Sponge: Welcome back! The previous chapter, "Those You've Known," is a title of a song from the musical Spring Awakening. Here's chapter 3. It's a long one, so let's get right to it! Warning: language and peril. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera. All of Velma's facts about Manhattan come from Wikipedia. The Jekyll and Hyde Club, where the gang eat, is a real restaurant in the Village. Thank you to the MTA website for my refresher course on the New York subway system.
Chapter 3: New York State of Mind
"You've got everything?" the mayor asked.
Fred nodded politely. It was the next morning, but his head was still reeling from last night, and he was trying to figure out how he felt. Unfortunately, the prevailing emotion he felt was betrayal, which made carrying on a conversation with his Mayor-Dad somewhat difficult. He tossed in the last of his luggage and slammed shut the rear doors of the Mystery Machine.
The rest of the gang stood nearby, shifting their weight awkwardly as the interaction played out. Daphne wanted so badly to play mediator – she had a lot of experience with her own parents – but she knew this was something Fred and the mayor needed to work out for themselves.
The mayor cleared his throat. "Well," he began. "Have a safe drive everyone."
"Thanks for hosting us last night," Daphne said sincerely. "I'll text updates to all our parents whenever we get to a different state, so you won't have to worry."
The mayor nodded. "Thank you, Daphne," he said.
"Like, see you later," Shaggy said, beginning to move towards the van.
"Reah," Scooby agreed, following Shaggy. The awkwardness radiating off Fred and the mayor felt like it was seeping into Scooby's bones, and he wanted to escape.
"So long," Velma added.
Fred said nothing, just gave the mayor a curt nod before sliding into the driver's seat. The other members of the gang glanced at each other and followed suit.
Coolsville wasn't far from the West Virginia border. Once Daphne had texted everyone's parents, she cleared her throat. "I can't wait to see Holden," she said.
"Me too," Fred agreed eagerly.
Daphne smiled. Last night when she'd spoken to Holden on the phone, he'd been delighted to hear that they were coming and had kindly offered to let them stay with him. The promise of seeing him at the end of this journey made the road trip feel the way a road trip was supposed to feel – full of fun and whimsy and adventure.
Fred, for his part, was happy to be the one driving. Focusing on the road gave him something else to think about besides everything that had happened last night. Plus, his friends made it easy. Daphne insisted on playing the license plate game, and they'd seen twelve cars from different states before noon. They listened to the radio and laughed at the silly words that Shaggy and Scooby made up when they didn't know the lyrics. Velma took advantage of the WiFi hotspot in the Mystery Machine to look up facts about each state they entered. It was a long drive, but a pleasant one because of the gang. And Fred was eternally grateful for that.
It was just after five in the evening when the Mystery Machine exited the Holland Tunnel, and Daphne felt her entire face light up with excitement as she took in the city. The last time she'd been here had been over spring break, when she'd been fighting with the gang. It was so much nicer to be here with them.
"Here we are, gang," said Fred. "New York City."
"Wow," said Scooby appreciatively, staring out the window.
Velma was scrolling through her laptop. "Manhattan is the most populous city in the United States," she read aloud from whatever information website she'd discovered. "With an estimated population of eight million, three hundred thirty-six thousand, eight hundred and seventeen distributed over almost three hundred-and-two-point six square miles, it's also the most densely populated major city in the United States. It's been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, significantly influencing commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, art, politics, tourism…"
Shaggy leaned his chin on her shoulder. "Like what does it say about places to eat?" he cut her off. He would have looked it up himself but reading anything while in a moving vehicle made his stomach churn.
"Reah," Scooby agreed. "Rye'm rungry."
Daphne chuckled at them. "Patience, guys. Holden booked a reservation for us at some restaurant in Greenwich Village. Let me call him and let him know we're here."
Fred glanced at her adoringly out of the corner of her eye as she dialed, noticing the way she smiled exuberantly out the window at her soon-to-be home. He wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye to her at the end of the summer, but he couldn't deny that she belonged here. The city reflected her – dazzling, shiny, teeming with life. Of course she belonged here. He reached out for her hand and kissed her knuckles softly.
Daphne blushed slightly and smiled at him.
