FOREWORD:
This story is based on characters and situations in The Ring, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Dreamworks Pictures. For placement in the series, this story takes place after the events in The Ring, and before the events in Rings.
If you have not done so, I highly recommend watching these two excellent films before reading this story, as sort of a primer to the events going on here.
I would also recommend that you suspend your disbelief in regards to our protagonist until the end of part 4; all will be explained then.
Part 1 (of 4): Seven Days
-----
Tommy Rusk stood outside the doors to the high school, nervously checking his watch. It was 3:00 in the afternoon on a Friday. Sean was supposed to be done with the chemistry lab fifteen minutes ago.
"Come on, man," he muttered to himself, "who the hell stays for extra credit on a Friday?"
It had been almost six days to the minute since he watched the tape. That damn tape. Like a collaboration between Trent Reznor and Salvador Dali. Tommy was part of a circle of students who would watch the tape, record on paper and video all the stuff they experienced afterward, then get someone else in the circle to watch a copy, always before seven days had passed. Rumor was, if you didn't, you died a nasty death. Such groups were popping up all over the country, but no one went all the way to day seven. No one wanted to tempt fate.
Until Brian threw a wrench into the works. Tommy thought back to that conversation two days earlier as he waited for Sean….
"What do you mean Bill ain't gonna watch the tape?" Tommy had asked Brian.
Brian Davidson leaned back in his chair in the rec room of his house that the circle used to pass along their experiences. "I mean, he's not going to watch it. Simple," he answered.
Tommy stared in disbelief. "What the hell is this?" he shouted.
Brian took a sip of a can of soda. "No one's ever seen a day seven. I want our group to be the first; to make history. Just so happened that you got tagged 'it'. Nothing personal, man."
"My ass it's not personal! I don't want to die!" Tommy's face was beet red..
"No one knows for sure that's what happens," Vanessa, the lone girl of the group said calmly. "Think about it; you're gonna be a pioneer."
"Bullshit!" Tommy was nearly apoplectic now. "You want a day seven, why does it have to be me? Why not someone outside of our group? A new set of eyes?"
Brian thought for a moment and leaned forward in his chair. "I've got no problem with that, but it's up to you to find someone. It's your ass. Not ours."
Tommy was up half that night racking his brain, trying to think of who he could spring the tape on, and the supposed curse.
Suddenly, it came to him in a heartbeat. "Sean," he said aloud. "Sean'd be perfect."
Sean Lewis was in Tommy's algebra class; a new student who had come to town that past February. He didn't cause anyone any problems, but even now, two months later, he never really had been able to fit in yet. There was nothing overly remarkable about him, he was kind of an average Joe, but there was still something about him, he wasn't a nerd or a geek or anything, but just had some weird vibe; nothing really seemed to bother him. He never seemed nervous about anything. The fact that he was still a relative outsider made Tommy realize he was a good choice in case the myth was true.
The next day, Tommy caught Sean on the way to lunch. "Hey man, you got a minute?"
"Sure," Sean said. "What's up?"
"You in the mood for a funky trip?"
Sean looked puzzled. "You don't seem like the junkie type."
"No, no, I don't mean that kind of trip," Tommy answered. "Look, my friends and I meet a few times a week over at Brian's house—you know Brian Davidson? We have this tape that has these real crazy assimages on it; like a Marilyn Manson video, only weirder. But this tape does something to you man, like a hypnosis thing, or something, but you start seeing these really crazy visions. We keep track of what we see and pass it around."
Sean just stared at Tommy. "Uh-huh…," he answered.
"Anyways," Tommy went on, trying to hide his desperation, "we're looking for a fresh set of eyes, since we've passed it around the circle a few times, and I thought you could be our guy."
Sean looked skeptical. "Why me?" he asked.
Tommy tried to think fast. "Why not you?" he replied. "Look," he continued, "I was a new student at a school once, and I know how hard it is to try to fit in. You haven't quite done that yet, have you?"
Sean gave a shrug. "Well, not really," he said, somewhat embarrassed.
Amazed at how easy it was to bullshit when your ass was on the chopping block, Tommy went on, "This might be a break for you, dude. You seem pretty cool; you start hanging with us, word will get around."
Sean thought for a bit, then nodded. "Ah, sure. Why not?"
Tommy could have cut a caper around the hallway. "Great! Meet me outside after school tomorrow."
"It'll have to be a bit later," Sean said, "I'm making up a chem lab after school."
"On a Friday?" Tommy asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, well, I should be done about quarter of three, we can head to Brian's then. Cool?"
