Shaggy the Vampire

Chapter 11 – An Explanation

Shaggy was running, racing as fast as he could with all his super-speed and strength whilst carrying Daphne on his back. They flew through the forest, following the trail of Scooby's scent.

The two had been on the highest branches of the trees, kissing and enjoying a peaceful, romantic moment – and then, from far away, the vampire's superb hearing picked up the distressed whimpers of his best friend. Immediately, he pulled Daphne onto his back and dropped from the tree. Taken completely by surprise, Daphne had screamed the whole way down, believing that her friend had somehow slipped and they were now falling to their deaths; however, Shaggy had grabbed a hanging branch shortly before the bottom to slow their descent before jumping the 20ft to the ground and landing perfectly. Daphne had been terribly jolted and scared but had little time to react as Shaggy muttered, "Scooby!" and took off at top speed. She held on as tight as she could and kept her eyes closed, scared and uncomfortable, but had understood from that one word that Scooby must be in some kind of trouble and Shag was just trying to get to him. So she held on, hoping the journey would be over soon and that they'd reach the Great Dane in time to save him from whatever the threat was.

The two finally arrived in the clearing where the trail ended. There, they found two people across from them against one of the trees: a pale young man and his even paler girlfriend crouching over him. Though he looked like he was about to pass out, he was holding onto her arm as if he were restraining her. She was completely focused on him; her breathing was loud and heavy like she couldn't catch her breath and she was consistently shaking her head like there was something wrong with it. And across from them, on Shag and Daph's right, cowered Scooby – shaking like a leaf but alive and well.

Daphne slipped off Shaggy's back and went over to check on the pooch, who was looking frightened but relieved to see his two friends. Shag paused long enough to watch them before focusing on the two strangers. The girl kept staring at her boyfriend, fixated on him and taking no notice of anything else. Her boyfriend, however, was staring across at Shaggy. Keeping one hand on his girlfriend's arm, he raised his other hand, palm up, as if in surrender.

Shaggy stood still, glaring at them but not moving forward. "Who are you? And more importantly, who is she?" He pointed at the pale girl, taking in the scent of death and recognising her as one of his own. He glanced back at Scooby for a moment. "Why is my best friend in such a state? If you've done anything-"

"No, she never!" cried the young man. "I swear! She was going to but I begged her to stop and she did! She's new at this, she's struggling with control – but you understand that, don't you? You're like her. Remember we were in that café and that kid hurt its knee? You ran out so fast and surprised us all. Because you're a vampire like Bridget. Can you help her?" He indicated his girlfriend, who made a strange guttural sound and looked up. Her red eyes glowered at Daphne and Scooby while her face twisted as if in pain.

Shaggy's face softened as he recognised the pair and realised that this was indeed a new vampire. He remembered his own first days, where his throat had burned from the thirst and all his senses had sharpened so dramatically that they overwhelmed him, making his head hurt from all the new sights and smells and sounds. She's going through the same thing, he thought, and doing better than me. In his early days, he'd attacked people, driven half-mad with thirst; now here was this girl undergoing that same pain yet still managing to resist the fresh prey in front of her – the redhead and the dog. Anger was replaced with pity. "I know you're struggling right now, the first few days are hell – but I promise you, it does get better. The pain goes away."

His friends looked at him in surprise, not liking the idea of him being in pain. Beyond that first night on his return, Shag hadn't said anything about his attack or the aftermath nor would he give any details; the others had understood that it had been a difficult and frightening time…but painful?

Bridget looked up at him, looking so sad. "Really?" she gasped out. "I'm so…" She held her throat and made choked sounds.

"I know. But this is just the initial stage and you're doing well; like, you haven't gone for my friends – and I know how much self-control that takes. If you can control it now, you're gonna be fine… I'm Shaggy, by the way. And, like, this is Daphne and Scooby."

"James. Bridget. Nice to meet you," replied ginger. He was still holding onto his neck and seemed paler than before; he was clearly losing his strength. "How long have you been like this?" asked Daphne. "You're losing a lot of blood. You need to go to the hospital."

"I can't…go myself. And Bridget can't trust herself to…be near others so can't take me."

"We were attacked the same day as the café," mumbled Bridget. "We were walking home through an alley when he… It… We found ourselves in this wasteland. I'd changed but James… I think his body's rejecting it. They didn't want him. So I got us out. Came here. It's been days and he's getting worse. But I can't go near people. Just being near you is killing me!"

"You haven't attacked James," Daphne pointed out.

"I love him! I could never hurt him." Bridget began rocking to and fro whilst making crying notions; there were no tears, however (they'd learned from Shaggy that he could no longer cry). She kept grasping her throat and was now pinching her nose.

"You said they didn't want you?" asked Shaggy. "I thought we were just dealing with the one."

James painfully shook his head. "No, there were dozens. He's…making an army. He wants vampires to be in charge; he plans to enslave humans. He wants you to join him – you're his last soldier." The young man seemed to gain a bit of strength and managed to sit up a little straighter. "Listen – you need to listen! He's coming for you. Once he has you and Bridget, he'll have enough soldiers to start his war on humanity. He's gotta be stopped. We gotta…hide. He'll take them." He nodded at Daph and Scoob. "He'll use them to make you join."

Shaggy growled – a low inhuman sound that didn't sound natural coming from him. His friends looked at him in surprise. "He'll never get anywhere near my friends! Just let him come." He looked round at them fiercely. Daphne smiled just a little in encouragement and he smiled back.

At this point, James' strength deserted him and he slumped back down again. Bridget looked up and launched forward in panic. "James?! James! NO! Please wake up! Please!" She looked up in desperation at the other three. "Please help him!"

"Re'll rake him to hospital," Scooby assured her. It was the first he'd spoken throughout the whole exchange. The shock had finally worn off and he was coming round, seeing Bridget's distress and knowing that she meant them no harm; whether she would harm them was a different matter but it was clear she was trying to resist. "Re'll help rou and stop rhat rampire."

"Scooby's right," agreed Daph, standing up. "Shaggy. Grab James and whip him to the hospital. Probably best if you leave him at the door; if you hang around, it may lead to a lot of awkward questions. Scooby and I will head there in the car and I'll say I'm his sister or something to get in and see him. Erm, Bridget? …If you could just wait here, please? We need to know where you are so we can report back. We promise to help James all we can. Then we'll look into this army and stop that vampire…"