Shaggy the Vampire

Chapter 6 – Back Home

Shaggy froze.

Here he was seeing his best friend again. After being joined at the hip for years to not seeing him for weeks and now…here he was again. Shaggy had spent the past three weeks not only trying to deal with his new body (and bloodlust) but he'd also been fretting over his friends: what they'd been doing, were they missing him, and how was Scooby doing without him?

He half-thought of fleeing but he felt something grab his arm – it turned out to be Daphne's hand. She'd obviously guessed he might flee and wanted to stop him. Not that she could really stop him but her hand was enough to make him pause and calm down.

"Rhaggy?" Scooby tipped his head sideways as he slowly walked forwards, looking very nervous. "Rhat's you, right?"

"Reah-I mean, yeah. It's me."

"Rhere have rou been?" (Translation: Where have you been?)

"Oh, you know, just…been around." He made a weak chuckle which didn't lighten the mood but he was now more concerned about all the noise at the front of the alley. "Hey, uh, I'd love to chat but I think we really need to go."

The other two followed his gaze. "We could go to my place!" cried Daphne. "Well, no, not mine. Technically, it's yours – I've just been staying there."

"You've been staying in my apartment?" asked Shaggy.

"Just on odd nights to keep Scooby company." She glanced towards the alley again. "Come on, we'll have to use the back way and go around."

"I know a quicker way," Shaggy spoke quietly. At their questioning looks, he explained, "Like, I could carry you two and get us there in two minutes."

"Really?" asked Daphne. She looked at Scooby, who nodded, and turned to Shaggy again. "Okay. We trust you."

Shaggy was surprised at this. He'd figured that, what with all their experiences of vampires, they'd have run a mile as soon as they knew what he was. Still.

"Okay. Come here." He helped Daphne climb onto his back, piggy-back style, and then picked Scooby up in his arms like he used to. Taking a few steps back, he took a run up towards the wall and then kept running up it. All the way to the roof and away. It was too dark for anyone to see and, even if they did notice something, he was gone too fast for them to know what it was.

He got them to the door in five minutes. Quickly scrambling inside, they locked the doors and closed all the curtains. Good thing too as, under the lights, Shaggy's pale, hard skin seemed to glow.

"You've looked after this place well," approved Shaggy, wandering round and looking at his home. "And my dog. Thank you." He stopped when he saw his reflection in the hallway mirror and stepped closer, looking at his face closely. As well as new skin, his eyes were a brilliant red colour and his hair had darkened slightly to a more caramel/chocolate colour. His face had also thinned slightly; his cheeks had sunk in very low which made his cheekbones stick out and the skin below his eyes was slightly purple, like he hadn't slept. All in all, he looked rather handsome (in a sickly, ill-looking kind of way).

Sensing someone nearby, he turned to find Daphne had been staring at him. She jumped and blushed that she'd been caught and quickly headed for the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Or…thirsty?"

Shaggy scoffed. "Like, I don't think you'll have anything that I can eat." The strong scent coming from the kitchen shut him up. Following it, he found it belonged to some pieces of raw steak on a plate, covered in blood. Without realising, he started to drool and his fangs slid down to his bottom lip.

After taking the steak out of the freezer, Daphne had gone to the living-room to check on Scooby. He was sitting on the couch, watching TV, and seemed rather tense around the shoulders. His senses are stronger than mine, Daphne thought. I wonder if Shaggy smells strange to him?

Returning to the kitchen, she stopped when she saw Shaggy. His fangs were out and he was practically drooling over the steak. The way he stared at the plate of meat, he looked…like an animal. "Shaggy?" she asked, timidly.

His head popped up to face her but he hadn't lost the animalistic look. Daphne paled slightly, well aware that she might smell just as appetising as the meat. However, he retracted his fangs and pulled himself together. "Sorry, but…it smells really good."

She smiled back. "I bought those earlier at the butcher. I was gonna cook them for me and Scooby tonight but I figured you might need them more."

"Yeah, thanks. I mean, it doesn't smell as good as fresh blood but it's pretty good for packaged food."

Daphne giggled. "Yeah. Your own food always tastes better than packet food. Packet food has far too much salt."

At that point, Scooby came in and looked round. "R'I smell reak." (Translation: I smell steak)

"Oh, hi, Scooby. I know we were planning on having steak for dinner but…how do you feel about giving it to Shaggy?"

"R'okay. Rhat will we have?"

"I'll make spaghetti."

Once dinner was ready, the three settled down to eat at the kitchen table. Rather than just grabbing the steaks and stuffing them in, Shaggy tried using cutlery to act human – but seeing as how he'd never acted human or polite around food, the others found this more strange than anything else.

Daphne found she couldn't stop staring at Shaggy: his new hair, the strange smell (not a bad smell) that she now noticed came from him, how the lights seemed to reflect and dance off his pale skin…

He sensed her staring again and looked up but rather than blushing, Daphne asked, "What happened?"

"What?"

"That night, when you went missing… What happened?"

Scooby looked up now as well. Shaggy looked uncomfortable. "Oh, that. You really wanna know?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we've worried about you the past three weeks and when we do find you, we find you're a vampire who almost killed those guys in the alley. And now you're home with us, eating bloody steaks. If you're gonna come back to us, Shag, I think we need to know what happened so we can help you."

