Part 11

Velma raced up the stairs the only concern in her mind being Daphne. She knew she shouldn't have left her alone, she knew something would happen if she did. Was this her punishment for being a horrible friend and abandoning her when she should have been right by her side? That she was going to find her dead next her other friend who she already tore apart before he died? Velma started to cry softly but her brain wouldn't let her full on cry because she was in full fledge rescue mode. She had to get to Daphne before it was too late.

Velma raced past the open area off the landing, dodging the furniture in her way. She raced down the mini hallway with the multitude of doors until she got to the two double doors and slammed through them with force. Velma gasped when she saw Daphne sitting on the ground leaning against Fred with her hand clutching her side. Velma ran and fell onto the ground next to her dying friend and grabbed Daphne's free hand with her own.

"Oh my god Daphne! I'm so glad you're alive!" Velma sobbed and put her hand onto Daphne's shoulder.

"Velma," Daphne winced and squeezed Velma's hand tight.

"Daphne, I'm so sorry I left, I shouldn't have done that, I should have stayed with you…it's all my fault…"

"It's not your fault Velma, I should be the one apologizing," Daphne gave her a smile and Velma couldn't help but smile back. Daphne looked down at Fred's left hand and picked it up pushing it towards Velma. "Take his hand, you need to see something."

Velma looked at her strangely but took Fred's hand and as soon as she felt his palm beneath hers she could tell right away that something was different. She turned his hand over and gasped when she saw what it was. There was a number 2 carved in his palm, the blood now somewhat dried and stopped. Velma was confused.

"Look at the other one too," Daphne said seeing the look on Velma's face.

Velma reached over Fred's body and turned over his right hand. On this one there was a slanted slash mark and a number 4 carved into his palm, blood dried and stopped. 2/4? Maybe 2 out of 4? Velma thought carefully then she remembered the mark she found on Shaggy's arm just after he was killed. It was a 1 out 4, and now Fred has been marked with a 2 out of 4 on his hands, and then there was the picture with Shaggy crossed out back in his house. The killer wasn't only killing them off one at a time, he had a specific order he was going in. Velma has stopped him right in his tracks though because she found Daphne in time before she died and now according to the killer Velma was the only one left alive like he said…that could play out to be a huge advantage on their part.

"Velma, look at the walls too," Daphne winced trying to get her attention. It worked, Velma looked up from Daphne and at the walls behind them.

Her eyes widened when she saw and a gasp escaped her lips. Velma carefully studied the pictures that almost covered the walls behind two huge reclining chairs. She was shocked…and scared. It was pictures of her, pictures of the whole gang even playing out their everyday lives out and about and even in their own homes. Velma was sickened, to think that this guy was inside their homes watching them and taking pictures of everything they do disgusted her. The whole situation keeps getting more and more creepy as they go along. It all feels like one horrible nightmare after another, each one set on overdrive. Velma only for the time when everything returns back to normal…well, as normal as it can be.

Velma stood herself up and stepped over Fred in the direction of the pictures. As she put her back foot down, she felt her red Mary Jane shoe touch something that was not the carpet. She turned around and bent down to the floor to pick the object up. It was a picture, a pretty recent picture with two men, one very young probably very early 20s and another who looked older probably late 40s early 50s. What a random picture to have amongst all the Mystery Inc. photos and it seems as though Fred was looking at it before he was killed because she found it by his right hand like he dropped it. Why this picture though? It was just of two random men…but no, it obviously was much more than that otherwise Fred wouldn't have grabbed it. Fred doesn't just take long looks at something for the heck of it, there must be something to the picture she was missing. Velma studied the picture more carefully, looking at the faces closely seeing if she could link a memory to the faces. She came to the conclusion that the younger man was in fact their murderer, though she still couldn't put a finger on who the older man was. Maybe he could be a dad? An uncle? The two definitely resembled each other making it to where there was no way they were not related.

"Now where have I seen him before?" Velma asked herself. "Did we meet him in a mystery? Did we bust him in a mystery?" Then it hit her, yes, they did bust him in a mystery in the past, in their very first mystery in fact…the Black Knight…Mr. Wickles, the museum curator from a couple years back! That was him no doubt about it but why would there be a picture of the killer with the Black Knight unless…

"Can you believe all these pictures Velma?" Velma's thoughts were halted by Daphne's voice. She looked over and saw Daphne standing by the chairs still holding on to her side. Velma didn't even notice her get up and walk straight past her, she was too lost in her own thought. Velma quickly rushed to Daphne's side, worried about her physical well-being.

"Daphne, are you alright?" Velma asked putting her hand on Daphne's shoulder.

