Sponge: Welcome back, everybody! Thanks for reading and reviewing. It's another long chapter, but I hope you enjoy. Warning: Language and more make-out sessions, both Shelma and Fraphne this time, as well as some slightly graphic Fraphne romance. Also, there are discussions of a rather sexual nature. Please read at your own risk. This is the LAST chapter that will let the fic get by being rated T, so you have been warned! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.
Chapter 5: You Don't Know
It wasn't often that Daphne and Velma had a Skype date of their own. Indeed, the last time it had happened was last winter, when Daphne had confessed to Velma that she was in love with Fred. Daphne felt it fitting to have another Skype session with just the girls to let Velma know she was ready to tell Fred this fact.
She was definitely ready. Right?
Daphne knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was in love with Fred Jones. She had known it for a very long time. So after Fred had dropped Daphne off at her house (she was always the last one he took home so they could occasionally have some alone time in the Mystery Machine), she had texted Velma to log onto Skype after dinner.
Daphne now sat at her desk, working on her math homework when Velma logged on.
"Hey, Daph," Velma said as her face appeared in the computer screen. "Geometry?" She inclined her head towards Daphne's open textbook.
Daphne grinned and shut the book. "Yeah, I was just working on it while I waited for you."
"Your text sounded serious," Velma said. "Is everything okay? With…your parents?"
Daphne's chest tightened. Velma was the only one in the gang who knew that Daphne's parents were having marital troubles. Daphne had discovered her father sleeping in his office over the summer, and she'd noticed that her parents didn't talk to each other as much. Indeed, dinner tonight had been a rather silent affair.
"Yeah," Daphne said, waving her hand nonchalantly. She didn't want to think about her parents. "This doesn't have anything to do with that. I wanted to talk about something totally unrelated and not very Bechdel-test friendly."
Velma knew this meant they were about to talk about Fred. "Okay," she said, leaning forward in concentration.
Daphne took a deep breath. "I think I'm ready to tell Freddie that I love him."
"Jinkies!" Velma gasped. "Daph, I'm really excited for you...but is he ready to hear it?"
Daphne frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." Velma considered her response. "Would he reciprocate? If you told him you loved him, do you think he'd say it back?"
Daphne furrowed her brow. "I think he would," she replied. "But boys are funny like that, you know? Sometimes they can be so emotionally obtuse. Like how before we got together, he wouldn't even realize when girls like Adrienne Maxim and Maureen Fischer were throwing themselves at him! Or like after we started dating and we watched The Notebook and he didn't understand why it made me cry!" Daphne chuckled at the memory. "But I think it's time. I mean we've been dating for almost eight months now. Don't people usually say 'I love you' by then? I've heard seven months is the right time." Daphne knew she was babbling, and her gaze had wandered around as she spoke, but now she looked back at her webcam and saw that Velma wasn't looking at her either. Instead, she was looking down into her lap, as if she was reading a book.
"What are you doing?"
Velma's head snapped up. "What? Nothing, I'm sorry. Um, I don't know about the seven month thing."
"Red and I said 'I love you' at seven months," Daphne remarked ruefully. "Not that I really meant what I was saying."
Velma sighed. Sometimes she forgot that Daphne and Red Herring had gone out in ninth grade. "Well, Tony and I never said it, and we dated for almost exactly seven months. Then again, what we had wasn't nearly as serious as what you and Fred have."
Daphne snorted. "Well, everyone was so young back then. Especially you." Daphne was referring to the fact that Velma was about a year younger than most of her classmates, due to how she'd skipped a grade in elementary school. "If you and Tony were doing the kinds of things that Fred and I have been doing, I would be worried."
That got Velma's attention. She fixed the redhead with an unblinking stare. "Daphne...how far have you and Fred gone?"
Daphne felt her face go pink. She hadn't meant for that to slip out. "Um..." she hedged.
Velma widened her eyes in astonishment. "Tell me!" she hissed.
"Uh...below the shirt, below the underwear," Daphne said in a rush. "But just barely!"
Velma shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth. She glanced over at her door to make sure her parents weren't coming. When nothing happened, she turned back around and faced Daphne through the computer. "Spill!"
"There's not really a whole lot to spill," Daphne insisted. "Just that sometimes, when we're solving a mystery and we split up to search for clues, we'll go somewhere private and...fool around a little."
