Chapter 5 No One to Blame

Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby were huddled up in their clubhouse. It was an old building in Shaggy's backyard that used to be a small barn, but recently they had taken over, making it their headquarters. It was about ten o'clock at night and the gang was discussing the case. All of them seemed to suspect that Stephen Marks was the one responsible for everything, though in the back of Fred's mind something was bothering him about jumping to that conclusion.

Daphne was spread out on a couch, holding an ice pack to her head. Fred was sitting beside her, allowing her feet to rest on his lap. Velma was hunched over a computer nearby, typing up some sort of list while Shaggy and Scooby were quickly devouring every ounce of food that they could find.

"So, like, what's the plan, Fred?" Shaggy asked.

"We'll go back to the house tomorrow while Parker is out," he replied. "Then, we'll set a trap for Stephen and, if all goes well, we can be out of there by dinnertime."

An hour later, the trap was though out and planned, leaving the whole team anxious for the next day to come. They wanted this mystery to be over as soon as possible.

Shaggy yawned. "Guys, I think it's time to hit the sack." He looked around to see that Scooby was already curled up and asleep. Velma had passed out on her laptop's keyboard while Fred and Daphne were sleeping on the couch. Shaggy sighed. "Great, so now I'm the only one awake. Everyone knows that, in horror movies, the last person to fall asleep is always the one that hears the creepy noises and ends up dying first," he said to himself bitterly.

That night, however, Shaggy remained unharmed and he awoke the next morning to the sound of his friends getting ready for the day when they would capture the ghost of Marks' mansion.

When they arrived at the house, it seemed evident that their plan would have to change, for they saw Stephen Marks creeping around the grounds once again, but this time, there was someone else present as well: the phantom. It reached out from the shadows and snatched Stephen. Fred sprinted after the ghost but couldn't find where it went.

"There goes our number one suspect," he muttered to the rest of the gang.

"What are you kids doing back here?" a voice shouted to them. They turned to see that Jeff Parker, their new main suspect, was walking toward them. "I thought I told you to get away."

Before anyone could respond, the doors and windows slammed shut, just as they had before when the police were investigating. Parker ran toward the front door and tried to open it, though this effort was in vain.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

Fred, who really didn't like the man, secretly enjoyed his failure. He then walked up proudly, taking out the key, and unlocked the door.

"I guess you kids can come inside for a moment," the caretaker grumbled. When they were all safely inside, sitting on the couch, Parker said to them, "A lot of weird stuff has been happening since Marks died. I've seen this creepy ghost lurking around the house and I don't know what it's up to. I guess I could use your help in finding it."

Fred smiled smugly. "Well, I guess as long as we're here we might as well help you out."

"I found some sort of clue the other day," Parker continued, ignoring Fred completely. "Let me just run upstairs and grab it."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Daphne elbowed Fred in the gut. "What was that about? You don't need to be so mean to him."

"Hey!" Fred shouted. "It's not my fault. I just don't trust the guy. There's something off about him."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "If he's the ghost they why would he be trying to help us?"

"Well, I, err, I don't know," Fred admitted. "But I still don't trust him."

A scream interrupted their discussion. It was coming from upstairs and it sounded like it had been Parker. The gang ran to the stairs to see that the ghost was waiting at the top for them. It looked as though it had streaks of blood across the mask that hid it's face.

"I warned you all," it said. "Now you have to suffer the same fate as Marks, Stephen and Parker."

The ghost lunged forward, looking as though it were going to grab them. Scooby lept into Shaggy's arms as he sped out the door with Velma close on their heels. Daphne and Fred were right behind them, Fred pulling Daphne along and tyring to get her to run faster. They tried to open the door but it had been locked. Fred fumbled around in his pocket, searching for the key, but he couldn't find it fast enough and the ghost was now right in front of them.

"Run!" Fred commanded. He and Daphne went left while Shaggy, Scooby and Velma ran in the opposite direction.

Daphne and Fred found themselves in an office and quickly hid in the closet that was located next to the desk. Shaggy and Scooby, of course, managed to make their way to the kitchen and they hid with Velma inside the pantry, praying that the phantom wouldn't search there.

Daphne was panting. Normally this small amount of physical activity wouldn't bother her, but now she had this terrible headache to go along with it, making even the simplest tasks seem difficult. She noticed how close she was to Fred. They were crouched in a corner. Fred had also noticed their proximity to each other and he thought his heart might beat right out of his chest.

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Velma found themselves in a very similar position. The rush of adrenaline combined with their closeness to their crush caused each to believe that their heartbeat was so loud that it would lead the ghost right to them. Oddly enough, the spook opened to pantry door to find the three cowering figures. Scooby was the first to regain his ability to move, and he bolted out of there so fast that he actually knocked over the ghost, allowing Velma and Shaggy to have enough tiem to escape safely. The doors were still locked and Fred had the only key, so they were trapped until Fred and Daphne showed up.

Luckily, this happened sooner than they thought, for Fred and Daphne had overheard the commotion and had come out of hiding to see what was happening. They saw their friends waiting anxiously by the door and Fred wasted no time in pulling out the key and allowing them all to escape.

As soon as they were in the Mystery Machine, Shaggy began complaining. "Can't we ever stumble onto an easy mystery?" he whined. "I mean, why do all these creeps have to, like, chase us? Couldn't they just let us get away?"

"At least nothing happened to Daphne this time," Fred said, causing everyone except the red-head to laugh. He had said this in a joking manner although he had been totally serious. In his opinion, these last few days had been way to action-packed and murderous for them, and he was really beginning to worry what the ghost would do if it did end up catching her. He shivered at the thought, remembering the bloody smears across the spook's face after it had captured Parker. No, he thought, I'll never let that happen to her.

Even as he told this to himself, Fred couldn't help but wonder what if...?

For the rest of the ride he was silent, desperately hoping that this case would be over soon. He loved mysteries, but he didn't like to risk putting everyone - especially Daphne - in the middle of this much danger. The worst part was that they didn't even know who was behind this anymore. Both of their suspects had been captured and killed.

So who was to blame for all of this?