Scooby Doo: Monster Menagerie

Chapter 16: Trial and Error

The mansion was perhaps the quietest it had been in a long time. It was almost as if the house itself was conscious enough to remain silent, as the sound of creaking or furniture settling was not audible. Feet shuffling on the floor was the only thing that could really be heard from anyone, as well as the slight murmur of the headmistress, Miss Grimwood. Right now, she was requesting that her floating hand go and retrieve Colonel Calloway from his school to come and take witness to what was about to happen.

Explanations were needed, and not just from Sibella, who just moments ago, was witnesed about to attack Velma. Understandably, she was not doing so under her own will, but it still raised obvious concerns. So much so that a trial of sorts was to be held. The vampire in question sat herself in the middle seat of a couch, hands folded delicately in her lap. Her gaze remained pointed down at her hands, feeling incredibly uncomfortable and guilty.

The rest of the current occupants seated themselves around in a circle of sorts. Miss Grimwood seemed to be a bit of an exception, as she sat in a chair just slightly outside of the ring, so she could keep watch. No one blamed her, as she already looked like she was the sheer embodiment of stress itself. Winnie sat down right beside Sibella, a paw resting on her shoulder in a comforting manner. Shaggy sat on the other side of his vampire pupil, also providing support, with Scooby resting at his feet. Everyone else opted to sit around wherever they could, with a few exceptions. Velma remained standing, finding it easier to keep track of everyone's statements. Phantasma remained in the circle, yet she kept floating as well, finding it much more comfortable. When the Colonel finally arrived, he opted to remain standing as well, arms folded with a concerned look on his face, scanning the room.

Noticing his expression, Velma decided to go ahead and answer the Colonel's inevitable question. "There's been an... incident," She sighed out, adjusting her glasses.

"Incident..?" He began in an uneasy tone. "How serious was it?" A few seconds of silence followed, everyone feeling just as uncomfortable answering that question.

"Well, uh..." Fred began, trying to find the right words to continue with. "Let's just say that, uh... our 'possession' problem's escalated once again."

"Another attack..!" Calloway said grimly, a hand on his chin. "I do hope everyone is alright, then," He continued on.

"Don't worry, we're fine," Velma answered again. Sibella gazed upwards without moving her head.

"I nearly killed you. I fail to see how that's 'fine'," She replied coldly. Another few seconds of silence remained, with Calloway remaining speechless for the time being.

"...Bella, c'mon," Winnie began. "You know that wasn't your doing."

"I still let it use me," She continued grimly, not looking up this time. "I'm sure this was all my fault. If it weren't for those dreams, I wouldn't have taken my Father's book from his library. I... I know that's been the cause of all of this. And I've been doing nothing about it. Like a coward," She rambled, her tone remaining icy cold. Her fists balled up, growing tighter with each passing moment. Her nails were threatening to break her skin at this point, with Winnie placing her paws on the vampire's hands to help restrain her from doing so.

"Like, that book is yours?" Shaggy asked.

"I was wondering where it came from..." Velma speculated, holding up the Demonologist's Bible. Ever since the whole ordeal, it hadn't moved at all. The bookworm figured that the demon who had been using it was either resting or watching everything silently.

"Hang on, didn't you say you got that from the Detective's bag?" Daphne asked suddenly.

"Hey, yeah..! How'd he manage to sneak that away?" Winnie interjected. "I mean, I don't imagine Sibella would've let that out of her sight. Right..?" The vampire remained quiet at this, sighing as the look of guilt spread over her face once more. "...Bella, you didn't..!"

"I just... wanted the dreams to stop..." She sighed sadly. "I hid it behind a bookshelf in the laboratory."

"No wonder the Detective managed to find it, then," Fred added on. "He spent a lot of his time down there."

"It'd also explain the other day," Elsa began slowly, getting her facts together before continuing. "The day we found the book in his bag, was also the day that he... well, grabbed your wrist, Velma."

"I remember that..!" Phanty started up. "That was definitely at the hands of something else! Freaky was out cold."

"It would make sense..." Velma trailed off.

