Shaggy was almost paralyzed with fear. Previously, everything he'd worried about was just silly things like whether or not he'd fit in, or if he was awkward in a certain situation (the answers to these two questions were usually a no and a yes, in that order). He had never actually seen something where he was physically frightened of its existence.

Nobody had to say a word, because they were all thinking the same thing: they needed to get the hell out of there.

Shaggy and the others sprinted down the hall, away from the office. They had no time to wait for the elevator, so they burst into the stairwell and raced down the steps. Shaggy was going to look behind himself, but he didn't want to subject himself to that kind of horror. It would do him no good to know if that creep was gaining on him or not; he just had to keep running and hope he wouldn't be caught.

"We can hide in my room!" Velma shouted, as they made it to the bottom of the stairs. The seven frightened teens all scurried into Velma and Thorn's room. Once everyone had safely gotten in the room, Velma locked the door behind them.

"Did he see us?" Fred whispered, so that the creature couldn't overhear them if it was out in the hall.

"I don't think so." Dusk panted. "I didn't look at all when we were on the second floor, but I quickly looked behind me when we got down the stairs, and there was nobody there."

"Good." Daphne breathed a sigh of relief. "We should be quiet for another minute just in case it's still lurking around."

The following minute of silence was almost painful for Shaggy to get through. He was so anxious that it felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. After sixty seconds of what felt like pure agony, Shaggy broke the silence by opening his mouth.

"Like, let me just be the first to say…what was that thing?!" Shaggy exclaimed.

"I don't know." Luna peeped.

"I'm afraid to say this, but…it didn't look human." Daphne replied, still panting a bit from the sprinting.

"I'm glad you said it, because I had the same thought. It didn't look human at all." Fred nodded.

"That's probably why he called himself The Freak of Crystal Cove High. It likely isn't human. It's some sort of creature out of a nightmare." Thorn responded.

"Do you think he's responsible for the murders?" Shaggy asked.

"It's not like there just happens to be somebody murdering people, plus a random freak walking around. They have to be connected. There's no question in my mind: that was the murderer." Dusk responded.

"Like, I thought the murderer was going to be scary in the sense of being a psychotic kid or something. I didn't think it was going to be some supernatural creature!" Shaggy gasped in a panic.

"We need to report this to Headmistress Quinlan." Luna urged.

"What's she going to do, though?" Velma asked. "She couldn't even handle it when there was just a murderer. She'll never be able to deal with a supernatural creature."

"We can't deal with a supernatural creature on our own either." Thorn challenged. "We need to tell somebody."

"I hate to disagree with you Velma, but I think Thorn and Luna are right. We should mention it to Headmistress Quinlan. Maybe we can soften the blow a bit by saying we saw some guy in the shadows who tried to scare us, instead of telling her it was a monster." Fred suggested.

"What's our alibi, though? If we tell her we saw something, she'll check the security cameras and know we went into her office." Daphne pointed out.

"She's right." Fred realized. "We can't tell Quinlan anything or we could really get in trouble."

"Like, we could really get in trouble now, if that freak busts into this room and kills us!" Shaggy reminded.

"I don't think we're going to resolve this tonight." Velma deduced.

"Like, we can't go back up to our rooms! That thing could still be up there, and like, we'd be sitting ducks!" Shaggy gulped.

"Shaggy's right." Thorn replied. "Velma, are you okay with everybody staying in our room tonight? I think that would be the safest option."

"I agree." Velma replied, which Shaggy was grateful for. "I guess somebody will have to take the couch, and the rest will take the floor. It won't be the comfiest option…but it will be the safest option."

Quite frankly, Shaggy didn't particularly care about comfort. As far as he was concerned, there was safety in numbers, and seven against one had much likelier odds than two against one. He just had to hope The Freak wasn't some supernatural creature who could walk through walls and grab them in the night.


Daphne yawned and stretched as she woke up. She'd had an absolutely atrocious night of sleep. Velma's room was surprisingly hot, and it wasn't exactly the most comfortable sleeping on the floor. She felt like she should, though - she was a guest in Velma's room and she didn't want to hog the couch. Fred had ended up taking the couch, while Shaggy took the armchair, and the others laid on the floor. Daphne had a bit of a backache from lying on the hard floor, and felt a jolt of pain as she got up.

"How did everyone sleep?" Thorn inquired. Daphne hadn't realized she and Velma were already up.

"Terrible." Dusk moaned. "That had to be one of the most uncomfortable sleeps I've ever had. Thank god it's morning."

"Like, even the armchair wasn't that comfortable." Shaggy lamented.

