Chapter 31: The Big Day

Fred looked himself over in the mirror. The arm had healed nicely and the tux covered most of the scars. Shaggy, Scooby, and Eric were already dressed and it was a sad time when Shaggy was ready for something before Fred was. He pushed open the heavy wooden door out of his makeshift changing room. Blake Hall was such an odd mishmash of different architecture. Shannon's family had only renovated as things fell apart, meaning that one could reasonably expect to see a stone hallway change into fine polished wood at the turn of a corner, as Fred did on his way out to the chapel.

It was one of the perks of Daphne's money, being able to hold the wedding in the Blake family chapel and put up most of the guests in rooms in Blake Hall. The ones that could not fit were currently an appreciated boon to the local hotel industry.

Shaggy held the door at the back of the chapel open long enough for Fred to sprint up the aisle and take his place. His groomsmen, and groomsdog, stood beside him. Across from them were the bridesmaids, Velma in the lead, then Shannon, and Danica. Out in the audience were hundreds of people, so many that Fred was reminded of just how many friends that he and Daphne had made around the world. Marcie sat in the front, making eyes at Velma. The two of them had been going strong for a while now. Next to her was Madelyn, making eyes at Shaggy. Dell and Minga were somewhere in the middle by Daphne's martial arts friends from Japan. Fred's family formed a sea of blond hair on one side of the pews. Daphne's family mostly contrasted with a sea of orange, though there were a few brunettes like Danica.

Suddenly Fred's breath caught in his throat. The music stopped and down the aisle came Daphne, seemingly glowing in the white wedding gown. Fred Jones had faced down sea monsters, plural, werewolves, vampires, law school, but nothing terrified or excited him more than this. She smiled at him as she took her place with him on the altar and the minister began.

"Dearly beloved…" Fred tuned it all out, just staring at Daphne. He only came back into the world when it was time for the "I do's" which he delivered with enthusiasm. That was it, rings and vows were exchanged, he kissed the bride and they did not come up for air for what seemed like hours.

It was a perfect moment, which meant that, inevitably, it could not last. Maggie, who had been working security rushed in, gun in her hands. "Everybody out!"

"What is it?" Daphne asked. "What's wrong?"

"We got a tip about an attack. We need to evacuate" She said breathlessly.

"An attack at my house" Shannon said indignantly.

"Yes, now everyone evacuate!"

With that the chaos began. The wedding party left first, as they were the closest to the announcement, followed by the staff. There was running and screaming even though nobody knew the exact nature of the attack that was supposed to take place. By the end of it all it was just Fred, Daphne, and Maggie left, standing alone in the deathly silent old castle.

"Was that everyone?" Daphne asked, now as out of breath as Maggie had been when the alarm was raised.

"I think so, somebody should check the lower levels again, just to be sure."

"I'll go" Fred raised his hand.

"The hell you will!"

"Come on" Fred shrugged and kissed his wife. "I'll be fine."

Maggie carefully handed Fred her gun. "At least take this."

Fred took the gun gingerly. "Don't you need it?"

Maggie Rogers smirked and patted her thigh. "I have a spare under the dress."

Fred chuckled and started off back into the house. Daphne grabbed him by the shoulder before he was too far away and kissed him again. "Be careful."

"Hey, it's me" Fred smirked.

Daphne smiled in spite of herself. "Yeah, that's why I'm worried."

She and Maggie took off for the exit. Fred, meanwhile, began to make his way down the long spiral staircase into the basement levels. It was one of the older parts of the house and Fred had often insisted that it be replaced, but Shannon stood by her opinion that it was sound. Shannon had been wrong. A step cracked under Fred's feet and he fell, landing hard against the stone floor at the base of the stairwell. That, however, was not the worst of it. The worst of it was the dead guard slumped against the wall, the large amount of explosives next to him, and the timer dangerously close to zero.

Outside nobody knew exactly where Fred was, but they knew he was in the castle, and that was enough. As plumes of fire tore through the walls, reducing the ancient edifice to dust in a matter of seconds and hot winds blew so far and so fast that the evacuees felt like they were right up against it. Nobody knew where Fred was, but they knew enough.

To Be Continued…

Ain't I a stinker? Take this as my personal guarantee of a follow up, a finale actually. See, I figured a way to cut those three stories down to two. Don't worry, you're not missing anything. I had two half formed ideas, now, BOOM, full story. the next story will be the finale, with an interquel happening (and being released) at the same time. Oh, and because this isn't a spoiler, I just had to cut the reveal for pacing, rest assured Fred is alive, not you know, much, but alive is something.