Hello,
I'd like to present to you the penultimate chapter of this story. Originally, it was supposed to be a part of the previous one but I figured out it would have been far too long this way (about 13-14 pages in Word).
Forgive me that this time I'm not trying to make more or less brilliant jokes but the last four weeks weren't the best time for me. To not go into details, I will only say that in September, I'll have to take four of my exams for the second time.
In the meantime - enjoy.
VerMa
Dark chocolate. For Shaggy, this was the only term that seemed to accurately describe the color of Velma's eyes which everyone else (including Velma herself), called dark brown. He didn't know himself why Velma's eye color suddenly became one of the most important things in the world for him until he remembered Fred's words from three years ago:
"You know, buddy, I think I've fallen in love. I think about Daphne and her marvelous blue eyes all the time. No, they are not SIMPLY blue... They are as blue as forget-me-nots."
Therefore, per analogiam, it could be assumed that Shaggy had fallen in love with Velma. But, in his situation, did he, a young man of twenty one years, have a right to use the words which his friend had said, being only seventeen? On the other hand, back then, Fred hadn't made a mistake – heck, he and Daphne had been happily engaged for a month now – so maybe there was a chance that Shaggy was right in his own case?
Suddenly he remembered the rhymed riddle of the ghosts of Velma's parents, which he'd been trying to solve for almost a year. He had to listen to his heart carefully because reportedly, it knew the answer he wanted to find. So it was as usual – easier said than done. But hey, wait a second – after all, his heart did begin beating like mad whenever he saw Velma... But were those facts related? He didn't know. The only thing he was sure of was that Velma had some mysterious charm in her, even though she usually wasn't seen as a so-called classical beauty. Simply put, when he and his friends had been solving the case of mysterious accidents of some fashion house's models (Shaggy had long since forgotten the company's name), only Daphne got a permission to be a bait model, since Velma, according to the designer who worked there, was too short, not slim enough, too freckled, and in general she resembled a child too much. Thinking about it, Shaggy came to the conclusion that the guy wasn't totally right. Perhaps Velma could never become a model (and she wasn't the only one) but she attracted him a lot more than any girl with a super thin waist. And it was her with whom he wanted spend the rest of his life. The rest of her life. The rest of THEIR lives...
"Earth to Shaggy!" Fred waved his hand before his friend's eyes.
"What's going on?" Shaggy woke up.
"Velma isn't coming back for a long time" the visibly worried Daphne replied. "This ghost could have gotten her."
"Daphne, it's only a guy in a suit" Shaggy remarked.
"And this comes from the one who always yells the loudest and runs away the fastest" Fred tried to stifle a chuckle.
"The word ghost is shorter than the term a crazy man or woman in a costume of a ghost" the offended Daphne snorted.
"Reddy" Scooby pulled Fred's sleeve "rot rabout Relma?" (Tr.: Freddy, what about Velma?)
"You're right, Scooby, we've gotten carried away from the subject. Let's split up. Daphne and I will check this old mansion, and you, guys, search the park. Just be careful not to fall into the river. As far as I know, it's rather deep."
x
"Scooby" Shaggy spoke, peering into the bushes where, as it turned out, there was nothing "like, tell me honestly: what do you think about Velma?"
"Ree's rool" said the dog. "Ree rays rith ree, ratches ree rehind ry ear rand always ras Rooby-racks ror ree." (Tr.: She's cool. She plays with me, scratches me behind my ear and always has Scooby-snacks for me.)
"Like, you mean you like her?" the boy made sure.
"Res. Ra rot. Ry roo rou rask?" (Tr.: Yes. A lot. Why do you ask?)
"Like, I was wondering... Do you want her to, like, be your mistress?"
"Rot? Rou ron't ront ree ranyrore?" the look on Scooby's face indicated that Shaggy had accidentally hurt his feelings. (Tr.: What? You don't want me anymore?)
"Like, of course I want you, Scooby Doo" he replied, stroking his pet's head. "Like, I meant that, like, I finally solved the riddle of Mr. and Mrs. Dinkley's ghosts. I love Velma and, like, if she feels the same, I want to, like, ask her to marry me. What do you say?"
"Roo rit! Roo rit!" Scooby stood on his back paws and licked Shaggy's cheek, while wagging his tail as fast as he could. (Tr.: Do it! Do it!)
