Chapter 8
Inside the imposing and ancient castle that was home to the sinister Count Dracula, one of the world's most fiendish supernatural creatures, three of the members of the Mystery Inc. detective agency, two college students named Fred Jones and Shaggy Rogers and Shaggy's Great Dane Scooby Doo stood outside the bedroom of the two other members of the agency: Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley.
Once again Mystery Inc. had gotten themselves into yet another mystery, but this time it was a rather unusual one, and involving one of the college age members of the group to boot; it all started innocently enough, Shaggy had won the annual Coolsville 500 automobile race in the gang's hometown of Coolsville, Ohio and spent the next few days with the rest of Mystery Inc., in between classes at Coolsville University spending time with them and just being a college student.
However that all changed one night during a double date at the local drive in, Fred and Daphne along with Shaggy and Velma were sitting in the Mystery Machine, enjoying the movie when the full moon shined on the cowardly college student and he was transformed into a werewolf; after being put under a strange sleeping spell by Count Dracula, the gang woke up in Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania where the sinister vampire informed Shaggy that he had been turned into a furry werewolf to compete in the annual Monster Road Rally.
At first Shaggy refused, but when Dracula made him an offer he couldn't refuse so to speak, in this case the offer was that if he won the race he would turn Shaggy back to normal and send he and the rest of the gang back to the United States where they would hopefully continue on with their lives.
Although when your occupation is solving supernatural mysteries your lives tend to be more exciting then a bank manager, or school teacher or someone who works for a living, not to say Scooby Doo and friends don't make a living, in fact that would be far from the truth; actually the college age members of Mystery Inc. do have other jobs, and the gang has made decent profit on some of their past mysteries.
However, at the moment the gang's thoughts weren't on the past, or even the future, they were on the present, specifically figuring out a plan on how to escape the castle of Dracula intact and healthy and also making sure the vindictive vampire didn't have any traps or surprises planned for Mystery Inc.; as twilight approached the ancient castle, Fred began knocking on the girls bedroom door to see if they were awake and if they were still in one piece.
"Daphne, Velma, are you two in there?" Fred asked.
"Yes Fred, we're in here; we were just talking a bit, why?" Velma answered.
"Would you mind Shaggy, Scooby and me coming in there?" Fred responded.
"Not at all Fred, hang on I'll unlock the door and let you guys in" Velma replied; the bespectacled young woman then walked over to the bedroom door, undid the latch and the locks and opened the door; after she opened the door, she saw the werewolf Shaggy, along with Scooby and Fred standing in the doorway, which made her quite happy.
"Shaggy, am I glad you're here!" Velma declared as she walked over and hugged the fur covered cowardly college student.
"I'm pretty happy to see you too Freddie" Daphne said as she hugged the blond college student.
"We're happy to see you too girls; so what's up?" Fred asked.
"Well, Velma and I were talking, and we found something very frightening" Daphne replied.
"L-like what was it?" Shaggy nervously asked.
"We found that Dracula put us in a room with two beds made of spikes" Velma replied.
"Zoinks! Like I hope you two didn't try and lay down in them," Shaggy remarked.
"Don't worry Shaggy, we didn't; although I have a feeling that isn't the last trap that Dracula's planned for us" Velma replied.
"Yeah, just what I was thinking; and I think Shaggy, Scooby and I have come up with an idea that just might work in this situation" Fred stated.
"What is it Freddie?" Daphne asked.
"It's simple Daphne, now that all five of us are back together, we can explore this castle some more and see if we can find a way out of here" Fred replied.
"Good thinking Fred, I mean there has to be someway out of here" Velma commented.
"Yeah, I just hope we can find it; come on gang, let's get searching" Fred explained; the red head and the bespectacled young woman then closed the door behind them and joined Fred, Shaggy and Scooby in the hallway, a few moments later the five of them began walking through the dark, dismal corridors of the castle, hoping that they would find a way out of Dracula's home, once and for all.