"Do you think it's safe to leave the room yet?" Luna said with a quiver in her voice.

"I imagine so." Velma responded. "It's morning, so The Freak should be gone now."

"Thank goodness. I'm famished! I haven't eaten anything in, like, over 12 hours!" Shaggy exclaimed.

"So what do we do about The Freak? Thorn asked. "We have to come up with a plan. If that creep is able to get into the school, he could kill again."

"Can we wait until we've got some breakfast in us, please?" Dusk moaned. "I don't have the mental energy to process this after sleeping like crap."

"I think that's a good idea." Fred replied. "We'll be better able to think once we've got some breakfast and coffee in us."

"You drink coffee?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. Helps keep me awake for those long days of school and football practice." Fred replied.

"I drink it too." Dusk interjected. "Just started last year."

"You mean straight black coffee?" Luna wondered, clearly surprised.

"Of course! I'm not some sissy who can only drink those slightly caffeinated milkshakes that our generation likes to call coffee." Dusk sneered back.

"I'll have you know I like those 'slightly caffeinated milkshakes'!" Thorn playfully teased.

"Yeah, they're great! Have you ever tried one?" Daphne responded. She was shocked that her roommate seemed to have such a vendetta against blended coffee.

"Of course not! Why would I pretend I'm drinking coffee when I'm actually drinking an ice cream shake?" Dusk defended angrily.

"How do you know you hate it if you never tried one?" Thorn taunted.

"Hey, maybe we can go into town today and get some coffee together, if you guys didn't have other plans? That will help us process what to do about the murderer, and maybe it could help us unwind a bit from the busy first week." Daphne suggested.

"Actually, that would be really nice." Luna smiled. She had seemed so uncomfortable following the events of the past few days that Daphne found it wonderful to see her roommate smile for once.

"We had no other plans. I think that sounds like a fun idea!" Fred agreed. "Besides, it'd allow us to explore the town a bit."

"I think it's only about a mile walk from the school." Thorn chimed in. "I'm open to going."

"Sure!" Velma added.

"Like, yeah. It'd be good to get out of this creepy school for a little while." Shaggy gulped.

"It's settled then! After breakfast, we'll head over to town." Daphne stated.

"Hopefully that coffee will, like, give us the energy we need to figure out a way to get rid of that creep for good." Shaggy added nervously.


Fred and the others had nearly finished the one-mile trek into town. The path there was straightforward and not particularly scenic. It was simply a small country road with a few trees here and there, and some minimal shrubbery. It felt a bit dreary to Fred, who was hoping that going to the city would allow them to see exciting new sights.

"Oh look, I think I see the city up ahead!" Daphne pointed out.

Fred continued walking a few steps forward so that he could better see what Daphne was referring to. Ahead of him, he did not see what he expected: Crystal Cove was a small, modest town with a few businesses here and there, but there certainly wasn't an extravagant selection. The town was perhaps ten blocks at the most, and the population sign listed that only about 1,000 people were living there.

"This is a lot smaller than I expected." Thorn remarked.

"Yeah. My old high school had more people than this town does!" Luna added.

"Like, I think that's the coffee shop." Shaggy pointed to a building marked 'Chen's Coffee.'

It was a quaint brick building that looked like it had stood the test of time. Back home, whenever Fred went out for coffee, his parents had always taken him to Starbucks, so going to an independent coffee shop would be a whole different experience for him.

"I've never gotten coffee before." Velma commented. "I've heard it can make you a bit jittery…and I'm already nervous from the mystery. What would you recommend?"

"Maybe an iced coffee with milk?" Thorn suggested. "Or a blended drink, if they have it. Those tend to have less caffeine than your average coffee."

"That's because it's not real coffee." Dusk replied, in a teasing-yet-slightly biting voice.

"Thanks for the tip." Velma replied to Thorn, as Fred held the door open for everyone. The door was surprisingly heavy for being a glass door. As a football player, he felt a little embarrassed because he nearly lost his grip on the door due to the weight of it when he first tried to open it.

"Hello, and welcome to Chen's." a stately-looking older gentleman of Asian descent smiled. "What would you like today?"

"I think we're all going to be on separate checks." Fred replied. He figured nobody would be willing to pay for everybody's, considering they were broke high school kids that likely only had whatever spending money their parents had given them. "I'll take a dark roast, with two creamers and a sugar."

"That will be $1.55. The creamer cups and sugar are over there." Chen pointed to a tiny wooden shelf on the counter with silverware, napkins, straws, and the cream and sugar.

