Chapter Twenty-Nine

After Daphne had lied to him during their last visit, Fred knew he had to talk to the Lawyer. He had no clue how to handle the situation, but if anyone could help, it would have to be the Lawyer. It took a week to get an appointment, but the Lawyer was interested to hear what Fred had to say as she hadn't expected to see him so soon after their last appointment.

"Mr Jones," the Lawyer said. "You didn't tell my assistant what your appointment is about,"

"Naturally, it's about Daphne, but not in the way that you think," Fred said. "I think she's going through a horrific time in there,"

The Lawyer frowned a little at that statement as it was apparent anyone would be going through a tough time during their incarceration, but she kept that to herself.

"With all due respect, what makes you say that?" the Lawyer asked.

"She told me that she wasn't going through a horrific time, and she said it all with a smile on her face," Fred replied. "Who in their right mind says they're fine in prison? She was clearly lying to me,"

"Mr Jones, she might have been saying that to protect you and herself," the Lawyer said.

Fred couldn't believe that response.

"I don't need protection," he said. "I need to make sure that Daphne is protected in prison because she's an innocent woman,"

"I agree with you, but protection isn't always cut and dry,"

"What do you mean it isn't always cut and dry?"

When it came to past cases, the Lawyer had always been faced with naivety from clients and their families, and it never ceased to amaze her in the forms it would take, but she was always patient as she had to be. If the client's naivety couldn't be satisfied, she would have no business in the future. But in Fred's case, she knew his naivety couldn't be satisfied.

"Mr Jones, have you ever served time in prison?" the Lawyer asked.

"No, I haven't," Fred said. "You know that,"

"Yes, I know that, and I know this is Daphne's first time in prison as well, but there's something you need to know," the Lawyer explained. "You can't even begin to imagine how horrific prison can be, even if prisoners lie to families and loved ones to protect them. The only way you can know how horrific prison is, is if you serve time in prison yourself,"

Fred hated where this was going.

"What the hell are you trying to tell me?" Fred asked.

"Daphne is going to have to serve her time without your help and until I can prove she's been falsely imprisoned," the Lawyer explained.

"What?" Fred asked in angry disbelief.

"If you try to help Daphne, you could make things even worse for her," the Lawyer said.

"And if you make things worse for her, she will end up hating you in ways you can't imagine, and you can't think of her as a damsel in distress with you as her knight in shining armor. Daphne has to survive her time because what use is a knight in shining armor if the knight can't rescue the damsel from prison?"

Fred hated how the Lawyer explained the situation, especially when one part of him knew that she was right and there was nothing he could do to help the woman he loved.

XXXXX

The only freedom that Daphne felt she had was jogging in the exercise yard. She had no contact with the Prison Guards, other prisoners, and, most important of all, the Warden. It was just her and the running path. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she liked having her hair like that. As Daphne ran, she looked up and saw the hill: The hill where she and Fred would have sex in the Mystery Machine at night. But Daphne knew those nights of passion were long behind her, and she could do nothing about it. Then Daphne heard a familiar sound: The Mystery Machine. Daphne stopped running and saw Fred driving by. She wondered if Fred saw her running and if he longed for her. God knows Daphne longed for him. Then Daphne saw Mallory approach her.

"I still have ten minutes left," Daphne said. "What do you want?"

Mallory said nothing as she walked up to her and removed her hair tie, so it flowed naturally.

"My brother likes watching you run without the ponytail," Mallory said. "So, put this on,"

Daphne sighed as she had another freedom taken away from her. Mallory gave Daphne her old headband, and she put it in her hair. Daphne's reaction didn't go unnoticed by Mallory.

"Don't push your luck with my brother," Mallory warned. "You don't know how far he's willing to go with you,"

Daphne knew how far he would go; she didn't want to hear anymore.

"Isn't there anything you can do to help me?" Daphne asked.

"I just did," Mallory replied as she began to walk away. "So don't tell me I didn't warn you,"

"Like he warned John?" Daphne asked without thinking.

That got Mallory's attention, and she walked back to her.

"Excuse me?" Mallory asked.

"Your nephew was my boyfriend in college," Daphne explained. "Your brother had him murdered because we were dating, and sleeping together,"

Without warning, Mallory slapped Daphne hard across her left cheek. Daphne was shocked by the slap and the pain.

"My nephew has gone missing," Mallory said furiously.

Then she slapped Daphne across her right cheek.

"My brother had nothing to do with his disappearance!" Mallory shouted. "How dare you say he had him murdered!"

Daphne cried as she rubbed her cheeks and couldn't believe the extent of Mallory's denial. Then Mallory got Daphne into a headlock with her right arm and dragged her to a nearby bench. Mallory pulled out her gun and let Daphne go.

"Bend over my knees," Mallory said.

With no other choice, Daphne leaned over Mallory's knees. Then Mallory pulled down her pants and then her underwear. Daphne shivered with her ass exposed to her. Then she felt Mallory spank both of her buttocks hard. Ten times each. She cried with the pain and the humiliation. Once Mallory was done, she pulled up Daphne's underwear and pants.

