Part of him feared they'd be snide about him bringing a dog, but no one questioned or even acknowledged Scooby as they were led through the halls to a cool, nearly empty room. He had started leaving him home more often over the last couple of years, his anxiety no longer as hard to deal with as it had been, but Shaggy knew he couldn't do this alone. His grip tightened on the leash in his hand, knuckles white, taking the chair pointed out to him.
It made him think of his father, wonder if he was still working at the local police station back home or if he'd finally retired, and if him being home during the day was driving his mother crazy if he had. He realized then couldn't remember the last time he had thought about his parents.
"Who is it you’re here about, Norville?"
The detective was a woman with sympathetic eyes and a soft voice, and he found himself thankful she didn't seem to be anything like his father. Swallowing dryly, it took him a moment to find his words, to admit they were actually gone.
"Velm—" he began, but the name got stuck in his throat. He took a shaky deep breath and spoke again. "Velma Dinkley and Fred Jones."
"And how are you connected to them?"
"Fred is my friend, and Velma is my fiancée."
He couldn't meet her gaze, attention trained on the desk between them, trying to find shapes in the woodwork. Trying to ground himself. He could see her nod out of the corner of his eye.
"Do you remember the last time you spoke to both of them?"
"Like," he started to speak again, but his mouth suddenly felt too dry to form a full sentence. "Sorry."
"Take your time," she spoke gently, but he could feel her eyes on him as he took a sip from the water he'd been offered as he came in, the cup shaking in his hand. He felt like the floor was about to open up and swallow him whole, but he couldn't help but find that preferrable. Maybe Velma would be there.
"I saw Velma the night before. She was in... I woke up sometime after midnight, and she was still there." He should have stayed awake. He should have held onto her tightly. Maybe she would still be here, then. If he had done something. He never did anything useful. "I went back to sleep," he recalled, taking another shaky breath, "and she wasn't there when... when I woke up."
It had been the worst day of his life. He didn't know it in that moment, of course. He assumed she was in the kitchen, and when she wasn't, maybe the library. But the hours started to pass by. He texted her. She didn't open it. He called. She didn't answer. It didn't take long for him to know something was wrong. That was the last time he'd been here, at the police station. Breaking down right inside the doorway, begging them to find her.
He hadn't known about Fred then.
"Sorry," he said, again, realizing the time was passing, the silence in the room louder than any of the words he'd spoken. "I talked to Fred a few days before. I think. I can't remember. I don't..."
It all seemed like a blur now. The words hung in the air, and the woman didn't say anything for a moment, waiting for him to finish. When he didn't, she moved on, satisfied enough, he guessed, with the answer he'd given.
"That's okay. Can you remember if you noticed anything different about Fred or Velma in the weeks leading up to their disappearances?"
"No. Like, everything was... fine."
Wasn't it?
"Were they hanging out with any new people lately?"
Shaggy shook his head. "No, Velma always told me who she was with. She didn't— she didn't have to, I trusted her. I trust her." He caught himself on the past tense, his own words causing his chest to tighten. "I'm sure Fred made new friends, he's always talking to people, but I don't..."
"Did either of them leave anything behind to suggest this was planned?"
The implication, the idea that the people most important to him would just abandon him and Daphne both out of the blue... Shaggy was shaking his head no, but he really felt like the walls were closing in on him now. He wanted to tell her that they would never. That Fred would tell them all about it if he found a way out, brag about it, take them too. He wanted to say that Velma would not leave him like that, that she would never leave him. But all that came out was a quiet: "No."
"Did they ever seem interested in leaving town?"
"Fred—..." He could feel his own fingernails digging into the palm of his hand from how tightly he was holding his dog's leash. "Fred and Daphne want to go back, I think, but... but Velma and I are happy here. We didn't want... she... like, I'm sorry, I feel..."
Sick. Dizzy. Like he couldn't breathe, that oxygen wasn't filling his lungs despite the rapid breaths he was taking. Like the room was collapsing and him with it. His face was on fire, and the room had definitely shrank. He just wanted them back. He wanted to know Fred was okay, to tell him how much he meant to him, that he was sorry they didn't hang out more. He wanted to hug Velma, breathe in her shampoo, kiss her for an hour straight.