Holden gave Daphne directions to a garage near his apartment, which she passed on to Fred once she'd hung up. Parking was a challenge – Fred had never needed to maneuver the Mystery Machine through such tight spaces before. And then there was the cost.
"Thirty dollars a day?" he grumbled as he and the gang shuffled out of the van, grabbing their bags as they went. "It's a good thing we're not bankrolling this ourselves."
"Like, thank you, parents," Shaggy remarked, then immediately blushed. He'd said it without thinking, but in the wake of everything they'd learned last night about Fred and his past, it seemed horrifically insensitive. He and Scooby shared a sidelong glance.
"Guys!"
The sound of the exuberant voice distracted Shaggy and the others, and they turned their heads. Moments later, all of them shouted joyously and found themselves wrapped up in a huge group hug with their friend Holden Walsh at the center.
"It's good to see you, man!" Fred exclaimed once everyone let go.
"It's great to see you guys too!" Holden replied. He flashed them a huge grin, his green eyes sparkling. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes," said Shaggy and Scooby immediately, to everyone's laughter.
"Let me help you with your stuff, and we'll get you settled before we go to dinner," said Holden, picking up one of Daphne's bags.
He led them down the block to his building, then showed them through the lobby to a rather rickety elevator that they were somehow all able to squeeze inside.
"Like is this safe?" asked Shaggy, feeling precarious.
Holden shrugged. "It hasn't crashed since I moved in."
Shaggy shared a dubious look with Velma and Scooby.
They were all so crammed into the elevator that there was hardly room to move. Fred was backed up against the wall, with Daphne pressed practically flush against him. Not that he minded.
He glanced down at her and she smiled back up at him. She scooted even closer, and he grew warm at her proximity.
"Hey," said Holden, who noticed. "No hanky-panky in my elevator." He grinned teasingly at them.
Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby giggled, while Fred and Daphne blushed.
Eventually the elevator opened, and everyone lugged their suitcases down the hall.
"Here we are," said Holden proudly. "Apartment 4-H. Normally my boyfriend lives here too, but he went back home to Schenectady to visit his folks for the summer, so we have the place to ourselves."
"It's nice," said Daphne truthfully. At least, it was nicer than what she'd been expecting. She'd seen some of the places that college students lived in the city – basically tiny, overpriced closets. But Holden's apartment, though cramped, was still cozy. There were a sofa, an armchair, and a little futon in the small living room, a short hall that led to a galley kitchen, and beyond that was the bathroom and the bedroom.
"I hope you guys won't mind being out here," Holden said, gesturing to the furniture in the living room a bit apologetically. "Only one of the sofas pulls out, and it sleeps two. The futon's pretty comfortable, but not very big."
"We'll make it work," said Fred, a half second before Scooby's stomach gave an almighty rumble.
Everyone laughed again.
"It's just about time for dinner," Holden agreed. "You ready? I think you'll really like the place I found."
They took the L train to 6th Avenue, then hopped on the Number 1 to Christopher Street. Once they arrived, they got out of the subway terminal and walked past several bars, full of laughing patrons – some of whom were spilling out onto the sidewalk.
"I can't wait till I turn twenty-one," said Holden as he watched the customers a bit wistfully. "Bartenders here don't always go for fake IDs."
"So rhere are we reating?" Scooby wanted to know.
Holden chuckled. "I wanted to take you guys somewhere that would appeal to your spooky senses."
"Spooky senses?" asked Shaggy nervously.
Moments later, they found themselves in front of a building with a brick façade, bearing the name "Jekyll and Hyde."
"'Restaurant and social club for explorers and mad scientists,'" Daphne read the words on the awning aloud.
"I figured since you guys are all about solving spooky mysteries," Holden said. "You'd like this."
Shaggy and Scooby glanced at each other nervously.
Holden noticed their hesitation and laughed. "It's not actually scary," he promised them. "It's like…a kitschy-macabre."
Like, macabre is still macabre, Shaggy thought to himself. But then Velma took his hand, and he relaxed slightly.
The group entered the theme restaurant and found themselves in a dark, open lobby that was filled with the leftover haze of a smoke machine.
"It looks like Chuck E. Cheese went through a goth phase," Velma remarked.
She was right. There were spooky looking animatronics leaning out of the walls in the lobby, and actors dressed as ghouls walked past them, mingling with the customers and the wait staff. An eerie, Halloween-inspired soundtrack played through the loudspeakers.
