Chapter 3
"Journey to Rome"
Like, it didn't take long for us to get on a plane and head for Italy. Chances are, Scooby and I would much rather be doing something else during our time in Italy…such as eating their food. Why is it that every time we go somewhere enjoyable, we have to solve a mystery?
Then again, like this is the FBI and nothing is ever lighthearted. Still, we got to Dulles Airport outside of Washington and boarded the only transatlantic flight to Rome. But there was a perk to being in the FBI.
"Pinch me, am I in heaven?" I gasped, looking at the first class menu. "Give me everything on here! Right, Scoob?"
"Reah!"
"Guys, at least show some professionalism," Velma cautioned as she made her way to the back of first class. "We are still on the clock, you know."
But we couldn't help ourselves, at least in this situation. All that was on our minds was food, glorious food!
…
Well, maybe Velma was right, our love for food was going to detrack us from the story as a whole. Anyways, we settled in and were airborne just around 6:00pm, which in our language, was dinnertime.
But a couple rows back from us, Daphne was looking at a copy of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, however not in the traditional reader sense.
"Freddie, check this out," she said to him, showing him a part of the book where it talks about what Pleasure Island is based off of. "According to Carlo Collodi, he disguises the fact that Pleasure Island is known as the Land of Toys."
"Is it just me or why do I get the feeling that Santa Claus is going to make an appearance?" Fred wondered. "It says here that children are lured with the promise of never having to go to school and spend nothing but having fun. Seems like something Shaggy and Scooby would enjoy."
"But part of me thinks that there is something the Italians don't even know about, that perhaps Pleasure Island or the Land of Toys is real?"
"It might be a supernatural belief, Daph. I can't really say that maybe the ghost of whoever lived on Pleasure Island might be at work."
Having read what she had seen, Daphne began taking some notes of what she had discovered. Like, Daphne had every reason to believe that somewhat Pleasure Island was real.
…
As the flight went on, Daphne continued to indulge herself more and more into the parts with the Land of Toys. Then, as the lights came down in the plane so people could sleep, she began to hear something totally bizarre.
"Can you hear me?" she heard a voice cry out from inside the book. "Help us!"
"Wha..what?"
Confused, Daphne went back a few pages.
"Save us, please!" cried another voice, belonging to a young boy. "We don't want to be donkeys!"
She then turned to the page where the chapter about the Land of Toys started and the sounds of children cheering were heard and as the pages turned, the cheering turned to braying. Startled, she closed the book down and stuck it in the seatback pocket in front of her.
"What was that?" she gasped, her face becoming sweaty with fear. "Is someone trying to…? No, it couldn't be. Could it?"
Taking the book again, like, Daphne opened up once more and again, she heard the cries turning into brays. Now, she was getting creeped out. Seeing that the seatbelt sign was turned on, she couldn't go seek out help from Velma and Clarice and she couldn't really sleep further. So, Daphne just sat there, her eyes wide open and a sense of fear trickling in.
…
Like, the next morning, we landed in Rome and entered the country, although Scooby's breakfast sandwich from the plane was confiscated by the Italian customs officers. But of course, the only one who was suffering from a lack of sleep was Daphne.
"Daphne, are you sure that you aren't exaggerating?" Fred asked as he studied the book closely. "How could you hear voices inside?"
"I did hear voices, Fred!" Daphne protested as we sat in the arrivals hall to wait for our FBI partners already in Rome to pick us up. "It's strange, but it starts with cheering and then it turns into the sounds of donkey's braying. I mean, as the chapter goes on, that's when the transitioning starts."
Even though he wasn't fully believed in Daphne's fairy tale, Fred considered at least her worries about the situation.
"How does the transitioning start?" he asked.
"Don't tell Clarice this, but…it starts when the child gets donkey ears and then a tail sticks out of their behind. Finally donkey fur grows on them before they develop hooves and start braying."
"She's gonna know you are reading this, Daphne," Fred cautioned as the FBI van pulled up to the arrivals hall while he took the book.
"I don't care, Fred," Daphne retorted as we got up. "Mark my words, I think Pleasure Island is alive and well and it's up to us to close it down for good."
It was then that, like, Fred got himself an idea to help Daphne avoid from going mad with exhaustion.
"Listen, Daph," he said. "I think you need to rest because you were up all night and maybe we can visit Vatican City before going to Pleasure Island. Perhaps you may even get an audience with the Pope."
"Me?" Daphne asked. "Why me?"
"Because you are the most religious out of all of us," Fred playfully replied. "Really, you are."
Daphne didn't laugh, but a visit to the Vatican could do her some good when, like, all was said and done. At that moment, Beau's phone rang and he answered it.
"Heads up, guys," he announced to the rest of us. "The father of the missing boy is at the American Embassy. We're heading there now."
Like, so much for experiencing Italy. We were heading back to the United States already! Or so we thought...
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