Chapter 7: Checking Inn

Fred pulled up to the Inn. The entire place looked dark inside and untouched for some time.

"So, here's the town's inn," Wendy said. "I've honestly never been inside."

"Thanks for telling me where to go, Wendy," Fred answered. "Now let's go see if there's anything alive inside."

"Or anything dead," Robbie joked.

"Like don't say that," Shaggy said quivering.

"Dude, what's wrong? Why are you shaking?" Wendy asked.

"Looks like he's just a tall, skinny chicken," Robbie jested.

"Reah, we're roth ricken," Scooby said as he flapped his arms.

"What did he say?" Robbie asked.

"They're both chicken," Daphne translated.

"Don't worry, we deal with this all the time," Velma said. She held up a box with some special treats. "Will you two go in for some Scooby Snacks?" she shook the box.

"You're bribing them with dog biscuits?" Wendy questioned. It seemed appropriate for Scooby, but she was surprised when Shaggy helped gulp down the whole box.

"Are you ready now?" Velma asked.

"Yep!" Both of them replied.

Everyone got out of the van and walked over to a large gate with a padlock.

"Alright, up and over!" Robbie yelled as he jumped up to grab the top of the brick wall.

"Hang on," Daphne stopped him. "We may not have to do that." She took out her hairpin and once again maneuvered the gears inside the lock. This one wasn't rusted. After a few moments, there was a click and the lock popped open.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Wendy asked, astonished.

"It's something I picked up being a girl scout" Daphne responded.

Wendy raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Really? Can you teach me? In return I can show you how to hotwire a car."

Daphne squint her eyes at Wendy's offer. "Uh, thanks, but I don't think I'll ever need to know that.

Wendy waved her hand carelessly. "Pff! Everyone should learn how to hotwire a car. It was useful when the apocalypse happened last summer." Daphne didn't respond. Fred pushed the gate open.

"Okay, everyone be careful when we go inside."

Once inside the gate, the group entered through the two glass double doors into the foyer of the hotel. As everyone stood in the lobby, the ceiling light above them flickered, threatening to go out permanently.

"Okay, we're in," Fred said. "Let's split up and look for clues."

"Split up?" Robbie asked narrowing his eyes.

"Why don't we stick together," Wendy suggested. "This hotel isn't that big."

"It's big enough to have two floors and it will be much faster if we split into two groups," Velma pointed out.

"Fine. Whatever," Wendy said. "So, who are me and Robbie going with?"

"Velma Daphne and I will check upstairs. You two can search with Shaggy and Scooby down here.

Fred and the girls headed for the stairs.

"So, what do we do exactly?" Wendy asked Shaggy.

"Like, Scooby and me just look for food. We only find clues on accident."

"Reah or romething rary," Scooby answered.

"Reary?" Robbie asked.

"I think he means scary," Wendy corrected.

"Reah, rary."

They walked on down the hallway. Nothing unusual stood out as they continued down a corridor of rooms.

"Are any of these rooms unlocked?" Wendy wondered. She tried one of the doors, but it didn't budge.

"This is going to be a quick search if we can't check the rooms," Robbie said. He leaned against one door, pressing an ear to the wood. "I can't hear anything. Maybe I can break down the door."

"Hey, if they don't open of their own free will, like let's not force it," Shaggy suggested.

"Man, why are you always so scared of everything, Shaggy?" Wendy asked.

"Like I'm not afraid of everything," Shaggy responded. "Just things that are scary."

"Well it sound like you guys run into a lot of creepy stuff, aren't you used to it by now?" she asked further.

"Give it up, Wendy. He's just a skinny chicken," Robbie tossed out. Shaggy didn't say anything in his defense.

"Aren't you going to say something to him?" Wendy asked.

"No. He's right," Shaggy said.

"No, he isn't!" Wendy burst out. "He just insulted you to your face and you're gonna take it?"

"Come on, Wendy. You're boyfriend knows he's a chicken," Robbie crudely teased.

