Chapter One Hundred and Thirty - Velma Was Right
Eden and the Scooby Gang made it to the library easily enough as the Winchesters and Castiel dashed to go play their part.
Fred, Daphne and Velma were hidden behind a sheeted couch in the far corner of the room.
Shaggy and Eden were on the library balcony.
The ghost burst through the double doors, throwing the couch in an aimless direction.
The girls screamed.
Scooby threw a book at the ghost, grabbing its attention.
"Good job, Scoob old buddy, throw him another one!" Shaggy grinned.
The dog was stood by a trap door, his tail pressed against the yellow book that set it off.
"Scooby, now!" Daphne called.
He handed the ghost a small pile of books, distracting him as his tail flicked the trap.
The demonic screams of the ghost faded as it fell through a system of tunnels.
"I can't believe that actually worked." Eden frowned.
"Good job, guys!" Fred praised.
Eden grabbed Shaggy and shook out her wings, putting them back down on ground level before she ran out to where the trap door ended up.
They'd trapped the ghost in a salt circle.
Eden gave a breathy chuckle of disbelief when she saw the plan had gone better than she'd imagined.
The ghost got up, attempting to fight the invisible force that kept it in place.
"That's a salt circle." Sam pointed. "You're stuck."
"Let... Me... Go!" The ghost shrieked.
"Happy to, Sparky." Dean smirked, his hands on his hips. "As soon as you tell us who you really are."
The ghost thrashed about in the circle, desperate to be released.
But then, it just stopped. It shrunk down into the centre of the circle before it transformed into a little boy, hugging his knees, hiding his face in them.
"It's... A child." Cas gasped, bending down to inspect him.
"Yeah, creepy ghost kid, you get used to 'em." Dean sighed.
"Wait... Why are you trying to kill us?" Sam asked it.
"I'm not." The boy said in an echoed, almost vacant voice as he looked up at him. "I never meant to hurt anyone. But, the bad man... He makes me."
"What bad man, sweetie?" Eden frowned, crouching down by the edge of the salt circle.
"His name is Jay." The boy replied.
"The dude from the pawn shop." Dean realised.
"When I died, my soul was tied to a pocket knife." The boy explained, beginning to hover in the air, still in his foetal position. "My dad gave it to me - it meant everything. When Jay found me, he used me to- sometimes I just get so angry. I break things, hurt people. But, I don't want to. I just- I wanna see my dad again."
Dean sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm sorry." Cas said. "It was wrong of him to do that."
"None of this was your fault." Sam told him.
"Look, if you get us back to the real world, we can set you free." Dean gave him a small smile.
"Do you promise?" The boy's eyes widened excitedly.
The older brother's smile grew as he drew an 'x' on his chest with a finger.
"Cross my heart and hope to d-" He cut himself off, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly as he cleared his throat.
"Yes." Eden covered, side-eyeing the older brother. "We'll fix this. And we'll make sure Jay can never do this to anyone like you ever again."
The boy smiled.
"Okay then."
The Dark Angel kicked a section of the salt circle in front of her, freeing the boy.
Back upstairs in the library, the Scooby Gang were frantic.
"Should I make another trap?" Fred asked, his fingers buried manically in his hair.
"I can get the shotgun!" Velma shrieked.
"I can get two shotguns!" Daphne countered.
"Like, tell Scoob and me when it's over!" Shaggy wailed, hiding behind a book cubby with his best friend.
"Yeah!" Scooby quivered with fear.
"Okay, okay, give me a minute. We can't leave them like this." Dean sighed, urging his companions to leave the room again. He turned to the ghost, who was hovering in a cross-legged position a few feet from them. "Kid, we need a favour."
"Anything." The boy smiled.
"I've got an idea." Eden smirked, hearing the doorbell sound at the front of the house.
"Did you send it back to the fiery pit from whence it came?" Fred demanded, practically falling out of the library door.
"Look, everything's under control." Sam gestured to the pile of black sheet and rope.
"Kill it with fire!" Daphne cried, gripping Fred's arm as tight as she possibly could.
"Woah! Slow your role, guys." Dean held out his hands. "We were wrong."
The gang gasped.
"What are you saying?" Daphne whined.
"Velma was right." Sam added as Dean walked over to stand by Cas.
"Like, she was?" Shaggy asked, earning a disapproving look from the girl next to him.
"This wasn't a real ghost." The younger brother continued, leading the way over. "We were fooled, but, you never were. Right, Velma?"
"I, uh... I don't know." She gave a bashful chuckle.
"Okay, guys. Do your thing." Dean gestured to the 'fake ghost' as he leaned in towards the Angel. "This is my favourite part."