"Thanks!" Fred replied, as he handed the man a dollar, two quarters and a nickel. He headed over to grab his cups of creamer and sugar, and noticed a selection of several creamer flavors was available: original, french vanilla, or pumpkin spice. He selected the original, as he wasn't particularly into fancy flavors.

The coffee shop was bustling with people. There was an old couple sitting and talking in the corner, as well as a brown-haired girl who looked to be in her early-to-mid 20s doing her homework. Fred was trying to scout out a place for them to sit, but there seemed to be only one spot that would accommodate all of them. Towards the back of the coffee shop, there were two tables pushed together. There were only six chairs there, but it'd have to do. They could likely borrow another empty chair from a different table.

Thorn and Dusk were done with their orders by the time Fred had taken a seat.

"This place is pretty neat." Fred commented. He liked the warm environment of the coffee shop. There were little lights hanging from chains dangling from the ceiling, and all the tables were wooden to create a sort of homemade, cabin-like vibe. "Are you guys okay with sitting here?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like we have a choice." Dusk shrugged.

"What'd you get, Dusk?" Thorn inquired.

"Just a coffee. Black." Dusk replied. "How about you?"

"I don't know if I should say." Thorn teased.

"She got a blended mocha with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle." Luna jumped in, as she walked over to the table.

"Whipped cream? Drizzle? See, I told you it was a milkshake." Dusk snarked back playfully.

"What did you get?" Thorn glanced at Luna.

"I don't think I'm ready to try coffee yet. I just got a hot chocolate." Luna informed.

"Alright, is this where we're sitting?" Velma replied, as she came over and looked at the table.

"Yeah. We'll need another chair, though." Fred informed.

Daphne was just walking over at that moment. She must have overheard what Fred said, given her reply "Oh! I'll go get one!"

At that moment, Shaggy came back holding a drink in his hand. "Like, who had the plain coffee again?"

"That was me." Dusk replied.

"Okay, like, here you go." Shaggy stated, handing the blonde the coffee. "Oh…there's no chair here. Like, guess I'll have to sit on the floor."

"Shaggy, no!" Daphne said with a chuckle, carrying a wooden chair. "Here's an extra seat. You really think we'd make you sit on the floor?"

"Like, uh…" Shaggy stuttered a bit. "You guys might have gathered this by now, but I haven't really had all that many friends at my past school, so I'm still trying to figure out how this whole friend thing works."

"Well, we can confirm for you right now that part of being a friend is not sitting on the floor." Thorn said with a laugh. "We're all equals here."

"Like, thanks guys. I, uh, don't know if this is weird to say, but I really appreciate you guys being such good friends. Years of nobody really noticing me has kinda driven my self-esteem into the ground." Shaggy admitted.

"I'm sorry." Daphne apologized. "If it helps, my philosophy is that other people's validation should never make or break your day. Life is stressful enough as it is, so you just have to be empowered in yourself, and that's really all you can control. You can't control other people's actions."

"Like, that's great advice, Daphne." Shaggy smiled.

"Yeah, that's actually really insightful." Velma chimed in. "To be honest, I was like Shaggy at my previous school. I've never really had anyone I'd consider a close friend. It's been nice to solve this mystery with you guys the past week."

"Yeah. Although it's been a tough week, it's actually been pretty nice." Fred added. He also liked the companionship that his six newfound friends were bringing him. He didn't want to say too much, as he wasn't quite close enough with them to completely open up, and besides, he thought it would be weird as a man to be super vulnerable and emotional with his friends. However, he did want to chime in, because he felt something similar to Shaggy and Velma. "My friendships at my old school were pretty surface-level, and we just talked about sports all the time. It's nice to have people who I can actually talk with about a bunch of different topics."

"That's so sweet!" Daphne chimed in. "It's been a great week for me too. I've liked hanging out with you guys and meeting some new friends so quickly."

"Yeah, it's been nice." Luna meekly added, not elaborating at all like the others had.

"The feeling is mutual." Thorn smiled. She perked up as she heard Chen call their drinks were ready. "I'll go grab those."

"I guess we should probably start talking about whether or not we want to tell Headmistress Quinlan about what we saw last night." Velma changed the subject.

"I just don't know how to get past the fact that she'd know we were in her office." Dusk shook her head. "That seems like a dealbreaker to me. We can't tell her."

"Like, I agree. I mean, we didn't even tell her about the first encounter with that creep outside at night." Shaggy reminded.

All of a sudden, Fred got a brilliant idea. Shaggy's comment made him realize something genius. "I've got it! What if we just tell Headmistress Quinlan that we saw the creature outside, but not about what we saw in her office last night?"

Velma snapped her fingers to denote her agreement. "Fred's right!"