The three of them had been walking through the hallway for about five minutes when the canine member of the group could hear a strange noise coming from somewhere, although the other members of Mystery Inc. weren't quite sure where it was coming from at first, but knowing Scooby Doo as long as they had, whenever his ears perked up as they were now, they knew that his detective senses were fairly accurate.
"What's up Scoob? Do you hear something?" Shaggy asked.
"Ruh-uh" Scooby replied, pointing towards the other end of the hallway.
"Hmm… yeah, like my wolf senses can hear it too; come on gang!" Shaggy declared as he and Scooby Doo ran towards the end of the hallway with Fred, Daphne and Velma in tow, following close behind.
"I wonder what that noise is that Scooby hears" Fred remarked as he sprinted down the hallway.
"I'm more surprised that Shaggy can hear it too, although I guess when you're a werewolf, you can sense things that normal humans can't" Velma added as she ran after Shaggy and Scooby.
A few moments later Shaggy and Scooby Doo stopped running and stood in front of a large wooden door; Fred, Daphne and Velma were curious as to why they had stopped and decided to ask their furry comrades about what was possibly behind the door.
"Shaggy, how come you and Scooby stopped in front of the door?" Velma asked.
"I don't know; why did you stop Scooby?" Shaggy inquired of his canine companion.
"Recause I rhink I rear rusic rehind the roor" Scooby commented.
"Music? What possible music could there be in a room in a castle, especially Dracula's castle?" Daphne inquired.
"Well, let's find out" Fred remarked; Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby then walked behind the blond haired college student and waited for the leader of Mystery Inc. to open the door; Fred then reached for the doorknob and discovered surprisingly that it was unlocked and that it opened rather easily for him.
"Hmm… there's something awfully fishy about this" Fred noted.
"Why's that Fred?" Daphne asked.
"Well, why is this particular door unlocked? And did Dracula unlock it so we would find ourselves in a trap?" Fred inquired.
"L-like I wish you wouldn't say that Fred" Shaggy replied nervously.
"Just forget about it Shaggy, now come on let's go inside and see what's in this room" Fred remarked.
Shaggy followed the blond college student's advice and waited behind him along with Daphne, Velma and Scooby Doo as the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. opened the door; as the five members of Mystery Inc. entered the room they noticed that it contained shelves of what looked like white sheets, although as the red headed member of the team of sleuths walked over to the shelves she closely examined the sheets and could tell that there was some kind of writing on them, in what looked to be dark black ink no less.
"Hmm… this is interesting" Daphne remarked.
"What's up Daphne? What did you find?" Fred asked as he walked over to where she was standing and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Fred, something tells me that this is the castle's music room" Daphne replied.
"Music room? So like that's why Scooby and I could hear music earlier, the only question is: who or what was playing it" Shaggy added.
"That would be me" a voice said, coming from the other side of the room; the voice sounded female, but not monster like as the other inhabitants of the castle, not including Scooby Doo and friends; in fact the voice almost sounded human and as the Great Dane and company stood on the other side of the room, they wondered who or what was speaking to them.
"Who are you?" Fred asked, somewhat tentatively.
"Why don't you five come closer and you can see me better, and so I can speak with all of you" the voice replied; the college aged members of Mystery Inc. then walked across the room where they saw a familiar looking woman with black hair and wearing a maroon colored dress; the woman was seated on a bench in front of an ancient looking organ and smiled as Mystery Inc. approached her.
While the members of Mystery Inc. were a bit apprehensive on entering the room, although once they saw who was sitting at the organ they were quite relieved that they recognized the woman and that it wasn't someone who could rip them to shreds if they weren't careful; the gang then resumed their regular pace of walking and stood on both sides of the ancient musical instrument as the woman spoke to them about what they were doing in the room.
"It's nice to see you again Shaggy and Fred, so what brings you two and your friends in my little sanctuary anyway?" Vanna Pira asked.
"Actually we were going to ask you why you were in this room ourselves" Fred replied.
"Well, since you've found my little hideaway I guess I could tell you; as Daphne probably knows, this is my personal music room, Dracula built it for me for my 112th birthday, and I've been using it ever since; I'll admit it's an unusual hobby, especially for the wife of Dracula, but it helps me relax after a hard day" Vanna Pira explained.
