Author's note:

So this chapter turned out really well in my opinion! A lot of great references all throughout the story and I think you really get to see Velma and Daphne as more fully-formed, three-dimensional individuals in this chapter.

Also, as I said in the last chapter's notes, this was originally intended to be written as chapter three. Anyways, that's all I have for now, onwards to chapter 4!


It was a chilly fall day in November. The trees were almost bare of leaves outside the rectangular window of Dinkley's Mystery Books, where the owner, Velma Dinkley was arranging books. Velma jumped as the loud phone on the front desk rang at an ear-piercing volume. She picked up the phone, responding cheerfully to her potential customer.

"Hello, this is Dinkley's Mystery Books, Velma speaking! What can I help you with?"

The voice over the phone let out a hearty chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Velma asked, trying to imagine what the person could be laughing at.

The voice did not respond, but the hearty chuckle quickly turned into a boisterous laugh, getting louder by the second. It almost sounded...evil.

"Umm...sir?" Velma responded, with a bit of uncertainty in her voice, "Can I help you?"

The laugh suddenly turned into a ghastly giggle. In horror, Velma hung up the phone, not wanting to deal with whoever was on the other end. After a sigh of relief, Velma suddenly heard the bone-chilling laugh again, but louder. Velma checked to phone to make sure it was completely hung up, but it was...meaning the person was in the bookstore with her! Frantically looking around, Velma saw a shadow behind one of her tall wooden bookcases.

"Hey, you!" she yelled, trying to sound confident, despite being scared stiff, "Who are you?"

"You know nothing of my immense power!" the figure laughed as it quickly darted around the corner before Velma could see any part of it. The figure quickly ran out the back door before Velma could see it, dropping a small white piece of paper in front of the door. Velma picked up the small note and read "Beware of the Phantom Thriller!"

Velma knew exactly what to do. She picked up the phone, dialed the number and listened to the ringing, waiting impatiently for it to be answered. Finally, she heard a familiar voice, and asked "hello, may I speak to Daphne Blake?"


Daphne smiled as she received the call from Velma. After all they had so much fun on their trip to Terror Hill, and they hadn't seen each other in weeks. She was shocked that Velma even felt the need to ask if she could spare the time to help her with her bookstore, since they had been friends as early as elementary school. Daphne quickly put on her purple jacket, which was in the recording room, and ran to her car to help Velma.

Daphne got out of her car to see the beautiful autumn leaves falling from the tall oak sitting besides Dinkley's Mystery Books. After staring for a moment in awe at the true beauty, Daphne saw a somewhat troubling site: Velma pacing back and forth in front of her bookstore, with a worried look on her face. Velma looked up and smiled when she saw the red-haired girl's familiar face.

"Daph!" Velma called out.

"Hi Velms, you said something was wrong?"

"Yes, well…you see…umm…"

Daphne could tell Velma was uncomfortable. "What is it?" said a concerned Daphne. Usually Velma was very focused on facts and reason, she had never seen her this unnecessarily nervous. Or maybe she was necessarily nervous.

"I'll show you." Velma whispered.

Daphne realized something must have been horribly wrong, otherwise Velma would be a lot calmer about this. Velma went through her front desk, looking for what she was going to show Daphne, while Daphne distractedly looked through some of the mystery books Velma was selling. "A Snow Beast Fight," "The Great Witch Switch of 1978," and "A Spooky Race at the Grand Prix Place" were the only titles Daphne read before Velma said she found whatever she was looking for.

Daphne saw Velma holding a small piece of paper with the words "Beware the Phantom Thriller" written in some kind of red liquid. She began to wonder if maybe it was blood.

"Maybe it was some kind of joke!" Daphne tried to make light of the situation, but to no avail.

"If it was a joke, why would the person come IN my bookstore?" Velma emphasized, still pacing.

"Well, I don't know, some people just have…" Daphne tried to search for the words that would assure Velma, "an eccentric sense of humor!"

Velma gave Daphne a skeptical look, to which Daphne just gave a shrug.

"Well, last time it happened at night, so maybe come back then. I can't convince you without evidence." Velma suggested.

"It's not that I don't believe you…it's just…"

Daphne's response was cut off by Velma saying "No, it's fine. See you tonight." Daphne was shocked by Velma's coldness towards her, her replies so short as to avoid conversation. But there was nothing she could do about Velma's odd attitude, since she didn't feel she did anything wrong as to offend Velma. As she had yet to record her fourth episode of season two, Daphne decided to go back to work to finish recording her fourth episode of the season, and forget about the issue for now.


Daphne opened her car door, and saw the beautiful moon shining down upon the same oak tree, and all the stars twinkling from above. With a sigh, Daphne entered Velma's shop, expecting the worst due to Velma's poor interaction with her earlier today. Daphne opened the glass door, and looked at the front desk for any sign of Velma.

