And now it's time to let the Mystery actually begin! I actually really didn't enjoy writing this chapter that much (that's why it took so long). I guess in comparison to the past ones and the ones in the future it just came across as a tad boring for me. -shrug- IDK.

Chapter 3: Victims of Circumstance

Vice Principal Grimes' entire persona was of stark contrast to Principal Deedles. Grimes was tall and portly with flyaway gray hair pasted down with some sort of hair product. He often wore a suit (in comparison to Principal Deedles' more casual sweater vest ensembles) and was very rarely seen not yelling or scolding, angry veins popping out of his neck and forehead in the process. They were throbbing rather violently as he shoved the 5 students along the corridor after school the day of the bus incident. They all knew they were in trouble, but HOW much trouble and how they would have to pay had yet been revealed to them. The large double doors to the school library came into view and Grimes forced them through it, and then ushered the 5 miserable looking students to a small round table enclosed in rows of metal book shelves.

"As punishment for the disturbance you caused the morning and the damages you've done, the five of you will be spending the next six weeks here in detention."

Daphne's jaw dropped and she hopped up from the seat so fast that the entire table shook, "6 Weeks?! Vice Principal Grimes, I was merely a victim of circumstance! This entire ordeal had nothing to do with me!"

"As was I!" Velma protested from the seat next to her, "My project was ruined because of HIS flailing!" She pointed a finger at Fred before sinking in her seat a little.

"I was just trying to help!" He said, "I was stopping my friend from beating up on his friend." Fred motioned to Shaggy who was sitting there looking rather discouraged by the whole situation. In all the chaos, Scooby's true identity as a dog had been found out and he was forced to spend the day tied up outside to the bike racks.

"Every day, he gets tripped and today he almost got punched, Vice Principal Grimes." Raena was the last to defend her position, "I was trying to help. If anyone should be in here its the football player guy who started the whole thing!"

"ENOUGH!" He boomed and Daphne promptly dropped back into her seat, "You are extremely lucky I'm not having your parents to pay for all of this! We'll need a new flag pole, the flower bed will need to be replanted, the dents in the bus have to be hammered out, and not to mention my brand new car will need a new windshield! This is a lenient punishment in case you haven't noticed."

Shaggy opened his mouth to speak, and the others all slouched a bit in their seats, thinking he would weakly defend his position as they had attempted to do. But that's not what he said at all.

"So...uh...will snacks be provided for us here or do we have to bring stuff from home?"

As if he hadn't even heard the boy, Vice Principal Grimes continued on, "The five of you will spend two hours here every day at 3'oclock for the next six weeks! Am I understood?"

Needless to say, no one responded or gave any signal of understanding. As far as they were concerned, they were all as Daphne said: victims of circumstance. There was only one real culprit and, as far as they knew, he'd gotten off completely scotch free. But Vice Principal Grimes didn't seem interested in hearing how they weren't guilty. He was already convinced that they were.

"Vice Principal Grimes." A small smile on his face and a casual sort of slouch about him as he stood, Fred turned his attention to Grimes, "While I completely understand my sentence, with State Championships coming up...surely you might consider an athletic exemption? You couldn't possibly want me to let the entire team down would you?"

Velma shot up out of her seat (she nearly sent the chair she was sitting in to the floor in the process), "Athletic exemption!? What about an exemption for the Science Fair? However, the the fact that you crushed my prototype is going to set me back weeks!"

And that's when the two of them went at it for a few good seconds. Each thought the other's reason for an exemption was nothing short of ridiculous. It wasn't until Daphne spoke up with that commanding tone did they stop, "Stop this!" She shouted and both scientist and athlete were immediately silenced, "I cannot BELIEVE what I am hearing! This...petty squabble over science. Athletics. 'Tis a shame. Because at this very time...the school play is going to SUFFER the loss of it's star!"

Raena gave a derisive scoff, "The school play?! No one cares about the play! You just care about feeding your already blown up ego. The Young Robotic-Mechanics Club, however, brings REAL meaning to the school. Clearly - I - am the only one here who really should have an exemption because the devices that we build and bring to competitions bring back the first place cash prizes that could be used to pay for the repairs!"

And thats when the 4 of them went at it. They all believed the other's reasons were ludicrous. Shaggy on the other hand hadn't much to say. He said a word here and there, hoping to perhaps get one in edgewise, but in the end he went unheard. Vice Principal Grimes disappeared for a moment while the kids argued with one another. A moment later he returned with a large blue, hardcover book in his hands. With a resounding thud that made the table shudder, he dropped the book down and shouted.

"ENOUGH!"

The students dropped down onto their seats faster than gravity had made the book hit the table. Grimes leaned down on the table top, looking each student in the eye as he spoke.

