Haunts From the Past a Velma Adventure

With apologies to Warner Brothers, Hanna Barbara and anyone else who might hate this story (although I believe any true Scooby Doo fan will love it!). All borrowed characters have been safely returned intact and healthy. This is a Scrappy free story. It's a long one, so feel free to print it out and save it for later reading!

Part Two:

Velma is on the cell phone again. "No... ok.. We're on our way!" She turns it off and turns toward Freddy. "The police found Daphne's car! And get this, they don't think there's anything suspicious about it!" Freddy is aghast. "What?" Shaggy leans forward from the rear seat. "Where did they find it?" Velma sighs, "Up at the park north of town. It is parked in one of the spaces, all locked up. They say there is no sign of a struggle and suggested that maybe she decided to take a nature hike!" Freddy pulls to the side of the road and makes a U-turn. "Well, lets check it out. I can't believe it! They're not even going to continue looking for her?" Velma takes her glasses off and rubs her eyes. "They did dust it for prints, in a very casual way. When they put the tapes on a card and compared what they found, they all looked the same, probably Daphne's." Freddy made a right turn heading for the park. "It's only about three miles from here, we should be there in about five minutes. A nature hike! Maybe a shopping hike if they found it at a mall, but not a nature hike!"

As the van pulled up, a lone police car remained in the park. Freddy jumped out of the van, the rest of the gang followed. He walked over to the police car and introduced himself to the officer, Sargent McCafferty. "Oh, I know you kids, who doesn't by now! So Daphne was one of your gang? Well, that explains all the concern." Freddy cleared his throat. "We think there's a lot more to this. Is Mr Blake here?" McCafferty shook his head. "Just in case your right, we told him to stay home, close to the phone. We would all like to be of more help, but unless there is some big piece of evidence that indicates a crime has been committed, we can't do anything for at least another twenty-four hours. She has only been missing for about four hours, could be out for a walk. We left a note on the windshield to call home in case she returns, but plenty of people take hikes in these hills. Be patient, she'll probably turn up." With that, he started the cruiser up and headed off. Velma watched as he drove down the drive and out of the park. "Jinkies! I don't believe that!" "Rubby Rack!" Shaggy spun around, "Hey, I think Scooby found something!" The gang walked over to where Scooby was standing. The grass was somewhat flattened in a patch, and on the ground was a Scooby snack! "While you guys were talking, Scooby was walking around Daphne's car. It looked like he picked up a scent and followed it over here." Velma reached down and picked it up. "I guess the police would not consider this a clue, but I do! I think someone grabbed her right here where the grass is flattened. This must have dropped out of her pocket." Freddy is looking toward an old house that was next to the park. "Let's give that old house a once over!"

At the rear of the house flowed a creek. Next to the creek, there was a storm drain. Shaggy is over next to a large concrete tank that is buried in the ground. "Look at this! The lid has been removed, and it looks like it was done really recently." Velma and Freddy hurried over to where Shaggy was standing. Velma knelt down and looked in the hole. "There's a metal rung ladder in the wall that leads down into the tank. And... wait a second..." Velma picks a small piece of purple cloth off of one of the rungs. Freddy grabs it from her. "This is off of Daphne's dress! Come on guys!" Freddy starts down the ladder. Velma reaches over and grabs his shoulder. "Stop right there!" she says. Freddy looks puzzled, but comes back out of the hole. Velma stands back up. "That was a trap! Take a look into that tank. There's only one pipe big enough for us to crawl in, and it heads toward that hill! I bet if we had all gone down there, we would have returned to find this lid locked in place and been entombed in there forever!" Freddy looks shaken. "Your right. I got too excited, if this had been any other case I would have seen that too. We all have to take a step back and take a deep breath. This guy might want to get back at all of us!"

The basement door slams open. The voice is screaming mad! Daphne closes her eyes as the lights come on again. "I could have had those brats! They were inches away and that smarty-pants Velma goes and wrecks it! When I get my hands on them, I'm going to do her in first! I'll get them too! This is just a little set back!" The figure storms around the basement, throwing things about until he finally gets tired, storms up the stairs, through the door and slams it closed. Although terrified, Daphne chuckles to herself. For the first time she knows the gang is looking for her, and that they're not about to fall into a simple trap like she did. She finally has hope!

