Sorry, guys, I've been busy. This takes place the morning after Daphne's first date with Duval.
I knew that I was doing the right thing. Then why did it hurt so much? It's just more proof that you're too close to Freddie, Daph. If just going on one date tears you apart this much… Darian was the kind of guy I always pictured marrying when I was a little girl who watched too many Disney princess and romantic mystery movies. The kind of guy that seemed to made for me. Definitely someone I would date were it not for Fred. But I wasn't some love-struck little teenager any more. Freddie had had so many chances and I'd spent too much of my life pining for him.
Desperately needing to get my mind off things and sort out my feelings, I changed into my swimsuit and headed to one of Darian's indoor swimming pools.
***
"Good morning, monsieur Jones," the butler greeted as I headed to the gym.
"Morning, Bernard," I replied as he walked past, not glancing at him.
Don't you dare think about her, Freddie. Just concentrate on your workout, I ordered myself as I turned the door's handle.
"Oh, hello Fred," a startled Duval said, appearing in the doorway as I opened it.
I clenched the door knob so tightly I was surprised I didn't crush it.
"Hey," I said roughly, walking past him to the exercise equipment.-
"Are you all right…"
Am I all right?! AM I ALL RIGHT?!
"NOT in the mood right now, Duval," I said as I adjusted the weight amount.
"Need a spotter?" he asked, half-smiling.
I glared at him, sitting down.
"What do you want, Darian?" I demanded.
"Nothing, I just…" he started, looking surprised, or at least seeming to be.
"Right," I said sarcastically, fighting back the urge to slug him. "If I were you, Duval, I'd buzz off. Now."
"I only…"
I sat up, lifting a weight and sending him a look.
He quickly left.
I bolted up as I realized something. Velma had said Daphne went to Duval's pool, right? Where was his pool, and where was he headed? Sure, I was probably being paranoid, as usual, but it couldn't hurt to check right? Well, okay, it could. Daph might kick my butt, but that was a risk I was willing to take.
***
"Freddie? What on Earth are you doing here?" a slightly confused, but never shocked, Daph asked, turning away from Duval.
He was sitting at the edge of the pool, and Daphne had swum up to him before I came in.
At least she's not wearing a bikini. Though I wish her one-piece actually had a back… I thought, glancing at her bright, halter-necked, red red swimsuit.
"Just going for a swim," I said with a shrug, walking over to them.
Daphne pushed off the wall, swimming away with her usual calm, casual, effortless grace.
"You're not wearing swim trunks," she pointed out, not even opening her eyes as she floated.
Busted… I could hear her thinking.
"I can swim in shorts, thank you very much, Daphne," I snapped, kicking my shoes off and tugging at my stubborn socks.
"Don't slip and break your head open, Fred," Daph warned with a half-smile, back-stroking.
Yes, cause I'M the one here who's a magnet for any form of trouble, whether it's being the perfect hostage or rocks and other random items managing to find away into my path to trip me…
"Ha, ha," he grumbled, pulling his shirt off.
Don't look, Daph, don't you dare look…
Unable to help it, I glanced at him anyways as I floated on my back. I couldn't breathe or make my heart beat, nearly falling underwater, as his muscled chest and arms, and those abs made it physically impossible to form intelligent thought.
I fought back a blush as I recovered from my sinking in the water and forced myself to get out of the pool. There was no way I'd be able to relax or sort out my feelings with those two in the room…
"Where are you going, Daph?" Fred asked, getting in the water.
I didn't look at him as I got out, afraid my eyes might wander to his perfectly chiseled chest.
"To take a shower. See you at lunch, Darian.
Lunch?
I glared at Duval as Daphne left.
***
"Haha! Et zen Scoobay chased her tail becuz…" Lucien laughed as he told me what he had done with Shag and Scoob.
"Rer?" the great dane asked, head cocked to the side in confusion.
"It's his tail, Lucien," I corrected, then explained to Shaggy and Scooby. "In French, her and his is the same word."
"Roh…"
"Desole, Scoobay. I understand not why her doez not go with he, c'est one letter of differ-ance."
I couldn't help but smile at the way Lucien spoke English and confused French and English grammar rules.
"Does anyone know where Velma is?" I asked, closing my bedroom door.