Tanis cleared her throat, managing to find her voice as some questions entered her mind. "Um, if I may..?" The others looked her way curiously, waiting for her to continue on. "Well... what I'm thinking is that the book... or the demon controlling the book, rather, is behind... m-my possession as well."

"Yeah, it told me so when I went down there," Velma responded.

"N-not only that, but... I don't know, I just... know where Sibella is coming from," Tanis continued on, rubbing her arm and swinging her legs a little. "It... took control of my emotions. I-I didn't mean for it to, either..! But... somehow, it just struck all the right nerves, and..." She trailed off, looking away as she nervously picked at a loose end of a bandage.

Sibella merely nodded, giving a little smile to her mummy friend. "It's comforting to hear that we're not alone in what we experienced..."

"But... do we know why?" Googie suddenly piped up, having remained quiet up until this point. "I mean, the last time I came face to face with that... red creep, it said it got information."

"Like, yeah, I remember that," Shaggy responded, pointing a finger in her direction. "But, like, I definitely would've remembered that thing's ugly mug if I had seen it before. How did it, like, get anything from me?"

"...Raggy, remember when you rassed out..?" Scooby spoke up, peering up to his best friend.

"Zoinks..! Like, don't remind me..." He shuddered in response.

"He has a point, though, Shaggy," Daphne spoke up. "It didn't seem like it made you do anything... other than pass out, of course. Maybe you were exhausted from working out that it had an easier time doing that?"

"Could be... I think it has an easier time coming to us in our sleep," Fred responded. "I never did tell you guys about my odd dream that one night. Probably should've... heh..." He chuckled humorlessly.

"Do you remember anything about it now?" Velma asked him.

"Sorta?" He continued on, scratching his head as he recollected himself. "It was... hard to make out where I was, though I know it was nowhere pleasant. It was almost as if it were an-"

"...Out of body experience?" Velma finished for him, raising an eyebrow. Fred gave a nod, his eyes wide.

"Did it..?"

"Yeah. Well, sort of. I was flying around the whole mansion, and I could see everyone... kind of. It lead me to the... er... secret room." She finished.

"Hm... wonder why we weren't told about it sooner..." Winnie grumbled.

"Can ya blame them?" Phanty replied, adding a scared laugh to her statement. "I mean, after all that, I sure wouldn't wanna. I like spooky, but that place was just... oozing with something sinister..!"

"Continue with your dream, Freddie," Daphne prompted.

"R-right..! Well, I do kinda remember what it said to me. Something about... humans being the perfect solution. It said it was picky but... it said that I'd be perfect for it..." He shuddered. "It also said I didn't have a choice in the matter..."

"So you think this thing is... scouting for people to use?" Googie gasped.

"Might be," Calloway cut in suddenly. "I remember Private Tug telling me that during his fight with the beast, or demon, or whatever, that it almost began to... mock him?"

"Mock him? How so?" Velma asked.

"He was the only one remaining, and he said that it was almost laughing at him. Saying how he was strong... but never strong enough for it's master."

"So, like, it's looking for some servants or slaves to become all powerful and evil to do it's bidding?" Shaggy gulped.

"Well... yes, in a way," Velma answered. "It seems that, with monsterkind, it can simply enter their form, find out what makes them enraged, and use that to it's advantage," She explained, giving a sort of apologetic look to the ghoul girls. "Er, no offense, but maybe it sees that humans are more...complex? As in, there's no obvious mental weakness to them." As everyone looked between each other, the bookworm continued on. "I think that the demon in question has to make people come to it's side..."

"...or have them already dead," Winnie filled in, looking her way. "Remember that whole thing about how demon blood doesn't leave a trail or whatever?"

"That's right..!" Elsa added in, looking quite impressed that Winnie caught onto something like that.

Everyone else still seemed somewhat confused. "But... I saw blood on Private Tug's sword. There's no way that what he was fighting was human," The Colonel replied.

"Not anymore, at least," Velma sighed. The Colonel seemed to stiffen up, looking quite pale in the face. "From what it seems, this demon in question, who's name I'll not say, uses humans to change them. Or rather, mutilate them, would be the more accurate term."