"No, not really, but I think I can stand up and move around a bit just fine," Daphne gave her a reassuring smile and Velma smiled back happy to see that Daphne wasn't shooing her away like she thought. She knew better than to think that Daphne would hate her so quickly and here was the proof.

"Hey Daph, you remember the Black Knight mystery at the museum right?"

"Um…yeah, the first one. Why do you ask?" Daphne questioned. Now was not really the time to be asking about pervious mysteries.

"Do you happen to know if he had a son?"

"Ummm…you know now that you say something I think I do remember someone claiming to be his son when the cops came. I think he said his name was Damien or something like that if I remember correctly. What does this have to do with anything Velma?" Daphne was genuinely confused. Such random questions to ask at a time like this. First about their very first mystery and then about if the villain had a son…it all makes no sense.

"With this, it most certainly has something to do with our situation. Look at this picture," Velma handed her the photo and Daphne took it examining the picture very closely.

"But this is just a picture of the killer with some old guy and…wait a minute…" Daphne suddenly noticed why Velma asked what she thought were random questions when they were in fact not random at all. "Is the man next to the killer the museum curator, um, oh gosh what was his name, Mr. Wickles! Is that him, the original Black Knight?"

"That is what I am thinking," Velma gave a sly smile. "Which means, if you are correct, the killer is his son, Damien Wickles."

"Yes, that makes sense," Daphne's eyes were still fixed on the picture. "They look so much alike that there is no way that they are not father and son."

"Exactly, that's got to be who he is," Velma felt a sense of success course through her. Finally they figured out who the killer was! Of course, who else would hold a grudge against them if not the son of one of their most famous villains. All the pieces were finally starting to come together in Velma's mental clue book, motives and reasons, everything was fitting perfectly to the puzzle. Damien must want revenge on Mystery Inc. for putting his dad in jail, but why he is going as far as killing them is a complete mystery still. Maybe he really was just mentally insane or maybe he actually hated them that much to go as far as killing them, but who really knows why. There was only one way to find out, this was it, time to stop playing games and end this nightmare.

"We need to set a trap," the words felt weird coming out of Velma's mouth. Only Fred ever said that particular sentence…

"Are you crazy Velma?!" Daphne protested. "Shouldn't we call the cops now that we are safe for the moment and we know who he is?"

"No, he would figure out if we called them. He has trackers on our phones and if we called then that might get us into more trouble. We have to catch him ourselves," Velma pointed out, completely serious about her decision.

"Catch him ourselves?" Daphne did not like the idea one bit. It just reeked of trouble and of the wrong thing to do.

"Yes Daphne, we could set a trap and catch him and then we could call the police when we have him safely restrained. It's the best idea that I can think to do."

"I…I guess you're right, if he has trackers on our phones then he probably would get alarmed if we called someone," Daphne gave into Velma's logic.

Velma gave her a friendly smile, "Good, I'm glad you agree with me."

"So what did you have in mind we do then for this trap?"

"Well what I could come up with is that since he thinks that I am the last one left alive, I will be bait and lure him into the living room where you can see the second floor. You will be upstairs on the balcony waiting to drop a blanket on him once he passes by. Once he caught under the blanket I will hold him down and you will run into the room where I found you and grab the rope you were bound with then we will tie him up. After he is restrained we will call the police and we can finally be done with this horrendous nightmare," Velma explained as best she could, though she knows that she is no Fred when it comes to making traps or making them seem like good ones. She had to make a trap only once before when Fred got kidnapped by a vampire they were up against. Shaggy and Scooby were off chasing a bat they thought was Fred which left her and Daphne to catch the vampire. Let's just say one thing lead to another and if Fred hadn't jumped out of the roof in time Daphne would have been taken by the vampire. Velma was not too confident her trap knowledge but she also knows that now is not the time to be second guessing herself. This was the only plan they had and they had no option but for it to work.

"Alright…are you sure you want to do this Velma?" Daphne asked not too sure about the plan.

"Even if I'm not, it's the only thing we got so it has to work," Velma sounded dazed."

"Okay, you're right, let's do this."
"Alright, then let's not waste any more time and get ready," Velma said making her way out of the room.

Velma and Daphne stood on the second floor balcony overlooking the living room. Daphne had a blanket in her hands ready to get into position and Velma went over the plan once more with her before she turned around to head down the stairs.

"Velma wait!" Daphne called out. Velma turned around to look at her and Daphne sprang forward, dropping the blanket and pulled Velma into a hug. Velma was caught off guard but quickly accepted the hug and the two girls held onto each other tightly.

"Please be careful, I don't want to lose you too," Daphne said into Velma's hair.

"I promise, you will not lose me," Velma said meaning those words. She couldn't die now, she couldn't leave Daphne all alone. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I will ever be," Daphne took in a breath and moved into position. Velma made her way downstairs ready to face the killer for the last time.