"He's not my boyfriend! Shut up!" Wendy yelled as she punched Robbie in the arm.

Robbie grunted, but tried to act like the pain didn't affect him.

Shaggy went to the next door, which opened. Inside were two twin beds and a dresser, but not much else.

"Like, this is definitely not a five star hotel." He shut the door. Opening the next room down, he discovered the exact same layout. He shut the door. "Nope, nothing in there."

Meanwhile, Scooby wandered down to the end of the hallway. He put a paw on the doorknob to the last room. The door opened. On the other side was something horrifying, a white face hidden in a mass of shadows.

"Rikes!" Scooby cried out and slammed the door. He ran over to Shaggy, viciously tapping him on the shoulder.

"Like what's wrong, Scoob?" Shaggy asked. Scooby whimpered and pointed at the door where he saw the creature. "Oh boy, you want me to go over there and check it out, don't you?"

"Ruh-huh," Scooby answered. Shaggy rolled his eyes remembering what happened with the chalkboard.

"Like, I don't know why I do these things for you, Scooby Doo." Shaggy breathed in and opened the door. However, when Shaggy opened the door, nothing out of the ordinary was there." Shaggy turned to Scooby narrowing his eyes.

"Like, quit trying to scare me, Scoob." He closed the door and walked to the other side where Wendy had opened one of the doors.

"There's nothing strange in here," she said. "Just a normal room. Should I check the drawers in the dresser?"

Shaggy shrugged. "I guess so." Wendy raised a skeptical eyebrow. She thought that someone who solves mysteries all the time would be more thorough.

Scooby crept over to the door next over. Putting a paw on the doorknob, he slowly opened the door. On the other side was the same creature he just saw with a white face. The creature wore a long black cloak covering the head and body. In the dim lighting, it appeared as if the creature was disfigured and distorted.

Raggy!" he yelled. He shut the door and ran over to Shaggy, jumping into his arms. Wendy, who was looking inside one of the dresser drawers turned towards them. Scooby shook in Shaggy's arms. "Rit's the ronster!"

"Okay Scoob, I'm gonna go over there, but something better be behind that door."

Wendy walked over to Scooby. "What did you see?" she asked. Scooby's teeth chattered. Before Shaggy opened the door, the creature kicked down the door. Stretching out its long, thick arms, it growled.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy yelled as he slammed the door and ran back down the hallway towards the others. Everyone ran from the creature. They barreled into one doorway, then out another, in and out of doorways, going up and down the hallway. After all of that running, and they weren't any closer in escaping from the monster. Suddenly, Wendy stopped. "Whoa! Hold on! I'm not gonna run from this thing! After everything I faced last year?! Forget it!" She stormed up to the masked creature.

"Hey you! Quit chasing us or I'm gonna break your legs!" she yelled.

"Like, Wendy, what are you doing?" Shaggy asked nervously.

"I'm standing up to this thing! I survived Weirdmageddon! I'm not gonna to run away!"

Suddenly, the creature grabbed Wendy and threw her over its shoulder and raced into one of the rooms. "Put me down!" she screamed as the creature closed and locked the door.

"Wendy!" Robbie shouted as he pounded on the door. He shoved his shoulder into the wood multiple times. When, the door didn't budge, he turned to Shaggy.

"Come on! Help me man! We gotta stop that creep!"

"Like, I don't know if we should—" Shaggy began cowardly.

"You better help me or I'm gonna break your scrawny neck!" Robbie raged.

Shaggy did a big gulp. Even though Robbie was shorter than Shaggy, the kid probably could tear him apart.

"Okay, man," Shaggy agreed. "Come on, Scoob." All three of them rammed the door until it fell of its hinges.

However, by the time they got inside, no one was there. The window on the other side of the room was wide open. Robbie ran over and looked out.

"Did it just jump out and run off?" he asked out loud. "Wendy!" he shouted, but only the howling wind answered. In frustration, he punched the window frame. He turned to Shaggy with a grave expression. "Listen, we aren't' doing anything else until we find Wendy, got it?"