"Jeepers..." Daphne whispered, a hand to her mouth.

"...maybe... that's what those things were doing back in town?" Googie asked cautiously, feeling quite queasy at this point. "It was trying to find others to join their master?"

"I hate to say it, but that's most likely the reason why," Velma sighed.

A few moments of silence slid on by, everyone thinking to themselves for the most part. It almost seemed to drag on for hours, even though it had been merely seconds. The sound of Fred speaking up almost made the others jump. "So... we know the motives for this demon, for the most part. But that still doesn't really explain how it got here."

"Most likely with this," Velma answered, waving the book in the air to show it off. "From what I've seen in this book, there's not a whole lot of information based around summoning. However, what is in here is info based around the other aspects of Hellish beings. There's enough data in here that, if you knew where else to go, you could find your way to a summoning circle."

"Like the one in the secret room?" Fred asked.

"Exactly," Velma responded, continuing to think aloud. "The last time we discovered it, the circle was still remaining, almost untouched. What I'm curious about is how did the summoning occur if no one knew about the rooms existence?"

"Well obviously, someone did know about it and refused to tell everyone else," Daphne answered, looking around to everyone. "...not a whole lot of leads in that department, though, I don't think."

"Not really," Velma sighed. "However, there's another small issue that I think needs answering," She continued on, turning her attention to the sullen vampire and opening the Demonologist's Bible up. She had turned it to the portion of the book where there was a missing page. The tear was very subtle and could've easily been missed if one wasn't paying attention. The girl pointed this out before asking Sibella a question. "What I'm curious to know is what happened to the page that was missing right here."

The vampires eyes seemed to open a little bit wider, delicately pushing the tip of her index finger along the tear, remaining silent for a few seconds. Soon, she gazed back up at Velma and whispered, "I didn't do that."


There's still so much left.

So much left to unravel.

Even I am left feeling quite anxious.

Heh.

At least I have you to keep me company.

The others may not know much about you, but I sure do.

I can feel your excitement as well.

Knowledge of the unknown and the taboo.

I know that's what you want.

So please.

Please please please please.

Let me give it to you.

You hesitate?

Oh no.

No no no no.

I am sorry.

But I have run out of patience.

I can not be left waiting any longer.

So please.

Dear Detective.

Won't you and all of your friends

Just hurry up and quit your stupid games?

Do not wake up.

Do not wake up.

DO NOT WAKE UP.


"...you didn't do it?" Velma asked, a little taken back. When she was met with the vampire shaking her head, Tanis spoke up, trying to be helpful.

"Maybe you just... don't remember?" She helpfully offered. "After all, you did seem to have the book longer than anyone else. Maybe it forced you to get rid of any information about it after you... uh...um..." The mummy trailed off, catching herself before she said something she would've regretted.

"After she what," Winnie prompted, glaring at Tanis in a protective manner. The werewolf wasn't asking what she meant. She had the tone that she knew where the mummy was going with her train of thought and didn't like it. Tanis looked thoroughly embarrassed and scared, remaining quiet as she looked to her feet.

"Winnie, please," Sibella sighed, trying to keep her friend from escalating any sort of needless fight or argument. "While I surely don't remember doing something like this, she may be right. If the demon knew about the room before any one of us did, then it would have no trouble guiding someone down there without them knowing."

"You don't really think that..?" Googie began, hoping that whatever conclusion she was jumping to, she was wrong about. From the grave little nod that Sibella gave, though, she seemed to be correct.

"Like, there's no way..!" Shaggy began, instantly jumping to her defense. "Like, c'mon, the blood we found was old. No way she could've created something like that before we all got here!" He explained.

"Maybe it's not very picky, Shaggy," Velma answered, making sure to tread lightly. "The book says that, while most demons prefer a newer sigil, an old one will do for them if they're desperate. All they really need to be summoned is something that would catch their attention." Remembering earlier, Velma held up her index finger, examining the feint paper cut she had received. "In this case, blood."

"I guess it wouldn't be hard for a vampire to get blood..." Fred muttered, more to himself. The last thing he really wanted was to piss of his friend. Or a werewolf. Neither one of them would've lead to anything good. Fortunately for him, it seemed to be that the only ones who heard him were Daphne, Googie, and Velma, who were all close by.