Tommy almost gave a sigh of relief when he realized Sean wasn't backing out. "Cool," he replied.
That was yesterday. Now, it was pushing 3:10. Tommy was almost about to panic, when he saw Sean coming out the door. "Sorry about that," he said. "That experiment took a bit longer than I planned." Sean then got a good look at Tommy. "You okay, man? It's not that hot out, but you're sweating rivets."
Tommy realized that he was. "Yeah," he tried to shrug it off. "Must have been the ham I had at lunch. That lovely school food, you know? I'll be okay. Let's just go, Brian's waiting."
"No problem," Sean said. "My car's over here. Did you bike it here?"
"No, I walked."
They went over to a white Toyota Celica, a two-door that was most definitely used. No body rot, or anything, but everything about it practically shouted old.
Tommy whistled. "Your parents' car?"
Sean smiled. "Not hardly. I bought it used not long after I moved here. Pretty cheap, too; my father just made sure that it was in good shape. It's an '86."
"Oh, man," Tommy said as they got in. "It's a regular Methuselah."
Sean laughed as he started the engine. "Nah, it's a Toyota. They last forever if you take care of them."
They made small talk on the way to Brian's. Sean told how his family had moved to Seattle so that his father, an ER doctor, could take advantage of what seemed like a good salary opportunity. The drawback was it made for some crazy working hours; his dad was at work a lot, leaving Sean to help take care of his ten year old sister, Janet. Their mother had passed away a few years earlier from breast cancer that had metastasized throughout her body before anyone could catch it.
Ten minutes later, they had pulled up to Brian's house. As they walked to the door, Tommy clapped Sean on the shoulder, feigning friendship. "This is going to be an experience you won't soon forget," he said smiling. Truth was, he could give a frig about Sean, just so long as he watched the tape, and saved Tommy's ass.
Sean gave a small smile. "We'll see," he said as he rang the doorbell.
Brian answered. "Glad you two made it. We were wondering if you changed your mind, Sean."
Sean shook his head. "No, just taking care of some business. Tommy seems hot to trot that I check this video out, and I don't want to disappoint him."
Brian threw his head back and laughed, making Tommy flush with embarrassment. "No, he would be real disappointed, that's for sure. Come on in."
The three went down a staircase that led to the Davidson living room. There was a good-sized entertainment cabinet on one end of the room, with stereo system and TV, two recliners that ran along one wall, and a large couch directly opposite the TV. On that wall was a large mirror. Next door to the room was the rec room, where Brian led the other two boys, and a small group of kids were waiting around a pool table.
"Sean," Brian said, pointing to everyone in the group, "meet Vanessa, Dave, Jeff, and Bill. You already know Tommy, of course. You want something to drink?"
Sean nodded, looking at all the audio/visual equipment. "I'll take a soda, if you have one."
Bill went to a cooler, grabbed a cola and tossed it to Sean. "Ready to watch some television?" Bill asked with a smile.
Sean shrugged. "I'm sure you didn't invite me here for my charming personality. Let's get to it."
Brian took a videotape from a table, and led Sean back to the living room. "You can watch it here," he said, handing Sean the tape. "We'll be in the next room; just holler when it's over."
"You leaving me alone?" Sean asked.
"Well," Brian answered, "it's kind of a private experience, how we do it. Besides, we've all seen it before." With that, he left the room.
Sean examined the tape. No labels, nothing to indicate that it was such a thing of mystery. Part of him wondered if it was some kind of setup, or a big joke. Shrugging it off, he put the tape in the VCR, and grabbed the remote.
"Long as it's not a PBS mini-series or something," he muttered to himself.
-----
In the next room, a camera pointed at a small hole in the rec room wall sent a video feed to a nearby TV. The hole was above the TV cabinet in the living room, and a special zoom lens allowed the recording of what went on. Brian, Vanessa, Bill, Dave, and Jeff all gathered around the TV, which showed Sean sitting down on the couch as the tape prepared to play. Tommy was huddled in the corner, not watching the feed, quietly muttering to himself, prayer-like, "Please watch the tape, please watch the tape, please watch the tape, please watch…."
"Shut up, Tommy," Brian said curtly.
They watched Sean's reaction to the video. He frowned in puzzlement as the others heard the thrumming, then the metallic screeching of the background noise. At one point, Sean winced at something.
"The pierced fingernail," Jeff took a guess.
Before long, they heard the white snow that signaled the tape's end. Sean shut the tape off. "It's over," he called.
"You can relax, Tom," Vanessa said as they filed into the living room.
