Duncan and Clawdeen looked at each other in concern as they sat on either side of Shaggy who was extremely twitchy. Wriggling and squirming like he wanted to tear his fur off. As it was, there were clumps of it around his seat, he was scratching himself hard enough to cause ribbons of blood through his fur all their attempts at stopping him were useless. A glance at the shadowed corner of the dining room was enough of an explanation. Christina wasn't there. Her seat was empty. Shaggy was hurting himself because he was warring with his instincts again.
He only worsened throughout the day. Christina didn't appear for class, or lunch, not even as the end of day chimes. By the time Clawdeen led Shaggy to their usual room for their three hours he was a bloody mess, a stubborn bloody mess who refused to listen to reason. In comparison, Clawdeen was the picture of composure, calmly sipping her tea, not a hair out of place as she regarded Shaggy. His resolve was cracking, growing more and more fractured. His clothes were in bloody tatters, teeth grinding together.
When Clawdeen reached to pour her second cup, he leaped from his chair, smashing through the door past a bewildered Duncan.
"Let him go," Clawdeen stopped her mate with a firm grip on his arm.
"But, Christina..."
"Trust me"
...
After a horribly sleepless night, Christina had felt too terrible to even attempt going to class. So she had taken her meals and done her coursework in the privacy of her dorm. With the last assignment finished she stood over Prince's basket watching him sleep peacefully a warm blanket wrapped around him.
At least one of us can sleep well.
Turning to hop onto her bed for some reading she froze watching the door slam open. Shaggy stood there shoulders heaving, a bloody mess. Before her wolves could even react, he surged forward, falling onto his knees in front of her as she hit the wall.
Taking her hands in his, careful not to scratch, a cry tore from the depths of his soul.
"Please, please, please forgive me, I'm so so, so, so sorry," words left him dissolving into tears.
He's hurting, Christina's fear dissipated with the realization, That's why he's lashing out. Slowly, she eased from his grip, raising her hands to thread her fingers comfortingly through the fur on top of his head. It was quite easily the softest thing she'd ever touched although it was wet with partially dried blood. Fingers still in his fur she got to her knees. They weren't at eye level, he was still quite a bit taller than her but she was close enough to see the tears still flowing.
"I forgive you," she was now wiping the tears from his eyes, "Please don't cry anymore"
"You...do...?"
"Yes"
"I just, I-I-I-"
"It's okay, you are okay, Okay?"
"Okay"
"Now, let's get you patched up"
...
Clawdeen finally released her grip on Duncan, the two walking quickly toward Christina's dorm, breaking into a sprint when they heard the savage sound that was no doubt Shaggy. Had Clawdeen been mistaken? Had Shaggy hurt Christina? Or killed her? Near breathless the couple arrived at Christina's open door.
"I told you it would sting a little," Christina spoke softly.
"I'm sorry, I can't like, handle pain very well," Shaggy replied, seated in Christina's desk chair while she cleaned and bandaged his wounds.
"It's alright, you'll feel much better when I'm done"
Soundlessly Clawdeen and Duncan left, shutting the door.
...
It took an hour for Christina to bandage every wound, cleaning the blood out of Shaggy's fur. Curious as she was, she remained silent. The wounds were self-inflicted, the worst kind but she wasn't going to press. Cleaning the last of the blood from around his ears, she rung the cloth out and pushed it away, carefully running her fingers around the area to make sure she hadn't missed anything.
"That feels good," Shaggy spoke, a pleased noise rumbling deep in his chest as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, "Please?"
The sight was almost enough to make her laugh. He wanted her to keep going. She stood, rubbing at his ears the same way she did for the wolves. She was rewarded by the thump, thump thump of his tail against the chair.
"All better now?"
"Yes," he sighed blissfully, 'ank 'ou," he managed around his tongue.
"You're welcome," slowly Christina stopped.
"Aw," he pouted, ears dropping.
"Sorry," she apologized, "But I have to go to the green house to water the plants"
Shaggy stood dejectedly.
"I don't suppose you'd like to come with me?"
"May I?"
"Yes"
The smile almost melted her heart entirely. All Shaggy really needed was a friend and something in Christina wanted to be that friend, despite the constant cloud of smothering grief that hung over her.