"It seems that any amount of blood is enough to get it's attention," Velma stated, fixing her glasses once again. "...Sibella, do you remember doing anything...erm... 'questionable' with the book while you've been here?"

The vampire shook her head. "I do not. I'd hate to think that... I did do something, though."

"...If I may offer a possible reason?" Elsa asked, her gaze focused. After getting the others' attention, she continued on. "Maybe it got the blood from the last few times you've been out hunting for sustenance? Like Velma said, it doesn't seem picky. Any amount of blood from small animals could've been used."

"So you think it may have possessed her to bring her prey down to the circle?" Tanis suggested.

"Like, time-out!" Shaggy cut in. "Let's say that this all was happening. I thought, like, sacrifices or whatever had to be done around the circle. Weren't all of the attacks, like, happening before the school year?"

"Yeah..! There's no way Sibella could've been made to summon anything!" Phantasma added. "I mean, not unless it found a way to teleport her to the school without her knowing..." She continued, her tone become more and more unsure.

"And who's to say it didn't make her draw the circle back at home?" Daphne replied. "After all, the book's been in her possession since the beginning."

"Her dad would've seen it then!" Winnie snarked back in an overly defensive manner.

"We don't know that!" Fred snapped back. "Besides, can't she turn into a bat? She could've flown over to the school!"

"Then Miss Grimwood would've seen something!" She continued to yell, the headmistress shifting around in her seat in an uncomfortable way.

"How do we know?! None of us really know what happened!"

"Exactly! So that means we can't just go blaming her for something she probably didn't do!" The werewolf yelled back. At this point, arguments were starting to rise up. While Fred and Winnie yelled, others tried to pipe up or silence the others, trying to reach a something resembling an agreement. Velma and the Colonel were too flabbergasted to know how to break everything up, and poor Sibella looked like she was about to break down. Within the span of a few minutes, the house changed from being eerily quiet to being far too loud for anyone's own good. No one even noticed when the staircase began to creak at an uneven, yet consistent, pace.

At one point, though, the arguing seemed to be too much for the vampire, as she balled up her fists tightly and screamed out, "Enough! Everyone shut up!" Instantly, everyone seemed to quiet up, looking quite shocked, with everyone instantly regretting their outburst. Despite the fact that Winnie and Fred wanted to apologize, they knew better than to try and speak currently. Bitter tears formed in the vampire's eyes as she continued on. "I don't know what I've done either! I wish I did, but I don't. I've been controlled since the very beginning, and it's all my fault..!" She gasped, doing her best to hold back any sobs that dared to try and enter her speech. "I'm sorry... I can't deal with this guilt anymore. That demon's been making me do things that I would never do!" She let out a sigh, slumping forwards some. "..but it happened. I betrayed everyone's trust. I don't even know the truth anymore... I just... want it to end..."

Once again, the house fell into an uncomfortably loud silence. Scooby rested a big paw on the vampire's knee in comfort, with Winnie and Shaggy placing a hand on her shoulders. Even Velma had no idea how to continue. As far as she was aware, the mystery was solved. Sibella was not to blame, of course. The guilt of everything she had unknowingly done was eating at her, though, and she couldn't take it anymore.

At some point, the creaking had stopped. Soon, the uncomfortable silence was broken by a voice that hadn't been heard in awhile.

"So that's y'all's answer, is it?" Came a deep, gruff voice. This instantly caught everyone off guard, as they whipped their attention towards the direction of the voice. Sure enough, the Detective himself was leaning against the frame of the entryway. He still stood with a slight limp, and his hair looked even messier than usual. Despite the fact that his stance looked incredibly uncomfortable, he still kept a creepy, wide grin plastered on his face to match his wide eyes. For once, his presence was met with relief.

"Detective..! You're already awake!" Googie gasped, watching him hobble towards the circle. His limp seemed much worse, and it looked like he was struggling to stay balanced.