Holden chuckled. "I'll be right back," he said, leaving them near the door to approach the host at the podium. He needed to wind his way through a small crowd to do so.
Scooby watched him go, then glanced around at his surroundings again. He had to admit, Holden was right too. Despite the atmosphere, the restaurant wasn't actually scary at all.
"Good evening," said a spooky voice near his tail.
"RAAAAAAHHH!" Scooby shrieked, catapulting himself into Shaggy's arms.
"Oof," Shaggy muttered, staggering a bit under Scooby's weight. "Like what's with you, Scooby Doo?"
Everyone turned to glance at the spot where Scooby had been standing and discovered a small but lifelike animatronic bird in the wall. It was dark like a raven and it had a slight accent that Scooby couldn't quite place.
"Welcome to the Jekyll and Hyde Club," it said in that same spooky voice. "Where something unusual happens every ten minutes. You have been warned!"
And then, as abruptly as it had appeared, the animatronic shunted itself back into the wall.
"Like does that count as unusual?" asked Shaggy after a moment.
Holden reappeared then with the host who was ready to lead them to their table. Once they had given their orders and their waiter had left, Holden grinned.
"So, what do you think?" he asked the gang.
"Well," said Fred. "It's no malt shop."
Everyone chuckled.
"Yeah," Holden agreed. "New York is definitely something else."
"You like it here?" asked Fred.
Holden nodded, enthused. While they waited for their food to arrive, he told the gang all about life in New York, and the classes he was taking at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He mentioned he was still in touch with their former classmate Leesa Beamer, who had just finished her freshman year at Julliard. He told them about his new summer job as a singing waiter at Ellen's Stardust Diner. As Holden talked, Scooby noticed that something strange did happen every ten minutes or so – an actor would come by, claiming to be a mad scientist's assistant, or there would be a brief light-and-fog show. The effects weren't anything too scary, but Scooby's encounter with that animatronic had spooked him, and he didn't let his guard down until the food came.
For a little while, everyone was occupied with eating. Once they were all satiated, Holden spoke again.
"So," he said putting down his fork. "I know that tomorrow you wanted to stop by NYU. What else are you hoping to see while you're here? I'm happy to show you all the tourist-y stuff – Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, Times Square, the High Line – heck, depending on how long you want to stick around, we could do the Broadway lottery and try to see a show!"
The gang looked at each other.
"Um," said Daphne. "Actually Holden…there's something else we need to do in New York, besides visit NYU."
Holden looked puzzled. "What is it?"
"Well," Velma began. "Our reason for this trip was actually twofold. One was to visit NYU with Daphne. The other…"
Everyone, including Scooby, turned to glance at Fred, who sighed.
Bit by bit, he filled Holden in on the bombshell the mayor had dropped the previous evening – how the mayor had adopted Fred after a pair of teenagers left him on the porch claiming to be in danger, how he'd been keeping this a secret from Fred all this time, and how now they were trying to find Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves.
"Our only clue points to them living here now," Fred finished. "So, we want to find out what happened to them, and what the danger was."
"And whether it's still a threat to Fred," Daphne added.
Holden stared at them, a stricken expression on his face. "Holy shit," he finally murmured after several minutes. He turned a sympathetic gaze towards Fred. "Are you okay, man?"
Fred shrugged. Holden, whose own father had walked out on him after he'd come out of the closet, understood more than anyone else how it felt to be left by a parent. But Fred still didn't know how to explain the way he felt. He ended up simply saying, "I'm okay."
Holden looked skeptical but didn't comment. "So, you think these people…Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves…are here in the city?"
"Well, Long Island," said Daphne. "The address we have for them is in Farmingdale."
Holden nodded thoughtfully. "It's not super hard to get to Farmingdale," he told them. "You go to Penn Station and hop on the LIRR."
"Like what's that?" Shaggy wanted to know.
"The Long Island Railroad," Holden answered. "The trip usually takes about an hour."
"Do we have time right now?" asked Velma.
"If we hurry," Holden replied, checking his phone for the time.
"Wait," said Daphne, glancing sideways at Fred. "Do you think we should do it tonight?"
"Why not?" asked Velma. "It makes sense. Besides, if we knock this out tonight, it gives us more time to spend at NYU tomorrow."