"No exemptions. No acceptions. You will serve out your sentence here as I have stated. Further protest will result in a longer sentence. I hope the 5 of you can get along here, because you'll be spending a lot of time together!"

The fat lady had sung and stomped away from the students. A few moments after Grimes had gone away, the librarian appeared. She was a short, crabby, dark-haired and dark-skinned woman with silver-rimmed glasses and a permanent scowl on her face.

"The rules for detention are the same as for the library." She said sharply, "No texting, no talking, no eating."

Shaggy broke the rule right away with his verbal protest to the food rule, "No fair!" But when the Librarian turned her scowl on him, he looked away and kept his thoughts to himself. The Librarian sucked her teeth and shuffled away.

"It's bad enough they cut my budget." She grumbled, "Now I have to do double duty with a bunch of illiterates!"

There was unified sigh amongst the group.

"Well then...what are we supposed to do in a library for 2 hours if we can't eat?" Shaggy said weakly after the Librarian has retreated to her office.

Raena motioned to the racks of literature around them, "It's a library, Shaggy. We read. Quietly."

As if that were the queue, all of the students but Shaggy reached into their bags and pulled out a book. They were all of varying sizes and colors, but they all had one thing in common: They were mystery novels. Shaggy gave a small, raspy sort of laugh and the students all looked at him.

"Well, whaddya know. You all read mysteries." He pointed to the books, and while the students all glanced at each other covers and smiled a little about the common thread, Shaggy continued, "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of them myself they sort of creep me out and..you know...you never know who did it until the end so yeah. But, hey, I'm open-minded! I'll give'm another try. Anyone have an extra book?"

Fred, Daphne, and Velma all sort of looked around the space. They were, of course, in a library. No need for Shaggy to ask one of them for a book. But Raena actually did have an extra book and she reached into her bag.

"Here. Now shush before you get us all in trouble."

She returned to her book, Shaggy looked the one he'd been given over for a second before putting it down and mumbling something about acting like he was in class. He promptly laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes. And so, all was quiet in the Coolsville High Library.

It was short lived.

"Hey." Fred had nodded at Daphne who, with a bit of annoyance in her expression, looked up from her book, "Look, I'm sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything, it just got out of hand."

"It's fine. Just...yeah." And she promptly returned to her book, not giving Fred a second glance afterward.

"I'm serious, though, you know? It wasn't my fault."

"I get it." She snapped, "Look, I really would just like to finish my book. Everything's starting to come together now-just got to the good part."

"Okay...fine." He said to the side of her head as she turned back to her book. Slightly perturbed by Daphne, he continued his rounds "And you too, Raena."

"It's all well and good you want to make amends, but I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." She nodded in Shaggy's direction, then returned to her book.

Fred was 2 for 2 in the failed apology department. He returned to his book.

This silence, too however, was short lived.

Someone was burning holes through the back of his book and right into his chest. He looked up and, right across from him at the table, Velma was glaring with a scowl on her face. Frustrated he, put the book down with a little more force than needed.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?!"

"Oh, me?" Her response came so fast that the attempted 'surprised' tone was unsuccessful, "I was just wondering why you took the time to apologize to the pretty girls but not to me, the one who's science project you destroyed!"

"That wasn't my fault!" He protested, "I was pushed!"

"And it's not your fault he falls to the floor every day." Daphne chimed in, motioning with her book towards Shaggy who had given up on napping at the sound of the group's bickering.

"That's not my fault either."

Shaggy gave a shrug, "Well...you don't exactly do anything to stop it, so..."

"H-he's my friend! What am I supposed to do?" And when Daphne scoffed and mumbled something along the lines of 'Some friend', Fred turned his gaze on her, "Okay, he's not my friend friend. We play on the same team."

"The Coolsville Neanderthals." Said Velma, to which Raena laughed and Velma smiled proudly.

He picked his book back up, "You know what? Forget it. I'm done. I was just trying to be nice" Velma and Daphne returned their books and Raena, after mumbling something incoherently, snatched up her novel. Again, silence, and it too was ruined very quickly.

"And by the way." He sent a smirk in Daphne's direction, and motioned to her book "The old inkeeper did it."

Her jaw hit the floor and Fred's expression of fake surprise only made her more angry, "You did not just do that!"

"I think I did."

"What the-" Raena hopped out of her seat, "I was going to read that one NEXT!"

Fred shrugged, "Sorry."

Shaggy couldn't possibly sleep with all the noise. And even more-so, he couldn't sleep knowing that the argument had to do with him in a way. His inability to step over the football player's foot in the morning was what brought all this about. His insistence on bringing Scooby to school (as if he really could have passed for a student for long!) rather than leaving him at home. It was all a chain reaction that he had caused. At the rate he was moving, he was making more enemies than he would ever be able to make friends.