"Could say that," He huffed, joining the group. Despite the fact he looked off-balance, he remained standing. "By the way, Tanis, if ya wanna get rid of me in a much more efficient manner, aim for my head," He said, laughing darkly. The mummy in question looked embarrassed at this.

Looking for a reason to move attention away from Sibella's earlier outburst and give her some time to rest, Velma began speaking to him. "Doesn't seem like you recovered that well," She said, pointing out his stance.

"We all thought you were supposed to be sleeping for days!" Phanty added on, looking both anxious and relieved, wasting no time in joining his side.

"Thought so too, but-" He began, starting to couch into his arm suddenly. Despite looks of concern from everyone, he soon stopped and continued on. "It seems our guest didn't wanna leave me be. Caused quite a racket in my head... so I woke up to spite it," He explained, his grin cracking open into his usual weird smile.

"Did it tell you the same things it's been telling Fred, me, and who knows who else?" Velma asked.

"If the same things involve being a part of it's twisted plans to corrupt everyone, then yes," He answered.

"Surely you'd be better off resting further, son," The Colonel hesitantly responded. This had been the first time Calloway had been this close to the man, let alone hear him speak. As he expected, he was quite the odd individual. It was almost inhuman how fast his head turned towards the Colonel as he was being addressed.

"And miss out on this? Nah," He giggled, rubbing his scruffy chin with a hand. "So... what did y'all figure out? I take it from my missing bag that ya found somethini' useful," He said, pointing a finger at Velma, an eyebrow raised.

"Uh... yeah, sorry about that," Velma said, rubbing her head in an uncomfortable manner. "We didn't dig through everything. Just... what we needed."

"Guess that's why y'all are called 'meddlin' kids', huh?" The Detective laughed.

"Heh, guess so," She answered, a tiny smile on her face.

Elsa spoke up this time, ready to move onto sharing all they've figured out. "Going from your notes, we learned that the beasts that were seen the other day were actually crafted from human flesh," She began. "Their master is the one behind all of this."

"Like, we also know it causes others to go crazy!" Shaggy added in. "Takes control of our bodies and makes us do things that, like, we didn't want to," He said, describing the possessions.

"One of which happened while you were asleep, by the way," Winnie said, looking to the man with her piercing yellow eyes. "Your hand whipped out and grabbed Velma's wrist as she was about to grab your bag! We thought you were gonna snap her hand off."

At this, the man's eyes seemed to light up somewhat. "Me? A part of a possession? Such a shame I wasn't awake..." He sighed, moving his hair back wistfully. This did little to amuse anyone.

"It's also how they found that cursed book in your bag!" Winnie growled, trying to return on topic.

"...that is awfully suspicious," Fred added in, glancing over to the Detective with a wary gaze. "How'd it end up with you anyways?"

The man's face seemed to change slightly, looking much more grim. His grin remained, his face looking shadowed by his hair. "Well, I found it. Simple as that. Hidin' behind a bookshelf. Dunno how it got there, but how could I say no to a little extra... research?" He continued, giggling. "I lost my own copy years ago, so it was quite a find, to say the least."

"Wait... you owned a copy?!" Tanis gasped out.

"That'd explain a lot..." Daphne muttered.

The man nodded to the mummy, pretending not to hear the red-head. "Yup. Almost wore the poor pages out..." He rambled, as if he were reminiscing about an old friend.

"Did it ever move when you owned it?" Velma asked him.

The Detective merely replied with a shake of his head. "Nope." After a few moments, he spoke up with his own inquiry. "Where'd it come from, anyways? I doubt that this came from the school itself."

"It is mine. Or rather, my fathers," Sibella answered, looking quite weary at this point. As the man rubbed his chin and cheeks with his fingers in thought, Velma spoke up once again.

"What we all think happened is that our demonic guest took control of her through this book, and made her summon it into being using various sigils, one of which includes the one in the secret room we all found that day."

"...and the only I nearly killed her in," Sibella added on, feeling quite bitter and angry at herself. As Winnie comforted her vampire friend, the Detective's eyes seemed to widen more, the pieces appearing to fall into place.

