Part 8

Velma scouted the downstairs area very carefully checking every nook and cranny for any signs of something unusual or a booby trap of some sort. Walking around in a dark unfamiliar house with a psychopath hiding god knows where inside of it did not exactly make her feel very comfortable or very safe for that matter. Velma hesitantly called out Daphne's name when she would turn a corner but her voice never rose too loud, for at the same time she really did not want to get detected. She walked through a large room, looked like an open living room, and saw stacks upon stacks of papers on a little coffee table in front of a leather couch. The killer has obviously been hard at work on something…but what was it?

Velma continued through the large open room but suddenly stopped when her eyes spotted a little hallway to her right. She gazed down the little nook seeing four different doors that were all in a sort of semi-circular type pattern. Velma moved her brown eyes back and forth between the doors, in her mind trying to decide which door to open first. She slowly stepped into the middle of the hall her eyes still never staying in one spot for too long.

"Which one should I try first?" Velma thought aloud.

All of the sudden Velma's thoughts were halted as her ears picked up a loud bang noise come from a distance. The noise seemed to come from in front of her and her whole body went stiff and chills raced down her spine. Her heart began to beat at a deathly pace as the bangs continued to sound behind one of the doors in front of her. Velma moved her feet slowly to the doors in the back and put her ear up against the one on the left. She listened, but the sound did not seem to be very prominent behind this door so she moved to the one on her right. She listened and decided that the noise seemed to be coming from behind this door. She swallowed hard and placed her hand on the doorknob slowly turning the handle and stepped inside. The room was very plain, nothing really to it at all; there wasn't much furniture just a small bed against the back wall where Velma had entered, a small desk on the left of the door with things stacked upon it, and a small couch against the front wall.

"Hello?" Velma called out shutting the door behind her.

There was a sudden stop in the noise, but it quickly started up again and this time there was a muffled voice added to it. Velma stiffened up again now wishing that she had never said anything.

"Who's there?" Velma asked and as soon as she asked the question the banging stopped again and the voice stopped as well.

Velma was about to say something but the noise came back and so did the voice. She listened more carefully to it now hearing something familiar in it as she listened. It sounded familiar and it sounded panicked like it was crying out for help from anyone you could give it to them. She turned her gaze and saw the closet door on the right moving ever so slightly. She quickly stepped around the little twin bed that was sticking out in the room and found herself standing in front of the door. She watched as the door shook in front of her and she placed her hand on the doorknob ready to turn it. As soon as she heard the door click the banging stopped and so did the cry of the voice. Velma jerked her hand off the knob, startled by the sudden silence but quickly placed her hand back on it and opened the door. When she saw what the door was hiding behind it she gasped, but not out of fear, but out of shock and joy. It was Daphne.

"Daphne!" Velma yelled out with excitement, hugging her distraught best friend ever so tightly. Tears raced from her eyes, she has never felt so much more relieved in her life.

"I thought you were dead…" Velma said into Daphne's long red hair. She pulled herself away from her friend to get a better look at her. She looked absolutely horrible and terrified from whatever had happened to her while she was away from them. Her hands were tied tightly together and her mouth was covered with her bright green scarf. Her usually flawless face was now bright red and showed evidence of tear-staining on her cheeks that was most likely from crying an excessive amount. She looked as though she had been through the worst minutes of her life and Velma figured that was not too far from the truth. There is no telling what he could have done to her and if he did do anything it would not be classified as good.

Daphne looked up at her friend, her bright blue eyes wallow up with tears and Velma could the very apparent agony that she showed on her face. Daphne was ecstatic to see Velma standing before her and not the killer, in fact, she would rather see anyone right now other than him. The way that he treated her and the fear he sent rushing through her whole body etched into her mind and she can't escape it. She has been kidnapped many times in the past and it starts to not affect her that much but this time it was different. Never before has she felt more afraid for her life than this time nor has she feared a bad guy more than she does him. Daphne cannot express how happy she is to see her best friend.

Velma let go of Daphne and gently removed the scarf from her mouth so she could speak. She held the scarf in her hand and looked desperately at Daphne wanting her to say something, anything. Daphne parted her lips as if to speak but quickly shut her mouth again. Velma watched as Daphne put her head down, trying to position herself to where she wouldn't have to look into Velma's worried eyes. She felt herself about to start crying.

"Daphne?" Velma tilted Daphne's chin up so that she could look at her. "Daphne, say something…please."

"Velma…" she softly spoke as if it hurt her to speak. "Velma…you don't know how happy I am to see you here."

"You don't know how happy I am to see you too Daph…Are you alright? You don't look to well off," Velma studied her closely.

"No, I'm not really okay at all…" Daphne was beginning to tear up.

"Don't worry Daph, I'll help you. Now listen, we should probably get you out of here, the killer will be any minute and - ."

"No! He can't come back! I have to escape!" Daphne screamed hysterically. She bolted towards the door that Velma had entered through and began banging on it like she did the closet door, her hands still tied together. All she heard was that he was coming back and there was no way she wanted to be there when he did come back.

