Author's note: This is slightly like 'Saw' in a way haha, but not nearly as gruesome or horrific. Who Fred loves won't be revealed as of yet, but maybe there's a couple of hints, maybe not… ;)
Please review ;D
Saturday morning the gang set out again to search for more clues and to speak to the Mayor. Fred looked at Daphne, then at Malory; he had known Daphne since he was fifteen and she was Fred's closest friend; but Malory he had known for only a year, yet they were still close friends. 'I don't wanna hurt her.' He thought; Velma would be furious if he hurt either of them, but maybe less if he hurt this one, they're not as close- but still, hurting either was not in his best intentions.
"Like Fred?" Shaggy waved his hand in front of the vacant Fred, he looked up,
"Ha-ha dude you were daydreaming; so like, where are we going?"
"Uh, Daphne and I will visit the Mayor; you guys can search for clues." Daphne's face lit up as he said her name, 'Finally.' She thought.
"Uh Freddie listen, I'm so sorry about last night, you're right, it's none of my business." Daphne repented as the duo headed for the mayor's house,
"No, I'm sorry; you were only curious and I shouldn't have snapped at you." He replied; "But, um about last night… I kinda have something to tell you."
"Uh, sure go ahead Freddie." Daphne prepared herself for the worst;
"This is going to be hard for me to say because we've been close friends for so long, but I- oh my god Daph' you're bleeding!" Blood trickled from the red-heads nose, she put her hand up to it and laughed,
"Ha-ha so I am." She grabbed a tissue from her pocket and held it to her nose,
"Continue Freddie." She smiled,
"Y'know what, I'll tell you later."
"Fred, Daphne!" The mayor greeted, "How can I be of assistance- oh Daphne, here." He handed her another tissue for the nose bleed,
"Smithy, introduce me." A middle-aged man walked into the hall,
"Oh Danny boy, these two are part of the infamous Mystery Inc., they're working to solve the strange occurrences that have been taking place in my town- this handsome young man is Frederick Jones, and this beautiful little red-head is Daphne Blake." He clarified, "And this-" he put his arm around the middle-aged man, "is Daniel Dyer, we worked together in the army and we've been best comrades since, he owns Copper Cove."
Daphne looked at Fred and raised her eyebrows, he nodded his head in response – it was Mr Dyer's house that had transmitted the remote car alarm signals.
"Now what is it that I may help you with?" the mayor smiled,
"Well Mr Smith, we were wondering if we could take some CCTV tapes from the areas of the incidents." Fred replied,
"Well of course! But I should inform you that we have been through every single one without any clues, but I'm sure your trained eye will find something." Mr Smith handed the tapes to Fred. The couple headed back, an awkward silence lingering between them. Mr Dyer slipped beside them,
"Have you guys got any leads as of yet?" He inquired,
"Uh, some." Fred replied. As Daniel and Fred began to discuss the matter Daphne looked to the floor; discreetly taking her cell phone from her pocket, captured a photo of Mr Dyer's shoe, there was a strange purple, powdery substance on his shoe. When he had driven away in his car Daphne showed Fred the recently taken picture,
"I wasn't sure if it would come to any help, but I thought maybe it could be a clue."
"Nice going Daph, that could be helpful." Fred praised. Mystery Inc. grouped in the street where the most sightings had been recorded.
"We hav-" Fred was cut off by another loud screech, then suddenly as if from no-where five completely white men –as if painted- surrounded the gang and Malory; neither were as transparent as a ghost –if that's what they were meant to be- but all equally as creepy. Malory tried to run but two of the men grabbed her; at the same moment three grabbed Daphne and the five men took off with both screaming girls. Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and Fred ran after the men; nearing a cliff edge with a drop to the sea, the four sleuths were sure the men would stop- for they would have no-where to go; abruptly each man threw two powder bombs –they were just like the ones magicians used to 'disappear'. The powder clouded the four sleuth's vision so they couldn't even distinguish left for right, the screaming trailed away leaving silence behind. As the cloud cleared, it left the same purple residue that had been captured on Daphne's cell phone from Mr Dyer's shoes.