Fred felt his stomach lurch. He hadn't exactly counted on trying to find Brad and Judy right away, but Velma was right…doing it now made the most sense, logistically.
He exhaled and nodded. "Velma's right. We should do it tonight. Just let me use the restroom, and we can head out." He got up from the table and moved in the direction of the restroom, dodging actors, waiters, and animatronics as he went.
Once he arrived, he splashed cold water on his face and gazed at himself in the mirror. It was possible that he'd meet his real parents tonight. How could it be that only twenty-four hours ago he hadn't even known they existed? Would he resemble them at all? He reached into his pocket and studied the photo of the pair of them – Brad's broad shoulders and strong chin, Judy's blue eyes and wide smile. How had they changed in these past eighteen years? Would they be happy to see him? Nervous?
…Angry?
Back at the table, Holden glanced at the others. "Is it just me," he began. "Or does Fred seem a little…you know…" He paused and let his brain fill in the blanks. "…More okay than I expected?"
"I'm so glad you said that," Daphne replied, relieved. "I've been thinking about it, but I didn't know if it was just me."
"It's not just you," Velma told her. "I wondered the same."
"Like yeah," Shaggy agreed. "He's handling it…like, way better than I would have thought."
"Raybe he's not," Scooby piped up.
"Like what do you mean, Scoob?" asked Shaggy.
Scooby shrugged. "Raybe he's retending."
"Scooby's right," said Holden. "He might be putting on a brave face for you all."
"But that doesn't make sense," said Daphne. "He wouldn't do that."
"Well, maybe it's me then," Holden continued. "He and I are friends, sure, but we're not super close. Not like you all."
The gang didn't reply.
Holden smiled easily. "Listen," he said. "I'll go with you all as far as Penn Station and help you get on the LIRR. There's no need for me to come along – this should just be you guys. Give me a call when you're done on Long Island, and I'll meet you at Penn again to help get you back to my place."
"Are you sure?" asked Daphne.
"Of course," Holden replied. "This is what you do."
x.X.x
They paid their bill and hopped back on the Number 1 to Penn Station, where Holden helped them get on the LIRR and told them, again, to give him a call when they were finished. The sun had set while they'd been eating, and the last rays of light cast eerie shadows as they sped away from Manhattan.
Fred was still feeling anxious – and unprepared. Strangely, he likened the sensation to the nerves that accompanied him when he was about to take a test he hadn't studied for.
"We should have tried to look them up," he said, watching the city recede behind them. "Seen if we could find anything about them that my da – I mean, the mayor, couldn't."
Daphne glanced over at him and reached out to take his hand. Evidently, Fred wasn't sure if he should still be calling the mayor dad either. She was about to say something to him when Velma cleared her throat.
"Actually," she confessed. "I looked them up last night."
The others blinked at her. "Really?" asked Scooby.
Velma nodded. "I couldn't sleep, so I took my laptop into the mayor's study to do a little research," she told them. "I wanted to see if I could learn anything about them – anything at all. But I couldn't find anything more recent than twenty years ago, when they were students at Coolsville High themselves. They founded the Science Club, did you know that? With two other students – Ricky Owens and Cassidy Williams."
Shaggy frowned in thought. "Like why does 'Cassidy Williams' sound familiar to me?"
"It was the scholarship Marcie got at senior awards night," Velma reminded him. "For biology."
"That's right," Fred muttered. "The Cassidy Williams scholarship."
Daphne sat forward – so that was what Velma had been reading last night. "What else did you find out?" she asked.
Velma shook her head. "Not much about Brad and Judy unfortunately, but I found out some interesting things about their friends. It seems like Ricky Owens was a bit of a conspiracy theorist – he believed that Coolsville was built on a ley line."
"Like, a what?" asked Shaggy.
"A ley line is a place where the alchemical energy of the earth is said to be particularly strong," Velma replied. "It's generally believed that ley lines are straight alignments that run between historic or otherwise important structures. But scientific circles tend to agree that the theory is a pseudo-science at best."
"So, Ricky Owens thought that one of these lines ran through our town?" Fred frowned.
"Apparently, Brad, Judy, and Cassidy thought so as well," Velma said. "That's why they were so interested in cryptology. From what I read, it seems like the four of them spent a lot of time together, searching for codes and clues as to where it could be."
