Chapter 2

Revelations

The rest of the gang burst into Shaggy's room expecting the worst. The two women and only other man were still in their night clothes but looked threatening anyway do to their "weapons". While Fred did have a baseball bat the other two… well Velma had her thickest hardbound book and Daphne had an expensive, albeit heavy, looking crystal vase. They wondered why Shaggy was still screaming bloody murder.

"Shag, what's wrong?" Fred yelled being the first to get there. Shaggy however couldn't speak quite yet as he was still shaking pretty badly. Velma sat on his bed and placed an arm around his shoulders expecting him to hug her as they had been dating for a few months now. At first he flinched away then looked at her and put his head in her lap with the occasional sob. The shaking was starting to calm a bit but was only noticeable by Velma.

"Shaggy?" Daphne said hesitantly noticing the quick exchange. She had known him better than the rest did, sure he scared easily but this broken shell of a person defied his usual cheerful attitude and goofy demeanor. "What's wrong?" she asked. His head shot up at her voice and he looked at her. The look in his eyes scared her more than anything else had so far. It was a there is no hope kind of look. She then did something to the surprise of everyone; she walked up to him and enveloped him in a hug. He seemed to calm down much more by this action.

This greatly confused Fred, sure he wasn't dating Daphne currently but for some reason he saw some deeper meaning behind the hug than just a friend calming another friend. However it did seem to calm Shaggy down so he let the point go. Then Fred glanced at Velma and saw the shocked look at betrayal and jealously written on her face. Probably thinking why her embrace hadn't help that much but Daphne's had a bigger effect. No one had time to contemplate this little piece of drama for shaggy had finally spoken in a choked voice.

"I had a nightmare, oh thank god you guys are here and alive." The hollow voice of their usually cheerful friend grated at their hearts. Then tears were shared all around as he went into the details of this dream. It was when he mentioned the nail that Velma noticed Shaggy's arm was bleeding in the same place he got cut in. She started to wipe the blood away and clean the cut but shaggy shook his head. "Later I promise. Sorry about before I wasn't myself." He promised this although his arms were still around Daphne, much to Velma's annoyance.

Velma ignored this for now however because her worry for him was stronger than her will to slap Daphne off her man. "Shaggy, you said near the end of your dream that you thought you recognized the masked face of the monster." She paused to get her next words right before continuing. "Who was it?" she then notice how Shaggy's arms tightened around Daphne.

"Daphne…." Shaggy said quietly. "Do you remember the chest?" The crystal vase Daphne had been hold fell to the floor shattering on the semi-hard carpeting. Now there was a tiny look of fear in her eyes as well, not nearly as noticeable as Shaggy's but still there. "Daphne we need to go to Tibet." That simple statement was all it took to send shivers up and down her spine.

"Oh god, you don't think?" she started; shaggy just shrugged indicating he had no idea. "Shit and the crystal ball just had to break last Halloween too. We could've tried to contact Vincent. Hmmm I don't really want to go all that was to find out nothing is wrong."

"Um, what the heck are you guys talking about!" Velma yelled her patience finally running out. "What is this chest? What the heck does that old Halloween decoration have to do in this? Who the hell is this Vincent guy? And why the Hell are you still coddling my boyfriend? You know it took me years to finally ask him out. WHAT THE FUmmmmfff" Fred by this point had covered her mouth and tried to calm her down. That was the first outburst any of them had ever experienced from the timid brain of the group.

Shaggy and Daphne finally realized that they were still holding each other and quickly sprang apart. Shaggy went to Velma his arms outstretched, hers were still folded across her chest anger plastered on her features. "Velms, I'm sorry but, like let us explain ourselves. If you still hate me after then ok but until then keep an open mind." Shaggy said. Velma nodded her acknowledgement.

"First of all, have you heard in your research of something called the Chest of Demons?" Daphne questioned. The researcher in Velma perked up as she had heard of it before.

"Jinkies." She said excitedly as she ran off to her room. Meanwhile everyone went to the living room to get comfortable on the couches and chairs. Twenty minutes later Velma returned with an ancient tome in her arms. "Finally found it. I was reading this book in my spare time." She said sitting next to shaggy which was an improvement from before and plopped the book down on the coffee table. Turning to the marked page she began to read. "The chest of demons is a mythical object that was used to capture the thirteen most fearsome ghosts the world has ever known. It was then locked and hidden in a remote location never to be seen again. Or so the legend goes." Velma looked from Daphne to shaggy and back. "You can't honestly be implying its real. Can you?"

"Honey, there is a lot you guys don't know about what happened." Shaggy said to Velma. He held her hand in his then kissed the back of it. "We'll tell the story but remember Velms…. I'm here with you now ok?" He then hugged her and pecked her on the lips. "Here we go…"