Taken Hostage

Velma felt her voice catch in her throat as she turned to see a large man pointing the aforementioned shotgun at her and her friends. The man was tall, well built, and had a series of tattoos going up both of his arms. He was dressed all in black and had a look on his face that showed he was in no way joking.

"What the fuck are you three doing here?" he asked in a rough voice. Velma tried to will her voice to work but found that she couldn't.

"I said..." the man began before Fred piped up.

"We're here about the ghost."

"The fucking ghost," the man said incredulously. He then shook his head before motioning with the shotgun. "I want to see hands," he commanded. With the initial shock having worn off, Fred, Velma, and Daphne all raised their hands. The man then nodded to the building behind him. "Inside," he commanded.

Not really seeing any other choice, the three of them complied. The two girls lined up behind Fred as they walked through the now open door, the man with the shotgun following behind them. As they entered, they were greeted by the faces of all the other men. They all looked fairly similar, with each man looking menacing in his own way. The man with the shotgun pointed to the far wall.

"You three, turn around, put your hands against that wall, and don't fucking move." Once again, the three friends complied without argument. As they lined up against the wall, the group of men began to argue amongst themselves.

Her survival instincts told her to keep her face pointed at the wall, but her detective instincts began to sort out snippets of the conversation. It was evident that all the men were angry. It became clear after a few minutes that the security guard was apparently working for them. Most of the men thought he was up front but it was revealed that another had sent him home for the night on the condition that he lock up the office and the main gate. This apparently had not been done.

It wasn't long before the conversation took a turn that Velma didn't like. It was very clear now that these men were **** dealers and were using the abandoned Park as a home base. The rumors of the ghost were to keep people from sticking their noses into their business. But now the gang had seen them. Now they were a liability.

The chatter suddenly died down. One of the men, who Velma guessed was the leader based on how the others moved out of his way, approached the group.

"Turn around!" he barked. They did as instructed.

"Does anyone else know you're here?" he asked in a serious tone. "Is there anybody else in the park?" A bolt of hope suddenly shot through Velma. They hadn't seen Shaggy or Scooby. They still had a chance.

"It's just us," Fred said suddenly. "But the sheriff knew we were coming out here." The man looked behind him and raised an eyebrow.

"The sheriffs on our payroll," one of the men said. "But he didn't mention these three."

The boss turned back to look at them. "So, what are you guys? Reporters?"

"We solve mysteries," Velma said quietly.

"Yo," one of the men spoke up, "I've heard of these guys. They go around catching ghosts in a van or some shit."

"Are they famous?" the boss asked.

"Kind of," the man responded.

The boss turned back to look at his prisoners. "Well, congratulations. The odds of you three making out of this alive just shot up. You've graduated from witnesses to hostages." Velma suddenly saw his eyes look her up and down before he smirked, "And maybe something more," he said before looking back at the other men. They all grinned, lewdly, in response.

Fred suddenly stepped forward. "Now listen here, don't you get any ideas! When people find out..."

Bam!

Fred never got to finish his sentence. The man's fist shot out like a whip and caught him across the face. He went down hard. He had just gotten up on his knees before the other men rushed him. Daphne screamed and Velma stepped forward. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she couldn't just stand there. She suddenly felt the man grab her arm with a grip like iron and hold her in place. It seemed to stretch on forever, but probably only lasted a few seconds as the men rained fist and boots down on Fred.

"Enough," the boss declared. They immediately stopped and backed up. Velma felt a sob stick in her throat. Fred was bruised and bloodied but still clearly alive.

The man holding her arm looked at her and Daphne, grinned, and said, "Now, you two are going to behave or he's going to get it again but worse. Do you understand?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer. The look in their eyes told him they definitely understood.

The girls watched as the men hauled Fred his feet. The boss let go of Velma's arm and stepped over to him. "Same goes for you pretty boy," he said, "You give us any trouble, and the girls here get a taste of what we gave you." He then motioned towards a door with his head. The men dragged Fred over to it. One of the men open the door wide enough so that Velma could see it with some kind of storage closet. They roughly dropped Fred onto the floor, shut the door, and locked it.

The room had suddenly gone quiet again and Velma realized that all the men were once again staring at her and Daphne.

"Now back to the important question," the boss said while grinning back at his friends, "What do we do with the two of you?"