Help me?" Shaggy scoffed. "I don't think there's a cure for this. Other than me dying…again." He saw their serious faces and sighed. "Okay. That night…"

He set down his fork and sat up straight. "Well, obviously, that was the last night of my human life. I'd gone out for popcorn as Scooby and I were watching a movie. I bought the popcorn and was heading back home through the alley when something big fell out of the air and hit me. I cried out in surprise and pain; I'd hit the ground pretty hard. And then the creature that hit me, the figure seemed human but it definitely wasn't, bit my neck and I…I was paralysed. I couldn't move. I just lay there as that thing fed from my neck."

"I thought I was going to die as he wasn't going to stop and I could feel myself getting weaker – but then there was this noise. Something rattled in the alley and the creature, I assume a vampire, looked up. Next thing I knew, he'd disappeared and I was left lying there, bleeding." Shaggy paused for a minute and looked so sad and lost that Daphne, imagining how her friend must have felt, took hold of his hand without thinking.

He looked at her but said nothing, just continued his story. "After several minutes, I was able to gather the strength to move. I crawled out of the alley into the street, looking for help. Everything was so distorted: my vision was blurred, my hearing was off – at times sounds were really clear and then they were very distant and echoed. I kept crawling until someone found me. I can't remember what they looked like, just a blur. I just acted on impulse: I launched at them and went for their neck, like the vampire had done to me. Only I didn't stop. When there was nothing left, I was able to stand and my senses had cleared. In fact, it was better. My vision was perfect, I could hear sounds that must have come from a couple miles away and my sense of smell must have been ten times better, like Scooby's. I also felt so much stronger and more confident."

"Then things went bad after that. I realised the person was dead and I was now a murderer. I had to cover my tracks so I took them and hid them in a nearby trash bin. Not very dignified, I know, but I was desperate. I was scared of being caught and what they might do to me. A couple days later, I stole this cloak from a store as I thought it'd be good for camouflage; I mostly hunted at night. I didn't want to hurt people and found that I could live off animal blood. I still felt bad as I'm a vegetarian – well, I was – but I figured it wasn't as bad. Plus, it would attract less attention than people going missing. I've been living on the streets since."

"Other than that first person, have you killed anyone else?"

"No. Like I said, I've gone for some homeless people but I haven't actually killed anyone."

"And you wiped their memories," remembered Daphne. "Those guys in the alley tonight? You said you'd go after them and wipe their memories?"

"Yeah. I'll…do it later."

"There's something I don't understand, though," said Daphne, frowning. "That vampire bit you, didn't drain you, and then you changed into a vampire. Yet you're bitten people without killing them and they…didn't change?"

"No. The first couple I kinda followed for a while but they seemed fine. Well, as fine as they could be."

"Then why did you change and they didn't?"

"I don't know," frowned Shaggy. "Maybe it's to do with the bite? I mean, my throat was left open and bleeding but when I go for someone, I heal the cut so it stops bleeding. My saliva makes the skin seal up and it leaves a tiny scar."

"Ew," said Daphne, wrinkling her nose. "Stop talking about salivating on people's necks."

"Sorry."

They were quiet for a while before Scooby spoke, "Rhat's it rike being a rampire?" (Translation: What's it like being a vampire?)

"Er, well…apart from the blood thing, it's actually kinda cool. As you saw, my speed and strength are much better. That's probably the coolest thing. My senses are, like, way better. I can climb walls and jump amazing distances. It's exhilarating." As he spoke, he became more like the old Shaggy they knew – more open and friendly and ready to have a laugh. "The strangest thing is my appearance. I've changed so much."

"Yes, you have," said Daphne, somewhat dreamily. He was more confident, more attractive…Whoa, thought Daphne. Where am I going with this? This is my best friend and he's just become a vampire. I should be worried about him, not fantasying about him…

"What about all the vampire myths?" she asked, as a means to distract herself. "Can you go out in the sunlight? Do you have a reflection? What about garlic? You know, that kind of thing?"

"I've found that I can go out in sunlight but it's very uncomfortable and hurts my eyes – but I took a pair of sunglasses and they've, like, helped a lot. I've seen my reflection in mirrors and shop windows and I think the garlic thing must be a myth, too, as I've gone near it a few times and it hasn't bothered me."

"Ran you reat?" asked Scooby. (Translation: Can you eat?)

"Food? Well, I've tried but…it doesn't taste of anything. And it doesn't fill me up like it used to. Only blood stops my hunger and, even then, human blood seems to be better than animals' blood."

"Rou rook tired," whined Scooby, looking at the purple bags under Shaggy's eyes and the lined expression.

"Oh, no," smiled Shaggy. "This is just how I look. I don't sleep."

"Ever?" asked Daphne.

"No, not at all. These past three weeks, I haven't slept or even felt tired. Mentally tired, yes, thinking about what's happened, but not physically." He looked up at the clock. "Hey, it's pretty late. Why don't you two go to sleep?"

"Rhat about rou?" asked Scooby.

"I'm gonna go find those guys from the alley and wipe their memories," Shag explained, standing up. "I'll come back later."

"So you're definitely coming back?" Daphne wanted to confirm. "Only we don't want to lose you again."

"Yes. I promise I'll come back." And with that, he disappeared from sight…

Notes: Apologies for keeping you waiting. I've been swept away with college and such.

I found this scene rather hard to write because I wasn't sure how to present it. I didn't want it to be too dark and heavy yet it wasn't supposed to sound cheesy either, going over the well-known vampire myths (and yes, if you're wondering, the non-sleeping bit comes from Twilight).

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it's worth the wait. Please review.