"Like, we'll find her, man," Shaggy answered a little shaken. "B-but, how about we regroup with the rest of the gang and let them know what's going on."

"Fine, whatever," Robbie grunted.

The gang regrouped in the main lobby. Fred stood with his arms crossed, furrowing his brow, while Velma and Daphne stood in awkward silence.

"Like, Fred, we found something!" Shaggy said as he, Scooby and Robbie walked over.

"Good, cause we didn't find a thing," Fred said with frustration. Then he noticed they were down a person. "Where's Wendy?"

"Like, that's what I'm trying to tell you, Fred. We saw this weird monster and it grabbed her and took off."

"What did the monster look like?" Velma asked.

"It was a stupid white faced creep in a black cloak," Robbie said hastily. "And when I find him, I'm gonna beat his face in!" Robbie pounded his fist into his hand.

"Well, usually, we set a trap to catch the monster," Fred said.

"Uh, okay. I guess that's cool," Robbie said.

"But, like, we don't know where that creep went," Shaggy said.

At that moment, the door on the opposite wall swayed.

"I wonder where that leads?" Velma asked.

"Let's find out," Fred answered.

Everyone headed towards the door. As Fred shinned his flashlight inside, he found a descending staircase.

"This must lead to the basement," he said.

"A-another b-basement," Shaggy moaned.

"Roh, no!" Scooby cried.

"Well, let's go already!" Robbie exclaimed as he pushed past the gang, continuing down the staircase.

Below the inn, the masked creature carried Wendy into a secluded area.

"I swear if you don't let me go, I'm gonna drop kick you!" she screamed at it. Wendy grabbed the creature around the neck and prepared to try and choke it out. It flipped her off its shoulders and set her on the floor, tying her hands behind her back. Then the creature walked across the room and lit two torches.

"What the hell is going on?" Wendy cried. She didn't get an answer. She hated to admit it, but the whole situation started to freak her out. She had to find a way out of there.

The gang finally made it into the basement. They only took a few steps before a bunch of torches lit all around them. Everyone stood, frozen by the sudden change of the environment.

"You couldn't just leave town, could you?" A deep, gruff voice asked. The masked figure walked through the line of torches. In the light, it appeared more human as its body was clearly seen.

"Just who are you?" Fred asked.

The creature removed its mask to reveal a burly man with red hair. Robbie recognized him right away. "Hey, you're Wendy's dad. What are you doing?"

Suddenly, more faces appeared in the torchlight. The Sheriff and Deputy, Mayor Tyler, and many other townsfolk stood in the room.

"Well, now how did you all stumble into our secret place?" Sheriff Blubs asked.

"They are some snoopy kids, that's for sure," Deputy Durland added.

A new face walked towards the gang, a plump man wearing a round straw hat and button down shirt with a floral pattern.

"Who are you?" Velma asked him in a calm manner.

"Aw now, you asked so politely, son. My name is Bud Gleeful, I'm a car salesman and a businessman."

"Okay, what is going on in this town? What's with all of this?" Daphne asked.

Lazy Susan walked up behind him. "This is our secret," she said.

"The waitress from the diner?" Velma questioned.

"So, are we going to learn this secret?" Fred pushed.

"B-be c-careful Fred," Shaggy said, quivering. "It may be one of those deals that once we know, we can never leave."

"Sure, we'll let you know," the Sheriff answered.

"Let us know what?" Daphne asked, her voice trembling a little.

Each of the townsfolk held up their right hand.

"We solemnly swear never to reveal the events of the day when gravity fell and earth became sky, the day we feared the beast with just one eye. We will never speak again of the incident known as Weirdmageddon. This day we will never look back, this is the 'Never Mind All That Act.'"

They lowered their hands. The tiny mayor stepped forward.

"Get em'!" he shouted. The gang watched in horror as the townsfolk closed in on them.