Chapter 5: An encounter at the Botanic Gardens
Fred and Velma sat awkwardly at the staff break room of the Crystal Cove Mystery Museum, each holding a coffee cup filled with tea.
For a while, both of them were busy sipping the tea that Angie had offered, not saying much.
After serving a couple more customers at the adjacent gift shop and cafeteria, Angie walked over to the duo.
"Do you two like anything else?" Angie asked as she gestured towards the kitchen and added, "We've got some cookies and other snacks if you're hungry."
"No thanks, Mrs. Dinkley." Fred replied as he held up his cup of tea. "I'm good here."
"Same here, Mom." Velma followed suit. "But thanks anyways."
"No problem." Angie smiled before she turned around and took her leave. "Just let me or your father know if you need anything."
"Of course." Velma nodded before resuming sipping her tea.
Another few minutes of awkward silence followed, and Velma was starting to feel her cheeks burn as she begin to wonder if asking Fred out to talk was a bright idea when neither of them know where or how to start.
Thankfully, Fred happened to be glancing around and his eyes settled onto the newspaper laying on the nearby rack, and the blonde sighed as he noticed the headline.
"Mayor Dad's preparing himself for tonight's mayoral debate." He spoke.
"I figured." Velma nodded as she turned towards Fred. "He's always busy, isn't he?"
"He is." Fred replied. "Heck, I don't think I remember the last time we actually had a normal, regular conversation."
When Velma looked at him quizzically, the blonde clarified. "As in, you know, the type of conversation a parent would normally have with his or her child."
"Besides the usual rhetoric on how our hobby is bad for the town's business?" Velma raised an eyebrow before she nodded. "I understand, especially when your Dad is pushing you to follow his footsteps and enter politics."
"You can say that again." Fred exhaled as he shook his head. "Of course, don't get me wrong, politics and law are interesting subjects, but the notion of having to make promises that you can't keep, not to mention having to compromise between folks holding different views, even if the views of one side is quite questionable, just doesn't seem appealing to me."
"Can't say I blame you." Velma nodded again. "Just what is it with these monster or spooky, mysterious sightings that contributes to the town's economy when other places in the country doesn't seem to rely too much on it for the tourist bucks?"
"Perhaps it is the reason why Crystal Cove is considered the 'Hauntedest Place on Earth'." Fred shrugged. "But even so, how does one expect to live normally when mysterious phenomenon seems to be occurring on a regular basis in this town?"
"Search me." Velma agreed. "The sketchiness of Crystal Cove sure reminds me of the town of Cabot Cove. Always have a murder popping up one way or another, though at least we haven't dealt with mysteries that involves murder...yet."
"And I sure pray that it will never comes to that." Fred nodded. "Though this whole thing with Mr. E and Professor Pericles might be begging to differ."
"Not to mention our run-in with the Robot Hound." Velma winced as she added. "The sheriff's not doing his job properly, and unless we call in the state troopers or even the feds, there's no way this cycle is gonna end anytime soon unless we step up."
"Of course." Fred agreed. "Still doesn't change the fact that Shag's got a point. We really need to be cautious going forward if we want to get to the bottom of this whole mystery."
"And I'll bet that it's gonna take us moving forward from the nightmares from the tangling with the Robot Hound to achieve that." Velma nodded.
Fred nodded. "Don't suppose you don't wanna talk about the nightmares in-depth, lest it triggers a panic attack of sorts, Velms?"
"Yeah, though if we don't get this off our chests, it's gonna blow up one way or another." Velma replied.
"True that." Fred said. "Perhaps if we find a way to relieve ourselves of the stress and fears, then maybe it could help."
Velma nodded. "What do you have in mind?"
Fred sighed as he scratched his head. "Normally, I would've go with building myself a gigantic trap, but I don't think it's gonna do much help in occupying our minds, especially since you don't exactly like trap-building as a hobby."
"I'm sure there's something else that can help us relieve, Freddie." Velma leaned closer towards Fred. "We just need to figure it out."
That night, over at the Botanic Gardens, Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne waited patiently from a nearby hiding spot as the watchman finishes closing up the greenhouse.
"Like, what do you think we should be looking for in the Gardens, Daph?" Shaggy whispered as they watched the watchman turning off the lights.
"Hopefully, something that would tell us what my mother was doing, not to mention anything that can help us get to the bottom of this mystery." Daphne replied.