"Okay, Norville, just one more question," the woman promised, her voice breaking through the fog briefly. "If they were able to leave town, where do you believe they would go?"
"They... I don't... home, I— I guess, I don't..." He felt a nudge at his hand, Scooby trying to do his job, to calm him, but there was nothing he could do in this room. His stomach was churning. He needed to leave, he needed fresh air. He needed Velma. The tears were coming now, and he couldn't manage to catch his breath. "We're supposed to get married, I mean we're... we're going to get— she just needs t—... to come home. This home, our home."
"I'm sorry. We'll do what we can. Thank you, Norville, for coming in today." She offered him a sad smile, dismissing him, but he was already halfway through the door before he heard her add: "We'll reach out if we have any more questions."
He made it to the parking lot before he lost his lunch.
i'm writing this instead of a new song for the band and i bet you fucking love that. i bet you're so happy that my pen is taking a break from scorching your ass in my music. i bet you love that i burn you and what we had over and over and over again with the songs i write. knowing you, you actually have the nerve to brag that there are songs out there written about you. you've always loved being the villain in my story. the one that stabbed lilith in the back.
when i was in rehab i was told this was a way to really get my frustration off my chest--a letter. i didn't want to write to you then. i don't really want to write to you now. but i can't seem to get out of this long spell of writers block without attempting so here i am. you'll never get this because i can't even try to send it to you if i wanted to, and honestly? good. fuck you. you never deserved my words. you still don't. every sentence, every word, is wasted on you and i can't seem to stop myself from writing this anyways. i hear your laughter, your anger, your joy, sadness, desperation, moans, and disgust as i write this. it's like i'm in your shitty ass apartment all over again, snorting whatever we could get our hands on while i'm ignoring calls from the girls. fucking and fighting and tearing each other down until you somehow gain the upper hand, i'm crying, and then in your arms yet again. the cycle just kept repeating, huh? you loved that. you loved building me up and breaking me down so many times that i lost who i was for a while. you loved the fact that you stranded me in your storm with no way out.
i'm fucking ruined because of you, but you already know that. you chanted it before, you sang how good it felt to fuck me up. the most fucked up part? i let it happen and i fucking loved it. every bruise, every emotional scar....i used to miss that shit. but you know what i missed the most? the drugs. the sex. the alcohol. the holy trinity of our relationship. i was clean before you. i had hardly drank before you. now i can't seem to cope with shit without having you follow me around still. i bled for you so much that now my blood is a part of you. i'll admit, the songs were fucking bangers. fucking batshit and some even fan favorites. i hate that. i hate that i have to play a song that i hate because they love it and they love you! the crowds fucking love you! no matter how fucked things got, no matter how honest i am in my music....they still fucking love you. you got your wish, you're immortal baby. i got scars on my body to prove it.
i used to love you. i think. i think you were the only thing i ever knew as love and that you were what made me think i could fall in love. now i know that love is just...not for me. you were my first love song. you were my only love song. how fucked is that? you fucking ruined my life. no matter where i go (which is fucking nowhere now) and no matter who i'm with...i have to be reminded that you fucking are still alive somewhere fucking some other young girl up who probably just wanted to share her music and her voice with the world too. someone who heard your scratchy ass voice at some cafe and got your number because you gave them that stupid drunk smile that could fucking ruin just about anyone. i have to remember that the only way i'm ever going to quit you is to start fucking over. i started over so many times and it always gets me back here. sneaking drinks, snorting a line or two when no one is around to get the creative juices flowing like you would say. losing my fucking mind because i can't seem to find my way back to myself. i really fucking hate you.
fuck you. this didn't make me feel better. this only reminded me that i am a product of you. that i am a bitch, i am closed off, and i will never connect with anyone outside of my sisters because of you. fuck you.