Velma hesitantly reached out and removed the mask laid out on the pile of black sheets and rope.
"Cosgood Creeps?" The gang exclaimed.
"He died!" Fred raised his voice.
"Did he, though?" Eden cocked a brow.
"But... The flying!" Daphne protested.
"Wires." Sam shrugged, walking over with Eden under his arm.
"What about the walking through the walls?" Shaggy asked.
"Projections." Eden offered.
"And the bodies!" The man added.
"Were they... Dummies filled with corn syrup?" Velma suggested.
"Exactly." Sam smiled.
"Of course!" Fred grinned. "Cosgood was trying to drive everyone from the house so he could get the money for himself."
"Right, but the joke's on him because the money's worthless." Dean walked over with Creeps' briefcase, opening it up. "It's all Confederate dollars."
"Aww..." Scooby whined. "Well, easy come, easy go!"
"So," Velma chuckled, punching Sam's free arm. "I was right! Told ya, you big lug. There's no such thing as the supernatural."
"Yep. You sure showed us." Eden smirked.
"Looks like you were right and now we know." Sam shrugged.
"Hey, my arm's feeling better!" Shaggy grinned, taking it out of the makeshift sling. "Don't think it was really broken, after all!"
Eden cocked a brow at Castiel, who was behind him.
She untucked herself from Sam's grasp and walked over to the Angel, crossing her arms.
"Your doing?" She asked.
"I couldn't say." Cas shrugged.
"I suspected you were warming to them." Eden smirked.
"This is great news! Let's all meet back at the malt shop and celebrate!" Fred suggested, tying his ascot back around his neck.
"Sure, Fred." Dean walked over to him. "And, hey, you're not so bad."
"Yeah, I, uh, thanks!" Fred grinned, walking off with Daphne.
Cas enveloped Shaggy and Scooby in a tight hug.
"I will miss your wise words and gentle spirits." He said.
"Like, we will miss... Breathing." Shaggy wheezed.
Cas cocked a brow as he released them, watching them fall to the floor before crouching down by them.
"Thank you." He uttered. "You've shown me the great strength of laughter in the face of danger."
Both the man and the dog perked up immediately.
"Danger? Where?" Scooby cried.
"Let's get outta here, man!" Shaggy yelled.
They both disappeared in a cloud of dust.
"It was really nice working with you." Eden smiled as Velma took her in a hug.
"Yeah, great working with you, Velma." Sam agreed.
"You guys too." Velma replied.
She separated from Eden and swung Sam down into her arms, placing a rather forced kiss on his lips. The Dark Angel stood there in awe, her eyes wide as Velma put Sam back upright.
"Well, screw that. Sam's not getting some from my crush only to leave me in the dust." Eden scoffed, grabbing Velma's hand, pulling her towards her.
Just as the girl had done with her fiance, Eden dipped Velma and kissed her, only stopping when she felt Velma's hand cup the back of her head.
The girl was beyond red-faced by the time Eden stood her back up.
"Oh, Eden." She gushed. "That was... Magical."
"Damn right it was." Eden smirked, crossing her arms, watching Velma walk off in a daze.
"What the Hell just happened?" Sam asked.
"I have no idea, but I'm definitely not dwelling on it." The Dark Angel sighed contently.
"Shoulda known Velma was good to go." Dean walked over. "Damn, it's always the quiet ones."
The remaining group circled around 'Cosgood.'
"We're ready." Cas softly announced.
In a glow of purple, 'Cosgood' transformed back into the little boy, who hovered in his cross-legged position once again, holding out his hands.
The four held out theirs in turn and, in another flash of purple, disappeared.
They landed back in 'The Dean Cave.'
"Oh my God, I'm not animated anymore." Eden wheezed, running her hands gently over her midsection.
"Okay... That was... Something." Sam gave a breathy chuckle.
"That was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me." Dean grinned. "And that includes the Cartwright twins."
"What did you do with the Cartwright twins?" Cas frowned.
Dean wheezed at the memory, still grinning like an idiot.
"Don't you dare answer that." Eden scrunched up her nose.
The older brother quickly lost his smile.
"I'll be right back." He said, making his exit.
Cas looked at Sam, who looked equally confused.
"I don't think I wanna know." He frowned.
"You really don't." Eden shivered as Dean came back in with a blow torch and a sledgehammer, throwing the former to Sam.
The older brother approached the TV on the wall and sighed.
"Well, sorry, sweetheart." He mumbled, throwing the sledgehammer into the TV screen.
