Chapter 6: The chase and an attempt at yoga
With the vampire on their heels, the trio tried to sprint for the exit, though it was clear that the vampire was acrobatic enough to be able to catch up to them without breaking much of a sweat.
Seeing the vampire is still close behind, Daphne urged, "Split up!"
"Like, isn't that Fred's line?" Shaggy asked, although he and Scooby still split off from Daphne, leading the vampire to go after them.
As the vampire continued to swing its way towards them in pursuit, Shaggy glanced back and shuddered.
"What's gonna stop these spooks from going after us in a chase like this, Scoob?" He asked.
"Ralk about rad luck associated rom routh potions or rountains in rories." Scooby remarked as they managed to hide behind a hidden corner surrounded by a large bush and a thick tree with a large leaf further shielding the duo.
The duo hushed each other as the vampire prowled around, in search for them after they abruptly dropped out of its line of sight.
When it failed to find Shaggy and Scooby, the vampire hissed before turning around and focused on finding Daphne, allowing the duo to sigh in relief once it was out of hearing range.
"I think the vampire's given up, Scoob." Shaggy whispered.
"Rood, row ro get rout of here." Scooby nodded as he and Shaggy pushed the large leaf aside, only for them to find a series of rose bushes with sharp thorns on the way.
And the rose bushes happened to be on the straight forward line from their hiding spot to the exit, prompting the duo to groan.
"Rhy ris it that re rend up in a riding spot that is difficult to reach from re rexit?" Scooby asked.
In that same time, Daphne was wondering through another section of the gardens when she spotted the vampire watching her from above a tree branch.
Swiftly, the redhead quickly retreated and stumbled backwards, only for the vampire to leap down towards her.
"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed as the vampire landed on her back.
Hearing Daphne's exclamation, Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other briefly.
"Sounds like Daph's in trouble. Come on!" Shaggy urged.
Scooby nodded before the duo swiftly raced over towards where Daphne was struggling with the vampire, during which the redhead shouted, "Get off! Get off!"
"Like, Daphne!" Shaggy exclaimed as he turned on his flashlight hastily, which prompted the vampire to look towards where Shaggy's voice was coming from.
As Shaggy and Scooby approached where Daphne was at, all in a sudden, the vampire leaped towards the former, causing him to drop his flashlight in fright.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he tumbled backwards and landed on his back.
In a panic, the beatnik stretched his legs upwards just as the vampire landed on him, propelling it upwards towards a nearby tree branch.
As that happened, Daphne rushed over.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked as she and Scooby helped Shaggy up.
"I will, as soon as we get out of this grisly place." Shaggy replied as he rubbed his head.
Before Daphne could reply, the greenhouse door suddenly opened and the caretaker said, "Hey, what the blazes is going on here?"
Immediately, the trio quickly hid behind a nearby group of bushes with a couple more trees shielding them from the caretaker's flashlight.
Just then, they heard the familiar screech from the vampire, which prompted the caretaker to gasp in fright.
"What the-?" The caretaker exclaimed before he got pushed down by the vampire, who then took off further into the garden.
The trio emerged from their hiding spot, in time for them to see the vampire disappear, during which the caretaker picked himself up and turned towards a certain direction, only for his face to grow pale when his flashlight shined towards its given direction.
"Oh dear." The caretaker said. "The Star Orchid...it's gone!"
This exclamation pretty much poured cold water on the trio, who promptly rushed over.
Sure enough, the Star Orchid had disappeared from its planting spot.
May 26, 2012
That morning, over at the Jones mansion, the mayor was reading the newspaper that morning as usual when the doorbell rang.
For a while, Fred, Sr. didn't respond to the doorbell as he flipped a page of the newspaper, but he began to feel irritated when the doorbell continued to ring.
It wasn't exactly the mayor's habit to answer the doorbell, as normally, Fred, Jr. would do so, having had received visits from his friends numerous occasions.
"Junior, the door, please." The mayor called.
Several minutes went by before Fred, Sr., by then fed up by the doorbell's non-stop ringing and Fred, Jr.'s lack of response, sighed as he put down the newspaper and went over to unlock the door.