At that moment, Thorn came back with her hands entirely full carrying the six coffee drinks. "Right about what?"

"If we frame it to Quinlan as us minding our own business, taking a walk outside and running into The Freak, that wouldn't tip her off to look at the security cameras from last night." Velma realized. "We just would omit our experience last night, but we'd still get the same results of letting her know that thing's running around."

"I love that idea!" Thorn exclaimed. "I don't think we'll come up with anything better than that."

"Hopefully Quinlan will actually know what to do this time." Dusk sighed, sipping her coffee.

"We'll have to wait until Monday to tell her anyway. She won't be in on a weekend." Fred pointed out. This apparently made Shaggy very nervous.

"Zoinks! You mean, we've gotta spend two more nights in Velma's room so that Freak doesn't get us?" Shaggy gulped.

"I don't think we need to be that extreme." Daphne comforted. "We'll just have to make sure we lock our doors and windows every night."

"Like, since that's figured out, maybe we could talk about something fun for a change!" Shaggy suggested. His tone seemed anxious and perhaps even a bit manic. It was clear the deeper they got into this mystery, the more frightened and obstinate Shaggy became. "Do you guys, like, wanna explore the town?"

"What's there to explore?" Dusk said dryly.

"There was a book shop I'd like to check out." Velma stated.

"Hey, was that the Record and Book Shop?" Thorn asked. "I'd like to look at their records."

"Yep, that's the one." Velma nodded.

"I wonder if they'd have anything I'd like there." Luna wondered aloud.

"Oh sweet! That sounds amazing!" Dusk lit up. "I love music."

"You guys want to take our coffees and head over there?" Daphne suggested.

"Why not?" Fred shrugged. "I can't imagine they'd mind if we brought a cup of coffee in there. My mom does it all the time."

As much as Fred loved solving mysteries, he was happy to have a bit of a reprieve from it. Moreover, he was especially glad that this would allow them a chance to explore their interests besides mystery-solving. A big part of friendship was about having shared interests and experiences, and he was hopeful that having this adventure exploring the town together would allow their friendship to continue to get closer.


For a small town record store, the place was pretty expansive. They had multiple different aisles of records for every music genre you could imagine: pop, rock, hip hop, classical, religious, and dance. There were also two aisles of books, although the records were front and center, whereas the books were tucked away towards the back of the store.

Velma briefly looked at the classical music aisle before heading back towards the books. Shaggy immediately went back towards the book section. Daphne glanced at the pop section, whereas Fred, Thorn, Luna and Dusk all headed to the rock section of the store. Daphne found numerous artists she enjoyed, but chose just a couple. She then headed towards the rock aisle, where the majority of her friends were.

"Woah, you like Siouxsie and the Banshees? They're so good!" Thorn exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're my favorite band." Luna remarked.

"I personally prefer The Cure, but yeah, Siouxsie's awesome too." Dusk nodded.

"Yeah, The Cure is amazing. I've also been liking this new group, Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics quite a bit. It's not quite in the same rock genre, but it's pretty good." Luna mentioned.

"Actually, I would say Rude Boy probably fits more with what I would have expected your music tastes to be anyway." Thorn commented. "I wouldn't have taken you for somebody who enjoys rock music."

"I like the messages behind a lot of the songs. If you interpret the lyrics beyond the surface level, a lot of it actually has some really interesting messages and commentaries about the world." Luna elaborated.

"Me too! That stuff's fascinating to me." Thorn answered, before turning to look at Fred. "Do you like rock too, Fred?"

"Me?" Fred asked in surprise for a minute. "Yeah, I guess a little. I'm more into mainstream rock though, rather than the goth stuff you guys are talking about."

"Daphne, I'm surprised to see you in this aisle too!" Dusk glanced over in the redhead's direction. "I wouldn't have taken you for a rock person."

"I'm not. I like some of the mainstream stuff on the radio, but I don't consistently like any artist. Pop is more my thing." Daphne commented. She didn't mind rock, but some of it could be a bit too angry and intense for her taste. "I'm all ready when you guys are."

"Yeah, I think I got everything I wanted." Thorn replied, taking one more Siouxsie and the Banshees record off the shelf and adding it to the stack in her hand.

"Same for me." Fred said. "I'll go get Shaggy and Velma."

"We're definitely going to have to talk more about music sometime." Dusk remarked to Luna and Thorn. "I never realized you guys had such great taste!"