"But that wasn't her fault..!" Velma quickly cut in. "You see, the Demonologist's Bible was leading me down to the room. When I cut myself, it used the blood I dripped to talk to me. I... assume that's when it used Sibella to try and murder me," She finished. The limped man scratched at his face a little bit in thought.

"Hm... well... that answers just 'bout everythin', then, doesn't it?" He started. "Demon uses the daughter of Dracula for it's own biddin' so that it can wreak havoc on whoever it chooses, and make the overworld it's dominion..." He concluded, seeing a few nods of agreement. He seemed to nod as well, remaining quiet for a few seconds. In an odd moment, however, his face changed to an expression no one had seen before. The Detective looked almost... smug?

"...too bad that ain't fully correct," He finally stated.

This statement was more than enough to confuse and shock everyone. "Like, what?" Shaggy asked.

"How do you know..?" Daphne added on.

"What does that even mean?!" Elsa exclaimed, looking as if her eyebrows would get lost in her black and white hair.

To help answer that, he looked to the vampire, who looked just as bewildered, and pointed to her. "Sibella, do please tell me, since you were the one 'doin' it's biddin'... what's it's name?"

"It's... name?" She asked in a perplexed tone.

"How is that important?" Winnie challenged, an eyebrow cocked up at him.

"Demons are incredibly vain, and it seems this one is no different," The Detective explained. "Any servants who join it, any person who summons it, or anything the demon creates, is going to be told their name and title. So, again I ask... what's it's name?" He asked again, a big expectant smile on his face.

A few seconds passed by, with Sibella recollecting her thoughts to try and answer him. "...I... it... never told me?" She finally said, feeling concerned.

"Not even in your dreams?" He pushed further. This question was met with another shake of the vampire's head. "Interesting..." He chuckled darkly, rubbing his chin again. Velma's eyes seemed to widen as she started to realize the Detective's train of thought. He pointed a finger to the bookworm, and asked the same question. "When you accidentally summoned it, what did it tell you it's name was?"

She seemed to jump a bit as he suddenly asked her, though she quickly straightened up and gulped. "W-well, I don't want to jinx us, but... well, it said it's name was J'alzhikhan," She said, speaking a little quieter, as to not arouse the demon's attention too much.

"The demon of creation and intellect..." The Detective hummed.

"Like, I think you know a bit too much about this for our own good, man..." Shaggy said, feeling scared once again.

"Velma, may I borrow the Demonologist's Bible for a moment?" The Detective inquired, opening his hand towards her.

She nodded and passed it off to him, but not before explaining a problem with the pages. "There's a page missing in there, though. I have a feeling that whatever needs to be known about it has been torn out."

His eyes widened once again, a rare expression of shock showing on his face as his smile dropped. "Oh damn, you're right. Such a shame, too..." He ran his finger along the tear of the book for a few seconds before his smile quickly returned. "Well, at least we have a lead there."

"But... I don't remember even doing that..! Why would it even make me do that in the first place?" Sibella asked, still under the impression that this was her doing.

"I assume that whoever did it must've removed the page for their own use... or to hide evidence," Velma stated.

"Maybe both?" Phanty added in. "They coulda used the page for their plan before hiding it away for later. Or throwing it into a fire out of guilt... somethin' like that?"

As the vampire began to speak up, the Detective asked another question to her. "So... why did ya take the book with ya in the first place?" His tone wasn't accusatory, although it did seem a bit excitable. He was quite eager in putting all of the evidence together.

"I...I wanted answers and some help from those dreams I had," Sibella answered. "When it became obvious that it was the source of my problems, I hid it away. Anything else that I did under it's influence, I don't even remember..."

"But what we're saying is... you weren't under it's influence," Velma replied. A puzzled look formed over Sibella's face, while Winnie seemed to roll her eyes in a 'yeah, but you didn't believe me' way. "Not at the beginning, anyways," Velma continued on. "If you weren't aware of the rip of the page before now, then you couldn't have summoned it. You didn't have the information about it. I imagine you would've had to have known it's name before then!"

The vampire looked slightly more relieved, as did everyone else. "So... like, if she didn't... than who did?" Velma looked to the Detective, wondering if he had reached that conclusion. From the eager smile on his face, that was a 'yes'.