"Well Freddy", Shaggy says, "We've been searching this old house for about three hours now, I don't think we're going to find any clues here." Velma sits down on a ledge by a window. "I have to admit, this time I agree with Shaggy. This house is a dead end. Whoever it is was just interested in trapping us in that tank." Freddy looks discouraged. "You're right. There's nothing here. Why don't you all head back to the Mystery Machine, I catch up with you in about ten minutes. I just want to check out that shed in the back." Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby make their way back to the van. All are quite exhausted from the day's events. Velma climbs in the front seat, grabs her laptop computer, and starts entering notes. Shaggy and Scooby plop in the back seat. "Boy I'm thirsty!" Shaggy says. He reaches down and picks up a soda container and takes a sip. "Hope Freddy doesn't mind if I drink his soda." Velma turns around. "I could use a sip of that!" "Ree Roo!", Scooby adds. After taking a big gulp, Velma hands the soda back to Scooby, who finishes it off. After typing a few more sentences, Velma pauses. "Wait.... Freddy didn't have a soda..."

As Freddy finishes looking over the shed, he hears the van start up. "Huh?" He runs to the other side of the house. Much to his amazement, the van is leaving without him! "YO GUYS !!", he screams. "GUYS! WAIT FOR ME!" He dashes across the clearing but the van is long gone by the time he makes it to the parking area. "This is really strange. Why would have they left?" He looks around for a note. "Well, at least I have the spare keys to Daphne's car. Otherwise, I'd be stranded!" Freddy climbs into her car and heads off to the Blake mansion. This is where they had all decided to go next. Freddy pulls up the driveway and is startled to see that the van is not there. As he enters the house, Mr Blake is sitting with two police officers. "Did you kids find anything?" Freddy stops and takes a deep breath. "No... And now I seam to have another mystery." Freddy explains what had happened at the park, the piece of the dress, and the van taking off. The two police officers looked at each other. When the conversation was completed, it was decided that one officer would stay with Mr Blake, and the other would drive back to the park with Freddy. Officer Thomas made the trip back to the park with Freddy, where to Freddy's amazement, the van was once again parked! "Looks like your van is still here." Freddy walked over to the passenger side door and opened it up. He reached in the glove compartment and pulled out a log book. "Ever since we became a business, we've kept track of all of our trips. Here, look.. This is the trip we made to the park today. Look at the odometer reading. Now look at the reading it's at now." Officer Thomas scratched his head. "Yep! This van made a twelve mile trip to somewhere. I'd better call this in."

As Shaggy awakes, the delightful smell of cooking cheese steaks greets him. He opens his eyes and finds himself roped and gaged in a small wooden room. There is a vent pipe by his feet, but no real light to see anything by. A voice speaks out from the darkness. "Your friend Daphne is being bored to death. Very fitting for someone who hates boredom! Yes, yes, I have spent a lot of time researching all of you! Five years, while I rotted in my cell. Now your all going to pay the price. You, my friend, are going to starve to death while smelling all you favorite foods cooking only a few feet away!" With a laugh, the voice fades away and Shaggy can hear a door slam and lock. "Starve?", Shaggy thinks, "a fait worse than death!" At that moment, a few fresh sausage links hit the grill.

Although strapped tightly in a chair, Velma's eyes scan the room. It looks like a storage shed, but has tools like a workshop. The floor is covered with a piece of old shag carpet. In front of her is a table with an old computer on it. The chair itself has electrodes attached to it. From behind, she hears a voice. "My own homemade electric chair! And here's the best part, you get to pull the switch!" The screen on the computer jumps to life. The keyboard has been taken apart and wired to four buttons that are located by her right hand. "Every thirty seconds, a new question will come up on the screen. You have to answer A, B, C, or D with those little buttons next to you hand. Chose the correct answer, and you live. Chose the wrong answer, and you die of your own stupidity! With that, the first question pops up. "What is the capital of Pennsylvania?" Velma quickly pushes "C- Harrisburg" She can hear the voice laughing as it leaves the room.

"Wait a second!", Freddy says as he is looking through the contents of the van, "This draw is open and empty! It used to contain some homing beacon clips! I bet if Velma knew something was wrong, she would grab these." Officer Thomas looked back at Freddy. "How do they work?" Freddy threw the keys for the van forward to him. "If you drive, I'll tell you where to turn!" Somewhat reluctantly, he started the van. Freddy turned on the locator scope and was overjoyed that he was getting a good signal from one of the clips. "This one's close by! Not more than two miles!" After a short trip, with only four turns, Freddy yelled forward that this was the place to stop. The van pulled alongside of the road in front of a run-down old building. On the front was a sign that said "Happy Harry's Animal Retirement Home" The two of them walked up the path to the front door. Freddy knocked. "Go away! We're closed!", a voice yelled from inside. Freddy pounded on the door again. A very angry old man came to the door. "Can't you hear me!" he yelled. Freddy tried to talk calmly, "I'm looking for my dog and I think he might be here." The response was gruff, "Write me a letter. Now go away or I'll call the cops!" Officer Thomas stepped forward from the shadows. "Yes, I think we need to have somebody from Licenses and Inspections take a look at this building. Looks like a lot of code violation problems..." The old man turned from the door. "Oh, go look for the stupid dog then! They're all out back!"

In back of the building there were hundreds of old rusting cages with half-alive animals in them. Officer Thomas shook his head. "Makes me feel good to turn a guy like this in. These conditions are horrible!" Freddy looked up and down the rows. "Scooby Doo? Where are you?", he shouted. "Wreddy? Wreddy?" Freddy quickly ran towards the cage. "Scooby!" he shouted. Scooby was huddled in a cage that was not much bigger then he was. Freddy picked up a metal bar that was lying on the ground and pried the cage open. Scooby leaped into Freddy's in appreciation! As the two of the climbed into the van, Officer Thomas had some last words with the old man, who of course, had no idea how Scooby had ended up in one of his cages.

"D- The value of Pi" Velma felt a bead of sweet forming on her forehead. So far, so good, but the questions were getting harder. As she rustled about in the chair, she felt the sting of a static shock as her arm moved too close to one of the electrodes. "My shoes!" she said to herself. Velma quickly began rubbing the soles of her shoes on the shag carpet. As the next question popped up on the screen, she moved her finger towards the button. Zap! A spark of static electricity jumped from her finger to the button. The computer screen froze, then went into a garbled mess, and finally went black. A small error message appeared in the corner. "YES!" She screamed to herself. "I didn't know who the third ruler of Argentina was anyhow, you stupid machine!" She looked around the room. There had to be a way to get free. Behind her was a pegboard full of tools. She began rocking the chair back and forth until it started to hit the board and knock tools off of it. The first few fell too far away. A few fell into her lap but were of no use. Finally a screwdriver fell and landed next to the right hand. Velma grasped it and began digging at the tape that bound her arm on the chair. After a few minutes, she freed her arm, grabbed a pair of cutters and cut herself loose from the chair. "I sure hope Freddy picked up that signal." she said to herself. Velma went over to the door but it was locked solid from the outside. There was some kind of hatch on the floor. Velma opened it up and descended down the stairs that were underneath. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. Could that be? "Daphne! Is that you?" She quickly ran over and cut the bindings on Daphne's hands and feet, removing the gag as well. "I knew you guys would rescue me! Where's everyone else?" With a sheepish smile Velma said, "Well... Ah... This was kind of an accidental rescue. In truth, he captured us." The two of them ran over to the boarded up window and started prying the boards off. Daphne was still a little weak and sat for a second. "Who's he got, and who's free?" Velma had pulled off the final board and was opening the window up. "I think he got me, Scoob, and Shaggy. I think Freddy's free." Daphne slid a box over under the window and the girls helped each other out of it. As they did, they saw the Mystery Machine pull into the rear parking lot. The two quickly ran over as Freddy opened the back door. As the girls climbed in, he slammed the door. "Wow! What timing!", Freddy said. Velma looked up towards the driver's seat. "Who's that driving?" Freddy shook his head. "It's a long story!" Scooby leaped over to Daphne and greeted her with a big lick! "Boy! It's nice to see you again!", Freddy added.

