Sponge: Thank you to those who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! I appreciate it more than you know! We're getting into the good stuff this week, so I hope you enjoy this chapter. Warnings: reference to date-rape drugs and a past non-con scenario. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera.

Chapter 7: Harold

The gang piled into Gary's dark blue van gratefully, eager to leave the vineyard for one reason or another. Once they were on the road, the gang told Scooby and Nova everything that had happened at the party, from Rung hitting on Daphne to Velma's accidental dip in the pool. The dogs were just glad no one had been hurt, and they told them so.

"Ethan's parties aren't usually like that," Gary assured them. "Rung just has a hard time taking no for an answer."

"Well that's all he'll get from me," Daphne muttered, leaning her head on Fred's shoulder.

When Gary dropped them off at the beach house, the gang noticed Brad and Judy's rental car parked in the drive. They entered the house to find them sitting at the kitchen island with some sort of digestif – possibly brandy.

"Hello!" Brad greeted the gang enthusiastically. "How was your evening?"

"It was…good," Fred replied. He wasn't sure why he didn't want to give Brad and Judy details about the party or finding the Book of the Dead with Ben Ravencroft, but he felt like it was a good idea to keep those stories close to the chest for now. "We're a little tired though – is it okay if we catch up in the morning?"

Judy nodded. "Of course. Glad you're having fun!" She smiled at them as they all walked down the hall together.

The gang hesitated briefly outside of their rooms.

"Do you think I was right not to tell Brad and Judy about the book?" Fred asked in an undertone.

"Absolutely," Daphne assured him. "I know it's probably nothing, but it's nice to have a mystery to solve. Even if it doesn't seem like there's anything to actually solve. That book is blank."

Fred snorted. "Well if anything's hidden in it, Velma will be sure to find it."

Velma reached into her messenger bag to pull out the book. "I'll start tonight," she promised.

Shaggy shifted his weight. Whatever moment the pair of them had shared at the party seemed to have passed, and now he was feeling annoyed again.

"We should get some rest," Nova said.

Daphne nodded in agreement. It had been a long day, what with the plane ride, exploring the Ravencroft House, and then the party. She was exhausted. "See you all in the morning?"

With that, everyone went off to their respective rooms. Shaggy paused briefly outside of his door to let the dogs in first. Then, unable to help himself, he glanced next door at Velma's room.

But she'd already gone inside and closed the door behind her.

x.X.x

That night, after she'd perused the blank book to no avail, Velma had a nightmare.

In it, she found herself walking up a long, ornate staircase. It looked suspiciously like how she imagined the staircase in the Ravencroft House may have looked in its heyday. When she reached the top of the stairs, an oak paneled door swung open to reveal an elegant bedroom. She was about to lie on the bed when she became aware of a spectral figure in the corner. A large pale woman with stringy black hair crept forward, her dark eyes blinking beadily. She had a long, wide mouth, and there was something about her that deeply unsettled Velma.

"This is an evil place," croaked the pale woman. Her voice was raspy, as though she'd not used it in a long time. "You cannot stay here – you must escape while you still can!" She reached out to touch Velma's arm.

Velma jerked awake, panting with fright. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a nightmare that frightened her so badly that she'd woken up. Her vision was blurry – she hadn't yet put on her glasses. As she reached for them on her nightstand, her fingers brushed the leather cover of the Book of the Dead. She glanced at the clock on the dresser – it was late in the morning, but they were on vacation so her friends were probably still sleeping. She figured she had time to flip through the blank pages once more before breakfast.

But when she opened the book, she was shocked to discover words on the first page.

Velma sat up straight, blinking in disbelief. How was this possible? When she'd gone to sleep last night, the only thing that had been written in it was Ben's phone number on the inside cover. But now, on the recto, was a short story. Velma's eyes darted back and forth as she read, her head swimming with worry and confusion. How was there something written in the book? Who had written it? Velma didn't recognize the handwriting – it wasn't hers, or anyone else's in the gang. And regardless, she had a hard time believing that any of them would do something like this.

Especially given how scary the story was.

