Shaggy the Vampire

Chapter 13 – The Threat and A Plan

Early the next morning, Daphne was standing by the coffee machine, waiting for it to finish. Both she and Scooby had declined Velma's offer of going to bed and had instead stayed up with her all day researching the recent disappearances and looking up vampire lore. The total number of people who were reported as being missing was around fifty (a large enough army if you had super-speed and strength). Reports varied and there was no mention of Bridget or James so there could possibly be more they weren't aware of. They couldn't be sure of how reliable the information on vampires was and it was mostly all Hollywood stuff: mirrors, garlic, sunlight, etc. – all of which Shaggy had told them was not true. Instead, they looked to older accounts and traditional superstitions and found more promising accounts of meetings with strange, cold creatures who survived off blood; it described their supreme physical capabilities and apparent indestructability as well as the ability to control other creatures merely by maintaining eye contact, along with the ability to transform others by drinking the victim's blood and injecting venom into the bloodstream which spread and distorted the remaining blood cells, changing the victim into one of the creatures. "That must be what happened with Shaggy," Daph said. "When he was bitten, he was turned as that monster wanted to change him. But when Shaggy bit people, nothing happened as he didn't release any venom."

There only appeared to be one cure – kill the creator. Of all the Hollywood legends, only one appeared to be true: a wooden stake through the heart. Not only did it kill the creature but it destroyed all remnants, including any outsourced venom. They'd gotten excited over the possibility of curing all those infected – but first, they'd have to find the creator and get close enough to stab him. How on earth were they gonna do that?

Oh, it's been a long day, Daph thought tiredly as she poured the coffee. It was now late evening and it was starting to get dark outside. She'd been awake since the morning of their day out: the trip into the forest, pulling an all-nighter in the hospital with James, up all day researching with Velma… How many hours was that? 30? More? She was too tired to think. And they weren't through yet: they still needed to find out more about this vampire and were hoping to quiz Bridget and James about what they could remember from their time in the wasteland.

Daph returned to the sofa with two coffees and sat one besides Velma, who was hunched over her laptop and repeatedly tapping a button…with her eyes closed. Scooby was lying next to her on the couch on his back, all four legs in the air and his head hanging off the couch, tongue lolling out and snoring heavily. They were all tired. Daphne sat on the arm next to Velma and nudged her shoulder, who jerked up immediately, looking wildly around. "I'm awake!"

"We really ought to get some rest, Velmster," suggested Daphne.

"No, we can't. We have to keep working. We've wasted too much time as it is while I was away," argued her stubborn friend. "Besides, you've made coffee now." She took a sip from one of the cups and looked immediately brighter. With the help of coffee, the two managed to stay awake for a while longer but could find little else of value. So Velma started making a folder on the vampire leader. "…It's empty," pointed out Daphne. "We don't know anything."

"I'm just getting organised for when we can interview Bridget and James about this vamp. We can start filling in what we know. I mean, we know he's building an army and is extremely power-hungry, with little respect for human life. I'm guessing he's been a vampire for a while and is experienced as he's been able to turn so many without killing them and is trying to control them while turning them into an army. And he seems to be using some deserted wasteland to hold his army. Maybe Bridget can tell us where? I don't think James will be much help there; I mean, bleeding to death doesn't really allow you to pay attention to your surroundings… Okay, I give in. Let's go to bed."

Velma borrowed a pair of her friend's pyjamas and slept in her bed while Daphne slept in Shaggy's, with Scooby lying at her feet. For some reason she couldn't explain (or didn't want to), she hated the idea of Velma being in Shaggy's bed – despite him not having used it for weeks. It felt a little strange to be lying in his bed but, to her surprise, found she rather liked it…

Shaggy was running home. He'd spent some time with Bridget, trying to teach her how to adapt to her new abilities and utilise them. In return, she told him all she could from her brief meeting with the vampire leader. She was still overwhelmed by all the changes but, with his coaching, was handling things calmer and adjusting quickly. Finally, he'd told her he needed to go home and check on his friends to ensure they were okay, promising to return with news of James and any details of what was going on.

Finally arriving in the parking lot, he froze at the sight of a very rusty and very familiar truck. Velma's here? he thought to himself. Wasn't she on a work cruise or something for three months?

Hope rose within him. Had Velma come back? Was she okay with him being a vampire? If that was so, then they had the smartest member of the gang on their side to help them research – and it would be good to have his friend back. He'd missed Velma.