Velma's eyebrows shot up. "And what exactly does that mean?"
Daphne's face went fully scarlet now. "It means he's seen my boobs and I've touched his..." she broke off, too embarrassed to say the word. "You know." She glanced down with her eyes.
"But you haven't seen it?"
"No!" Daphne shook her head emphatically.
"But do you want to?"
Daphne considered this for a full minute. "I don't know," she replied truthfully. "I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe? Honestly, the most thought I've put into the future of our relationship is telling him I love him. Watching you and Shaggy sing that song at rehearsal today really made up my mind for me, actually," Daphne admitted.
Now it was Velma's turn to flush pink. "Uh...what do you mean?"
"That song! 'Perfect For You,'" Daphne cried. "Ugh it's so romantic I could cry! And you guys did a great job! Holden was right - that was a good-looking kiss." Daphne's eyes gleamed as she got ready to ask the next question. " So how was it?"
Velma played dumb. "Um...how was what?"
"The kiss, silly! I know you've been crushing on Shaggy since last year - it must have been so thrilling for you to finally kiss him! Even if it is just for the stage. But still! Tell me all about it! How was it?"
"Uh..." Velma hedged. "It was...nice." Her eyes fell on her phone, which was in her lap. She held it up for Daphne to see. "Oh jinkies, look at the time, it's awfully late. We should go to sleep now, school in the morning, you know. G'night, Daph! I'm really glad that you're going to tell Fred you love him and maybe have sex!"
With that, Daphne's screen went blank as Velma logged off.
Daphne stared at her computer, dumbfounded. Why had Velma been so reluctant to talk about her kiss with Shaggy? And what had she been doing when she hadn't been paying attention earlier?
x.X.x
What Velma had been doing was texting.
Velma: Hey.
Shaggy: hey
Shaggy: lol don't we have a song in the play that starts out like that?
Velma: Haha yeah, we do. Three of them in fact.
Velma: So...about tomorrow...
At this, Shaggy had typed for a long time. Velma waited with bated breath. Damn those pesky gray dots!
Shaggy: like yeah?
Velma had rolled her eyes. Boys were truly an entirely different species.
Velma: You wanna keep up the practice room thing?
Shaggy: definitely.
Shaggy: as long as you still wanna...?
Velma: Oh absolutely. Just trying to figure out logistics.
Velma: I'll snag the practice room right after 7th period so you can just meet me there when you come downstairs.
Shaggy: alrighty like, sounds good.
Shaggy: like what do I do about Scoob?
Velma: Just drop him at the auditorium on your way. And tell him that you and I are bonding.
Shaggy: lol
Velma: What, do you think he'll see through that?
Shaggy: no i like, just think it's funny that you call it 'bonding.'
Velma: Well that's what Leesa called it. What would you call it?
Shaggy: ...i guess i dunno
Velma: Well, I'll see you in class and at rehearsal tomorrow.
Shaggy: right. to "bond"
Velma: Haha. Good night, Shaggy
Shaggy: Night, Velm.
Now, Velma took her glasses off and climbed into bed. She couldn't stop thinking about her time in the practice room with Shaggy this afternoon. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt his lips on hers and his hands on her waist. She knew she liked him, though the fact that they had gotten so physical so quickly had surprised even her. But now, all she wanted was to be back in that room with him. She also couldn't help thinking about everything Daphne had told her on Skype, about how far she had gone with Fred. Would Velma ever get to that point with Shaggy?
And, more importantly: did she want to?
x.X.x
Unlike Monday, which had gone by inexplicably fast for Shaggy, Thursday classes dragged. Wasn't that always how it went? When you dreaded something, time flew by, and when you were looking forward to something, time slowed down. He still had jitters when he thought about kissing Velma, but they were excited jitters.
When the final bell rang at last, he bolted from the art classroom, Scooby in tow.
"Rhy rhe rush, Raggy?" he panted as he followed him down the stairs.
"Uh, like...you know, just don't wanna be late for rehearsal." This at least was true. When they reached the auditorium, Shaggy headed for the music hallway. "Like you go ahead Scooby Doo, I have to do that bonding thing with Velma." He smiled to himself about their private joke.
"Rokay," Scooby waved. "Rye'll ret roo rin rive rinutes!"
Five minutes. Not nearly enough time. Shaggy walked faster.
