It had been Nathan's idea to watch the video. Nathan was tall, with brown hair and eyes. He always wore a necklace made of green beads that his older brother Johnny had brought back with him from Europe a few years ago. Standing around Nathan, in the small coffee-smelling den were his friends. There was his best friend, Josh (short with black hair and the start of a beard) Jenny (Josh's girlfriend, with blond hair and blue eyes) and Kim (Nathan's girlfriend, who had black hair and a single streak of bright blue in it and who's parents had moved over from Japan before she was born). "So, what does this tape do?" asked Jenny, as she held it up to examine it. The video tape looked old, the labelon the side that had once been bright blue had now faded to a whiTe colour with a few hints of pale blue on the side. The black writing was just about legible. It read "THE TWILIGHT ZONE: BEST OF". "Are you sure that this is the right tape?" asked Josh, as he took it from Jenny. "I mean, are you sure that it wasn't just some tape that a con-artist sold you at a garage sale?"
"I'm sure," said Nathan. "What's the rumor about it anyway?" asked Kim, as she took a fistful of pop-corn out of the glass bowl on the coffee table. "The rumor goes," started Nathan, as he sat down on the couch next to her. "That if you play this tape backwards, then you get sucked into it. Youactually go in and explore the Twilight Zone." Kim looked at his seriously. "Nathan," she moaned. "We're in High School. We'll be going to college next fall. Don't tell me you still believe in all those urban rumor?" Nathan smiled, as Josh handed him the old tape. "I'm sure," he said. "Anyway, it's just a dumb old rumor. What's the worst that could happen if we put the tape in?" He got up off of the couch and went over to the TV. His parents' old VCR player was still on the shelve below the TV. He pressed the button on the side. There was a faint hum as the thing came on. He slid the tape into the slot and watched as the timer started to play.
As Nathan made his way back to the couch, Jenny spoke. "Even if this isn't the real tape," she said. "We can still enjoy the best episodes in the Twilight Zone." "Yeah," nodded Josh. "Living dummies, fortune telling machines, people disappearing and a watch that can stop time." "It'll be just like "The Ring" if it works," remarked Kim. Nathan smiled at her and then kissed her on the check. The screen of the TV turned into a blurry haze of static. Occasionally, an image would flash by, but they moved to fast to tell what they really were. Nathan held up the VCR-and-DVD remote. "Here we go," he said. And then hit the small black button marked "REWIND".
The four of them had no idea what had happened them. one moment, they were watching the static on the TV. The next, they were moving through what seemed like a tunnel made of static. There was a deafening buzzing noise and the light moved in such a way, that they though they were going to be blinded. Their eyes and ears hurt, irregular winds blew past them, causing strange pangs of pain in places, like multiple bee stings. Jenny screamed, or was it just the wind? It was impossible to tell if they were moving thought te static, or if the static was moving past them. They swirled around in the storm of black and whiTe and then - CRASH!
Paint shoot through them as they landed on a hard surface. Moaning, they picked themselves up off the ground. "Where are we?" moaned Kim. "Ah!" gasped Josh, as he held his arm. "I've got pins and needles!" They looked around. It was a street. There were stops on either side of the sidewalk. cars sat empty on the sides of the black tarmac. Large plaques sat in shops, reading "50% OFF!" and "SALE MUST END THURSDAY!" A few papers and about a thousand brown and orange leaves thumped across the ground in the little breeze. There wasn't anyone person in sight. "What happened?" asked Jenny, her voice starting to shake. "How - how did we get here?" "It's alright," said Josh, as he wrapped his arms around her. "I think the tape worked," gasped Nathan. "I think we're actually in the Twilight Zone! The tape must have taken us into the Twilight Zone!"
"Picture, if you will," came a voice. It came from nowhere and was loud and demanding sounding. There was a strange ring to the voice, it's tone slow and deep. "Four young friends, all aged seventeen, all from the same High School. For them, life is about to get a lot more complicated. They have been watching a tape, that has now let them enter, the Twilight Zone." "Hey!" called out Nathan. "Who re you?" Can you help us get out?" "I am the Narrator," the voice boomed back. "I control the Twilight Zone. I design every little twist and built every detail. I tell the story the way I wish it to be told. I decide what happens to you all here, what sort of chaleneges you must face. You must decide how you Will get past them, or if you are smart enough, get out of the Twilight Zone."
"You can't do that!" shouted back Kim. "We're not going to let you!" "Yeah," added Nathan. "We're going to fight you, together!" "How can you fight me together," said the Narrator. "If aren't together?" "What are you talking about?"asked Nathan. Suddenly, he felt like there was something misting. He turned around. The others were gone. Kim, Josh and Jenny had vanished. "Guys?" he called out. "Guys!" He looked back up at the sky. "Where are they?" he called angrily. "They are in the Twilight Zone," came the smug reply. "They have to get out. "So do you, Nathan. each of you will face different challenges. Different obstacles. Now, let the games begin."