...
Clawdeen was pleased to see the leaps and bounds Shaggy made over the next weeks once he had stopped fighting. As the weather cooled off a friendship was forming. One that befuddled the rest of the student body. The rumor mill running rampant trying to make sense of this sudden change themselves instead of asking.
They made up and are dating again
She offered to remove his curse if he worked for her.
He's being paid as her bodyguard.
She hexed him into servitude.
Whatever the rumors they didn't appear to bother the duo. Shaggy especially couldn't seem to care less, the anger and rage ebbing away as he helped Christina in the greenhouse, sat with her at mealtimes, and walked with her to class. Even now, as Clawdeen set the tea tray on the table between the two chairs, grimacing slightly at how damaged Shaggy's was, the pair arrived at the door. Christina was still in her grieving attire but better looking, her sleepless nights had slowed, and she was sleeping better than she had in a long time, the wolves had whispered. Shaggy right beside her, with Scooby on his other side. He glanced nervously at Clawdeen, the anger flickering in his eyes for just a moment.
"I'll see you later," Christina lightly touched his hand, "You'll be okay, okay?"
"Okay," the anger snuffed, a smile replacing it.
"Bye Scooby," Christina pat the Dane before heading to her dorm,
"Bye Rhristina"
"Stop that," Shaggy ordered, dropping into the chair.
"What?" Clawdeen challenged.
"That look on your face"
"Don't want to admitt I was right yet?"
"You aren't"
"Then why are you sticking to her like glue?"
"She's nice"
"Which I also told you"
Shaggy rolled his eyes, settling in for their normal three-hour staring contest.
"So you don't want to talk about Christina?" Clawdeen challenged lightly, "I heard you were helping her plant flowers a few days ago, you don't want to talk about them?"
Shaggy remained tight-lipped.
Discreetly, Scooby nodded to the door.
Good idea.
Duncan stepped in while Clawdeen made a feeble excuse to hurry down the hall, watching the rain pelt the windows. Knocking briskly on Christina's door she smiled warmly at her confused friend.
"Clawdeen?" Christina had taken her tiara off, an indication she had been trying to sleep, "Is something wrong?"
"Would you mind sitting with Shaggy and I?" Clawdeen hurriedly requested, "It's just...I'm supposed to help him but he doesn't ever talk and I'm tired of three hour staring contests so I thought he might feel more comfortable if you were there, please?"
Christina glanced hesitantly back at the tiara on her desk, then at her friend.
"Please? I'm out of ideas"
"Okay,"
The two girls hurried back into the room. Shaggy was glaring at Duncan as if that could drive the kaiju prince six feet underground, Duncan returned the glare, arms crossed over his chest, chin raised pointedly. The werewolf turned his glare on Clawdeen only to drop it when he saw Christina stood next to her, shoulders hunched, rubbing her arm uncomfortably.
"Hi, Christy," Duncan greeted.
Christina ignored him, stuck in place.
Shaggy jumped out of his seat, pushing past Duncan and Clawdeen hurrying out of the room only to return moments later with Christina's tiara in hand.
"Thank you," she visibly relaxed, setting the tiara in place.
Clawdeen had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep the victorious grin from her face, watching Christina take a seat out of the way, her gaze on the rain. Turning back to Shaggy she cleared her throat to get his attention. They wouldn't be talking about the imprinting, not with Christina present but maybe Clawdeen could push her luck and get him to open up about his curse? The more Clawdeen knew, the more she could tell Bloodgood who would set all of the monster high staff that were even magic ajacent on the hunt for a loophole.
At least, she hoped.
"Why don't we talk about how you've ended up in this sitiation?"
"Like, no thank you"
"You know Duncan and I are here to help you, right Shaggy?"
"That's what everyone says," Shaggy was tense all over again, his gaze drifting back to Christina.
"I think we could better help if we understood how this happned. What led to it?"
"I don't want to talk about it"
"Just one thing?"
"No"
"It doesn't have to be a big thing-"
"No"
"Shaggy-"
"I SAID NO!" Shaggy leaped from his chair with a roar Clawdeen was all too familiar with. She'd gone too far in her desperate search for answers.
