"What. The. Hell."
Velma's eyes widened. She was frozen to the spot.
Daphne cried out in a mixture of a gasp and a scream.
Her room was destroyed. The bedspread was mangled and torn; the wallpaper was stripped, revealing the wooden wall behind; her vanity and armoire were lying on the ground, their contents flooding the floor in a sea of clothes and jewelry.
Velma felt as though her heart dropped to her stomach. She immediately knew.
Someone had been here. Someone had been in the house while they were gone.
She slowly entered the room, ignoring Daphne's pleas for her to stop.
"No, Velma, wait –
But then Daphne remembered the photo of her and Fred. His ascot. They were in there somewhere.
Daphne pushed past Velma, dashing toward the piles of mess.
"Daph, what are you doing?" Velma cried.
"Fred – Fred's things . . . our photo . . . where are they?"
"Daphne, we need to get out of here!"
"No . . . I need to find Fred's ascot! That's the last part of him I have, Velma!" Daphne's hands were shaking as she fumbled through a pile of dresses.
"Daphne, we can find it later! There could be someone in the house!" Velma hissed, grabbing Daphne's arms as she tried pulling her out of the room.
Daphne fought back, throwing Velma off her in a wild craze. She immediately fell to her knees and continued rummaging.
Velma stood there, helpless, watching as her friend devolved into a state of pure hysteria. There was nothing she could do.
Then, something caught Velma's eye. It was in the corner of the room. And when Velma saw it fully, she let out a cry.
Daphne, startled by the sound, turned. "What -
And she screamed, her voice tearing painfully through the air.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Come back. Right now.
Shaggy saw those words and immediately grabbed his phone, dialing Velma.
He heard one ring before Velma picked up.
"Velma, what's –
"Shaggy, you need to come back here."
"Like, wait, what –
"No time for questions! Hurry!"
Shaggy knew from the sound of Velma's voice that something was very wrong; she was never frightened. Not like this.
He immediately made a U-turn and sped back towards the Blake estate.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Shaggy couldn't remember if he'd even put the van in park before he sprinted to the front door. Velma was standing on the doorstep, still in her black dress.
Without a word, she led Shaggy to Daphne's bedroom. He gasped.
"Like, God, Velma, what the hell –
Velma's shaking hand pointed to the left corner of the room, next to the closet door. Shaggy's eyes followed the gesture. And then he saw it.
A photo lying on the floor. A photo of him, Velma, and Daphne at the funeral – pierced by a knife.
Shaggy felt his blood run cold. He let out a shaky breath. "What –
"Someone did this, Shaggy," Velma said, finally speaking. "It's a message . . . for us."
Shaggy moved cautiously towards the sight. The knife had a red substance smeared on it. Whether the blood was real or fake, he did not know.
And just like the photo, Fred's ascot was pierced through by the blade. The sight was nauseating. This was a threat.
A part of him wanted to find who did this. Make them pay what they did to Fred. To all of them. Someone took a photo of them at the funeral. Someone knew their whereabouts. They were being stalked.
But the other part was scared. Scared for what would happen to Scooby. To the girls. To himself. He couldn't let anything happen. He just couldn't.
"I want to call the police, but I feel like they won't do anything," Velma said after a long silence. "I mean, they still haven't found a single thing related to anything about what happened."
Shaggy didn't respond. He just looked at Velma.
Velma looked back. Her eyes were now full of frustration. "What?"
"No, Velma, it's just like – I don't know . . . I just think we should get the police involved . . . this is serious. I don't know if we can handle this kind of thing by ourselves . . ."
"Shaggy, they won't do a thing!"
"I – I know they probably won't, but –
"They won't! We can't call them. They never take us seriously! They'll say it was just some sick prank or something . . ."
"Yeah, but do you think you should be calling the shots for Daphne?" Shaggy said, looking around the room. "Like, it is her house, after all."
"Okay, then!"
"Well, where is she?"
"She's –
Suddenly, there were fast footsteps coming from down the hallway. And then Daphne was there wearing a bathrobe, her hair sopping wet. She immediately shut the door and locked it. She was panting, clutching her side.
"Daph, what's –
"I – I was taking a shower, and – and I heard footsteps –
"It was probably Shaggy and me," Velma said, crossing her arms.
"No! I was in mother's bathroom at the other end of the house!"
Suddenly, there was a large crash that rang through their bodies like electricity.
"Like, now can we call the police?" Shaggy said.