"Yeah, a hard day of dealing with drinking people's blood I bet" Velma whispered to Shaggy, who was standing next to her.
"L-like I hope not" Shaggy replied.
"Actually playing the organ isn't such an unusual hobby Vanna Pira, I mean a lot of people play musical instruments, although I don't know of anyone who plays the organ" Daphne noted.
"Yes the organ is really an unusual instrument, it's probably found more in opera houses or places like that, as opposed to in Dracula's castle" Vanna Pira replied.
"Yeah I bet" Fred commented.
"So what did you think of my playing?" Vanna Pira asked.
"So that was you playing the music that we heard?" Shaggy inquired.
"Right; sorry about that, we're not used to having mortal visitors" Vanna Pira replied.
"That's okay, we liked it, now that we know who was playing it" Fred remarked.
"Thanks; so now that I told you what I'm doing, what are you doing in here?" Vanna Pira asked.
"Trying to find a way out of here, before Dracula tries to spring something on us again" Fred stated.
"Again? Oh, you mean the bed of spikes thing" Vanna Pira replied.
"Like how did you know that?" Shaggy asked.
"Simple, in addition to playing the organ I'm, well I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to fortune telling, palm reading, mind reading, magic, all that kind of stuff" Vanna Pira replied.
"Really? I'm kind of interested in that stuff myself, I mean I know it's all silly but I really like it" Daphne remarked.
"Oh don't worry about it Daphne, I won't tell if you won't" Vanna Pira replied.
"Don't worry I won't" Daphne said with a chuckle.
"I'll bet; you know I just wish Dracula wasn't so creepy some times, all these traps and things that he does, it really drives me nuts" Vanna Pira replied.
"Yeah, it must be hard living with someone like him" Velma commented.
"It is, believe me; so how's it going with escape attempt?" Vanna Pira asked.
"Not well, we almost got shish kabobbed in a room with spikes on the walls; but we did meet a woman who said that she was the girlfriend of a man who's Shaggy's age and who had been turned into a werewolf back in the 20's" Velma replied.
"I know about that too; I remember that day pretty well, Elizabeth and William seemed really nice and I tried to get Dracula to use someone else for his race, but he wouldn't listen to reason, you know sometimes it's really hard living with a vampire; although he is good looking, I guess it's an acquired taste so to speak" Vanna Pira remarked.
"Vanna Pira, like would you mind if I asked you a question?" Shaggy inquired.
"Not at all you cutie" Vanna Pira said as she fluttered her eyelashes at the cowardly werewolf; while she spoke, Velma gritted her teeth and pulled Shaggy closer to her, although it didn't seem to deter Shaggy any.
"Oookay; tell me something, truthfully: how did you and Dracula end up together anyway?' Shaggy asked.
"You know Shaggy, I've been wondering that myself; I mean to tell the truth Vanna Pira, you look almost human, you don't seem like a monster at all" Fred added.
"Well Shaggy and Fred, I'm not a monster per say, that is to say I'm not the kind of a monster that would be found in any book, like I'm not what a dictionary would call a monster; but I still have supernatural abilities and I do have a lot in common with the inhabitants of the castle" Vanna Pira replied.
"Wait, if you're not a monster monster, then what are you?" Daphne asked.
"Well, if you really want to know" Vanna Pira said, albeit a bit reluctantly.
"Yes, we want to know" Velma replied.
"Very well; do you remember Elizabeth talking to you about a book, or mentioning one?" Vanna Pira asked.
"Yes, why?" Daphne inquired.
"Because the book is a family heirloom; it's called The Grimness Book of Records, it was handed down from each generation of my family, from my great great grandmother, to my grandmother, to my mother and then to me; although, not only is it a family heirloom, it also provides another purpose, in fact it's the reason why I'm here and why I look the way I do, you see I am a sorceress" Vanna Pira replied.
"Jeepers, a sorceress?" Daphne inquired with a puzzled look on her face.