They all stood at one end of the room, Sean on the other. "So?" Brian asked. "What did you think?"
Sean thought for a moment, aware that they were all trying to gauge his reaction. "Very bizarre," he finally said.
"It gets better," Vanessa told him.
"What do you mean?" Sean asked.
Just then, the phone rang. No one answered Sean's question, and he was puzzled by Tommy's behavior; the kid was biting his nails, and seemed skittish.
By the third ring, Brian motioned to the receiver. "It's for you," he said.
Now completely baffled, Sean decided to play along anyway, and answered the phone. "Hello?" he said.
There was silence on the other end. Then, Sean heard what sounded like a little girl's voice, whispering: "Seven days." Then the connection was broken.
Sean looked at the phone. "Seven days," he repeated. "Seven days to what?"
Brian spoke up. "Seven days of some…unique experiences. We want you to keep track of whatever you see, then come back next Friday at…." He looked at the clock; 3:40 in the afternoon. "3 o'clock or so. Make sure you aren't late!"
Sean nodded, "Yeah, sure. Okay. 3 o'clock it is."
As they led Sean to the door, Bill said, "It might get intense, man. Hope you don't scare easy."
Sean hesitated. "Actually," he said, "I don't scare at all. It's a genetic defect I was born with; my body doesn't have the gene that makes you feel fear. So, nothing scares me."
The others looked at each other, bemused by this little tidbit. Brian gave a small smile. "Interesting," he said.
For a moment, Sean and Brian just stared at each other. Then, Brian said, "3 o'clock. Friday."
"Right," Sean said, then walked toward his car, shaking his head as he wondered what he was getting into.
Brian waited until Sean was in his car, then spoke to the others. "No one says a word about making a copy, you understand?"
Tommy watched Sean pull away. "What if it's all true?" he asked. Truth was, now that it was done, he was having second thoughts.
Brian turned to him. "What do you care? Your ass is off the hook."
Tommy hesitated; Brian grabbed him by the collar. "Don't you get wimpy on me, Rusk," he said in a low voice. "Don't even think about it. We're gonna hit the big time with this one."
Tommy grabbed at Brian's arm. "All right, man! Lay off!" As the others went inside, Tommy stared up the road where Sean had driven off, then finally shook his head.
"Vaya con dios, man," he said as he shut the door.
-----
That night, Sean sat up in bed, unable to sleep. Those images on the tape were stuck in his head. He knew he should have been scared by it, or at least creeped out; the feeling was foreign to him, but the concept wasn't. It just wasn't happening.
Puzzled, on the other hand, oh yes. We had puzzlement coming in droves. Who was that woman brushing her hair in the mirror? The one who looked like she threw herself off of a cliff. For that matter, when that mirror jumped from the right side of the screen to the left, who was that girl who appeared for a second? Sean wondered if she was the one whispering on the phone.
As Sean was trying to guess where this would all lead over the next week, he heard moaning coming from the next room. Janet was having another nightmare. She'd been having them off and on ever since their mom died, although Sean wondered if it was just a coincidence.
The moans grew louder, and now Sean could hear her start to cry, "No, no please!" Must be a real humdinger, from the sound of it. Sean lay down, and closed his eyes.
His lack of fear wasn't the only thing about him, although it was the only thing he felt okay talking about. He had a talent. He wasn't sure what the scientific name for it was, but he could enter someone's consciousness when they were caught off guard. When someone was dreaming was the best time. Like Janet was now.
Sean stretched his mind out, not sure of how he ever did it, but just knowing what to do, as he had with Janet several times before. He felt his mind link with hers; it was like looking at a rapidly flowing river as her dream progressed. Sean jumped in, and found himself standing on a cliff in a forest. Janet was being menaced by a werewolf. A very tall one, at that.
She saw her brother had entered her dream, as he always did. "Sean, help me!" she cried out.
Wondering where his sister came up with these things, Sean charged, taking as much control of her dream as he could, as he was able to do with his. The werewolf raised his clawed hands, ready to slash at Sean, but he slid at the last second, feet first, smashing into the beast's knees. The thing howled in pain, but didn't drop however, and Sean drove his forearm up between its legs, right into its crotch. That dropped it. Sean then grabbed a hairy arm, and with all his strength, flung it toward the cliff's edge. "Piss off!" he shouted.
The wolf's forward momentum caused it to fall off the cliff, howling all the while. Sean turned to Janet and winked. She smiled back, then caught movement out of the corner of her eye and screamed. Sean turned to see about a dozen other werewolves, snarling, drooling, and walking toward them.
