She slowly crept towards the closed door, cautiously wrapping her fingers around the door knob. She eased the door open and her eyes widened in terror. She let out a loud, bloodcurdling shriek.

*Thunder crash*

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Davy let out a horrified scream. He made a startled jolt from the couch and spilled popcorn all over the floor.

He gasped for breath as he surveyed the scene around him. "What a mess," he panted. Davy knew it wasn't a good idea to watch the horror movie of the week on TV while he was alone, especially on such a dark and dreary night. But, he had been looking forward to watching The Haunted Creature from Outer Space all week and when he returned to the pad no one was home.

Davy grabbed the broom and dustpan while the movie was on a commercial break. As he cleaned up he berated himself about being so scared of a silly movie. "Very manly to scream like a girl at a bit of a storm and a B movie."

He settled himself back on the couch just as the commercial break was ending. He mentally and physically braced himself for the remainder of the movie, gripping the armrest of the couch with his left hand and a tennis racket in the right (you know for the unexpected). He watched as the characters ran and turned a corner running straight into…

"We interrupt The Haunted Creature from Outer Space, for this special news bulletin…" the news anchor said loudly, causing Davy to grip the couch harder as his heart began its all-to-familiar pounding again.

"Another missing person has been reported," the anchor continued, "bringing the count up to five missing people in the span of two weeks from this area. Police are stating that the cases may be connected, but are giving no further information as to why. For the moment, police are cautioning citizens to travel in pairs and look out for any suspicious acting people. We will keep you updated with the latest on this developing story…"

The front of the door suddenly slammed open revealing a dark figure dripping wet from the rain. Davy's fight or flight instinct kicked in and he barreled towards the door, tennis racket in hand, and tackled the intruder to the ground. He began swatting the racket at the dark figure.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked the familiar voice that was shielding themselves from the tennis racket blows. "And why are you sitting in the dark?"

Davy stopped swinging the tennis racket and squinted to get a good look at the person he was attacking.

"Jesus Christ, Peter, you scared me!"

"Well, I am naturally terrifying," Peter said gasping for breath. "Can you get off of me now?"

Davy pushed himself off of Peter and reached out a hand to help his friend up off the floor. "What are you doing walking around in a storm like this? Where were you?"

"Oh, I um…was…um…feeding the ducks at the park," Peter stammered.

Davy cocked an eyebrow. "In the rain?"

"Yeah, it's the peak time for the ducks. They can swim around in the puddles," Peter answered.

"Whatever you say, Pete," Davy said. "Do you know where Micky and Mike are?"

"They went to pick up a cheap drum set Mike found in the paper, since Micky ruined his with his latest brilliant idea. They had to drive all the way to Arizona and may be gone for two to three days."

"I still don't understand what possessed him to incorporate an explosion into the end of Star Collector."

"He said that our show needed more pizzazz, which apparently is at the expense of the main part of the act…instruments."

Davy nodded and watched as Peter removed his raincoat revealing muddy pants. "What happened to you? Where is your shoe? Did you get into a fight with one of those ducks?"

"You know how clumsy I am. The giant mud puddle down the road demanded a sacrifice," Peter answered becoming exasperated. "What's with all the questions? Why are you so edgy?"

"Well I was watching the horror movie of the week and…"

"You know that you are not supposed to watch those alone, you're too easily scared," Peter interjected.

"Thanks, Mike Jr. Can I finish?"

Peter nodded and motioned with his hand for Davy to continue.

"And as you assume I did get a tad jumpy during the movie. Then the news interrupted and was talking about the missing persons' epidemic in the area. And that didn't help ease my fear. Have you heard about that?"

"Can't say that I have," Peter said looking down at his muddy pants and shoeless foot.

"Well people have been going missing lately, so be careful and don't go around alone until this clears up. I don't want another case of a missing Monkee. Especially when Mike isn't here."

"Got it. Now do you need me to finish this movie with you?"

"No, I'm spent. Those rapid fear reactions have exhausted me. I can't take anymore."

"It's okay little buddy, you can borrow my dream catcher for your nightmares."

Davy tiptoed through the pad living room in the dark. He had been compelled by a strange feeling to get out of bed and check the vicinity. He passed the bandstand and had a sense that something was lurking behind him. He began walking backwards to watch behind him. He was backing himself toward the front door when he bumped into someone.

"AAAAAHHHH!" two voices screamed in the dark as they jumped forward. "Don't do that!"

Peter and Davy had run into each other both feeling the same urge to search the perimeter. They linked arms and continued their search moving around the spiral staircase. The pair was almost through with their investigation, when there came a rattling sound from the closet door next to their bedroom.

Davy and Peter's fear ridden, wide eyes made contact. They both nodded in agreement knowing what had to be done. Davy grabbed his trusty tennis racket and Peter and umbrella as they crept towards the closet door.

Davy signaled to Peter with his hand as he reached for the knob. 3, 2, 1…