If this letter were to ever reach you I would want you to know I'm okay. Please don't miss me and I hope you're taking care of yourself. I hope everyday you're still alive and that the inevitable hasn't happened yet. If God were real I would pray every single day, morning and night, that you are kept safe. I'm sorry I can't be there to protect you and take care of you. I hope you aren't lonely without me and haven't done anything reckless. Some days I miss you so fucking much but these days all I have are hazy memories of us arguing or finding you on the bathroom floor from an overdose. I will always remember that you were the most special person in my life and did everything in your power to protect me from my father and take care of me. Things weren't always great and neither was I. I'm sorry I was such a problem my whole life. I tried to stay out of the way and I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you to get off drugs. I wish I could say the same.
I'm in this place called Evermore now. It's alright here. You'd be happy that I made a few friends and have a girlfriend. Her name is Sibella. I think you'd like her. I hope so, at least. I wish you could meet her and I wish I could remember what your voice sounds like. All I can hear is the screaming matches you had with dad in my nightmares now. My voice is still as deep as you would remember. Don't worry though, I haven't grown another inch since we've seen each other last.
There's so much I wish I could say and so much I would never say. This letter will never reach you so I suppose it's alright to say. I resent my childhood. As much as I loved you it was never enough for you to love me the same. I know you did your best and cared, but even you have to admit that any child deserved better. I wasn't planned, I know that, but when I was young I wished I would have had different parents or had been adopted by a nice family. Maybe I would have turned out better. Maybe I wouldn't be such a let down. Sometimes I wonder if you do actually miss me. Was I just a nuisance to you my entire life? Were the punches and black eyes from dad not enough for you to realize things weren't okay? That was my normal though and I know now I deserved so much fucking better. The endless overdoses from the both of you and fighting was just too much. My head isn't right these days. I wish I could blame you, but I can't. When dad left why wasn't that enough of a fresh start for you to get clean and be the mother I needed? Don't worry, I found another one.
These are all the thoughts that run through my head daily. I'm sorry mom, but as much as I love you I resent you just as much. You let me be kicked to the ground by a man that didn't think twice about doing the same to you. The amount of times I was locked in a dark room for hours while you guys got high and fought was torturous. I was so scared and I hate being in a small, dark room to this day. I couldn't even get through an escape room with my girlfriend because the anxiety was too much. How could you let something like that happen? For years of my life I was tortured and depressed. I was going down a dark road, maybe it's what led me to where I am now. I sometimes wish I were never born, but then I think about where I came from and where I'm at now. It might not be perfect but it sure is a damn improvement.
This is getting longer than I intended and I have so much more I want to say. I want to scream at the top of my lungs every thought I wish I could tell you. I love you mom, please don't be dead.
As I spelled out your name, I don't think it's ever hit me so hard that there's nowhere to send this letter.
Did you know you're the first person that ever looked at me and seen something? I don't know if I would have gotten through a semester without you, dude. I never thanked you for all your help. I never thanked you for letting me edge my way into your circle that I clearly didn't fit into. There's so much I never thanked you for. You didn't get annoyed at my dumb questions, didn't make me feel like an idiot. You never told me to leave the lab and go home. I didn't even have to tell you I was lonely there. You just let me hang out and entertained all of my dumb suggestions.
(Though I still think a tooth-brushing-machine is genius.)
I wish you could meet my friends here. The first real friends I've made that you didn't have to introduce me to. I think you'd like them. Hiro is here too, in Evermore. It's a long story but I'm keeping an eye on him. He seems to be doing okay. Cass too. I know they miss you. We all miss you.
Sometimes I have dreams that we're back there again. That I'm watching that building burn.
All this talk about being a hero and the one time it counted, I failed you. I froze. I'm so sorry. I swear to you if Hannah ever builds a time machine I will go back and I'll run in after you. Even if it's just to trade places. I will.
I love you, man. I'm sorry.
task 003; absence. Hans misses the only person who's ever loved & cared for him, his mother Sanne.