Velma was already in the practice room, as she said she'd be, when he arrived. She stood on the far side, against the wall perpendicular to the piano, and watched as Shaggy entered, closed the door, and locked it behind him. Velma's mouth went dry. They hadn't locked the door yesterday. Something about it seemed to make this much more intimate.
There was a beat as both of them let the action hang in the air. Then, in two strides, Shaggy reached her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her hard on the mouth.
The dizzying sensation was back, and overtook him almost immediately. Her fingers tugged at the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer to her. His hands still cupped her face, and he used his thumbs to caress her cheeks. Shaggy felt his heart pound as adrenaline coursed through his veins. Their tongues tangled together, and Shaggy's hands moved lower down Velma's body - past her shoulders and her chest (Shaggy felt a jolt go through him as his fingers grazed that particular part of her body), past her waist, all the way down to her slender hips. It was so easy to pull her closer to him from there, and her hips fit so neatly into his hands.
When Velma came up for air, she was so overcome with desire that she moved from kissing his mouth and instead kissed along his cheek, his jawbone, his ear...
Shaggy's breath caught, and he grabbed fistfuls of her orange sweater in passion. How the fuck did this feel so good? It felt like every single of one of his nerves was on fire, every fiber of his being was aware of her. She smelled of vanilla and cinnamon, a tantalizing odor that was almost addictive. Her hands had moved up towards the nape of his neck and tugged lightly at his hair. Shaggy had to stifle a moan. How was she doing this to him? Was she feeling everything he was feeling? Was she having trouble staying quiet as well?
As soon as Shaggy started thinking of ways he could cause Velma to make some noise - and places he could touch her or kiss her to elicit that reaction - he felt a tightening in the lower region of his body. Shit! he thought wildly. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten aroused while kissing a girl – it had happened once or twice back in California – but this was the first time he was pressed up close enough to one that she might actually notice. He was afraid to move his legs, just in case Velma felt it. But she was kissing his neck now, and damn it felt so amazing, it was hard for him to concentrate on anything else.
Velma, for her part, did notice it. She had shifted slightly against him as she moved down his jaw to his neck, and she felt the slight firmness against her thigh. Her heart stuttered. She had done that. She had turned Shaggy on. Frumpy, mousy, geeky Velma Dinkley, had aroused someone – a guy. She would never have thought she had that power. She felt elated. She felt...sexy.
Did Shaggy find her sexy?
As he held her flush against him, Shaggy wondered if they should maybe try to slow things down. He was slightly embarrassed, but not so much that he wanted to stop altogether. He just wanted his body to calm down a little. But then Velma made a noise against his neck - a sigh, or a soft moan - and Shaggy felt himself come undone. In a fit of passion, he whirled her around and instinctively grabbed the backs of her thighs, just below her red skirt, and hoisted her up until she was sitting on top of the piano. He was glad the lid was closed, otherwise there would have been a loud and rather inharmonious sound from the piano keys.
Velma made a small noise of surprise in response to Shaggy, but she kept her arms around him. One quick kiss on the lips, and he dipped his head down to the side of her neck, pulling the orange cowl away for easier access as she gasped and shuddered under his touch. Desire rose from somewhere deep in his stomach as Shaggy kissed her neck hungrily, needily, then moved his head upward to nibble her earlobe.
Her reaction! She maintained a tight grip on his shoulders as she gasped sharply. Her arms wrapped around him more tightly, and he felt himself grow harder.
"Shaggy," she whispered into his ear.
Fuck. Shaggy's own breathing hitched as his name left Velma's lips. So much was happening. He didn't know if he could handle much more.
RATTLE RATTLE
The sound of someone attempting to open the door caused them to detach in a hurry. Both turned towards the door as whoever had tried to open it knocked.
"Who is it?" Velma found her voice first, though she still sounded breathless.
"Rit's re!" came Scooby Doo's voice. "Rit's rime ror rehearsal!"
Shaggy's mouth went dry and he tried to swallow. Like, what would have happened if Scoob had walked in on us?!
Shaggy cleared his throat and spoke in a rasp. "Like okay buddy," he called. "We'll be right there."
Scooby's footsteps padded down the hall and Shaggy and Velma reluctantly disentangled themselves. She walked towards the door but stopped short when she noticed Shaggy wasn't following.