"Come on, you guys! Let's just everyone sit down and get this over with. We're just gonna get in more trouble if we're all fightin'!"

He went unheard, not for lack of anyone listening, but because something very ominous seemed to rush over the group in that very moment. Everyone fell dead silent and the lights began to flicker. Off and on they went for a few long moments before it suddenly got very cold. It was as if winter had suddenly hit Coolsville and the winds where making their way into the library. The group shivered, arms wrapped tightly around themselves (Fred had a sweater, which he promptly put on.)

"What's going on here?" Shaggy spoke, and as if they were outside on a snowy day, his breath appeared before him in a puff of white. He chuckled at it, causing more puffs of white to appear, "Look at that!"

"Unusual climactic anomaly." Velma adjusted her glasses as the air puffs disappeared, "There has to be a logical explanation for all of this."

Logic had no part in the seemingly supernatural. The lights flickered faster and soon it felt as if the winds had taken an abrupt turn and were blowing with full force onto the group, whipping hair in all direction. Daphne let out a small yelp of surprise as what looked to be a newspaper clipping flew at her.

"What the-Ah!"

Newspaper would have been much more manageable that hardcover books. Books began to zoom off their shelves and fly at incredible speeds in the group's direction, some whipping around in circles before landing on the ground. More paper clippings flew about the room and all the chaos forced the group out of their seats to shield themselves from the projectiles.

"I've heard of books flying off the shelf, but this is just ridiculous!" Shaggy shouted and turned his back onto the books. He wasn't to keen on taking a hardcover dictionaries and science books to the face. Unfortunately, one hit him in the back of the head and he let out a yelp of pain.

More and more books flew about the room, some hitting the group in the stomach and the chest, some flying past their heads and hitting other shelves. A few crashed into library computer screens and the shelves themselves began to topple. Fred began to beat a few books back with a book he'd managed to catch, but it didn't slow the assault. The lights finally went off, plunging them into darkness. The only light was the ominous glowing of lit up computer screens.

And then it all stops. Books stopped flying, wind stopped blowing. And one large, dusty, hardcover book landed with a loud thud on the table in front of them. Shaggy jumped, standing behind Raena with his arms wrapped around her in fear.

"So much for that logical explanation..." She said.

The book shuddered, and it began to look like the pages were...boiling. Ripples erupted over the paper until something emerged. 2 somethings. A pair of ghastly green, transparent looking ghosts floated up out of the pages of the book and hovered over the group.

"Run...RUN!" Fred shouted and tripped over a book before taking off. The group followed suit, Fred at the lead and Velma holding up the rear. They crashed through the library doors and bolted down the deserted hall. They hadn't settled on where exactly they were going, but anywhere away from the ghosts was satisfactory. As if it were his mantra, Fred kept saying 'run run run run' while Daphne and Raena nearly slipped on the linoleum floor with their heals. Shaggy had never been so scared in his life and Velma simply couldn't make sense of it.

"What-is-this? What is going on?!" She shouted and glanced behind her; the ghosts were fast approaching.

"It doesn't matter just run! In the gym, go!" Fred commanded.

Raena protested loudly "But the pep rally!"

"Just GO!"

They could hear Principle Deedles voice echo through the hall as they made it to the gym. At this point, Shaggy had taken the lead and slammed through the gym doors and through the paper sign through which (he assumed, according to Principle Deedles introduction) the 'Coolsville Cougers were meant to arrive through. The shocked expressions on the students faces would have been amusing were it not for the ghosts in pursuit.

"Everybody run!' Came Fred's voice as the rest of the group made their way into the gym.

The lights flickered and, for a second, everyone was stationary. It wasn't until the ghosts appeared that they moved. It was utter chaos and panic. Chairs toppled over, people crashed into one anther and Principle Deedles was lost in the commotion. Decorations were ripped down, and screams rose into the air as the ghosts flew circles above their heads. It was as if no one knew where the exit was and the ghosts were fully amused by the panic they were causing. When the door finally was found, it slammed in their faces, only to create more screams and shouts. The gym lights literally blew out one bye one, raining sparks over the group.

All at once, the lights went out and the gym was pitch black. Silence. Not a soul moved, not a voice emerged for a few moments until, on the stage where the band and cheerleaders had stood prior to the panic, a greenish light came. A thick fog rolled over the room, tinged green from the lighting, and from it rose a 3rd ghost while his 2 cohorts floated on either side of him. This ghost was pitch black from head to toe. All that was truly visible was a pasty white face that gave a bone-chilling laugh as he appeared.

"Students of Coolsville High," He began in a deep, menacing tone, "Leave this place IMMEDIATELY, or pay for all eternity!" He scanned the room, taking in the expressions of horror on his victim's faces, "Those of you who chose to remain shall be doomed! DOOMED I TELL YOU!"

And the room was plunged into darkness once more.