It was never a secret in the Westergaard family that Hans was regarded as the runt of his father's litter. The isolation his Mother endured as the youngest wife, the bullying he put up with as the weakest son, both of them being tossed to the bottom of the pile like trash. Sanne could have cut her losses and ran, she could have divorced and left him in that wicked, cruel palace with his awful father and barbaric brothers. But Sanne was kind, and loving and strong in ways no man could ever begin to comprehend, she stayed for love. She stayed for her son & lived with the consequences of it.
Dear Maman,
There's so much I want to tell you I don't even know where to start so lets begin with the obvious. I love you, and I miss you every single day. There is not an hour that passes that I don't think of you alone with those monsters. There is not a moment where I don't wish eternal misery to my godforsaken halfwit brothers and living corpse of a Father. I worry for you and your safety. I worry about what will happen when Niels finally takes over, where you will end up or what pathetic housing and allowance he will give you. Most of all I worry he would be evil enough to make you his wife, not that you would accept of course. I hope to be home by the time Father passes. I hope its my blade that pierces through his heart, and Niels, and anyone else who would dare get in our way. I hope to make the palace run red with their blood for the live they gave you, gave us. Have a glorious throne made of their bones fashioned for you as Queen Mother. I hope to return with alliances and armies that would grant us protection from anyone who would try challenge my claim. I have not forgotten my role in all of this. I have not forgotten about you and the life you have lived for me, to protect me. I do not take your love for granted and I swear to you, on my own life, that I will get us what is rightfully ours. I will repay you, I will avenge you for what it cost to be his wife. I will come home and I will tear down his empire brick by brick with bare hands and we will build a new Kingdom, and it shall have a new Queen.
Perhaps that last line was misleading, because Mother I have the most incredible news. Delight that will shock you and fill your bleeding heart with joy; I am going to be a Father. You will be a Grandmother, and I know it is not what either of us expected when I came to Evermore but I know how happy you will be to hear of it. Even better is that for the first time there will be a baby girl. This torture, toxicity, awfully cruel, hierarchy ends with her. There will be no one to challenge her claim or question her lineage, because even though I haven't met her yet; just like I would do it for you, I would kill anyone who dared try hurt her in anyway. Her Mother is called Aurora, like the borealis, is beautiful. She is soft, kind and deserving of everything wonderful. But I will be the first to admit I haven't been kind to her as of late. I was so worried I would end up like him. I didn't want a boy, I didn't want to be a Father knowing what Niels and Father would do if they found out. But I have decided it no longer matters because they will never meet either of my girls, at least not outside of a casket.
We are still a long way away from the due date, and everyday brings a more heightened level of anxiety but yet a clearer train of thought. Aurora has land, connections, parents who hold real power. Our daughter will grow up to lead two Kingdoms, and with Aurora's help we can change the course of the Westergaard name and turn it into something good. I know what I have to do. I know how I must make this world different for my Mother, my Daughter and my--- well I don't really have a name for Aurora to be honest. I considered proposing but it seemed tacky. Independent women and all that. My baby will bring opportunities you and I have been waiting years for. She will bring us alliances and land, power and connections. My baby will be the key to the happy ending you and I have been yearning for all these years. I know what I have to do and I will kill anyone who gets in our way.
I wish you were here. I wish I didn't have to do this alone, but I understand why. Please just hold on a little longer. I will bring you the peace we are deserved, the crown you are owed. I will bring you your Granddaughter, Queen of two Countries. I promise you, Maman, things are going to change and we will make them suffer.
please, hear me out before you toss this letter aside. I did not abandon you, nor our temple. I still have full intentions of taking your place at the Hikawa shrine to become a priestess, if you’d still have me, or even deem me worthy to do so. I’m not sure if you’ll ever see this letter but it’s worth a shot. I didn’t run away, no matter how crazy it sounds I need you to believe me.
I’d give you my location however I do not need you coming after me when it seems it’s a place I cannot leave, and our people at the shrine need you more than me. I keep your teachings and lessons close to my heart. While It wasn’t my intention to end up in this town, I fear it was no accident.