"Probably ze library. She is her favorite…"
"Lucien, how many times do I have to tell you?" I sighed with a half-smile. "English doesn't have masculine or feminine forms for anything that isn't a person or animal. It is her favorite."
"But zat does not make any sense! Why would anyone zo zat?"
"Maybe they didn't feel like deciding which words would be masculine and which feminine."
"Zey wouldn't have to! We already zid!"
"You're right, Lucien. The world would be so much simpler if everyone spoke French," I said, unable to keep from smiling.
"Bien sur, il would be less trouble for everyone."
Yes, Lucien. Teaching almost the entire world a new language would be all too easy…
"Velma! Wait until I tell you what Shaggay and Scoobay zid!"
"Do I want to know?" Velma asked with me with a raised brow.
"They didn't break anything this time," I laughed, then stopped as I realized Lucien actually hadn't finished telling his story. "Did they, Lucien?"
"Zut, uh…. Salut, Darian!" Lucien waved, quickly changing the subject as his elder brother and only living relative walked towards us.
I smiled at him, but my smile quickly fell as I saw his grim expression.
"There's trouble at Notre Dame. I'm afraid we're going to have to reschedule that lunch, Daphne."
***
"And you saw this happen?" Darian asked in French, brow crinkled, lips frowning.
"Oui, monsieur," Jacques said, then reminded Darian about the security camera Pierre Gautier had had installed.
Just as Darian and Lucien were beginning to assure the man that Pierre was getting it, the door flew open.
"Monsieur Gautier, are you all right?" I asked, standing with a worried frown. The man was paler than any fake ghost I'd ever seen.
"He did indeed attack Sister Marie Claire," he said, eyes still wide, mustache twitching.
Pierre explained that the camera had filmed the vampire attack the nun, and showed the two bloody holes in her neck. But the vampire and Marie Claire had vanished in a puff of smoke.
I shuddered, hoping beyond hope that Marie Claire was fine and that the holes in her neck had been fake, as Scooby trembled in Shaggy's quivering arms and Velma and Freddie sighed.
"Come on, gang. Let's…"
"Like, we know the drill, Freddie," Shaggy whimpered, setting Scoob down.
"Reah, reddie, re row da rill…" Scooby said with a pouted lip, following Lucien and Shag out the door.
"Darian, Lucien, why don't you go with the guys?" Freddie suggested. "Pierre and I'll be with the girls."
Darian hesitated but nodded eventually, following the boys as they headed to one of the towers.
***
"You two go on ahead," Velma said as Pierre and Daph started up the stairs. She turned to me. "I need to talk to Fred about something."
"Yeah, sure, Velm," I said, confused but nodding Gautier and Daphne on. Daph paused, also looking confused, and glanced from me to Velma, but went on.
"What's up?"
"I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to worry, and same goes for Daphne but…" she stopped as Pierre and Daph disappeared from sight, unsure how to go on. She looked up at me suddenly. "Remember the woman in the vampire painting? The one with red hair?"
"Yeah, but…"
"Well, I found a book in Darian's library that talked about the vampire. According to legend, he bit many women, but there was one in particular… one he wanted to be his 'queen of the night,' you might say," she laughed weakly. "It didn't say her name, but there was a man she was engaged to, an English man named Blake. The vampire tried to charm, hypnotize, whatever you want to call it, her, but Blake's love for her and her love for Blake overcame it. Some variations of the legend say that Blake killed the vampire, others say Blake and his fiancée barely escaped with their lives and that the vampire never left Notre Dame."
"Are you saying…?"
"According to Daphne's family tree, a Blake did marry a French woman in that time period. Whoever this 'vampire' is, he knows the legend. Blake's fiancée was a beautiful red head, as are Marie Claire and Daphne."
"Is Daph…?"
"In danger, obviously. But whether our villain wants her specifically or has some other reason for attacking and scaring everyone in Notre Dame."
***
"Find anything?" Fred asked as he and Velma entered the bell tower.
"Nothing, but go ahead and look for yourselves."
Shaggy and Scooby appeared a few seconds later, grinning from ear to ear.
Everyone looked at them, surprise evident on our faces.
"Like we weren't chased! For the first time in, like, ever, man, we weren't chased!!! Zoinks, I…!"
"Shaggy, where's Lucien?" Darian asked.