Vaguely, she became aware of movement and quiet noises from the kitchen, but they didn't fully register until she had finished reading. She had to show this to the gang. Right now.

She dressed quickly and combed her fingers through her short hair before stampeding down the hall, the book clutched in her arm.

Her friends sat at the kitchen island with Brad and Judy, all looking at her in sleepy confusion.

"Morning," said Fred. He was dressed in board shorts and a polyester tank, looking like he was ready to hit the beach. Daphne wore a flowy sundress, while Shaggy was still in his pajamas.

"Hi," Velma replied. She hadn't meant to call so much attention to herself upon her entrance.

"What's that you've got?" Brad wanted to know, jerking his chin towards the Book of the Dead.

"Nothing!" Velma hid the book behind her back, realizing that it looked conspicuous as hell. "I mean…it's just my…journal. My private journal." She glanced back at her friends. "Gang, do you have a minute? We need to talk."

"Is everything okay?" asked Judy concernedly.

Velma flashed a false smile. "Everything's great! I just want their…advice on something." She gestured out towards the screened-in back porch. "Guys?"

Puzzled, the gang did as Velma asked and followed her outside.

"Like this better be good," Shaggy muttered a bit irritably. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Velma snapped. "Look at this!" She opened the book, dramatically flinging it down on the wooden picnic table so the gang could gather around it.

Daphne gasped. "What is this?" she cried, staring at Velma in shock.

"A scary story," Velma replied. "I didn't write it, of course. And I know that obviously neither did any of you. But someone did."

"Who?" Fred wondered. "And how?"

Velma spread her arms wide, the universal symbol for how-the-hell-should-I-know? "You tell me. It's been in my room all night."

"Could someone have snuck in?" asked Daphne hesitantly. She didn't like the idea of someone sneaking around the beach house at night.

Shaggy, meanwhile, had been reading the story written in the book, and felt his blood turn cold. "Uh…Velm?" he said. "Like, did you read this?"

"Yes, of course I read it," she retorted. "That's why I brought it to you all."

Fred and Daphne finally looked down to read what was written in the book. "Who's Harold?" Fred asked, pointing at the title at the top of the page.

"A character in the story," Velma replied. "He's a scarecrow who comes to life and attacks a farmer who mistreats him."

At the mention of a scarecrow, Scooby and Nova shared a wild-eyed look. They hadn't told the gang about the scarecrow they'd seen in the vineyard last night.

"Oh, I've heard this story before," Fred said, nodding. "One of those urban legends. Two farmers named Alfred and Thomas take their cows up into the mountains when it gets hot in the valley, and they make a life-size doll that they joke around with and abuse until he comes to life and kills one of them, right?"

"Not exactly," Velma said. "There's just one farmer in this story, Ethan, and the scarecrow attacks him, but it doesn't outright kill him. At least…not quite."

Daphne furrowed her brow. "What do you mean 'not quite?'"

Velma studied the book. "According to this story, Harold stalks Ethan through the dark field and eventually catches up with him, stabbing him with a pitchfork. But it doesn't kill him…he undergoes some sort of change. A transformation. I think maybe he…fuses with Harold and becomes a scarecrow?" Velma shrugged. "I don't know, the story's kind of left open-ended."

"Pretty scary stuff," Daphne said.

"Eh, not as scary as the story ending with Harold drying a bloody skin in the sun," Fred remarked.

Before anyone in the gang could respond to this, there was a soft knock on the patio door. Judy poked her head outside. "Sorry to interrupt," she said. "But a few of the neighbor kids are here and wanted to speak with you."

Shaggy glanced down at his brown sweatpants. "I'll get dressed and meet you all out front," he said to the gang. He trotted down the hall, not noticing Scooby and Nova right on his heels until he got to the bedroom door.

"Gah!" he exclaimed when he realized they were behind him. "Like don't sneak up on me like that you guys!"

"Raggy," said Scooby seriously. "Re have romething to rell you."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "What is it?"

Nova glanced at Scooby. "Last night, at the party," she said. "We saw a scarecrow in the vineyard."

Shaggy wasn't really paying attention as he yanked off his thin pajama top and threw on a clean shirt. "Okay?" He didn't see what was odd about that. It made sense that the vintners would want to keep birds away from the grapes.