"Velms?" Daphne asked, as she saw no sign of her short-haired friend. She saw a shadow over by the wooden bookcase, and walked over to what appeared to be the shadow of Velma. As the shadow turned the corner to the next bookcase, Daphne yelled "Velms, it's me!" The shadow stopped, appearing to acknowledge that Daphne was talking to it. "Hi Ve-"

Daphne stopped as the figure was indeed not Velma, but a cloaked figure in a black cape and black robe, its red eyes glaring menacingly at her.

"Stay away from this place!" the phantom's voice rasped, "I'm watching you!"

Daphne quickly pulled out her camera to film the ghost, but the phantom just took it's bony arm out of its cloak and pointed at Daphne, before disappearing into a cloud of black smoke.

At that moment, Velma walked out from behind the back of her shop, greeting Daphne. Daphne didn't even noticed that she had been talked to, as her body pulsed with fear and adrenaline from the ghost sighting.

"Daph? Daph? Look, I'm sorry about this afternoon."

Daphne was still too engrossed in the moment to speak to her friend.

"Daph? I was just frustrated because…"

"Velma! I saw the phantom! That's what I'll do my show on!"

"Daph? What about my bookstore? Nobody will want to come in a haunted bookstore!"

"Yeah, of course! Not only catching a ghost on film but capturing a real life ghost…that'll be like ratings heaven! Of course, if you don't mind closing your store for a few days for me to film?"

"Yeah, sure Daphne." Velma began acting seemingly cold to Daphne, and walked out of her bookstore, "Goodnight. You can stay as long as you like," she said before closing the door.

Daphne was a bit hurt by Velma's detached responses to her, but she was too excited about this amazing opportunity to worry about it now. As she knew she couldn't sleep, Daphne decided to just start filming now. Daphne set her new camera to "auto-record" on her purple tripod which she had just received from the station.

"3, 2, 1," Daphne counted down aloud, as she heard the beep of the recording starting. "Hello, this is Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake. I'm in Dinkley's Mystery Books right now where I have just…"

Daphne's camera suddenly went blurry as the lights began to flicker. She began walking along the floor, her pink heels clicking on the tile. "H-h-ello?" Daphne called, hoping not to hear a response. Suddenly, the lights went back on and Daphne's camera became clear again. With a sigh of relief, Daphne took a deep breath, trying to slow her heartbeat which she could hear beating quickly. At that moment, Daphne began to notice that every light was still on except the one by the same wooden bookshelf that she had seen the apparition before, which was currently flickering. Daphne walked slowly towards the bookshelf, knowing she would find nothing good behind the bookshelf. Three left, two left, one left, she counted down in her head as the impending doom approached. Daphne closed her eyes, expecting to see the familiar shadowy figure in her path. She opened her eyes in a flash, knowing she could not wait any longer. But nothing was there, only a faulty light. Daphne walked up the aisle, where she still saw no sight of the ghost. She quickly walked back the other way down the aisle, and noticed a book that had fallen on the ground. Still filming, Daphne zoomed in the book and read it on the camera screen. The book cover had a picture of a phantom in a white sheet, taking a swipe at a teenaged red-headed girl in a purple dress. The title read "Watch Your Back!"

Suddenly, Daphne turned around to see the ghost appear in a cloud of black smoke, rasping "I warned you!" as its bony hand reached towards Daphne's heart. She began to scream as the lights went out. Daphne waited for the worst, but nothing happened. In a flash, the lights went on, only for Daphne to see a giant bear over her!

Daphne began shouting for help, hoping maybe Velma or someone would hear her. No one did though, as the white-furred creature approached Daphne. As the bear reached its menacingly sharp claws towards Daphne, the lights went out again. Expecting to be mauled, Daphne shut her eyes and held her hands over her face. Again, nothing happened, as Daphne opened her eyes. Daphne began to sprint out of the area where the haunting occurred, but didn't make it before the cloaked figure appeared again.

"This is your last warning! Do not invoke the Phantom Thriller or you shall face eternal doom!" with a ghostly chuckle, and clapped its hands as the lights turned off once again.

All of a sudden, she could hear Velma entering the shop, shouting "Daphne, are you in here?" Daphne could hear Velma's footsteps, as she was running through the bookstore. She heard a loud bang, and a scream of pain. Within a few seconds, the lights flashed back on.

"I came back to give you the keys to lock up, and all the lights were out." Velma explained.

"Oh, did you run into one of the bookshelves?" Daphne asked her friend.

"That wasn't you I ran into?" Velma said in a confused manner.

"No…are you sure you didn't run into something else?" Daphne questioned.

"No." Velma firmly stated, with a look of disapproval clear on her face. "It was definitely a person."

"Hmmm…" Daphne thought, as a piece of shiny rubber caught her eye. Looking closer at the strange piece of material, she saw a cut-off logo, "Nike runn."

"Nike Running Shoes!" Daphne concluded. "Wait…but what ghost needs shoes?"

"I don't know," Velma said in an annoyed tone. "Hey! Don't go into the back storage room!"

"Wait, what? I didn't!" Daphne asserted.

"Then how do you explain this?" Velma raised her voice, showing Daphne a human sized bear rug.

"That wasn't me! That was the bear that attacked me!"