Sean wasn't worried of course, but knew that the nightmare had gotten out of control, as they sometimes did. It wasn't good for Janet, either. Sean ran up behind her, wrapped his arms around her, shut his eyes, and with a blink! felt them fade out of the dream, and back to reality as they both woke up.
Sean walked into Janet's bedroom as she was sitting up. "Eight foot tall werewolves," he said as he sat on her bed. "That's different."
Janet lowered her head. "That had to be the worst one yet."
Sean thought for a moment. "No," he replied, "that mutant grizzly bear you whipped up last week gets my vote."
Janet looked at her brother. "Why do I dream of those things?" she asked.
Sean took her hand. "I guess you're just more susceptible to nightmares. It happens. You should try to learn how to control your dreams, then they wouldn't be so bad."
Janet shook her head. "I wouldn't even know where to start."
"Start with the good dreams, first," Sean said. "It takes practice. Besides, until you figure out how to manage the bad ones, I'll come running if you need me."
"Promise?" Janet asked.
"Cross my heart, sis. Get some sleep."
A few minutes later, Sean was asleep himself. Oddly, his last thought before drifting off was of that well, the last image on the tape.
-----
Saturday and Sunday, the first and second days after Sean watched the tape, brought nothing. Monday, the third day, was when it started.
Sean was walking to school from the parking lot, when he was joined by Amy Adams, who was in his world history class.
"Hey, Sean, ready for that test today?" she asked.
Sean thought Amy was pretty, and cool. They had gotten friendly over the last few weeks; in fact, Amy was the only real friend that Sean had made.
"As ready as I'm gonna get," he replied. "I'm hoping that Souza goes light on the Spanish Inquisition though. I never really had the chance to brush up on that."
They chatted on the way to the door, when Sean stopped short. "What is it?" Amy asked.
Sean was staring at a large ladder that was propped up against the side of the school. Something about it…then he remembered; the ladder from the video. I guess this is where it starts, he thought to himself.
"Sean, you okay?" Amy's voice brought him back to reality.
He thought fast, "Yeah, just thought it was odd to see that ladder propped against the school like that. No one using it, and it could just tip over."
Amy looked puzzled. "Ladder? What ladder?"
Sean pointed. "The one over—you mean you don't see it?"
Amy shook her head. Sean looked back, and now he didn't see it either. He whistled. "Never mind. I think I studied too much and baked my brains."
Amy laughed, and the two went in the building. Nothing else odd happened that day, nor the next, until Sean got home from school. His sister was at school and dad was at work.
As he went to the closet in the front foyer to hang his coat up, he caught movement in the hallway mirror, and it wasn't himself. Sean took a hard look, then he saw it. That girl, the same as in the mirror on the tape. Flickering in and out, almost like she was illuminated by candlelight. Sean could see that she was young, maybe younger than Janet. She was wearing a dress that could have been white, and had long dark hair. Sean couldn't make out the face, though.
He kept staring, then the image shifted suddenly to an eclipse-like ring, the same as the very first image on the tape. Then back to his own reflection.
"Next thing, it'll be Rod Serling. Or Allen Funt," he said aloud as he went to grab a snack.
He kept track of all this, as he was asked to do, but wondered what the hooplah was all about. Never mind the fact that he couldn't be afraid; he doubted that he would be scared even if it was possible.
Then came Wednesday. Day five. The first day of the seaside spring carnival.
Janet had begged to go to the festival down at the boardwalk. Dad had said he couldn't take her, he had to work of course. He felt bad about it, but both Janet and Sean understood and were okay with the fact that since he was new at the hospital, he couldn't exactly pick his schedule. Sean had volunteered to take her. Dad just told them to remember it was a school night.
They walked along the boardwalk; Janet was munching on some cotton candy, Sean was polishing off a bag of popcorn. He didn't mind being a seventeen year old hanging out with his ten year old sister, especially since their mom had died.
Up ahead were two policemen, mounted on horseback.
The two siblings were debating which game to try; to go for the giant stuffed teddy bear, or the framed Pocahontas poster, Janet's favorite Disney movie. Suddenly, Sean became aware that the horses in front of them were acting strangely. Skittish. And increasingly so, as the crowd started to give the cops a wide berth. Sean held an arm out to stop Janet, then realized that the horses were looking in their direction, at them.
The policemen tried desperately to keep the horses calm, climbing out of the saddles and holding tightly to the reins. Sean then realized that the horses weren't looking at them, but at him. As if he were a giant rattlesnake or something. Being fearless didn't keep him from being cautious, but as he slowly moved Janet and himself away, it was as if his very movement drove the horses to the brink of insanity.
"What's wrong with them, Sean?" Janet asked.
"I don't know, sis," Sean answered, but something inside told him to get moving away, fast. "Let's just get out of here."
As they went to leave the area, all hell broke loose. The horses broke free of the cops' hold, and charged at the kids. Or rather, at Sean.
Realizing later that he must have been half expecting it, Sean pushed Janet out of the way, and with a speed that would impress any track coach, turned and ran like hell. The horses thundered past Janet, and chased Sean.
His adrenaline surging, Sean looked back at the charging stallions. "Move! MOVE!" he shouted at the people as he turned onto a pier. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!" Once it saw the horses behind Sean, the crowd was, of course, happy to oblige.
Soon, Sean realized that he had turned onto a dead end. Nothing left at the end of the pier but the Pacific below. Looks like I'm going swimming, he thought to himself as he prepared to hop the rail.
It was then that he tripped on a loose board, stumbled, and fell hard, rolling all the way to the end of the pier, crashing into the barrier.
He looked to see the screaming horses almost on top of him.
"Oh, shit!" he yelled as he moved into a fetal position; it was all he could think of to do.
Just then, the horses leaped high into the air, over Sean and the pier's end, and plunged into the water below.
It took Sean a minute to realize what had happened. He stood up, looked over the edge—and was stunned by what he saw.
People on the scene thought it was from the impact of the water. A veterinarian, doing a medical exam would later reveal that it was coronary thrombosis, possibly from running so hard. None of that mattered to Sean at the moment; those horses were stone dead, no matter what the cause. But even that wasn't what left him dumbfounded. The bodies lay on their sides, slowly drifting to the shore. And this time, Sean knew exactly where he had seen that before.
The tape. The dead horses on the tape, floating gently in the surf.
"Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on?" Sean wondered.
Janet ran up to him and wrapped him in a bear hug. "Are you all right?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered, "just a bit banged up from that fall. Let's get out of here and go home; I've had enough fun for one day."
What Sean was worried about was the news story that would surely hit about this. It wasn't every day someone found himself running for his life from police horses. And, thanks to tourists with digital and video cameras, all the local networks broke the story. None of them identified Sean, though, at least by name. So he would have that anonymity at least.
Later that evening, his dad came home from work as Sean was watching the end of the newscast.
"Heard you had an interesting day," his father said.
Sean chuckled. "Yeah, that's an understatement."
His dad glanced at the ceiling. "Janet okay?
Sean nodded. "Physically, yes. She seems to be sleeping okay, too. I thought for sure this would trigger another nightmare."
Mr. Lewis slumped in a chair, shaking his head. "Sean, I'll tell you, if that were me, I'd have just about shit my pants." He had accepted his son's…abnormality, but he didn't quite understand it.
Sean shrugged. "To be honest, sometimes I wish I could be afraid, just once. I feel like I'm missing out on a part of life, as crazy as it sounds."
His dad gave a smile. "From what I hear, though, you peeled out of the way pretty fast!"
Sean had to smile in return. "I'm fearless, Dad. Doesn't mean I have a death wish. Can I get you something to eat?"
Mr. Lewis stretched and yawned. "Thanks, but no. I've got another marathon coming up in about 5 hours. This is the best chance I've got to get some sleep, so I'm going to take advantage of every minute."
"Okay, Dad. Good night."
-----
Day six.
Sean was getting his history test back. He'd manage to score an 88 on it, good enough for a B+. Amy caught his eye, and she flashed him her test score; 85. Sean showed her his, and she stuck her tongue out at him. Chuckling, he went to get his backpack, and stopped cold.
Blood was seeping from his fingernails, from under his nails at an alarming rate, splattering everywhere every time he moved his hands. "Arr, shit!" he cried, just as the bell rang. Sean rushed to the door, hearing other students yell at him to watch out, hearing Amy asking what was wrong, and ignoring all of them, ran for the men's room.
By the time he got to the sink, and got his hands under running water, the blood had gone. Slowly he realized it was never there; only in his head.
Exhaling sharply, he splashed water on his face. "That damn video, the nail through the fingertip," he reminded himself, and wondered if it was possible to lose your mind, even if you were fearless.
Amy was waiting at his locker. "You okay? What was that about?"
Sean thought fast. "Broke my pen, got ink everywhere. I guess I was in a hurry to get rid of it and clean up before I made a huge mess."