"It…wasn't a normal scarecrow," Nova pressed on. "It was extremely realistic. Almost human."

"Reah!" Scooby agreed, nodding his head wildly. "Rit looked rike it was breathing!"

Shaggy was now fully dressed, and turned back to look at them. "Was this the thing that scared you guys so badly last night?"

The dogs nodded. "I'm telling you," said Nova. "There was something wrong about that scarecrow. It seemed too lifelike. And I wouldn't have said anything about it at all until that story appeared in the book this morning. It just…seems like it can't just be coincidence."

Shaggy frowned. He agreed – there was something peculiar about the fact that Scooby and Nova had been frightened by a scarecrow last night, and then a story about one appeared in the book this morning. But it still begged the question about how the story had been written in the book in the first place. And by whom. "Well, let's like, bring it up to the gang," he said.

They went out the front door, where they saw the gang standing on the beach with Gary, Mai Le, Brenda, Dylan, and – to Shaggy's astonishment – a police officer. The name tag above his badge read "Johnson."

"Like what's going on?" asked Shaggy, approaching the group.

The police officer turned to him. "Hello young man. I'm Officer Johnson. Are you an acquaintance of Ethan Mitchell?"

"Uh…sorry, who?" Shaggy was confused for a moment before realizing. "Oh wait, like the guy from last night? Red hair, soccer shirt? I just met him for the first time yesterday. We all did." He gestured to the gang.

The officer nodded. "Okay, that checks out with the rest of their statements."

"Wait, statements?" Shaggy blinked at his friends. "What happened?"

"Ethan's missing," Gary supplied, looking a bit worried. "We were supposed to meet up with him at the beach this morning but he never showed, and he didn't answer any of our texts or phone calls. I knocked on your door – Ricky and Cassidy told us where you all were staying – to ask if any of you had seen him, but your friends said no."

"Yeah, not since last night," Fred agreed.

"That's when we decided to call the police," said Dylan, gesturing needlessly towards the officer.

"And where was it again that you all say you last saw him?" asked Johnson.

Brenda rolled her eyes. "We told you," she said. "There was a party at his place last night. When we all left, Ethan was still there."

The police officer nodded, jotting something on his notepad. "I'll head out there now and do a sweep. Has anyone spoken to his parents?"

Gary shifted his weight uncomfortably. "They're um…out of town," he said, sounding sheepish.

Officer Johnson looked at him sternly. "And yet there was a party at their house last night?" he asked.

"We'll help!" Fred volunteered. He didn't want any of these students getting in trouble, so he wanted to try to distract the police officer as much as possible. Besides, the gang might find some clues as to Ethan's whereabouts. "We've solved a lot of mysteries before," he continued.

"We'd like to help too," Gary said. "Ethan's my best friend."

Johnson frowned. "I don't need help from a bunch of amateurs."

Mai Le stepped forward. "Please let us," she said, eyes shining. "You're only one man. We might find him faster if we work together. Besides," She cocked her head towards the gang. "Ricky and Cassidy have told us so much about them. You know they're good at what they do."

The gang stared at each other, a bit shocked. How many people had Ricky and Cassidy told about them?

The officer considered them for a moment, then sighed. "Fine," he said. "But you'd better not slow me down."

x.X.x

When they arrived at the vineyard, Officer Johnson split them up into pairs. He sent Daphne and Brenda north, Velma and Mai Le south, Fred and Dylan east, and Shaggy and Gary west.

"I'll take the dogs with me," Officer Johnson said, gesturing to Scooby and Nova. "We'll circle the perimeter. Let's meet back here at the tasting room in an hour and see if we've made any progress."

The gang all glanced at each other with mild concern. It was weird that they'd all been split up from each other, with the exception of Scooby and Nova.

"I guess I'll see you in a bit," Fred said to Daphne, his tone reluctant. She gave him a comforting smile. He checked his watch. "Meet here in an hour?" he said to the group.

Everyone nodded.

"Be careful, everyone," Nova said, tone serious.