"You coming?" she asked as she unlocked the door.
"You go ahead," he told her. "I like...need a minute." He blushed and glanced away from her. At least it wasn't super visible, but he still wanted to calm down before he went anywhere public.
"Oh!" Velma went pink with understanding. "Sure thing. I'll uh...I'll tell everyone you went to the restroom." She bit her lip (it did not help) and went to open the door. However, she turned around again before she even touched the handle.
"Should we talk about this?" she asked.
Shaggy looked away again and feigned ignorance. "Uh...like talk about what?"
"This." Velma gestured between them, the expanse that separated them seemingly wider than before. "Us."
Heat rushed up Shaggy's neck and colored his face. He shrugged. "Like, what's to talk about?" For some reason, hearing Velma describe them as an 'us' made him inexplicably nervous.
Velma started to say something, then shook her head, apparently losing her nerve. "Never mind. It's not important." She grinned at him. "I'll uh...I'll see you in there." She jerked her head in the direction of the auditorium, gave him a brief wave, and closed the door behind her as she left.
Shaggy sighed and leaned his head against the wall. He tried fill his mind with baseball and wrinkly old men and all the inherently un-sexy things he could think of. Anything to drown out the sound of Velma's sweet voice quietly moaning his name.
x.X.x
They continued working on blocking throughout the remainder of the week, and on into the next. Shaggy and Velma had drastically improved their chemistry from that first disastrous attempt at a kiss, and they both knew it was their escapades in the practice room that helped them overcome that barrier. They continued to meet both before and after rehearsal, but Velma never again brought up their mutual passion for each other.
Daphne and Holden were off book for all of Act I by the following Tuesday, with Velma, Shaggy, and Tony not far behind. Fred, however, was still having trouble.
"Line," he called on Tuesday for the umpteenth time.
Mr. Atwood took a deep breath as though to calm himself. Scooby put his paws over his eyes and groaned. Leesa glanced at the script.
"I know you're hurting. I am too," she read to him.
Fred's face went scarlet. This was not the first time he'd missed that line. "Right, right. Sorry."
"Again," Mr. Atwood sighed. "From the top."
They were rehearsing the scene before Daphne/Diana's song "You Don't Know." In the scene, Daphne/Diana admits to Dan/Fred that she hasn't been taking her medication, and thus has been hallucinating their dead son. No one else was in the scene, Velma/Natalie and Shaggy/Henry having exited only moments before, but Holden/Gabe waited in the wings to make an entrance during the following song, "I Am the One."
Velma and Shaggy now sat in the house with Tony, and they all grimaced at each other.
Daphne pulled Fred aside as they reset the scene. "Babe," she murmured to him. "It's okay. I know you can do this."
Fred glanced over her shoulder at Holden, who shrugged at him. Fred gritted his teeth. There was something about Holden that made him feel angry. Was it the fact that most of Daphne's rehearsals were spent running scenes with him? Was it that comment he'd made at the interest meeting about being technically married to her because of the musical the previous year? Whatever it was, he couldn't stand the sight of him.
He huffed out a sigh, then turned back to begin the scene again.
After rehearsal that day (which hadn't gone very well for Fred), Scooby and Leesa held a brief production meeting with Travis Brown and Addie Wong about various lighting and sound effects they might need during the production. Tony headed home, muttering his lyrics in the song "Make Up Your Mind" under his breath as he went. Shaggy and Velma went down the hall for their post-rehearsal bonding. Fred and Daphne left out the main entrance of the school to retrieve the Mystery Machine from the student parking lot, but annoyingly, Holden walked there with them on the way to his car. Even more annoyingly, he monopolized Daphne's time by sucking her into a deep discussion about their characters' motivations, which honestly, Fred didn't really understand.
"Diana misses her son," Daphne was saying. "She even alludes to the fact that Natalie is basically just a replacement child. Which is interesting, given the fact that Gabe wasn't planned and Natalie was."
"Right," Holden agreed, "but I think we need to go deeper than that. Is Gabe here for Diana, or for Dan?"
Upon hearing his character's name, Fred shot a sideways glance at the two of them.
"Diana at least acknowledges Gabe's existence in their lives," Holden continued. "Dan is totally in denial. He'd sooner forget he'd even had a son, because the memory of him is so painful for his wife. All he wants is for Diana to forget about the past and for Gabe to go away."
