Chapter 5

That's No Journal

Back with the mayor, Scooby, Shaggy, Sunset, and Pinkie stealthily followed him towards an old warehouse. Mayor Corey entered the warehouse and then shut the double doors behind him.

"Score! I think we've hit real paydirt with that shed!" Pinkie whispered.

The four of them emerged from their hiding places and stopped in front of the doors.

"Shh! We can't let the mayor know we're following him!" Sunset whispered warily.

She then slid one of the doors open and was faced with the pitch-black interior of the shed. The only source of light that they had was the light from the moon outside.

"Like, where do you think he went?" trembled Shaggy.

"I don't know," answered Scooby.

Just then, they all heard wood creaking from up above. They looked up and saw the witch's ghost once again.

"HOW DARE YOU DISTURB MY RESTING PLACE?!" she wailed. The four friends screamed in terror at the very sight of the witch. "This town will pay!"

"Send them a bill, but leave us alone!" Shaggy cried as he and the others unintentionally dug a small hole into the ground.

The witch managed to fly over them, then turned around and started chasing them. The group was so scared, that they ended up bursting through the wall leaving perfect cutouts of their bodies as they ran. As they continued running, they somehow failed to notice Mayor Corey and managed to literally run over him. They eventually stopped running upon bumping into both Velma and Twilight, causing them to lose their glasses.

"AGAIN WITH THIS, YOU GUYS?!" Twilight bellowed. "Geez, of all the times for me to lose my glasses, it has to be when Velma loses hers, too."

The two girls picked up the glasses and put them on their faces. Upon doing so, however, they realized that they had on the other's glasses by mistake.

"Sorry," the girls said to each other. They then handed their own glasses to each other and put them back on their faces.

"I always hated it when we mixed up each other's glasses in school," said Twilight. "People used to make fun of us for that."

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Daphne as she and the others walked up to them.

"Ask Scooby and Shaggy," said Ben as he helped the girls up.

"Where are they?" asked Fred.

"Do you really need to ask that, Fred?" retorted Rainbow as she pointed to a blue mailbox that was shaking violently.

Applejack opened the door to the mailbox and to her surprise, only saw the eyes of Scooby and Shaggy in there.

"Hey, where's Sunset and Pinkie?" she asked.

"Over here," Pinkie said as she and Sunset emerged from behind a tree.

"So, what happened, guys?" asked Velma.

"Like, we followed the mayor to some warehouse, and that ghost attacked us," whimpered Shaggy.

"A warehouse? There goes our cherry picker theory, Velma," Twilight sighed.

"Cherry picker theory? Wait till you hear what we saw at Thorn's place," said Fred.

"Excuse me! But I believe that the four of us were reporting first!" Pinkie scorned. Sunset jabbed her right elbow into Pinkie's left arm, showing a sign of displeasure. "What was that for?"

"Be nice! You're starting to sound like Rainbow Dash!" Sunset hissed. She then cleared her throat as Shaggy slid out of the mailbox and continued their observation of the mayor. "Anyways, we found out that the mayor is one busy man. He's been going around picking things up and then dropping them off."

As she spoke, Scooby managed to get out of the mailbox and ended up landing on top of Shaggy. Fluttershy cringed at seeing this, since the impact of Scooby landing on Shaggy's back had to be painful.

"Like what?" Velma asked.

Before anyone could answer, Mayor Corey demanded to know what was going on with the group.

"What's the big idea running over me?!" he bellowed.

Sunset blushed and chuckled in embarrassment after realizing what had just happened.

He eventually took everyone to the warehouse and explained that the only thing that was worth noting were the holes that Scooby, Shaggy, Sunset, and Pinkie made when being chased by the witch's ghost.

"Sorry about that, mayor," said Velma. "Scooby and Shaggy just lose it when they get scared."

"This whole entire trip has been one big scarefest," Fluttershy whimpered. "I think we should just pack everything up and leave."

"Really?" asked Ben.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," said Mayor Corey.

"Now, wait a minute, Fluttershy. We're really close to solving the mystery of the witch's ghost before the Autumn Fest tomorrow. We just one more clue before the night's over," said Twilight.

"Oh, great. I-I-I-I-I'll do anything I can to help."

The mayor then walked away, leaving the gang and Ben to ask Twilight what she meant.

"You've got a plan, don't you?" inquired Ben.

Twilight gave him a reassuring wink, confirming his suspicion. She then gathered everyone around and whispered the plan to them.

Sometime later, Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Twilight, and Fluttershy were on the stage where the Hex Girls would be performing. Scooby removed a cloth and underneath it was Dusk's drum set. He started playing one of the cymbals with his tail. Shaggy removed another cloth and revealed Luna's keyboard, which he immediately started playing.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Dusk was standing right next to her drums and she was not happy.