"Yes, I'm a sorceress; I can use magic, but I am also part vampire, although frankly I don't like being a vampire that much" Vanna Pira remarked.
"Wow, so that's probably why you look so young" Velma commented.
"But like why tell us this, wouldn't you want to help Dracula in trying to keep us here?" Shaggy asked.
"No, not at all; I don't like how Dracula's acting any more then you five do, and I hate it when he brings mortals here, just more innocent people that have to suffer at the hands of him" Vanna Pira replied.
"Makes sense, although the question still remains: why tell us all this and why help us anyway?" Fred asked.
"You see, even though I am Dracula's wife, I am nothing like him; the only reason why I stuck around all these centuries is because I love him, and judging by the way you four are acting, I would say that you are all in love too, correct?" Vanna Pira inquired.
"Like you can say that again" Shaggy said as he and Velma held each other's hands.
"Ditto for me" Fred added as he and Daphne held each other's hands.
"Wonderful; I really enjoy seeing mortals in love, now as for why I'm helping you, I am not as ruthless or cold hearted as Count Dracula is, and when someone comes here or is brought here, I want to help as much as I can and in whatever ways I can, at least secretly" Vanna Pira explained.
"Like I get it, if Dracula knew you were helping us, he would come looking for you" Shaggy remarked.
"Right, because if Dracula knew his wife was helping mortals, he would probably go ballistic, or try and torture you, even though you're his wife" Velma added.
"Sadly yes Velma; while Dracula does love me and I him, and while we do care about each other, he makes it well known that no monsters of his realm can ever help mortals in any situation" Vanna Pira replied.
"So Vanna Pira, now that you're on our side, can you tell us if there's a way out of the castle?" Fred asked.
"I believe there should be a way out; there are many secret passages, secret doors and other ways to leave the castle, all you have to do is find them; now I have to get back to practicing the organ, that's what I told Dracula I was doing right now and if he finds you five in here, he'll go through the roof" Vanna Pira replied as she led the gang to the door.
"Right, come on gang" Fred said as the black haired woman opened the door for them.
"Oh, and one more thing" Vanna Pira replied.
"Yes?" Fred asked.
"Dracula is going to try and pull out all his dirty tricks to stop Shaggy from winning the race, so I would suggest you have a good plan in order to stop him" Vanna Pira replied.
"Don't worry, we do" Fred remarked.
"I certainly hope so, now get going and good luck" Vanna Pira said as the gang walked through the doorway; with that Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby made their way back into the corridor, leaving Dracula's wife in the music room alone, after she closed the door.
"I certainly hope Shaggy does win, it would serve Draccy right for turning a mortal into a monster" she added as she sat back down on the bench.
Fifteen minutes had passed since the gang had visited Vanna Pira and watched her play the organ in her music room; so far the members of Mystery Inc. had reached several dead ends in their search for a way out of Dracula's castle including finding the bedrooms, albeit empty that belonged to various monsters including a Swamp Monster, a living skeleton, the two green skinned witches the gang had met earlier, and a few others as well.
"Let's face it gang, we're up against a real brick wall; I mean all we've found so far is a bunch of bedrooms and not much else and even though I'm the one who usually makes the plans, I'm really stumped here" Fred remarked as he leaned up against the wall.
"Yeah, I hate to admit when I'm licked, but I'm licked" Velma replied.
"So like what are we going to do now? Keep looking through the castle for a way out, or go back to our bedrooms and try and get some sleep?" Shaggy inquired; as he leaned up against Velma, the cowardly werewolf could hear someone trying to get the group's attention, which caused him to look around the corridor for the source of the voice.
"Like w-who's there?" Shaggy asked nervously; although he couldn't see who was speaking, the disembodied voice continued trying to get the group's attention.
"Over here" the voice said, calling over to the gang as they stood near the wall.
"Where?" Daphne asked.
"Underneath the paintings in the middle of the hallway, next to a suit of armor" the voice replied.
