Shaggy and Scooby were still laughing over the wax figures of their friends, each of them taking turns to mimic the voices of the ones they were holding. They were so distracted by this that by the time they noticed the dozens of eyes in the cave, it was too late. "BATS!" Shaggy shrieked when the sudden flapping of dark wings came at them. They stumbled to their feet and began rushing out of the cave, covering their faces with their arms (or front legs) as best they could to shield themselves. "There must be hundreds!" Shaggy exclaimed, he and Scooby just running in any general direction to escape the bats. They didn't realise they were heading back to where the zombies first emerged.
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Beau asked, attempting one final time to get the three others down from mid-air. Without warning, Fred, Daphne and Velma dropped to the floor, hitting the ground before they had even realised what was happening. "Nothing I guess!" Velma said, surprised. Beau walked over to her and offered his hand for the second time that night, to which she obliged and blushed slightly. Fred and Daphne had fallen close to each other, so Fred offered Daphne his hand. She hesitated for a moment, feeling slightly awkward after what had just happened, but she took his offer in the end. Luckily the awkwardness didn't last to long as the four of them were interrupted by a scream coming from the house. "Is that Lena?" Velma asked, mainly aiming her question towards Beau as he had known her and Simone for about two months or so. "Yeah it is! We better hurry." Fred responded, taking his role as leader and beginning to leave.
"Yeah guess we better." Daphne mumbled quietly, only Velma was able to hear it. She rolled her eyes and laughed slightly.
"Scoob-I'm-really-out-of-breath." Shaggy managed to say, pausing to breathe in deeply. Scooby also stopped and began panting. "Like at least the bats have gone!" Shaggy could almost eat his words after that sentence as he and Scooby froze with fear yet again when two female looking zombies began to approach. It was if they appeared out of nowhere. "I'm not interested in a ghoul-friend!" Shaggy yelled, suddenly getting back his breath so he was ready to run away again. "Re reither!"
"Shit, looks like the generator has gone out." Beau commented, watching Velma flick the light switch of the front room in Simone's home. It wasn't pitch black but dark enough to be able to navigate well. "Shaggy! Scooby!" Velma called, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify sound. Nothing. "Lena! Simone!" Fred began yelling when they had no response from Shaggy or Scooby. Daphne rolled her eyes, typical. "WOAH!" Fred half-screamed as he lost his footing from the large staircase. The others gathered around him to find he had fell through what looked like a trap door within the stairs. "Wow, danger-prone much." Daphne smirked, unable to hide how funny she found the situation. The others laughed too but it soon fizzled when Lena appeared beside Fred in the trap door. "Fred, are you okay?" She asked him, cradling him in his arms."Uh yeah I'm fine really-"
"What were you doing in there?" Daphne cut in, she couldn't bear to watch the two of them interacting any longer than necessary. Lena and Fred stood up, the only light around everyone was that of Velma and Beau's lanterns. "It was horrible! Ms Lenoir and I went outside to wait for you when we were attacked by these-these-"
"Zombies?" Velma asked, already knowing the answer. Lena nodded in agreement, tears forming in her eyes.
"We ran back to the house and Ms Lenoir opened this secret passageway. She said it was built during a civil war to hide but the zombies came after us! They got Simone and dragged her away! Thank goodness you've come!" Lena cried, moving to wrap her arms around Fred and bury her face in his chest. He nervously looked towards Daphne who had crossed her arms in annoyance. He knew he'd been flirting with Lena and heck, he did think she was attractive but he never realised he would have a chance with Daphne. Since they had been practically forced to kiss earlier he realised how stupid he had been to even bother flirting with anyone else.
"Don't worry Lena, we'll find her." Fred said politely, rubbing her back.
"You said the zombies dragged Simone?" Velma asked, crouching down to examine what seemed to be footprints of someone with a heeled shoe.
"Yes. Hurry we have to search for her!" Lena responded, leading the others down the tunnel that she came from moments earlier.
Daphne looked at Velma and realised what she was thinking. Nevertheless, all of them began following Lena down the tunnel, lit by some yellow glow at the end. Beau followed Lena close, followed by Fred then Velma then Daphne at the back. "Freddie?" Daphne whispered, gaining his attention without Lena noticing. He paused for a moment so that Velma overtook him. "Yeah Daph?"
"Something doesn't seem right... about Lena." Fred seemed surprised at her words and furrowed his eyebrows to show it.
"She seems really upset."
"Fred. You didn't listen to me about the zombies and I was right. Please listen to me about this." She pleaded, taking his arm with her hands. They made eye contact for what felt like hours but in reality was only a few moments. He could see the certainty in her eyes, the concern… the fear?
"I believe you."