"Hey!" she hissed.

"Rorry," gulped Scooby as he handed her drumsticks to her. He then hid under the cloth that covered her drums.

"Like, why'd you stop ol' buddy?" Shaggy asked.

Just then, he slowly turned his head, sensing the presence of someone behind him. Standing right behind him was an equally angry Luna.

"No one touches my keyboard except Aria!" she snarled.

Shaggy chuckled nervously and immediately hid under the cover with Scooby-Doo.

"Thanks for coming, girls," said Velma.

"We should all be home resting for the concert tomorrow," said Thorn. "We only came because Ben asked us too."

It wasn't just the Hex Girls that were there, the Dazzlings were with them as well. Instead of wearing their dresses, however, they were instead wearing purple, dark green, and burgundy-colored hoodies, long pants and purple sneakers, due to the cold weather.

"Neither of us wanted to come along, but Thorn insisted otherwise," Aria scoffed.

"Hey, I'm just following orders," Ben said in defense.

"Well, what do you want?" Luna asked curiously.

Just then, the wind started to pick up and as if right on cue, the witch's ghost appeared above the nearby trees over the stage. Fluttershy's pupils became pinpricks at the very sight of the witch's ghost. In fact, she was so frightening to the timid girl, that she even let out a terrified scream. The witch's ghost then tossed a fireball at the group, causing them to run away before it hit the stage.

"This town must pay for its foul deed!" the ghost wailed.

Velma, Scooby, Shaggy, Twilight, and Fluttershy kept running until Velma deliberately tripped at a certain spot. Looking back behind her, she waited until the right moment for the ghost to be near them.

"NOW!" she shouted.

Just then, a tree branch slapped the ghost smack into soccer goal net, knocking it down for the count.

"Yes! It worked!" Twilight exclaimed, pumping her fist.

"Alright! Score!" Rainbow exclaimed as she and the others joined Velma's group.

"Okay, let's see who's behind all this!" said Fred as he pulled the mask off. It turned out to be Mr. McKnight, the local pharmacist.

"Daddy?!" gasped Thorn.

"Hello, Sally," Mr. McKnight chuckled nervously. "And you too, my favorite nieces."

"Your dad's the ghost?" Luna asked in confusion.

"You're name is Sally?" Fred asked.

"Uncle McKnight, why? Why would do something like this? It's not like you!" said Sonata.

"You mean you didn't know?" asked Daphne.

Thorn and the Dazzlings shook their heads, confirming that they had no idea about what was going on.

"The girls have nothing to do with this," said Mr. McKnight.

"What in the world is going on this evening?!" Mayor Corey bellowed as he walked up to the gang. "Is that you, McKnight?"

"Mr. Mayor, if you'll allow us to explain. Velma and I found flash powder residue where Shaggy and Scooby first saw the ghost," said Twilight.

Velma lifted up Mr. McKnight's right arm and revealed a device strapped around his wrist under the sleeve.

"That's right. This is the device he used to throw the fireballs, which are just wads of flash paper," Velma added. "He got it from his daughter's stage props."

Curious, Scooby pressed the button on the device, which caused a wad of flash paper to shoot out and land near the trees, revealing a cherry picker.

"What the hay? Is that a cherry picker?" asked Applejack as Velma turned on her flashlight.

"Precisely, Applejack. It made the ghost fly above the trees with the use of an extension device. And look over there."

She then shined her light on a nearby fan.

"Oh, my goodness!" gasped Fluttershy. "That's the fan that most likely created that creepy wind."

"Right. And if I'm right, it would have to take more than one person to pull off a scam such as this," said Twilight. "Am I right… Jack?!"

As if on cue, Jack, the restaurant owner, walked out from behind the trees. Seeing him made Pinkie gasp, as he was the last person she expected to be involved in this scheme.

"It would have to take someone with your strength to hoist Mr. McKnight in the witch costume around the town."

"Like, you should've been making pot roast instead of cooking up trouble," Shaggy scolded.

"THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU!" shouted Velma.

"All of you?" Ben asked in confusion.

Just then, some more people emerged from the trees, admitting that they, too, were involved in the scam, as well.

"Well, I, for one, am totally shocked by this deception!" Mayor Corey snarled.

"Don't think you're getting off the hook, that easily, Mr. Mayor," Twilight said, lowering her glasses in suspicion. "Because, believe it or not, YOU'RE the one who was the mastermind behind all of this!"

"I'm very disappointed in you, mayor," Ben said in disappointment. "And all of you. For lining your pockets by dragging Sarah Ravencroft's name through the mud!"

"Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves. Not even the Flim Flam brothers would stoop this low," said Applejack.