After an enjoyable afternoon, the seven friends returned to the school. Everyone but Shaggy brought home something from the record store. Daphne had bought a few pop albums, Fred had purchased a single Bon Jovi album, and Thorn, Dusk and Luna had each brought home several rock albums. Velma purchased an old Nancy Drew book she'd been wanting to read for a while, but didn't end up getting any music. She had seen a Beethoven album that she would have liked to get, but she figured it was very uncool to be purchasing a classical music album, especially considering she usually only listened to music to help her study. Thus, she left it behind.

"Like, just in the nick of time." Shaggy breathed a sigh of relief, turning around to look at the sunset through the front door of the school.

"Well, I love hanging out with you guys, but I think I need a nap." Daphne laughed. "I barely got any sleep last night, and I think it's finally catching up to me."

"Ugh, same." Dusk grumbled. "Goodnight everybody."

"I wouldn't mind going to bed early myself." Fred remarked.

As one of the only people who had slept well last night, Velma was a little disappointed that their fun day was now over, but at least she'd have Thorn still to hang out with.

"Well, like, goodnight everybody." Shaggy yawned. "It's been a fun day, but like, I've got an eight-hour appointment with the Sandman."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow at breakfast!" Luna said, as she walked towards the elevator. When the doors opened with a ding, she and the others nearly stopped in their tracks when they saw the person that had just walked out.

"Headmistress Quinlan!" Fred exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was…um…called in on some business." Quinlan stuttered. She seemed incredibly uneasy and her body language seemed like she'd rather be anywhere else right now.

Velma briefly debated in her mind what the best way to tell her about The Freak, but Velma figured that she might as well just come out and say it. "We need to tell you something. A couple nights ago, we were taking a walk outside after dinner. Some creep was hiding in the shadows, and he tried to scare us."

"He was, like, saying creepy riddles, man!" Shaggy gulped.

Headmistress Quinlan's face fell. Her tone was somber and dark. "So you've seen him."

"Seen who?" Velma said innocently, fully knowing who she meant.

"You don't have to play dumb, Velma. I think she knows." Thorn said. "You mean that horned creature, right?"

"Yes." Headmistress Quinlan responded. "He calls himself The Freak of Crystal Cove High."

Velma didn't see any point in beating around the bush any longer. This could be her only chance to get information from the Headmistress. "Is that the 'business' you're here late tonight about?"

Headmistress Quinlan let out a sigh. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you. Yes, The Freak showed up in my office last night right before I left. He threatened me, and told me to close the school or else I'd face the consequences. I phoned the police about this, but they haven't been able to do much…nor do they fully believe me, given the description I gave of his physical appearance."

"What made you come back here today, though?" Thorn questioned.

"Last night, another attempt was made on the life of a new student: Marcie Fleach." Headmistress Quinlan revealed.

"Oh my gosh, that poor girl!" Daphne gasped. "How did you stop him?"

"I didn't see what happened personally. One of the residence hall advisors saw Marcie run out of her room in a panic last night, saying The Freak attacked her." Headmistress Quinlan said. "I came in today to comfort her, and also to get as much information as I could. She was too shaken up to directly report to me, but I talked to her and got some good information."

"Zoinks! Time to evacuate the school!" Shaggy panicked.

"I don't think we're at that point yet." Headmistress Quinlan assured. "I've informed all of the residence hall advisors of the situation, and they'll be making sure students stay in their rooms at night. There's been no reports of The Freak breaking into students' rooms. I think it's a student trying to scare people, honestly. Regardless if the police believe me about The Freak, they are aware of the murder and will be investigating that, so hopefully this nightmare will be behind us soon. As long as you keep your doors locked and don't leave at night, you should all be safe."

Velma was impressed that Headmistress Quinlan was being so open with them for once, given her track record of being wishy-washy and cautious providing the students with details. "Thank you for being so open with us about what's happening. I really appreciate it."

"Of course. I always want my students to feel safe in this school, so I'm glad I could help you feel a little safer." Headmistress Quinlan smiled. "I've been here all day and need to get home for the night, so I'll see you all later. Stay safe, and enjoy your weekend."

"You too!" Daphne exclaimed.

"Sleep well, you guys. We're headed to bed." Thorn said, as she broke off from the rest of the group.

Shaggy gulped in response. "Like, if we can sleep after that story."

"C'mon Shaggy, Headmistress Quinlan is right." Velma could hear Fred assuring Shaggy as they stepped into the elevator. "As long as we stay in our rooms at night, we'll all be safe and sound."

"Goodnight, guys!" Velma called after them. Even though she wouldn't admit it out loud, she felt a bit spooked by Headmistress Quinlan's story as well. The evening had a very frightful, eerie atmosphere to it. As Velma came into her room with Thorn, and shut the door tight behind her, all she could hope was that Fred was right that they'd be safe for the night once they locked their door.