"All right, Scooby, get off of me" Shaggy laughed. "First, we need to find Velma, remember?"
x
Meanwhile, Fred and Daphne, holding hands, were climbing up the dark, creaking stairs in the old house, being careful to not step on some rotten plank because a fall could cost them dearly. When they reached the second floor, they heard a smack as if someone had slapped someone else and the patter of two running feet. Moments later, the breathless Velma bumped into them.
"Run!" she gasped. "He knows... that I know... who he is! If he catches up with us... he'll kill us all!"
The three of them immediately fled. But when they were on the first floor, the villain caught up with them.
"Let's split up and run!" Fred shouted and turned to the left.
Daphne ran straight, while Velma turned to the right. Unfortunately, she found out she'd run onto a small balcony hanging above the river of which Fred had spoken earlier. Even worse, when she turned around, she found herself face to face with the thug in the ghost suit.
"S-stay away..." she whispered, taking a few steps back.
"You know too much, girl" he hissed, getting close to her in one leap, covering her mouth and picking her up with one hand. "I should have eliminated you immediately. Well, now, I'll fix this mistake..."
"Let go of her right away!" Daphne commanded, running onto the balcony along with Fred.
'The ghost' laughed evilly.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" he asked, moving aside to expose Velma, hanging over the river which flew below the cliff on which the building stood.
"Now, Daph!" Fred exclaimed.
They both threw themselves on the 'ghost', trying to stop him from dropping Velma but at some point, he managed to break free for a moment long enough to throw his victim down from a height of several meters.
"Velma!" Daphne shrieked.
A second later, there was a splash. Velma had fallen into the water. And she panicked. Don't misunderstand me – maybe she couldn't start in a swimming competition but certainly would have dealt the situation pretty well if it hadn't been for an unlucky coincidence. She'd gotten thrown into the river, in a place where the water was the deepest and the current was the most rapid. The result was that she'd fallen on her back and quickly sunk, and since she hadn't had time to hold her breath, the water had flooded her lungs. She was sure she wouldn't be able to get out of this but suddenly, someone pulled her up to the surface...
x
Having heard a splash, Shaggy ran up to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Having seen Velma's left hand, sinking down, he didn't hesitate a moment.
"I'll save you, Vel!" he called out, then he jumped into the water, dived, took a strong hold around the girl's waist and swam up to the surface with her. "It's okay, you're safe" he assured her, trying to outshout her coughing and the sound of running water.
"A whirl!" Velma screamed, choking on the water.
"What?" Shaggy asked.
"A whirl!" Velma repeated, pointing toward the water funnel, towards which the current pushed them. "We'll die!"
"Maybe not" Shaggy replied. "We do have one chance. We must let this whirl pull us down."
"Are you crazy?"
"No. We'll push ourselves up from the bottom and swim to the riverbank..." Shaggy looked into Velma's eyes. "Do you trust me?" he made sure.
"Yes."
"Then take a deep breath because we're going to dive."
x
When the alleged ghost threw Velma into the river, Fred howled desperately, jumped on him and knocked him out. Then, he leaned slightly over the railing and looked down. Upon seeing Shaggy jumping into the water, diving and quickly pulling Velma to the surface, he breathed with relief. His joy didn't last long, however. Soon, he noticed the strong current taking his friends towards the whirl which quickly sucked both of them in. After a moment, there was a mournful whimper of Scooby, who had stayed on the riverbank.
"No..." Fred whispered, horrified. "No, it can't be..."
"Freddy" Daphne spoke "I called Shaggy's dad. He and his people should be here in about five minutes. He told me to take this wretch to the Mystery Ma... Freddy?"
"I'll kill him!" Fred burst out, trying to leap on the stunned thug.
"Stop it!" Daphne grabbed his arms. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!"
"No! You don't understand! Velma and Shaggy have just been drawn by a whirl and now, they probably are dying in pain at the bottom of the river!"
Daphne's blue eyes filled up with tears.
"Run downstairs quickly, take Scooby and try to get them out of there somehow" she said quietly. "I'll do what Mr. Rogers told me."
"Are you sure you can do it?"
Daphne nodded.
"Good luck, Freddy" she whispered.
x
"Rook, Red, ri round Relma's rasses" Scooby gave the boy black plastic frames with broken lenses. (Tr.: Look, Fred, I found Velma's glasses.)
