Author's note: Apologies for the long wait. I have been busy with real life and other stories. I will try and update this story more often.
Special thanks to everyone who has left a review so far.
Also, reviewer Guest 73, thank you for your story suggestions and don't worry all of my Scooby Doo stories will have some Fredaphne moments.
Please enjoy the latest chapter
Chapter 8
The Sorceress
Back at the fair, people were frantically discussing the witch attack and whether or not it was real. The gang however was trying to think of a way to save Fred and turn Daphne back to normal. Velma paced as she thought. Shaggy and Scooby were still trying and failing, to eat food before it disintegrated.
"Like, you got anything Scoob?" he asked.
"Rope," his buddy responded.
"Why, did she have to curse us?" Shaggy whined, and Velma shot them a glare.
"Oh right, rhat's rhy." Scooby looked down in shame as he recalled the brutal teasing of their friend.
"I still can't believe it. Daphne is a real witch!" Velma gawked, still in shock at her near-death experience.
"But, like, how did she even become a witch?" Shaggy asked.
Tim the question and as he did, the Messicks arrived.
"Are you all alright?" Mandy asked.
"Not really," Velma admitted.
"What happened?" Casey inquired.
"I don't know how, but Daphne turned into a witch and kidnapped Fred," Shaggy panicked.
"Purr-itch?" Pete whispered in fear.
"Reah," Scooby uneasily confirmed, which made the cat gulp.
"Do you think it could have been the three witches?" Casey asked.
"Three?! Like, you mean there are more?!" Shaggy shivered.
"Well, maybe," Tim agreed, sharing a look with Velma. Neither he nor Velma were ones to use the supernatural as a logical explanation but after what they had seen with Daphne, there was no other choice but to believe in monsters.
Velma then remembered what he told her yesterday. "Tim, if the witches are real. Do you think maybe the Sorceress might be, too?"
"Well maybe, but how do we find her?"
"I think I may know," someone interrupted. The gang turned to see Holly Helena walking up to them. "Good evening."
"Rou know rhere re can rind rhe Sorceress?" Scooby asked.
"Actually," Holly trailed as a wave of shimmering glitter transformed her modern dress into a Victorian style. "I am the Sorceress."
"But that's impossible, you have to be over a thousand years old?" Velma defied.
"I'm not the same sorceress that turned the witches to stones, that was my very great-grandmother," she explained.
"Ms. Helena, can you help us, please," Mindy begged.
"I'll try, but I can't promise that your friend will go back to normal."
"Thank you, Holly," Tim graciously nodded.
"You're welcome. Now we'll have to hurry, come with me."
The gang followed her back to her house. Once there, Holly began to look through a bookshelf. The others sat down in the eclectically decorated room which had a family portrait hanging across old wooden chairs in the off-white room. Unbeknownst to them, Elvina, in her human disguise, was outside. She caught sight of them entering the house and cast a spell so she could hear the conversation from outside.
"So, Holly, did your family ever tell you the real story of the three witches?" Mindy asked.
"My mother did. Before my very Great-Grandmother came to the town, the witches would terrify the people and commit acts of wickedness. However, the youngest of the witches was said to be different from the others. She seemed less wicked than her sisters, my mum even told me that when my grandma gave them one last chance to come quietly, the youngest almost agreed until the head witch stopped her. Even when the other two tried to kill my grandmother, the youngest one seemed hesitant."
"So, like, one of the witches might be good?" Shaggy beamed.
"Maybe," Holly shrugged. She found a blue book on the second shelf near the top of the bookcase and made her way to the rest of the group. Holly placed the book on a wooden table and opened it to a page that had an illustration of a tall sorceress casting a spell on a vampire, turning him to stone. On the page next to it was the written spell.
"Rhat's rhat?" Scooby asked.
"It's the spell used to end the witches' terror," Holly explained.
"So, you'll turn the three witches back to stone?" Velma asked.
"I will, however, I might have to do the same to your friend," Holly regretfully informed them.
"What?!" everyone said in unison.
"Holly, you can't be serious," Tim interjected.
"I'm afraid I am," Holly said in a sorrowful tone. "The only one who can reverse a witch transformation is a witch and even then, your friend would have to agree to turn back."
"Purut purhy purouldn't purhe puree puro pururn purack?" (But why wound she agree to turn back?) Pete asked.
"Usually, people who agree to become witches never want to turn back," Holly said.
"But why would Daphne agree to become one in the first place?" Mandy asked.
The Gang looked down in shame.
"Is something the matter?" the sorceress prodded.
"We're the reason Daphne became a witch," Velma admitted in a guilty tone.
"What do you mean?" Casey asked.
"We teased her about her being danger-prone," Shaggy informed them.
"And I told Tim thinking it wouldn't bother her," Velma tearily said, feeling that she was the guiltiest.
"Velma, it's not your fault," Tim tried to comfort her.
"But it is. I'm the one who pushed her too far. And not only have we lost her, but we lost Fred as well."
"Who is this Fred?" Holly asked.
"Daphne's boyfriend," Shaggy said.
"And the only one who knows when to stop when we teased her," Velma added.
"Rut Daphne ridnapped him."
"Like, who knows what she'll do to him?" Shaggy said.
"I don't think it's Daphne you have to worry about. From what I remember, the head witch, Victoria, is the most dangerous to have ever lived."
"Like, how dangerous are we talking?"
"She could burn an entire village to the ground, killing everyone and have no guilt." Holly said.
"Well then, there's no time to lose," Casey rallied.
"You're right, we must get going," Holly agreed as she picked up the book.
As they left, Velma stopped in her tracks, so Tim put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry we'll get her back. I promise."
Velma looked at him with a hopeful smile.
Outside, Elvina made her way to warn her fellow witches.
