"I promise I won't let them do anything to hurt you," Daphne reassured Velma as they sat in the small plain hospital room.

"Well considering we're here so they can take my blood, I'd say you're not doing a very good job," Velma muttered.

She sat on the hospital bed, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to block out the sights and sounds of the hospital. Daphne sat on a chair next to the bed.

"I mean beyond that. I won't let them do anything beyond that."

Velma opened her eyes and shot Daphne a look. Daphne gave her a small smile.

"And then once we're done, we can go meet the boys for lunch at Sharon's Diner," Daphne offered cheerfully. She frowned at the continued look on Velma's face. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep it light. When you said you were scared of the hospital, I didn't realize it was this bad."

"What did you think I meant?" Velma said through clenched teeth.

"Well you equated it to my fear of drowning and while I don't like swimming, I don't panic while I'm sitting on the beach. We haven't even talked to the doctor yet," Daphne shrugged.

"I have many words to say to you but I'm trying not to pass out," Velma muttered.

Just then the door to the room opened, causing both girls to jump. A doctor, a young man wearing a blue striped tie and a white coat, entered carrying a clipboard. He was followed by a nurse in a white dress and hat. Velma immediately recoiled at the presence of the nurse.

"Alright. Which one of you is Velma Dinkley?" he asked, his head swiveling between Daphne and Velma.

"She is, sir," Daphne answered.

The doctor sat down on a short wheeled stool halfway in between the bed and the chair.

"My name is Dr. Todd. What are we in for?" he asked, directing his question at Velma.

"She's here for a drug test," Daphne explained. The doctor looked back to Daphne and frowned. "She was attacked last night by the same thing that attacked your patient Raymond Jackson. She inhaled something that put her to sleep and stopped her pain. We want to find out what is was so that you might help him better and help her better."

Dr. Todd looked to Velma. He pushed his stool over to the bed and raised a hand to take hers. She recoiled again, moving even further back on the bed.

"No physical exam," Daphne stated sternly. "Just the blood test."

"Can she talk for herself?" Dr. Todd barked at Daphne.

"No physical exam. Just the blood test," Velma repeated in the same tone as Daphne.

"Thank you. Was that so hard?" Dr. Todd shook his head, then turned back to Velma. "That's fine. But I have to take your vital signs. That's not negotiable."

Velma considered this for a moment.

"That's the blood pressure and temperature, right?" Velma said slowly. Dr. Todd nodded.

"Blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and breathing rate," Dr. Todd confirmed.

Velma paused again. Then, shakily and with measured breath, she put out her right arm.

"I need you to take your coat off," he said, doing his best not to shout. Velma nodded and removed her jacket before offering her arm again.

Dr. Todd took her blood pressure and then her temperature. Daphne could see Velma flinch as he moved to listen to her breathing.

"All the vital signs look normal. I'll go prepare the test, while Nurse Kaiser collects your payment for the services today."

Dr. Todd nodded stiffly and then left. The nurse, now with her own clipboard, stepped forwards.

"The services today add up to $9.70," she read from her chart.

"I-I don't have that kind of money," Velma said nervously.

"Well, do you have insurance? That can offset the cost," the nurse explained.

"I-I," Velma's brow furrowed. "I don't know if I have insurance or not."

"Well then it's $9.70," the nurse repeated putting out a hand.

"Here."

Velma looked up from her empty wallet to see Daphne handing over a ten dollar bill to the nurse. From what Velma could see from her vantage point, it was not the only bill in Daphne's purse.

"Give me one moment," the nurse instructed. She turned to exit, leaving Daphne and Velma alone.

"Well that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Oh no it was fine," Velma said, taking deep breaths. "Will you please tell the part of my brain that controls fear? Because it hasn't gotten the message quite yet."

"I will ignore your rudeness because you are terrified," Daphne said, crossing her arms. Part of her was truly miffed by the comment, but moreso she felt awful for putting Velma in this situation.

"I will pay you back," Velma said slowly. "It might... It might take me a while, but I will pay you back."

"You don't have to."

"No. I do."

"No you don't," Daphne repeated. "I wouldn't make you pay for something I forced you into."

Dr. Todd opened the door before Velma could say anything else. He resumed his seat on the stool. Nurse Kaiser set down a tray on a small table next to him. This time it was Daphne who recoiled. On the tray was a shiny new syringe with a needle about an inch long next to a cotton swab and a vial of dark yellow liquid.

"Please hold out your arms," Dr. Todd requested.

Velma did as instructed. Dr. Todd pulled a pair of glasses out of his coat pocket and put them on. He leaned forward to observe her veins more closely before pointing at her right arm. She nodded and slid the sleeve of her sweater up. Dr. Todd put one hand around her upper arm and his eyes grew wide.

"Huh. Are you an arm wrestler? Because if you aren't you certainly could be," Dr. Todd said as he swabbed the iodine just under her elbow.

"Uh... thank you?"

