Sponge: Happy Wednesday! A couple warnings for this chapter: underage drinking (college students aged 18-20, so you know...underage in the U.S.) some aggressive behavior, and a questionable May-December situation (older man, younger woman). Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera.

Chapter 6: A Party

Ben furrowed his brow. "I…don't understand." He was gazing at the first page of the Book of the Dead, looking confused.

At first, Velma thought it was because it was hard to read the handwriting. But she quickly saw that this wasn't the case. There was nothing to read.

The page was blank.

And it wasn't just the first page – the entire book was empty. Ben flipped through it, growing more agitated and dismayed with every page turn. At last, he sighed, defeated.

"Well this was certainly a let down," he said. He held the book limply in his hand,

Velma felt awful for him. "Are we sure that's definitely it?" she asked, feeling idiotic. How many other secret books behind hidden panels could there be down here? Still, she desperately wanted to comfort him. "Maybe it's behind a different wall."

Ben gave her a cheerless smile. "You're sweet, but I'm afraid this is it. The legends turned out to be just that after all – legends." He examined the book. "Perhaps this did belong to Sarah Ravencroft, but it doesn't appear she ever wrote in it." He glanced at Velma, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry to have wasted your time like this."

"Oh, please!" Velma immediately shook her head. "This wasn't a waste of time at all!"

"It like, kinda was though," Shaggy whispered to Scooby.

Velma didn't hear him. "I'm just sorry we weren't able to find what you were looking for."

Ben chuckled unhappily. "Well, we did find it," he pointed out. "Just not the way I'd hoped." He sighed again. "Oh well. I appreciate your company anyway. Shall I drive you home?"

"Actually," said Fred, checking his watch. It was just about nine o'clock. "There was a party we were invited to at a vineyard nearby. Mitchell's Winery?"

"Ah," said Ben, nodding knowingly. "Yes, of course. I'd be happy to drive you. It's the least I can do after this mission was such a bust." He sighed once more. "I should get going, anyway – it's getting late, and I ought to be writing."

"Where are you staying?" asked Velma as they climbed the creaky stairs out of the basement and down the hall to the front door.

"Not far from you all, probably. I'm renting a beach house as well," Ben replied.

It turned out the winery wasn't that far away. They arrived less than ten minutes later, their arrival heralded by stalks of grapes on the outskirts of the vineyard. Ben deposited them at the bottom of a low hill. The gang could see lights at the top of the lane, and hear the unmistakable sounds of music and laughing students.

"Would you like me to take you closer?" asked Ben, gazing up the lane towards the party.

Fred shook his head. "We're already out of the car. We should be able to take it from here," he insisted, when a squeal of delight sounded from the top of the hill.

"You made it!" It was Mai Le, her black bob tossed gently by the breeze, and her dark eyes alight with joy. She raced down the hill, accidentally stumbling a few times, but laughing at herself. Still giggling, she leaned on Shaggy's shoulder when she reached them – to Velma's immediate consternation.

"Oh!" Mai Le suddenly noticed Ben and stood up straight. "Hello Mr. Ravencroft. I didn't see you there."

Her voice changed, her speech suddenly oddly formal, like she was trying too hard to enunciate.

Scooby realized what was happening. Mai Le was drunk, and was trying to pretend otherwise in front of Ben. He shared a glance with Nova, who also appeared to understand Mai Le's state. The gang recognized it as well, but if Ben did, he made no mention of it.

"I was just their ride," he explained to Mai Le. "I've got to get going now." He gave her a friendly smile, then turned to the gang. "I really do appreciate all your help," he told them. "I'm just sorry for the way it turned out. I'm a bit embarrassed."

"Oh, please don't be!" Velma exclaimed. "I just wish there was more we could do for you."

Ben regarded her, as if internally wrestling with his thoughts. Then, with a charming smile, he pulled a pen out of the breast pocket of his brown jacket, grabbed the old book from the car, and wrote something on the inside cover.

"Here," he said, handing the book to Velma. "I'd like you to take this."

Velma gaped at him, astonished. "Oh, Ben, no," she declined, shaking her head frantically. "I couldn't – that belonged to your ancestor!"

"Not to keep," Ben clarified. "Just to borrow. You have a bit more experience finding clues and inconsistencies than I do – perhaps you'll find something I missed. Besides…" he trailed off, looking away. "I wrote my phone number in there. Perhaps you could call me? If you…discover anything, I mean?"

Velma's skin heated with delight. She had Ben Ravencroft's phone number! And, what's more – Shaggy seemed absolutely furious about it. She saw him in her peripheral vision, all wild eyes and gritted teeth.