Shaggy and Scooby glanced at each other. A group of teenagers solving a mystery together? That sounded awfully familiar.
"Anyway," Velma continued. "Since I couldn't find Brad and Judy, I started looking more into Ricky and Cassidy. I thought that maybe if we could locate them, they could tell us more about Brad and Judy, but no dice. Ricky Owens dropped out of high school a few months before they were due to graduate, and there's no record of him after that."
"Rye wonder rhy he dropped rout?" Scooby mused.
"Probably to look for the ley line," Velma scoffed ruefully.
"What about Cassidy Williams?" asked Fred.
Velma shook her head, gloomy now. "Dead," she replied. "It looks like she was killed in an accident a few weeks before Ricky disappeared." She sighed. "So, it doesn't seem like we'll be able to ask either of them for help."
Daphne glanced at Velma out of the corner of her eye. She'd done a lot of research last night. How late had she stayed up? Aloud, she asked, "Did you learn all of this before or after you talked to Marcie about the arraignment?"
Velma shot her a withering glare as Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby glanced at her.
"Like… Leon's arraignment?" Shaggy asked, feeling a block of ice grow in his stomach.
Velma sighed and explained the conversation she'd had with Marcie the previous evening.
"Well," said Shaggy when Velma had finished. "I guess it's like, a good thing that Marcie isn't going alone – that she'll have Tony and the band with her. And like it's definitely a good thing that you're not going."
"There's no way he'll make bail," Fred told everyone in a comforting voice. "Not after the way he stalked and then kidnapped you."
Velma shuddered. She still hated hearing those words – stalked and kidnapped – and the way they applied to her.
Shaggy noticed Velma's grimace and reached out to gently squeeze her hand. He was still new to being her public boyfriend, but he felt that this was the right thing to do. She rewarded him with a grateful glance.
"We're here," said Daphne, looking out the window.
Fred swallowed and steeled himself. Daphne took his hand again as they made their way onto the platform.
The address was only a short distance from the station, so Fred barely had time to get a hold of himself. It seemed that they had just crossed the street and found that they had arrived at the house. Why was he so surprised to see that it was just a normal suburban home surrounded by a cyclone fence?
"What time is it?" asked Shaggy as they gazed at the house.
Velma checked her phone. "A quarter after ten," she replied.
Shaggy frowned. "Is it like…too late to ring the doorbell?"
Before anyone had a chance to answer, at least nine dogs appeared from around the back of the house and stampeded towards the fence, barking and snarling and snapping their jaws.
"ZOINKS!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and the others jumped back. Even Scooby looked wary. The dogs weren't very big – they were all spaniels – but they clearly did not take kindly to intruders.
"Hey!" shouted a new voice from behind the dogs. A grumpy-looking Black man with stooped shoulders and a craggy beard hustled out from the house to corral the dogs. "Come on ya buncha crazies, down! Down, I said!"
The dogs obeyed him instantly and took their paws off the fence, sitting obediently beside the man.
"Good dogs," the man crooned softly. Then he turned his gaze on the gang, who stared wildly at him.
"Whaddaya want?" he asked, his accent even stronger than Tony Moretti's. "Don'tcha know what time it is?"
"Uh, sorry," Fred stammered, a little taken aback. "We uh…we just got in."
The man pursed his lips. "You're not from around here, are ya?" he asked, his tone friendlier.
Fred shook his head, still a little perplexed. Who was this man? Why was he in Brad and Judy's house? Maybe Brad and Judy didn't live here anymore, and he was the new resident.
Daphne took the reins, flashing the man a charming smile. "My name is Daphne. This is my boyfriend Fred, and our friends, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby." She gestured to each one in turn, but none of them said anything.
"Roy," said the man, introducing himself. "So, are you lost?"
"I don't think so," Daphne replied. "We're looking for a couple. This address was their last known residence." She glanced pointedly at Fred, who took the photo of Brad and Judy from his pocket and handed it over.
Roy studied it and gave a low whistle. "Wow," he murmured. "Yeah, I remember them. Haven't heard from them in almost a decade, though."
"Wait, you know them?" asked Fred, bewildered.
Roy nodded. "Yeah. They were a nice couple. Chad Biles and Ruby Jeeves, their names were."