As the pairs all went their separate ways, Gary turned to Shaggy. "So…the dogs can talk, huh? That's pretty cool."

x.X.x

Daphne and Brenda made their way through the stalks of grapes in silence for several minutes until Brenda cleared her throat.

"So I hear you're the next girl Rung Ladderton has decided to sink his teeth into?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "He can try all he wants. I'll never cheat on Fred."

Brenda chuckled drily. "Don't be so sure," she warned. "Rung usually gets what he wants. And if he wants you as a notch in his belt…he'll find a way to make it happen." She paused for an infinitesimal moment. "Regardless of whether you want it or not."

That stopped Daphne in her tracks. She rotated slowly on the spot to face Brenda, who had also stopped walking, but avoided her eye contact. "What are you saying?" Daphne asked.

Brenda still refused to look at her. "Rung's family isn't just known for their ladder legacy," she said. "They've pretty much cornered the market on pharmaceutical drugs, at least in this town. And not all of them are good drugs, if you know what I mean."

Daphne's breath caught. She found she couldn't speak.

"Stimulants, hallucinogens, anesthetics, depressants…" Brenda sighed, finally looking Daphne in the eye. "He got me with a roofie last summer. He spiked my drink when I wasn't looking. I didn't even realize it until later when he was…on top of me." She shuddered. "Thank God Dylan found me then. Otherwise Rung might have…" she trailed off before taking another deep breath. "Anyway. Needless to say, neither of us are huge fans of Rung."

Daphne felt her heart crack with sympathy, remembering the way Brenda and Dylan had stepped away from Rung at the restaurant last night when they'd introduced themselves. "Oh, Brenda," she said in a hushed tone.

"Just…be careful, okay?" Brenda pleaded. "I'm sure a girl like you doesn't need to be told to always watch her drink, but still. I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else." Brenda exhaled, shifting her weight. "I was worried about you last night," she admitted. "Especially after Rung started making that scene. But thank God Ethan was there…and your friends." Brenda offered her a soft smile. "I'm glad you've got them with you."

Daphne was still reeling from Brenda's confession, but returned the smile nonetheless. "I'm glad too," she replied. "And I'm glad Ethan helped last night. That's why I want to help you all find him."

Brenda nodded. "Ethan's one of the good ones," she agreed. She looked forward. "So let's see if we can figure out what happened to him."

As the two girls continued their foray through the stalks, Daphne thought again about her old classmate and former best friend, Maureen Fischer. A girl who on the outside was a lot like how Brenda seemed – shallow, conceited, mean-spirited. But Daphne knew Maureen would never have had a conversation with her like the one she'd just had with Brenda. Open and honest and, at its core, kind.

Daphne looked at Brenda ruefully. I guess you never can judge a book by its cover, she thought.

x.X.x

Velma and Mai Le's journey into the vineyard had started out chatty. Within the first minute of their journey, Mai Le had failed the Bechdel test.

"So, Velma, you seem to know Shaggy pretty well."

Velma scoffed. "You could say that."

"Is he…seeing anyone?" Mai Le wanted to know, her voice shy.

Rage bubbled through Velma's blood.

"No," she forced herself to say through gritted teeth.

"Oh, good!" Mai Le sounded relieved. "Do you think he might want to –"

"I think it would help the search if we didn't talk, Mai Le," Velma interrupted.

Mai Le paused. "Oh, okay," she said quietly.

Velma seethed, feeling bad for snapping at Mai Le, and also feeling angry at herself for her jealousy. Mai Le was a nice girl. She didn't deserve to be treated this way. And it's not as though Velma could blame her for having a crush on Shaggy. That would make Velma quite the hypocrite. But she was still so hurt over the way things had ended between them, and she hadn't expected her up-till-now dormant feelings for him to come roaring back to life with such vengeance this summer. Perhaps it would take a little longer to get over him.

But until then…could random girls just not flirt with him? At least not right in front of her?

The pair of them walked in uncomfortable silence for the next quarter of an hour until they rounded a corner and walked directly into Fred and Dylan.

"What are you doing here?" asked Fred.

"Walking south?" Velma replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Walking east," Dylan said. He cocked his head in the direction he and Fred had been heading. "The sun is still rising from that direction. I think the two of you are off course."