Ha, ha, she laughed to herself.

To Ben, she smiled and took the leatherbound book from him. "Of course I will," she replied, grinning widely at him.

Ben flashed Velma one more charming smile, then raised a hand in farewell to the rest of the group. "So long," he said. Then he hopped into his van and sped off down the lane.

Velma reverently put the book in the messenger bag she carried with her everywhere. As she did, she caught Shaggy's eye, and couldn't help the gloating smile she shot him.

Anger prickled Shaggy's skin. So that's the way it's going to be, huh? He glanced over to Mai Le, who was still standing near him, and held a hand out to her. Well, two can play at this game.

"Like you ready to go, Mai Le?" he asked, thrilled when she immediately reached for his hand and held it. He glanced over at Velma, satisfied to see that her smile had faltered slightly.

Mai Le didn't notice, too pleased to be holding Shaggy's hand. "Absolutely!" she giggled. "Follow me!"

At the top of the hill, they were greeted with blasting music and raucous students dancing, swimming, playing cornhole, and just generally being rowdy. Lanterns and string lights hung from trees and trellises, giving a soft illumination to the party. The pool was also lit, and it appeared to be heated, from the faint mist of steam rising from the surface. The building where tastings occurred had multiple long glass windows, and doors to restrooms were visible through them. A large snack table had been set up on one side of the pool, while a massive keg was set up on the other. They caught sight of Ethan, who was now wearing a soccer jersey like Gary's, and he waved at them exuberantly.

The humans were all looking forward to letting loose – that was what summer vacation was for, wasn't it? Besides, tensions were a little high with the gang right now, what with the Velma vs. Shaggy "who was more over who" competition that was going on. They needed to blow off some steam.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Nova asked Scooby.

"Rabsolutely," he agreed, nodding quickly. Scooby didn't mind parties, but he could tell from the look on Nova's face that she had something she wanted to talk about. They turned around and began wandering through the grapevines, walking in companionable silence until they left the noise of the party behind.

"What do you think of Ben Ravencroft?" Nova asked after a while.

"Rye don't trust rim," Scooby replied immediately. It was true – there had been something about him that rubbed Scooby the wrong way when they'd first met, but Scooby had assumed it was because Shaggy was so clearly antagonized by him. Now, away from the humans, Scooby realized that, at least to him, there was something innately suspicious about Ben.

"I don't trust him either," Nova admitted. "I can't quite describe it but there's something about him that…irks me."

"Rye know rhat you mean," Scooby said. "Raggy doesn't seem to rike him reither."

Nova chuckled fondly. "Well, of course Shaggy doesn't like him. Ben is making moves on Velma. That must make Shaggy feel threatened."

Scooby nodded slowly, thinking. Could that be all there was to his suspicions? Ben flirting with Velma and upsetting the already tenuous pressure in the gang?

But Nova still seemed ponderous. "There's something else about him though that gives me pause," she continued. "He seems disingenuous to me. I don't know if the humans should continue interacting with him."

"Rood luck telling them rhat," Scooby remarked. He knew that once the gang got hold of a mystery – even one as dead-end seeming as this empty old book – they wouldn't let it go until it had been solved. And if interfacing with Ben Ravencroft was the way to do that, the gang would do whatever had to be done.

x.X.x

While the dogs were off in the vineyard, the humans were mingling with Crystal Cove's college students, chatting and laughing and – of course – drinking. It had taken a little while for Velma to get into the spirit. She'd started the party sitting in a pool chair with the empty Book of the Dead open on her lap, examining its blank pages by the light of nearby lanterns.

Daphne, who by this point had had a few drinks, noticed Velma sitting alone and decided that now was a good time to have a chat.

"I'll be right back," she said to Fred, who was refilling his beer at the keg. "I'm going to talk to Velma."

"Okay!" Fred called after her.

Daphne sat in the pool chair next to Velma, offering her a full cup of beer.

"Hey!" Velma exclaimed, yanking the book out of the way. "Be careful with that – what if you spilled it on the book?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Velma, we're at a party. On vacation! Can you put the mystery aside just for a little while? It'll still be there in the morning." Daphne set the beer down and paused, pondering the best way to broach what she'd really come over here to say. "And…I wanted to talk to you about that. About Ben, I mean."

Velma scoffed. "What about him, Daph?"

"Just…" Daphne hesitated. "I want you to be careful, okay?"

Velma raised an eyebrow. "Be careful?"

"I've been down this road before," Daphne said. "I know that you're still upset about your breakup with Shaggy –"

"No I'm not," Velma lied abruptly.