Well, at least that part was true. Fred wanted Holden to go away, at the very least.
"But the memory of Gabe is painful for Dan, too," Daphne argued. "That's why he doesn't even acknowledge him until the end of the play. Diana's mental illness just causes him to manifest larger than life in her head."
"What do you think, Freddie?" Holden asked. "What do you think your motivations are?"
They had reached the Mystery Machine by this point, and Fred opened the drivers' side door. "Well, right now my motivation is to go home." He couldn't help the terseness in his tone.
Holden took the hint. "Got it," he said. He grinned at Daphne. "See you tomorrow." With a wave, he continued past them towards his own car.
Daphne climbed in the passenger's side. "Fred, what was that all about?"
"What?" Fred drove out of the student lot towards the front of the school.
"You were so rude to Holden just now," Daphne replied. "That's not like you. What's going on?"
"What?" Fred said again as he parked. "Am I not allowed to be annoyed that he takes over your time both during and after rehearsal, and the only time I get to talk to you is when I'm messing up my lines?"
Daphne blinked, taken aback. "Freddie...are you jealous of Holden?"
"No," Fred replied petulantly, in a way that Daphne knew meant "yes." He didn't look at her, even though he had parked the van.
Daphne sighed and put a hand on his arm. "Freddie, Holden and I are just good friends," she promised. "We bonded a lot during Into the Woods last year - I was the only tenth-grader in that production, and he really helped me feel welcome. Besides," she added ruefully. "You don't have anything to worry about. He's gay."
Fred's head shot up. "What?"
"Yeah. Like...very gay. He has a boyfriend who goes to Coolsville University. If it wasn't for Jack, I'd be worried about Holden going after you," she joked.
Fred snorted. "Not very likely." He shook his head. "I'm just so surprised. He doesn't seem gay at all."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Gay people don't all fit into one stereotypical box, Fred. The only difference between gay and straight people is who we love. Holden loves Jack. And I..." Daphne swallowed and looked away. Was this the moment?
"You what?" Fred asked.
Daphne was brave. She was usually one of the first in the gang to head inside a haunted house or an abandoned factory. She was the first to try a rusty door handle or open an old trunk. Admittedly, these were also the reasons she often fell through so many trap doors into secret rooms. But her moxie and courage were things she prided herself on. Daphne was brave.
But not brave enough in this moment to tell Fred that she loved him.
She smiled, touched his cheek softly with her hand, and brought his face down to hers for a tender kiss. He returned it with vigor, twisting his fingers into her soft, red hair.
"You don't have anything to worry about with me and Holden," she whispered, climbing over the gear shift to straddle Fred in the driver's seat. "Let me prove it to you."
Daphne was flying by the seat of her pants. She wasn't brave enough to tell Fred she loved him right this second, but maybe she would be after they'd been a little intimate. She just needed a push.
They kissed open-mouthed, tongues clashing until Daphne undid Fred's ascot and tossed it aside. She removed her own green scarf and brought her head down to pepper kisses all over his broad neck and into the small part of his chest that was exposed now that the ascot was out of the way. Fred closed his eyes and moved his hands down Daphne's back, all the way to her rear. His hands slipped under her dress and gently squeezed, causing her to gasp in surprise. Their mouths connected again as Daphne began rubbing her lower body against Fred's.
Fred felt himself harden at the contact. "Shit, Daph," he groaned, tightening his grip.
Daphne, as had so often happened in circumstances like this, was amazed at the way her body responded. Heat traveled all the way down to her core and pooled at the center. She continued moving her clothed groin over Fred's, hands traveling under his shirt to roam about his muscular chest. Fred's hands had also abandoned her bottom and gone upwards, causing her dress to ride up and expose the soft, creamy flesh of her stomach.
There was the sudden sound of the passenger side door opening, and then an astonished cry.
"RAAAAAAAHH! RY RYES!"
Fred and Daphne jerked up. Standing outside the open door were Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby, all of whom were red in the face and avoided staring directly at the Mystery Machine. Scooby in particular looked scarred for life, paws covering his eyes and shaking his head back and forth. As he was standing closest to the van, it was apparent that he was the one who'd opened the door.
Fred and Daphne were mortified. They had gone farther than this in the past, but they'd never ever been caught by anyone, including their friends, even when they were solving mysteries. Daphne slid off Fred's lap back into the passenger seat and fixed her outfit. Fred redid his ascot and shifted slightly in his seat.
