why I made this chapter longer than the rest. Funny how that worked out, schedule wise…one of the chapters that was scheduled to be longish came right at a time of less updating. Anyway…till then, keep guessing the contest question and keep reviewing! I've hit thirty reviews now and I'm extremely happy and excited about it! You all are awesome! (P.S: To find the picture of the Wendigo that I described early in the chapter, type in "Wendigo" into Google images. The second image that pops up is the one I mean. It's a scary looking thing, huh?)