Daphne ignored the interruption. " – but nothing good can come from leading Ben on. Especially considering how old he is."

Velma furrowed her brow. "What does age have to do with it?"

Daphne widened her eyes. "Velma, Ben is old!"

"He's not that old!" Velma argued. "He's thirty-three!"

"You're eighteen!" Daphne retorted.

Velma dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "What are you, my mother?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Nothing is going to happen with Ben, Daphne. He's just being nice, and so am I."

Daphne shook her head in disbelief. "Velma, please tell me you're not that naive."

Velma was not that naive. She was absolutely picking up what Ben was putting down. But as flattering as it was to potentially have a guy like Ben Ravencroft interested in her, Daphne was right – he was much older than they were. There was no way anything would actually happen with him and Velma. So what harm could come from a little flirting? Especially when it made Shaggy so deliciously annoyed?

"I don't want you to get hurt," Daphne pleaded. "And I don't want Shaggy to get hurt either."

Velma looked at her, incredulous. "You're worried about Shaggy's feelings?"

"He's my friend too, Velma!" Daphne said. "I don't want to choose between the two of you. Besides…" she paused. "I know you still have feelings for him."

Velma felt her face flush scarlet. "I do not," she lied again. "I'm completely over him."

"You can keep telling yourself that," Daphne said. "But I did this same thing senior year, remember? When Fred and I broke up, and I went out with Red Herring a few times? I can fully admit now that I only did it to hurt Fred." Daphne blinked at Velma. "I know Shaggy hurt you, Velma. But even if you are over him romantically, I know you still care about him as a friend."

Velma looked away from Daphne's probing gaze, feeling her heart twist. There were a few things about Velma and Shaggy's break up that Daphne didn't know, and Velma didn't feel it would be prudent to explain them right now. But Daphne was also right – as satisfying as it was to watch Shaggy get mad about Ben, deep down she really didn't actually want to hurt him.

Velma sighed, putting the book in her messenger bag. "I'm going to go get a beer," she said. Daphne offered her the full solo cup she'd brought over originally, but Velma dismissed it. "You have that one," she said. "You're right – I should put the mystery away for a while and mingle."

Daphne watched as Velma headed off in the direction of the keg, sipping her beer contentedly. She glanced around the party, trying to spot Fred. She was about to get up and search for him when Rung Ladderton appeared out of nowhere, dropping down into the pool chair beside hers. "Hello there," he greeted her. "Remind me your name again, beautiful?" His speech was slurred slightly – he was clearly quite drunk.

"It's Daphne," she said politely, though her tone was dismissive.

Rung nodded. "Right, right." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he peered at her thoughtfully. "Listen, I don't know if you have any plans for the rest of the week, but my family is celebrating the Ladderton Ladder and Pharmaceutical Company's 60th anniversary on Friday. It's going to be a black-tie affair, very sophisticated. You should come."

Daphne gaped at him in disbelief, astonished at his brashness. He absolutely knew she was dating Fred. What did he think he was doing, making moves on a girl who was clearly attached to someone else? "No thank you," she replied coolly. "I'm here on vacation with my friends and my boyfriend. I plan to spend all my time with them."

Rung scoffed. "You could see them any old time. The Ladderton Ladder and Pharmaceutical Company will only turn sixty once – and it's this weekend."

Daphne rolled her eyes and got up from the pool chair. "Goodbye, Rung." She began to walk past him.

"Hey!" Rung suddenly leapt up from his own pool chair and grabbed her elbow. "Don't walk away from me – I'm talking to you!"

Daphne stared at him, aghast. "Let go of me!" she exclaimed.

Velma, by this point, had reached the keg – which unfortunately happened to be where Shaggy and Mai Le were chatting – and had been so busy ignoring the two of them that she hadn't heard any of the commotion with Rung and Daphne until now. She, Shaggy, and Mai Le watched aghast as Daphne yanked her arm out of Rung's grasp, but he continued to follow her around the pool.

Shaggy and Velma shared a fearful look, temporarily forgetting the awkwardness between them. "Like where's Freddie?" Shaggy wondered.

"There he is!" Velma exclaimed, pointing. Fred, who had been in a long conversation with Gary on the other side of the pool, had noticed Rung and Daphne, and immediately raced towards them.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, stepping between them. "What do you think you're doing? Leave her alone!"

"Let her speak for herself!" Rung exclaimed.

"I was," Daphne snarled. "But you weren't listening."

Shaggy and Velma exchanged another glance. "We should go over there, right?" asked Velma.

