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Autumn: the time of year when the leaves on the trees in most of the country turn from green to shades of red, yellow and orange.
A time of year when the temperature begins to cool off, after the constant heat and humidity of the summer time; a time of year when young people's thoughts turn back to their studies, whether they be elementary school, junior high (or middle school in some cases), high school, or even college, for those that are that far advanced in their schooling.
Autumn is also a time of year when the sport of football returns to the American conscious, and when Major League Baseball crowns their champion, with the World Series.
In addition, it is also the time of year when winter sports (both pro and college) start to crank up training camps, in advance of their respective seasons starting, and the quest for a championship, whether it be the Final Four, Stanley Cup, or an NBA Championship crown.
However, there is something else about autumn, something much worse and much more sinister then a mere professional or college sports championship, or school starting up, or even going back to one's profession.
Specifically speaking Autumn is also the time of year that includes a holiday known as Halloween. The holiday usually features adults dressing up in costumes, and attending parties surrounding each October 31st, as well as young children dressing up and going trick or treating each and every year.
Free candy and Halloween parties though aren't the only things that usually happen on this very unique and very curious day of the calendar year.
There is something else about the holiday of Halloween that makes one nervous, and gives people the shivers, the willies, goosebumps, and overall makes them wish the history of Halloween was way different then what it actually is.
For you see Halloween is the time of year when ghosts, goblins, werewolves, vampires, monsters and especially witches and warlocks are on the prowl, so to speak.
Halloween is typically New Year's Eve for the forces of the supernatural, and is the one night where the forces of evil and the forces of darkness are at their strongest. All kinds of monsters, ghosts and other creatures of the night usually choose All Hallows' Eve to congregate and discuss their upcoming deeds, however evil they may be...
Except of course in the small town of Coolsville, Massachusetts. In this quaint New England town, where our story takes place two witches and warlocks make their home; however, the four magic users in question are not concerned with participating in anything even remotely evil.
The witches and warlocks in question are Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers; along with a talking Great Dane named Scooby Doo, who serves as an unofficial familiar to the group. Specifically speaking, this group of adolescent witches and warlocks use their unique and collective talents to actually help mankind, as opposed to harm mankind, which the stereotypical Hollywood description of either usually does at any given time.
This group of magic users and their Great Dane pledged at a very young age, actually it was when the four of them first learned of their respective heritages(all around the age of sixteen coincidentally enough, for as they would later learn that was typically the age when a young witch or warlock would learn about their powers for the first time), to use their talents to solve various mysteries around the U.S. and around the world as well.
These mysteries usually consisted of trying to capture supposed supernatural creatures, including some phony witches and warlocks, most of whom would usually turn out to be just crooks in masks, attempting to scare people, or commit varied crimes.
In addition to the run of the mill phony phantoms, werewolves, vampires and such, Scooby Doo and his friends(known to the community as Mystery Incorporated) would encounter real supernatural beings, including another warlock named Vincent Van Ghoul(whom they actually met twice; once, after the group came into their magic powers, while the second time was in the 1980s) who helped the group capture 13 of the most dangerous and evil ghosts on Earth once upon a time.
On a few occasions, Mystery Inc. tackled real crimes, like murders, bank robberies, and art thefts, all of which the group handled rather quickly and with great ease, thanks to their rather incredible and unique gifts.
Usually when the mysteries were over, the local authorities would marvel at the group's prowess at catching criminals, and on occasion have presented this group with awards, as the gang were always known as civic minded citizens, despite being witches and wizards.
Despite the group's unusual talents, Mystery Inc. was always willing to take a case and always willing to do their part to help Coolsville. Of course, being witches and warlocks, and always using magic had its downside; Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy's constant use of witchcraft, albeit good witchcraft, caused the four youngsters to not age one little bit since the year 1969.
This was always noticed by the citizens of the town, but because Mystery Inc. had done so much for the small Massachusetts community, there was no real reason to delve any further into the group's private lives.