"Ranything specific?" Scooby perked up.
The redhead sighed. "At this stage, I suppose anything we find would help, Scooby."
Scooby nodded, and Shaggy perked up as the watchman closed and locked the door to the greenhouse.
Placing a pair of binoculars at his eyes, Shaggy watched the watchman taking his leave before he reported, "I think the watchman's done for the night, guys."
Daphne arched her eyebrows briefly as she stretched her hand out, and Shaggy wordlessly handed her the pair of binoculars.
Once the redhead saw that the watchman has gathered his tools and wasn't turning back, she put down the binoculars and got up.
"Alright, let's get moving, guys." Daphne instructed.
Shaggy and Scooby both nodded as they proceeded to follow the redhead's lead.
Upon reaching the locked entrance door, the trio stopped before Daphne reached into her purse and took out a few picks, then she proceeded to work on picking the lock open.
As Daphne worked on the locks, Shaggy and Scooby glanced around with the former gripping the pair of binoculars.
There was no one he could see that was looking towards the Gardens, let alone be around observing them.
Even so, he and Scooby remained on alert as Scooby's ears perked up, waiting for any signs of the silent alarm being triggered by the break-in they're about to commit.
Fortunately, the suspense didn't last too long as Daphne finally managed to unlock the door, and Scooby's relaxation was a confirmation that the silent alarm didn't went off the minute the redhead succeeded in unlocking the door.
"Come on." Daphne urged after she put her picks back in her purse, and the trio simultaneously turned on their flashlights on before they entered the greenhouse.
The minute they entered, they were almost immediately greeted by the warm temperature and the horrendous smell of fertilizer.
"Jeepers, this place sure is warm and smells." Daphne remarked as she covered her nose briefly.
"Yeah, can you help it when the tropical temperatures in here further enhances the horrendous smell in here?" Shaggy gagged.
"No kidding." Daphne said. "Come on!"
With the redhead leading the way, the trio slowly made their way into the greenhouse and looked around.
However, the minute they were all inside, the door closed on its own, briefly scaring the trio.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as Scooby briefly jumped into his arms in fright.
Panting, Daphne glanced at the door briefly before she said, "I'm sure that was just the wind, guys."
Shaggy nodded before resuming, though as they continued on further into the greenhouse, a mysterious-looking figure can be seen watching them with glowing light purple eyes.
With the lights off and the surrounding darkness, their surroundings looked very eerie, especially with the presence of long plants with thorns.
"Like, I could've sworn that some of the plants around here are alive." Shaggy swallowed.
"Rust like re man-reating vine." Scooby piped up.
Daphne didn't say anything as she continued to look around, and then her flashlight settled onto something.
"Oh...now that's interesting." The redhead declared as she turned left.
"What is?" Shaggy asked as he and Scooby turned towards her.
Daphne stopped as she came upon a star-shaped orchid, and she took a closer look at the plant before she said, "This is a specimen of the very rare and endangered Star Orchid, guys."
"Star Orchid?" Shaggy asked. "Like, isn't that particular species of orchid requires a very precise growing environment?"
"That's right." Daphne nodded as she turned towards Shaggy and Scooby. "The temperature and humidity of the growing environment needs to be exactly to the specifications of its native habitat in the Amazon rainforest, for any drier would result in the distortion of the scarlet-pink colour."
Scooby whistled. "Which rakes rit very expensive."
"Exactly." Daphne said. "This particular orchid has pollen that is a key ingredient to certain makeup used for making skin younger."
"And the pollen's youth ingredients can only prosper in the exact growing environment of its native habitat." Shaggy interjected.
"That's right, Shag." Daphne replied.
It was that moment that the trio heard a loud shriek, and they gasped and turned around.
Their flashlights shined onto the nearby trees, where recent movement has rattled the leaves.
"What was that?" Daphne asked.
Shaggy glanced around as he shined his flashlight towards a nearby tree, only for the light to shine onto a figure hanging upside down from the tree branch.
As soon as the flashlight shined onto it, the figure suddenly shrieked loudly and swung its arms open.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he dropped his flashlight in fright.
"Rit's re rampire!" Scooby added.
As if on cue, the vampire swiftly lunged towards the trio, who promptly took off running.
"Gangway!" Shaggy shouted as the vampire leaped into the air before diving down towards them.
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