The Mystery Machine cruised State Street, windows dark with the coming night. The gang inside watched a pair of alley cats hurrying along the sidewalk toward an ally like windblown leaves. The cats were getting somewhere quick, finding shelter before the storm.
The Scooby Gang followed them, saw them off, and then turned their attention to the row of businesses nestled along the street.
The buildings were architectural remnants of the nineteenth century, red brick with green trim, gloomy and looming in the dying light. At one time the street had probably been charming, but moon shadows now gave it a menacing aura, now heightened by the lightning that flickered from the incoming clouds.
"Spooky," Shaggy said.
"Reah," Scooby agreed.
"Like a graveyard," said Velma.
"Like, did you have to say graveyard?" Shaggy whined.
"Reah," Scooby agreed.
Fred pulled over to the curb and turned off the van. "Okay gang. We're going to have to split up and try to figure out what's going on down here. Who's been scaring off all of the customers and now the employees?"
Velma chimed in. "The only businesses affected so far are the bar, the porn shop, and that greasy spoon café. I think that it would be easiest if I went with Shaggy and Scooby to search the café."
"Like, haunted or not, Scoob and I like Velma's idea!" Shaggy said.
"I guess Fred and I can search the porn shop," Daphne said, winking at Fred.
_____________________________________
The store was dark as a tomb. Fred Jones and Daphne Blake let themselves in, flipped on the light switch by the door, and started poking around for clues. They decided that things would move quicker if they split up. Fred took the offices and storage area upstairs and Daphne would stay downstairs and search the floor merchandise area.
The store was filled with an amazing amount of pornography: DVD's, magazines, books, gags, whips, vibrators, and dildos of every conceivable size and color. An ocean of sex related items.
She could hear Freddie moving around upstairs, the wooden floor creaking under his weight.
She thought she heard footsteps down the hall toward the private viewing booths, someplace distant, trailing off to silence. The hair rose on the back of her neck. She stepped to the entrance of the hallway, called out, "Hello? Hello?"
Nothing. Must just be the air moving through the air conditioning ducts. A light seemed to flick down the hall, and she waited, but nothing else moved. The hair was still prickling on the back of her neck when she went back into the merchandise area to resume her search for clues.
A breath of cold air touched the back of her neck and she shivered; as though somebody had passed behind her. She turned slowly around, walking a small, tight circle, looking around, not seeing anything.
Ghosts. The thought trickled through her mind and she didn't laugh. She didn't believe in them, she knew better, it was always some creepy old guy in a mask. The silence seemed to grow from the walls; except for the soft flowing sound of the air conditioner and Freddy's occasional movements.
She went back to her search, feeling her skin crawl. There was nobody else down here with her: she knew it, and still...
Her cell phone buzzed, and almost gave Daphne a heart attack.
She took it out of her pocket, looked at it: Velma. She said, "Hello?"