Only a small group of people knew what the gang's secret to being so youthful was, including Vincent Van Ghoul, a few of the group's aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as certain members of Daphne, Fred, Velma, Shaggy and yes, even Scooby's families, some of whom shared the group's interest in magic and sorcery.
As different as the members of the sleuthing team were different in their likes and dislikes, their favorite foods, their favorite music and movies, their favorite books, and so forth, so different too were the ways each of them learned about their supernatural powers.
Shaggy Rogers was the first member of the team to learn about his unique heritage and very interesting background; on a typical Autumn day in 1969, he received a telephone call from his grandfather saying that he would be receiving an envelope in the mail within the next few days. Of course Shaggy had no idea his grandfather and grandmother were still alive, for he only learned this when he read the papers that were contained within the envelope; he also learned the truth about his grandparents, about many members of his family dating back to Colonial days, and most surprising of all: the truth about himself, that he was descended from a line of witches and warlocks and that he was in fact a warlock.
After spending time in his grandparents home in New York State, and after some encouragement from them and telling him that he wasn't dreaming and that this was truly happening, Shaggy reluctantly accepted his new position in life. He would soon learn the ins and outs of magic; what to do with his powers, what not to do with them, and especially what to do about his parents, who were a bit reluctant themselves to accept their son's special talents.
The proverbial dominoes then fell like clockwork after that; Daphne found out her heritage through her grandmother and mother, and that she was descended from a line of witches and warlocks dating back to the days of Salem in the 1600s. That was of course then followed by the revelation that she was a witch as well, which had to take some getting used to considering she was already wealthy and an heiress to her father's bubble bath company, so learning that she was a sorceress was needless to say was quite unexpected.
Fred was next in line to learn about the ins and outs of magic, as one day he received an unusual amulet in the mail. It was made of a shimmering gold that matched the dark green emerald set in the middle of the piece quite well; as the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. Fred was skeptical of the existence of ghosts, monsters and anything supernatural in the first place, so he would never have imagined what his parents had to tell him one day.
The blond sleuth couldn't believe his ears when he learned that his parents Skip and Peggy Jones were actually his aunt and uncle and raised him in absence of his real parents: a witch and warlock named Frank and Heather. His true folks then explained to him that they were the ones who sent him the amulet, so that he could use it against evil forces that wished to possess it and as protection for him and against anyone who would dare harm he or his friends... especially one Daphne Blake.
As if all this wasn't enough, a bombshell then was dropped by his true parents: he was descended from a line of witches and warlocks dating back to the early 1700s. Finally, his real mother and father revealed that their son, a young man who believed in rational thoughts, strategy(mainly football strategy) and figuring out whatever puzzle lie before him, was in fact someone who possessed extraordinary supernatural powers, and that he in fact was a warlock as well.
Needless to say this was a lot for Fred Jones to think about, but just as he began to learn about his true heritage and began to exhibit his newly found magic powers at the age of sixteen, the fourth human member of this sleuthing team received some surprising news. Velma Dinkley, the most rational, analytical and most intelligent member of the team of "Meddling Kids" known as Mystery Incorporated found out the truth about her family tree.
The bespectacled brunette's Aunt Patricia(who owned a bookstore that specialized in mystery novels and books in town) called her niece into said store one day to discuss something rather important with her. At first, she wasn't quite sure what her aunt wanted with her, after all: why would an aunt who barely spoke to her family and who Velma didn't know much about want to speak with her? And why would her aunt want to contact her out of the blue like this?
Soon Velma Dinkley would find out why her aunt wanted to speak with her, and she was quite surprised at what her aunt had to say to her. When Mystery Inc.'s resident brainiac arrived at her aunt's bookstore, she explained that there were some items in the storage room she wished for her niece to see; Velma was confused at first, but obliged her aunt's unusual request.
When Velma's aunt returned to her niece, she had a heavy wooden chest with her; as she watched her aunt bring the container into the room, Velma observed that the chest seemed to be quite old with a metal padlock set in the front(which the brunette guessed was to deter anyone curious enough to try and open it).
