This is a long chapter because of a flashback that appears at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!
Velma had spent most of her time in the basement sleeping, waiting for what was going to happen next. Velma awoke, and now entertained herself by trying to deduce with what little information she had, on her whereabouts. She figured that they had taken her somewhere farther up north, considering that it was colder than it was in Coolsville. She was thankful that she had her trademark orange sweater on.
She sat quietly, closing her eyes. The only thing she could hear was some muffled talking, coming from upstairs.
Redd was upstairs, contemplating with Bill on what they were going to do next.
"So, what's our next move?" the Bill asked.
"Well," Redd said, turning around in his chair, "I figure that Fred's figured out what the dead fish meant by now, so they should be heading toward the Dinkley Aquarium. They should find the next clue there."
"Are we really going to let them just take her if they figure out where we are within the next 24 hours?" Bill asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm not that stupid! Of course not! She and the rest of them are going to die for sure," Redd said, starting to laugh wickedly.
Fred and Daphne had picked up Scooby and Shaggy in the Mystery Machine shortly after he figured out what the clue meant. He had told everyone to dress warmly due to where they were going.
"Like man Freddy, did you really have to get us all up at 1:00 in the morning?" Shaggy asked groggily.
"Yes, Shag. It's about that clue you found," Fred said.
Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby were suddenly awake at the sudden statement.
"Did you figure it out?" Daphne asked with concern.
"Yes. You know how Velma's parents own an aquarium and are marine biologists," Fred hinted.
"So, like, that's where you're taking us?" Shaggy asked.
Fred nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. They drove in silence, neither of them not really knowing what to say.
They got to the Dinkley Aquarium, and used their keys, which they had received as a gift from the Dinkley's a couple of Christmas's ago, to get inside.
The four of them stayed together as they began their search of the aquarium. They walked around near the dolphin arena, then the sea lions, and moving on to the turtles.
"Like wait a minute!" Shaggy exclaimed startling everyone. "We're looking in the wrong section."
"How do you know?" Daphne asked curiously.
"Velma's favorite animal that her parents studied is the sharks."
"Since when?" Fred asked.
"Since when Velma, Scooby, and I were out on the beaches one day," he replied. Shaggy started to explain what happened that day.
Shaggy and Scooby were each on their own surfboard, kicking and splashing each other. Velma was sitting on her own board, with a 35mm camera, with waterproof lenses, taking pictures of anything interesting that she saw.
Velma suddenly stopped moving, and took her feet out of the water, and on to her surfboard Scooby and Shaggy saw the frightened and nervous 13 year-old and got curious as to why she was scared.
"What's the matter Vel?" Shaggy asked, concerned.
"Take your feet out of the water and don't move!" she ordered them, her eyes darting around her, as if trying to find something.
"Okay, Velma…but why?" Shaggy asked, as he and Scooby were doing what they were told.
"Reah," said Scooby, beginning to get scared. He started to whimper.
With her eyes still darting this way and that, Velma began to explain. "Something bumped my board just a few minutes ago. I looked around to see what it was and I saw a fin sticking out of the water, attached to a dark shadow, then it went too far under to see," Velma said, still looking for the animal that tapped her.
"It was, like, probably just a dolphin Vel," Shaggy said trying to calm her down because she was beginning to shake a little.
"No it wasn't! Dolphin fins are distinguishably different from shark fins," Velma said.
There was a long silence. Then the sound of movement in the water could be heard. Velma froze, staring behind Shaggy.
"What--," Shaggy began, but Velma cut him off before he could say anything else.
"Shaggy. Scooby. Don't move unless I instruct you to do so," Velma said. Her board was closer to Shaggy, as the water slowly drifted her towards him.
Shaggy and Scooby were obeying her every command, trying not to get so scared like they usually did. The shark was slowly coming up towards him.
"Shaggy, unhook the Velcro strap around your ankle," she instructed.
"Okay," Shaggy, said, doing as told, "but why?"