However, he only got as far as the stairs when he froze, just as Daphne and Scooby had. He, too, could smell death but in a much stronger potent than the others had been able to. Someone, another vampire, had been here: someone he did not know. He would have recognised the scent if it had belonged to his attacker. Worry now replaced hope as he feared for Daphne and Scooby's safety – and Velma's, too, if she was here…

He hurried inside to find the place empty. There were two empty cups that smelt strongly of coffee sitting on the table and two laptops that had been used recently (he could sense the heat still coming off them). He checked the bedrooms and breathed a sigh of relief as he found the two girls and his dog safe and fast asleep. He was a little surprised at the unusual sleeping arrangements but found he didn't mind.

Happy that his friends were safe, he now focused on the stranger. The scent was all over the apartment; whoever their visitor had been, he had gone through every room methodically as if looking for something. The scent was strongest in each bedroom, around their wardrobes and chest-of-drawers'; Shaggy didn't know enough about Daphne's things to tell if anything was missing but found that one of his green shirts, which had been lying on a chair, had disappeared and that one of Scooby's spare collars had gone missing from the bedside drawer. Each had our scents on them, he thought. He wanted mine and Scooby's scents – and maybe Daphne's, too. Then he found the missing photo and recalled that it was of the three of them.

"Daphne." He touched her shoulder and the cold of his hand shocked her awake.

"Wha-? What is it?" she asked, still groggy with sleep.

"Daphne, wake up! I need you to look through your belongings and see if anything's missing."

"What? Why? Hey, when did you get back?"

"Just now. Like, someone's been in this apartment and taken things from me and Scooby – things with our scent on them. There's also a photo of the three of us missing so they know what we look like, too. I reckon they took something of yours to scent. Now have a look!"

Daphne scrambled out of bed and quickly began sifting through her clothes. After a couple minutes of searching, she turned to face him, "I've found it. Or, rather, I can't find it. My green shirt's missing. It's one I wear to work; it matches well with my purple skirt and jacket. It's not here… He knows about us. He's got our scents and knows what we look like. He knows where we live. He wants you to join him. He's coming after us!"

"He won't get near you," Shaggy promised, fiercely.

"I'm not worried about us, I'm worried about you! I'm worried about everyone! What's he done to you and Bridget and James and the rest of his army – and what he plans to do to everyone else. To humanity! It's horrifying!"

"We're gonna stop him." The vamp knelt before his friend, who was still sitting on the floor by her wardrobe, and lifted her chin to make her look at him. "I'm going to stop him. I know I'm not normally one for standing up to the bad guys – but when it comes to the people I care about, I'd do anything for them. And I will protect you and Scooby. We can't… We won't let him do this to anyone else."

"I knew something was wrong," Daphne admitted. "When Scooby and I got back here, we both smelt death. We both knew someone had been here. But then we were distracted by Velma and forgot everything else."

"Yeah, about that. What's Velma doing here? Like, I thought she was on that cruise thing?"

"For the last time, it's not a cruise! It's a three-month research trip" corrected Velma, huffily, standing in the doorway. Her eyebrows rose a little when she saw the position the two were in on the floor, who quickly stood up looking awkward. "I heard you guys talking and came through to see what was up…" She paused and looked a little nervously at the man and friend she had ran out on before. "Hi, Shaggy."

"Hi, Velma… Nice to see you?"

"…Look, I'm really sorry that I ran out on you before. I just… I couldn't take it in. I had to get away! I was stressed with preparing for my trip and still grieving over your apparent death. And then for you to just turn up out of the blue as you did, alive and well – well, relatively speaking – as if nothing had happened… And not only were you back but you were a creature that we've spent years disproving. How many monster have we caught that turned out to be fakes? I didn't believe those creatures could be real. And then my missing best friend reappears as one! I freaked out and I am so sorry! But when I got on that ship and started to think, I knew I'd made a terrible mistake. No matter what, you are my friend and I knew that if I was struggling with this, then you must be going through hell. I'll also admit some scientific curiosity as to your…condition and wanting to study it. But above all, I wanted to come back and help my friend. So I got off at the last stop before the ship set sail and made my way back."

"It's okay, Velma. I understand. Like, it's a huge shock to all of us and we're all just trying to deal with it in our own way," reassured Shaggy. "I'm just glad you came back. I've really missed hanging out with all my friends."

Velma teared up a little. "I've missed you, too. And I'm really glad that you're not dead. Well, not dead dead."