Velma Dinkley's suspicions were soon confirmed, but what she saw next surprised her to no end. Her aunt seemed to hold out her hands, looking as if she was pointing towards the padlock with her fingertips for some unknown reason; the dark brown haired sleuth then watched in surprise as what appeared to be electrical sparks were coming out of those same fingertips that had been pointing at the padlock.
In the span of mere seconds, the padlock clicked open, dropped onto the floor with a resounding thud and the chest opened with an eerie creek. Velma's aunt then smiled and told her to walk towards the container, which she did; once Velma was in front of the old wooden container, her aunt told the brainy sleuth a story that she never would have believed in a thousand years.
Velma's Aunt Patricia told the bespectacled brunette that the contents of the old container were various books, loose papers and what Velma guessed were a few assorted knick knacks. Her aunt then explained that these books and papers were spell books, and written on these pages and papers were thousands upon thousands of magical spells, incantations, potion recipes, hexes and everything about the supernatural that you might want to know... if you dared enter into that realm of course.
Also in the container as Velma's aunt explained were a few assorted amulets, necklaces, medallions and several other magical mementos that Velma's relative had collected over the years. However, the surprises weren't over for Miss Dinkley, not by a long shot; Velma's aunt then told her niece that she possessed very unique and supernatural powers, mainly that she was a witch and had been one for a number of years.
Then came the shock of a thousand shocks for Velma... both Velma and her aunt were descended from a long line of witches and warlocks, dating back to the days of the Salem Witch Trials. Velma's aunt then told her niece that a line of witch hunters had doggedly been pursuing the Dinkley family and any member of the clan who possessed even an ounce of magic; this, she explained was why Velma's aunt hadn't spoken to her much over the years, it was because if anyone in the family knew what was going on, these witch hunters would likely go after Velma's parents, or her friends or anyone else close to her, just in case any of them knew anything about the family's unique past.
Finally, the last surprise came to Velma Dinkley, one that would change her life forever. As she had expected, her aunt revealed that the brunette herself was a witch and that she would come into her powers very soon as well; Velma couldn't believe what she was hearing as she attempted to steady herself, stories of witches and warlocks, magic powers, that she was descended from a line of witches dating back to the 1600s no less, it really was a lot to take in and she truly needed to consider what she had been told.
Velma Dinkley was a rational person... she never truly believed in what she and her friends faced over the years, much like Fred. However, in the same amount of time Velma had always felt some kind of uniqueness inside her; she was the smartest member of Mystery Inc., one of the brightest minds in Coolsville High, much less the entire state of Massachusetts or all of New England, she got the best grades of the group, and she was usually the first of the sleuthing team to figure out what kind of foe or mystery they were up against.
Magic... and the ability to cast spells, potions, hexes and the like though were another thing altogether. But, just as Velma felt like she was special, unique and possessed talents not many people in her school possessed, she also felt like she had something else... some form of unusual gift or another; it usually peaked during October, specifically in the weeks leading up to Halloween.
During that time frame, as she slept Velma had all sorts of unusual dreams... dreams which she couldn't make heads or tails of at all. No matter what day of the week it was, every single dream that she experienced usually consisted of the brunette wearing the prototypical costume or outfit that a witch would wear; one night the clothing she wore might have been red and orange(which she guessed might have had something to do with her own wardrobe of orange turtleneck sweaters), while the next night she might be wearing a black witch's hat and robes.
Typically during the dreams, Velma found herself either standing in front of some bubbling cauldron(either alone or with her friends, who were all similarly dressed) and stirring some greenish liquid which she assumed was some magic potion. Besides the dreams, Velma found herself for some inexplicable reason dressing as a witch for the last several Halloweens, either for trick or treating or for whatever party or event she and her friends were invited to or participated in.
Truly Velma Dinkley was confused; could these dreams and her Halloween costume choices of all things be telling her something? Could she truly have a deep seeded desire to practice witchcraft and learn everything there was about the world of the supernatural and the unusual?