"Coming, coming." The mayor muttered as he approached the front door.
After unlocking and opening the door, the mayor was surprised when he see Velma standing at the other side of the door.
"Mayor Jones." Velma sputtered, also not expecting to see the mayor answer the door. "I hope I'm not intruding."
"Not really." The mayor shrugged before he let Velma into the mansion. "I mean, my dear Fred was supposed to be answering the door when you came ringing, but he seemed to have made himself scarce."
"That's a bit peculiar." Velma remarked as she made her way down the hallway as the mayor closed the door behind her. "I hope he's not preoccupied with his usual trap-building."
"Oh, if he was, I would've probably get myself tangled in a net or something on my way to the front door." Mayor Jones said.
"Hmm." Velma grunted before she asked, "Say, is there any particular reason why he hasn't responded to my texts or phone calls this morning?"
"Well, now that you've mentioned it, I didn't see him up during breakfast time, though I've assumed that he got up before me and already ate." The mayor replied.
Velma paused as she arched her eyebrows before she suggested, "Perhaps we should go check on him."
The mayor shrugged. "Don't suppose there's any need for that, maybe he's just trying to catch up on civics class."
As the mayor was speaking, Velma made her way up the stairs, prompting him to follow suit.
When the duo arrived at the door to Fred, Jr.'s room, Velma first knocked on the closed door and called out, "Fred, it's Velma. Mind if I come in?"
There was no response, and Velma turned towards the mayor, who swiftly walked over to the door and knocked on it.
"Son?" Mayor Jones asked. "It's Dad. Mind if you open up and let us in?"
There was still no response from the room, and the mayor turned towards Velma and shrugged.
"Odd." The mayor remarked, prompting Velma to lean her ear closer to the door.
"What are you-?" Mayor Jones was about to ask when Velma's eyes widened and she straightened back up.
"I hear groaning inside." Velma said.
The mayor looked concerned. "He better not lock the door."
Immediately, Velma turned the doorknob and opened the door, only for her and the mayor to be greeted by a sight in front of them.
"Fred?" Velma asked.
Inside his room, Fred, Jr. smiled sheepishly as he waved back. He was on the floor with his legs apparently locked in a cross position, and as Velma and the mayor stepped into his room, they can see that the blonde was playing a yoga instruction video on his computer.
"Um...a little help, guys?" Fred, Jr. asked.
Immediately, the duo rushed over to the blonde as the mayor asked, "Son, what are you doing?"
"Well, I was thinking of doing some yoga exercise for a change, Dad." Fred, Jr. explained. "Much of the positioning moves for meditation looked quite easy and straight-forward, but when it came to crossing my legs to achieve that position, I...kinda got stuck."
"We could see that." Velma replied as she eyed Fred's legs. "You've been forcing your legs into this position without the relaxing part, that's why your legs are stuck."
"How long have you been doing this?" Mayor Jones prompted.
"Um...since this morning, right after breakfast, Dad." Fred, Jr. replied. "I had an early rise so I could maximize the effects of the meditation from the yoga exercise."
"And your legs have been stuck like this since you've started this morning?" Velma asked.
Fred, Jr. scratched his head sheepishly. "More or less, yeah. Think my feet had fallen asleep and I couldn't move with them like this..."
"Hang on, son." Mayor Jones said as he and Velma knelt down and began grabbing each one of Fred, Jr.'s legs. "We'll get your feet untangled."
Happy 51st anniversary of the Scooby-Doo franchise, folks!
One year ago today, I've had the bright idea of uploading the very first chapter of D7 City of Mysteries: The Mark of the Werewolf as part of my celebration of the 50th anniversary of the franchise and starting a new Dimension Seven series.
Suffice to say, the story worked out better than I've originally intended, especially with its intention of replacing the Earth One stories I've rushed into writing.
In addition, since I've finished that story, the satisfaction of completing the origin story has given me the inspiration to further expand the D7 series and its storylines into one where it rivals that of my flagship Dimension Four series.
As for the direction the D7 and D4 series will be heading, all I can say is stay tuned!
Please read and review!