This city—place radiates a energy I still cannot fully grasp. It’s powerful as if the whole town is on the verge of a powerful earthquake, still shaking off the dust and waiting for the right moment to combust. There is evil here-the kind you warned me of—the kind you taught me how to protect myself against. But please don’t fret, it is not all bad. There is joy. I’ve made close friends, Usagi and Mamo. They are my home away from you. I’m doing my best to make you proud even if you aren’t here to see it. This isn’t what I wanted but perhaps I’m here for a reason, maybe I’m supposed to help someone here. Maybe this is apart of the gods plan for me, in any case I must see to it.
I know we’ll see each other again, it’s my wish every-time the sunset meets the horizon. See you soon.
it's me ! the recent blood moon inspired me to do something i miss dearly : talk to you . well , it's not much of a conversation if it's one sided , but knowing you'd be more than willing to respond if this letter could reach you is enough !
first and foremost , i'm doing fangtastic ! the ghouls are with me , all of us and i'm happy to report that we're all safe in a little town called evermore . even coach is here with scooby and his friends ! it has a lot of charm , i think it would suit your taste . heh . i even have a job ! can you believe it ?! i'm working at this place called hotel transylvania and i love it ! i guess having to take care of the castle with you prepared me for something as big as a hotel , and being there makes me feel a little closer to home . it's like you're around , except we're not isolated from everyone else ...
speaking of isolation , i should tell you i've made lots of friends here . not all of them are human , but the ones that are aren't bad , just like mom would say ! i've grown used to hiding what i am , it's not easy but i know it's bat-ter this way . i have to make sure the ghouls are safe , which means i have to be safe as well . so they can rely on me .
dad , when you're with the others , even with mr. mehmi , do you ever feel scared ? sometimes i feel like i'm failing the ghouls , that i'm not a good example and miss grimwood would be disappointed . you'd be disappointed , too , and so would their dads . i wasn't lying when i said i'm okay , but i'm also scared , way more scared than a monster should be . i'm even scared of myself .
i'm in love . really , really in love . his name is diablo , he's not like us but he's not human either , and dearer to me than all the bats in all the caves in the world ! we go on night flights together ( he's a shapeshifter !!! the prettiest bird i've ever seen !!! ) and he even stopped wearing silver for me , but that was a long time ago . we've been together for almost four months now and i know i'll be with him for a long time . even after he's gone .
daddy , i don't want him to go away . i don't want to lose him like we lost mom . i don't want anything to take him from me like they took her from you and i'm scared . i haven't even told the ghouls about him because i know what they'll think ; we know how this ends and i'm batty for letting it happen . uncle bill ( he's also here ! ) called him my ' loyal walking bloodbag ' , i'd never felt more disgusted with myself .
i don't want to hurt him , dad . you never hurt mom , you did everything you could to protect her and even then , people took her from us . from you . i'm not as strong as you , not in the ways that matter ... i don't want to kill my boyfriend , and i don't want my friends to be disappointed in me either . most of all , i don't want to be alone . i know what it did to you , i know how hard it was for you to come back . what if i'm not strong enough ?
this is getting longer than it has to be , but i miss you so much . i talk to mom every night and ask her to watch over you . i know she's doing it from wherever she is . i can't wait to see you again .
oceans of love ,
your little sibella .
p.s.: my friend-boss mavis says her dad is also a "dracula" ... is there something you'd like to tell me ? i promise i won't judge , most people think you have three brides anyway !
I hope you had a good Halloween. I bet your pranks are getting even more epic as you get older. I promise I’ll never complain about your stupid faces if I ever get back to Middleton, okay?
I miss you guys more than anything, I hope you know. I always thought we had all the time in the world to get to know each other, so I could watch you get to high school and annoy Mr. Barkis, and hit puberty, and go to Homecoming and Prom, and play sports and go on your first date, and pass your driver’s test.
I hate that I’m missing this stuff.
Anyway, be nice to Mom and Dad and enjoy the holidays. Throw some snowballs for me and make sure you still hang my stocking up, dorks.