"Daphne stop!" Velma wrapped her arms around Daphne's waist trying to pull her back.

"No! I have to get out of here Velma! I can't handle another minute with him!" Daphne yelled still slamming the door with her hands.

Velma continued to tug at her trying to get her to stop, yelling at her to calm, down for she knew that Daphne was getting to hurt herself if she continued with the hysterics like she is. Daphne finally began to calm down and Velma tightened her grip around Daphne's waist. She finally fully stopped and Velma released her, turning her around so that she was now against the door. Daphne looked up and stared straight into Velma's eyes.

"Velma…," Daphne was breathing very heavily.

"Daphne, what was that all about?" Velma asked in shock at what just happened.

"I just…I just…," Daphne couldn't get the words to form on her tongue.

"Why are going crazy over him? What did he do to you?" Velma asked genuinely worried and confused.

Daphne slid her body down the door, staring blankly ahead of her. That was the one question that she did not want Velma to ask her. The memories so deeply poison her mind and she never wants to think of them ever again. He was so violent towards her and she could still feel his grip on her as if he was holding her right there. Just thinking about makes her heart race and the events began to play out in her mind no matter how hard she tries to shoo them away. She members him holding tightly onto her forearm, dragging her through the house yelling at her and squeezing her even tighter when she would try to get away from his grip. He had slammed open the door to the room her and Velma were now in and basically threw her onto the couch, the memory made her skin jump. She saw her chance to escape then and her mind began to think as she watched him walk towards her. He was saying how useless her trying to escape would be and as soon as he was close enough, she swung her bound hands right into his shoulder making him grab hold of it wincing in pain. Daphne quickly leaped to her feet, the escape exit clear in her sight, but before she could make it very far she felt those strong hands on her forearms and she gasped. He roughly turned her around and pinned her against the wall and she yelped out in pain when she hit. He just smiled at her and laughed a sinister laugh that tugged at her very core. He told her how it was so cute that she tried to escape him and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get away from him. He pulled her off the wall and turned her around so that she was facing away from him, still holding onto her tightly. He leaned his head down and chuckled evilly in her ear sending her nerves into overdrive.

"Fred isn't here to save you this time Daphne," he had told her. "By the time he gets here he won't be able to save you ether so my advice is to not waste all your energy trying to fight me when you know you have no chance, and besides, if you even try to escape again I won't hesitate to go ahead and kill you."

Daphne's eyes widened at the statement and that's the last she thing she can really remember. Now she just sits against the door with Velma looking so very worried about her. She brings her head down to her knees and tears slowly fall from her eyes. Velma gets down onto her knees and gently places a hand on Daphne's shoulder hoping that she will put her head back up and Velma can look into her face.

"Daphne," Velma spoke and Daphne lifted her head up just like Velma wanted, "Daphne what did he do to you? Please, you can tell me."

"I…I really don't want to talk about it right now," Daphne chocked the words out.

"Did he hurt you that bad?" Velma could see the pain in Daphne's face but couldn't see any signs of bruising or scratching because of her long purple sleeves and pink tights. Whatever he did, she could tell that it affected Daphne pretty bad.

"Yes…I've…I've never been so scared in my life," Daphne couldn't hold it back any longer, the tears poured out of her eyes. "I just want to leave, I don't want to be here anywhere near him anymore."

Velma moved to scoot around to the side of Daphne and put her arm around her friend's shoulders. Seeing her like this just about made Velma scolding mad. Daphne is her best friend and seeing like she is now all broken down and in pain makes her blood boil. Through the midst of all her anger though, more than anything she is ecstatic to see her alive. She honestly expected the worst that the killer would not have not been truthful to his word and went ahead and killed her anyway. Velma was happy to have her alive next to her now but the fact that she was so deeply damaged did not make the situation any better. Velma sighed and thought to herself for a moment on what they need to do next. It didn't take her long to decide however, she knew exactly what they needed to do, they needed to find Fred and get out of this house. This is one mystery they cannot solve themselves, it has gotten way too dangerous for them to take care of and it needs to put into the hands of the police. They need to get somewhere safe where they will not be in a constant worry for their lives. Velma did not know exactly how Fred was going to handle her quick made decision but she really didn't care. She knew in her heart this was the right thing to do and as soon as he got one look at Daphne he wouldn't hesitate to agree with her.

"Okay that's it, we are finding Fred and we are getting out of here to somewhere that is safer than here," Velma started. "This mystery is getting way too dangerous for us to handle."

"Yes…yes let's find Fred and get out of here. I would really like to see him," Daphne agreed.

"I think that would be the best thing for you right now," Velma smiled a small smile. "Come on Daph, let's go…oh but first…" Velma reached for Daphne's hands and untied the knots binding them together. Daphne rubbed her wrists where she felt that the ropes were almost cutting off her circulation. Velma then wrapped the green scarf that was in her hand around Daphne's neck tying it giving her back her signature look.

"Perfect," Velma smiled and motioned for Daphne to follow her. The two girls left the room and headed towards the front of the house to go upstairs.