Velma looked in the direction he was pointing, and found that Dylan was correct. "Damn it," she cursed. "I'm no good at orienteering. Where's Nova when you need her?"

x.X.x

Nova, of course, was walking the perimeter with Scooby and Officer Johnson. They'd circled the vineyard several times over, but hadn't found anything of note. Also, Scooby kept emitting tiny whimpers of anxiety. Nova understood how he was feeling – he didn't like being away from Shaggy.

After about forty-five minutes of walking around, Nova finally cleared her throat. "Should we head back to the tasting building? I don't think there's been any change."

Johnson nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, you're right. You two take a shortcut through here. I'll do one more loop and meet you there in fifteen."

In the daylight, it wasn't nearly as frightening to walk through the vineyard as it had been last night. True, the grape canopy loomed over them, but with the morning sun beating down on them pleasantly, it was almost nice.

But then they turned a corner and found themselves face-to-face with the scarecrow again.

"RIKES!" Scooby screeched, jumping a foot in the air.

Nova screamed too. "What on earth?!"

Once they'd caught their breath, they realized that there was something different about the scarecrow today.

He still had the same scraggly hair and scary frown. His beady eyes still glistened blackly. But his outfit had changed. Instead of a gray flannel shirt, the scarecrow was now wearing a long-sleeved, yellow soccer jersey, similar to what Ethan had been wearing.

Nova steadied her breathing. "Tell me I'm not going crazy," she murmured. "He was on the other side of the vineyard last night, wasn't he?"

"Rye…think so," Scooby whispered. She was right. The scarecrow was in a completely different part of the vineyard from where they'd found him yesterday. "Ret's get rout of here," Scooby begged.

They didn't get very far before they ran into Shaggy and Gary…literally. They barrelled into them, knocking each other over and landing in a pile next to a stalk of grapes.

"Hey!" Gary exclaimed in surprise. "What's going on?"

"Scoob? Nova?" Shaggy panted, picking himself up off the ground. "Was that you who screamed? Where'd you come from?"

"Rover there!" Scooby cried, pointing with one of his paws.

"I thought you were circling the perimeter with Officer Johnson," said Gary, also standing.

Daphne and Brenda rounded the corner then, seemingly having raced from wherever they'd been.

"We heard a scream!" Brenda exclaimed. "Are you guys okay?"

"Jeepers!" said Daphne, kneeling beside Scooby and Nova. "You two look like you've seen a ghost."

"Well they like, saw something," Shaggy replied.

Footsteps stampeded up the lane, causing all four of them to jump. But it was just the rest of the group – Fred, Velma, Dylan and Mai Le.

"What happened?" Fred asked immediately. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Ro," Scooby replied. "Rust terrified."

"What happened?" asked Fred again.

"Rarecrow!" Scooby exclaimed.

Velma furrowed her brow. "What scarecrow?"

Scooby and Nova hurriedly explained to the rest of the group how they'd been frightened by an extremely realistic scarecrow the night before in the vineyard, and how they'd run into it again just now.

Gary, to everyone's astonishment, laughed. "Oh yeah, I know the one you mean. Ethan hates that thing. Gave him nightmares when he was a kid."

"Rit's giving me rightmares now," Scooby quipped.

"Where'd you see it?" asked Dylan.

Cautiously, Scooby and Nova led the humans back through the vineyard, bracing themselves for the inevitable scare they received when they turned the corner to see the scarecrow glaring menacingly at them.

Everyone flinched. "Jinkies," said Velma, eyeing the scarecrow warily. "No wonder you're so freaked out. I wouldn't like to come across that without expecting it either."

"Yeah," Gary chuckled. Then he frowned. "It's weird, though. Harold doesn't usually wear a soccer jersey. I don't think he's supposed to be in this part of the field either."

The gang all gaped at him open-mouthed.

"Um," said Shaggy. "Like who are you talking about?"

"The scarecrow," Gary replied. Then, pointing. "His name is Harold."

Sponge: Thanks for reading! Please review if you liked this chapter, and I'll see you back here next week!