Sometime later at Ben's mansion, the gang, the Hex Girls, Ben, and the Dazzlings were gathered around the old portrait of Sarah Ravencroft and admiring the beauty of the art.

"So she was a real wiccan?" asked Thorn.

"That's right," Ben said in confirmation.

"Oh, so cool!" said Dusk.

"She's very pretty," said Aria.

"Yes, I think so, too," said Ben. "And that's why I get upset when people accuse her of being a witch."

"Uh, I think I owe you girls an apology for thinking you were… well, uh…" Fred stammered.

"Witches," Applejack finished.

"We saw you perform some kind of ritual in your shed," said Daphne.

"Witches?" laughed Dusk. "We just pretend that stuff. It's just a gimmick for our band."

"Well, duh. You girls do that stuff all the time," said Sonata before being cut off by Adagio. "What? What did I say?"

"Idiot," sighed Aria, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, don't make a fuss. You three are about to add something for your band this year, right?" said Thorn.

"Well, yeah. We're going to add color-coded projections of the mythical sirens. Just as soon as we can get enough money," said Adagio. "And trust me, we almost have enough."

"As for us, we're eco-goths," Luna reiterated. "Kind of like wiccans. Just ask Thorn she IS one."

"Yeah, right," chuckled Thorn. "Sally McKnight: 1/16 blood on my mother's side. And that ritual you saw was just peppermint and cloves to soothe my vocal cords. You think it's easy singing this stuff?"

"Ugh! I'm just having PTSD remembering that one time we went on stage with raspy voices," Aria cringed.

"Don't remind me," Adagio groaned.

"Thorn's herbal vapor is awesome," said Dusk. "We all use it before and after every show."

"But what about those fangs you guys have?" asked Rainbow.

"My dad's a dentist," said Luna. She then took out her vampire dentures and showed everyone that they were fake. "He outfitted the band."

"Cool," said Fluttershy as both Dusk and Thorn took out their dentures.

Just then, the mayor walked in with Mr. McKnight, who was now in his pharmacy clothes. The mayor explained that he was ringing Ben's doorbell for quite a while.

"Sorry about that," Ben apologized. "I've been meaning to fix that thing for years. What's up, mayor?"

"Well, Ben, I feel real bad about everything and I wanted to apologize for using your ancestor in our little publicity stunt," said Mayor Corey.

"The tourist trade was so slow. We were desperate," added Mr. McKnight.

"Right, and you once told me that supernatural phenomena always attracts people."

"It was just natural to use Sarah, because… we accidentally dug up her grave."

"You what?" asked Applejack.

"Dug up… her grave?" cringed Rarity.

"What grave?" Ben asked desperately.

"I'm sorry, Ben," apologized Mayor Corey. "You see, I lied to you when you asked me if we found anything of Sarah's while we were building the Puritan village."

"We did. It was her grave marker. It was near to place where the Dazzlings' mother is buried," added Mr. McKnight.

"Wait a minute. Time out! Your mother's… gone?" asked Applejack.

The Dazzlings sadly lowered their heads.

"Our mom died of a fatal disease," Sonata said sadly.

"The doctors did everything they could. We were only six years old," said Aria.

"That's why he became a pharmacist. And it's the reason why our dad was so harsh on us. Ever since mom passed away, he pushed us to become the best singers so that we could make money, since our family was poor," said Adagio.

"You poor dears," said Rarity, feeling bad for them. "But that still doesn't explain why you were so mean to us!"

"Well, we had to take our frustration out somebody! And you girls were so gullible and popular!" said Aria.

"Besides, it was pretty entertaining to see students argue over the tiniest of issues," mocked Adagio.

"Girls, please. May I continue?" said Mr. McKnight.

"Yes, Uncle McKnight," said the Dazzlings.

"Thank you. Anyways, we found the marker in a bulldozed pile of dirt and rocks. We didn't want to upset you, Ben."

"But that's all we found," said Mayor Corey. "Heh, no bones."

"No… book?" asked Ben.

"Nothing but that grave marker," said Mr. McKnight. "We swear, Ben."

"We don't even know where her grave is," Mayor Corey admitted.

"It's true. It could be anywhere between Miller's Creek and the big tree stump."

"Big tree stump? Wait a minute!" thought Twilight. She then snapped her fingers and remembered something. "Hey, Shaggy, do you still have that little shoe buckle that Scooby and Sunset found earlier today?" she asked.

"Like, this one?" he asked, pulling the buckle out of his left pocket.

He then gave it to Twilight, who then held it up to the painting. Putting the pieces together, she realized that it wasn't a shoe buckle, but rather, part of a book clasp.

"Scooby, can you show me the exact location where you found this?"

"Ri rink so," said Scooby.

