"Welcome to Oak Haven"
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A few days later, the gang all packed their bags and met up with Ben who would be showing them the way to his home town.
Velma insisted on going in the car with Ben, and Davey almost felt pity for the man since she had a feeling that the book worm was going to be talking the writer's ear off about her love for his novels.
The group spent time on the road for a few days and finally, they reached Massachusetts and Davey was in awe of the beautiful leaf colors.
Shades of yellow, red and orange shone magically in the sunlight and made the quaint little town they entered an absolutely wonderful sight to behold.
Grabbing her camera, Davey was quick to start taking pictures of the gorgeous fall color and Daphne was doing the same, smiling at the sight.
"Wow, this color is spectacular. Eh, guys?" Daphne exclaimed.
"Amazing!" Fred grinned.
"It's all so pretty!" Veemon said.
"Yeah." Scooby agreed as he snapped a photo.
"Like, don't forget me, old buddy." Shaggy told him.
Scooby moved back over to where Shaggy was and he snapped a picture of the two of them.
Shaggy then wrapped an arm around Davey's waist and pulled her over so that she could be included in the pictures as well.
"This place is so beautiful. I would love to live here." Davey said as she stared outside.
"Hey, look, there's the sign! We're here." Veemon pointed.
Everyone smiled when they saw the welcome sign and was eager to have arrived in the lovely town.
But, much to their shock, there appeared to be quite a bit of traffic.
A large group of cars were gathered together in front of the Mystery Machine and Ben's car which caused great confusion for everyone.
"Like, I thought this was a peaceful little town." Shaggy commented.
"Things must have changed since Ben was last here." Daphne said.
Following Ben's car to a parking space on the side of the road, Fred parked the Mystery Machine and everyone began stepping outside to breathe in the fresh, crisp fall air.
"Wow, this is a popular spot." Fred exclaimed.
"Sure, we always get a few leaf peepers, but never like this. This is a circus!" Ben exclaimed as he stared out into the crowd.
Scooping Veemon up into her arms, Davey glanced around at the crowd and spotted a heavy set man with brown curly hair dressed in a blue suit shaking hands with the people.
"Hey, who's that guy?" Davey asked Ben who looked to see where she was pointing.
"Oh, that's the mayor! He'll know what's going on." Ben said with confidence.
"Like, maybe he'll know a place to eat." Shaggy smiled down at Scooby.
"Yeah." Scooby agreed and licked his lips.
The group then began following Ben over to the mayor who was greeting people with a large smile and friendly laughter.
"Welcome to old Oak Haven. Have a wonderful time. So glad you could come." The mayor greeted as he shook hands with a farmer.
"Mayor! Mayor Corey!" Ben called getting his attention.
"Ben, my boy! I'm glad you could come home to see this." Mayor Corey exclaimed.
He walked over to shake hands with Ben and took notice of the Mystery gang standing behind the author and seemed very pleased at the sight of more people.
"And I see you've brought some friends and their dog." Mayor Corey said.
"Dog? Where?" Scooby looked around.
"Oh, not this again." Veemon groaned.
Veemon was hoping that little running joke had been put to rest.
"Welcome. The more the merrier." Mayor Corey laughed.
"But what is all this?" Ben asked.
"It's great, isn't it? Business is booming. Not like a few months ago when it was slower than maple syrup on a cold day." Mayor Corey said with a pleased expression.
Just then, an older man with dark eyes and grey hair walked over holding a cardboard box filled with what appeared to be shirts.
"Hey, Ben." The man greeted making the man turn.
"Hi, Mr. McKnight." Ben greeted politely.
"Welcome home. Here, have a t-shirt before my store sells out. You can wear it to the concert tomorrow." McKnight said as he handed the man a t-shirt.
The t-shirt was white and had what looked to be a green ghostly form of a witch holding a fireball on it with some writing.
"Concert?!" Ben exclaimed in shock.
"The Hex Girls." Fred spoke up.
"You've heard of them, Fred?" Daphne asked him.
"Just now." Fred said and pointed.
Everyone turned to look at the banner that was tied to the lamp posts that was above a couple who were cuddling together on a bench.
"Oak Haven Autumn Fest. Featuring the Hex Girls." Daphne read.
"Oh, hey, yeah! I remember Matt telling me about them. He heard their music on line. They're awesome." Davey smiled.
McKnight smiled at what Davey said, looking almost proud, before he walked off to return to his store and start selling his products.
"I'm glad to hear that, young lady. I think you'll like them, as well, Ben. They're a local group. Kinda spooky." Mayor Corey said.
Ben then looked t the t-shirt he was given and frowned at what was on it.
"I met the ghost of Oak Haven and lived?" Ben read in confusion.
Shaggy and Scooby began to worry and jumped behind Davey and Veemon.
"Ghost?!" They exclaimed.
"Jinkies! Looks like there's a ghost in your own back yard, Ben." Velma commented.
The mayor then leaned over and placed a hand on Velma's shoulder to get her attention.
"Not only that, but it's his own ancestor, the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft." Mayor Corey informed.
"Wait, what?" Davey exclaimed in shock.
"That's ridiculous! I thought we'd gotten past all of this witch nonsense." Ben frowned looking very upset.
The mayor backed off, looking a bit chastised by the upset man and Davey couldn't blame him.
She would be upset, too, if someone was using her ancestry to attract tourist groups to make money for the town.
"What can I say, Ben? Ever since we built our puritan village her ghost has appeared many times." Mayor Corey stated.
"Don't tell me. You've disturbed her spirit with the construction." Fred crossed his arms looking amused.
"And now she's haunting the town." Daphne finished where he left off.
The mayor appeared very confused with how the two young adults had known what he was about to say.
"How did you know?" Mayor Corey asked in surprise.
"Ghost hunting is our specialty." Velma stated proudly.
"It also seemed pretty obvious." Davey shrugged.
"Oh, I see." The mayor muttered.
"Did you say puritan village?" Ben asked making the mayor smile at him.
To be continued…