They all chuckled at that before Velma got a resolute look on her face and stepped slowly towards Shaggy. He held still, not sure what she was doing and not wanting to scare her. Upon reaching him, Velma gently took his hand and examined the new skin before examining his new eyes and hair. "You're so different. And yet, you're still you inside. Oh, this is fascinating!"

The other three sighed in relief, Shag especially. He had been worried that his new appearance and abilities would frighten everyone off but, given the chance, they were accepting the changes in him quite well and seemed more curious than scared. He could virtually see the gears whirring in Velma's brain as she studied him and knew that the scientist in her must be going into overdrive at this latest 'discovery'. But, first and foremost, she was his friend and was putting him first instead of her career and he truly appreciated it.

Velma examined him for a few minutes more before pulling herself together and adopting a business tone. "Right. Anyway. Scoob, Daph and I have been researching all day on vampire lore, trying to find anything of use. …Don't get excited, it's not proven, but we think we may have a solution. Apparently, if we kill the head vampire, the one behind all this, with a stake through the heart then it will kill all traces of him and everyone that he converted will be changed back. Imagine! You could be human again. And we could save everyone else he's turned and let them get back to their worried families."

"Really?!" gasped Shaggy. Pictures suddenly filled his mind before he could stop them: of himself, with pink skin and brown eyes, tripping over his own feet; of feeling hungry again and digging into several pizzas with Scooby; of holding hands with Daphne and not seeing goosebumps on her arm from having touched his cold skin… He shook his head. "Don't put ideas in my head. It might not work. And we need to get to him first."

"Well, like I said, it's just an idea," pacified Velma. "We've certainly got other things to work on. Like talking to James and Bridget – if they can remember where this wasteland is or anything about the head vampire, that would be a great start."

"Oh, I did ask Bridget about that! She's not sure where it is. They were attacked in an alley and blacked out before waking up in the wasteland. Her first couple days are kinda blurry, like I was – all she was certain of is that there were several vampires around, including the leader who kept talking to them and who suggested killing James when he didn't turn – she simply grabbed James and ran until things turned green. She was surrounded by brown…and then it went green."

"When she entered the forest," concluded Daph. "If her vision or memory was blurred, a forest could look like a green haze. But what about the brown? In a wasteland? A dig site, maybe?"

"I'll look online if there's anything nearby," Velma said distractedly. "Hhm. Shame. It would help a lot if we knew where this army was. We've also been researching all the missing persons in the area as they're likely to be a part of this army. Now…who's to say that they all want to be a part of it? I get that the whole bloodlust thing makes it difficult but…you and Bridget resisted targeting humans. And you refused to join his army. There might well be others who also disagree with him."

"Well, then, why would they be in his army?" asked Daphne.

"He's threatened to come after you," pointed out Shaggy. "He might be threating others to work with him or else he'll hurt someone they care about. Hey, if that's the case, I should go warn Bridget. James could now be a target – they'll know he's important to her; she resisted killing him and took off with him. We might need to keep a watch on the hospital."

"Okay," agreed Velma. "So we'll need to take turns watching James. Daph and I can sort that out while looking over the families of those that have gone missing; if we can warn them and get them to safety, the lead vampire would have no hold over any rebels. Meanwhile, Shaggy, can you go back to Bridget and try to get her to retrace her steps? I know it's blurry in her mind but if she actually retraces her steps, she might see or hear or smell something familiar that will jog her memory. It's worth a try; we need to know where that army is."

"If we can find the army and get any rebels onside, promising that their families are safe, we could have a real shot at solving this and putting everything back to normal," cried Daphne, excited by the prospect.

"This is actually starting to form some sort of plan!" yelled Velma, pleased that her hours of work was starting to take shape and giving them something practical to do.

"Look, this all sounds great and such – and it really does," ensured Shaggy, "but there's still problems here. Like, how are we going to convince people that they're the targets of vampires? And where can we hide them that's not only big enough to hold lots of people but is also vampire-proof? And how do we get near the wasteland to befriend the good vampires, if there are any, without the bad vampires spotting us? And, ultimately, how do we get close enough to the leader to put a stake through his chest. I mean, this guy doesn't seem like an amateur – he knows what he's doing and has got others on his side. How do we get past him?"

"…He always has to spoil everything, doesn't he?" grumped Velma.

Notes: Hi! I know it's been a very long time but I've been dealing with some stuff and think I've reached a turning point. So I'm trying to get back into my old hobbies, including fanfiction. I will try to update regularly.