"Stand up and go back to your workout," Mallory said. "And remember, you brought this on yourself,"

Daphne stood up crying and ran away from Mallory. With the tears she saw in Daphne's eyes, Mallory was gratified that she could discipline Daphne how she deserved.

XXXXX

When Fred returned to Mystery Inc. Headquarters, he was desperate. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo could see it in his eyes as they sat in the conference room.

"Gang, I believe that Daphne is being abused at the prison," Fred said.

"How do you know she's being abused?" Velma asked.

"I could see it in her eyes," he replied. "She was scared and trying so hard not to be,"

Velma felt her throat tighten as she hated that Daphne was in prison.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," she said.

Fred thought he was going to explode, and he was so frustrated.

"I don't want to hear you're sorry to hear that," he said. "I want to know what we are going to do about it,"

"What do you mean what we are going to do about it?" Velma asked, surprised and confused. "What has the lawyer suggested we do?"

"She said we should leave the situation alone because it could make things worse for Daphne," Fred said.

Velma was shocked to hear that and didn't say anything momentarily.

"Fred, I hate to say it, but maybe that's what we should do," Velma said.

"What?" Fred asked furiously as he stood up. "Are you kidding me? This is Daphne we're talking about! She shouldn't be in prison, and we should do everything we can to help her!"

Velma stood up quickly.

"Fred, I know we're talking about Daphne, and do you think I like it that she's in prison?" Velma asked. "She's my best friend, and she's like a sister to me, but I think the Lawyer's right. We can't help her right now,"

Shaggy stood up quickly.

"Like, why the hell not?" Shaggy asked. "Daphne's the greatest girl I know,"

Velma looked at Shaggy jealously.

"Like after you, honey!" Shaggy said. "But I can't just sit around waiting for the next mystery without Daphne being involved. It's just not the same without her,"

Fred looked at Shaggy and Velma, surprised as he had no idea they were in a relationship.

"Shaggy, Fred, Scooby, do you think what I'm about to say is easy?" Velma asked.

"Then don't say it," Fred said.

"I can't not say it because it needs to be said," Velma replied. "If we help Daphne, we could not only make things worse for her, we could make things worse for ourselves,"

Fred looked like he was about to explode. Sensing this, Shaggy walked to the other side of the conference room desk.

"Is that what you care about?" Fred asked. "Mystery Inc.?"

"I'm saying we're stronger together than we are apart," Velma said. "And at this point in time, it looks like we could be going out of business because one of the aspects that made our business strong was Daphne being one of us, but she's not one of us anymore. The Beatles were a strong band together, but they broke up. With four of us instead of five, we're barely making it,"

"Mystery Inc. didn't break up!" Fred shouted. "We were torn apart!"

"Then we need to do something about that!" Velma shouted back.

"Like what?" Shaggy asked, feeling frantic.

"We need to be five again," Velma said.

Hearing those words coming from Velma made Fred feel sick.

"What do you mean we need to be five again?" Fred asked, daring Velma to take back what she said.

Velma wouldn't take back what she said because there was no alternative.

"We need to be five again, and in order to do that, we need a new Daphne," Velma said.

Fred had never felt so furious in his life. One of his closest friends had just stabbed him and Daphne in the back, and he wasn't going to tolerate it.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!" Fred yelled. "DAPHNE HAS BEEN ONE OF US SINCE THE BEGINNING, AND YOU WANT TO THROW HER AWAY LIKE SHE'S A PIECE OF TRASH? NO, WE'RE NEVER GOING TO DO THAT! WE'RE GOING TO PROVE HER INNOCENT, AND SHE'S GOING TO BE ONE OF US AGAIN!"

Tears streamed down Velma's face as Fred had never yelled at her like that.

"Jinkies!" Velma cried.

Velma ran out of the room. Seeing her run out like that broke Shaggy's heart. In the history of their friendship, Shaggy never imagined that he could do what he was about to do, but he did it anyway. He ran up to Fred and punched him in the face. Fred fell onto the floor. Scooby-Doo was growling at him when he looked up, and Shaggy stood over him, looking furious. For the first time in his life, Fred was scared of Shaggy.

"Like, don't ever yell at her like that again, man!" Shaggy said. "Or else I'll do more than punch you in the face!"

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo ran out of the office to be with Velma. As Fred lay on the floor, he couldn't believe what had happened and wondered if Mystery Inc. would survive much longer.

XXXXX

A week later, Daphne was brought in to see the Warden again. He looked furious as Charlie brought her into the office, which terrified her. The Warden looked at Charlie.

"If I need you in here, I'll let you know," the Warden said. "Now get out,"

"Yes, sir," Charlie replied.

Daphne was surprised that she was alone with the Warden after Charlie closed the door behind him.

"I know what my sister did to you, although you deserved it, and she has been punished," the Warden said.

Daphne didn't say a word as she was afraid to say anything.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" the Warden asked, a little impatient.

"Thank you," Daphne said quickly.

The Warden smiled as he walked out from behind his desk and in front of her.

