So it was a girl's movie night at Emily's house. She had invited Hannah, Alix, and Nicole.

Now let's talk about the girls present. Our hostess, Emily, liked writing, horror movies, books, and video games. Don't see someone like her every day, do you? Hannah was Emily's equally strange best friend, but in different ways. She too enjoyed reading and writing, but, unlike Emily, despised video games and instead took up dancing. Alix was the quiet, organized, petite, smart girl who wasn't strange. At all. Nope, Alix was pretty normal, and pretty pretty to boot. Nicole was a tall girl with butterscotch-colored hair who enjoyed talking, giggling, swimming, and basketball. Nicole was pretty normal, as people go. But, unlike Emily, Hannah, Alix, and Nicole all hated horror movies. Which is probably why all three of them wore sour expressions as they began to watch one of Emily's favorite flicks, The Ring.

"C'mon, guys," Emily said. "It's a great movie. Really!"

"Ughhh, is this the one you were trying to tell me about? The one with the little girl and the T.V.?" Hannah moaned.

"Yeah, Samara. But it's a great movie! Really!"

After a while, the girls started liking the movie. At one moderately scary part, Nicole screamed very loudly, and she and the rest of the girls were overtaken by a fit of giggles.

When the movie was over, Emily's new cell phone played the theme from One Missed Call.

"Oooh! One of my first incoming calls!" Emily cried gleefully. She pressed talk. For a second, her face fell in horror, but she quickly composed herself.

"Okay. Who was it?" She scanned the room for guilty faces.

"Huh?" Was the universal response.

Emily sighed in fustration. "I just got a phone call that said "Seven Days!" You know, the one you get when you finish watching the cursed videotape?"

"Um, Emmy, none of us called you," Hannah said with a straight face.

"Y-yeah," Alix said shakily.

Emily's face lit up. "Whoa! Cool! I got a phone call from Samara Morgan! That is so freaky-yet-cool!"

"Whaaaat?" Nicole said incredulously. "Seriously?"

"OMG, you guys! I'm kind of scared! I mean, Samara is, like, what made me be scared of the dark, but cool! Maybe we'll be, like, friends! And we could, like, have movie nights with her!"

Hannah, Alix, and Nicole stared at Emily with wide eyes.

SEVEN DAYS LATER

Emily invited the girls over, just to see if Samara would really appear. They were all armed with hammers, steak knives, and screwdrivers, just in case.

Sure enough, the famous well appeared on Emily's T.V. screen. An arm appeared. Then Samara's head. Samara lifted herself out of the well and began lurching and staggering toward the girls.

Nicole shrieked and Hannah started whimpering and muttering random Harry Potter spells under her breath. Alix's eyes were wide, but she didn't look scared. She was scared, of course, but it never showed. That was a funny thing about Alix.

Samara's head broke through the T.V. screen. Emily screamed. The girls didn't blame her.

Samara reached her mottled, pale arm through the T.V. set and onto the floor. Emily started hyperventilating.

"Hey!" She said suddenly. "They all watched the video too, and they didn't get phone calls! Why was it just me?"

To everyone's surprise, Samara stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh, no!" Samara said in her freaky, deep, echoing voice. "Oh gosh, I'm super sorry! I keep messing up! I always miss one or two! I just... I want my mommy!" (Classic.) Samara sounded like she was crying, although the girls couldn't see her face.

"Hey, it's okay." Emily said, sounding relieved. "Here, let's get you dried off."

"Wh-what?" Alix stammered.

Emily looked back at Alix with a wry grin on her face.

"Honey, it's my house. My story. My life. People need to take control here!"

"Oh, so you're not going to kill us?" Hannah said matter-of-factly. As we learned before, Hannah was also strange, so she accepted Samara second.

Samara shook her head shamefully.

Emily instructed Hannah to get some towels from the bathroom. The four girls mummified Samara with the warm, dry fabric. But, as was usual with Emily, strange things were afoot.

When Alix squeezed out Samara's hair, it turned from shiny black to dark brown, the color she had had as a living girl.

When Nicole wiped off Samara's arms, the skin turned from mottled bluish pale to smooth, translucent pale, the complexion Samara'd had when she was alive.

Finally, when Emily dried off Samara's face, it was as if the decay washed away along with the water. When the giggly girls finished drying Samara off, she looked perfectly ordinary, even beautiful. Samara's tears seemed to have washed away the evil blue in her eyes, leaving them a deep, dark brown.

"What did I tell you?" Emily asked triumphantly.

"Will you be my mommy?" Samara asked automatically.

"Uh, no, sorry. I've got a little brother, and he's enough. But..." Emily raised her eyebrows. "I think we can find you a mother. And maybe a big sister, too."

Samara's face lit up. "Really?" She whispered.

"Well..." Emily thought for a minute. "How much would you like to take a little trip to Japan?"

"I'd love to!"

Hannah, Alix, and Nicole looked from Emily to Samara and back. Where was that crazy chick going with this?

"Well, when you get there, ask around for the Saeki house. You'll find a great mommy, and you'll get a little brother to boot! Then Kayako-that's her name-can help you find a great big sister! Her name's Sadako Yamamura, and I think you'll love her!"

Samara seemed dazed with happiness. "Oh... w-wow..."

ANOTHER SEVEN DAYS LATER

"Hey guys! I got an e-mail from Samara!" Emily said. The three girls crowded around to see.

Hi girls, it's me, Samara!

I found Mommy Kayako. It was easy. It didn't even take seven days, lol! You were right, she's perfect. And no water at all, cuz that's how Toshio-chan died and Mommy doesn't want any water in the house ever again.

Sadako-san was even easier but I found her second cuz I just really wanted a mommy. But she's really nice and knows exactly what I like. Which is not water. So Mommy Kayako invited Sadako to live in her house. It's getting really nice in here. It even feels like home cuz Daddy Takeo doesn't really pay attention to any of us like Daddy did.

I think I want to go apologize to Rachel (not MOMMY Rachel, she doesn't like that) soon. But not too soon cuz I've got everything I need right here! So I'll probably see you guys soon cuz Mommy Kayako (who is very pretty and normal now, cuz of the ending of The Grudge 3, but she still lives in the house) says she can take me back to America so I can apologize to Rachel. And Auntie Naoko can take care of Toshio-chan and Sadako while we're gone.

I'll be seeing you!

Love, Samara.