"Sure it did! Now you can just leave my store, I don't want you touching my stuff anymore!" Velma shouted, as she slammed the door behind Daphne.

"But Velms!" Daphne said apologetically.

"Don't call me that! Now good night!" Velma walked away, her back turned to her redheaded friend.


The next morning, Daphne got up and went straight to Velma's bookstore, since she felt horrible about her and Velma's argument the previous night. As she had a plan, Daphne decided to bring her brightest spotlight from home.

"Velma!" Daphne said cheerfully, hoping it would lighten the mood. Velma came out from the back storage room with a stern look on her face. "I wanted to apologize and tell you I have a –"

"Go away, I'm not ready to talk to you right now." Velma interrupted, while going to the back of the store, towards the same wooden bookshelf.

"Velma, wait, don't go –" Daphne tried to warn Velma, but she didn't listen. Immediately, the ghost appeared in a puff of smoke, its red eyes glaring at Velma.

"I warned you! Now you shall pay!" the ghost began floating towards Velma, when Daphne turned the lights off.

Daphne waited a few seconds, and re-turned on the lights. The ghost, in mid-sprint, whose eyes were growing large with surprise, kept running.

"Let's put some light on the subject!" Daphne shouted, as she turned on the spotlight she had brought in from her house. The ghost covered its red eyes, blinded by the incredibly bright light.

"Now let's see who we have here!" Daphne said, taking the ghost's cloak from over its head.

"Wait? What?"

"Who is this?" Velma asked quizzically.

"It's….that weird security guard? The one that told me to go to Terror Hill!"

"But why?" Velma questioned.

"I'm not telling you anything." the security guard grumbled.

"I think I know someone who can change your mind." Daphne smiled as she saw a familiar man wearing a brown shirt and jeans walk through the front door.

"Detective Neville?" Velma was shocked to see her old friend from Zombie Island right in her very town.

"Alright, tell us what you were doing here, buddy," Beau Neville said in a stern voice.

"I don't have to tell you a thing!" the security guard shouted.

"Well, if you don't, I can take you in right now for police questioning!" Beau said aggressively.

"Alright! I was trying to scare Velma out of the bookstore so I could buy the land cheap!" the guard blurted out.

"Why did you pose as a security guard at the TV station?" Daphne asked, trying to process through what was happening.

"Isn't it obvious? I was trying get your friend to go to Terror Hill while I found a way to set the haunting up in the bookstore. I set up a wireless connection that turned off the lights with a touch of a button under my cloak. I clapped my hands to stop you from hearing the beeping noise!"

"And what about the bear?" Daphne dug for more information.

"The bear was just a prop from the back that I wore over my cloak. I also had a moose head rigged up on a wire if there was a need for more haunting."

"You mean Tyler? Yeah, I borrowed that decoration from Fred's house." Velma added.

"OK, I've heard enough, what's your name?" Beau questioned.

"John Barnes." the security guard mumbled, obviously incredibly embarrassed he was caught.

"John Barnes, you're under arrest." Beau said, as he took the guard away and read him his rights.

"Daphne, I don't know how to thank you! But how did you know the ghost and Beau would show up?" Velma had so many questions she almost didn't know what to ask first.

"Simple, Beau agreed to have a spot on my show, and I got all the ghost appearances on camera…"

Velma cut Daphne off again, "Oh, so that's how it is, huh?

"What's how it is?"

"All you care about is your stupid show! You only visit me, one of your best friends, when it's convenient for your show! We used to be so close, but now all you care about is fame and fortune!"

"Velma, if it bugs you, I won't use that footage on the show."

"You don't get it! Just use the stupid footage, see if I care!" Velma yelled.

"Velma, I'm just busy…."

"I don't want to hear it! Do your stupid show, I hope you choke on the money you're making!" Velma stormed out of the store, leaving Daphne to sit in silence in the store, only left to think about her terrible mistake.


Author's note:

First of all, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!

The Velma-Daphne argument I think is what makes Daphne and Velma seem more like real people. We're so used to seeing the characters all in perfect harmony and I think it's good to mix things up sometimes and make us see the characters in a different and more realistic light than we do.

Reference time:

- Tyler the moose from Fred's house is a reference to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated's "A Haunting In Crystal Cove." Thought it would be fitting to include that since this chapter does have a "shadowy figure" as a villain, same as the episode did.

- The bear rug is a reference to the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated online game Crystal Cove Online, a weekly game that was put out that followed the storyline of the SDMI episode of the week. In the part of the game that mirrored "A Haunting In Crystal Cove," the shadowy figure's minions that you had to defeat were living bear rugs.

The book titles from Velma's bookstore, "A Snow Beast Fight," "The Great Witch Switch of 1978" and "The Spooky Race at the Grand Prix Place" are references to respective Scooby-Doo Show episodes "A Scary Night With A Snow Beast Fright," "To Switch A Witch" and "The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race."

- The description of "Watch Your Back" was a reference to the scene after Daphne fell down the trap door in "Hassle in the Castle."