As she considered these truly unusual events and what possible message they could have, her aunt smiled at her appearing to be waiting patiently for what Velma had to say. The bespectacled brunette then considered something, and the facts of what her aunt had revealed to her; magic and sorcery might have been unusual, and witchcraft might be something that could be frowned upon by a lot of people, but as the old saying goes: When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do, so Velma Dinkley accepted her fate and officially started on the road to being a full fledged witch.
Later on, when her aunt asked her why she had decided to accept the gift of magic(as her aunt described it), Velma's rational mind came up with the theory that while magic and sorcery were not well known fields of study, they like botany, oceanography and every other field of study that she was interested in or had studied over the years were still technically a branch of science... meaning that Velma still felt she needed to examine anything and everything there is or was to know about the field.
So, with the last of the teen members of Mystery Inc. gaining the abilities of a witch or warlock, things could get back to semi normalcy in Coolsville, Massachusetts... well, semi-semi normalcy at least. Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy still had to be quite careful in their magic use, as you never know who might spot them practicing witchcraft; after all, as they were going to learn in the years to come, magic like everything else in life had all sorts of rules, regulations and things you could and couldn't do with it.
There was one important rule the four sleuths and Scooby Doo(who would become their unofficial familiar) would learn that wasn't in any book, and that the World Council of Witches and Warlocks(the organization that oversaw all magic users on Earth, and made sure no one used or abused their powers in any way) wouldn't let them know about, as they already semi knew it; not to mention the aforementioned council had no intention of telling them about it, as they assumed every witch and warlock was aware of this rule.
That rule being that most if not all witches, warlocks and wizards were immortal, or at least they lived hundreds, maybe thousands of years. As for those magic users that were born of mortal parents(like Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy), they also lived hundreds of years...; there was something else though, the fact that most warlocks, witches and wizards didn't age that much.
The prototypical warlock or witch might look 16 or 17 years old(as each of the gang were at the time) and some might not notice at first. In truth, most witches and warlocks would be 200-300 years old and to the average mortal, night look no older then a teenager; however, the person who found out they were a witch or warlock would have to live with the knowledge that as their non-magical friends and family grew older, faded away and passed on into the next life, that person would find themselves living full lives 3, 4 or 5 times over.
It wasn't a perfect life, it wasn't even something resembling normal; then again, Fred Jones, Shaggy Rogers, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley were special, solving mysteries with their combined teamwork and now having supernatural powers that would make them the most unique teenagers possibly in the world.
As time wore on, 1969 would fade into the history books; for the newly magical Mystery Inc. though, they needed to do something that would assure their powers were not found out by undesirable elements, something that would assure them that secrets would be kept and something that would allow Mystery Inc. would be able to live their lives, hopefully in peace.
During the group's Christmas Break, which lead into January of 1970 and a new decade, it was decided among Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby that if they were continue their current ways, living purely at their respective homes might not be such a good idea. This was especially accurate considering that if someone did find out about the gang's true lives and their abilities, someone(as Velma's Aunt suggested) might try to come after some of the gang's families in order to get to Mystery Inc. themselves.
On December 27, 1969 snow covered the streets of Coolsville, Massachusetts and the psychedelically painted Mystery Machine(Mystery Inc.'s official vehicle of choice) carefully navigated through the small East Coast town, driven with usual skill by Fred Jones. The group of witches and warlocks were in search of somewhere that would be their headquarters not only for their detective work, but somewhere that the gang could practice their magic in secret and hide the spells, recipes for potions, hexes and anything magical they might have penned from prying eyes.
After some exhaustive searching, which seemed to take forever to the teen conjurers, they were shown a beautiful old Victorian mansion on the outskirts of the small New England town. Upon entering the house for the first time the group of magical mystery solvers were quite surprised at the spacious living quarters inside; as the four teens and one Great Dane explored the building, they found that it offered everything that Mystery Inc. might want or need in a headquarters.
Downstairs a beautifully furnished living room was front and center, complete with several Oriental Rugs laid out on the wooden floor. Also featured prominently was a wood burning fireplace(which, naturally was not burning at the time); the members of Mystery Inc. smiled at this, as a fireplace could come in quite handy during chilly New England nights in the Fall and Winter.
As Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo continued to explore the mansion, they discussed with one another possible ideas for the house. Ideas such as what furniture the team could put inside, the possibility of other miscellaneous furnishings such as a Grandfather Clock being a part of the mansion, and of course(at least in Daphne's mind) decorating ideas, such as what kind of wallpaper, what color paint would adorn the building's walls, and a few other items as well.
Meanwhile each member of Mystery Inc. began to daydream about their own personal touches that could be added to the mansion(should they acquire it for their very own of course). For Fred, somewhere to work on his hobbies of mystery writing and traps, for Daphne a closet and enough space for as many clothes as she had back at home, for Velma somewhere to work on both scientific and magical experiments(such as new spells or potions), while for Shaggy and Scooby the idea of a gigantic kitchen to work on new recipes entered their heads.
As you might expect, the teen conjurers found all of the above and more; in total, the real estate agent who showed them the mansion said the building had two floors, 5 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms, enough room for each of them to practice their hobbies(both mortal and supernatural), a kitchen that would rival that of a five star restaurant, and plenty of room to store the team's magical mementos.
So, with the blessing of their respective parents and a monetary assist from each member's mother and father(as well as a few other relatives), Mystery Incorporated purchased the beautiful old Victorian mansion to use as their headquarters for congregating to consider the mysteries they may encounter... and for practicing witchcraft and storing each member's spell books, papers and anything else they might need to keep locked up.
Scooby Doo's teenage friends then went back to school a few days later, but each of them couldn't wait to see the mansion again and begin populating it with the furniture and the miscellaneous items that each of them wished to bring inside of it. Thanks to another assist from each of the team's parents, the next weekend moving trucks, as well as the Mystery Machine and the automobiles of Fred's parents, Daphne's parents, Velma's parents, Shaggy's parents and a few other of the group's relatives navigated the still icy streets of Coolsville towards the old Victorian mansion on the outskirts of town.
On the first Saturday of January 1970, if one were to witness the scene unfolding at the group's new headquarters, one might think it would resemble a Black Friday sale or a madhouse... or at the worst World War 3. Moving trucks parked in front of the mansion all day, cars came and went, people who were quite curious as to what was occurring walked by at regular intervals, all the way furniture was being carted inside of the picturesque estate that had been around since the 1700s as the group of sleuths would later learn.
Finally after a particularly long weekend, the team of mystery solving witches and warlocks were able to relax and take stock of the mansion they were to spend a lot of time at over the years to come. The group's parents(deciding they would eventually be living on their own, and would need to make their own decisions) decided to let them stay at the mansion for the next seven days, while reminding them that their studies came first above anything and everything else... including magic.
Now that you know The Rest of the Story(as the radio newscaster Paul Harvey used to say) about Mystery Incorporated, and that you know how the group discovered they were witches and warlocks, and the story of their headquarters, the set up to our story is complete. However, that doesn't mean our tale is complete, not by a long shot; for there is still more to learn about the adolescent conjurers, about their lives, the mysteries they have solved, and their lives in general which have been very unique to say the least.
Bonus Author's Notes: After some thought and consideration, I decided to change the beginning to this fan fiction piece a little bit. Originally I was just going to explain how the group were witches and warlocks, and not really expand much on this; however, I thought a better set up to the story would be explaining how in this Alternate Universe they discovered their heritages, about the history of magic in their families and how they gained a place to live and work on mysteries and witchcraft.
So(inspired by Sabrina The Teenage Witch, both the TV series and the comic books, as well as the most recent Sabrina comic The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), the idea for this first chapter came. Ideally I was thinking this will be a mix between comedy and horror like the older Scooby series, mixed with a little romance as the story goes on; although I'm leaning towards putting it closer to horror then comedy(think along the lines of the most recent Sabrina The Teenage Witch comic series, and Scooby Doo on Zombie Island/Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost/13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo).
All that said, I hope you enjoy the ride(as this story promises to be quite interesting, somewhat romantic, somewhat comedic and pretty frightening at times); and of course keep watching my profile for any future chapters to this story and other stories I've written in the past or any stories I might write in the future.