"Like definitely," Shaggy agreed.

"I'll go find Ethan," Mai Le volunteered. The three sped off, Mai Le towards the building, Shaggy and Velma towards the crowd.

By now, more people had surrounded the trio that was Fred, Daphne, and Rung, and they were all trying to get Rung to back off.

"Come on, man," Dylan was saying, his face stormy with annoyance. Brenda stood away, watching somewhat apprehensively.

"Yeah, leave her alone," said someone else.

"My family practically owns this town!" Rung exclaimed. "You can't tell me what to do!" He angrily swung his arms at the crowd that had gathered.

Unfortunately, Velma happened to be running towards him as he did this, and he nearly clipped her with his wild arm. She managed to jump out of the way in time, but lost her balance and fell into the pool with a spectacular splash.

"Velma!" her friends cried, aghast.

Ethan came storming out of the tasting room, yelling at Rung. "What the fuck, Ladderton?" he shouted, as Velma spluttered to the surface of the water. Miraculously, her glasses were still on her face.

Ethan had grabbed Rung by the elbow and firmly stomped him to the edge of the property. Fred knelt down beside the pool, able to focus on other things now that Daphne was out of harm's way. "Holy shit Velm, are you okay?" he asked, gripping her wet hand to help her out of the pool.

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice a bit shaky. "Just…a little wet."

She could say that again. Pool water dripped down her arms and legs onto the concrete, her clothes clinging wetly to her body.

"Let me grab you a towel," said Gary, snatching one from a pile folded neatly near one of the pool chairs. Velma took it from him and gratefully wrapped it around herself.

"Thanks," she said. Though the air was warm and the pool had been heated, she still shivered under the towel.

"Geez, I'm really sorry about that," Ethan groaned, coming back over. Mai Le followed close behind. Rung was nowhere in sight. "I called Ladderton an Uber and made him leave – he always gets belligerent when he's drunk. Can't take no for an answer, loses control."

"Sounds like the kind of guy you might think twice about befriending," Fred said bitterly.

Ethan nodded, sheepish. "You're right. He's an asshole." He gave the girls an apologetic look. "I really am sorry."

Velma shrugged. She was now towel-drying her short hair, giving Shaggy an unobstructed view of the way her wet clothes hugged her body. He felt his face flush and forced himself to look away.

"No hard feelings," Daphne assured Ethan. She was always more forgiving than Fred thought she had any right to be. "But we should probably get going too."

Ethan nodded, looking embarrassed. "Do you guys need a ride? I can call you an Uber too. Or Gary can probably fit you all in his van. He doesn't drink – I promise he's good to drive."

Shaggy glanced around, still deliberately avoiding looking at Velma. "Like where are the dogs?" he asked.

Everyone frowned. "I haven't seen them in a while," Daphne admitted. "I can go look for them."

"I'll come with you," Mai Le volunteered.

"I'll go find Gary," Ethan said. "Fred, wanna come with?" He still seemed apologetic, and Fred didn't want to make him feel worse.

"Sure," he agreed. "Shag, Velm, you guys okay to stay here and wait to see if Scooby and Nova show up?"

"Okay," they said automatically. It wasn't until everyone else had gone that they realized that, for the first time in a year, they were essentially alone together. Velma tightly wrapped the towel around herself, as if for protection.

Shaggy swallowed nervously. "Are you really okay?" he asked her after a few moments. It was the first thing he could think to say.

She nodded. "Yeah," she assured him. "I'm amazed I didn't lose my glasses."

"Like me too," Shaggy admitted. "Do you have spare ones with you? In your bag?" He glanced over to the keg, where she'd left her bag before they'd rushed to Daphne.

Velma shook her head. "Not here. They're at the beach house."

"You should get one of us to carry them for you," Shaggy suggested. "You know…like just in case?"

Velma chuckled. "Just in case I fall into another swimming pool?"

Shaggy chuckled too. "Yeah I guess that's like, not super likely to happen twice in the same week."

They were silent for a while. Velma shifted her weight. "So…your tattoos are cool," she said after a long pause.

Shaggy's mouth quirked into a smile. "Like thanks," he replied. "Almost every chef I've ever met has tattoos – I figured I should get them too." He shrugged. "I drew them all myself. Just got a tattoo artist to like, ink them on me."

Velma grinned. Shaggy had always been a talented artist. It didn't surprise her that he'd designed all his own tattoos. She stepped a little closer. "Can you tell me about them?"

Shaggy nodded. "Well like, this one should be pretty obvious." He turned around and gestured to his shoulder blade, where the imprint of Scooby's identity tag was inked.