Scooby Doo and friends looked all over the hallway for the mysterious voice, but couldn't find him anywhere; finally they decided to walk across the corridor and saw two paintings, one of which was a self-portrait of Count Dracula himself and the other was a painting of an ancient castle, which looked quite familiar.
Next to the paintings there was indeed an old suit of armor, finally Scooby and his fellow mystery solvers came to the realization that this was what the voice had been talking about and decided to look for any semblance of a secret passage, or secret switch or anything that would help them escape from the castle.
"OK, so we're here; now what do we do?" Fred asked.
"Simple, move the suit of armor out of the way; behind it there's a secret passageway that leads out of the castle" the voice replied.
"Okay, if you say so" Fred stated; as he prepared to move the armor out of the way, Daphne moved over to where Fred was standing and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Fred, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean can we trust whoever was speaking to us?" the red head answered.
"What choice do we have Daphne? We haven't found any other way out of here, so we'll have to trust him" Fred replied.
"Okay if you say so," Daphne said, shrugging her shoulders.
So with that Fred, Shaggy and Scooby took hold of the suit of armor and pulled it aside; once the suit was moved, the members of Mystery Inc. noticed that there was a hidden corridor behind it and a broad smile could be seen on each of their faces.
"Jeepers, looks like our friend was right" Daphne remarked.
"He sure was gang, and it looks like we've found a way out of here" Fred replied.
"Like it sure does; now, like let's split before we get caught" Shaggy responded.
"Right, come on gang!" Fred declared; the blond unofficial leader of the group of sleuths then walked into the dark corridor, with Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby following close behind; after the gang entered the corridor, an unknown and unseen force moved the armor and closed off the entrance to the passageway, sealing the members of Mystery Inc. inside, with no way to return to where they entered.
As the five members of the mystery solving team walked through the corridor, they could tell it was incredibly dark and foreboding; all throughout the hall, there were various unusual paintings hung on the walls and strange sculptures placed on stone pedestals as well; while they walked the five sleuths could feel the presence of someone or something watching them from the shadows, which made Daphne hang onto Fred's arm as if her life depended on it, in addition Velma found herself hanging onto Shaggy's furry arm for the same reason that Daphne was clinging to Fred for.
"Jeepers, this corridor is really creepy" Daphne said, make sure she didn't let go of Fred for any reason.
"Yeah, now that I think of it Daphne, it is kind of scary; I mean I know this isn't like any of our usual mysteries, and we're in Count Dracula's castle, but still this place makes me feel like I'm stuck in a bad dream" Fred replied.
"Like tell me about it Fred, I still wish I was at home and Velma and I were watching television; just hanging out and not having to worry about anything, except for our studies in college and when our next mystery will be" Shaggy remarked.
"Me too Shaggy, then we would be able to spend as much time together and not having to worry about Dracula or any of the other monsters here" Velma replied as she looked into Shaggy's eyes.
"I know Velma, I know; but at least we get to spend some together here, and nothing's happened to you" Shaggy said, while smiling at his bespectacled girlfriend.
"And that goes for you too Daphne; at least we're able to spend time together, and nothing's happened to you yet" Fred remarked, smiling at his red haired girlfriend.
"Thanks Freddie" Daphne replied, blushing a little.
"Ro, ro rou ruys rhink re're roing to rind a ray out of here?" Scooby inquired.
"Like I don't know Scooby, but we're sure going to try" Shaggy replied.
"Right, now let's keep moving" Fred stated.
The five members of Mystery Inc. continued walking down the dark and gloomy looking corridor until they came to a door at the end of the hall, with what looked to be a crack of light underneath it; as the team of investigators moved closer to the door, they could hear voices coming from behind it, including a very familiar and very frightening voice among them.
"Well, it looks like that Sha-Gee werewolf is really nervous" Dracula remarked.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if he and his friends split before the race; in fact I'm betting on it" another male voice said.
"Vhat do you mean betting on it Bone Jangles?" Dracula asked.
"Simple; a few of the other monster got together and put a pool together" the voice replied.
"Hmm… interesting, go on" Dracula responded.