"Sorry," Daphne said guiltily as she exited the van. "It's safe to look now. We're decent."
"For goodness sake, you guys," Velma chided, still avoiding their gazes. "It's broad daylight out."
"Like yeah," Shaggy added, not looking either of them in the eye. "If you're gonna do that, like, at least try not do it in the school parking lot."
Scooby just shook his head disappointedly at them both.
"I'm sorry," Fred apologized as everyone climbed into the car. "I honestly forgot where we were."
"Is this what you guys get up to when you say you're looking for clues while we're solving mysteries?" Velma asked Daphne.
Daphne felt her face flood with heat. Fred cleared his throat uncomfortably. Shaggy and Scooby gazed at them in astonishment.
"Never mind," Velma sighed, shaking her head. "Let's just go home."
The ride was silent for a while, until Daphne broke it.
"Speaking of mysteries," she said, desperate to get past the awkwardness. "I think we have our first sign of the Phantom."
"What are you talking about?" asked Velma.
"This afternoon, when I went to get my backpack from the girl's dressing room after rehearsal, I couldn't find the pill bottles that Diana dumps out at the end of 'I Miss the Mountains,'" Daphne said. "I always put them back in the same place, and since we didn't run that song today, I hadn't touched them at all."
"Hmm..." Fred said. "That does sound suspicious, babe. Should we stick around after rehearsal tomorrow to look for clues?" He grinned down at Daphne flirtatiously.
She saw the heat in his eyes and felt her body tense in anticipation. "A clue-gathering session might be in order," she murmured sultrily.
"Am I going to need to chaperone you two?" Velma's wry voice interrupted from between them.
Fred and Daphne both looked straight ahead out the windshield and said nothing more.
x.X.x
"Scooby," Mr. Atwood said the following day. It was after school, and he was a little frazzled at rehearsal. Shaggy and Velma were talking in the practice room, Fred and Daphne were running lines in the house, and Tony was chatting with Corinne Faulkner and a few of the stage hands. Scooby had no idea where Holden was. Rehearsal hadn't even started and Mr. Atwood seemed ready to bite someone's head off. "Leesa is running a bit late this afternoon, so could you go up to the catwalk with Travis to check the bulbs in the spotlights?" Scooby nodded quickly. Anything to keep Mr. Atwood calm.
"I'll show you what we're looking for," Travis said as they headed backstage towards the stairs.
For the past several weeks, Scooby had been working like a dog - no pun intended. It seemed as though his job was never ending. There was so much to keep track of! Luckily, everyone seemed extremely on board with having a dog as an assistant stage manager. Say what you would about the drama kids, but they really knew how to go with the flow.
Once on the catwalk, Travis showed Scooby how to turn the lights on to check if the bulb was burnt out, and then how to remove the bulb if it was. Not for the first time in his life, Scooby thanked his lucky stars that he had opposable thumbs.
"I'm gonna run back down there," Travis said once Scooby understood the mechanics of the spotlights. "Make a note of which lights need new bulbs, and we can let Leesa and Mr. Atwood know. We can probably get the new bulbs by next week."
"Rokay." Scooby saluted Travis as he walked out of sight, and set to work. He had to admit, it was much preferable to be up here in the quiet than down in the house where tensions were high. He hummed the tune of "You Don't Know" to himself as he checked the lights. Only two bulbs were burnt out, so he removed them and started back across the catwalk. He was glad he would have some good news for Mr. Atwood. He wasn't sure if the man could have handled it if all of the bulbs were burned out.
Scooby was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling that he wasn't the only one on the catwalk. He stopped short and glanced around him. There wasn't enough room on either side of him for someone to pass by. There wasn't anyone in front of him. He slowly turned his head.
Several feet behind him, at the opposite end of the catwalk, stood a tall, lean figure. A woman, it looked like. She had black, stringy hair. She had beady yellow eyes. She wore a long white lace dress, like a wedding gown.
And she looked like she wanted to murder Scooby Doo where he stood.
She could only be one person. One thing.
The Phantom of the Auditorium was here.
Sponge: Thanks for reading. Sorry for the minor cliffhanger. Remember, the next chapter kicks off the M rating, so read at your own risk. Review if you please!