Before she could even think to get things under control, Christina was on her feet with her hands up placatingly as she neared the thrashing, destroying whatever he could get his hands on, werewolf.
"Shaggy?" she spoke softly to get his attention from where he was shredding curtains into ribbons.
His ears swiveled toward her before he turned to face her but one look at his face made it clear he wasn't mentally present. Still, Christina inched forward, past the chair he'd thrown into the wall and the shattered tea set on the floor.
"Chris-" Duncan took a half step forward only for Clawdeen to stop him
When Christina was within arms reach Shaggy dropped the curtains remains, grabbing tightly to her and yanking her against him.
Duncan slipped past Clawdeen convinced Shaggy was going to crush Christina until she too was as broken as their surroundings.
"Mine!" Shaggy growled, his ears pressed flat, eyes trained on the kaiju prince's every step, "Mine!"
Clawdeen yanked her bewildered mate back, "He thinks you're going to take Christina from him"
"But-"
"Shh"
"Mine," Shaggy said again, sitting on the floor with Christina still in his grip.
"You're okay, Shaggy," Christina spoke, her voice muffled, "No one's going to hurt you, you don't have to talk about it, okay? Not until you're ready"
"Leave?"
What's with the one-word responses? Duncan asked with a confused glance at Clawdeen who was watching this bizarre interaction intently.
"We can leave if you'd like," Christina nodded, "Would you?"
Shaggy's response was to carry Christina out of there but not before growling at the couple, "MINE"
"what was THAT?" Duncan burst out once Shaggy was gone, "The one word answers and the-Wolves don't act that way!"
"We need to learn more about that curse I think we'll find our answers there"
...
Christina was as puzzled as her friends but didn't let on. The stress of the questions had caused whatever was going on in Shaggy's mind. Whatever that was. He carried her back to her dorm where he sat on the bed, still holding onto her. She chanced a look at him to see that no, he hadn't snapped back to reality and was looking at her with an expression she couldn't place.
"Shaggy?" she tried, "Are you in there?"
No response.
"You're starting to frighten me"
At once, the dazed look vanished. Christina took the opportunity to move off his lap and to the side while Shaggy shook his head, grabbing at the fur.
"What happened?" he managed blinking at her confusedly, "How did we get here?"
"Clawdeen let you leave early because you were getting so upset," Christina rested a hand on his arm, "You don't remember?"
"No," his eyes welled with tears, "I...I...can't"
"Shh, shh," she reached up, rubbing the spot around his ears he liked so much, "You're okay, you're safe, I promise"
"Can...can I stay here for a while?"
"Of course, we can have dinner here if you'd prefer"
"Please?"
"Okay"
...
Clawdeen and Duncan rushed as fast as they could back to Monster High. The converted Gothic castle was practically empty save for a few live-in students and staff finishing their work for the day. The couple charged down the main corridor bursting into Bloodgood's office. The headmistress greeted them with a kind smile, setting her head on her desk.
"Perfect timing, I was just about to write for a progress report," Worry clouded her face, "What's happened?"
"We need to speak with the magic department,"
"Now"
Within the hour they were shut in the cavernous creepiteria where no students would eavesdrop on their conversation. Sitting at the head of the table surrounded by the different magic teachers, one for each year and a few specialties, Clawdeen struggled to find the words she needed to begin but a comforting squeeze from Duncan who held her hand under the table, helped.
"Something...strange has happened?"
"How so?"
"I did tell you that Shaggy is prone to blackout fits of rage"
"Yes and that he causes a great deal of damage when they occur"
"Most likely tied to this mysterious curse"
"Yes well, he had another today but..."
"But?"
"Our friend Christina was present," Duncan stated.
"I was most eager for her to attend here," Bloodgood mused quietly, "But Alissa and Radu favored castle-schooling her not surprising given late Drew's fixation..."
"Ahem," Vincent Van Ghoul coughed, bringing the headmistress back to the present.
"My apologies, you were saying?"
"Christina...she usually succeeds at calming him down before he gets to that point but I...we pushed him to far"
"So he had an episode with Christina present?"