"Well, we bet on who each of us think will win the race, and if that particular race wins, then each monster that bet on the winner wins a certain amount of money, or other things" the voice replied.
"Ah interesting, I may have to participate in that betting pool Bone Jangles; considering I'm not participating" Dracula commented.
"But you are doing the play by play, isn't that a conflict of interest?" another male voice asked.
"No, not at all Mr. Snyde; we're monsters after all, we never play fair and we always like to capitalize on other people's failures" Dracula replied, laughing evilly as he spoke, while the other monsters laughed along with him.
"Jinkies, it sounds like Dracula's plotting against you again Shaggy" Velma remarked.
"Yeah, like it does sound like it doesn't it? But something tells me he'll be in for a big surprise once he sees me race" Shaggy replied.
"He sure will Shaggy, you're one of the best racers I've ever seen; now let's see if we can hear more about what those creepy creatures are saying" Fred commented.
The gang continued to listen intently as the strange and familiar voices continued speaking behind the door; a few more minutes passed as for the most part Dracula and the other members of his monster realm resumed their discussion of the Monster Road Rally and how they were going to keep the cowardly werewolf from winning and becoming Monster of the Year.
"Dracula, do you really think we can keep that Shaggy werewolf from winning? I mean he seems like a great race car driver," a male voice asked.
"Of course we can stop him from winning, I have the finest drivers in all the world, mortal or monster and if all of you are at your worst, driving as if your lives depend on winning and if you use all the dirty tricks at your disposal, we can keep that Sha-Gee person here, and if we can do that, his friends will also be monsters and will be part of the realm as well" Dracula replied, as he began laughing evilly once more.
"Jinkies, I t-think I've heard enough" Velma remarked.
"Yeah, me too; come on gang, let's find another way out of here" Fred explained.
So with that Scooby Doo and his friends walked down the corridor once again, looking for another way out of the castle; twenty minutes had passed since the gang had eavesdropped on Dracula and his fellow monsters conversation, and while the members of Mystery Inc. were still nervous about what Dracula and the other monsters had in store for them, they knew they had to continue searching the castle for another way out.
About five minutes later the gang had walked to the other end of the hallway, lamenting the fact they hadn't found a single exit; soon they found themselves in front of yet another doorway, however Scooby and company couldn't see where they were and what the doorway contained because it was dark inside, however a few moments later they would discover that this room was not a very good place to be.
"Going somewhere?" a voice asked; suddenly there was a click of a switch and the room illuminated instantly, however standing in the middle of the room were two very familiar and very frightening hunch backed creatures, which caused Daphne and Velma cling to the arms of their respective boyfriends and Scooby Doo to cower at Shaggy's feet.
"T-the Hunch Bunch!" the five sleuths said in unison.
"Naturally; now, just what are you five up to?" Brunch inquired.
"W-well, l-like we-we were just walking around the castle" Shaggy replied nervously.
"Oh no you weren't, you five were trying to escape; and I do so hate it when people try and escape" Brunch said.
"So we were trying to escape, what harm could it do?" Fred asked.
"Well, you see Dracula expects a werewolf to compete in his Monster race and well, Shaggy here is it" Brunch replied.
"Now wait a minute, can't Dracula find another werewolf? Does it mean that much to him that a werewolf compete in his dumb little race?" Fred inquired.
"Yes, it does" Brunch replied flatly.
"Oh; by the way, where are we anyway?" Fred inquired.
"Well, you see, this is an elevator and it will take you five back up to your rooms, so you can stay there and Shaggy can prepare for the race" Brunch replied.
"Great, it figures that we would walk into an elevator; by the way, we were walking around the castle and trying to find a way out of here, but while we were doing that we happened to find a door and behind it we could hear Dracula talking with what sounded like other monsters, any chance you two could tell us what was going on in there?" Fred asked.
"Like we would ever tell you that Dracula and the others are having their annual discussion of strategy and planning; and that they're trying to figure out how to award the prizes and other things about the race" Brunch replied.