Velma took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Dr. Todd inserted the needle into her vein. Her face was contorted in pain for a second, but then it fell, only to be replaced with a look of confusion. She opened one eye and then both. She looked thoroughly confused as Dr. Todd finished extracting the blood. He placed a cotton ball over the vein as he pulled out the syringe.

"That was... that was very easy," she breathed, with a slight chuckle. "I was expecting that to be like the last time someone poked me with a needle."

"Yeah and what was that for?" Dr. Todd smiled.

"A spinal tap."

Dr. Todd's face fell.

"Dear God."

"What's a spinal tap?" Daphne asked slowly, breaking the silence that fell as Dr. Todd exchanged looks with his nurse.

"It's a test in which they insert a needle into the spine to remove cerebrospinal fluid to test for presence of certain viruses," Dr. Todd explained. Velma nodded. "Well we should have the results by tomorrow, but a positive result might require a little further testing. To determine exactly what drug it was."

Dr. Todd handed Velma a business card as Nurse Kaiser handed Daphne her her change. They exchanged pleasantries and then the two medical providers left. Daphne and Velma stood and put on her coat.

"Can I assume that the-the spinal tap is one of the reasons that you don't like hospitals?" Daphne muttered as they climbed into her car out in the parking lot.

"It is in the top three," Velma muttered as she lowered herself into the passenger's seat. "At least you could understand what he meant when he said it. I was five and much more concerned with why my leg fell asleep and wasn't waking up."

They sat in silence during the whole car ride from the hospital to downtown. It was a longer ride than it should have been. Snow had been plowed only on the main roads, which meant the streets connecting the roads were slow going. What normally would have taken them only ten minutes took nearly forty-five minutes, with parking scarce anywhere close to the diner.

"Why are there so many people here?" Daphne said as she and Velma squeezed their way into the packed diner. Both were breathing hard, having fought the ice covered sidewalks for three blocks just to get to the diner.

Over a dozen college students were packed into the tiny waiting area. They could barely hear anything over the chatter. Daphne stood on her toes, trying to see over the heads of the other students but it was no use. Or at least she thought it was no use before she noticed the blue and white embroidered with a yellow 48 in the crowd ahead of them. Waving Velma forward, she pushed her way through to Fred.

"Oh hey," he greeted. He nudged to Shaggy, who greeted them with a nod before waving down a middle aged woman balancing a tray of food on her arm.

"Like our other two are here Sharon," he called over the noise of the other students.

"Alright good. Let me get the corner booth ready for ya. They're paying their check right now."

"Why is it so busy?" Daphne asked.

"Snowstorm," Sharon replied. "Delayed or cancelled a bunch of flights outta Cleveland. Most of em got rescheduled for tonight. We're the only place open on acccount of the snow, so we're pretty packed. Hold on. I'll be right back."

Sharon held up a finger and made her way back to the back of the diner.

"How was William Jackson?" Daphne muttered to Fred as Sharon led them back to the now-cleared booth. Fred slid in on one side followed by Shaggy, meeting Daphne in the middle who was followed by Velma. Scooby, it seemed, had been dropped off at home.

"Suspicious. He didn't seem at all phased by the fact that his father had been attacked," Fred said as he passed out menus.

"What of the insurance?"

"Like he said he had updated it because his dad kept making mistakes and like breaking things," Shaggy mentioned.

"Oh and Daph you'll find this interesting... Bill Jackson said pills had been disappearing from the store. You thought it could be related to a robbery, right? Well the younger Mr. Jackson thought it might be Cordelia, the pharmacy assistant."

"Yeah. Like he didn't trust her at all," Shaggy said, snapping his menu shut and setting it aside. "He insisted that he had an alibi but I like want to look into that more."

A wiry kid approached their table. He was built a lot like Shaggy, tall and thin, but he had dark circles under his eyes.

"What can I get you guys?"

"I'll like have two jumbo pancakes and a plate of sausage. Oh, and like three eggs scrambled with cheddar cheese."

"I'll have the BLT with fries.

"Patty melt, no tomato."

"And just coffee for me thanks."

"I understand," the kid whispered to Velma as he leaned over to grab the menus. "Everything here is ridiculously expensive."

"I'm just not hungry," Velma said, frowning. The kid shrugged and walked away.

"Are you really not hungry or-" Daphne began.

"I'm really not hungry," Velma said cutting her off. "My stomach still isn't quite settled from the hospital. I don't want to push it."

Daphne nodded, though she was not thoroughly convinced.

The gang chatted as best they could in the noisy diner. College students kept coming in, though those already seated never seemed to leave. Suprisingly, their food was still out in only twenty minutes.

"There you go," Sharon said as she passed out the plates from her tray. "Sorry it took so long."

The gang all shook their heads and thanked her profusely for her work. A minute later she still felt tired, but the kids had lifted her spirit. But just as she turned to go get the next order, her face quickly changed from tired and happy to flat out irate.