"That circle we found in the room is the obvious spot, naturally," He began. "Hidden away in a secret spot that no one knew about. Not until one bothers to go lookin' for it. We happened to stumble 'cross it after a bit of snoopin' around, right?"

"Yeah. Even the clues used to find it were hidden in a way that could've easily been missed," Fred said, starting to focus on this train of thought as well.

"Do we know how long that circle's been there?" Googie asked the man.

"Sorta. From the coloration, it wasn't too recent. I'd say it had been there for... a couple weeks perhaps?" The Detective stated.

"So someone must've drawn before the school year," Daphne thought aloud.

"And there's only one person who's been here the longest, and knows all the hiding spots, secrets, and who knows what else..." The Detective lead on, his eyes scanning between everyone, hoping that the answer had been laid out.

To some, it had been. Velma was the first to reach the conclusion. She was the first to turn her gaze to the only person who had been sitting here this whole time and never spoke a word of what was going on. Soon, others joined her, most in disbelief, others in confusion. While they didn't want to believe, it sounded plausible. All they needed was the confirmation.

"...Miss Grimwood? Anything to add?" Velma asked her patiently.

The headmistress in question was staring into her tea cup, her lips pursed in a grim manner. Her hands shook very subtly, clinking very quietly. With a noticeable, yet barely audible, sigh, she finally spoke up, her voice tired and guilty. "...none of this was ever supposed to happen..." She whispered.

"Miss Grimwood..?" Phanty began worriedly.

She sighed louder this time, setting her cup and saucer down. "It's time you all know the truth. Yes, I'm the one who summoned J'alzhikhan," She explained slowly and sadly.

A few gasps rang out, with everyone looking between each other in a concerned manner. "But... why?" Sibella asked, looking quite frightened. The other ghouls looked just as scared, and almost betrayed. As for the humans, they too looked confused and curious. Shaggy and Scooby both looked incredibly unnerved, jumping to a conclusion that they were all brought in for something far worse than they could expect.

"Please, let me explain..." She sighed, adjusting her headband before continuing. "It's a bit of a long story, but one that needs to be said. You see, I've been teach you girls for a long time. It's easy to say that we're all like a family, at this point. But... you all won't be here forever. I know that. Soon, you will all head off into adulthood, and join your parents in their ranks as their heir." Another sigh followed before she continued. "And I would be left... alone. No new students have come here in years, girls. No matter how I try to drum up business, it just doesn't work. No parent wants to leave their ghoul out in the middle of the swamps in the wake of a dead witch. They think it's too 'high end'."

"That's why, in a bout of weakness, I came up with a plan. A foolish, stupid plan. Being a witch myself, I know much about the powers beyond, so I decided to visit my old workshop. That's the room you and your friends discovered, Velma," Miss Grimwood explained. "I used to create spells and potions in there that were far too dangerous to be witnessed by anyone. That day, though, would be my most dangerous ritual yet. I created the sigil from the blood of the nearby fauna, as well as a bit from myself, and began to ask for assistance. I knew that my consequences would've dire, but I needed help. All I asked was for more opportunities to teach and help raise and grow generations of ghouls to come..." At this, a few of the ghouls looked quite saddened by this realization. They didn't want to leave her behind either, but also knew that the day would eventually come.

Miss Grimwood went on with her story. "Unfortunately, the wrong ears heard me. J'alzhikhan was the first to act, and offered me much. It tried to persuade me to unleash him so that it may make my wishes true. It wished to create more beings that I may teach. I saw through his act, though," She added, a little angry. "I knew of it's methods, and declined its offer. Obviously, it did not like that. In a fit of rage, I knew that it began to go around, possessing others and killing humans left and right. A few times, it must have used it's own powers to make it's own demented creatures..."

"I knew that it wouldn't have lasted long in our world, so I hoped that it would soon go away, and leave me to deal with the mess of my own creation. Unfortunately, the school year arrived, and J'alzhikhan must have taken refuge in your book, Sibella. You see, when I summoned it, I did not realize that it had seen what connections I have, both towards this house, this area, and you all," She stated, looking between both the monsters and the humans. "It's plan formulated, and then it began waiting."

"I wrote to you, Shaggy, in the hopes that it would fade away, as I had no clue of it's intent. At least, until it was too late. You see, you and Scooby were my other option. After I knew I failed, I made the sensible decision to bring you back," She said, a small, sad smile forming on her face. "The girls... they loved you, Shaggy. No offense to you, Colonel, but there was no way I could bring in more students with a teacher my current class didn't like." At this statement, Calloway looked away, feeling quite awkward as he wrung his hands. "But with you, Shaggy, well... I figured that you would help inspire everyone else's trust again. Heck, even with your friends coming and sticking around, it's done more to make this whole place feel less like a husk," the headmistress rambled, laughing gently.

"Sadly, as the signs became more and more clear, I knew that my old plans were here to haunt not just me, but all of us. I tried to give you girls lessons to help defend yourselves against this sort of thing. I kept secrets I knew I shouldn't have in order to keep everyone safe..." Miss Grimwood shook her head, showing disappointment in herself. "...but it seems I've failed in that area as well..."

At this point, no one knew what else to say to help comfort the headmistress. Most of her student body looked like it was ready to cry, while the others looked incredibly guilty. After a few moments, Shaggy faced Miss Grimwood and finally spoke up. "...like, Miss G, we'll find a way to help," He said in a comforting manner. "I mean, like, we may not know how just yet, but me and the gang always find a way..!"

"A-and not only that, but we're all willing to do anything we can..!" Phantasma piped up, looking ready to burst into tears herself.

"Plus, despite everything that's happened, I mean... you've made our jobs easier!" Fred exclaimed. "Usually, we don't find out the culprit until after everything's fixed."

"And they never own up to it, either," Daphne added.

"You ain't the only one who made the mistake of dealing with demons, y'know," The Detective said, doing his best to make his creepy facial expression look much more comforting. "There's a way out of this."

"And with your help, Miss Grimwood, we'll be able to put an end to J'alzhikhan's plans," Velma stated.

"We're all a family, after all," Sibella said, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. "Not just us ghouls and you, but... everyone." She continued, gesturing to the humans, and even the Colonel, who looked a bit surprised by this motion. "No one has to figure this out alone," She finished with a smile.

With a small, tired smile forming on her face, the headmistress sighed and let out a few small laughs. "Sibella... I'm so... so very sorry that you've been put through the worst of all of this. And to everyone else, as well. To you, Tanis, as you never wanted to be possessed, and weren't even expecting it... to you, Colonel, for bringing your boys into this... to you, Fred... Detective, Velma, Shaggy... all of you."

"We all forgive you," Googie replied, looking around to everyone, hoping she hadn't been incorrect in saying that. From the number of unanimous nods, she wasn't wrong.

It didn't take long for the ghouls to find themselves wrapped in a group hug around their headmistress, which she warmly returned. As the humans watched, the Colonel cleared his throat, adjusting his stance a bit. "While I do agree with everyone, there is still the big issue. Which is... how do we get rid of this... "J'alzhikhan' beast?"

With everyone's attention back on topic, Fred didn't waste time in inspiring hope. "I know we can all brainstorm something up!"

"Especially with the help of our new friend here," Velma added, placing a hand on the Detective's shoulder. Regardless of the fact that he flinched at the sudden action and had to lean against a chair to keep balance, he blinked and looked towards the bookworm, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. His smile seemed a lot less creepy and a lot more... friendly.

In no time, he let out a small chuckle, fixing his hair with his free hand. "Well then... what're we waitin' for?"


Author's Notes: Hey I'm still not dead! Just stuck at home, like everyone else is, currently. I apologize greatly for making everyone wait for this chapter, and I'm sorry if it's not as long or eventful as the others have been! Maybe this time around I'll be able to get the next chapter out by this year, huh? I hope I didn't miss any errors in my writing because I'll feel incredibly stupid.

Still, I thank you all so much for sticking with me and reading through my dumb idiocy! As always, please leave reviews and comments, and make sure to show this to others who are into this sort of thing! Thanks for reading and stay safe out there everyone!