"Um, call me crazy but didn't you just say that?" Fred inquired.
"Oh, I guess I did; you know I really must learn not to say things like that out loud" Brunch remarked.
"Yeah, you shouldn't be telling them our plans" Crunch added, in his unmistakable tone of voice.
"I know that Crunch, I know that" Brunch replied, as the elevator seemed to have stopped, which perplexed the gang quite a bit.
"All right now, everyone out" Brunch remarked as the elevator opened and he and Crunch led Scooby Doo and his friends out of the elevator and into a familiar looking hallway; however as the gang soon noticed, it was the exact same hallway that their bedrooms in which made them groan loudly.
Soon Brunch and Crunch walked down the hall, leading Scooby Doo and his mystery solving friends into their respective bedrooms; first the pair of hunchbacked creatures led Daphne and Velma into their bedroom, then a few moments later they led Fred, the werewolf Shaggy and Scooby Doo into their bedroom; the two hunch backed creatures then stood in the doorway and began speaking to the cowardly Great Dane and his friends, which made them very nervous.
"Now, I trust that the five of you will stay put; I wouldn't want you to try and escape again and neither does Dracula for that matter; have a good night and pleasant dreams everyone" Brunch said as he closed the door, leaving Fred, Shaggy and Scooby Doo to their own thoughts.
"Like I just don't get it, Dracula and for that matter the whole monster world must be against me; like we've tried everything to get out of this castle, but no matter what we try, we always end up back here, I mean we have to get out of here, but how are we going to it?" Shaggy wondered as he sat on his bed.
"I don't know Shaggy, I just don't know; maybe we need a good night's sleep to help us figure it out" Fred remarked.
"Yeah, like I'm getting a bit sleepy too come to think of it; although part of it might be that powder that the Hunch Bunch dropped onto us" Shaggy replied.
"That's always a possibility Shaggy, although I wonder what the girls are up to right now?" Fred wondered as he sat down on his bed.
"Like whatever's going on with them, I hope they're okay" Shaggy replied.
"Yeah me too, so should we get some sleep?" Fred asked.
"Like I don't know if I could sleep in this place, but I'll sure try; although one thing bothers me," Shaggy responded.
"What's that?" Fred asked.
"What if Dracula tried to booby trap our beds like he did with Daphne and Velma's?" Shaggy inquired.
"Hmm… good point Shaggy; although something tells me that old Dracula likes to pick on young women and girls as opposed to men and guys, so we might not have to worry about it" Fred replied.
"Well like I wouldn't mind checking anyway" Shaggy said as he tossed the sheets and covers of the bed aside, expecting to find a bed of spikes; however when he inspected the bed, he didn't find a thing except for a regular mattress, so he sat back down.
While Shaggy inspected his bed for any traps or spikes, Fred inspected his bed to make sure nothing was wrong with it, or nothing there weren't any spikes or traps in it; a few moments later Fred finished his inspection and found that there was nothing wrong with his bed either, so he decided to sit back on his bed and began speaking to Shaggy again.
"Hmm… so much for traps or a bed of spikes in here; well, no sense letting a good bed go to waste, night Shag, see you in the morning" Fred remarked as he laid down in the bed with his head on the pillow.
"Like yeah, I guess we could get some sleep; good night Fred" Shaggy replied as he drifted off to sleep.
Apparently the male members of Mystery Inc. were more tired then they thought, because as soon as Shaggy and Fred drifted off to sleep, Scooby Doo laid down and drifted into dreamland as well; next door, Daphne and Velma were also asleep and were attempting to get some rest, so they would be at 100 percent to search for another way out of Dracula's castle the next day.
While still apprehensive about sleeping in the home of the most hideous and evil monster to ever walk the earth, one Count Dracula, the gang managed to sleep well in the ancient home of the leader of vampires; Daphne and Velma however were not sleeping very well, in fact they had both been asleep for a few hours when each of them began to have the most horrible nightmares, ones that might cause them to never want to step foot inside a haunted house again, or that might cause them to never want to see Fred or Shaggy again for the rest of their lives.