Scooby and Fred exchanged a glance. So, Brad and Judy had been living under different names. That must have been why the mayor couldn't find them.
Roy was still talking. "They were from the Midwest…Ohio, maybe? I think they went to college on the west coast, though. And then they moved to the city to get their PhDs. It was a cool place, their apartment. Right in Midtown. Nice neighborhood. But after they graduated from Columbia, they came out here to stay with me for a little."
"Why was that?" asked Daphne.
Roy gestured to the dogs, who were still sitting obediently around him. "I breed spaniels," he told them. "They wanted a puppy."
Velma furrowed her brow. "They stayed with you…just to adopt one of your dogs?"
"Well, I think there was a bit more to it than that," he told her, sounding a little evasive. "There was a cocker spaniel they were interested in. They came to stay with me so they could study her gestation period. Something to do with some biology experiment they were doin'. They were scientists, ya know?"
"So, what happened after the puppies came?" asked Daphne.
"They hung around for a while," Roy replied. "Maybe a couple months. Enough time for the puppies to get weaned off their mother. There was one puppy they took special interest in, a female. When she was old enough, they adopted her. She's in good hands, that pup. Never met people who loved animals more than Chad and Ruby."
"Where are they now?" asked Velma. "Did they go back to Manhattan?"
Roy shook his head. "Nah. I think they went back to the Midwest, actually."
"Back to Ohio?" Fred's eyes widened. Had his birth parents actually been in Coolsville all along?
But Roy shook his head again. "Nah, nah. Last I heard, they were movin' to Chicago."
The gang all froze and glanced at each other.
Roy noticed and frowned in confusion. "What'd I say?"
"Where in Chicago?" asked Velma, turning back to him. "Do you have a forwarding address for them?"
Roy shook his head once more. "Sorry, girlie. All I know is I woke up one morning and they were gone. Left me a note sayin' they'd taken the pup to Chicago with them. That was about eight years ago. Haven't heard from 'em since." He shrugged apologetically.
Fred sighed, surprised at the solace he felt. Why was he feeling relieved at the fact that he wouldn't be meeting Brad and Judy tonight? "Well, we're sorry to have bothered you," he said to Roy.
"Hope you can find 'em," Roy replied. "They're good people."
He smooched at the dogs, and they all followed him back into the house, leaving the gang alone on the sidewalk on the other side of the chain link fence.
"…Brad and Judy are in Chicago?" Velma breathed. "The exact city that's next on our road trip?"
"Like if this is a coincidence," said Shaggy. "It's a fucking bizarre one."
Fred furrowed his brow. "If they don't live here anymore, then who sent my da – the mayor that CD? And why?"
"Let's get back to the Farmingdale station." Daphne pulled out her phone to call Holden as she began to cross the street. But before she could dial his number, her phone buzzed in her hand with a text. She paused in the middle of the quiet street to open the message – and stared at the screen in confusion.
The message came from a number she didn't recognize. And all it said was "Toe 11."
Toe 11? Daphne's brain raced wildly. Was that the same as the message Fred had received the previous evening? No, Fred's had been something about a heel. Right?
She was so distracted she barely registered the dim glare of headlights from a car down the street.
"Daph, are you okay?" asked Fred. She was standing stock still in the middle of the road, staring at her phone. A car was approaching – she'd have to move eventually.
And then everything happened all at once.
The car put on its brights and accelerated.
Daphne, still too focused on her phone, didn't even notice.
Cold fear gripped Fred's heart.
"Daphne!" shouted Velma. The car was speeding, going much too fast for a residential neighborhood. "Watch out!"
"Like the car!" yelled Shaggy.
"RUN!" Scooby barked.
At last, Daphne looked up to see the car – black? Dark gray? She couldn't tell – careening towards her. She registered the panic in Fred's eyes, and heard his desperate pleas for her to run. She noticed the fact that the car was missing front plates.
And though death was coming quickly for her, she was able to muster up enough strength and volume for the scream that rose from her throat, and thrust her hands out in front of her, as if to stop this speeding metal death trap from ending her life.
Sponge: Thanks for reading! This week's clue is, of course, the text message Daphne gets, "Toe 11." Review if you please, and don't forget to guess where the chapter title comes from!