The unit and smashed glass fell to the floor with a 'bang' that echoed throughout the corridors. Dean crouched down and inspected the remains, eventually finding what he was looking for - a tiny silver pocket knife.
He threw it to Sam, who caught it in one hand.
The little boy appeared between the brothers, glancing to them each in turn.
"Time to go, kid." Dean uttered.
"What about the bad man?" The boy asked.
"Don't worry about him." Sam said. "We'll take care of him, alright?"
The little boy nodded.
Sam walked over to the bar behind him, finding a metal box, which he set down and placed the pocket knife on top, spinning the dial on the blow torch.
He put the flame to the knife, making it melt almost instantly.
The boy looked to Eden and Castiel, who gave reassuring smiles as he disappeared in the echo of flames, the smoke turning a bright purple before ascending into the ceiling.
Sam switched the blow torch off, looking to his friends. He gave a huffed sigh as Eden walked over, giving him a hug she could tell he needed.
"How's this for crook?" Eden started, staring down at the article on her phone in the back of the Impala. "That 'Jay'? Looks like he's been putting cursed objects in all sorts of establishments around that street the pawn shop is on. The owners leave and sell for cheap, he buys them and has the whole area under his thumb."
"Of course he has..." Dean sighed. "How'd you figure that one out?"
"Countless reports of classic supernatural activity in the area, I did some digging and the reports all came from the previous owners of the buildings before they sold them on. Public records has Jay as their new owner." She replied. "He must've been using that poor boy to do his dirty work so he can screw over everyone on the block."
When they arrived at the shop, the owner; a tall Caucasian man in his late fifties stood behind a desk, just about ready to sign some paperwork to a stocky balding man in a tacky tan suit; assumingly 'Jay.'
"Not so fast." Dean spoke up, dragging their attention.
"Is that an ascot?" The owner asked, looking at the red piece of fabric Dean now wore around his neck.
"Yes." The older brother replied, stroking it tenderly. "Yes, it is."
Eden rolled her eyes.
"What are you guys doing here?" Jay asked.
"Hey, Alan," Sam looked to the owner. "Your friend here? He's been driving people off their property so he can buy it on the cheap. And, he's been using his own personal ghost to do it. You see, he'd plant a haunted object, then let the ghost go to work."
"And then it'd possess something, like a big stuffed dinosaur or a perfectly beautiful TV." Dean scowled.
"And scare people so much that they'd be desperate to sell." Cas added.
"When we got nosey, he set his pet ghost on us." Sam continued.
"But now, that spirit is freed." The Angel concluded, holding up the half melted remains of the pocket knife.
Jay turned back to the pawn shop owner, giving a nervous chuckle.
"They're lying." He said.
"I've got all the evidence right here, if you wanted to double check." Eden waved her phone with the articles still up.
"You think anyone's gunna believe that?" Jay scoffed.
"No, but that's why we hacked your financials." Sam shrugged.
"That, mixed with all sorts of reports of paranormal activity in places you showed interest in, public archive files of you purchasing the buildings within days of the articles showing up. That's an awful lot of time stamps and an awful lot of happy little coincidences." Eden smirked.
"Also turns out, you're not so big on paying your taxes, are ya?" Sam narrowed his eyes at the slimy little man as police sirens sounded outside.
"Good enough for Capone, good enough for you." Dean commented.
The four left as police came in and handcuffed Jay, standing outside the shop to watch the magic happen.
Jay struggled slightly as a police officer led him out to the cruiser.
"Velma was right." Sam chuckled. "It was a shady real estate developer, after all."
"She's not a bad kisser either." Eden shrugged, earning an amused cocked brow look from the younger brother.
"Nope, no, she wasn't." He sighed, draping his arm over her shoulder.
"It's not fair!" Jay called out as an officer opened the rear cruiser door for him. "I woulda gotten away with it, if it wasn't for those medalling kids!"
Dean let out a wheezed gasp.
"He said it! He said the line!" He cleared his throat, looking straight ahead of him. "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!" He mimicked the dog's voice.
"What are you doing?" Sam mumbled.
"Well, I mean, at the end of every mystery, Scooby looks into the camera and he says-"
"Dean, you're not a talking dog." Cas pointed out, cutting him off before walking away.
"I know that, I-"
"Yeah..." Sam whispered, leading Eden away in Cas' footsteps, leaving Dean.
"No, but, come on, I do look cool in the ascot, right?" He grinned, soon letting it fade just as quickly as it had appeared. "No? Guys? Come on, guys! Red is my colour!"
"In your dreams!" Eden called back.
"Damn it..." Dean sighed, ripping the fabric from his neck.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro