Please read the author´s note first!

Note: So finally decided to make another story. This one is based on the Horrormovie: The Ring. Originally made in Japan by the book of Koji Suzuki, then remarked by Dreamworks. It´s about a cursed tape, which kills everyone after seven days, who watched it. For those, who don´t know the movie, this story might be confusing and completely sensless. And for those, who know the movie, I hope I was able to catch the frightening athmosphere. It´s all written in Skippers POV. Well anyway, have fun reading and give me some reviews.

Skipper´s Log: Mission File, The Ring Case

Day 1

Finally, a day of making humans happy and some exhausting rescure missions, Ringtail lost his crown again and stuff, is over. I gave the team and myself an evening off. Private was watching his favourite TV Show, the lunacorns. I can´t believe, that anyone in this world is able to watch this mind twisting baby stuff, without getting a lovey-dovey-hyper-sensibility-shock syndrom. But if it makes him happy... well.

Kowalski was playing cards with Rico, Poker,to be precisely. And Kowalski is loosing all his fish to Rico. I can´t explain, why our super-genius is always loosing against him. Well, seemed to be a normal evening. I was relaxing in my bunk, reading old missions files. But after a while, I noticed my team was getting tired and threwing a watch at the clock told me, that it was time for sleep now.

So I got up and put the files aside. "Men, lights out in ten minutes." I told them yawning and streching. "Alright, sir!" Private said cheerfully and switched the TV off. "Ok, Rico. I´m giving up. Here´s your fish." Kowalski muttered bitterly and shoved his pile of fish to our weapons expert, who ate all of it within two minutes. "Rico, what did I tell you about late night snacks?" I asked him and threw a questioning gaze at him.

Slightly embaressed, Rico rubbed the back of his head and looked to the ground. "Yes, Rico. To much food isn´t good so shortly before going to sleep. The last time you farted all over the HQ and I almost had to call out an poisioning gas emergency. So please, hold yourself back, this time. Now let´s hit the bunks, boys." I yawned and rubbed my eyes.

After Kowalski and Rico cleaned up the table, we went to our beds. I took my favourit bunk on the bottom, Private was sleeping in the bunk over me, than Rico and on top, Kowalski was lying down. The light turned out and silence took over the HQ. "Night, men." I muttered and curled myself to the side to take a more comfortable position. "Night, Skipper." the other ones responded quietly. I closed my eyes and snuggled my head onto my pillow.

A few images of our missions today, were circling in my head and prevented my from falling asleep. Trying to get them off my mind I started counting sheeps. Well, after a while, I finally dozed off...

I woke up again and rubbed my eyes. But I quickly realized, that it was still night. A quick glance at the clock, showed me, that it was 1:00 AM. Way to early to get up, so I turned on my other side and closed my eyes again. But I couldn´t fall asleep again, although I was dead tired. The snoring of my men, didn´t make thinks easier.

Slowly I sat up in my bed and took a look around. Everything, exept the snoring and the ticking of the clock, was quiet. I did´t even hear Julien celebrating or dancing. "A rarely, quietly night, and I can´t sleep, great!" I thought sarkastically and got on my feet. Maybe I´ll find something to get myself to the land of nod.

With that intention I walked toward the door, which was leading to Kowalskis lab and the bathroom. Although I didn´t have to go to the toilet, I walked to the bathroom. After I switched the light on and went to the mirror above the sink. A tired penguin with bloodshot, blue eyes looked back at me. "Good, Skipper. You´d better get more sleep. You look terrible." I thought to myself and smirked.

I lifted the handle of the tap and some water was flowing out of it. I held my flippers under the water and spread some on my face. It felt cool and pleasant, so I repeated it. After five minutes, I decided to give operation: falling asleep another atempt, so I went back. I entered Kowalskis lab, where some of his lates experiments lit the room, with an slightly green glimmer. "What the deuce is he inventing now?" I asked myself and took a closer look.

There were a lot of test tubes and other weird equipment lying on the table. He even had his own small TV in intern VHS, for watching observation tapes. Beside it, there were a lot of this tapes, messy lying around. But all of the sudden, my look fell on the tape, lying underneath the pile of the others. A strange feeling went through my gut and I felt a shiver down my spine, as a sudden, unexplainable coolness took over my body.