"Please don't question me right now Shaggy, just do it!" Velma said sternly, closing her eyes and brushing away some tears that were starting to form. She turned and noticed Scooby. He was staring at the shark, as if he was in some kind of trance. "Scooby! No sudden movements. Just be very still," Velma commanded. Scooby just nodded, still watching the shark circle Shaggy's board. "Okay," Velma said, turning to face Shaggy again. "Shaggy, slowly and steadily, I want you to stand up on your board," Velma stated.
Shaggy nodded and slowly started standing up, trying to keep his balance. He was off to a good start but his board started to wobble, causing Shaggy to wobble too.
Velma's attention was snapped to the shark, who was tapping Shaggy's board. She extended her hand out towards Shaggy, who was trying desperately not to fall into the water, or worse, the shark's jaws.
"Shaggy! Take my hand and get on my board," Velma exclaimed.
Without hesitation, Shaggy reached out and grabbed her hand, gripping it as if it were something he desired so deeply. Shaggy's right foot stepped on to Velma's board. Just as Shaggy brought his left foot to Velma's board, the shark tipped Shaggy's board over, and then proceeded to snap it in half with it's bone-crushing jaws. Realizing it didn't get what it wanted, the shark turned and swam the other way.
Shaggy sat down behind Velma and gave her a bear hug. "Thank you, Velma! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Shaggy praised.
Velma giggled and hugged him too, "Your welcome, Shaggy."
Scooby had been filled with relief when the shark went away, and he put his paws and tail back in the water.
"Hey! What's that for?" Shaggy asked Velma.
"What's what for?" Velma answered back, unaware of what Shaggy was talking about.
"The knife attached to you. Why do you need a knife?" Shaggy asked.
"Oh that. I take it with me every time I come out here," Velma said. "My parents gave my sister and my brother one."
"Why?" Shaggy continued to ask.
"Kind of for
protection in some worst case scenarios," Velma began. "Like for
instance, if you're being attacked by a shark, you should stab them
in their nose and they're eyes, so that way they can't smell you
or see you to try and attack you again. As you know, my parents work
with many different aquatic animals, and my favorite is the shark.
Did you know that my parents have swam with sharks?"
"No,"
Shaggy said, looking at her with surprise. He looked over at Scooby
who was listening intently.
"Yeah. There were always people around though, to make sure they didn't get hurt. And they weren't the really fierce sharks like great whites and tiger sharks. They also let me and my siblings swim with them too, but of course, my parents were in the water with us."
The trio floated in the water in silence, reflecting on the near shark-attack. The silence was interrupted when Scooby started howling and crying.
"RRROOOWWWRRR!" he wailed.
Shaggy and Velma snapped their heads into Scooby's direction. The shark had come back and was biting Scooby's tail, pulling him in the water.
Velma instantaneously grabbed her knife and jumped into the water, and began swimming towards Scooby. Shaggy watched Scooby in a panic, and was frantically trying to think of something that would help Scooby.
Velma swam up to the shark and grabbed on to its' dorsal fin. The shark didn't care about anything except devouring Scooby's tail, and then Scooby himself. Velma took the knife and stabbed the shark in its left eye. The shark loosened its grip on Scooby's tail, and thrashed slightly, then continued to attack Scooby.
Velma took the knife again, and stabbed the shark in its right eye. This time it let go of Scooby's tail completely, and thrashed around more wildly than before, knocking off Velma in the process, her glass flying off. Scooby took advantage of this and climbed back on his surfboard.
Shaggy quickly jumped in the water and swam over to Velma. He grabbed her arm and puller over to her board. He looked around for the shark and noticed that the knife was still jammed in its' eye.
Shaggy swam up behind the shark, grabbed its' dorsal fin. The shark swam back towards Scooby, pulling Shaggy with him. Shaggy quickly grabbed the knife, yanked it out of the shark's eye, and stabbed it in the nose.
The shark again thrashed backwards, throwing Shaggy off. The shark began to swim around aimlessly, unable to see.
Shaggy quickly swam to Scooby's board, who was gripping it, shaking and whimpering intensely. Shaggy grabbed part of Scooby's board and swam to Velma. With his free hand, he grabbed Velma's board and started swimming to shore.