"HEY. You didn't think I'd see you sneak in through the crowd," she shouted across the room. The chatter stopped. "You know you're not allowed in here. Get out."

"Come on Sharon please I apologized-" a young man in a dark jacket started.

"I don't care. You know the rules. Get out of here. And take your friends with you."

"But-"

"OUT. GET OUT."

The man frowned and waved at a group of guys to follow him out. The gang, as well as all the other diner patrons were all silent. Sharon ignored this, and just shook her head. She turned back to the gang as the students started whispering before returning to their previous clamor.

"Who was that?" Fred asked.

"I don't know his name. But he knows he's not supposed to be in here. He broke the rule. There's only one rule: you cannot come in drunk. Hungover is fine. I mean we're a twenty-four hour diner. I get it. I don't care if you're hungover or you're sick or even if you have a fight outside the door and come in with a black eye and a bloody nose. I don't care. But you cannot come in here drunk because that's when something goes wrong. And guess what? The last time him and his buddies were in here something went wrong," Sharon said in a low voice only the gang could hear. "They all came in drunk. Like pass out drunk, and one of them did. Just passed out on the floor. And one of them peed all over the bathroom. When I told them they had to leave that one got angry and broke every plate on the table. I called the cops. He came in a couple days later and apologized and offered to pay for everything. I took his money but told him we wasn't allowed back. And I meant it. I've spoken to several shopkeepers around here and it's happened to a lot of them. Him and his little group of buddies."

Sharon shook her head and turned. Within moments she had disappeared back into the kitchen. The diner was again so loud that it seemed nothing had happened at all.

"When the phantom came into Mr. Jackson's shop last night, Mr. Jackson told them they weren't welcome here," Velma whispered to the table.

"I think we have to go find that kid," Daphne said, bunching up her napkin and throwing it on the table. She moved to scoot Velma out of the booth when the lights flickered.

"I think he found us."

The lights went out. It was barely a change, as the large windows in the front of the store let in a lot of light, but it was enough to scare the patrons. Several people screamed, but no one moved. Then there was a long loud moan. Everyone in the diner looked around frantically trying to find the source of the commotion. Then there was a particularly loud shriek as a dark hooded figure appeared to rise out of the ground in the center of the restarurant.

Patrons started darting in every direction, knocking over chairs and bumping into tables. The hooded figure reached into their cloak and pulled out a handful of the same white powder as before. There was the sound of someone blowing very hard and several people running by dropped to the ground, a faint sparkling cloud dissolving around them. Those who were running by but had not been hit with the powder immediately slapped hands over their noses and mouths as they struggled to get by.

Some students started throwing plates and glassware at the figure. No one, it seemed, could hit them. Soon broken bits of ceramic and glass littered the floor around. Those still running who hadn't been hit with the powder now found themselves dodging flying objects and trying not to get cut on the debris.

Fred tried to climb up onto the bench and jump over, but they were in too tightly. Velma and Shaggy struggled to get out to let the others out but by the time they did, the figure collapsed into a pile of robes.

Fred leapt over two or three people on the ground to get to the robes. They were empty and the nearest people were three feet away, all unconscious, covered in the phantom's dust.

"How?" Fred shouted, slamming a fist on a nearby table. "How did they escape? How the hell did they disappear?"

"I don't know but we don't have time to find that out right now," Daphne said quickly as she rushed towards the victims. "Call an ambulance."

Fred did as he was told. Velma and Shaggy joined Daphne kneeling at the side of those who had been hurt, though they too had to be careful around the debris and the faint lingering cloud of dust.

"Yes Sharon's Diner. There's about... I don't know about seven, ten people down? No I don't know where they went. They just... they just disappeared," Fred said into the handset of the phone near the cash register.

He gave a little more explanation to the person on the other end of the phone before hanging up.

"They'll be here shortly," Fred said, crossing his arms. "They said in the mean time make sure we clear a path and make sure that there's no debris on them."

Velma, Shaggy, and Daphne nodded and started shifting debris. A few other patrons who had decided to hide started crawling out and assisting them. Shaggy attended to Sharon, who was in front of the lunch counter nursing a bruise on her forehead.

The gang stayed long enough to give their statements, but all felt it would be best to revisit the scene for clues once everyone had been taken to the hospital. They decided to wait in the van, which was parked right outside the diner and caused both Velma and Daphne to glare at the boys. They couldn't even see their car from the diner entrance.

"I don't get it," Fred said, leaning his head against the steering wheel. "We were staring right at it. How did it disappear? How?"

"I don't know," Daphne said quietly, rubbing a hand across his back. "But as soon as they've taken everyone in we'll go back and check."

"Like at least we could dial 911 immediately," Shaggy offered. "Instead of letting them lay there unconscious."

"That's true. And I know we'll solve it and all, but I just don't get how they did it. How could they disappear in plain sight?"

"Well," Velma began, biting her lip as she considered. "I hate to say this because it sounds so silly... but is it out of the realm of possibility to say this might actually be an angry spirit?"