Fred sat down on a nearby rock and pressed the glasses to his chest, trying not to start crying like a baby. He and Scooby had been walking along the river for a quarter, trying to find their friends. Unfortunately, so far, Velma's glasses were the only trace they'd gotten. Meanwhile, Daphne handed the thug they'd caught to the police and was just finishing explaining the whole case but Fred couldn't care less.
"Let's face it, Scooby" he said in a cracking voice. "Velma and Shaggy are probably dead by now. And it's my fault."
"Ry?" the dog whimpered, nudging his hand with his nose. (Tr.: Why?)
"I'd been supposed to be responsible for Velma" now, Fred was swallowing his tears. "I'd been supposed to keep her out of the harm's way. Auntie Jane had trusted me. And I failed. This psycho had thrown Velma into the river and Shaggy had jumped after her... and it seems that they both drowned. Auntie Jane and Mr. and Mrs. Rogers will never forgive me..."
"Freddy" Daphne came up to her fiancé and put her hand on his shoulder "darling, I... I've heard what you said. You can't blame yourself for what had happened. After all, we HAD tried to stop the villain... and Shaggy had behaved like a hero..."
"Say whatever you want, my dear, but it will haunt me for the rest of my life" Fred shook his head. "You know, I've just remembered my first meeting with Velma. It had been such a normal, September day..."
* Flashback *
"Nice drawing" a seven-year-old Fred remarked, looking at a rather clumsily drawn image of a smiling, dark-haired woman with glasses. "Who's that?"
A small, skinny, dark-haired, bespectacled girl, the authoress of the picture, jumped up with fright. After a while, she raised two large, dark brown eyes from above the paper and looked straight into the boy's dark blue eyes.
"My Auntie Jane" she said quietly.
"What's your name?" Fred asked curiously.
"Velma" the girl replied. "And yours?"
"Fred. Can I sit with you?"
Velma nodded without a word. Fred put his lunchbox on the table, unwrapped one of the sandwiches and was about to start eating when he heard a quiet rumble. It was true that in the school, he wasn't thought of as a genius but he realized immediately that the sound came from the girl's empty belly. Besides, she was gazing at the roll he held in his hand.
"Are you hungry?" Fred asked.
Velma nodded again.
"You don't have your own food?"
This time the girl's answer was a blush and shaking her head for "no".
"Then take my sandwich" Fred gave her the box where the second of his sandwiches lay.
"Thank you" Velma said quietly. Two minutes later, there was no trace after a roll with ham, egg, lettuce and tomato.
"Why your mom and dad didn't give you a lunch?" Fred asked after he'd swallowed the last bit of his sandwich.
"My mom and dad had gone to heaven. And Auntie Jane has little money now because she bought me books and notebooks, and a backpack, and crayons, and..."
"I have an apple and candies, too" Fred remembered suddenly. "Take them."
"Won't you be hungry?"
"No. What grade are you in?"
"The first. And you?"
"The second. If you want it, I'll show you the whole school one day."
"You're almost as nice as Auntie Jane, you know?" Velma smiled. Fred smiled back at her without a word. At that point, they didn't know yet that this meeting would result in a lifelong friendship...
* The flashback ends *
"I also remember the first time she called me Freddy..." Fred whispered, feeling he was about to cry. "Back then, I'd promised her that I'd always take care of her like a big brother and a guardian angel... and when she needed my help the most, I screwed up..."
Inspector Samuel Rogers, whose people had just put the unmasked criminal in the patrol car and driven off, went up to Fred, Daphne and Scooby.
"And what?" he asked.
Fred shook his head again.
"No trace of them" he said quietly. "I'm afraid they're gone forever."
Inspector Rogers bit his lower lip and winced slightly, trying to restrain his tears. Suddenly, they heard a voice:
"Go slow, it's not smooth in here..."
The four of them turned their heads and saw Shaggy, holding Velma around her waist and leading her between the sharp rocks, with which she could get hurt. They both were dripping with water and looked as tired as if they'd just swam one hundred lengths of the Olympic pool.
"Raggy! Relma!" Scooby exclaimed, running up to the boy and the girl and fawning upon their legs.
"Guys! You're alive!" Fred and Daphne tightly embraced their friends.
"I-it's a-all th-thanks to Sh-Sha-Shaggy" Velma declared, snuggling up to her rescuer and shivering. "If h-he h-ha-hadn't k-kept the cold b-bl-blood, we would p-prob-bably b-both h-have d-dr-drow-drowned."