At that moment, Bill walked by, holding the day's paper. The mad horses were the front page news, and there was a photo of Sean taken as he was leaving afterward. "Told you it was going to get intense, Sean," he said, and walked away.
"What's he talking about?" Amy asked.
Sean shook his head. "Nothing. Just busting my chops about the festival yesterday, I guess. Let's go."
As they walked off, Bill had met up with Dave, and they were reading the front page.
"He still has no clue, does he?" Dave asked.
"I guess not, poor bastard," Bill answered. "If it's all true."
"Hey, wait a minute," Dave said. "You remember, after we took our turns, how our photos were blurry? Our faces?"
"Yeah, so?"
Dave held up the paper to Bill. "What do you make of that?"
He pointed to Sean's picture. It was fine. No blurry face. Bill had no answer.
-----
That night, Sean woke up with a tickle in his throat. As he got out of bed, he muttered to himself, "Last thing I need is a damn cold before vacation."
He went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass, poured himself some water. As he went to take a sip, he had a massive coughing fit, and started choking. Caught off guard, he dropped the glass, and fell to his knees as it shattered. He soon realized that there was something in his throat, in his mouth.
Reflexively, he went to pull it out. Gagging, his eyes bulged in revulsion as he started pulling a rope out from his mouth. He kept pulling, and then realized it wasn't exactly a rope, but something similar; the material was spongy. He kept pulling and pulling, and as he wondered exactly what he had swallowed, his mind recalled another image from the tape; a rope-like object being pulled from a person's throat.
"Urg-gaagh!" he cried as he kept pulling, trying to keep from vomiting, for then, he knew he would surely choke. Finally, he pulled the last of it out, flung it aside, stood up, and then allowed himself to lean over the kitchen sink, but all he had were dry heaves.
Once he was certain he was okay, he turned around. The rope, or whatever it was, was gone, but there was a trail of water leading into the dining room.
"Now what?" he said quietly as he followed the trail. There, on the hardwood floor, was a good sized pool of water, with something floating on the surface. As he knelt down next to the pool, he scooped up with his hand, and frowned as he picked up a long clump of hair.
He had just enough time to realize it was human hair, when a hand shot out from the pool, grabbing Sean by his bare forearm. Instinctively, he tried to pull back, but the hand had his arm in a vice-like grip, and it was no use. "What the he-AAH!" he cried as pain flared in his arm—
--and he woke up. Knowing that he'd had a nightmare, instinct still drove him to check his arm. To his surprise, he saw that the pain he had felt wasn't phantom. There was a burn mark in the shape of the hand that had grabbed him. He glanced at the clock; just after three in the morning. Friday; day seven. In less than twelve hours, he had to be at Brian's house. Maybe then this madness would stop.
"Maybe I can convince Dad to sign me up for a CAT scan," he said quietly as he flopped back into bed.
-----
Later that morning, before school, Brian phoned Tommy. "Don't forget, 3 o'clock at my house."
"Bullshit," Tommy said. "Count me out."
"You're joking, right?" Brian almost shouted. "We're gonna do a web broadcast and everything. This is gonna be huge!"
"If what's supposed to happen happens," Tommy yelled back, then dropped his voice so that his parents wouldn't overhear, "we're gonna be responsible for someone's death!"
"We're gonna crack a mystery that's been driving us all batshit for months," Brian said. "So what if something happens to him?"
"You're crazy, Brian. I'm done with this."
Brian sighed. "Suit yourself," and hung up.
Tommy put the receiver down, and prayed that it was all just a bunch of bunk.
-----
The school day brought nothing unusual, but for Sean, it was like the calm before the storm. It was perhaps as close to uneasy as he'd ever been in his life. When school let out, Sean stopped at home to drop off his books, then, since it was a nice spring day, walked to Brian's. It was just after three when he rang the doorbell.
Brian answered. "Come on in, man. How've you been?"
Sean didn't return the smile. "Lovely. Let me ask you something. What's to stop me from leaving right now, and calling this whole thing off?"
Brian hesitated, then realized that Sean wasn't bluffing. Better to give him a version of the truth to appease him.
"All right, look," he said as shut the house door. "Just come tell us what's been happening to you so far, and I'll explain what the deal is."
They went down to the rec room. Sean noticed that someone was missing. "Tommy couldn't make it?" he asked.
"Nah," Brian answered as he sat down. "Something came up. So tell us, man."
Sean told about everything; the ladder, the horses, the fingernails—everything. The others sat there taking it all in. When he was done, Sean turned to Brian. "Your turn."
Brian nodded. "Look. All the stuff that's been happening to you, even if you can't be afraid, you've got to admit it's been getting more intense as each day passes. I mean, that thing with the horses…whoa! Anyways, day seven is supposed to bring the most intense experience out of all of them. Right at the same time you watched that tape a week earlier, which will be in about…six minutes. It's also supposed to explain everything else. None of us have made it to day seven, we haven't had the guts to go that far. You on the other hand, should be able to handle it. You're at the edge of the frontier, brother! You can help us learn it all!"
Sean thought about this. Something Brian said nagged at him, about not going to day seven, but Sean ignored it for now. "You still haven't answered my question. What if I leave?"
Jeff spoke up at that point. "It's gonna happen to you no matter where you are. Here, we can help each other understand it."
Brian nodded. "Exactly. Come on, man!"
Sean paused, then got right in Brian's face. "The last few days have had me questioning my sanity, and it's something that I find rather unpleasant. After today, I don't want anything to do with you again. Clear?"
The others just stared. From anyone else, it would have looked like false bravado, and would have even been comical. But they knew that from Sean, it was serious.
Brian nodded. "Fair enough. I give you my word that we'll leave you alone."
Minutes later, Sean was in the living room, the others in the rec room.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," he said to himself.
-----
Brian was having a hard time sitting still. "You got the camera rolling?" he asked.
Dave nodded. "We are live on the web, baby!"
Vanessa looked at Brian. "You better have something in mind if this is all true," she said.
Brian glared at her. "Will you stop worrying about…."
"Shut up, everyone," Bill interrupted, pointing at the screen. "Here we go!"
-----
Sean sat on the couch, looking around, checking his watch every so often. At 3:40, the TV flickered on to white snow.
Sean looked up, frowning. Who turned that on? Figuring it must have been someone in the next room playing a joke, he stood up and shut it off. As he walked back to the couch, he heard the TV come on again behind him, but not snow. Some weird feedback was softly coming from the speaker. Sean turned to see a well on the screen. The same well as on the tape. He stepped back to the couch, folded his arms, and waited. Whatever was going to happen, this was it.
For a moment, nothing happened. Sean tapped his foot in anticipation. "Come on, then," he beckoned. Just then, what looked like an oil slick covered the rim of the well, but then Sean saw a hand come out from the well, and the oil slick turned out to be hair. Someone was coming out of the well. It looked like a girl, and Sean wondered if it was the same girl in the video. Her dress was dirty and grimy, and she began to walk forward, toward the screen.
As she moved closer, water began to trickle from several places in the room, even from the TV. Some instinctive part of Sean's mind told him to call this off and get out, but curiosity kept him rooted at the spot.
-----
In the next room, the others sat spellbound as they saw, with perfect clarity on the video feed, the TV's reflection in the living room mirror and the girl coming closer.
"Oh, man," Jeff said, "it's happening. It's actually happening!"
"Shut up!" Brian hissed. "Sean'll hear you!"
"He's just standing there," Vanessa marveled. "He's not panicking at all."
-----
Now the girl was just about filling the screen, her long hair covering her face like a grimy, dark veil. She gets any closer, she's gonna come through the screen, Sean thought to himself.
Seconds later, she did exactly that. First her head, then an arm as she crawled out of the TV, a trail of water in her wake. Sean found himself automatically taking a few steps backward, unsure what to make of this. He saw from her arms and legs that she looked like she'd been underwater for a long time; she looked almost like a submerged body come to life.
As she stood up, Sean took a step closer. "Who are you?" he asked. At the sound of his voice, she turned toward him. "Who are you?" he asked again.
In response, the girl raised her head, the veil of hair parted, and Sean found himself staring at the scowling face of what was once a young girl, and now was the water-rotted face of a corpse.
"What the fuck?" Sean yelled. It was all he had time to say.
The girl fixed her gaze upon him, and suddenly Sean's head was filled with random images, some from that video, some not, all full of pain, hate, and death, all amplified to the nth degree. The speed and ferocity of it all--it was like a bullet from a gun--overloaded Sean's senses, and he grabbed the sides of his head, screamed, and fell to his knees.
He was able to summon one last coherent thought; This must be what it's like to die. And I'm still not afraid.
Then the Ring filled his vision and eclipsed everything, and Sean sank into its darkness.
-----
As they watched Sean collapse, the others went crazy.
"We got it!" Brian yelled. "We got the whole damn thing! This is the big time, baby!"
Vanessa stared in horror. "It's all true. We just killed someone!"
"We didn't kill anybody!" Brian shouted at her. "That girl did!"