"Shit!" Fred kicked a stone in anger; he looked across the floor for something, anything that could possibly lead him to the girls,
"Daphne's cell phone!" Velma held it in the air,
"Daphne you brilliantly smart girl." Fred grinned- he knew she had left it on purpose, "Take a look at her latest snapshot, Mr Dyer has the same purple remains on his shoes."
"Time to search this guy up I think." Velma took out her mini laptop and began to investigate; a moment later the four detectives had found some interesting information.
"So his father was a magician, his mother a mask artist and he worked in the army; I think we've established our culprit." Velma certified,
"Now to capture him."
"What are we gonna do?" Malory whimpered, "What will they do to us, how are we gonna get away, why are you so calm?" she panicked,
"I've been in this situation so many times I've learnt panicking doesn't help, at all." Daphne replied,
"What, you mean you've been kidnapped before?" Malory asked,
"A myriad of times, it's that which earned me the nickname 'danger prone Daphne', the creeps we face always seem to prefer taking the more useless member."
"The prettiest." Malory corrected,
"I'm sorry?"
"I said the prettiest, I know there's only two girls in the gang but you are so beautiful." She smiled,
"Ha, thanks. I'll decipher a way to get us out; the one bonus of being kidnapped so many times is that it makes you more observant when looking for ways to escape."
"Uh, at the risk of making this situation more awkward, do you hate me?" Daphne looked away, unable to face the blonde girl before her,
"Uh, I, um-"
"That's a yes then."
"No I, it's just." Daphne sighed, "Fr- never mind, no I don't."
"No please, I want to know."
"Look, you're a lovely girl, but I do have a slight problem with you, I'd rather not discuss why of you don't mind."
"Uh, okay." She paused, "Ha-ha, I knew it would make this uncomfortable but I was just wondering."
"I'm sorry." Daphne apologised. The door of the van where two girls had been trapped in, flew open; the five men collected the blonde and red-head, taking them into a basement of Copper Cove's 'forsaken house on the hill'.
"They clearly haven't kidnapped before." Daphne smirked – the five men had locked them into a basement full of tools.
"Why?"
"Because Malory, they've left us in a room full of tools." She smiled, rubbing the rope that tied her hands on a saw,
"See." She laughed as the rope snapped, "Now for my legs."
"Then me!"
"Ha-ha, Malory you really think I'm gonna leave you here, I'm not heartless." Daphne cut the ropes from Malory. Without prior notice a large masked figure entered the basement,
"So, you've freed yourself then." His deep voice echoed in the besmirched basement
"Yea, thanks a lot for leaving us the tools." She smirked,
"Why are you being friendly with him?" Malory whispered,
"Because when they're friendly to you, being friendly back is your best option for getting treated well. If you curse and hiss at them, they'll only make you regret it." The red-head whispered back wisely,
"So Daphne, and who are you?"
"Malory."
"So Daphne and Malory, you're blond haired boyfriend is worried about you; I know you both wonder which of you he favours most so to help you girls find out I have invited Freddie, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby to this house; they will have to complete a few challenges to free you and to survive; I know it really has no relevance, but this mystery was boring me, I need more action; plus if you don't make it, you won't be able to stop my plan. Muhahahahahaaa" He began to cackle, "But if you do make it, then I will have to raise the stakes… Speak of the devil, your menacing friends have just arrived, please feel free to leave the basement, but just know the game begins here." He cackled and dropped a purple powder bomb, vanishing into the blur of dust.
"Oh my god, we're dead." Malory began to cry,
"No, not yet." Daphne said, determined to complete the villains disconcerting 'game'.
"This way guys." Fred lead Velma, Shaggy and Scooby warily into the house,
"Freddie!" Malory collapsed into his arms, Daphne waited behind and discreetly watched Malory and Freddie,
"Oh god it was so scary!" she cried; abruptly kissing him on the lips. Daphne turned away and ran for cover behind a large barrel. Malory pulled away before Fred could comprehend what had just happened,
"S-so where's Daphne?" He stammered; Malory grinned,
"She's just-" Malory paused, noticing the red-head wasn't in sight, "Here… Well she was."
"Daphne?" Velma called into the basement, "Nope."
"We have to search for her." Fred demanded, "C'mon!"