But besides this emotion, I grabbed this tape and took a closer look at it. It seemed normal by the first look, but after a few seconds, my flippers started to tremble. It was like, the tape told my to watch it. I shook my head, to get a clear head again. "What is this all about? Why do I have the desire to watch it? It´s just another observation tape... I think." I told myself, but almost automatically, my flippers inserted the tape into the VHS.

The screen flickered, although I didn´t even turned the TV on. It was all so strange, but now I had no other choice, than watching closly. Well, my feed seemed to be stuck to the ground. My body didn´t pay attention to what my brain was telling it. Slowly I got worried, but I told myself, that this all came from my lack of sleep. Anyway, the TV screen remained black, although the video had already been started. Just a slight crackle and a few sparks flickered on the screen.

"Seems like the tape is broken." I thought and tried to make my flipper pressing the Eject-Button. But shortly before I pushed it, a strange whistling noise came out the TV speakers and a bright light ring, appeared on the black screen. It remained for a few seconds, but then it was followed by other strange scenes, which were lasting only for a second or less. Totally sensless images of water, horses, ladders... and then, one scene lasted longer.

It was an abyss, I watched a dryed out tree, rocking its branches in rhythm with the wind, I was strangely feeling,how it was grazing my body right now. A fly appeared on the abyss scenery and it looked like, it wasn´t just part of the scene, but really present. My body sent unpleasant shivers down my spine again and my heartrate raised with every second I continued watching this video.

The scene changed again, and a woman with black hair, standing in front of a mirror, was looking at me. Another sting in my chest made me feel, that she was watching me back through the screen. A choked scream escaped my beak, although I didn´t intended just to make any sound. It was like, I´ve lost control over my whole body.

Another scene chance, but this time, many weird and slowly frightening images of crawling maggots, which felt like they were crawling under my very own skin, a spinning chair and other unexplainable scenes, followed one by one. My pulse seemed to explode and I felt like something was invading my body, like a creepy disease, which took over me now. But I couldn´t do anything to stop it, since my body didn´t obey my orders anymore.

So I was completely drawn into the spell, the tape was spreading on me. I just hoped, it´ll be over soon. Then another and the last scene chance flickered on the screen. I just saw a meadow with some trees in the backround. But in the middle of this meadow, an old fountain, made of broken and overgrown with moss, started to freak me out, as I could swear, that I could see a hand on the edge of it. Almost like someone was climbing out of the depths of it.

But before I could take a closer look, the screen turned black again. The video was over, finally I thought first, but things chanced quickly. A freezing breath crept beneath my feathers, causing to make them ruffle, like they´d never done before. I felt fear rising up in my gut and I couldn´t supress it anymore. My body felt weak and sore after watching this video. It meant something, that I was totally aware of. But what? First I decided to hide the tape, no one should watch this, until I figured out, what is wrong with it. This was not a normal tape and I had no idea, where it came from.

Kowalski would never have recorded such frightening, disturbing and completely senseless scenes. I would bet my right flipper for that. Quickly I pressed the Eject-Button as soon as my body reacted to my orders again. As fast as possible I went to the wall, where I pulled out a slack brick. I shoved the tape into the narrow gab and put the brick back, so that no one would ever find it. I was so confused. but suddenly the walkie-talkie, which was also lying on the table made a crackling noise. With trembling flippers, I picked it up, listening closely.

I held my breath until a whispering, female voice sounded, barely understandable. "Seven days..." I heard and another shiver went down my spine. Now I knew, that this whole thing was getting serious, as the walkie-talkie went quiet again. Frear was taking all over me, and forced my to ran as fast as possible to my bed again. Quickly I slipped back under my still warm blanked and took another desperated look around. After a few minutes, I noticed, my trembling body was getting relaxed and my fear subsided slowly. "Pull yourself together, Skipper. There´s no reason to be afraid. Now get some sleep, tomorrow you´ll figure out, what is wrong with the tape. You´re quite paranoid and overacting now." I told myself to calm down. And finally after another hour, I managed to fall into an uneasy slumber...