Safely down the road, Officer Thomas pulled over. Velma gave them a recap of what had happened. "So they don't know you escaped yet?", Freddy asked. "Right", Velma said, "But we know a little more. This guy is someone who got locked up for five years because we caught him. Also, he still has Shaggy!" Velma looked at the scope. "Looks like he's still at the diner." Daphne looked surprised. "Diner? That building I was locked up in was a diner?" Freddy chuckled, "Yea, Peat's Diner, we've even eaten there before. I bet Peat has no idea this was happening right at his own place!" Daphne's eyes light up. "Wait a second! Peat took ill about a month ago and hired a new manager..." Velma was busy typing on her laptop. "I think this whole mystery is just about wrapped up! We just need to free Shaggy before we nail this guy!" Officer Thomas was scratching his head. "Someone want to clue me in?"

Velma peered through the binoculars. "I don't remember that structure being on the diner before..." She handed them to Freddy. "You mean that thing that looks like a shed on the roof?" Freddy hands them to Daphne. "That would make sense. I bet he's got Shaggy in there. Hey, Where'd Scooby get to? Oh no! He's on the roof! Looks like he's working his way over to the shed." Freddy grabs the binoculars back. "Someone is following him up there... Looks like our mystery man. Hum. He looks familiar. I remember him!" Velma grabs the binoculars away from Freddy. "He's a lot older now, jail time did not age him well. Your right tho, I remember him too! I don't know why the voice didn't give him away, I guess it sounds a lot rougher than it used to." Freddy grabs the binoculars back from Velma. "Ok gang, here's the plan..."

With the gag partially worked off, Shaggy takes a sniff. "Death by flavor!", shudders Shaggy. "They fired the pizza oven up, I can smell the pepperoni cooking and the mozzarella cheese bubbling! Scooby Doo, where are you?" As he settles back in his chair, Shaggy hears a familiar voice. "Right Rear!" Shaggy twists around in his chair. "Scooby! Boy, am I glad to see you! Can you get me untied?" Scooby starts to work on the knot in the rope. "Wait, someone's coming! Try to be quiet." Shaggy tries not to move as the man enters, Scooby hides in the corner of the shed. The man looks around the shed, then leaves. "Whew! That was close!" Scooby resumes work on the rope. "Lucky it's getting dark and there's no light in here."

Freddy has set up a net at the base of the ladder that leads to the roof. Officer Thomas has called in the information, and the police are on the way. Velma and Daphne are in the van watching the roof. Velma picks up the walkie-talkie. "Here he comes Freddy!" The figure on the roof has worked his way over to the ladder and is about to descend, when he sees something and jumps back up on the roof. Two other figures start down the ladder. "Got Him!" Freddy yells back. "Huh?", says Velma as she looks over to Daphne. The two leap from the van and run over to Freddy. All shine their flashlights on the net. "Scooby! Shaggy! What are you doing in there?" As Daphne and Velma help free them, Freddy heads up the ladder. On the roof, her sees a figure duck behind the shed. Freddy runs to the far side of the shed. The figure runs across the roof toward the front of the building. CRASH! Freddy runs over to investigate and finds a hole in the roof. "Pete always talked about getting the roof fixed, I guess he never got around to it!", Freddy chuckles to himself.

All have gathered in the diner. There is someone stuck behind the refrigerator. As the police enter, Freddy prepares to move the frig. "I would have never figured this guy was the one that was so bitter about serving his time!" With that, Freddy pushes the refrigerator aside. The whole gang says it in unison, "Professor Wayne Cummings!" Officer Thomas looks baffled. "Who?", he says. Velma speaks for them. "A long time ago, this guy worked over at Ocean World. His associate had invented a device for communicating with sea life. In an effort to steal the idea, he dressed up as a cave man and wreaked havoc scaring people away as well as doing a lot of damage to the park. We caught him and unmasked him." Freddy takes over the story. "He was charged with a long list of offenses and found guilty at trial. We had provided some of the testimony. He swore he would get back at us, and it looks like he sure tried!" With Professor Wayne in handcuffs, the police lead him out to the squad car. "Well", Officer Thomas says, "Looks like this guy just earned himself another ten years in the pen!" Pete, who had come over after the police called, spoke up. "I'm sorry I ever hired this guy! If I had only known. Let me at least try to make it up to you all but making you dinner! What do you want?" Shaggy speaks up, "Cheese stakes would be good, oh, and a Pepperoni pizza, and French Fries, and a large milk shake, and home-fries, and Chicken Parmesan, and a bacon cheeseburger, and ... what was that pie baking earlier tonight..?" The whole gang bursts out laughing!

The End

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