Chapter 2: The Mystery at Milnor House
Velma gave up trying to wake Shaggy and Scooby the old fashioned way. She dug out a Scooby Snack, a guaranteed way to rose the two. She waved the biscuit under their noses and both opened their eyes instantly.
"Works every time." Velma snorted in amusement, tossing them each a biscuit.
As the two cowards relaxed and ate their snack, Sebastian explained why he was there.
"So, you say there's a ghost at your house?" Fred asked.
"Not exactly… But, let me start at the beginning. You remember when we were still quite young, how my family moved to Boston, but kept our house here in case thing didn't work out there?" He asked them. He got various nods.
"Well, as you know, we never came back here but my parents decided to keep our old house, if me or my brother ever decided to come to live in Coolsville." Sebastian explained.
"So what's this got to do with the mystery you were talking about?" Fred interrupted.
"Hang on, Fred, I'm getting to it." Sebastian shushed him. "When my brother and I became adults, we decided to go on a tour of the world. We thought we might even catch sight of you guys since you're constantly on the road. Anyway, about a month ago, we were in Germany when we got an E-mail from our cousin, Mark. He told us strange things were going on where he lived."
"Gee, I didn't know you had a cousin." Daphne said.
"Most people do Daphne." He snorted. "Mark's a first cousin but we're not very close, because he lives with my uncle in an old mansion, in a town called Pinewood Hills. Anyway, he mentioned a ghost was haunting the place where he was living and other strange things were happening. Right away we gave him a call, telling him he was probably imagining things then we forgot about it."
"But he wasn't, was he?" Daphne asked, pretty certain of the answer.
"Unfortunately, not! Two weeks later, we receive another E-mail from him telling us his father, my uncle, had disappeared without a trace. Not only that, he seemed certain the ghost was responsible. That's about the time other creatures began appearing at night on the property. He sent us a photo as proof. It's one of the creatures and I was taken aback. You, aren't going to believe this but the creature is none other than one of the villains from your past! Here, I printed it and brought it with me…" Sebastian said, taking piece of paper from a pocket in his jacket and unfolding it. As soon as they saw the image, they were shocked.
"Zoinks!!! But that's the…" Shaggy exclaimed.
"The Rreeper!" Scooby finished his friend's sentence, jumping into Shaggy's arms, scared to death.
"You're right, Scooby, it really is the Creeper." Velma said grimly.
In the photo they could easily identify the Creeper, one of the most frightful monsters the gang had faced in their career as detectives.
"Are you sure this is real… that it wasn't done by Photoshop, perhaps?" Daphne asked, suspiciously.
"Positive. I was suspicious too, so I took it to a photo specialist and he verified the image is the real thing. That just creeped my brother and I out." Sebastian said, shivering. "Knowing it was one of the monsters you'd dealt with, we figured we would need your help catching that thing. So we caught the next flight to Coolsville and came straight here to ask for your help. So here I am. Can you help us?" He asked.
They all sighed and looked at each other. They had hoped for some time off but this was an old friend asking for help so…
"Yes, we'll help you!" Fred said for all of them.
"Jinkies! I can't believe Creeper is back!" Velma said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, I know and the worst of the bunch, too." Sebastian said solemnly.
"Do you have the first e-mail that your cousin sent you, before your uncle disappeared?" Fred asked, getting down to business. "It could give us a clue of what's really going on."
"Yes, I thought you might want it." Sebastian said, pleased that he had anticipated this. He pulled another sheet of folded paper from his coat and handed it over to Fred.
The gang gathered round Fred as he looked the message over. Shaggy and Scooby were shivering with fear from seeing the image of the Creeper. They were sure they weren't going to like the contents of the letter any better.
"Dear Sebastian and Zack,
I know we haven't
spoken in years, but I don't know who else to turn to about
this. What I am about to tell you will sound like complete
nonsense and perhaps you and your brother might even think I'm
crazy, but I swear to you what I'm about to say is the truth.
I think the old mansion where my father and I now live is haunted… I know, it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. I keep hearing strange noises in the night and a couple of days ago, when I went for a walk at night, I thought I saw someone or something walking through the graveyard, heading toward the woods. I followed it, but I never found out who or what it really was. It just seemed to vanish into thin air before I could get close to it.
At first, I thought it had been my imagination, but a few days after that incident, I once again saw something, this time in the garden… and then, a ghost appeared in front of me, out of nowhere, saying that he was the spirit of the original owner of the mansion and if we didn't get out, he'd make sure everyone would pay the ultimate price. I don't know if I'm really losing my mind or what, but these things I keep seeing and hearing at night are real. My father does not listen to me and I fear something bad is going to happen. If you can, come visit me and maybe we can sort it out.
Best wishes,
Mark Milnor
"That's really some spooky stuff, Scoob." Shaggy commented to Scooby-Doo.
"Reah, spooky ruff!"
"At first I really thought it was just a prank, but after he wrote me telling me that my uncle had disappeared and that the ghost of the original owner of the mansion was responsible for and sent me that photo, I got worried." Sebastian said.
"But why would that ghost want your cousin and uncle out of the mansion?" Daphne asked, confused.
"Beats me, Daphne… Mark never told me and I don't even have a clue as to why he would want to do it." Sebastian sighed, frustrated.
"Maybe someone from our past is back to get revenge on us." Fred suggested. "Don't forget, we put a lot of them behind bars and they were obviously unhappy about that. Could be a case of revenge."
"Yeah, but, like, why would someone from our past decide to haunt Sebastian's cousin house to get to us?" Shaggy asked, frowning.
"For once, Shaggy's right. How could someone from our past know anything about Sebastian's family, and furthermore, why would he choose his cousin to attract us into a trap?" Daphne asked then qualified, "However, I wouldn't put that possibility aside, just yet."
"But, the last time we checked, all the monsters, or at least most of them, who we busted, were all guys in a costume, and those costumes are in the Coolsonian Criminology Institute." Fred objected.
"Maybe we should just check the Coolsonian. The building is undergoing renovation and that would have been the perfect time for someone to steal something when no one's looking. It happened when they were renovating the museum where the Mona Lisa is during the early 20th century." Velma said sagely. "Maybe someone did the same thing here, only stealing the Creeper's costume rather than a painting. Someone could be masquerading as the Creeper in his costume."
"You may be right Velma. Before we go, we need to pick up my brother. I know he'll be glad to see you all, along with a few other people." Sebastian said.
"Huh! A few other people? What do you mean by that, Sebastian?" Fred asked.
"You'll see when we get there." Sebastian said mysteriously.
"Fine, like whatever, let's get the Mystery Machine and be on our way." Shaggy said. "Do you want a lift, Sebastian?"
"You bet! I took the subway here. Thanks!" Sebastian said, smiling.
As they all headed to the garage, where the Mystery Machine was parked, all of them kept thinking about what Sebastian had told them. Also they wondered who these other people were he was talking about. Who could they be? And better yet, what would they have in common with the Milnor brothers and Mystery, Inc.?