"Yes and she went to calm him back down"
"He grabbed hold of her," Duncan continued, "I thought he was going to hurt her-"
"Is she okay?" Heaven forbid Christina was terribly injured or they'd all suffer Maleficent's legendary wrath.
"That's the thing, he didn't hurt her," Clawdeen burst in, "He held her and wouldn't let us close, he kept saying 'Mine'"
At this, the gathered faculty shared a confused look. Shaggy's rage was well documented. He was known to destroy objects in his way and injure anyone who tried to stop him. Ninety percent of the Morale Academy staff had received some sort of injury thankfully nothing life-altering or ending but broken bones, bruises, gashes, and concussions aplenty.
"You've said he imprinted on Miss Dracula right?" Vincent asked.
"Yes, undoubtedly so"
"Perhaps that's why he didn't harm her, from the sounds of it he was rather protective"
"OH I CAN'T DO THIS!" Clawdeen wailed, faceplanting onto the table, "I'm at a complete loss"
"I think all you need is a bit of extra help," Vincent smiled.
...
Shaggy tossed and turned, thrashing about, his claws tearing through his bedcovers as Ivy's laughter rang in his ears. In this dream, nightmarish hellscape he ran in every direction but she followed an army of insects buzzing just behind her, threatening to smother him. Closer and closer, closing in on him.
But, then.
"You're okay, I promise," Christina's voice cut through the ear-bleeding noise, "You're safe, I'm right here"
"Christina?" he cried hands still clamped over his ears, "Don't leave me here"
"Nothing's going to hurt you, I promise, you're safe"
"What is that?" Ivy could feel the threads of the spell keeping her in control of this dream rapidly unraveling, slipping through her fingers faster than she could weave a new spell.
Shaggy ignored her, his attention solely on Christina's voice and the warm, inviting safe path it had opened for him. In contrast to the rest of the landscape, it was colorful and oh, so safe feeling that he bounded into it, firmly shutting his tormentor out.
...
Christina breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Shaggy finally settled. The pain of a horrible nightmare was all too real to her. Having Scooby-Doo trip his way into her dorm at three in the morning babbling about how Shaggy was in trouble was enough of a surprise but seeing what Shaggy had been going through, that was enough to stomp her heart to powder. She had wasted no time in comforting him back to a peaceful slumber.
"Rhank Rou," Scooby said gratefully.
"Come get me if it happens again but don't tell Shaggy I was here, okay? We're not supposed to be in each other's dorms after curfew and I don't want him getting into any more trouble on my account, understood?"
Scooby saluted with a nod.
"Good," a wave of her hand and the bedding was restored before Christina disappeared back to her room.
Scooby flopped back onto the rug resting his head on his paws.
Crisis averted for now.
...
With the arrival of a rainy weekend, the rest of the student body was displeased but Christina could care less. Curled on the floor beside Prince's basket, she was trying to lose herself in a book but jumped at every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. The weather made her so tense that she almost banged her head on the wall from surprise when the door swung open. Dropping her book she relaxed, briefly, seeing it was only Shaggy.
"It's too loud!" he whimpered.
Wordlessly, Christina scooted over, patting the empty spot beside her. Taking the invite, he wasted no time in sitting beside her.
"What are you like, reading?"
"This is my fairy tale book, my mother gave it to me when I was only a few days old," Christina smiled sadly, "She wanted to teach me my history without forcing me to relive it you see"
"It's a very large book"
"Yes, my parents they would read me a story every single night but my father he's the one who nurtured my love of books, I used to sit on his knee while he read, he'd run his finger under the words so I could keep up and one day Mother found me reading this book all by myself"
"You must miss them"
"Every day"
"What...What was your story supposed to be?"
"Here" Christina spread the large tome over their laps, a picture of a frog in a crown looking up at them, "I was supposed to curse him"
"That's horrible"
"it is but things are changing"
"Not fast enough"
"Sometimes change can take a while"
Shaggy frowned, "Sadly"
"Hey," Christina grabbed his hand with her free one, "They'll figure it out, I know they will, I can feel it"
And for some reason, Shaggy believed her.