"You did well, Norville" Mr. Rogers hugged his son and slightly ruffled his wet hair. "I'm proud of you."
"L-like... th-tha-thanks, Dad" the boy replied with his teeth chattering.
"You know, Inspector, I love chatting" said Daphne "but we need to take Shaggy and Velma in a warm and dry place as soon as possible or they'll catch a cold."
x
Despite the fact that Fred was driving as fast as he could, and Daphne, Scooby and Mr. Rogers wrapped Shaggy and Velma in multiple blankets, the latter duo did get a cold after a forced swimming in the river anyway. Fred, who still felt guilty for this, visited both of them every day and served them the best he could. The result was that within one week, he unintentionally broke two of Shaggy's plates and accidentally flooded half of Velma's kitchen while trying to fix a leaking faucet. One day, Velma couldn't stand it anymore.
"Freddy, sit down here" she said, pointing to a chair, standing beside the bed. "We need to talk."
"About what?" Fred asked, obeying the command.
"For several days, you've been behaving strangely."
"You were saying?" Fred laughed with simulated carelessness.
"Freddy, I know that you care about me and believe me, I really appreciate that you come here every day to look after me but you've been freaking out lately" Velma sat up, looked straight into his eyes and took his hand. "What's bothering you?"
"Y-you know, s-seems you have a fever again" Fred mumbled, trying to sneak out towards the kitchen.
"Fred" Velma said in a warning tone "come back here right now and answer my question."
"Y-yes, you do have a f-fever... Y-you're flushed and s-stuff..." Fred stammered, avoiding her eyes. "I... I'll make you t-tea with honey or something..."
"Frederick Jones!" Velma raised her voice, then winced slightly and grabbed her throat. "I asked you a question and I demand an answer. What's eating you?"
Fred looked at the tips of his shoes.
"It's all my fault" he muttered.
"What, for Einstein's sake, are you talking about?"
"I was supposed to be your big brother... kind of like a guardian angel..." Fred whispered. "I was supposed to not let anything bad happen to you... First, I'd promised it to you, and then to your aunt, you remember...? And what? I failed! I screwed up totally! If you and Shaggy had really drowned, I would have never forgiven myself!" he burst out suddenly and began to cry.
"Oh, Freddy..." Velma got up and hugged him. "You couldn't prevent it. It was just an accident."
"You mean" Fred looked up "you mean you forgave me?"
Velma giggled.
"You big goof, I wasn't even angry at you" she said and messed her friend's hair. "Now listen. You'll always be my dearest big brother and my best friend in the world but you can't constantly try to protect me anymore. Not that you do it badly" she added before Fred could say anything "because you're a great guardian. Now that we're grown up, you should take more care of your fiancée than of your foster sister."
"But... but who will take care of you?" Fred asked softly.
"You really don't know it?" Velma laughed. "My new guardian angel has already saved my life twice."
This time, it was Fred who ruffled Velma's fringe.
"Just do not make him to do it for the third time" he warned her jokingly. "And now, go to bed or you really will get a fever."
x
Another week passed and Shaggy came to Velma's house with a bouquet of red roses.
"For you" he said softly, handing her the flowers.
"Thank you. They're beautiful" the girl smiled shyly and moved aside. "Please come in."
"How do you manage to keep this house so tidy all the time?" the amazed Shaggy looked around the almost sterilely clean hall.
"Usually, I simply do little daily cleanings" Velma giggled "but this time, I wouldn't have triumphed over the two-weeks-old chaos without Fred and Daphne's help. You know" she added, getting serious all of a sudden "for the last few days, I've been wondering why you had jumped down to rescue me. I know you are afraid of heights."
"Like, usually, I am" Shaggy admitted "but, like, back then, I was a lot more afraid I would, like, lose you."
"And what does this mean?" Velma slightly raised her eyebrows.
"Like, I solved your parents' riddle. I listened to my heart and, like, I realized I love you" Shaggy replied, blushing up to his ears.
Velma stood on her toes and kissed him.
"I thought you'd never tell me this" she whispered with a smile. "I love you, too."
Shaggy reached into his trousers' pocket and took out a gold ring with a ruby surrounded by small diamonds.
"W-will you marry me?" he asked quietly.
Velma nodded and they both embraced each other, laughing and crying at the same time.
PS - It's possible that you'll have to wait for the last chapter until September or October because in my current situation, I'll be able to write it only during breaks from learning. Let me know how you liked this chapter and see you.
VM