Vanessa stood up and glared at Brian. "We let it happen! Isn't that bad enough for you?"
Dave was checking the video feed. "It all got broadcast! Every minute!"
Brian was practically dancing around the room. "We've got the whole enchilada for the world to see! It's all us!"
Jeff sat in shock. "Oh, man," he said. "Oh, God. Oh, shit!"
Only Bill was still watching the TV, and saw the girl turn away from Sean, and look back at their direction. "Uh, guys?" he said.
Brian and Vanessa were still yelling back and forth; "We're as responsible for his death as that girl!"
"Ask me if I give a shit!"
"Guys?" Bill called out.
"David," Brian said, "keep that camera rolling!"
"Guys?" Bill yelled. "Look!"
Now the others watched the screen as the girl walked forward.
"So what?" Brian said. "She's going back to where she came from."
Bill shook his head. It looked like the girl was looking right at them. "I don't think so."
"What do you mean?" Brian asked as he pointed to the TV's reflection in the mirror. "See, there's the well! Why would she come at us when we didn't watch…."
He broke off in mid-sentence as he realized what he just pointed out. The angle of the mirror caught the TV's screen just right, and reflected it back at them.
In a moment of synergy, it all occurred to them at the same time. When Sean first watched the video, they were watching him, and the TV screen was reflected in that mirror, and broadcast back to them via the video feed.
They had unknowingly watched it at the same time as Sean. And it was now seven days later. And the girl was coming for them.
"Oh, Jesus," Bill said in a weak voice as Brian ran to the door, propping a chair in front of it.
"Little bitch ain't getting in here." He said almost in a whisper.
The girl kept walking forward, toward the hole in the living room wall, and the video camera behind it; her image filling the screen. She held out a hand, and before anyone could react, her hand came out of the TV screen in the rec room.
Everyone jumped back as she pulled herself out. Vanessa screamed. Dave wet his pants. Brian could only stare.
She took Vanessa first. All it took was a lift of the head, a gaze, and Vanessa's screams came out garbled as her face distorted right before their eyes. Her eyes took on a glassy look, and she fell to the ground.
The girl turned toward Dave, who held his hands out in front of him. "Please, no! Oh, God, please!" he cried, practically begging, and as his pleas became strangled, Bill ran for the door.
"Oh Jesus oh Jesus oh Jesus…" he was calling out as he threw the chair to the side, ran out of the room, and raced for his car. He fumbled for the keys, finally got the car started, threw it in drive, and peeled away.
"Please be over, please be over, please be over," Bill whispered as tears streamed down his face. Movement caught his eye in the rearview mirror. In an automatic response, he looked up--and saw the girl in his back seat.
Bill looked behind him, and saw no one in the seat. He looked back to see the girl staring at him, and had time for one last scream. He was dead before his car hit the telephone pole.
Back in the rec room, Jeff grabbed a cue stick, and swung it at the girl. The stick passed right through her, and for a second, her image flickered; almost as if she were nothing more than a projection whose signal had caught some interference. Before Jeff could swing again, she caught his eye, and he too fell.
Through it all, Brian had stood dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Slowly, the girl paced the room, almost like she was circling for the kill. For months, they had passed around the video as the ultimate dare; can you go to day seven? Now, it had all blown up in their faces. Lady Death was here, live, via satellite, in the form of a little girl.
I will not scream, he repeated silently to himself. I will not scream. I will not scream.
And then she fixed her stare upon him, and of course he screamed; he screamed harder and louder than he ever had in his life. As he felt his face contort, and as his life left his body, he was able to think one more thought; Why didn't the rest of us see the visions like Sean did?
-----
The girl looked around the room feeling a sense of satisfaction. She had known what they were doing with her tape; passing it around as if it were a game, or a joke. And now she had finally been able to show them the truth of her life. A life of pain and misery and death. She slowly walked out of the rec room, and into the living room where Sean lay crumpled on the floor.
Something about him caught her eye, and she approached him, full of curiosity. Then she saw it; his face didn't have the same distorted look, that frozen scream as the others. To a casual observer, he would have looked asleep. She then saw his chest rising and falling, and she realized, with a bit of shock, that he was still alive.
As she wondered how it was possible, the image of the well beckoned her to return to her prison, her tomb. She would have live with the fact that she might never know the answer to her question. She approached the screen, but then turned back to Sean.
"Why are you the only one saved?" she asked aloud. But there was no one conscious to hear her question, or to try and answer. She climbed back through the screen, and the TV shut itself off.
-----
TO BE CONTINUED….