"Good girl," he said. "Now there's something we need to talk about,"

The Warden stroked Daphne's hair, and he leaned forward to smell it.

"God, you've got lovely and beautiful hair," he said, breathlessly.

Daphne frowned a little despite how scared she was.

"You want to talk about my hair?" she asked bewildered.

The Warden stopped stroking and smelling her hair and faced her again.

"No, this isn't about your hair," he said. "This is about your conjugal visit request to be with Fred. Are you really sure that's a good idea?"

"But you approved it," Daphne said quickly.

The Warden frowned as he didn't like how confident she sounded.

"I know I approved it, but this is a test," he explained. "You see, this is a test of your devotion to me, and I hope you pass the test,"

Daphne's throat tightened.

"How do you want me to pass the test?" she asked confused.

"You can pass the test by cancelling your conjugal visit with Fred," he said. "Because if you don't, then you're going to be faced with serious consequences,"

Daphne's eyes widened with fear, and he loved seeing the fear in her eyes as he thought it was adorable.

"Get in the position you know I love while you think about what I've told you," the Warden said.

Daphne was breathing heavily as she walked over to his desk, pulled down her pants and underwear and leaned over his desk. Her ass was still tender from the spankings that Mallory had given her, but he didn't care. He only wanted to touch her. He felt up her legs and back, and then he rubbed his hands on her ass. Daphne shivered whenever he touched her, and the Warden laughed a little.

"Please don't hurt me," Daphne said as she mistook the Warden's laughter for malevolence.

He didn't like that, and he stopped laughing. He stroked her hair with both hands for a moment.

"Stand up and turn around," he said.

Daphne did what she was told and was disturbed by how he looked her up and down.

"I'm going to give you one year," he said.

"One year for what?" Daphne asked terrified.

"In one year from today, you're going to decide to marry me, and we're going to start to try having our first baby," he said. "If you don't decide to make that decision, then I'm going to see what I'm going to do about your paperwork as you are a death row inmate,"

Daphne began to sweat and shake. Before the conclusion of her trial, she was terrified that she was going to be put to death. Hearing the Warden confirm it made her realise that she didn't have any options she could go through with, but she knew someone else had a choice that could be taken care of on her behalf.

"F-F-Fred is still working to prove my innocence," Daphne said, scared.

The Warden smirked.

"No, he's going to try to prove your innocence and fail," he said reassuringly. "Now lift up your arms,"

Daphne lifted her arms, and the Warden took off her shirt.

"Turn around," he said.

Daphne turned around, scared of what was going to happen, and her fear was confirmed as the Warden took off her bra and threw it on the floor behind them. Then he began to fondle her breasts and kiss her back. Daphne began to cry.

"Please don't hurt me!" she begged.

The Warden sighed, frustrated.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, annoyed that his mood had been broken. "Now turn around,"

Daphne turned around as the Warden stood up. Once they faced each other, he stroked her hair again with his right hand.

"This is the last time we're going to talk about this until a year from now," he said. "We're not going to have sex today, no matter how much I know you want it, deep down,"

She couldn't believe how crazy he was and did her best not to appear scared.

"But for today, we're just going to make out a little, like you would have done when you were a teenager," he said.

He leaned down and kissed her breasts for a while. Then he leaned up and kissed Daphne passionately. To cope with what was happening to her, Daphne returned the kiss but pretended it was Fred kissing her, not a psycho. As they kissed each other, he grew hard. The Warden stopped kissing her and grabbed her right hand. With his free hand, he pulled down his fly and took out his hard cock. With his left hand, he got Daphne to stroke it with his fingers. She hated how his cock felt as she was rubbing it.

"In a year from now, you'll want this inside you, if not sooner," the Warden said.

As Daphne listened to his words and saw the psychotic look in his eyes, she knew she had a year of prison life left before she would be faced with a life of unspeakable evil if Fred couldn't prove her innocence and liberate her from Hell.

XXXXX

Stephanie loved her life in London and didn't want to leave. It was one of her favorite cities. But Stephanie knew that she couldn't stay. She was sitting in a café eating breakfast in Waterloo Station when her cell phone rang. When she read it was coming from an unknown number, she knew she had no choice but to take the call.

"Yeah?" Stephanie asked, a little annoyed as she already suspected who it was.

"It's me," the Warden said as a car drove by behind him.

The sound of the car didn't go unnoticed by Stephanie.

"Where are you calling me from?" she asked curiously.

"The phone booth," the Warden said.

"Wonderful," Stephanie said sarcastically. "What do you want?"

The Warden sighed, frustrated by her unprofessional impatience.

"You should already know what I want," he said, annoyed. "Get your ass to Scotland,"

Stephanie couldn't help but smile.

"So, the plan's going well?" Stephanie asked.

"You bet it is," the Warden replied. "I've got Daphne right where I want her. She'll be mine by the end of the year,"

"Cool," Stephanie said. "I'll be in Scotland by the end of the week,"

As the Warden and Stephanie continued to discuss her next move, she felt so happy as she was confident Fred would be hers by the end of the year. Daphne could rot in Hell as far as Stephanie was concerned, as no one would get in her way.