"Wait, this house has traps all over; the villain said we will have to solve some things to get free and to survive!" Malory elucidated.
A heartbroken Daphne silently sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn't want to go out, the love of her life loved someone else, and she didn't want to be near either of them, 'I'm gonna do this myself.'
"Hello mystery Inc." a deep voice laughed through the intercom speaker, "I'm sure you're used to being challenged, but are you used to solving to survive? A number of puzzles are scattered across the house, you will not be freed until you complete every task, when a task is completed you will be informed through this speaker, it will ring three times; but be warned, for every puzzle you fail at, one of you will die. Muahahahahahaha!"
"Daphne, I see you are attempting this yourself; I won't be so hard on you. For your first challenge you will have to answer some questions, easy peasy. However, if you fail at this challenge, the roof above you will crush you, so I hope you know the answers, I'd hate to see you get blood in that fine-looking hair of yours. The questions are about your so called love of your life- you say you love him but how much do you know? Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Question number one; what is Fred's favourite colour?"
"He likes both blue and orange; he says blue's more of a boys colour and that's why he likes it, but it's really because it's a soft colour, he likes orange because that's the colour of the ascot his father gave him when he was younger."
"Correct. Question two; how many pets has Fred had in his twenty three years of life and what were they?"
"Fourteen: twelve goldfish from the age of five until eleven and two cats - pinky and perky - from the age of eight until he moved out of his parents house."
"Correct. Question three: When Fred is upset what does he do?"
"Correct. Question Five: When is Fred's birthday?"
"Twenty fifth of May."
"Right. What's his most treasured possesion?"
"A customised, blue and orange football from his mother, with an inscription reading: 'To my darling son Frederick, I will always be proud of you, and if you ever feel as if no-one believes in you there will always be one person who does.; your mother. I love you forever and always my son.'"
"You even remembered the inscription, how sweet. Question seven: What's Fred's favourite animal?"
"He's very specific with his favourite animal and only really favours certain types of animals; Great-Danes, Burmese cats, Penguins and Jaguars."
"Right again. Question eight, his Favourite food: He likes healthy food to keep his muscles nice, but his favourite food is ham and pinapple pizza."
"Correct, I told you these questions would be easy. I'm getting bored of this so I'll cut it short, and as you can tell I like tension, muhaha. The door is now opening but don't even consider running out because the roof will fall faster than you think. Last question: who does Fred love?"
"No please, any other question but that, I don't know, I really don't know!"
"Well, well, well Daphne; I think I may let you off this time… not. Ha-ha, the tension is certainly thick; hurry with your answer, time is ticking…"
"Malory?" she shouted, for once hoping it was.
Three rings echoed through the house as Fred, Malory, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby solved another puzzle.
"Like wow that was so close." Shaggy breathed, "I really thought we were a goner."
"Re too." Scooby agreed,
"Well, Velma's the smartest person we know, with her on our side we will surely escape." Fred smiled, patting the bespectacled brunette on the back.
"Well done, Mystery Inc. you have completed three of the five challenges, I really didn't expect you to complete them so easily. For your group, you only have one challenge left, pretty little miss Blake is already attempting the fifth." The gang gasped, "Looks like your group will be freed, but as for Miss Daphne, her life hangs in the balance."
"You guys go and solve the last puzzle, I'll help Daphne!" Fred instructed,
"But Freddie wait!"
"No Malory there's no time, please help the others I'll be back soon. Where is she?" he asked the voice,
"At the far end of the hall, up the stairs to the right, in the fourth room at the top." Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and Malory left for the room they had not been in yet as Fred ran to Daphne's assistance.
"Hurry up Freddie." The intercom continued, "There's not long left before pulverizing time. Muahahaha"
Preview of the next chapter:
Fred ran into the room where Daphne was pacing the floor,
"Welcome to the crushing room Fred." The voice on the intercom greeted,
"Daphne." Fred smiled, embracing the red-head, "What do you have to do?"
"She has to answer her last question or she will be crushed." The voice explained before Daphne could begin,
"Oh my god, what's the question." Fred asked; Daphne looked at him,
"It's who do you love…" she explicated; Fred swallowed hard, he had to tell her now.
"Daphne, it's-"