Later that night, the gang, the Hex Girls, the Dazzlings, Mayor Corey, Mr. McKnight, and Ben carried lanterns and a flashlight until they came to the tree stump where Scooby found the clasp.

"All these years I was searching around the wrong oak tree," said Ben.

"Right. I believe this is what's left of the tree where Sarah did her healing," Velma hypothesized. "You never even noticed it because it was cut down hundreds of years ago."

"That explains so much," said Sunset. She then turned towards Scooby. "Scooby, you need to dig deeper."

"Ruh-uh," said Scooby.

"Oh, no? Not even for a Scooby Snack?"

"Ruh-uh. Roh wray."

"How about two Scooby Snacks, then? Brand new box."

Sunset then brought up an orange box with a blue diagonal line in the middle labeled Scooby Snax with the Great Dane's favorite dog treat.

"Rokay."

She then tossed two snacks into the air and Scooby caught them. After enjoying his dog treats, he ran towards the spot he found the clasp and started digging furiously.

"Scooby-Doo, watch it! I just had my hair done!" Rarity wailed.

Just then, Scooby hit something solid and stopped digging.

"What did you find?" asked Ben.

"Rox," said Scooby.

"Rocks?"

Scooby then pulled out an old box from the where he was digging and set it near the tree stump.

"A box!" gasped Velma.

Ben ran up to the box and held it in excitement. He then opened the box and to everyone's surprise, it was a completely different book than what they were expecting. It was a yellow book with a brown, leather covering and in the middle was a skull. Upon seeing it, Sonata gulped in fear.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, girls," she said nervously.

"Me too," said Aria.

"Likewise," said Adagio.

"Ben, that doesn't look like a journal," said Velma.

"Because it isn't, Velma. It's a spell book," Ben said sinisterly.

"WHAT?!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"You see, Sarah wasn't a wiccan. She was, indeed, a witch."

"Aria? I'm scared," said Sonata, holding on to her sister tightly.

"Me too, sis," said Aria.

"And since Sarah's blood runs in my veins, I guess that makes me… A WARLOCK!"

"That's bad, isn't it?" asked Rainbow.

"Eeyup," replied Applejack.

"You see, the wiccans imprisoned Sarah in her own spell book and you helped me find it," said Ben.

"You lied to us, Ben!" snarled Twilight.

"Well, gee, I had to. I've been searching for years. Then I read about your exploits, especially your most recent one on Moonscar Island. I knew if anyone could help me find the book, it was you and your friends. I orchestrated the whole mummy scheme, paying off the archeologists and the security guards, just to lure you to the museum so we could meet. Yes, Twilight. I tricked you into helping me and it worked."

"And you were in on Ben's plan, too!" Fred snarled as he turned to Mayor Corey.

"N-N-N-N-No! We're just as surprised as you are. Honest," said Mayor Corey, who was still shaken upon learning the truth.

"For once, he's telling the truth," said Ben. "That stupid fake ghost WAS the town's idea, but it did work to my advantage."

"Why didn't you just ask us in the first place? This whole elaborate scheme seems like a waste of time to me," said Fluttershy.

"I know why!" snarled Velma. "Because if we knew what that book was, we would never have helped him!"

"But even you can't imagine the real power of this book. No mere mortal can. Not even the book you found on Moonscar Island can compare to it," he said sinisterly.

"You've been watching too many adaptations of your horror stories, Ravencroft!" Rainbow hissed.

"A typical mortal response. But I am descended from a superior breed. I shall unlock the power of the imprisoned Sarah Ravencroft!"

"Norvie? What's going to happen?" asked Sunset.

"Like, I don't know," said Shaggy.

"Re reither," said Scooby.

"Together, we shall reign supreme!" Ben exclaimed. He then started reciting the spell that would grant him the power of black magic. "LET THE EVIL FROM THE PAST BREATHE AGAIN WITH FIERY BLAST."

Thunder and lightning accompanied him as he chanted.

"NOOOO!" Twilight screamed as the wind blew fiercely.

"LET THE DARK WIND WHIP THE NIGHT TO BLOW AWAY THE FORCE OF LIGHT."

"Stop! You don't know what you're doing!" yelled Sunset.

Just then, an entire tree landed near her, Shaggy, and Scooby, causing them to run for their lives.

"NOW I SUMMON ANCIENT POWER."

"Ben, DON'T! THE BOOK THAT WE HAVE SAYS IT'LL ONLY BRING ABOUT DESTRUCTION!" yelled Twilight.

"THIS IS EVIL'S FINEST HOUR!"

After finishing the spell, a green stream of light engulfed Ben and granted him the power to wield dark magic. Things just went from bad to worse now that Ben has evil magic at his disposal. Can the gang stop him before he unleashed the ghost of his ancestor, the witch, Sarah Ravencroft? They were about to find out soon enough.