Shaggy the Vampire

Chapter 5 – Revelation

Shaggy looked at Daphne sadly. "I'm sorry, Daphne."

Her eyebrows curved down in a confused arch. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Daph," he said her old nickname fondly, "but as you can see, we can't hang out anymore. It's too dangerous to be around me."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," she laughed. "You're perfectly safe-"

"No, I'm not! Like you said, I'm a vampire now – I drink blood!" he cried, waving his arms. "I'm…I have to feed every two days in order to survive. I can't risk being around someone that I care about."

"But I… Does it have to be human?"

"…No, I've been able to feed on animals, too. But the lure of human blood is pretty strong – sometimes I can't help it. I've…gone for a few homeless people."

"You…you mean you've killed-?"

"No! No, no, no. I just took a small amount of blood and wiped their memories."

"You wiped their memories?"

"Yeah, I…I seem to be able to control people. If I maintain eye contact, it's like their mind goes blank and they're willing to do whatever I say."

"So the people you attacked-" he winced at the word but didn't say anything, "they can never report it as they won't remember. What about these guys?" She indicated the alley. Although the men were gone, her meaning was clear.

"I'll hunt them down and wipe their memories. I have a very good sense of smell now – I can easily trace where they went." The increasing noise from the front of the alley distracted him now. As well as smell, all his senses had been dramatically improved and his new hearing ability allowed him to hear sounds at a great distance (if he tried hard, he could hear several miles away). And right now, what he was hearing was an ambulance getting closer and closer. He knew that the guy with the bitten neck was near the alley entrance (along with some strange women wearing very strong perfume and reeking of alcohol).

"What is it?" Daphne asked, seeing he was preoccupied.

"We have to go – I'm hearing an ambulance getting closer and I imagine that the police will eventually arrive. Neither of us want to be here when that happens."

"Right, okay," whispered Daphne. She looked rather dazed. Maybe the shock of all that had happened was settling in? "But what about Scooby?"

"…I don't understand."

"I only came here tonight because Scooby went missing. I thought he might have come here. He's been absolutely miserable since you disappeared – we've all been staying with him to keep him company and see he's okay. We've also had to stop him from coming here, to this alley; he wanted to try and find some clues to help us find you but we didn't think it was a good idea. Anyway, the police have finally left it and when I found Scoob had gone, I figured he'd be here. I don't know how he slipped by me but-"

"Scooby?" Shaggy whispered and Daphne looked at his pained expression. In his mind's eye, Shaggy was picturing him and his best friend playing together as they used to. "Is he okay?"

"Physically, he's fine but he misses you terribly… Maybe you could come home and see him?"

Shag looked down at her. "I miss him, too. I miss him and you and the rest of the gang, possibly even more than I miss food. But I can't come back! They'd never accept me as I am. I mean, look at me – I'm a monster! I'm a vampire!" he screeched, causing Daph to take a step back. He looked at her sadly. "What would Scooby say if he saw me now?"

"R'd say R'I don't rind," came a rumbly voice and the dog stepped forward into the light. (Translation: I'd say I don't mind.)

Notes: I'm back! Sorry – I know it's been months but I had college occupying my time. I finally got in and I'm taking 4 Higher courses so I've been pretty busy. Anyway, to try and make up for it, I've added a couple chapters (and another for The Masked Yule Ball). Hope these are worth the wait. Please read and review!