Velma laughed. "Yeah, I think I could figure that one out."

Shaggy raised his left arm. "This is like, an exact image of my chef's knife," he explained, pointing out his forearm. "The one I use all the time. They always tell you that a chef's knife belongs to the chef, and not to the kitchen. So I got this to remind me of my responsibilities." He showed his right arm. "Same with this. All these herbs are meant to represent…I don't know, the spice of life, I guess? I got all the ones that are best to grow in your kitchen garden. Mint, dill, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme…"

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?" Velma teased.

Shaggy laughed. This was so much like being friends with her again. It gave him hope…maybe they could work things out after all.

He went on describing his tattoos. "These numbers," he pointed out his right bicep, "Are the area codes for all the places I've lived. 650 for Vista Heights, 740 for Coolsville, and 872 for Chicago."

"What are the stars for?" Velma asked. She gripped the towel around her with one hand and reached out with her other one to point at where the tattooed stars peeked out from under Shaggy's shirt. But her finger went too far and ended up actually touching the skin of his collarbone.

The contact was immediately electric, and they gazed at each other, slightly embarrassed. But Velma didn't remove her hand, and Shaggy didn't step away. In fact, he stepped closer.

He swallowed. "It's uh…it's the gang," he explained quietly. He pointed out each star in turn, his finger grazing hers as he did. "Freddie, Daphne, Scooby, me…and you."

Velma felt her throat grow dry. When had he gotten this tattoo? Before their break up, or after? If it was before, did he regret it now? If it was after…then what did that mean? She may have been bold enough to ask, but her brain was too full with the feel of Shaggy's skin under her hand to make any cohesive words.

"...Jinkies," was all she could muster.

x.X.x

Meanwhile, Scooby and Nova were still walking through the vineyard. As dogs, they had good night vision, so even though it was quite dark away from the lights of the party, they didn't have any trouble wending their way through the canopies of grapes.

Until they turned a corner and came upon a terrifying sight.

"RAAAAAAAAH!" Scooby screamed, leaping into the air in fright. He dove behind Nova – a much smaller dog than him – and covered his eyes, cowering and shaking on the dusty path.

Nova had also been quite taken aback by the thing they'd discovered, and stopped short in her tracks after letting out a surprised shout of her own. "It's okay," she said to Scooby, once her breathing was back to normal. "It's…it's only a scarecrow. It caught me off guard, too."

Scooby lifted one paw off his eyes to peek up at it.

The scarecrow, suspended on a wooden pole that stuck out of the ground, was the size of an adult human. It looked like one as well – with lifelike, beady black eyes and stringy dark hair. It wore a gray flannel shirt and tattered jeans. Scooby couldn't tell what it was made out of – maybe sackcloth and straw? – but the most unsettling thing about it was that its face was formed into a menacing scowl.

It was, without a doubt, the creepiest, most realistic scarecrow Scooby had ever seen.

He gulped. "Does rit…" he murmured, reluctant to voice the thought aloud. "Does rit look rike rit's…breathing?"

Nova's eyes widened. "Of…of course not," she said, though she sounded unsure.

Scooby was seized by an immediate need to get out of the vineyard. Nova wouldn't take her eyes off the scarecrow, as though frightened that it might make a sudden movement.

"...Shall we go back to the party?" she whispered.

"Res," Scooby replied instantly. They slowly began to back away from the scarecrow, not taking their eyes off it. Then they rounded the corner and raced out of the vineyard as fast as they could.

They ran nearly head-first into Shaggy and Velma, the latter of whom was soaking wet with a towel wrapped around her. It appeared the dogs had interrupted a moment, but the humans quickly jumped back from each other, as if embarrassed. Then they looked at the dogs and their expressions quickly changed to concern.

"Hey buddy like, are you okay?" Shaggy knelt down next to Scooby.

"There you are!" Daphne and Mai Le approached them from the other end of the party. Fred and Ethan followed, trailed by Gary. They noticed how shaken the dogs looked too. "What happened?" asked Daphne, also kneeling by Scooby.

"We just had a frightening experience in the vineyard," Nova explained. "It's not important." She glanced up at Velma. "What happened to you?"

Velma shook her head. "Nothing. I fell in the pool. I'm okay."

"Well I think we're ready to head back to the beach house," Fred said. "Gang?" He reached for Daphne's hand, and she took it. It seemed that everyone was eager to leave the party. Scooby wondered what had happened, but he was too anxious to get as far away as possible from that scarecrow to ask.

Sponge: Thanks for reading! Keep the reviews coming, and I'll see you next week!